Gender differences in the use of bald on record politeness strategy found in gossip girl season I moviescript : (a pragmatic study)

  CURRICULUM VITAE 1. Personal Identity

  Name : Yolanda Erlina Parede Place and Date of Birth : Bandung, January 1

  stJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

  , 1991 Home Address : 844 Jendral Sudirman, Maleber Barat Phone : 085624351830 Sex : Female Religion : Christian Citizenship : Indonesian Hobby : make handycrafts, read books and novels, listen to music, sing.

2. Educational Background A. Formal Education No Year Institution

  1. 1995 - 1997 Trimulia Christian Kindergarten 2. 1997 - 2003 Trimulia Christian Elementary School 3. 2003 - 2006 State Junior High School 4. 2006 - 2009 BPPK Christian Senior High School 5. 2009 - present

  English Department of Indonesia University of Computer B.

   Informal Education No Year Description

  1. 2008 “Multimedia & Hacker” Seminar and

  “Digital Imaging & Video Editing” Workshop 2. 2010

  Internal Discussion in English Department of Indonesia University of Computer

  3. 2010 Leadership Training 4. 2010 Copywriting Seminar I 5. 2010 Translating and Interpreting Workshop

  78 6. 2011

  “Feminist, Feminine, and Text” Seminar 7. 2011 Public Speaking Seminar

  “Semiotics: Literature and Media” Seminar and 8. 2011

  Workshop “Kreatif Menulis, Rejeki Tak Akan Habis”

  9. 2012 Talkshow with Raditya Dika

  10. 2012 Basic Leadership Internal Training C.

   Competency

  English Listening : Good Reading : Good Writing : Good Speaking : Good Translation : Good

  Computer Microsoft Office : Good D.

   Organizational Experience No Year Description

  2004 - Art Division Member of State Junior High School 1.

  2005 Student Organization 2006 - Second secretary of BPPK Christian Senior High

  2.

  2007 School Student Organization 2007 - Second leader of BPPK Christian Senior High School

  3.

  2008 Student Organization 2009 - Fellowship Division Coordinator of Christian Student

  4.

  2010 Organization in Indonesia University of Computer 2010 - Education Division Coordinator of English Major

  5.

  2011 Organization in Indonesia University of Computer 6. 2010 - Leader of Christian Student Organization in Indonesia

  79 2011 University of Computer 7. 2011 -

  2012 Leader of Advisor of Christian Student Organization in

  Indonesia University of Computer 8. 2012 - present

  Prayer Division of Christian Student Organization in Indonesia University of Computer

  

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE USE OF

BALD- ON-RECORD POLITENESS STRATEGY

FOUND IN GOSSIP GIRL SEASON 1 MOVIESCRIPT

(A Study of Pragmatics)

  

PERBEDAAN GENDER DALAM PENGGUNAAN

STRATEGI KESOPANAN LANGSUNG

DALAM NASKAH FILM GOSSIP GIRL SEASON 1

(Sebuah Kajian Pragmatik)

  

SKRIPSI

Submitted to fulfill one of the requirements of Sarjana Sastra Degree

  

YOLANDA E. PAREDE

NIM. 63709012

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LETTERS

  

INDONESIA UNIVERSITY OF COMPUTER

2013

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

  This research entitled “Gender Differences in The Use of Bald On-Record

  Politeness Strategy Found in Gossip Girl Season 1 Moviescript” is concerned about men’s and women’s preference revealed in the use of bald-on-record strategies. However, getting to the conclusion is not an easy task. Anyhow, after the hard fight, this research is finally finished. No usual thank are sufficient to express my profound gratitude for the supports and contributions of the following people:

  1. Dean of Faculty of Letters of UNIKOM, Prof. Dr. H. Moh. Tadjuddin, MA.

  2. Head of English Department,. Dr. Juanda.

  3. Coordinator of Skripsi, Retno Purwani Sari, S.S., M.Hum. Thank you for the updated information regarding the skripsi and the final exam.

  4. My advisors, Dr. Nia Kurniasih, M.Hum and M. Rayhan Bustam, S.S. It has been an honor for me to undergo this research under your guidance.

  Thank you for guiding me patiently to write this skripsi, even constantly encouraging me to keep trying and answering my silly questions. I really appreciate it.

  5. All lecturers in English Department. I can thank you enough for all knowledge and experience you have shared to me.

  6. Secretariat of English Department, Mbak Nita. Thank you for always help me to deal with the administration and letting me know the important information.

  Bandung, 29 Juli 2013 Yolanda E. Parede

LIST OF APPENDIXES

  Data Classification of Ma n’s utterances

  63 Data Classification of Woma n’s utterances

  70 Berita Acara Bimbingan Skripsi

  76

  

REFERENCES

  Brown, P. and S. Levinson. 1987. Politeness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Crewell, J. W. 2007. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Gossip Girl Season 1 Moviscript compiled by TV Subtitles.net. 15 April 2013.

  <http://www.tvsubtitles.net/tvshow-114-1.html> Haas, Adelaide. 1979. Male and Female Spoken Language Differences: Stereotypes and Evidence. Psychological Bulletin. 616-626.

  Holmes, Janet. 1990. Hedges and Boosters in Women’s and Men’s Speech.

  Pergamon Press. 131-150.

• Lakoff, Robin. 1973.

  1992. Women’s Talk in Public Contexts. Sage.

  Language and Woman’s Place. Cambirdge University Press.

  Newman, Matthew L. 2008. Et al. Gender Differences in Language Use: An Analysis Taylor & Francis Group. 211 of 14,000 Text Samples.

• –236 Rahmat, Pupu Saeful. 2009. Penelitian Kualitatif. Equilibrium. Tannen, Deborah. 1990.

  You Just Don’t Understand. New York: Ballantine Books.

  Yule, George. 1996. Pragmatics. New York: Oxford University Press.

  1 CHAPTER I

  INTRODUCTION

  This chapter is concerned with the general description of this research. It covers background to the study, research questions, objectives, significance to knowledge, and framework of the theories.

1.1 Background to The Study

  Language is used as the vehicle of human’s messages. There are many ways people do to deliver their message. Some may tell it politely, otherwise some do it impolitely. In language field, ways of people delivering their massage can be studied through pragmatic point of view. However, delivering a message and making the hearer understand what we try to express are not a simple and easy task. As an example, a girl spends a Saturday night at one of malls in Bandung with her boyfriend. When she is going to go home, she says

  , “Huh, going home alone must be boring!”. By saying so, she hopes her boyfriend will understand that she wants him to take her home. On the other hand, her boyfriend may express his need directly such as “Bring me a glass of water.” In most cases, men and women have different styles in expressing their feelings or needs. In addition, Deborah Tannen observes that women tend to ask indirectly whereas men will often tell directly.

  2 analyzing the relationship between gender and language is not a suprising issue, especially for those having an interest in studying language and its relation with societal phenomena. There are plenty of researchers around the world putting gender differences as the main point of their researches. Through her famous controversial, and for some people, anecdotal work,

  “Language and Woman’s Place

  ”, done in 1973, Robin Lakoff may be remembered as the pioneer of linguistic researches on language and gender field. She proposes that most women's speeches are characterized by the use of hedges, tag questions, and empty adjectives. Though her claims of wome n’s speech has been constantly criticized, no one can say it has not caused an enormous effect, especially in language and social field. Lakoff provides the starting point in analyzing the relation of gender with the use of language. In 1990, Janet Holmes uses Lakoff’s claims as the base of her research, “Hedges and Boosters in Women’s and Men’s Speech

  ” in which she examines the use of hedges such as „sort of’, „you know’ and „I think’ and intensifiers such as „of course’ in women’s and men’s talk.

  This research entitled “Gender Differences in The Use of Bald On-Record

  Found in Gossip Girl Season 1 Movies Script ” is only one of flourishing language and gender researches. The problems rose from misunderstanding between men and women leads me to conduct this research. It is interesting yet useful to know how men and women see through their own point of view. Adopting politeness strategy introduced by Deborah Tannen’s difference theory and Brown’s and

  3 the use of bald-on-record is applied in Gossip Girl Season 1 movie script. The movie script is selected as the data source of this research because it is a very popular American television series and in its intriguing story, there are many uniques kinds of politeness startegies used in the utterances.

  There are two previous researches related to this research. The first entitled “Politeness Strategies in English Adjacency Pairs” is a research in which

  Xia Yan (2010), a student of Kristianstad University, analyzes men’s and women’s choices of politeness strategies in face-to-face conversations, especially in adjacency pairs as found in greetings, compliments, and directives. The second has been conducted by Annessia Cassandra (2012), a student of English Department of UNIKOM It is entitled “Pragmatic Scale in Politeness Strategies Found in Beauty and the Beast Movie Script (A Pragmatic Study)

  ”. The case analyzed is the kinds of politeness strategies in the utterance with tact maxim and kinds of pragmatic scales found in the strategies. However, there are differences between this research and the previous ones. Unlike the first previous research which uses quantitative method, in this research, the qualitative method is used to do the analysis. Moreover, this research is going to improve the analysis in the first research since there is no explanation related to gender differences.

1.2 Research Question

  Based on the background to the study, this research is conducted as an

  

attempt to examine men’s and women’s preference on using bald-on-record

  4 1. What sub-strategies of bald-on-record are used by men and women to express their need and thought?

  2. What is the intention of the use of the bald-on-record sub- strategies in men’s and women’s language?

1.3 Objectives

  In accord with the problems above, the objectives of this research are formulated as follows:

  1. To investigate the sub-strategies of bald-on-record used by men and women to express their need and thought,

2. To examine the intention of the use of bald-on-record sub- strategies in men’s and women’s language.

  1.4 Significance to Knowledge

  This research aims to give a clear description of diction and expressions used by women and men when facing the same condition. Therefore, this research is expected to be beneficial both theoretically and practically. The findings of this research are hoped to give the explanation of not only the differences between m en’s and women’s language use and also the effect of it towards relationship. Additionally, readers will be able to implement the result of this research in conversation with people.

  1.5 Framework of Theories

  In this research, a theory analyzing gender differences is combined with politeness theory in ord er to find the differences of men’s and women’s way to

  5 Difference theory, widely introduced by Deborah Tannen (1990) in her book You Just Don’t Understand, is a theory examining the effect that gender has on language use. Adopted as the grand theory, the difference theory is hoped to help me analyze the differences between me n’s and women’s language. The six classifications of gender-differentiated styles on language use are suggested, as follows: 1.

  Status vs. support 2. Advice vs. understanding 3. Information vs. feelings 4. Orders vs. proposals 5. Conflict vs. compromise 6. Independence vs. intimacy

  As the supporting theory, Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson also share their ideas regarding politeness. In a book they write entitled based on the same name of the theory Politeness-Some Universals in Language Use (1978:95), they propose that bald-on-record generally falls into two sub-strategies; implication in which the speaker minimizes face threats and imperatives. Imperatives are then, divided into direct imperative and softened imperative.

  6 In order to make it more understandable, the theories are illustrated in the scheme below:

  POLITENESS STRATEGIES Brown & Levinson (1978) BALD-ON-RECORD

IMPERATIVES DIRECT

  IMPLICATION DIFFERENCE THEORY Deborah Tannen (1990) STATUS VS. SUPPORT ADVICE VS .UNDERSTANDING INFORMATION VS. FEELING ORDER VS .PROPOSAL CONFLICT VS. COMPROMISE INDEPENDENCE VS.

  INTIMACY

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE USE

OF BALD-ON-RECORD

  

FOUND IN GOSSIP GIRL SEASON 1

MOVIESCRIPT

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW According to the research questions, this chapter provides the description

  about bald on-record including the sub-strategies of bald-on-record. It also discusses difference theory, which examines the differences between men and women.

2.1 Language and Gender Robin Lakoff is often cited as the pioneer of Language and Gender research.

  In her work, Language and Woman’s Place, done in 1973, Robin Lakoff suggests that women support more the use of tag questions, unnecessary adjectives, and hedges.

  Her claims, then, points out to an impression that women are more polite than men. Indeed, her claims have been constantly criticized and considered anecdotal, but the claims really have a great contribution in analyzing the relation between language and gender. Deborah Tannen, one of the researchers who become more curious in digging more on language and gender field. In her book

  , You Just Don’t Understand (1990), she explains how men and women interpret the same conversation differently. She sparks off a differentiation of man’s and woman’s language. It consists of six classification, which is formulated as below:

  2.1.1 Status v.s. Support

  According to Tannen (1990:9), men engage a conversation as “negotiations in which people try to achieve and maintain the upper hand if they can, and protect themselves from others' attempts to put them down and push them around.” In men’s point of view, life, then, is a contest, a struggle to preserve independence and avoid failure. Thus, when someone kindly gives an advice or a comment, they take it as an effort to push them down. She (1990:28) also claims that seeking for a help makes men uncomfortable. That is why men resist asking for direction and other kinds of information.

  On the other hand, in women’s eyes, conversation is a tool to exchange confirmation and express support for they see the world as a network of connection that they use language both to seek and express support. That is why, as Tannen states

  (1990:30), “Many women do not only feel comfortable seeking help, but also feel honor-bound to seek it, accept it, and display gratitude in exchange.

  ”

  2.1.2 Advice v.s. Understanding

  Tannen (1990:22) illustrates another difference of men and women by giving an example of her fellow’s experience. Eve had a lump removed from her breast. She tells her sister how upsetting to have been cut into, her sister responds, “I know. When I had my operation I felt the same way.

  ” However, when she tells her husband, Mark, she gets an upsetting respond, “You can have plastic surgery to cover up the scar and restore the shape of your breast.

  ” The illustration clearly shows that men tend to seek and give a solution to a problem for they put their focus on trying to solve problems or fix troubles. Unlike men who usually do everything logically, women live by feeling. Women seek sympathy when they tell their problems. They, nevertheless, will also give comfort and sympathy for other p eople’s problems. For them, trouble talk is intended to send the meta- message “We're the same; you're not alone.”

  2.1.3 Information v.s. Feelings

  In accord with Holmes (1992: 132), men refer more to referential or information-oriented talk. They talk when they aim to tell information, whereas women used to verbalize their feeling. Tannen quotes a proverb (1990:35)

  , “A woman's tongue wags like a lamb's tail. Foxes are all tail and women are all tongue.

  ” It seems like women have an allocation of talking each day, this is why they are often cited talkative. Moreover, the result of surveys done by Mulac & Lundell in 1994 and 1986 (Newman, 2008: 213) shows that women come out as the wordier gender both in writing and speaking.

  2.1.4 Orders v.s. Proposals

  When speaking to other people, men usually use imperatives to express their n eed, such as “Close the door.” and “Don’t ever talk to me while I’m driving.” On the contrary, women’s need is formulated as proposals rather than commands. Thus, in most cases, women tend to begin their request with

  „let’s’ as a suggestion or ask politely “Would you mind turning on the lamp?” Moreover, Tannen(1990:19) illustrates, Boys’ game have winners and losers and elaborate systems of rules that are frequently the subjects of arguments. Finally, boys are frequently heard to boast of their skill and argue about who is best at what. Girls, on the other hand, play in small groups or in pairs; the center of a girl's social life is a best friend. Since men engage the world as a contest, they think by giving orders can show that they are powerful. However, women are expected not to boast about their skill even if they are more skilled than the others. It is supported by Lakoff (Haas, 1979: 617) who argues that wome n are expected to be more polite. She notes that women’s speech is characterized by the use of compound request such as, “Won’t you please close the door?” The more it is compounded, the more it show women’s speech.

  2.1.5 Conflict v.s. Compromise

  Both women and men have their own perspective in seeing conflict. As Tannen (1990:67) also observes that,

  To most women, conflict is a threat to connection, to be avoided at all costs. Disputes are preferably settled without direct confrontation. But to many men, conflict is the necessary means by which status is negotiated, so it is to be accepted and may even be sought, embraced, and enjoyed.

  Men used to argue their opinion and thoughts which often lead to a conflict whilst women more likely refuse to oppose for they tend to prevent conflict.

  2.1.6 Independence v.s Intimacy

  Commonly, both men and women seek for independence and intimacy, but then, men tend to concern more on being independent whereas women focus to build intimacy. As Tannen(1990:10) states,

  “Though all humans need both intimacy and independence, women tend to focus on the first and men on the second.

  ” Since men see the world as a competitive place, they think by being independent they can achieve their status; they like to be seen strong and do not need any help. Thus, they usually feel henned in if they have to report everytime they are going to go or do something. They often feel annoyed by lengthy discussions about things they see as minor decisions, even they see the question “What do you think?” as a chance given for them to decide. In contrast, women see the world as a place to build connection and intimacy. They naturally prefer consulting with their partners at every turn. For them, discussion is the evidence of involvement and communication.

2.2 Politeness Strategy

  Politeness strategy is introduced in Politeness-Some Universals in Language Use, a book written by Brown and Levinson (1978). According to them (1978:61), politeness serves as a tool to ma intain someone’s face. In politeness, face can be defined as the public self-image of a person. Yule (1996:60) states that face refers to that emotional and social sense of self that everyone has and expects everyone else to recognize. Actually, there are four strategies of bald-on-record; negative politeness, positive politeness, off-record, and bald-on-record. However, in this section, only bald-on-record is explained since it is the focus of the analysis here.

2.3 Bald-on-record

  Bald on-record is the politeness strategy used on-recordly or straight to the point. According to Brown and Levinson (1987:68-69), an actor (S) goes on-record in doing an act A if it is clear to participants (H) what communicative intention led the actor to do A (i.e., there is just one ambiguously attributable intention with which witnesses would concur). In doing bald-on-record, the speaker may perform the face threat with no minimization or minimizing face threats by implication. According to the sentence form, imperatives represent bald-on-record best. Imperatives are, then, divided into two kinds: direct imperatives and softened imperatives. Thus, it can be concluded that there are 3 sub-strategies can be performed in going baldly on-record.

2.3.1 Implication

  Implication is a strategy in which S’ message is told on-record but contains an indirectness meaning. Brown and Levinson (1987: 95) state that implication is used when S aims to minimize face threat in doing Face Threatening Act (FTA) baldly on record. Thus, in doing implication, one may only tell what he/she wants or feels without demanding directly. For instance, as feeling terribly exhausted, a girl (S) says to a boy (H), “I really need you to help me cleaning the classroom. There are a lot of cockroaches straying on the corner o f the room.” In the utterance, the girl only tells that she needs the boy’s help and she sees a lot of cockroaches in the classroom.

  Then, it can be concluded that the girl wants the boy to take charge of the cockroaches.

  According to Brown and Levinson (1987: 95), direct imperatives stand out as clear examples of bald-on-record usage. Basically, direct imperative is a type of sentence by which the speaker expresses his/her request or instruction directly. For instance, a boss (S) says to his secretary (H), “Make me a glass of tea and bring me the files I need for presentation. Make no delay.” The utterance shows that the boss tells directly what he wants his secretary to do for him.

2.3.3 Softened Imperative

  In Brown’s and Levinson’s (1987: 95) opinion, imperatives may appear in a softened form. Thus, softened imperative can be defined as a type of sentence in which the message is told directly but in a soft form. Unlike the direct ones, softened imperatives require the use of negative-poli teness respect terms such as “Could you

  …?” or mitigating device such as “please”. In accord with Yule (1996:63), mitigating devices are the expressions serving to soften the demand.

  A softened imperative may be used when a sister says to her brother, “Could you please be quiet? I can’t do my homework if you keep making noise.” By saying so, she wants her brother to be quiet. Her need is delivered directly, but softened since there are mitigating device “Could you ...?” and “please” used in the utterance.

CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS This chapter covers the analysis of data and the discussion of findings

  regarding to the research problems. It is focused on the analysis of both men ’s and women

  ’s utterances in Gossip Girl Season1 moviescript containing bald-on-record politeness strategies.

4.1. Bald-on-record Used in Man’s Language

  In this classification, there are twelve data analyzed representing the sub- strategies of bald-on-record used in ma n’s language which indicate the differences between men and women.

4.1.1. Implication Used in Ma

  

n’s Language

  Here, six data containing implication used in man’s language are analyzed. There are two data representing status vs. support, one for advice vs. understanding, two for information vs. feeling, and one for orders vs. proposals.

4.1.1.1. Implication Indicating Status vs. Support Data 1

  

Context: Lily (H) worries about Serena, her daughter who seems to fall in love with

  Dan, Rufus’ son. So, she asks Rufus (S) to meet her at a restaurant. At first, they are talking about their children’s relationship but their conversation turns into a nostalgia when Rufus begins to talk about their relationship and memories they had when they were couple. Then, he asks Lily if she has met someone new and drag Bart, Lily’s boyfriend into the conversation.

  RUFUS : Are you seeing someone? LILY : No, not really. RUFUS : Uh-huh, not serious...or he's married. That is your type. LILY : That's enough, Rufus. RUFUS : What's his name?

   I've read about him in Forbes or Rolling Stone? (Gossip Girl, Episode 2) Analysis:

  Rufus and Lily must have unforgetable sweet memories that breaking up and marrying the other man or woman cannot remove the memories they had before.

  Rufus’ question Are you seeing someone? does not mean Rufus does not know if Lily has found someone new. It is only a bridge he makes to tease Lily. Actually, Rufus knows that Lily is courting Bart boyfriend that he finally asks

  What’s his

name? I've read about him in "Forbes" or "Rolling Stone"? Forbes, an American

  business magazine, refers to a magazine in which news of Bart is reported, whereas Rolling Stone, a American music magazine, r efers to news of Rufus’s band.

  For Rufus, it is hard to forget how they were separated just because Lily’s mother thought that Rufus is not rich enough to keep up with Lily. Indeed, fame, friends, and fund can lead someone to be accepted socially. Therefore, in his utterance, Rufus wants to show Lily that he also can look great in his way as being reported in a popular magazine makes Rufus feels so proud. He knows that he is not as rich and famous as Bart but he proofs that being a millionaire is not the only way to be accepted socially. Therefore, Lily only needs to choose between the millionaire and the musician. Rufus utterance is showing Rufus’ effort to build status.

  Rufus wants Lily to notice that he is also fabulous. However, he does not do it directly; he only implies his fame that he and his band are reported in Rolling Stone.

  Thus, Rufus’ utterance is called implication. Despite of being told on-record, the real message contains an indirect meaning.

  The explanation above, then, leads to a conclusion that the data proves that man’s language is characterized with a seeking of status. Thus, it supports a claim in difference theory that men tend to seek for status.

  Data 2

Context : Dan (S) terribly ends his first date with Serena. Instead of taking her to the

  front door, he only waves his hand and goes. On the next day, when Jenny (H) asks about the date, Dan tells her that he regrets his foolish action.

  DAN : You only get one shot with a girl like Serena. I got mine, and I blew it.

  JENNY : Which means you have nothing to lose.

  DAN : (sighs) No, nothing except my last shred of dignity.

   (Gossip Girl, Episode 2)

  Analysis:

  Having a perfect date is everyone’s dream. However, not everyone does his/her best to make it perfect, including Dan in this data. Dating the girl on whom he has been crushing since sixth grade in elementary school has made Dan both very excited and nervous. As the result, after having a fascinating conversation, Dan waves his hand and goes home.

  For most people, it is really a silly decision ending a date only with a wave. In this data, Dan is telling how regretful he is not to walk Serena to the door and make a sweet goodbye. He just waves and goes home, instead. Then, Jenny says that there is no need to regret what he did. In contrast, for Dan, it is a fatal mistake since he knows it is like a miracle dating an Manhattan popular girl like Serena and only dumb man breaks it. Dan’s utterance No, nothing except my last shred of dignity shows the mistake he does it causes him to lose his dignity. As it can be seen in this data, Dan hates it when he loses his pride in front of a girl, not to mention the girl he likes.

  Therefore, creating a good impression is crucial for it can maintain his status as a real man.

  Dan’s utterance is called implication since through his utterance, he tells indirectly his feelings. By mentioning that he has lost his dignity, he wants Jenny to see how great the risk of the mistake he has done.

  In accord with the explanation above, it is known that the data supports the difference theory in which Deborah Tannen states that men use language mostly to seek status. Dignity is something sacred for men, it has to be maintained. Men will never let anyone or anything take it from them.

4.1.1.2. Implication Indicating Advice vs. Understanding Data 3

  

Context: Jenny (H) looks sad because finally, she is overwhelmed trying to act and

  dress like her new rich and fashionable schoolmates. Then, Dan (S) comes to cheer her up.

  JENNY : You know, I thought I could trade the dress, and wear it that night and return it but just...

  DAN : Look, it’s your birthday, so I think we should get some ice cream and we can talk about all this stuff later, okay?

  JENNY : (nods and smiles)Okay DAN : I’ll just let Dad know what we’re gonna do.

  (about to leave and stops for a while) Jen, you--you have so much more to offer than the things that those girls have, really.You've got so much more to bring to the table. You just need to find a way to believe that. JENNY smiles

  (Gossip Girl, Episode 14) Analysis:

  Many girls dream to always look fashionable with branded stuffs, so does Jenny. However, branded stuffs are usually sold with an expensive price. Thus, people often say, being fashionable and famous costs a lot. Jenny needs a lot of money to buy branded clothes, bag, and other girl’s stuff. At first, she enjoys being one of popular girls in school, but finally she cannot deny that it is overwhelming to be more she can be.

  As a brother, Dan notices the change that happens to Jenny. His little sister is no longer a simple girl, she is one of the gang now. Some people likes changing for it can lead them to new things, system, and lifestyle. However, there are also destructive changes, which happens to Jenny and Dan does not like it. Thus, as seeing Jenny lying at her bed with a sad face, he thinks it is the right time to talk with her. From the data above, it can be seen, Dan gives Jenny an advice

  . Dan’s utterance shows his opinion of Jenny that she gets more uniqueness to show to people. She just does not realize yet that she is also beautiful without wearing branded clothes. She should not try hard to be another girl for the sake of social acceptance. Having branded clothes is not the only way to be famous. In short, Dan suggests Jenny to be herself.

  By saying the utterance, Dan hopes Jenny will realize that she is special in her own way.

  Uniquely, Dan’s suggestion appears in implication form as one of bald-on- record sub-strategy the data shows it is delivered indirectly.

  In accord with the analysis above, it can be concluded that this data supports Tannen’s theory in which she observes that men tend to give advice as solution to a problem.

4.1.1.3. Implication Indicating Information vs. Feeling

  

Context: Eleanor is preparing herself to go to bed when Laurel, her assistant and the

  photographer she hires for her fashion line’s photoshoot. The photographer (S) tells Eleanor (H) that Blair, her daughter, has no competence in being a photo model.

  ELEANOR : Wha t’s the emergency? Apart from my not getting my sleep before the big day, Laurel and why could we simply have discussed over the phone?

  LAUREL : Cause if we didn’t meet in person, I couldn’t show you these (put Blair’s photos on the table.)

  PHOTOGRAPHER : I dont think this girl is what you’re trying to say, unapproachable,controled, perfect.

  ELEANOR : She is not unapproachable. She is poised. She’s regal. PHOTOGRAPHER : Look, I know she's your daughter, and I don't want to make problems...but your girl is rigid like a twig. You

   know, she's afraid to let you in, so your works of art and she fails to achieve what's the word? ELEANOR : Symbiosis. (Gossip Girl, Episode 4) Analysis:

  As Eleanor’s clothing line gets famous, she needs a model of her clothing line. She tells that she is looking for someone like her.

  Based on her assistant’s advice, she chooses Blair, her daughter, as the model. She believes that Blair will be the best representation of her line. A proverb says

  “like mother, like daughter”, but in this data, it does not work. For the photographer, Blair has no ability a model supposed to have. However, telling the bad news is not an easy task because it will lead to Eleano r’s confusion choosing between her daughter and her line’s future. In this data, the photographer opens the conversation by saying Look, I know she's your daughter,

  

and I don't want to make problems to show that he only inteds to tell the bad news

  even tho ugh it will hurt someone’s feeling. In addition, word „look’ at the beginning of the utterance, which plays a role as the attention-getter, indicate the message to tell is very important.

  The photographer’s utterance also shows that regardless of the fact that Blair is Eleanor’s daughter, it is the photographer’s duty to tell Blair’s failure in representing the line as Eleanor wants. Therefore, the photographer’s utterance is classified into information-oriented message.

  By telling Blair’s failure, the photographer wants Eleanor to hire another experienced model. Uniquely, the photographer does not express his wish directly, he only tells his opinion about Blair’s performance, so at the end, Eleanor may consider to look for another model if she still wants her line go public. Thus, the photographer’s utterance is an implication.

  This data supports the claim in difference theory telling that men use language to seek for and tell information in most conversation. The analysis above makes it clear that the photographer as a man aims to tell information despite of the information will hurt either Eleanor or Blair.

  Data 5

  

Context: On their first date, Dan (S) takes Serena (H) to watch the concert of Lincoln

Hawk, his dad’s band. Then, Serena asks for Dan’s opinion of her outfit.

  SERENA : So, I’m a little overdressed, aren’t I?

  DAN :

  

Honestly, I don’t really have a problem with your

appearance.

  (Gossip Girl, Episode 1)

  Analysis: As a fashionable girl, Serena always uses attractive outfits wherever she goes.

  On the first date with Dan, Serena looks beautiful as wearing a glittering blouse with a scarf and holds a clutch. However, knowing that Lincoln Hawk is a rock band, she thinks she chooses an improper outfit. She may thinks that she should wear a casual outfit. Fortunately, Dan does not mind for in his eye, Serena is the most beautiful girl and she is and will always be beautiful in every cloth she wears.

  In Serena’s utterance, it can be assumed that Serena expresses her feeling that she is not too confident to watch a rock band concert wearing an outfit she chooses.

  On the other hand, the data shows Dan’s utterance may means that he notices Serena is overdressed, but he does not take it as a problem. For him, the most important is not Serena’s appearance, but her presence. Taking Serena on a date is more than enough; he could not ask more than that. Moreover, Serena’s utterance is a question requiring a yes/no answer, but Dan answers in a different way instead. Actually, he does not answer the question as he should, as it can be seen in the data, he only tells that whether Serena is overdressed or not, he does not mind.

  Based on the explanation above, it is known that through his utterance, Dan only tells information to Serena. In addition, Dan’s utterance actually contains a command. By telling the information, Dan aims to ask Serena to not to worry of her appearance for it is not the point. Uniquely, at a glance, it does not seem as a command. The command is not delivered directly, indeed. It is called implication. minimizes face threat. In using implication, the speaker usually tells what he/she thinks or needs.

  Since this data shows that Dan expresses only information through language. Thus, t his data also clearly proves that Deborah Tannen’s claim in her difference theory is correct telling that in most cases, men tend to seek for and tells information.

4.1.1.4. Implication Indicating Orders vs. Proposals Data 6

  

Context : After weeks, Serena and Dan (S) have never had sex because they find no

  better place to spend time together. They finally have sex at Dan’s home when everybody is going out. Suddenly, Vanessa, Dan’s ex-girlfriend (H) comes through Dan’s room window as usual when the date is just going to its top. Immediately, Dan leads Vanessa to the front door and tells her that she has to use the door to come in.

  VANESSA : (coming from window) Hey Dan, hungry? DAN : Hello

  VANESSA : (to SERENA) Hi SERENA : Hi, Vanessa, right? Good to see you

  VANESSA : Good to see you DAN : And good to see you seeing us seeing you.

  (to SERENA)Excuse me (grab VANESSA out his bedroom) You really need to start using that door. (pointing the front door)

  (Gossip Girl, Episode 7)

  Analysis :

  A date will usually turns into an awkward moment when someone come in interrupting the romance. That is what happens to Serena and Dan when seeing Vanessa comes in a sudden through Dan’s room window. She used to do it since she was Dan’s girlfriend. Of course, Dan is irritated that his romantic moment has been interrupted just because Vanesssa is coming. Leading Vanessa to the front door, he tells Vanessa that she should get in through the front door. Dan’s utterance can be categorized as an order because he wants Vanessa to do as he wishes. In addition, by telling so, he wants Vanessa to know that Vanessa’s coming is unexpected. He hopes Vanessa will understand that he is no longer the guy she can meet anytime she wants, he is falling in love deeply with Serena and now his time belongs to Serena.

  Vanessa is still welcome at his home but she should try a new way of getting in since keep getting in through window clearly shows that she still loves him.

  Dan may do it in anger, since it is clearly Vanessa’s mistake getting in through Dan’s room window whereas she can use the front door. However, instead of comanding Vanessa rudely, Dan tells it in an implication by which he expresses his wish indirectly.

  Based on the explanation above, it can be concluded tha t Dan’s utterance in this data support what Tannen proposes in her theory that to ask someone to do something, men tend to use order forms.

4.1.2. Direct Imperatives Used in Ma n’s Language

  Here, four data containing direct imperatives used in man’s language are found and analyzed. There are two representing advice vs. understanding, one for orders vs. proposals, and one for information vs. feeling.

4.1.2.1 Direct Imperatives Indicating Advice vs. Understanding Data 7 Context:

  Bart, Chuck’s Dad, holds a brunch attended by Manhattan’s elites. Being forced by her mother, Serena also attends the brunch. Chuck (S) knows Blair (H) worries that Nate will meet and talk to Serena secretly. Then, Chuck walks towards Blair and give his suite key.

  Chuck comes approaching BLAIR BLAIR : I can’t believe Serena comes to this brunch.

  I told her to stay away. CHUCK : You worried about Nate? I think you know what you need to do to get his attention BLAIR

  : And what’s that? (looking at they key in CHUCK’s hand) CHUCK : The key to my suite, Nate’s heart and your future happiness.

   (hands over a key) Just grab Nate and finish this. Report back with details.

  BLAIR smiles and goes.

  (Gossip Girl, Episode 2) Analysis:

  Nowadays, an affair between a boyfriend and a bestfriend is not a suprising news, but still, it is irritating. That happens to Blair. Knowing that her bestfriend have had sex with the only boy she loves must causes a great pain for her. As seeing Serena attends the brunch, she worries Nate will reconnect with Serena.

  To mend a broken heart, one cannot take medicines. Chuck believes that love and sex are the cures. As a friend, he knows what Blair feels, so he walks towards Blair and offer a solution. With a key in his hand, he says Just grab Nate and finish

  this

  . The key he gives to Blair is his suite key. Thus, Chuck’s utterance simply means that there is no need to worry about Nate’s and Serena’s affair, all Blair needs to do is taking Nate to Chuck’s suite and have sex. In short, for Chuck, Blair had better do something instead of keep worrying.

  Thus, Chuck’s utterance is a kind of advice. Concerning the sentence form and the meaning contained within, it can be concluded that Chuck’s utterance is a direct imperative since Chuck commands