40
Table 4.1 Politeness Strategies Found in
The Ellen Show
Speaker Politeness Strategy
Positive Politeness
Negative Politeness
Bald on Record
Off Record Ellen
18 5
12 2
Barack Obama 14
1 1
- Hillary Clinton
6 2
2 2
Total 38
8 15
4
The analysis of the politeness strategies used by the three speakers was elaborated in the following discussion based on the most frequent strategy until
the infrequent one.
1. Positive Politeness Strategies Found in
The Ellen Show
The function of positive politeness is to redress the addressee‘s positive
face. Positive politeness has the basis to fulfill hearer‘s positive face by satisfying their desire. It refers to the speaker‘s action to minimize the distance with the
hearer by using the intimate language. The speaker makes the hearer feel being accepted, respected, and wanted.
The three speakers in
The Ellen Show
applied the positive politeness while doing the conversation. The positive politeness strategy was shown through three
mechanisms, namely claiming common ground, conveying that speaker and hearer are cooperators, and fulfilling hearer‘s want. From the data, the writer
found out that the most frequent and apparent positive politeness strategies that were used by Ellen and the U.S. politicians were the sub-strategies of
exaggerating interest, intensifying interest to hearer, using joke, giving offer and promise, and giving gifts to the hearer.
41 The first mechanism of positive politeness was claiming common ground.
It indicated that both speaker and hearer shared the same wants, including goals and values. In using this mechanism, the speaker wanted to satisfy the hearer that
hearer‘s desire was interesting to the speaker as well. There were three applications of the sub-strategies in claiming common ground that were found in
the talk show, namely exaggerating interest, intensifying interest to hearer, and using jokes. Dialogue 1 showed the application of exaggerating interest by Ellen
and Obama. The exaggerating interest or the positive politeness was labeled as
‗PP‘. Dialogue 1
Clip Title :
Pres. Barack Obama on Ellen Breaking his Twitter Record
Time : 03.59
– 04.34 Participants
: Ellen and Obama Obama
: We were on a trip to New York, and the gap announced that they were gonna make sure that all their employees at least got paid
10 an hour, so theyre increasing their wages for tens of thousands of employees across the country, and since weve been
saying that America deserves a raise, and we should provide a minimum wage of at least 10.10 an hour. I thought it was great
for me to be able to go frequent a store. Thats doing right by their employees.
Ellen : Good for you.
Obama : I thought that was really important.
Ellen : [cheers and applause] Good for you. Thats fantastic. PP
Full transcript can be seen in Appendix B, p. 78
Ellen asked Obama about his experience in visiting a gap or a department store in New York. He told Ellen and the audience about the salary of the
employees that work on the gap. At that time, Obama was really satisfied to hear that the gap parties would increase the
employee‘s wages. Obama told Ellen and PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
42 the audience that he was also satisfied to be able to visit the gap. Ellen responded
Obama by saying ―Good for you. That‘s fantastic.‖ The word ‗fantastic‘ indicated that Ellen was impressed by Obama‘s action. Moreover, in saying the word
‗fantastic‘, Ellen used the exaggerated stress to show her interest in Obama‘s statement and keep his positive face.
Intensifying hearer‘s interest was the next example of claiming common ground. It represented the way how the speaker communicated with the hearer to
give contribution by making a good story to inten sify hearer‘s interest. The use of
exaggerated facts was one of the techniques to intensify the hearer ‘s interest.
Dialogue 2 showed the conversation between Ellen and Obama that was consisted of intensifying hearer‘s interest mechanism. The intensifying interest or positive
politeness was labeled as ‗PP‘.
Dialogue 2 Clip Title
:
President Obama Discusses His Daughters
Time : 01.02-1.24
Participants : Ellen and Obama
Obama :
They don‘t have an attitude, they‘re courteous and kind to everybody. They work hard, they don‘t feel like they‘re entitled
anything. Ellen
: Well, they have great parents. Both you and Michelle are really, really amazing. Michelle is such a strong, wonderful role model
for all women. And she has been a great First Lady. PP Obama
: I agree, that I agree with. [Audience applause]
Full transcript can be seen in Appendix B, p. 85
Obama is a father of two daughters, Malia and Natasha Obama. At that time, Ellen asked Obama about his opinions of his daughters. Then, Obama talked
about his daughters‘ personalities. He told the story of his daughters proudly. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
43 Responding to
Obama‘s story, Ellen stated another related good story that could increase
Obama‘s interest. Ellen said the good story to intensify her interest towards Obama‘s story. She shared her opinions about Obama and his wife,
Michelle, who have been raising Malia and Natasha. Moreover, Ellen used exaggerated facts by saying, ―Michelle is such a strong, wonderful role model for
all women.‖ Here, Ellen was trying to intensify Obama‘s interest by stressing her good intention to give her opinions and expressing them dramatically.
Dialogue 3 also showed the use of intensifying interest to hearer mechanism in the conversation by Hillary Clinton. The use of intensifying interest to hearer or
positive politeness was labeled as ―PP‖.
Dialogue 3 Clip Title
:
Hillary Clinton Catches Up with Ellen
Time : 03.21-03.33
Participants : Ellen and Hillary
Ellen : You have a grand-daughter called Charlotte now.
Hillary : I do, yes. Yeah, she is going to be one year old on September 26.
Ellen : That‘s a cute age.
Hillary : Yeah. On my way here, I stopped by just to see her, so that I
could kinda catch a glimpse …PP
Full transcript can be seen in Appendix B, p. 80
Dialogue 3 showed the conversation between Ellen and Hillary who talked about Hillary‘s grand-daughter. In responding to Ellen‘s statement, Hillary told a
good story about her grand-daughter. By telling a good story of her grand- daughter, Hillary wanted to satisfy Ellen
‘s interest instead of just saying ‗yes‘ to respond to Ellen.
