The Japanese sumimasen is equivalent to I’m sorry in English.
418
Eisenstein and Bodman proves that in responding to the unexpected offer of salary increase
which is stated by a Vice-President of a company, a Japanese participant, without using arigatoo o
r any other thanking strategy, expresses gratitude by saying: ―I‘m sorry. I will try harder in the future.‖
419
It indicates that, in Japanese culture, the usage and use of Japanese arigatoo as a thanking strategy which is equivalent to
thank you in English entirely depends on the contexts of the favor being thanked. This fact proves that a believe that considers thanking is able to be used by
everybody to explicitly express thanking to everyone in every situation where gratitude is appropriately expressed is eventually language-specific and non-
universal alternative use of thanking. By this fact, in the present study, positive pragmalinguistic transfer which is made by EL still may potentially occur.
b. Difference in the Use of Appreciation Strategy
According to the categorization of expressions of gratitude which are made by AEs and INs in every situation, appreciation in the subcategory by using the
word appreciate; and by using the word appreciate and mentioning imposition caused by the favor are used by AEs in expressing gratitude. This fact indicates
that, by pragmalinguistic approach, American English as LI of AEs provides appreciation, at any kind of subcategories, as one of strategies which is able to be
used by the speakers of American English to convey illocutionary act of thanking.
418
Noriko Tanaka, Helen Spencer- Oatey and Ellen Cray, ―Apologies in Japanese and English,‖ in
Spancer-Oatey, Helen., editor, Culturally Speaking: Culture, Communication and Politeness Theory. New York: Continuum, 2000, p. 75.
419
Miriam Eisenstein and Jean Bodman 1993, op.cit. p. 74.
It confirms Cheng‘s arguement which states that American English provides appreciation as an important strategy in expressing gratitude to explicitly show
appreciation to the favor giver, whosoever they are, intimate friends, acquaintances, strangers, superiors and subordinates.
420
But, the present study finds that appreciation is dominantly used by more than half of AEs only in
situation 3 and 5.
421
The similar contextual variables in situation 3 and 5 are low- status and high-imposition contexts. Thus, in the present study, it is proven that,
for AEs, the alternative of use of appreciation depends on contextual factors. In contrast to AEs, in every given situation, besides situation 15, there is no
IN who uses appreciation strategy in expressing gratitude. In situation 15, there is only one IN who use appreciation strategy: ―… Saya sangat menghargai waktu
yang telah anda luangkan. I really appreciate your time that you have made for me.
…‖
422
The appreciation which is used is in the subcategory by using the word appreciate or equivalent to menghargai in Indonesian language and mentioning
the imposition which is caused by the favor. It is the only appreciation strategy which is used by IN. But, this data alone is not enough to conclude that, by
pragmalinguistic approach, Indonesian does not provide appreciation strategy to convey illocutionary act of thanking in informal thanking situations which are
given in the present study. Further studies are needed to examine whether appreciation is provided by Indonesian to convey illocutionary act of thanking.
But, if it is looked in depth, rather than to convey illocutionary act of thanking, by the fact, in today‘s formal or informal communication in Indonesia,
420
Stephanie Weijung Cheng 2005, op.cit. p.14.
421
Table 5.3 and Table 5.5 AE 1-10 Appendix 5
422
Table 5.15 IN 7 Appendix 5
appreciation strategy is more frequent to be used by Indonesians as a strategy which precedes the expressions of disaggrement or refusal. For example, ―Saya
sangat menghargai pendapat Anda, namun menurut saya teori ini lebih baik untuk diterapkan pada kasus ini. I really appreciate your opinion, but, for me, this
theory is better to be applied to this case.‖ Or, ―Saya sangat menghargai usahamu. Namun, saya tidak bisa mengizinkamu ujian akhir di hari lain. I really appreciate
your effort. But, I cannot let you to reschedule the final exam.‖
Thus, almost all INs never use appreciation strategy in expressing gratitude may potentially seem due to most Indonesians believe that the illocutionary force
of appreciation strategy is to precede and soften disagreement or refusal. But, once again, further studies are needed to ensure what illocutionary force which is
assigned in appreciation strategy for Indonesian. On the other hand, for AEs, appreciation strategy is able to express illocutionary act of thanking. This
condition potentially leads ELs as Indonesian learners of English to do negative pragmalinguistic transfer since illocutionarry force which is assigned in
appreciation strategy for AEs and INs is significantly incongruent.
c. Difference in the Use of Alerter Strategy
