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Caleb : Then come with me Right now They‘ve chosen us to go
Ted :
They haven’t chosen us, Caleb. They’ve chosen you. Both of you
Data Interpretation
In the dialogue above, Ted employs indirect refusal by giving: excuse reason explanation that he can not go since the strangers only choose two persons. It can be
seen when he says
They haven’t chosen us, Caleb. They’ve chosen you. Both of you.
Here, T ed refuses Caleb’s request because he realizes that he is not included in the
selected people who must go with the strangers. In this context of situation, Ted prefers to use indirect refusal rather than direct refusal because the indirect refusal by
giving excuse reason explanation can refuse Caleb’s request appropriately. By
giving reason, Ted hopes that Caleb can catch the reason behind the refusal rationally. Moreover, if Ted employs the direct refusal, it will trigger the misunderstanding
between them and make conflict.
B. Physical departure Data 15 K Disc 1 IF I-Ref T-D
The participants of dialogue below are Ted and Diana. The relationship
between them is distant. The conversation runs in non formal situation. This is the first time they meet, that is why the topic they are talking is not serious.
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But, the situation changes when Ted tries to talk about Diana’s mom. Ted says to Diana that the meeting is not accidental. It makes Diana feels
uncomfortable with the new topic. Thus, she wa lks out to refuse Ted’s
question about her Mom. The genre is daily conversation.
Ted : Diana, we didnt meet here by accident
I need to talk to you about something, ask you something about your mother.
Diana : My mother? What about my mother?
Ted : Did she have some kind of ability?
Diana : Ability?
Ted : A gift of some kind?
Diana : Who are you?
Ted : Yeah, its awkward. You dont know me
Im John Koestler. I teach astrophysics at MIT. My son goes to William Dawes Elementary,
which is the same school your mother went to. Fifty years ago, she put this in a time capsule.
Its a list of dates Diana
: Look, I dont know what any of this is about...
Ted : And I thought if I could talk to you
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or your father... Diana
: My fathers dead. Ted
: I think its possible that there are people, like your mother, Lucinda,
who can see things before they occur. Diana
: Diana slides out of the booth Abby, We’re leaving
Data Interpretation In datum above, we can see that Diana applies indirect refusal in the form of
physical departure. It can be seen when she walks out and asks Abby to leave. This expression delivers a message that she refuses in continuing the conversation. In this
context of situation, Diana prefers to use indirect refusal in the form of physical
departure because their relationship is distant. Thus, it is okay for her to walk out from the conversation to express her refusal.
C. Silence Data 01 K Disc 1 F I- Ref MT
