Formulation of the Problems Objectives of the Problem

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2. Context

Context is a vital concept in pragmatic analysis since pragmatics explores the meaning of words in a certain context or interaction and how the individuals engaged in the interaction make communication and state information more than the word they use. In other words, context provides more effects to the information than the explicit meaning that the words bear. For example, when a man says “the soup is tasteless” during a lunch, he may want someone to pass him the salt. The statement above is in line with Yule’s theory. Yule 2006:114 mentions that context refers to the physical environment where a word is employed. Meanwhile, Mey 1993: 39-40 suggests that context is beyond reference and understanding what things are about. Context allows the speaker to give a deeper meaning on their utterances. The utterance “It is a long time since we visited your father”, when spoken in a bed room by a married couple, is totally different in meaning when it is spoken by a husband to his wife while standing in front of a monkey at the zoo, since it is considered to be a joke. The example above reflects the clear case in pragmatics as the study of contextual meaning. That is why analyzing the meaning of an utterance must pay attention to the context since the meaning of an utterance will be far different if the context is different. Context will set the utterance’s interpretation.. a. Context of situation 9 Context of situation or situational context means the speakers are aware of what they can see around them Cutting, 2002: 3. It becomes a necessary part in communication. The definition is similar to what Widdowson assumes. He reveals that a word in spoken or written language is like in real situation, in which the word can be useless without any context of situation 2004: 37. Further, Hymes 1974: 55-60 proposes some concepts to explain the context of situation. For convenience, he finds the term SPEAKING as an acronym for the various factors he sees as relevant. 1 Setting and Scene S Setting means the time and place, i.e. the concrete physical circumstances where a speech event happens. For example, a bed room in a couple’s house might be a setting for a love and romantic story. Scene means the psychological setting which is abstract, or the cultural definition of the occasion, which involves some features such as range of formality and sense of play or seriousness. For instance, a love story may be told at a cafe where a couple is sitting and dining. At this time, the couple would be delightful, while at some other time, they can be serious and quarelling to each other. 2 Participants P Participants refer to the those who are uttering and to whom they are uttering. Participants may be speaker and hearer, addressor-addressee, or sender- receiver. The social factors, namely age, gender, status, social distance, and role or profession of the participants can be relevant as well, for example, teacher and student.