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Preference structure has divided second parts into prefered and dispreferred social acts. The most usual patterns of preference structure are given
below. Table. 1 The General Patterns of Preferred and Dispreferred Structures
Levinson, 1983
Preference Structure First Part
Second Part Preferred
Dispreferred
Assessment Agree
Disagree Invitation
Accept Refuse
Offer Accept
Decline Proposal
Agree Disagree
Request Accept
Refuse
When choosing whether request or offers as first parts, acceptance becomes the prefered and refusal becomes the dispreferred second part. In
examples [-a.-d.], the responses in each second part all denote preferred structure. That is why acceptance or agreement is the preferred second part in response to a
request [a], an offer [b], an assessment [c.], or a proposal [d].
First Part Second Part
a. Can you help me? Sure
b. Want some coffee? Yes, please.
c. Isn’t that really great? Yes, it is.
d. Maybe we could go for a walk That’d be great.
In order to clearly identify how these preferred second parts are expected in the examples above, people must imagine each first part is met with silence. In
any adjacency pair, silence which positions the second part may be interpreted as a dispreferred response.
1 The Preferred Structure
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- Father : Hey, you’re gonna do with mommy, Okay?
- Son : Okay accept
-Father : And I’ll call you every day.
- Son : Promise me?
- Father : You’ll be alright. You’ll be alright.
It is obvious that an expectation exists in the next act which contains acceptance, and thus, this act is considered as a preferred structure.
2 The Dispreferred Structure - Son
: Mom - Mommy
: Not now, darl -Son
: But, Mom, please -Mommy
: I told you, not now. Refuse And listen to me, Jim. This is the time for mom to work.
The adjacency pair above shows dispreferred structure where the adjacency pairs indicates unexpected act or refusal from the mommy because she is in a rush
before going to work.
d. The Function of Response
Each dialogue has feedback or response within the conversation topic. For the response toward answer, the researcher employs Stenström’s theory. He states
that “responding act is addressee’s next obligatory move in the exchange after speaker’s initiation” p. 109.
1 Responding to Statement When a speaker makes a statement, he or she will expect a reply from the
person he or she is talking to. There are three categories of responding to statement, that is, acknowledging to inform and opine, agreeing to inform and
opine, and objecting to inform and opine. a Acknowledging to inform and opine
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Acknowledge refers to the signal that the addressee agrees what the speaker states as a valid contribution to the conversation. The simplest way of
giving a response is by using the “acknowledge” that enables the addressee to respond without stating whether shehe approvesdisapproves of that they have
heard. The markers can be “ah, all right, I see, oh, ok, quite, really, right, gosh, oh dear, goodness, and so on” Stenström, 1994:111.
Example: A: I have no news of Wessex at all. B: I see
b Agreeing to inform and opine Agreeing indicates that the addressee accepts what the speaker means.
There are some markers of agreeing to inform and opine, such as, “absolutely, all right, fine, good, ok, precisely, quite, right, that’s right, yesno, and so forth”
Stenström, 1994: 112. Example: A: I just found that Dona will stump up any money to cover the girl’s
time. B: Good.
c Objecting to inform and opine Objecting means the indication that the addressee does not accept the
speaker’s statement. It is considered strange if the addressee always agrees to all the speaker states. It would either show that the addressee has no opinion or that
shehe either does not have anything to tell or shehe is not interested in the topic. Some markers of objecting to inform and opine are “well, yes but, not but”
Stenström, 1994: 113. Example: A: I always thought she got on well together, both has strong wills.
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B: Yes but Shanti, strong-willed person has to take another for better or worse the same as the one without strong wills.
2 Responding to Question A question always demands a proper answer. Nonetheless, not all answers
are right in the sense that they do answer the interviewer’s question. In regards to the response to question, it is categorized into five types, i.e complying, implying,
supplying, evading and disclaiming Stenström, 1994: 114.
a Complying Complying is the only direct and adequate type of response to a question.
The other responses or questions are not exactly or not considered at all straight to the point. Thus, it is said that complying gives no more than the information being
asked for. Example:
A: When is it? B: Tomorrow at four twenty.
b Implying Implying means the act which indirectly gives answers to the question or
implicitly gives proper information; otherwise, it answers the question indirectly. Example:
A: Do you want the applicants to go to the registry office directly?
B: Not many.
The conversation indicates that B answers the question indirectly. B wants the applicants to go to the registry office but not many.
c Supplying
