71 From the discussion above, it can be concluded that the speaker tends to
produce indirect statements to convey the actual desire. The idea of off record payoffs is to avoid the responsibility of doing the FTA. Thus, the speaker will
give implication in the utterances and let the hearer interprets the actual meaning. Furthermore, by going off record, the speaker can avoid the threat of coercing the
hearer to fulfill his desire.
2 Sociological Variables
According to Brown and Levinson 1987, there are three factors which are included in sociological variables, namely, social distance, relative power, and
rank of imposition. Those three factors are used to assess the seriousness of an FTA. Each factor has its own assessment that will affect the speaker in choosing
the politeness strategies. A deeper discussion about each factor of the sociological variables will be presented in the following sections.
a. Social Distance
The measurement of social distance is based on the frequency of interaction and the kinds of material or non-material goods exchanged between
the speaker and the hearer Brown Levinson 1987. In addition, the measurement of social distance is determined by the stable social attributes such
as age, sex, and social background. For example, the speaker may use an imperative sentence for the hearer who is already close to the speaker. Therefore,
the least strategy will be chosen for the great intimacy and the more polite strategy will be chosen for the least intimacy. The choice of the politeness strategies which
is affected by social distance is illustrated in dialogue 18. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
72
Dialogue 18 Setting
: Steve’s house Situation
: Steve and Gretta are talking about Dave when suddenly Steve thinks that Gretta should write a song about Dave
Participants : Gretta and Steve Gretta
: “I‟m going to sound quite cheesy over it. I loved him like a fool.” Steve
: “I don‟t think that‟s cheesy. I think that sounds like a phenomenal song.
” Gretta
: “Does it?” Steve
: “Yeah, it sounds like a song. I think it sounds like a song you should write a song right now.
” Gretta
: “Right now?” Steve
: “Just write it down. Write it down, write it down. You‟re in the
zone. Say, “I‟m in the zone” BoR Gretta
: “OK, I‟m in the zone.”
In this dialogue, Gretta and Steve have known each other for long time. It indicates that they have had a great intimacy as a friend. Since they are close
enough as a friend, most utterances are expressed by Steve to Gretta through bald on record strategy. Bald on record strategy is chosen by Steve to express the
utterance to Gretta because Steve wants to achieve the maximum efficiency of communication in conveying his desire. Furthermore, there is an absence of
politeness for the utterances which are expressed through bald on record strategy. Thus, bald on record strategy is a proper strategy to be applied for the
communication between the speaker and the hearer who have great intimacy. Steve and Gretta have just watched a video which shows that Dave has
won a music award. They are talking about Dan‟s appearance in the music award because they are shocked seeing that Dan has a beard on his face. In the middle of
their conversation, Gretta expresses an utterance and Steve finds that it can be a great song title. Steve then asks Gretta to write a song using the title which has
just expressed by Gretta. Steve orders Gretta by saying “Just write it down. Write
