Previous Related Studies REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

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2.7 Previous Related Studies

The study of speech functions has gained a significant attention from those who are interested in discourse study. Speech function or speech act which is perceived as the function language may have in one’s interaction is employed to elicit one’s roles and relations with others in an interaction. Thus, the studies show the patterns of role and relationships between the interactants. The interactants here may be anybody: between men, women, men and women, young, old, young and old, even children. They can be native speakers, non-native speakers, or native speaker and non-native speaker. The studies show the patterns of role and relationships between the interactants. Halliday 1975 studied the acquisition of children early speech functions. It was found that there are seven initial functions children may work with their language: instrumental ‘I want’: a function to satisfy material needs, regulatory ‘do as I tell you’: a function of controlling the behaviour of others, interactional ‘me and you’: a function to get along with other people, personal ‘here I come’: a function of identifying and expressing the self, heuristic ‘tell me why’: a function of exploring the world around and inside one, imaginative ‘let’s pretend’: a function of creating a world of one’s own, and informative ‘I’ve got something to tell you’: a function of communicating new information. Brown and Yule 1983 investigated the speaking and listening skills of secondary school pupils in Britain. They found that while most pupils were able to use language for social purposes, they were much less skilled at using language for transactional purposes that is, language used to get things done in the real 48 world. In addition, the pupils were not particularly skilled at taking what Brown and Yule refer to as ‘long turns’ – that is, monologues in which the speaker is required to put together a coherent sequence of utterances. Eggins and Slade 1997 studied some casual conversations between English native speakers to know the interpersonal relationships between interactants. They found that talk involving interactants who are close and familiar frequently has a confrontational orientation and results in talk that is quite highly elliptical. On the other hand, in casual conversation involving less intimate participants, there is an orientation towards consensus. They also found that conversation is less interactive in contexts where the participants’ social identities represent differences, such as gender, ethnicity and age, which have particular significance in the culture. 49

2.8 Theoretical Framework