The Function of Speaking

The conversation above is a conversation between Lane and Tom. Tom is Lane’s boss. However, eventhough he is her boss, yet, he still considers that Lane is a good co-worker for him regardless of the status of her tenure in the company. Tom always asks Lane’s opinion especially if it is related to their jobs. As clearly seen in the conversation above, Tom asks Lan e’s opinion about the layout that he has made for the presentation next week. At first, Lane gives her opinion that she likes it, but, Tom does not believe in her opinion, eventhough he expects that Lane will like with his layout. Yet, Lane gives her real assessment which Tom dislikes. Although Tom accepts her assessment, however, he still expresses his disappointment. The participants in the conversation above, Lane the assistant and Tom the boss can lead to a dispreferred social act on the second pair part, because sometimes when a boss asks something to his assistant, he expects a good respond. Yet, when the assistant gives her honest opinion which is not expected by the boss, it will lead to a dispreferred second pair part in the conversation.

d. The Social Context of the Interaction

The social context of the interaction affects the participants to do dispreferred social act on the second pair part in a conversation. The social context of the movie itself is about a woman who is looking for her future man in a business world. The illustration is clearly illustrated in the conversation below. Joanne : Is he spontaneous? Does he take exotic trips on a whim? Lane : Mmm, I don’t know yet. SC 1416AD The conversation above tells about Lane who is looking for her future man. Then, Joanne asks her opinion regarding to the man whom she met on her new office. Joanne asks and gives her assesment whether that man is in accordance with her criteria or not. Unfortunately, Lane feels unsure with her own answer, because she is assured that the man does not possess the criteria that she tries to seek for a man. It is clearly seen that the context of the conversation also affects the occurence of dispreferred social act on the second pair part. Lane, who is the main character of the movie, feels very tired to look for her ideal man. Yet, she cannot find any single man which suits with her type. Hence, when someone asks her about this case, she feels not in the mood to give the answer. Therefore, she gives an unexpected answer to the first pair part on the conversation related to the context of the situation.