Empty Adjectives Kurt Hummel’s Language Features

43 his speech. There are some color terms Kurt actually used in his utterances like white, and black as can be seen in excerpt [34] and [35]. [34] KURT: Mercedes is [black]; I’m gay. We make culture. [35] KURT: Their school statue is a giant bronze of great [white] shark eating a seal pup. However, those colors are classified into general language. It can be found easily both in men and women’s language. So, the researcher did not classify those colors into precise color terms as women’s language features. The researcher believes that the feature is not found in Kurt’s utterances. In the Glee Television Series Season 1, even though Kurt talks about fashion in his speech, the researcher finds that he never relates it to color terms. Also, the topics he usually discussed with his addressee mostly had a relation with music and songs, which has no relation with color. On the whole, Kurt uses nine out of ten women’s language features in his speech in Glee Television Series Season 1. In this research, gender is seen as a construction rather than a fixed category. Therefore, even though Kurt Hummel physically is seen as a man, the way he behaves in the series index or are associated with femininity. It is reflected by the way he uses lexical hedges or fillers, tag questions, raising intonation on declaratives, ‘empty’ adjectives, intensifiers, ‘hypercorrect’ grammar, ‘superpolite’ forms, avoidance of strong swear words, and emphatic stress. However, the way Kurt uses women’s language features is not only influenced by gender but also by other factors such as, age, audience, social relations, topic discussion and power Milroy Milroy, 2012. For example, in some utterances, Kurt uses ‘superpolite’ forms and ‘hypercorrect’ grammar by 44 considering who and how old his addressee is, and how close their relationship is. The researcher did not find any precise color terms since it is influenced by the topic discussion that Kurt and his addressee discuss. In the series, Kurt is seen as a gay person that makes him powerless since gay community is the minority in society. Kurt’s identity as a man associated with femininity influences his use of language. Although he is a man, he uses women’s language features because he tends not to be certain with his utterances. This research confirms Holmes 2013 that states the use of hedging and boosting devices are not only influenced by gender but also by power. People who are powerless in society usually use a relatively high number of these devices p. 305. 45

CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter consists of three sections. The first section is conclusion that sums up the research results and discussion of the research. The second is implication that presents the contribution of this study for language teaching. The last section is recommendation which give suggestions regarding the topics in this research to the readers who have an interest in the similar topic.

A. Conclusions

There is one main point as conclusion of this research. It refers to the research result and discussion in accordance with the research question; what women’s language features does Kurt use in Glee Television Series Season 1? From the data, the researcher discovered nine out of ten women’s language features used by Kurt in his utterances in Glee Television Series Season 1. The features were lexical hedges or fillers 29.808, intensifiers 16.827, emphatic stress 14.904, ‘superpolite’ forms 14.423, ‘hypercorrect’ grammar 12.500, raising intonation on declaratives 5.769, tag questions 2.404, empty adjectives 1.923, and avoidance of strong swear words 1.442. Based on the obtained data, Kurt Hummel did not use any precise of color term in his speech in Glee Television Series Season 1. The researcher also discovered that Kurt’s considerations of using women’s language features was not only influenced by gender but also by other factors such as age, audience, topic discussion, social relations, and power.