7
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
A. Literature Review
This chapter presents theories used in this study. It includes pragmatics, scope of pragmatics, speech acts
, Austin and Searle’s categorization of speech acts, felicity conditions, types of speech acts based on the way they are delivered,
and Bully video game as the object of the research.
1. Pragmatics
a. Definition
The study of language is called linguistics as it concerns with language phenomenon including its form, sound, and the way a speaker produces it in
communication. Communication cannot be separated from its context. Context is needed to study language in use. Pragmatics studies language in context.
According to Yule 1996:3, pragmatics is the study of meaning in particular context. It studies more about what speakers mean by their utterances in the
interpretation of the particular context and how the context influences what is said. Thus, pragmatics is also called the study of contextual meaning.
In addition, Yule 1996:4 also explains the relationship among other areas of linguistics study, namely syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Syntax studies the
linguistic forms that generally take place without considering any world of reference. Semantics studies the relationship between linguistic form and the
entities in the world or how words connect to things regardless of who produces
8
that description. On the other hand, pragmatics allows humans into the analysis. It studies the linguistic forms and the users. It takes us to make sense of people and
what they have in mind. Moreover, Griffiths 2006:1 states that pragmatics and semantics are inseparable, because pragmatics is related to semantic knowledge
and knowledge of the world, including context. Furthermore, Widdowson 1996:61 says semantics is the study of meaning or is concerned with the
meaning of language while pragmatics is what people mean by the language use or how they actualize its meaning.
In accordance with Yule, Morris in Mey 2001:4 defines pragmatics as the study of the relation of sign to interpreters. It tends to be the study of message
and language user. It is different from traditional linguistics which studies the form or the structure. Pragmatics focuses on the process of producing language
and its producer. In addition, Mey 2001:6 states that pragmatics studies the way humans use their language in communication and how the language is intertwined
in interaction or society. The way humans communicate using language is also affected by the society. Therefore, the condition of a society can also be observed
by pragmatics. Moreover, Levinson in his book Pragmatics 1983:21, defines that
pragmatics is the study of relationship between language and context as the requirements of language understanding. Understanding an utterance is more than
knowing meaning and grammatical relations. It involves the making of inference that will connect to what is being assumed or surrounding context.