36
CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
In this chapter, it discusses the findings after analyzing nine articles in Doc. Love articles. There are two parts in this chapter. The first part answers the
first research question. It discusses what features used by Doc. Love. In the second part, it discusses the possible factors affecting the writer to use the women
language features.
A. Women Language Features
The first research problem focuses on the women language features which used by Doc. Love in his articles. To answer the first research problems, there are
some theories which are collaborated. The first is Lakoff’s 1973 theory. The
other is Jaspersen’s 1922 theory. The women’s language features which are proposed by Lakoff 1973 are lexical hedges and fillers, tag question, empty
adjective, precious color terms, intensifiers, super polite forms, hypercorrection grammar, and avoidance of strong swear words. The researcher does not use rising
intonation on declarative and emphatic stress because the data are in the form of written works. The researcher also uses some features purposed by Jespersen
1922. Jespersen provides two features which are women ’s vocabulary and
parataxis. Somehow, women ’s vocabulary is the same as Lakoff’s 1973 theory.
Hence, the researcher only uses parataxis. To present the findings, the researcher analyzes
Doc. Love’s articles as presented in the table 4.1. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
37 Table 4.1. The Occurrence of Women’s Language Features
in Doc. Love’s Articles
No Women
Language Features
Is it used in Doc. Love’s articles?
Yes No
1 LH
√ 2
F √
3 HG
√ 4
I √
5 TQ
√ 6
EA √
7 PCT
√ 8
SPF √
9 ASSW
√ 10
Parataxis √
Abbreviations
LH : Lexical Hedges
F : Fillers
HG : Hypercorrect Grammar
I : Intensifiers
TQ : Tag Questions
EA : Empty Adjectives
PCL : Precious Color Term
SPF : Super Polite Forms
ASSW : Avoidance of Strong Swear Words
P : Parataxis
From the table, the researcher identifies that Doc. Love used lexical hedges, fillers, hypercorrect grammar, intensifiers, tag questions, superpolite
forms, empty adjectives, and avoidance of strong swear words. In his articles. Doc. Love does not use parataxis and precious color terms. The results are
provided and discussed in the following section. 1.
Lexical hedges and fillers
Lexical hedges and fillers were some features found in the articles. Lexical hedges appeared 8 times in the articles. Lexical hedges are such as probably,
sorta, kind of and fairly. On the other hand, there were fillers appeared. They were PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
38 about 41 times. Fillers were such as you know, of course, and like.
Fillers are features that place the users defensively. They make the writers or speakers are in lower positions. Somehow, Eckert Ginet 2003 state that
discourse particles are not usually integrated into the main utterance. The discourse particles also do not contribute much to content. Discourses usually are
called empty. In the articles, the most appeared filers were like. Of course, like in
this discussion does not stand as a verb. The word like in the discussion refers to a hedge. Like appears 45 times in different patterns. Here is an example see
Appendix A, p. 61, item 25: [1] You are like a second string backup
There is a tendency from Doc. Love. In the middle of his writings, he usually uses like to strengthen his advice. He takes other character opinions in
his teaching. He likes to refer to other opinions. He uses like to refer to opinions by putting like + a noun my cousin + a persons name. He puts the pattern
before an advice or a main sentence. Here are some examples of his tendency. [2]Like m
y cousin, Fast Eddie Love from East L.A says, You’re in love with a fantasysee Appendix A, p 60, item 9.
[3]Like my cousin, Rabbi Love says, Your reasoning here is all backward, my son see Appendix A, p. 61, item 10.
[4]Like my Uncle, Jethro Love says, “You are putting the cart before the
horse. see Appendix A, p. 61, item 17. [5]Like my cousin, Sal “The Fish Love says, You should have offered
39 to fix her sink and paint her house while you were at it see
Appendix A, p. 61, item 20. Referring to another opinion made Doc. Loves advice sound stronger.
However, it makes Doc. Loves position weaker, because he takes other opinions to strengthen his advice.
Besides using discourse particles or fillers in his articles, Doc. Love also uses hedges. Some hedges which used by Doc. Love were kind of, type of and a
bunch of. Here are some examples of hedges used by Doc. Love in his writings. [6] This is the type of inconsistency you should be on the lookout for, and
this situation is nothing, but a bunch of inconsistencies see Appendix A, p. 60, item 1.
[7] You are kind of a half-boyfriend now see Appendix A, p. 60, item 3. The use of lexical hedges aims to imply the speaker’s uncertainty. The use
of lexical hedges makes speaker’s sentences sound less dogmatic.
2. Hypercorrection Grammar
Women do a hypercorrection grammar because society does not allow women to talk roughly. Hypercorrection grammar leads women to use grammar
correctly more than they should be. In Doc. Love’s articles, the hypercorrection appeared 40 times.
[8] You might have been waiting for Kacey your whole life, but has she been waiting for you? see Appendix A, p. 63, item 57.
One of women language characteristics is a hypercorrection. It is found in sentence [8]. Let us compare the sentence with another simpler sentence, such as:
40 “You have waited Kacey for your whole life, but has she waited for you?” Or
“You wait Kacey for your whole life, but does she wait for you?” Sentence [8] is considered correct, but it is meticulous. The other example is a sentence below.
[9] When Chynna broke that date with you, a huge red flag should have gone up in your mind.
In the example [9] see Appendix A, p. 63, item 69 Should + have + V3 pattern is a correct form for past tenses. Somehow, the use of meticulous pattern
shows women character. Trudgil 1972 states that men put a high place on working class nonstandard speech. Doc. Love in his articles tends to use polite
and correct grammar. It happens for explaining time duration and give impacts to readers. Because he uses correct and meticulous grammar, he could give good
advice for his students. Beside hypercorrection means a grammar pattern which is correct more
than it should be, hypercorrection refers to a grammar pattern which leads to ambiguity. Nicol n.d argues that hypercorrection leads to ambiguity. In his
articles, there are some sentences which lead to ambiguity. Here is one example. [10]...let me get this straight.
This sentence usually appears in the beginning of Doc. Loves articles. Most of his articles are started by these patterns. Somehow, this sentence [10] see
Appendix A, p. 63, item 75 is considered hypercorrection. This sentence looks correct, but the sentence makes readers confused. This in the sentence can refer
to many things. Considered these examples: a This in the sentence can refer to a rope. Doc. Love has to make a
41 rope straight.
b This in the sentence can refer to a problem. Doc. Love has to make Bubbys problem straight and clear.
c This in the sentence can refer to Doc. Loves respond. He has to make his respond to Bubbys problem straight.
The use of let me get this straight in Doc. Love’s articles are meticulous and ambiguous
. Let’s take a look at another sentence. [11] How could you break Marilyn’s heart when she agreed to go out with
you just one time? The use of just in the sentence [11] see Appendix A, p. 64, item 58 is a
hypercorrection. The word leads the reader to be confused because the sentence means two things. Consider these meanings.
a In the first meaning just can be synonym with only
b In the second meaning just can refer to recently done in the past
3. Intensifiers
Intensifiers, such as really, so and very, aim to boost intended meanings. For example: if a speaker or a writer wants to boost his feeling, he can put really
in his sentence. He can say; I really do not like Mr. Hartan. The writer uses “really to boost the feeling of dislike. In Doc. Love’s articles, intensifiers appear
27 times. Here are some sentences in Doc. Love which used intensifier. [12] Shes just using you as her psychiatrist to talk about her relationship
with the guy shes really in love with see Appendix A, p. 64, item 98. [13] And thats a very bad sign see Appendix A, p. 64, item 99.
42 The sentence [12] and [13] are in article 1. The case is Doc. Love was
giving an advice to Farried. Farried was stuck in a friend zone. He loved a girl so much, but the girl did not love him back. To make his advice more acceptable and
stronger, Doc. Love boosts the meaning of a word by adding an intensifier. In the first example [12] Doc. Love puts really before phrase in love with to emphasize
the feeling in love with. In the second example [13], Doc. Love uses intensifier very to strengthen adjective bad. The use of word very aims to make Farried
aware of how bad the sign is. Doc. Love does not only use really and very. He also puts other
intensifiers. He also uses too. Here are the examples. [14] You gave away too much too soon.
In article 9, Doc. Love gives an advice to Ivo. In this case, Ivo is desperately in love with a girl who does not love him. Doc. Love explains that Ivo
did something wrong. In the sentence [14] see Appendix A, p. 65, item 124, Doc. Love boosts much and soon to give more impacts in his advice. Using two
intensifiers in a sentence makes the writers position and his advice stronger. In the next example, Doc. Love also used another intensifier that was “completely”. Here
is the example. [15] And youre completely out of touch with reality and life, my friend.
This sentence is taken from article 1 see Appendix A, p. 64, item 100. In the article, Doc. Love claims that a man who sends a letter to him is in a fantasy.
The man does not recognize a reality that the girl he falls in love with does not love him back. In order to having a serious impact in his advice, Doc. Love then
43 adds completely to boost word out. It aims to make his advice stronger and more
serious. It emphasizes the meaning of out by boosting the word. It is expected that
the intensifier delivers awareness to the student who sent the letter.
4. Tag Questions
Tag questions are one of the features found in Doc. Love writings. Tag questions appeared 9 times. Eckert Ginet 2003 state that there are at least four
functions of using tag questions. The first is to indicate uncertainty and ask for confirmation from the other. The second is to facilitative or to invite others into a
conversation. The third is to soften the potential negative impact of a criticism. The last is to challenge or to make the addressee silent or guilty. There are four
functions of tag questions. However, Doc. Love only uses three functions. He does not use to indicate uncertainty and ask for confirmation from the other.
The first function which is used by Doc. Love is the facilitative function. The facilitative function means to invite others into a conversation. It is usually
found on a talk show or process of teaching. Let’s take a look at these examples. [16] You didnt put a gun to her head to get her to say she loves you, did
you? [17] Then the two of them could go and find someone else to commit
adultery with again, right? The two examples above refer to a facilitative function. Doc. Love uses
tag questions there to have the persons who shared to him enter into a conversation. A conversation here is a conversation between the person with
himself because the articles are in the form of written. In the first example [16] PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
44 see Appendix A, p. 66, item 128, the context is Doc. Love wants to teach Bip
who would go to the military. He dates for a short time with a girl named Candace. He wants to know how to make Candaces love last longer. Hence, Doc.
Love teaches him how to do it. In the process of teaching him, Doc. Love wants Bip to open up to Doc. Loves idea by inviting him to talk with herself. In the
second example [17] see Appendix A, p. 66, item 133, the context is Doc. Love teaches Norbert how to deal with his problem. However, Doc. Love wants Norbert
to understand his problem. Doc. Love puts tag questions in the second paragraph to let Norbert talk with himself.
The aim of putting a tag question in the beginning of the article is to gain self-understanding from Norbert about his problem. After having understood his
problem, Doc. Love can easily teach him how to solve his problem. The second function of tag questions is used by Doc. Love to soften a critic. Here are some
examples. [18] She already told you that she is not attracted to you, didnt she?
[19] She dropped you, didnt she? The two examples above refer to a softening function. There are critics for
the persons who sent the letters. However, the critics aim to make the senders follow Doc. Love teaching. In order to avoid negative respond, Doc. Love gives a
tag question. In the first example [18] see Appendix A, p. 66, item 126 Doc. Love
criticizes Farried. Farried has been told by a girl he loves that the girl does not love Farried. However, he keeps asking the girl in order to know her feeling. Doc.
45 Love criticizes Farried, but Doc. Love still wants Farried to follow Doc. Loves
coaching. In order to give a critic and have Farried followed Doc. Loves coaching, Doc. Love gives a tag question which functions to soften the impact of
the critic in the sentence. In the second example [19] see Appendix A, p. 66, item 130 the case is
almost the same as the first. There is a man named Stevarino. He is dealing with a breakup but still hangs out with the girl he broke up with. He still loves the girl
and does not want other men get closer with the girl. Somehow, the problem is the girl has told Stevario that they have a breakup. Doc. Love criticizes Stevarino,
because he still loves the girl, although the girl has made a clear break up. However, the critics here are in a teaching context. Doc. Love avoids negative
impacts, such as denying advice. Hence, he makes a tag question to soften the critic.
The last function of tag question found in Doc. Loves article is a challenging function. A tag question can function as a tool to make the addressee
silent. For example, the function can be seen when a father is angry to his son. To make his son silent and feel guilt, the father can deliver a tag question. You wont
do it again, will you?” Here are some tags question found in the articles which function as the challenging tool.
[20] Whats the rush, right? [21] Her dad might be on his deathbed, but she sure found time to get out
with another guy, didnt she? The two sentences above are the examples of challenging function.
46 Challenging may seem like softening but they are different. Let us discuss the
examples one by one. The context for the first example [20] see Appendix A, p. 66, item 127 is
that the Doc. Love wants to sell his book. He challenges Bubby who sends him a letter to buy the book. Doc. Love is curious why Bubby only reads some of his
articles, although there is much good advice in Doc. Love book. He challenges him to buy the book. Here a tag question is not to soften the critic, but it aims to
challenge the reader to do something the Doc. Love wanted. The second example [21] see Appendix A, p. 66, item 134 is about Ivo
who is desperately in love with a girl, but it seems that the girl does not love him as much as he does. After giving advice to Ivo, Doc. Love finishes his teaching by
challenging Ivo to think in a bigger consideration. Doc. Love wants to discuss more than Ivo and his girl.
Doc. Love tends to use the same patterns in placing the challenging function and the facilitative function. If a facilitative function is usually in the
beginning of the articles, a challenging function is usually in the last part of his teaching. After Doc. Love makes the senders understand their problems by using
facilitative tag questions, Doc Love delivers advice and critics. Then, it is usually followed by the softening function, and in the last of his teaching he challenges
the senders to think more and to know their mistakes. Doc. Love does not use tag questions for indicating uncertainty. It seems
that Doc. Love is sure of his teaching. Besides, if he uses tag questions to indicate his uncertainty, the students who sent him letters would not believe his advice and
47 teaching. Here, Doc. Love denies using the function, so that he appears as a strong
character. He knows what he is teaching. It makes the students believe him. 5.
Empty Adjectives Empty adjectives are one of indicators. Lakoff 1973 claims that divine,
pretty, gorgeous, wonderful, dear and lovely are the examples of empty adjectives. The feature appears in the Doc. Loves ar
ticles. Adjectives “dear” appear in the article two, but it is used by the Doc. Love’s student. Wonderful appears in article
8 see Appendix A, p. 66, item 137. The sentence presents bellow. [22] Another wonderful sign is that she hates her dad.
In the sentence, Doc. Love uses an empty adjective to emphasize his sentence. It aims to open the reader’s mind to follow his teaching. Doc. Love uses
empty adjective once. The use of empty adjective does not contribute much to the content. Although the sentence
does not use the word “wonderful”, the readers still understand the sentence meaning.
6. Precious Color Term
Lakoff 1973 classifies beige, ecru, aquamarine, and lavender as women’s specific color terms. Eckert Ginet 2003 claim that the colors are not used by a
man, except a man who works in room decoration works. Eckert Ginet 2003 deliver exceptions. They claim that the use of specific color terms refer to jobs.
The use of women’s color terms does not discover in Doc. Love articles. The researcher only discovers the use of color in his articles once. In article 9,
Doc. Love mentions two colors. They are black and white see appendix B, p. 67, item 1. It happens when Doc. Love illustrates to the student how to invite a girl in
48 a date. Doc. Love only mentions colors for once; hence, it may be difficult to
discover the use of women’s specific color terms. 7.
Super Polite Forms Lakoff 1973 states that the aims of using super polite form are to avoid
using swear words and extensive use of euphemism. Euphemisms are indirect expressions which are used to utter taboo words in a conversation. Since women
are little girls, they are supposed not to talk harshly. It implies that women will choose politer form than men. In the article 2, the researcher discovered a super-
polite form used by Doc. Love. The sentence is below. [23] Let’s be honest, please see appendix B, p. 67, item 7
Lakoff 1973 states that the use of please or any other polite form will sound un-masculine. The use of the polite form in the article prevents expression
of strong statements. 8.
Avoidance of Strong Swear Words In language and women’s place, Lakoff 1973 describes that women
should not talk roughly. Since women were little girls, they have been taught not to speak harshly. If women swear, they will be considered as unladylike. Eckert
Ginet 2003 state that swearing words are unsuitable for women and children. Expressions like “piffle, fudge, heck, or go to bathroom instead of take a
pie”, are used to be polite to other people. In the articles, the researcher discovers the use of avoidance of strong swear words. The avoidance of strong swears
words is discovered in article two and five. The example is provided bellow. [24] That’s real smart, dude
49 In the example [24] see appendix A, p. 66 item 137, Doc. Love uses
“that’s real smart, dude” instead of saying “you are stupid or foolish” In the article, Doc. Love responds to Stevario who loves a cruel woman. The woman
even slaps Stevario in front of her children, but Stevario still loves the women. Hence, Doc. Love delivers the sentence. Instead of shocking Stevario by saying
foolish or stupid, he says the sentence. By using the avoidance of strong swears word in the article; the researcher considers politeness to Stevario.
Although, Doc. Love uses avoidance of strong swear words, the researcher can still find the use of strong swear words in his articles. The uses of strong
swear words can be discovered in article 6. In the article, Doc. Love says “dumb,
dumb, dumb’ see appendix b, p. 67, item 8. 9.
Parataxis In the Doc. Love articles, he does not use parataxis. He usually uses
conjunctions to connect his sentences, such as: using when + main sentence and a sentence + but + a sentence see Appendix b, p. 67, item 5. The example of the
use of conjunction is provided in the following example. [25] You might have been waiting for Kacey your whole life, but has she
been waiting for you? In the sentence [25] see appendix b, p. 67, item 4
Doc. Love uses “but” to separate the sentences. It may happen because he uses male writing
characteristic. Jespersen 1922 states in male writings, they use conjunction to separate sentences. It is different with female writings; they usually use a comma
to separate their sentences. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
50
B. The Possible Factors Why Doc. Love Used Women Language Features
In this second part, the researcher answers the second research problem. Part two discuses the factors affecting the use of women language features by
Doc. Love. To answer the second research problem, there will be two parts,
namely the changes of masculinity in society and a man in his profession.
1. The Changes of Masculinity Concept in Society One of the reasons that cause the use of women language features is the
changes of masculinity concept in Society. But, before we discuss what happens in society, readers should understand about community practices. Community
Practice was a language used by a group people who have a norm and rules in using language. Eckert Ginet 2003 state that people develop their sense of a
place in social order. Doc. Love was a writer that worked for an online magazine. He has to think how to attract people to keep listening to his advice. Additionally,
he writes a book and wants people to buy it. In order to have followers, he has to be cooperative and collaborative with readers in his consultation. By using
womens language features he will obtain better results. If he uses too many strong swear words and direct imperative words, readers may consider he was cruel.
Connell 1995 divides masculinity into two kinds. The first is the physical masculinity. The second is technical masculinity. The first applies to the working
class. Upper class tends to consider technical masculinity. Upper-class men judge a mans masculinity from his scientific and political power. It does not mean that
physical masculinity is unimportant for upper-class men. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
51 There are some studies found out that nowadays masculinity has a crisis.
Italua 2013 states that the meaning of masculinity is not natural. The meaning of masculinity changes because of the changes in society. Italua 2013 states that
nowadays femininity is considered as one of traits in masculinity. Nowadays masculinity is not measured only from mens physical
appearances. People consider mens masculinity from their power. In his articles, Doc. Loves masculinity is judged by his power to influence readers and students
who learn and read his articles. His students do not perceive his traits as women’s traits. The students do not perceive him as a week teacher. It can be proven by
amount of male students who sending letters to him and listen to his advices. Lakoff 1973 states that upper-class British men use some words listed in
the womens column, as well as the specific color words. Men in upper-class British also use words which have been categorized as specifically feminine,
without raising doubts as to their masculinity among other speakers of the same dialect. Lakoff 1973 adds that the reason may be that commitment to the work
ethic need not necessarily be displayed. It happens to make men as gentleman, interested in various pursuits, but not involved in mundane business or politics
affairs, in such a culture, without incurring disgrace. Lakoff 1973 claims that it
should not be surprised if special lexical items are usable by both groups.
2. A Man in His Profession Some studies have found that a gender does not depend on sex types. For
example, Nuri’s 2015 study. She finds out that Hart adopts mens traits in the movie, Miss Congeniality. The use of men’s traits happens because of Harts
52 profession. She is an FBI agent. She has to be more aggressive than women
should be. Eckert Ginet 2003 state that there are some possibilities that women and men change their roles. A woman can go to work, while her husband
takes care of their children. In Doc Loves articles, it is found out that Doc. Love uses women language features. It happens because of Doc. Loves profession. He
is a doctor. In the articles, he helps men to solve their love problems. As a doctor, it is preferable
for him to use women language’s features. By using womens language features, Doc. Love could do facilitative and
collaborative conversations. The facilitative and collaborative conversation would allow his students to open their problems. Being opened up will allow the doctor
to give advice. It was proven by West 1990. In her study, female doctors who used womens language features gave better outcomes for clients.
Somehow, Doc. Love did not lose his character as a man. In article 6, it is found that Doc. Love wrote dumb, dumb, dumb” Word “dumb is one of strong
swearing words. Lakoff 1975 claims that the strong swear words are characteristic of men talk.
In conclusion, Doc. Love used women language features in order to build a relationship with his students. Women language features help him to give good
advice and better outcomes. However, he also keeps his characteristics as a man by using swears words.
53
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Kategori