Medical Students Requests Pattern
85
the same line, example 2 and example 3 as the responses of fourth situation with set of contexts [-D], [-P], [-R], [I], and [Ord], Medical group also employed neutral
form of openers like “Excuse me” without any upgrading function to the addressee, and for gett
ing a closer relation, mentioning the hearer’s name like “Beni” is also considered as the common openers. Further, example 4 provided the response of
the sixth situation with the costumed context of [+D], [-P], [-R], [I], and [Wrn], thus to deal with this situation, it is still applicable for Medical students to speak with
the requester by “Sorry” statement at the beginning as the neutral openers. Meanwhile, the second most used openers by Medical group is the upgrading
function openers as to enhance the respectfulness and formality to the addressee.
5 Excuse me, sir. Would you help me please? Please open the door for me,
I need your help. Thank you. DM 051
6 Excuse me, boss. Sorry to disturb your time, but I want to be honest,
boss. I cannot cope with the responsibilities on my present position. I am afraid that my performance was not optimal when I fill this position.
Please considerate it again, boss. DM 129
7 Hi, Mr. William. I want to give you a new job to handle. I believe you
can manage it well. Would you do this job for me? DM 262 These three examples provided different set of contexts from the four
previous examples. As seen in example 5 which responses to the third situation with the contex of [+D], [+P], [+R], [F], and [Ord], the Medical group preferred to
use “Excuse me, sir” as the upgrading function of respect to the hearer. Here “sir” is used as the honorific
title as well as the politeness marker to upgrade the opener’s expression. The same as example 5, example 6 also presented a more formal
situation of [+D], [-P], [+R], [F], and [Prs]. This expression is the response of the sixth situation of DCTs. In this situation, the speaker talked to hisher boss,
therefore a formal standard of the speech had to be benefited. The opener of PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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“Excuse me, boss” address directly to the “boss” of the speaker. This is the honorific address form for the people who work as the leaders and it functioned as the
reverence of the upgrading openers. In addition, example 7 as the response of the ninth situation, stated “Hi, Mr.William” as the openers of the request. The
addressing form of “Mr.” was used for respecting the recipient and at the same time function as the upgrading function for stating the speech in making request. On the
other hand, Medical students also employed the downgrading function of openers but it was very sporadic.
8 Hey,
excuse me. Can you help me? I’m very thirsty. Can you bring me a glass of water? DM 062
9 Hey, come here a minute I ask you to bring me water because I feel very
thirsty. DM 070 Example 8 and 9 are the responses of the third situation of the [+D], [+P],
[+R], [F], and [Ord] context. Whenever you are speaking as a leader or boss, it is considered as inappropriate to address other peo
ple use “Hey” expressions. The using of the openers “Hey” are to denigrate the hearers. As to suggest, the more
polite way to address other staff or employee is by mentioning the name or just directly say “Excuse me” or “Sorry”.
2 Head Acts
The head acts are the main acts of a request. It conveys directly what the speaker wants the addressee to do or not to do. The head acts are divided based on
the degree of the straightforwardness of linguistic elements to represent the requests. To get the hearer accept and take the requests, Medical students employed
various directness of speech acts as shown below. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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10
I’m sorry, I have things to do all sudden. I am wondering if you can replace me today
DM 007
11 Sorry, sir. Would you help me to open the door
because I can’t open it? Data 31
12 Miss, can you bring me a glass of water because I am very thirsty?
Sorry to bother. Thank you. DM 069
13 Sorry, can you please wait a moment because I need to finish my
tasks? The boss is waiting. After I finished them, you can borrow it again. DM 110
14 Excuse me, can you handle this upcoming project? I believe in you.
I know your performance was excellent. DM 249 The most used head acts expressions by Medical students were the
conventionally indirect ones. These acts suggested a less direct way of asking someone to do what the speaker wants. The selected expressions of “I am
wondering if you can replace me today” as first situation response in example 10 and “Would you help me to open the door?” as the second situation response in
example 11, as well as “Can you please wait a moment?” as the fourth situation response for the informal situational contexts were considered as the feasibility of
the requests through saying preparatory questions to the addressee. On the other hand, referring to a more formal context, the speakers of a [+P], [+D], and [+R] also
preferred to use the query preparatory head acts. Response of third and ninth situation, “Can you bring me a glass of water?” in example 13 and “Can you
handle t his upcoming project?” in example 14, were the head acts for asking
hearers’ ability and willingness as well as the possibility and convenience to perform the acts of requests attempted by the requesters.
15 Excuse me, sir. It was a great job, but it is not mine.
I think it’ll be better for someone else
. Can I change my job? It is for me to maximize working on the suitable one. DM 122
16
Wow, congratulations I’m so happy for you. How about treat us some food later?
DM 214 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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Further, to convey the conventionally indirect way of requesting, Medical students realized the request acts by stating the suggestory formula expressions. By
implying “I think it’ll be better for someone else” in example 15 and “How about treat us some
food later?” in example 16, the speakers actually wanted the hearers to agree and to take their request. Both in formal and non-formal situations, the less
direct way of requesting by employing conventionally indirect head acts of query preparatory and suggestory formula were preferred and considered as the more
effective strategies of requests, at the same time, these strategies also engaged a more polite manner and more acceptable to minimize its force.
The second frequently exploited head acts strategy was the direct head acts request. This form of main request acts regarded as the upfront way of requesting
that used typical request markers. Yet, the interesting point to be noted that even Medical students employed direct head acts, they were accompanied by politeness
markers and relevant supportive moves affected less force to the addressee. The employment of direct head acts by Medical students such as:
17 Hey bro, I want to change shift tomorrow with you because I have a
very important family affair. DM 010 18
I’m sorry I’m thirsty. Can you help me please, Mister? I need a cup of water
. Can you take it for me? DM 065
19 Excuse me, sorry to bother. I want to ask my computer that you
borrowed yesterday. Can I? DM 096
20 Sorry, boss. I want to change position
because I think I can’t cope the responsibilities on my current position. Can you please consider about
giving me another job, sir? DM 132
21 Can I use this machine first? I want to copy my document
. I’m in hurry because there will be a meeting in 15 minutes. DM 184
The typical way to convey the desire of the speakers was the want statement. Referring to the responses, this direct way of requesting commonly used by the
89
Medical students in either formal or informal occasion. Examples 17, 19, and 21 showed the situations of the participants in context of [-P], [-D], and [-R],
therefore, it was eligible to use a direct acts by saying “I want to change tomorrow”, “I want to ask my computer”, and “I want to copy my documents”. Meanwhile, for
other situations as stated in example 18 where the speaker had [+P], [+D], and [+R], it would not be a problem whenever he stated “I need a cup of water” directly
that he wanted the hearer to get him a glass of water. But, sometimes, the speaker did not realize that [-P], [+D], [+R] context, thus, it was a less appropriate strategy
whenever the speaker mentioned “I want to change position” to the boss. Another case then was presented,
22 Hi friend, so sorry to disturb your time. I would like to exchange shift with you
because tomorrow I have important family business. How? Can I exchange shift with you? Thank you. DM 009
23 Hi, congratulations for your promotion. I hope you can treat me and other members
to celebrate your happy day. DM 231 It was often that Medical students also employed more vigilant expressions
like “I would like to exchange shift with you” and “I hope you can treat me and o
ther members” even when they spoke in informal contexts. The choice of the specific want or hope is another strategy of head acts considered as direct, yet
created less impositive force. Thus, the selection of the particular want statements like in example 22 and 23 above were the way of conveying illocution intents
which might be less imposing to the hearers. The other direct head acts employed by the Medical students were the mood
of imperative, performatives, and obligation statements. The mood head acts PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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marked by the imperative expressions that were regarded as direct request acts. This mood requests found in some statements below.
24 Excuse me, brother. Please open me the door because I brought a lot
of books in my hands. Thanks in advance, brother. DM 036
25 Excuse me, sir. Please get me some water. Thank you. DM 067 26 I am sorry, sir. This is a nonsmoking area. Please put off your cigarette
or just go to the smoking room. DM 151 27
Don’t smoke here, please Can’t you see, no smoking here DM 167
People might get other people to do what they need by directly mentioning their want which comprised as mood derivable or imperative. The imperatives
worked for different situations, both in formal and informal contexts. Some examples above identified the use of the mood derivable of “open”, “get”, “put”
and “don’t” as the facility to ask straightly the requestee to do as the requesters’ order. To some scopes, the students of Medicine also employed performatives as
the strategy of the speakers in conveying the illocutionary intents using relevant illocution verbs of ordering, imploring, and begging.
28 Excuse me, brother. Please help me to substitute your shift with me
because I have something urgent coming. DM 019
29 Excuse me, sir. Help me please. Help me to open the door, sir. Because
I carry too many books on my hands. DM 040
30 Excuse me, sir. So sorry sir, I want to talk to you. I beg you to withdraw your decision
because my job doesn’t match my expertise. Please, sir. DM 144
Performatives expression of “Please help me to substitute your shift with me” selected by the speaker to get the hearer to substitute and take the speaker’s
shift. In the same way, “Help me to open the door” was also the statement of performatives. Through saying it forthrightly, the speaker wanted the hearer to
perform the action of opening the door for him. Further, the illocutionary verb “beg” in
“I beg you to withdraw your decision” made the utterance a plea or performative PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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utterance in form of begging the hearer to take the request. The last direct head acts was the obligation statement, the following examples are some cases found in this
study.
31 Hello, friend. I am sorry, I had to work on a report from the boss. Is
that okay for you if I use my computer now? DM 117
32 Excuse me, I have to copy this document. And it is only 15 minutes
left before the meeting begin. Could you help me to copy this for a while? DM 186
33 Excuse me, sir. I just have 15 minutes before the meeting start. I must copy the documents.
Can you help me? I want to copy them and after that, you can continue your work. Please, help me sir. DM 203
When making requests using obligation statements, the Medical students put the emphasis on its moral obligation directly. Here the speakers placed hisherself
as the one whom obliged to do something, thus, this reason might help the requests succeeded. The obligation expressions such as
“I had to work on a report from the boss”, “I have to copy this document”, and “I must copy the documents” indicated
the strong possibility that the requesters had to make requests due to the obligations they were lodged. Hence, these obliged conditions possibly triggered the hearers to
accept the requests. Despite embedding direct way of request head acts, on the other hand, the
non-conventionally indirect head acts provided the most unforeseen form of asking someone to do the speakers’ need and desire. The use of the non-conventionally
head acts construed the advance pragmatic competence of the speakers. Finishing the analysis stages, the researcher found that Medical students frequently employed
hints in making request. It was noted that they used both strong hints and mild hints, but more strong ones.
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34 Hmmm, excuse me.
I’m so thirsty right now, can you bring me a glass
of water? DM 063
35 Sorry friend, is your computer still broken? If not, I plan to use my
computer because I must finish my work right now. How? DM 116
36 Excuse me, sir. Sorry if I offend you, here is not the place for smoking
. If you want to smoke, you can do it outdoor. Thanks. DM 159
37 Hello, congratulations for your new promotion. A good day to treat me and other office member
, huh? DM 216 These four examples presented various strong hints in making requests. As
the obvious distinction among other head acts form, the strong hints enabled to not overtly express the illocutionary intents. This strategy made the requests non-
conventionally upfront by providing strong clues for the hearer to construe the request. The first clue provided in
samples above was the expression “I am so thirsty right now”, it was obviously intended that the hearer would get some water or drink
for the speaker. Besides, the second clue “is your computer still broken?” was not
about asking whether his computer was broken, yet, referring to the context provided, it was a strong hints for the hearer to give the speaker’s computer right
back. In the same line, the t hird clue “here is not the place of smoking” was not
about giving the information, in fact based on the context it was a non-smoking room, thus, this expression was a strong hints for the hearer demanded him to put
his cigarette out. Moreover, the last example offered a quite different context. Through the expression of “A good day to treat me and other office member”, the
speaker hinted the request to the hearer that it was the great day for treating the office members after the hearer’s promotion.
38 Can I bother you? Can you take the water for me, please? Sorry before.
Thanks. DM 077
39 Sir, are you busy? Can I use my computer for a while? I have to
complete the task as soon as possible. Thank you. DM 103 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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40 Man, sorry. Are you busy? Can you help me to copy my documents?
We will have them for the meeting this morning. Will you mind to help me? DM 208
When a strong hint delivered a clear and strong tipoff, the mild hints of head acts designated to have less strong clues, but it was still interpretable as a request
with the help of context. The utterances “Can I bother you?” exemplified less hints to the addressee, so did “Are you busy?”. Without seeing the context of the real
situations happened, it was quite hard to interpret the real illocutionary intents of the speakers. Thus, looking backward to each situational contexts settled by the
researcher, “Can I bother you?” was expressed to have the hearer take the water for the speaker. In accordance with situation three, example 39 and 40 above also
revealed the unclear intention. In order to make these expressions fulfilled the illocutionary forces, the context for situation four and seven would help to figure
out the clues, understandably, to get the addressee proceed the speakers’ requests.
3 Internal Modifications
The third strategy of requests is the internal modification. The internal modification is importantly a part of head act and plays a role in intensifying and
lessening the illocutionary forces of the requests acts. This usage of modification can be either syntactical or lexical. Based on the data, it was found that the
politeness markers along with the honorific as the most recurrently used of internal modification. Medical students tended to implement polite and respectful
expressions which were needed to the request in case of seeking mutual aid from the hearer or the addressee. Here is some of the examples.
94
41 Hello bro, can you help me? I have something urgent tomorrow
morning. Please, would you like to change your shift once with me? DM 001
42 I ’m so sorry, sir. Please get the doors for me. Thank you, sir. DM
037
43 Sorry, friend. I have something urgent to do. I must finish my tasks
because the boss is waiting for the report. Can you return my computer? DM 112
44 Sorry, sir. I need to tell you tha
t I can’t cope with this responsibility.
I’ve tried hard on my present position. So, please sir, can you give me another job to do? DM 148
In order to ease the hearer’s feeling toward the force of the requests, the speakers favored chose the polite and courteous expressions as commonly done by
Indonesian people in their daily interaction. Concerning that requests might burden to some extent
s, Medical students used lexical terms resembling “please” and “sorry”, or “sir” to address someone whom the speaker’s was not so close to, like
in example 42, and whenever the hearer had a higher power and rank, like in example 44, as the honorific terms used to express deference. For sure, when the
speaker and the hearer stood in the same position like in example 41, it was considered as putting the addressee into the more positive feeling by stating
“please” or “would”, furher, the using of the past modal like “would” was also much more acceptable choice of the request structure. Further, there were also some
lexical downgraders employed by Medical students, for instance: 45 Excuse me, boss. Sorry to disturb your time, but I want to be honest,
boss. I cannot cope with the responsibilities on my present position. I am afraid
that my performance was not optimal when I fill this
position. Please considerate it again, boss. DM 129
46 Excuse me, sir. Sorry sir, I think this room is a room of no smoking
place. You can go out for smoking. DM 160
47 Man, congratulations on your new position. Good job I think it will
be gre at if we have some meals to celebrate it, isn’t it? DM 220
95
As an effort to diminish the assertive tone might resulted from the request acts, the using of the subjectivizer as the lexical downgrader made plausible for the
students to state explicitly that what shehe said was only their subjective opinion. It was r
ealized by picking out the words like “I am afraid that” and “I think’. Besides, the speakers also commonly entailed special particles of downtoners like
“but” and “you know” to minimize the impact of the requests on the hearers’ side.
48 Hello brother, can you help me? Today I have morning shift, but
unfortunately there are emergency needs. Can you exchange with me? DM 027
49 Excuse me, can I get my computer now? I must finish my job. You know
, my boss is so angry person. DM 106
50 Good morning, mister. I had a good job in your company, but I feel like
I can’t cope with the responsibilities in my position. Is it possible for me to change my job? I want to give my best for my position. DM 125
In some other ways, the lexical downgraders were selected based on the speakers’ belief that by down toning the tone, a request might have greater
possibility to be accepted. The use of the appealer in making request was purposively done by the speaker as a technique to elicit the response of the
addressee. It was usually placed at the end of the sentence and often in form of tag questions,
such as “How?”, “right?”, and “OK?” below. 51 Sorry friend, is your computer still broken? If not, I plan to use my
computer because I must finish my work right now. How? DM 116
52 Hey, you have to treat me and other office member to a meal. You just
got promotion. Right? DM 214
53 Hi, friend. Congratulations You got a promotion, so don’t forget your
treat, OK? DM 219
Furthermore, Medical students also inserted hesitation markers like “hmmm” and “well” to reduce the compelling tone by delaying voicing a request
as mentioned in example 54 and 55. In addition, the lexical downgrader of PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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delimiter functioned as under-representer to state the affairs conveyed in request by adding the word
“once” and “only” seen in example 56 and 57. The two last examples of 58 and 59 offered the use of hedging as the vague expression
attempting to tone and avoid potential provocation request which realized by the words “seem” and “seems in the following statements.
54 Hmmm
, excuse me. I’m so thirsty right now, can you bring me a glass of water? DM 063
55 Can I ask you to come to my room? I have something to tell you. Well,
we all know that you have great skills in marketing, and now I want to offer you to handle our next project. DM 255
56 Bro, I have something urgent this morning. So please, can you change
your shift with me? Just for this morning, please. DM 029 57 Sorry, I need to copy this document for the meeting and I only have 15
minutes. Help me with this, please. DM 194 58
I am so sorry, boss. I can’t seem to continue this job because there a lot of problems I got. If I could, please move me to another job. DM 147
59 Hello, new boss. So happy to you. I am here to congratulate you,
anyway. Seems that there will be a treat from our new team leader, right? DM 237
Meanwhile, for the lexical upgraders effort, the speakers of Medical students tended to stress the urgency of the requests using time intensifier. This kind
of lexical upgrader was the most recurrently used internal modification done by Medical students to increase the point or intent of requests. By providing a
determination of time limit, it increased the impositive force to the hearer that the exigent condition needed them to do the requests, thus, as a result, the requests had
more chance to be complied. The most insisting time intensifier found in Medical students
’ case was “right now”. 60 Sir, excuse me. Can you open the door for me please? My hands are full
right now . DM 034
61 Hmmm,
excuse me. I’m so thirsty right now, can you bring me a glass
of water? DM 064 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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62 Hey, bro. I am wondering if I could use my computer right now. I really
need it to complete my tasks. DM 100 Similarly, incorporating the sentence modifier as the commitment indicator
could also be possible for the speakers. Naturally, there were numbers of sentence modifiers used to heighten the degree of the speakers’ commitment regarding the
state of concerns pleaded through the requests. Some of the commitment indicators used by the Medical students, like “really” and “truly”, were observed in example
60, 61, and 61 below.
63 Hello, Mister. I have so much stuffs in my hands. I really need your
help. Can you help me to open the door, please? DM 035 64
Sorry, sir. I’m truly sorry. Actually I really need to use this photocopier before the meeting starts and I only have 15 minutes before it begin.
Can I use it first? DM 197
65 Sir, you have done a great in the job. There will be a big project for our
company, will you be able to take it? I really hope. DM 253
The last lexical upgraders involved by the students was the repetition of requests. To create a more dramatic impression, the speakers sometimes replicated
certain expression purposively. Such expression was repeated literally or by paraphrasing it to stress the importance of carrying out the request. This strategy
might explicitly force the hearer to feel moved by the speakers. It was clearly understood in example 66 that the speaker repeated a linguistic unit of “please”
as to beg the hearer, the same thing went to example 67 by stating “help me”
twice, and example 68 also provided the same matter by res tating the word “sorry”
two times.
66 Bro, I have something urgent this morning. So please, can you change your shift with me? Just for this morning, please. DM 029
67 Excuse me, sir. Help me please. Help me to open the door, sir. Because
I carry too many books on my hands. DM 040 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
98
68
Sorry, sir. I’m truly sorry. Actually I really need to use this photocopier before the meeting starts and I only have 15 minutes before
it begin. Can I use it first? DM 197
It has been confirmed previously that most of the Medical students preferred to employ the conventionally indirect requests, as to support this idea, it was
discovered that syntactically the speakers selected interrogative strategy to form an indirect requests. Among the other syntactic downgraders, interrogative graded the
most common one. The use of interrogative was marked by the tailing of question mark “?” at the end of the sentence, in which, example 69 used “….me?”,
“…door?” for example 70, and “….while?” in example 71. 69 Guys, can you help me? I need your help. I have something urgent to
do this morning, but I have a morning shift. Can you replace me? I will replace you later. DM 023
70 Sorry, sir. Would you help me to open the door?
Because I can’t open it. DM 031
71 Sir, are you busy? Can I use my computer for a while? I have to
complete the task as soon as possible. Thank you. DM 103 Besides interrogative, the researcher dismantled that Medical students also
favored to use conditional form of utterances. In order to lessen the force request, it was often that the speakers employed a conditional sentence as shown in the
following examples 72, 73, and 74. The most occurred conditional syntactic downgrader was the “if” condition and often preceded by “I am wondering” or it
just stated “if” alone. 72
I’m sorry, I have things to do all sudden. I am wondering if you can replace me today. DM 007
73 Excuse me, miss. Can I ask you something? I’m very thirsty, would you
mind if I ask you to bring me a glass of water? DM 083
74 Hello, friend. I am sorry, I had to work on a report from the boss. Is that
okay for you if I use my computer now? DM 117
99
To sum up, from the fifteen internal modifications, almost all of the internal modifications of syntactical and lexical downgraders, as well as lexical upgraders
were employed by the Medical students. Nevertheless, the understater and reduplication were not found in any situations.
4 External Modifications
The use of the external modifications were realized in the engagement of supportive moves in a request. Unlike the internal modifications, these external
modifications were not parts of the head acts, but often preceded or followed the head acts. The main function of the external modifications of request done by
Medical students was to mitigate and aggravate in another way. Some of the samples found are:
75 Can you replace my shift this morning?
I have to attend a parents’ meeting at my son’s school. DM 008
76 Hey, sorry before, but I need to finish my tasks because my boss is waiting.
Can I get my computer back? Are you okay with that? DM 092
77 Sir, I am sorry to say this.
Actually, since I’ve done my job here, I feel like I couldn’t cope with my work as accounting staff. Would
you give me another position, please? DM 141 78 Excuse me, can I make a copy of my documents first? After that you
may continue with yours. Please help me,
it’s demanding from the boss for the upcoming meeting
. DM 192 Attempting to intensify the possibility of fruitful requests, the speakers used
grounders as the most dominant external modification strategy. It was a downgrading external modification in which the Medical students gave reasons,
explanations, and also justifications underlying the request making. Speakers, therefore, opted to make an excuse by mentioning their reasons, which can be
placed before or after the main request acts. It was presented in example 75 and PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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78 that the speaker put their reasons in making requests after the head acts like “I have to attend a parents’ meeting at my son’s school.” and “it’s demanding from
the boss for the upcoming meeting”. On the other hand, the reasons and justifications also possibly be stated before the head acts as seen in example 76,
“I need to finish my tasks because my boss is waiting” and example 77, “Actually, since I’ve done my job here, I feel like I couldn’t cope with my work as accounting
staff”.
79 Miss, can you bring me a glass of water because I am very thirsty. Sorry to bother
. Thank you. DM 069
80 Can I bother you? Can you take the water for me, please? Sorry before.
Thanks. DM 077 81 Excuse me, boss.
I’m so sorry to tell you this, sir. May I change my
job because I can’t cope with my recent responsibilities and position? Thank you. DM 140
At the second place, the speakers of Medicine employed another form of downgrading external modification of apology. The apology modification was seen
to be the way of minimizing the potential trouble might be caused from the requests through expressing sorry and regret. This external modification could be stated in
the beginning, middle, or at the end of the request without depleting its meaning. The foremost apology expressions selected by the students were “sorry” and “I am
sorry”. Besides, there were some other external modifications discovered in this research.
82 Great job. Congratulations, man I already realized that you are very talented in this fields.
Anyway, how about having dinner with other office staff tonight? DM 218
83 Congratulations, mate.
Welcome to our team. It’s such a pleasure to have you here with us
. Would you make a mini party to celebrate this great moment? DM 225
84 Excuse me, can you handle this upcoming project? I believe in you. I know your performance was excellent
. DM 249 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
101
It was commonly found that Medical students loved to praise others. Thus, the above examples publicized that besides expressing reasons and apologies,
stating compliments were also create more supportive request modifications. The speaker chose expressions like “I already realized that you are very talented in this
fields” in example 82, “Welcome to our team. It’s such a pleasure to have you here with us” in example 83, as well as “I believe in you. I know your performance
was excellent” in example 84 as the exertions of increasing hearers’ dominance,
and finally, hoping the hearers to take the requests.
85 Excuse me, sir. Would you help me please? Please open the door for
me, I need your help. Thank you. DM 051
86 Andi, please return my computer that you borrowed before. I need that
computer right now. Thank you. DM 098
87 Excuse me, I need a copy of these documents as soon. If it is possible,
may I use it first since the meeting will shortly begin? Thanks. DM 190
Another favored strategy to increase the hearer-dominance was through the conveying the speakers
’ thankfulness. Normally, the speakers expressed their gratitude to the addressee for the expected compliance of the request. From the data,
it was obtained t hat Medical students often selected the speech acts of “Thank you”
or “Thanks” to represent their gratitude for the hearers.
88 Excuse me, sir. Can I ask you a favor? Please open me the door. Both
my hands are full, please. DM 049
89 Excuse me, boss. Can I talk to you about something? I need to tell
you that I can’t take the responsibilities in my present job. It is too hard for me to do. Would you mind to change my job? DM135
90 Excuse me, sir. May I have a talk with you?
I think that I can’t cope with all responsibilities in my present position. If you agree, please
change my job and get another people to replace me. DM 143 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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Furthermore, prior in making a request, the speaker or the requester prepared by asking hisher potential availability or permission for carrying out the requests
which known as preparator of downgrading function. The governing preparatories selected by the students in making requests were in form of questions, yet, this kind
of question statements were not included as the head acts. Several preparatory utterances comprised in this study we
re “Can I ask you a favor?”, “Can I talk to you about something?”, and “May I have a talk with you” that indicated a fashion of
preparation before the main request acts were conveyed.
91 Excuse me, sir. It was a great job, but it is not mine.
I think it’ll be better for someone else. Can I change my job? It is for me to maximize
working on the suitable one. DM 122 92 Excuse me, sir. If I could ask, I need a reposition about my job. I think
I did the maximum thing in coping with this position, but
I couldn’t manage it well
. DM 130
93 I am sorry sir, I need to say this. I have no experience in marketing,
that’s why I need you to handle our new project. Promise me you will do your best to handle this project. DM 261
On the other hand, statements of humbling oneself by the speakers were initiated as well. Following the external modification, this strategy allowed the
speaker to blame and lower hisherself to elicit the hearer’s sympathy. In this way, the speakers hoped that by providing humbling statements, it made the hearers
thoughtful about the requests carried by the speakers. There are numerous examples elicited in this study, namely: “It was a great job, but it is not mine”, “I couldn’t
manage it well”, and “I have no experience in marketing” as the humbling oneself downgraders.
94 Excuse me, sir. Help me please. Help me to open the door, sir. Because
I carry too many books on my hands. DM 040 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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95 I’m so sorry sir for being impolite, but there are important documents
which need to be photocopied since the meeting will soon be started. Please help me.
DM 187 96
I’m sorry, boss. May I speak with you? Please help me to change my job because I fell I cannot cope with this job. Please sir, please change
my job. DM 409
For getting the hearer’s consideration, it was also common that the speakers use begging statements. This strategy also used as the downgraders of the speakers,
therefore, trying to elicit the hearers’ compliance, speakers expressed the requests wi
th the obvious appeal like “Help me please”, “Please”, and “Please help me”. Further, another occurrence of downgrading external modification was the
disarmer. By applying disarmer strategy, the speaker attempted to eliminate any possible refusal to the po
tential request from the hearer by mentioning “I feel like I am now in the position that does not correspond to my expertise”, “I’ve tried hard
on my present position”, and “This is your chance to prove that you are more than good in managing marketing”.
97 Excuse me, boss. I feel like I am now in the position that does not correspond to my expertise
. Could I change my position to another work? Because I do not feel I am able to do it anymore. DM 131
98 Sorry, sir. I need to tell you that I can’t cope with this responsibility.
I’ve tried hard on my present position. So, please sir, can you give me another job to do? DM 148
99 Hi, John. Your work is very satisfied me. This is your chance to prove that you are more than good in managing marketing
. Let’s join my team. DM 250
There were also situations which required the speakers to ask hearer’s opinion about the request. In order to make requests more acceptable, the speakers
tried to elicit the hearer’s opinion on it. Generally, the speakers stated this statement at the end of the conversation after shehe uttered their need and desire. Some
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examples of this downgrading external modifications are “Is that OK?”, “Are you okay with that”, or “How about it”.
100 Sorry, I need to finish my tasks because the deadline is in a couple of
hours. When I finish my work, you can borrow it again. Is that OK? DM 091
101 Hey, sorry before, but I need to finish my tasks because my boss is
waiting. Can I get my computer back? Are you okay with that? DM 092
102 Hi, Andi. Congratulations on your promotion. I think it will be great
if you can treat me and our friends in office to a meal. How about it? DM 233
Promising of reward for the hearer was also considered as the downgrading function of the requests. Often the speakers promised something for the addressee
to get them to agree to do something needed by them. Respectfully, giving the reward to the hearer was actually beneficial
bid to get the hearer’s compliance on the request. After conveying what they wanted, the speakers made an offer for the
hearers like “I will replace you later”, “When I finish my work, you can borrow it again”, and “After that you may continue with yours”.
103 Guys, can you help me? I need your help. I have something urgent to
do this morning, but I have a morning shift. Can you replace me? I will replace you later.
DM 023 104 Sorry, I need to finish my tasks because the deadline is in a couple of
hours. When I finish my work, you can borrow it again. Is that OK? DM 091
105 Excuse me, can I make a copy of my documents first? After that you may continue with yours
. Please help me, it’s demanding from the boss for the upcoming meeting. DM 192
In accordance with promise of a reward strategy, a cost minimizer determination also gave certain healing to hearer. The speaker might not be agree
whenever the speaker uttered the request directly due to various reasons, conversely, cost minimizer offered a great deal to this matter. Besides undertaking
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to reduce the burden on the hearer, it could be also possible for downgrading function to be implemented as a cost reducer like “you can borrow it again later”.
106 Sorry, can you please wait a moment because I need to finish my
tasks? The boss is waiting. After I finished them, you can borrow it again later
. DM 110 In attempting to make the request more acceptable, making a joke was also
intended to reduce the tension resulted from the request. Among 30 students from Medicine faculty, the researcher only found one of them employed this
downgrading strategy. When the speaker was in an urgent situation, not all of them could possibly come with a joke. The joke presented in example 107 below
denoted that it might be not true that his boss was an anger person. Seen from the context, “You know, my boss is so angry person” was purposed to moderate the
pressure because of the request. 107 Excuse me, can I get my computer now? I must finish my job. You
know, my boss is so angry person . DM 106
The external modifications were also assessed in its upgrading functions. The most chosen one was the reprimanding strategy. In this state, the speakers used
criticizing statements to increase the impositive force as the upkeep in doing request. Criticizing sometimes means that the speakers were tolerable to select
harsh speech acts such as “Your smoke is very disturbing for everyone in this room”, “I found it is hard to breathe”, and “Can’t you see, no smoking here” as
the expression to stop someone to do smoking.
108 Excuse me, your smoke is very disturbing for everyone in this room
. Can you stop smoking? Please? This is for us. DM 152
109 Sorry, could you please put your cigarette out? I found it is hard to breathe
DM 164 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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110 Don’t smoke here, please
Can’t you see, no smoking here DM
167 Apart from that, bringing up the idea of moralizing, the speakers made
eligible to employ the moral idea in making request. By citing general moral maxims, the speaker wanted to get the hearer to comply the request. Some examples
of moralizing as the upgrading external modifications found in this study were”I
want to be honest”, “This is for us”, and “Don’t you realize that your cigarette smoke can disturb other people in this room?”. These expressions were proposed to
elevate the force on the hearer side and made the request possible to be realized.
111 Excuse me, boss. Sorry to disturb your time, but I want to be honest,
boss. I cannot cope with the responsibilities on my present position. I am afraid that my performance was not optimal when I fill this
position. Please considerate it again, boss. DM 129
112 Excuse me, your smoke is very disturbing for everyone in this room.
Can you stop smoking? Please? This is for us. DM 152
113 Excuse me, sorry sir. If you want to smoke, you can smoke outside because it is prohibited to smoke in this room.
Don’t you realize that your cigarette smoke can disturb other people in this room?
DM 161
The last realization of the upgrading external modification was the confirmation of the request made. The speaker might left without getting any
answer or response form the hearer when they made request, thus, in order to obtain compliance from the hearer, the speaker highlighted the request by checking if the
hearer really got what they wanted. The expressions such a s “Would you give me
another job to handle?” and “Have you decided it?” were used to check whether the
addressee would agree to their demands or not.
114 Sorry, boss. Would you change my job because I can’t cope the
responsibilities on my present position? Would you give me another job to handle?
DM 126 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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115 We will have big project and I am looking for the new marketing
manager to handle it. Have you decided it? Please do this project for me. DM 258
It was obviously seen that the employment of the external modifications both for the downgrading and upgrading functions support the main request acts feasibly
stated precede or follow the requests. In the same line, the external modifications ruled as the crucial linguistic elements to be used whenever people wanted to make
requests. In summary, the researcher found that Medical students employed the four
request acts sequence of openers, head acts, internal and external modifications in making English requests. The most dominant requests strategy discovered in this
study was the using of the external modifications especially long expressions of the grounders which stated the reasons, explanations, and justifications on requests they
made, followed by the use of the apologies, compliments, gratitudes, and humbling one-self. On the other hand, Medical students also modified the internal structure
of the request by using politeness markers and honorific titles lexically, and selected conditional and interrogative sentence syntactically. These strategies were used to
gain the politeness and respectfulness on the hearer side, thus, could possibly put the hearers into a positive feeling and agree to do the pleas. Furthermore, these
strategies and modifications engaged more polite manner as well as increased the acceptability and minimized its force on the addressee. Besides, as the main request
acts, Medical students preferred to employ less direct form of head acts like hints, query preparatory and suggestory formula that placed the weight on the hearer side.
Finally, the openers as the opening expressions, particularly the neutral and PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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upgrading forms, were commonly used by each Medical student for different situations.