Bald on Record Payoffs
69 perform off record strategy based on the findings of the first research question.
The off record payoffs are exemplified in dialogues 16 and 17.
Dialogue 16 Setting
: On the Top of A Building Situation
: Gretta asks Dan to play the bass for the recording project. Participants : Dan and Gretta
Gretta : “I‟m sorry, wait a minute. Um, do you play bass?”
Dan : talking to the others “You were out of tune, you were flat.”
Gretta :
“Because I read on the internet that you used to play a bass. So, um, I think seeing as we‟ve got Violet doing some guitar on this,
this should be a family affair.” OR Dan
: “I am a producer „cause I do not play bass, baby.”
Dan and Gretta are working on their outdoor album because the record label when Dan works has refused to make contract with Gretta. Since they do not
have contract with the record label, they have to find a way to record the songs because they may have a financial problem. They decide to do the recording
without using any studios which means that they do outside recording. The situation of the conversation above shows that Gretta performs off record strategy
because she gives hints for Dan to play the bass. By putting hints in her utterance and performing off record strategy, Gretta can be able to avoid the potential threat
of coercing the hearer in doing something. Moreover, she can avoid the responsibility of doing the Face Threatening Acts. Therefore, Gretta can build the
image in which she does not give coercion to Dan to play the bass. Gretta can build the condition as if Dan is willing to play the bass for the music recording
without being coerced by others. Another situation which can give the chance to obtain off record payoffs is
where Dan and Gretta are arguing about Dan‟s problem. Gretta opens their PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
70 conversation by saying that it will be better if Dan comes back to his family and
lives together with them. However, it seems that the topic about the family problems is too offensive for Dan. In this situation, Dan is expressing an utterance
which includes in the element of metaphor. The conversation between Dan and Gretta is illustrated in dialogue 17.
Dialogue 17 Setting
: A restaurant. Situation
: Dan and Gretta were having dinner that suddenly Gretta talked about Dan and his daughter.
Participants : Dan and Gretta.
Gretta : “You know, it was nice to see you with Violet today. It must be
hard not seeing her more.
”
Dan : “Yeah, it‟s…”
Gretta : “So, why don‟t you? I mean, she obviously really needs her father
around. ”
Dan :
“What, are you the fucking social services now?” OR Gretta
: “No, no, I mean, I‟m just saying. It must have been fairly tense for you to leave, especially seeing as how much she obviously wants
you around. ”
In dialogue 17, Dan said “What, are you the fucking social services now?”
to Gretta because she talked about the topic which was too sensitive for Dan. Dan does not like if there is someone who just knows him suddenly talks about his
private matters. The underlined utterance above implies that Dan gives critics to Gretta for having talked about Dan‟s private matter. He gives critic to Gretta by
comparing her with a social service worker who always deals with family matters. By doing that, Dan let
Gretta interpret Dan‟s actual desire. Therefore, Dan can obtain the off record payoff in avoiding the responsibility of doing the face threat
to Gretta. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
71 From the discussion above, it can be concluded that the speaker tends to
produce indirect statements to convey the actual desire. The idea of off record payoffs is to avoid the responsibility of doing the FTA. Thus, the speaker will
give implication in the utterances and let the hearer interprets the actual meaning. Furthermore, by going off record, the speaker can avoid the threat of coercing the
hearer to fulfill his desire.
2 Sociological Variables
According to Brown and Levinson 1987, there are three factors which are included in sociological variables, namely, social distance, relative power, and
rank of imposition. Those three factors are used to assess the seriousness of an FTA. Each factor has its own assessment that will affect the speaker in choosing
the politeness strategies. A deeper discussion about each factor of the sociological variables will be presented in the following sections.