There are four assumptions of performing request. First, the requester wants the requestee to perform an action. Second, the requester assumes the
requestee can perform an action. Third, the requester assumes the requestee is willing to perform an action. Last, the requester assumes the requestee will not
perform an action in the absence of the request. By these conditions, it conveys the illocutionary forces of a request. In line with Searle, Labov
– Fanshel in Trosborg, 1995:191 add the requester has the capacity to tell the requestee to
perform the desired act and the requestee has the responsibility to realize it. In conclusion, request has three results. Firstly, the requester says hisher
request and wants the requestee to carry out the desired act. Secondly, the requester may perform the desired act. Thirdly, it is indefinite that the requestee
will carry out the desired act.
b. Types of Request
Trosborg 1995 states there are two types of requesting, they are indirect request and direct request. Indirect request is divided into three, i.e.
unconventionally indirect request, conventionally indirect request based on the speaker, and conventionally indirect request based on the hearer. Each of them is
explained below. 1
Unconventionally Indirect Request According to Trosborg 1995: 192, unconventionally indirect request
means a requester does not state what heshe wants to say. It has discrepancy between what heshe says as hisher true intentions behind those utterances. It
means a requester indirectly implies the different meaning when heshe states
something. The utterance must be recognized by the requester as an utterance that conveys not only the surface meaning. In order to get the intended meaning of
request from the requester, both of the requester and the requestee must pay more attention in a certain situation when the utterance is being produced. It is because
an indirect request has more than one meaning. In addition, both of requester and requestee also should be aware about the intimate knowledge which is happened
in a certain situation. This type can be applied by using strategy of hints, for example,
It’s cold in here. By telling the situation, the utterance of an example may result in few interpretations.
2 Conventionally Indirect Request based on the hearer
A conventionally indirect request based on the hearer shows that the requestee manages the request whether heshe will perform or refuse the request.
This type is more polite than requests formulated on request based on the speaker Trosborg, 1995:197. When a requester utters what heshe needs, the requestee
occupies the substantial position. A requester already knows the consequence that heshe does not take the request. Therefore, the requestee can refuse in a polite
way to answer the request. This type can be applied on the strategies of request which are
questioning hearer‘s abilitywillingness and suggestory formulae. An example is Could you close the window? By presenting the example, the requester
asks the requestee ‘s willingness to close the window. In this case, the request
might be complied or not by the requestee.
3 Conventionally Indirect Request based on the speaker
Trosborg 1995: 201 says that a conventionally indirect request based on the speaker is the requester placing hisher wishes above the requestee in order to
make the requestee perform an act as a wish from the requester. The requester takes an important position in this type rather than the requestee. It is because the
requester becomes the main actor of the interaction. In cooperative way, the requestee mostly accepts the wish rather than disagrees with the
requester‘s desires. The requester has control to request; it is called demand. Thus, it makes
the requestee difficult to refuse, for example, You should wash my clothes. In this example, a requester demands to perform an action by washing hisher clothes
which is needed to comply. It is hard for the requestee to refuse the demand. Related to this type, the statement of speaker‘s wishes and desires and the
statement of speaker‘s needs and demands are applied. 4
Direct request Direct request is the type of request in which the requester and the
requestee instantly understand what the requester said Trosborg, 1995:202. It is because the requester directly says the desire to the requestee in an explicit way.
In accordance with the definition, Clark in Achiba, 2003:7 says the illocutionary force of direct request is only one. It clearly stated by the requester‘s utterance. In
direct request, the requester expects compliance from others. The requester tends to have a higher position than the requestee by using performatives and imperative
statements or modal verb expressing obligation or necessity which expresses to be an order. An example is A cup of coffee, please. By saying so, the requester
directly says to the requestee. The context is in the coffee shop, there are a guest and a waiter. A guest, as the requester, orders a cup of coffee, thus, a waiter, as the
requestee, should comply an order from the requester. This type can be applied in the three strategies such as statement of obligation and necessity, performatives,
and imperatives.
c. Strategies of Request
