58 Ellen said that Obama and Michelle are great parents. She used exaggerated
words, such as amazing, wonderful, and great to satisfy Obama‘s positive face. However, the focus of this payoff was not about the exaggerated words but about
the compliments that Ellen gave to Obama. Ellen ‘s compliment indicated that she
valued what Obama and Michele had done.
b. Bald on Record Payoffs
If the speaker wanted to avoid the danger of being misunderstood and to be clear, the speaker chose the bald on record strategy. These were the essence of
bald on record payoffs. The payoff was exemplified in Utterance 2. Utterance 2
Ellen : Look at, look BoR
Transcript 5, p. 86
Ellen and Obama were watching a short video of Michelle Obama and Ellen who were having push up game. From the conversation between Ellen and
Obama, bald on record strategy was used by Ellen by saying, ―Look at, look‖
Ellen could not avoid the responsibility of doing FTA to Obama. Furthermore, she wanted to be clear and efficient. It was related to the situation when both Ellen
and Obama watched the short video. Therefore, Ellen said it directly toward Obama so that he could immediately take a look at the video before the scene
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c. Negative Politeness Payoffs
Negative politeness payoff discussed the spea ker‘s wants to satisfy the
hearer‘s negative face. Negative politeness payoff was exemplified in Utterance 3 in the following paragraphs.
Utterance 3 Obama
: You know, the Ellen dog bowls are somewhere, I am sorry, but…
NP [Audience laughing]. Transcript 3, p. 83
In Utterance 3, Obama talked about the dog bowls that were given by Ellen. Obama used the negative politeness strategy as a result that he did not want
to threat Ellen‘s negative face. By doing so, he did not want to offend Ellen‘s feeling. Obama gave his apology to Ellen by saying, ―I am sorry, but,..‖ to respect
Ellen. By respecting Ellen, Obama did not directly convey FTA to her. Therefore, he could manage himself to satisfy Ellen‘s negative face.
d. Off Record Payoffs
The idea of off record payoffs is satisfying the hearer‘s negative face in
greater degree to minimize the threat towards the hearer. By doing this, the speaker gives the hearer an intention which is not stated explicitly so that the
hearer shall interpret the actual meaning of the intention. This payoff was exemplified in Utterance 4 in the following paragraphs.
Utterance 4 Hillary : Well, I have several wishes, one of them obviously includes the
election, but I also, I really wish that I will be the president that are country needs right now, that‘s my deepest hope. [Applause] OR
Transcript 6, p. 88 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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Utterance 4 was about Hillary who was interviewed by Ellen about her campaign. When the show was approaching to finish, Ellen reminded Hillary
about her birthday and asked her wish for her birthday. In responding to Ellen ‘s
question, Hillary told her wishes by saying, ―Well, I have several wishes, one of
them obviously includes the election, but I also, I really wish that I will be the president that a
re country needs right now, that‘s my deepest hope.‖ This kind of utterance included as off-record strategy. Hillary left Ellen and the audience to
interpret what she really wanted. Thus, the reason to choose the strategy was to satisfy the
hearer‘s negative face in a greater degree than what negative politeness did.
2. Sociological Variables
Another factor which affected Ellen and US politicians to choose a particular politeness strategy was the sociological variables. There were three
elements in sociological variables, namely the social distance, relative power, and rank of imposition. However, from the example of the results, the writer found out
that the relative power factor did not influence the speakers in using politeness strategies. The discussion of sociological variables and the findings were
explained deeper in the following paragraphs.
a. Social Distance
Social distance discusses about how stable social attributes age, social class, and ethnic background affect the relationship between the speaker and
