The song that Brian sang was ‘Yesterday’.

Figure 4.10. Figure Result test no. 12 The correct answer is: C. Mark is suggesting that it might be good for David to take Mark’s sister to the party. This type of implicature is the violation of Relevance be relevant because the speaker is not answering the question relevantly. 28 out of the 30 semester 2 students answered correctly, 28 out of the 30 semester 4 students answered correctly, and 20 out of the 30 semester 6 students answered correctly. The result of this number was also grouped into the decreasing one with the similar explanation as number 8. This result also proves that there is no significant development, because although the number of the students who answered correctly relatively high, especially in the second and fourth semesters 28 students each, but it declines to 20 students in the sixth semester. 14. Rob and Max are talking about their annoying friend, who always asks for help, Wilson. Rob : “Wilson is going to borrow my car tomorrow, what do you think?” Max : “Don’t feed the stray dog” What does Max probably mean? a. Max suggests pay attention only to Max’s own dog. b. Max reminds Rob about the stray dog in the neighborhood. c. Once Rob helps Wilson, Wilson will always ask for a help. d. Once Rob feeds the stray dog, Rob will regret it. Figure 4.11. Figure Result test no. 14 The correct answer is: C. Once Rob helps Wilson, Wilson will always ask for a help. This type of implicature is the implicature that violates the Maxims of Quality truthfulness, Max did not express his opinion honestly, he replied with a saying instead. 29 out of the 30 semester 2 students answered correctly, 28 out of the 30 semester 4 students answered correctly, and 27 out of the 30 semester 6 students answered correctly. This result shows that there is a slight decrease that occurs from the lowest semester to the highest semester, so this cannot be considered as a significant development either. 16. A mother and her daughter Jenny have been discussing the upcoming weekend. Jenny’s parents are leaving town and this is the first time Jenny has been left at home alone. Mother : “Are you sure you can take care of yourself this weekend?” Jenny : “Can a duck swim, mother?” What is the point of Jenny’s question? a. She wants to make sure that all duck can swim. b. She is asking if she can go with her mother for the weekend. c. She is trying to change the subject because she is a bit nervous. d. She is telling that she will be able to take care of herself okay. Figure 4.12. Figure Result test no. 16 The correct answer is: D. She is telling that she will be able to take care of herself okay. This type of implicature is the Pope Question relevance. 27 out of the 30 semester 2 students answered correctly, 27 out of the 30 semester 4 students answered correctly, and 26 out of the 30 semester 6 students answered correctly. This result also cannot be considered as a significant development. Although the number of the students who answered correctly in all semester being tested is relatively high, but the number decreases 1 level in the sixth semester, so it does not show a significant development. 19. Brenda and Sally have lunch every Tuesday. As they meet on this particular day, Brenda stops, twirls like a fashion model, and the following dialogue occurs: Brenda : “I just got a new dress. How do you like it?” Sally : “Well, there certainly are a lot of woman wearing it this year. When did you get it?” How does Sally like Brenda’s new dress? a. We can’t tell from what she says. b. She thinks Brenda has good taste in clothes because she’s right in style. c. She likes the dress, but too many women are wearing it. d. She doesn’t like it. Figure 4.13. Figure Result test no. 19 The correct answer is: D. She doesn’t like it. This type of implicature is that which violates the Maxims of Quantity conciseness, Sally’s response was too wordy and yet it did not express that she liked the dress. 16 out of the 30 semester 2 students answered correctly, 10 out of the 30 semester 4 students answered correctly, and 8 out of the 30 semester 6 students answered correctly. It is clear from the chart that the result does not show any development at all. The result shows the decrease from 16 to 10 between the second semester and the fourth semester, and from 10 to 8 between the fourth semester and the sixth semester, which means it decreases 6 students between the second semester to the sixth semester. b. Increasing then decreasing The Multiple-choice test numbers that showed this increasing then decreasing results are as follows: 1. Jack is talking to his housemate Sarah about another housemate, Frank. Jack : “Do you know where Frank is, Sarah?” Sarah : “Well, I heard music from his room earlier.” What does Sarah probably mean? a. Frank forgot to turn the music off. b. Frank’s loud music bothers Sarah. c. Frank is probably in his room d. Sarah doesn’t know where Frank is. Figure 4.14. Figure Result test no. 1 The correct answer is C. Frank is probably in his room. This type of implicature belongs to those which violate Maxims of Manner clearness and unambiguousness. 18 out of the 30 semester 2 students answered correctly, 25 out of the 30 semester 4 students answered correctly, and 22 out of the 30 semester 6 students answered correctly. This result clearly shows that there is no significant development, since it shows that the higher semester level the less number of students answered correctly. 2. Toby and Ally are trying a new buffet restaurant in town. Toby is eating something but Ally can’t decide what to have next. Ally : “How do you like what you’re having?” Toby : “Well, let’s just say it’s colorful.” What does Toby probably mean? a. He thinks it is important for food to look appetizing. b. He thinks food should not contain artificial colors. c. He wants Ally to try something colorful. d. He does not like his food much. Figure 4.15. Figure Result test no. 2 The correct answer is D. He does not like his food much. This type of implicature belongs to those which violate Maxims of Quality truthfulness. 7 out of the 30 semester 2 students answered correctly, 19 out of the 30 semester 4 students answered correctly, and 9 out of the 30 semester 6 students answered correctly. This result clearly shows that there is no significant development, because although there is an increase in the number of students who answered correctly between the second semester and the fourth semester from 7 to 19, but the number is falling down to 9 in the sixth semester. 4. Felicity is talking to her co-worker Brian during a coffee break. Felicity : “So, life must be good for you. I heard you got a nice raise.” Brian : “This coffee is awfully thin. You’d think they’d at least give us decent coffee.” What does Brian probably mean? a. He doesn’t want to talk about how much money he makes. b. He likes his coffee strong. c. He is planning to complain about the coffee. d. He doesn’t care very much about money. Figure 4.16. Figure Result test no. 4 The correct answer is: A. He doesn’t want to talk about how much money he makes. This type of implicature also belongs to those which violates Maxims of Relevance be relevant. 20 out of the 30 semester 2 students answered correctly, 23 out of the 30 semester 4 students answered correctly, and 13 out of the 30 semester 6 students answered correctly. This result indicates that there is no significant development, since there is no difference of number students who answered correctly between semester 2 and 4 both shows 23, then when it comes to the result of the sixth semester number is falling down to 13 students. 7. Carrie is a cashier in a grocery store. After work, she’s talking to her friend Simon. Carrie : “I guess I’m getting old and ugly.” Simon : “What makes you say that?” Carrie : “The men are beginning to count their change.” What does Carrie probably mean? a. She has given wrong change a number of times, so people count their change now. b. Male customers aren’t admiring her anymore like they used to be. c. The store might lose business if she doesn’t look good. d. It gets harder to give correct change as you get older. Figure 4.17. Figure Result test no. 7 The correct answer is: B. Male customers aren’t admiring her anymore like they used to be. This type of implicature also belongs to those which violates Maxims of Relevance be relevant. 13 out of the 30 semester 2 students answered correctly, 16 out of the 30 semester 4 students answered correctly, and 9 out of the 30 semester 6 students answered correctly. This result shows that there is also no significant development, although the number of students who answered correctly increases from 13 to 16 between semester 2 and 4, the number is falling again to 9 when it shows what happens in the semester sixth. 10. Hilda is looking for a new job. She’s having lunch with her friend John. John : “So, how is the job search coming along?” Hilda : “This curry is really good, don’t you think?” What does Hilda probably mean? a. She is very close to finding a job. b. She is no longer looking for a job. c. She just found a job. d. Her job search isn’t going very well. Figure 4.18. Figure Result test no. 10 The correct answer is: D. Her job search isn’t going very well. This type of implicature also belongs to those which violates Maxims of Manner clearness and unambiguousness in which for some extend it can also be considered as the violation of Relevance because the speaker is not answering the question relevantly. 15 out of the 30 semester 2 students answered correctly, 23 out of the 30 semester 4 students answered correctly, and 14 out of the 30 semester 6 students answered correctly. This result also shows that there is also no significant development, because although the number shows that there is an increase from 15 to 23 from the second semester and the fourth semester, the number of the students who answered correctly is 14 which is one level lower than the second semester. 15. Two friends are looking over the various kinds of food at an international supper and trying to decide which kinds to try. Nida : “There are so many different kinds of food here that I can’t decide which to take first. Which do you recommend?” Trixie : “So far I’ve only had some of that one –the yellow one with the reddish sauce. Certainly is colorful, isn’t it?” Is Trixie recommending the dish to Nida? How do you know? a. No, because Trixie talked only about how the dish looked, not how it tasted. b. Yes, because dishes that are colorful and attractive usually taste good. c. No, because Trixie hasn’t tried any other dishes to compare the colorful one. d. Yes, since Trixie mentioned the dish, we know she thinks it’s good. Figure 4.19. Figure Result test no. 15 The correct answer is: A. No, because Trixie talked only about how the dish looked, not how it tasted. This type of implicature is the implicature that violates the Maxims of Quantity conciseness. 6 out of the 30 semester 2 students answered correctly, 9 out of the 30 semester 4 students answered correctly, and 5 out of the 30 semester 6 students answered correctly. This result shows that there is a development that takes place between the second semester and the fourth semester from 6 students to 9 students, however the number of the students who answered correctly decreases to 5 students in the sixth semester, so this also cannot be considered as a significant development. 17. When Abe got home, he found that his wife had to use a cane in order to walk. Abe : “What happened to your leg?” Wife : “I went jogging.” Another way the wife could have said the same thing is …… a. Today I finally got some exercise jogging. b. I hurt it jogging. c. It’s nothing serious. Don’t worry about it d. I hurt it doing something silly. Figure 4.20. Figure Result test no. 17 The correct answer is: B. I hurt it jogging. This type of implicature is that which violates the Maxims of Relevance be relevant. 16 out of the 30 semester 2 students answered correctly, 20 out of the 30 semester 4 students answered correctly, and 16 out of the 30 semester 6 students answered correctly. This result also cannot be considered as a significant development. Although the number of the students who answered correctly increases from 16 to 20 between the second semester and the fourth semester, but it again decreases to 16 in the sixth semester, so it does not show a significant development. 20. Rogers is offered a new job with a much higher salary and he is telling Matt about it. Rogers : “Wilson brothers offered me a job, and it’s very well-paid.” Matt : “Don’t take any wooden nickels” What does Matt probably mean? a. Make sure that Wilson brothers pay with real money b. Be wise Don’t be easily fooled by promises c. Don’t try to make up such a story to me d. I am not interested to hear about it. Figure 4.21. Figuret Result test no. 20 The correct answer is: B. Be wise Don’t be easily fooled by promises This type of implicature is that which violates the Maxims of Manner clearness and unambiguousness. 19 out of the 30 semester 2 students answered correctly, 25 out of the 30 semester 4 students answered correctly, and 22 out of the 30 semester 6 students answered correctly. Although the chart shows that there is an increase in the number of the students who answered correctly from 19 to 25 between the second semester and the fourth semester, but the number decreases 3 level from 25 to 22 between the fourth semester and the sixth semester, so this result also does not show a real significant development. c. Decreasing then increasing The Multiple-choice test numbers that showed the decreasing then increasing results are as follows: 13. Two roommates are talking about what they are going to do during the summer. Fran : “My mother wants me to stay home and entertain the relatives when they come to visit us at the beach.” Joan : “Do you have a lot of relatives?” Fran : “Does a dog have fleas?” How can we best interpret Fran’s commence? a. Fran thinks her relatives are boring. b. Fran doesn’t have very many relatives. c. Fran does have a lot of relatives. d. Fran is asking Joan if a dog usually has fleas. Figure 4.22. Figure Result test no. 13 The correct answer is: C. Fran does have a lot of relatives. This type of implicature is another example of Pope Question relevance. 22 out of the 30 semester 2 students answered correctly, 19 out of the 30 semester 4 students answered correctly, and 22 out of the 30 semester 6 students answered correctly. This result also does not show that there is a significant development, because the number of the students who answered correctly decreases from 22 to 19 from the second semester to the fourth semester. Although the number increases in the sixth semester but it is not higher than the second semester, so it cannot be considered as a significant development. 18. Bill and Peter have been friends since they were children. They roomed together in college and travelled Europe together after graduation. Now friends have told Bill that they saw Peter dancing with Bill’s wife while Bill was away on business. Billy : “Peter knows how to be a really good friend, doesn’t he?” What does Billy probably mean? a. Peter is not acting the way a good friend should. b. Peter and Bill’s wife are becoming really good friends while Bill is away. c. Peter is a good friend and so Bill can trust him. d. Nothing should be allowed to interfere with their friendship. Figure 4.23. Figure Result test no. 18 The correct answer is: A. Peter is not acting the way a good friend should. This type of implicature is that which violates the Maxims of Quantity conciseness which also contains ironic feature. 15 out of the 30 semester 2 students answered correctly, 12 out of the 30 semester 4 students answered correctly, and 14 out of the 30 semester 6 students answered correctly. This result also does not show a significant development. The number of the correct student decreases 3 students from 15 to 12 between the second semester and the fourth semester and in the sixth semester the number only increases to 14, just one level lower than the second semester. d. Increasing The Multiple-choice test number that showed the increasing result pattern is only one number which is number 11. 11. Mike is trying to find an apartment in New York City. He just looked at a place and is telling his friend Jane about it. Jane : “Is the rent high?” Mike : “Is the Pope Catholic?” What does Mike probably mean? a. He doesn’t want to talk about the rent. b. The rent is high. c. The apartment is owned by the church. d. The rent isn’t very high. Figure 4.24. Figure Result test no. 11 The correct answer is: B. The rent is high. This type of implicature is Pope Question relevance that implies the “yes, of course” answer. 15 out of the 30 semester 2 students answered correctly, 16 out of the 30 semester 4 students answered correctly, and 20 out of the 30 semester 6 students answered correctly. This result indicates that there is a development, as we can see that 15 of the second semester students are correct, 16 of the fourth semester students, and then followed by 20 of the sixth semester students are correct. The grouping of the result above showed a very interesting founding. The implicature Characteristics, which had been distributed in Table 3.1. The Blueprint of the test used, were not equally found in each group. Even in some groups, some implicature Characteristics were not found. The grouping of the result can be described into the following table: Table 4.5. Result Patterns and Implicature Characteristics Group Implicature Characteristics Sum Relevance Pope Question Manner Quality Quantity 3 2 1 2 1 9 3 3 1 1 8 1 1 2 1 1 Sum 6 4 4 3 3 20 Table 4.5. showed that all of implicature characteristic which violates the Maxim of Relevance existed in both of the groups which the sixth semester students showed lower result decreasing, and not a single of implicature characteristics which violates the Maxim of Relevance existed in both groups which the sixth semester students showed better result increasing. It means from 6 numbers of the Multiple-choice test given that contents implicature characteristics which violates the Maxim of relevance the sixth semester students mostly failed to interpret correctly. While the groups which showed the sixth semester students gave better result increasing, from 3 numbers of the Multiple- choice test that the sixth semester students showed increasing result, 2 of them are the Pope Question implicature characteristic which has an exact characteristic. Apparently, it was easier for the sixth semester students to interpret implicature which has an exact characteristic and, on the other hand, it was not that easy for the sixth semester students to interpret implicature which violates the Maxim of Relevance when it was compared with the second and the fourth semester students.

B. The Discussion

This following section presents the discussion of the result of the present study. In this section the result of the present study will be analyzed based on the theoretical framework of the present study and other related theories which have theoretical explanation on the result of the present study. This is so due to the results which showed the unexpected ones. The results of the present study revealed that there is a significant mean difference of the students’ pragmatic competence of implicature in spoken English, especially between the second semester students and the sixth semester, and between the fourth semester and the sixth semester. However, surprisingly the pattern of the development showed declining which means the second semester students and the fourth semester students showed better pragmatic competence of implicature in spoken English. This is a very interesting phenomenon because it is somewhat illogical. The development which shows a good change or a good increase should normally occur along with the longer the students study the target language, in this case the higher semester students are expected to show better result. What is the reason behind this phenomenon? Is it probably because the students do not have the same proportion to increase their pragmatic competence as the proportion that they have to increase their organizational competence along with their study? Do the second language acquisition processes probably focus more on the organizational competence, such as: grammatical correctness, pronunciation accuracy, and pay less attention on the pragmatic competence? Based on the theoretical reviews, implicature as one of pragmatic aspects is always contextual. Implicature also commonly occurs by violating the principle cooperation and the Maxims. The effective use of implicature needs such a similar background of knowledge on the context being discussed possessed both by the speaker and the hearer. That is why when the conversation happens between two people from different cultural backgrounds, a cross-cultural understanding is very prominent. The results of the study show that implicature does not have a direct correlation with the level of education. The higher level of education does not affect the students’ pragmatic competence in interpreting implicature commonly used in English automatically. Based on the researcher’s observation during conducting the study, however, there were notes that can be considered as the affecting factors for this illogical result. The notes are: 1. The lower level students 2 nd and 4 th semesters were very serious in doing the test given, it was concluded because the lower students spent the time provided to complete the test even until the last minutes. 2. The highest level students 6 th semester were relatively quick in completing the test given. The time provided 30 minutes seemed a bit too long for them, because it was still seven to five minutes left when all the participants had collected the result of the test. From the notes noticed by the researcher and the surprisingly illogical decreasing development, there is a big question if the lower semester students really did their best in completing the test while the highest semester students just took it for granted and did not show the real language competence. If this is exactly what caused the illogical development pattern, then there is a big possibility that the result does not exactly show the real pattern development. There is also, as an addition, another affecting factor that makes the possibility of the inaccurate development pattern of the students’ pragmatic competence in implicature in spoken English. The affecting factor here is that the test was presented in written form with no intonation signs which, of course, can also affect the students’ interpretation of implicature. Yet, this affecting factor is not very strong concerning the second and the fourth semester students also had