POLITENESS STRATEGIES OF REQUESTS IN THE MOVIE SYDNEY WHITE
POLITENESS STRATEGIES OF REQUESTS IN THE MOVIE SYDNEY WHITE THESIS
Submitted to Meet a Part of the Requirements for Sarjana Sastra Degree from English Department
Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts Sebelas Maret University
By:
Yuni Hastuti C0307059 ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF LETTERS AND FINE ARTS SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY SURAKARTA 2011
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Name : Yuni Hastuti
NIM : C0307059
I stated whole-heartedly that the thesis entitled The Analysis of Request Expression in the Movie Sydney White (Pragmatic Approach) is not plagiarism of other’s piece of work. The things related to other people’s work are written in
quotation and included within bibliography.
If it is then proven that this pronouncement is incorrect, I am ready to take the responsibility.
Surakarta,
Yuni Hastuti
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MOTTOS
Verily, with every difficulty, there is a relief
(Alam Nasyrah: 6)
Do not put until tomorrow what you can do today
When there is a will, there is a way
Nafsu jangan terlalu dituruti, diri jangan terlalu dimanjakan.
Hidup itu tidak mudah, Nona…..keep fighting!!!!
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DEDICATION
This Thesis is dedicated to:
My beloved parents My only one brother My friends Myself
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All praises are just to Alloh SWT, the Lord of the worlds, who always gives me blessing so that I can complete this Thesis, a partial fulfillment of graduating requirement of the Sarjana Degree.
I realize that in accomplishing this thesis, I have got helps, supports, and
encouragements from many persons. Therefore, I would like to give my special thank to all of them who have give me valuable contributions. My gratitude goes to:
1. The Dean of Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts, Drs. Riyadi Santosa, M.Ed, Ph.D, for approving this thesis.
2. The Head of English Department, Prof. Dr. Djatmika, M.A, for giving me permission to write this thesis.
3. Agus Dwi Priyanto, S.S, M.CALL, my thesis consultant, for his guidance, patience, and advice in completing this thesis.
4. Dyah Ayu Nila Khrisna, S.S, M.Hum, my academic supervisor, for her guidance during my study.
5. All my excellent lecturers in English Department for giving knowledge and sharing experience.
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giving me support and lesson about hard-work.
7. My only one brother, Pak Lurah, who has provided me everything I need, and my sister in law, Bu Lurah, who always provides me delicious dishes.
8. Dek Andre Febri Pramana, who always makes me smile when I am sad.
9. My little sisters, Dek Emon, Laras, Nindul and Shary, for cheering my life.
10. The “pony”, Mama Dyah, Nanul, and Arin, for the endless friendship we have made.
11. Mbak Endah, Mbak Susi, and Nhia, for being my nice partners.
12. Mas A&B, for teaching me how to be a stronger lady.
13. CQ40 and AD2578FR, the helpful things for me.
14. The big family of Linguistics 2007, Mbak Siska, Farida, Mama Dyah, Nanul, Enok, Idul, Ikul, Hanif, Helmi, Barbara, Pathy, Ulfha, and Mbak Dian. Having time to study with the linguistics students is an unforgettable moment for me.
15. All my friends of English Department 2007, for every great moment we have spent.
Surakarta, 2011
Yuni Hastuti
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2.4 Politeness Strategy of Invitation .................................. 77
2.5 Politeness Strategy of Proposal .................................... 77
3. Reasons of choosing the politeness strategy ............................ 79
3.1 Reason of Choosing Bald on Record .......................... 79
3.2 Reasons of Choosing Positive Politeness ..................... 82
3.3 Reasons of Choosing Negative Politeness ................... 84
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
A. Conclusion .................................................................................... 86
B. Suggestion ..................................................................................... 90
BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDICES
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Table 4.1.Types of Requests...........................................................................71 Table 4.2.1. Politeness Strategies of Request for Action ……………………73 Table 4.2.2. Politeness Strategies of Request for Permission ………………..75 Table 4.2.3. Politeness Strategies of Offer …………………………………..76 Table 4.2.4. Politeness Strategy of Invitation ………………………………..77 Table 4.2.5. Politeness Strategy of Proposal …………………………………77 Table 4.3.1. Factors of Choosing Bald on Record …………………………...79 Table 4.3.2. Factors of Choosing Positive Politeness ………………………...82 Table 4.3.3. Factors of Choosing Negative Politeness ……………………….84 Table 5.1. Factors of Choosing Politeness Strategy ………………………….89
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Yuni Hastuti. C0307059. The Analysis of Request Expressions in the Movie
Sydney White. Thesis: English Department of Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts. Sebelas Maret University.
The research is conducted to analyze the request expressions employed by the characters in the movie Sydney White. The research explores the types of requests, the politeness strategies to express requests, and the reasons of choosing the politeness strategy.
The research uses pragmatics study to analyze the request expressions. The descriptive qualitative research is employed in this research. The data in this research are all of request utterances in the movie Sydney White. There are 17 data which have been analyzed by using Tsui’s classification of requests and Brown and Levinson theory of politeness strategy.
The findings of the research are: First, there are five types of request expressions employed by the characters in the movie Sydney White. They are request for action, request for permission, offer, invitation, and proposal. Request for action and request for permission are mostly employed by the speakers. There are seven data that belong to request for action and six data that belong to request for permission. Then, the act of offer is expressed twice by the speakers. Finally, invitation and proposal are each employed once by the speakers to the hearers.
Second, there are three politeness strategies employed by the speakers to express requests. The strategies are bald on record, positive politeness, and negative politeness strategy. Positive politeness is mostly chosen by the speakers to express requests. There are 9 data which show that the speakers apply positive politeness in uttering requests. Then, bald on record is employed five times by the speakers to express request. Finally, there are three occurrences of negative politeness strategy used by the speaker in expressing requests.
Third, there are several factors which influence the speakers to the choice of the politeness strategy. The choice of bald on record strategy is influenced by the informality of the situation, the time and channel limitation, close relationship and the status of the participants. Positive politeness strategy is chosen by the speaker to express requests because of the good relationship, the aim to minimize the imposition and social distance between the participants. Finally, the choice of negative politeness strategy is influenced by the social distance and no close relationship between the participants.
This research is expected to be beneficial for the readers in studying the speech act of requests and the politeness strategy of requests. It is recommended that other researchers conduct other studies about the request expressions employed by the participants having different social status in order to reveal the realization of the use of request speech act and politeness strategy.
ABSTRACT
2011.. Thesis: English Department of Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts. Sebelas Maret University. The research is conducted to analyze the request expressions employed by the characters in the movie Sydney White. The research explores the types of requests, the politeness strategies to express requests, and the reasons of choosing the politeness strategy.The research uses pragmatics study to analyze the request expressions. The descriptive qualitative research is employed in this research. The data in this research are all of request utterances in the movie Sydney White. There are 17 data which have been analyzed by using Tsui’s classification of requests and Brown and Levinson theory of politeness strategy.The findings of the research are: First, there are five types of request expressions employed by the characters in the movie Sydney White. They are request for action, request for permission, offer, invitation, and proposal. Request for action and request for permission are mostly employed by the speakers. There are seven data that belong to request for action and six data that belong to request for permission. Then, the act of offer is expressed twice by the speakers. Finally, invitation and proposal are each employed once by the speakers to the hearers. Second, there are three politeness strategies employed by the speakers to express requests. The strategies are bald on record, positive politeness, and negative politeness strategy. Positive politeness is mostly chosen by the speakers to express requests. There are 9 data which show that the speakers apply positive politeness in uttering requests.
1 2 Mahasiswa Jurusan Sastra Inggris dengan NIM C0307059
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strategy is influenced by the informality of the situation, the time and channel limitation, close relationship and the status of the participants. Positive politeness strategy is chosen by the speaker to express requests because of the good relationship, the aim to minimize the imposition and social distance between the participants. Finally, the choice of negative politeness strategy is influenced by the social distance and no close relationship between the participants.This research is expected to be beneficial for the readers in studying the speech act of requests and the politeness strategy of requests. It is recommended that other researchers conduct other studies about the request expressions employed by the participants having different social status in order to reveal the realization of the use of request speech act and politeness strategy.
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INTRODUCTION
A. RESEARCH BACKGROUND
Request is one type of speech acts that commonly happens in daily conversation. This kind of speech act focuses on calling someone to do something in which it gives the addressee an option for complying and not complying the requested action. As a pre-event act, speech act of request prospects the nonverbal action. Based on the aspects of who should perform the nonverbal action requested and who gets the benefit from the action performed, request can be subsumed into request for permission, offer, request for action, invitation, and proposal (Tsui, 1994). Through the request for permission, the action requested is to be carried out by the speaker and he gets benefit from the action. In the act of offer, the speaker is the one who will perform the non-verbal action prospected by his utterance, and the addressee gets benefit from it. In turn, the request for action, the action is carried out by the addressee to benefit the speaker. In invitation, the requested action is to be carried out by the addressee for his own benefit. Finally, proposal prospects speaker and addressee's action(s) which may benefit one of the participants or both.
Request speech act initiates the negotiation of face during the conversational interaction. In other words, request is intrinsically face- threatening act because it is intended to threaten someone ’s face (Brown and Levinson, 1987 in Tsui, 1994). There are various strategies to minimize the
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mechanism that give the addressee a face-saving way out, etc. Following Brown and Levinson’s model of politeness, request can be realized by means of linguistic strategies such as bald on record, positive politeness, negative politeness, and bald off record strategies. Politeness that is employed in request roles as the communication strategy used by the speaker to decrease imposition on and to maintain good relationship between the participants (Kitao, 1987 in Hasan, 2009).
Each participant of conversations has particular reason and consideration in employing certain strategies to utter request expressions. The relationship, status, role of the participants, the setting, the aim of utterances, and the situation are all influencing the strategy used by the speaker. This makes a speaker performs different request strategy when speak to different people, aim, setting and situation.
Sydney white as the chosen source of data is an American teenage movie which tells about the life of the students in the campus. Within this movie, the writer found some types of request expressions which are realized by politeness strategies of Brown and Levinson. The following example may be useful to clarify the background of the study.
Tyler : Hey! Sydney.Sydney. Hi. Listen, about last night... Sydney: Last night? Hm, wait, let me think. Oh, yeah! When your girlfriend
humiliated me. Good times.
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like her. Give me a chance to prove that to you!
The conversation above contains two types of request expressions. Both of sentences which are typed in bold characters can be categorized as request since they are intended to make someone to do something in which the hearer in this case is not obligated to comply it. The utterance Hi. Listen, about last night... delivered by Tyler intends to ask an action from Sydney for his benefit. Tyler wants Sydney to listen to him as an attempt to repair his relationship with her after experiencing an unexpected event happened in the previous night. Tyler implicitly expects that Sydney will be eager to be his friend again. Thus, the utterance can be categorized into request for action. Meanwhile, the second utterance delivered by Tyler Give me a chance to prove that to you! shows that Tyler wants Sydney let him to do something. If Sydney gives positive response, the requested action will be performed by Tyler and it is also intended for his benefit. Thus, the utterance can be classified into request for permission.
Both of the request utterances are expressed by Tyler directly by using imperative sentences. It implies that he utters the request by using bald on record strategy particularly channel limitation that is caused by Sydney’s ignorance to Tyler. Sydney tries to get rid of Tyler, meaning that she does not want to meet him anymore. This requires Tyler to maximize the efficiency of his speaking. It is proved that Tyler speaks to Sydney in a high voice and intonation. In this case, however, Tyler has no intention to threat Sydney’s self image. Besides time
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close relationship with Sydney. Both of them occupy the same status as the students and they have known each other fairly well. Another reason of employing the strategy is that the conversation takes place in the street, meaning that it happens in informal situation.
Based on the example above, the researcher is interested to analyze the request speech act in the American teenage movie Sydney White.
B. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The objectives in this research are:
1. To figure out the types of request utterances performed by the characters in the movie entitled Sydney White.
2. To identify how the characters perform request utterances in the movie entitled Sydney White based on the politeness strategy of Brown and Levinson.
3. To explore the reason why the characters of the movie Sydney White employ certain strategy in performing request utterances.
C. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Based on research objective, the research interests discussed in this research are formulated as follows:
1. What are the types of request speech act employed by the characters in the movie Sydney White?
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utterance?
3. Why do the characters of the movie Sydney White employ certain strategy in performing request?
D. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
Most of the studies of speech acts are focused on Searle’s classification,
meaning that the studies have not revealed that his classification can be subsumed into categories. This present research is conducted to find the types of request expressions in the movie Sydney White based on Tsui’s classification (1994). It is hoped that the research provides an in-depth resource for the analysis of speech act.
As an act that may threat person’s face, it is important to include politeness strategy in the analysis of request expressions. It reveals not only the aspect of the delivering of verbal and nonverbal strategy but also the maintaining of person’s self image. Besides, this helps to map the strategies used in the different type of requests.
Some factors such as situation and the relationship between the participants of the conversation may influence the choice of certain strategy in employing request utterances. By describing the reason of choosing the strategies, it figures out the factors influence the use of the strategies. Finally, it provides us a reference in choosing the proper strategy to utter something by considering such factors.
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This research deals with speech act analysis in which the data are taken from the conversation within the popular American teenage movie entitled Sydney White. It does not analyze speech act in general but it only focuses on the request, based on of Tsui’s classification of request: request for permission, request for action, offer, invitation, and proposal. Besides, this research also focuses its analysis on how as well as why the characters perform request based on politeness strategy of Brown and Levinson.
F. THESIS ORGANIZATION
This thesis is organized into five chapters. The first chapter is INTRODUCTION, which consists of Research Background, Research Objectives, Research Questions, Research Significance, and Thesis Organization. The next chapter is LITERATURE REVIEW. It consists of the theory of Pragmatics, Context, Speech Act, Request, Politeness Strategy, Review of Related Study, Synopsis, and The Characters of the Movie Sydney White. The third chapter is RESEARCH METHODOLOGY, which consists of Types of Research, Data and Source of Data, Technique of Collecting Data, Technique of Coding Data, And Technique of Analyzing Data. The fourth chapter is DATA ANALYISIS. It consists of Data Analysis and Discussion. The last chapter is
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
A. PRAGMATICS
Pragmatics is the branch of linguistic study that focuses on the relation between language and context. According to Levinson (1997:24), pragmatics is the study of role of context that focuses on meaning of utterances. When people are engaged in conversation, they do not always perform their intention directly through their saying. Pragmatics studies the language usage to communicate in certain situation (Nadar, 2009:2).
Pragmatics is commonly defined as meaning in use or meaning in context (Thomas, 1995:2). The study of meaning in pragmatics covers the speaker meaning that puts its attention in the producer of the message and utterance interpretation that focuses its attention on the receiver of the message. As stated by Yule (1996: 4), pragmatics deals with the study of utterance meaning as communicated by the speaker (or writer) and utterance meaning interpreted by the listener (or reader).
The definitions imply that language and context are inseparable terms in the discussion of meaning interpretation. Context which is related to the participants, time, place, and the situation in which the utterances occur plays a crucial role in constructing the meaning of utterances. Thus, it can be concluded that pragmatics is linguistic branch that focuses its study on the meaning of utterances by determining the relation between language and context.
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Context plays an important role in spoken or written language. People have to pay attention to context in interpreting the meaning of utterances or sentences, unless there might be misinterpretation, the meaning interpreted may
be different from what is intended. As stated by Edward T Hall in Parera (1991), information taken out of context is meaningless and cannot reliability interpreted.
Context is considered as the relevant aspect of the physical or social setting of utterances (Leech, 1983:13). It is a background of knowledge assumed by the speaker and hearer. Context becomes the most important thing in meaning interpretation since the different context creates different meaning. It makes the utterance to be presented either directly or indirectly. Malinowsky (in Halliday and Hasan, 1983) suggests two kinds of context. The first is the context of situation and the second is the context of culture. The context of situation is the context in which the speech is uttered. It includes the participants involved, time, place, social environment, etc. Meanwhile, the context of culture is the context of background or history behind the participant (Halliday and Hasan, 1983:13). It covers norm, rule, belief, tradition, etc.
In relation to context of situation, Firth (1957:182) suggests three important factors involved in context of situation which are potentially relevant to form, appropriateness, and meaning of utterances. They are the relevant participant which covers the verbal and nonverbal action of the participant, the relevant objects, and the effect of the verbal action. For example, a conversation in a theater box office where a customer is booking a ticket for a future
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ticket and a booking clerk who has access to information about availability and the means of receiving payment. The verbal action includes greeting, checking, requesting, confirming, and so on, while the nonverbal action involves keying information on the computer, and handing over a credit card. The relevant object includes a computer, a credit card, and a machine for transacting credit card payment. Finally, the effect of verbal action is that the customer receives tickets for the performance.
Further, Halliday and Hasan (1983: 38-39) explain the features of context as follows:
a. Participant Participant refers to those who participate in communication. Participants are classified into three roles, namely addressor, addressee, and audience. Addressor roles as the producer of the message, addressee roles as the receiver of the message, and audience contribute to the specification of the speech event.
b. Topic Topic refers to what is being talked about in communication. It is the message that the participants want to convey. It functions as a means to express the ideas, feeling, and thought. The same language will convey different meaning when it is used in different topic.
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Setting refers to the setting and scene including time, place, and concrete physical circumstances in which the utterance is produced.
d. Channel Channel refers to the means of communication that is used by the communicator in sending message to the communicant. It can be in the form of speaking, writing, and signing. The use of different channel will result different meaning of message.
e. Message form Message form refers to what form is intended to communicate the message, whether it is a poem, sermon, or joke. The use of different message form will produce different meaning of the message.
f. Code Code refers to what language, the dialect, or the style of language that is being used. The choice of code in communicating a message will influence whether the receiver understands the message or not.
g. Event Event refers to the speech event in which the usage is determined by the speech purposes. The different event will produce different meaning of message.
h. Key Key or a tone in which a communicative act is done refers to the mood, feeling, condition, and attitude of the communicator in a conversation which
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understand what key is being used because key affects and produces the meaning of message.
i. Purpose Purpose refers to the goal of communicative event. It is what the participant intend to come about as a result of the communication, for example persuading, asking, requesting, etc. the different purpose will result different way of communication and finally it will make the communicant interpret different meaning.
C. SPEECH ACT
1. Definition of Speech Act
Speech act is a part of pragmatic that studies about utterances. It is defined as action performed via utterances (Yule, 1996:47). According to Kurnia (2009), it is communicative act performed via oral or written communication. In conversation, most types of utterances do not involve simply communicating a meaning, rather, they are designed to accomplish something, such as convince someone of a belief or get someone to do something, etc. (Austin, 1962). In other words, while uttering something, people do not only convey information but also do an action. As stated by Bach (1994), the different types of actions that we try to accomplish with our utterances are referred to as speech acts.
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L Austin (1962). Further, according to Austin speech acts can be analyzed on three levels:
1. Locutionary act It is an act of saying something. It can be defined as the actual words or literal meaning of utterance.
2. Illocutionary act It is what the speaker does in saying something. It can be defined as the force behind the words. It conveys the intended meaning of the words delivered by the speaker.
3. Perlocutionary act It is the actual result or effect of the illocutionary act produced by the speaker on the listener.
In order to get clearer understanding, it is necessary to consider the example of utterance below:
A: Can you help me?
B: Oh, sure The act of saying Can you help me is called locutionary act. Then, the request delivered by A to B is called illocutionary act. Finally the act of giving help by B is called perlocutionary act.
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According to Searle (in Levinson, 1983:240), Speech act can be classified into five categories as follows:
1. Representative Representative is a kind of speech act that commits the speaker to state his belief about something. Acts such as asserting, describing, concluding, and
making a statement, are the examples of the speaker‟s intention in uttering his/her belief.
For Example:
a. Elephant is not a wild animal.
b. The moon is round.
2. Directive Directive is a kind of speech act that is intended to make someone do something. In this case, the speaker utters directive in order to get the prospective action. Acts such as requesting, commanding, prohibiting, and persuading can be classified into directive. For example:
a. Find me immediately after you’ve got the answer!
b. Don’t break the rules!
3. Commisive Commisive is a kind of speech act that commits the speaker to some future action. Acts of refusing, threatening, promising and pledging can be classified into commisives.
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a. I promise to visit you next month.
b. If you don’t give me money, I will kill you
4. Expressive Expressive is a kind speech act that is used by the speaker to express his feelings that are either pain or pleasure. It conveys the psychological state of the speaker toward the particular state of affairs. Acts of apologizing, congratulating, and thanking can be classified into expressive. For example:
a. I’m sorry to hear that
b. I heard that you’re the winner of this game. Congratulations.
5. Declaration Declaration is a kind of speech act that is used by the speaker to change the reality in accord with the proposition content of the declaration. The speakers of declaration have authority with special institutional role. Acts such as naming and pronouncing are the examples of declarations. For example:
a. I name this plane Garuda Indonesia
b. I pronounce you as husband and wife
D. DIRECTIVE
The essence of conducting a communication is to share what people think, need, and feel. By doing communication, people are not only expressing the feeling but also demanding service and information. In demanding service and
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act category which intends to make the hearer do something (Searle at Levinson, 1984:240). It focuses on calling the addressee to do an action.
According to Allan (1986:199), directive can be classified into four categories as follows:
1. Request is a kind of directive in which the speaker asks the hearer to do an action or something. In this case, the hearer has an option for not complying the nonverbal action requested by the speaker. For example:
A: Can I borrow your pen?
B: Oh, I’m sorry, this is the only one.
2. Question is a kind of directive in which the speaker asks the question to the hearer. It requires the verbal action from the hearer. The utterance is performed by the speaker to get the information from the hearer. For example:
A: What is your name?
B: My name is Rachel .
3. Requirement is a kind of directive that demands both verbal response and non verbal response from the hearer. The speaker has greater authority than the hearer. Command or order is the example of requirement. The requirement delivered by the speaker is a must for the hearer. Thus, it means that the hearer has no option for not complying the required action demanded by the speaker. For example:
A: Clean the whiteboard!
B: Ok Sir…
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proscribe, or restrict the hearer to do certain action. This can be for the sake of both the speaker and hearer. For example:
A: Don’t spend your time too much on playing game!
B: Don’t worry Mom…
E. REQUEST
1. Definition of Request
Request is a speech act that prospects the nonverbal action. It is intended by the speaker to make hearer do something. As stated by Fraser (in Tsui, 1994:92), request conveys the speaker desire to bring about the state of affairs expressed in the proposition. Thus, in giving request, the speaker wants the hearer to perform the nonverbal response according to the requested action expressed in the utterance. However, in request, the hearer gets a chance for not complying the nonverbal action requested by the speaker.
Request is different from command although both of them prospect the nonverbal action. Request is asking for something while command is ordering for something. Command differs in request in that command has the additional preparatory condition that the speaker must be in the position of authority over the hearer (Searle in Tsui, 1994:92). The most significant difference between request and command is that request gives a chance for the hearer not to comply the nonverbal action, whereas command does not (Tsui, 1994). In other words, the speaker ack nowledges the hearer‟s right to withhold compliance in giving request.
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respond because it obligates the hearer to do the demanded action delivered by the speaker. Thus, it is reasonable that the common grammatical form of request is interrogative while the common grammatical form of command is imperative or declarative. The example below may clarify the difference between request and order.
a. A boy to his girlfriend (request)
A boy: Can you help me do the homework? Girlfriend: I am sorry Honey…you have to do it by yourself.
The example indicates that the speaker does not assume that the hearer is able to carry out the requested action. In this case, the girl has a chance to refuse he r boyfriend‟s request although he expects her to do it.
b. A leader to the members (command)
A Leader: Find me immediately when you meet her! The members: Ok Rachel. The example indicates that the hearers are cooperative to do the nonverbal action demanded by the speaker. In other words, the hearer has no chance for not complying the command. In this case, the hearer occupies a higher position than the hearers. Thus, the utterance delivered by the Rachel is a requirement for the hearers.
2. Classification of Request
According to Tsui (1994), request can be classified into five types. They are request for action, request for permission, offer, invitation, and proposal.
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Request for action is a request that commits the hearer to do nonverbal action as the response of the utterance delivered by the speaker. It is intended for the benefit of the speaker. This kind of request is typically realized by Can/Could you do X? Moreover, it can be also realized by Will/Would to ask the hearer to do an action for the speaker. For example: Lenny: Can you? Can you help me?
Sydney: Sure… The example clarifies a request for action. Lenny asks Sydney to pull him
from his trouble by saying Can you help me. Sydney complies the request by saying sure (verbal response) while performing action by pulling Lenny from the trouble (nonverbal response).
2. Request for permission
Request for permission is used by the speaker to ask permission for doing something. It intends for the benefit of the speaker and involves the speaker‟s
performance in the future action. If the hearer gives positive response, the speaker will convey nonverbal response. For example: Daughter: There will be Justin music concert in SCC this night. May I go out to
watch it Mom? Mother: Surely, but don’t be late to go home.
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make her mother allow her to see the music concert. Mother positively responds the request by giving permission. Then, daughter performs nonverbal action by going to see Justin music concert.
3. Offer
Offer is request that is used by the speaker to offer something to be accepted by the hearer. In other words, the speaker requests the hearer to accept his offer. It typically provides the benefit for the hearer. When the response is positive, the hearer will give appreciation by saying thanks. Then, the speaker will perform nonverbal action to what he offers. For example: Lenny: this room is so Dirty. Do you want me to clean it? Sydney: oh…Thank you Lenny. You are so kind.
The example shows the offer. Lenny intends to make Sydney accept her help by saying Do you want me to clean it? As the response of the offer delivered by Lenny, Sydney gives the appreciation by verbally saying thanks. Then, the speaker will perform nonverbal response by cleaning the room.
4. Invitation
Invitation is a request that is used by the speaker to ask the hearer to go or come somewhere. The nonverbal response is performed by the hearer and it is intended for the benefit of the hearer. In this case, the hearer gets a chance to accept or refuse the invitation. Tyler: Aw. He's like a kid who just found out there's no Santa Claus .
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Tyler: I mean, hypothetically, you know, if there weren't a Santa Claus, which, of course, there is. You guys should come hang out sometime. Bring Gurkin of Honor. You know, actually, we're having a party tomorrow night. You guys wanna come?
The example shows the invitation. The participants in this conversation are Tyler and Sydney‟s friends. They are talking about Santa Clause. Tyler utters You
guys wanna come? to invite Sydney‟s friends to come to the party. Sydney‟s
friend can either accept or refuse the invitation because they are not obligated to come. If the hearers accept the invitation, they will perform nonverbal action by going to the party.
5. Proposal
Proposal is a request of suggestion in which the speaker asks the hearer to do something for the benefit of both speaker and hearer. The non-verbal action as the response of the request will be performed by the speaker and the hearer. Compared to request of offer, request of proposal is not likely to be followed by thanking expression.
A: Why don’t we try to do this homework by ourselves? We don’t need to ask their help because it will make us be lazy.
B: You’re right guys…Let’s us do it now. The example above clarifies the request of proposal. In this case, the
speaker asks the hearer to do homework together for the benefit of both of them.
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and the hearer.
F. POLITENESS
Politeness is commonly interpreted as the practical application of good manners. As stated by Brown and Levinson (1987), politeness is defined as the strategies employed by the speaker to achieve a variety of goals, such as promoting or maintaining harmonious relationships. According to Yule (1996:60) politeness can be interpreted as a means employed by the speaker to show awareness of another person‟s face. Thus, politeness strategy is applied to make
everyone feel affirmed in social interaction.
Politeness is closely related to face. In relation to politeness theory, face can be interpreted as every individual‟s feeling of self-worth or self image (Thomas, 1996). Yule defines that face means self image of a person. It refers to emotional and social sense of self that everyone has and expects everyone else to recognize (1996:60). Within the interactions, someone‟s image can be damaged, maintained, or enhanced. There are two kinds of face, positive face and negative face. Positive face is reflected as the desire to be liked, respected, and appreciated by others, while negative face is reflected as the desire not to be impeded or put upon, to have freedom to act as one chooses (Holmes, 1996).
Politeness accounts for the redressing of the affronts to face posed by face- threatening acts to addressees. A face threatening act (FTA) is an act that inherently damages the face of the addressee or the speaker by acting in
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strategies in order to minimize the possibility of damage either to the hearer‟s or his own face. According to Brown and Levinson (1987), politeness strategies are
developed in order to save the hearer‟s face because certain act are liable to damage or threaten another person face.
Brown and Levinson (1987) propose four main types of politeness strategies: bald on-record, positive politeness, negative politeness, and off-record.
1. Bald On-record
Bald On-record strategy is employed as an attempt to maximize the efficiency of speaking. Direct imperatives stand out as clear examples of bald on record usage. Sometimes, it may be followed by mitigating devices such as please and would you. This kind of strategy provides no attempt to minimize the damage to the hearer‟s face. Using bald on record strategy will shock, embarrass, and make the hearers feel a bit uncomfortable. This strategy is mostly used in situation where the speaker has close relationship with the hearer, such as family or close friend.
Bald on record strategy will be employed if there are good reasons for ignoring face risk. There are some occasions when the speaker must speak very directly. The speaker is likely to use bald on-record strategy when he is in emergency and in task oriented situation. Both situations make speaker tend to focus on the propositional content of the message, and pay little attention to the interpersonal aspect of what is said. In addition, channel limitation such as calling across a distance will lead the speaker to employ bald on-record strategy.
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differential between the participants, where the speaker occupies higher position than the hearer. Sub strategies of bald on record are:
a. Cases of non minimization of the face threats It happens in the condition where maximum efficiency is very important, and this is mutually known to both speaker and hearer that no face redresses is necessary.
An emergency: Help me, help me!!! Task –oriented: Give me the nails! Request: Close the window, please! Alerting or warning: Careful! He is a dangerous man. Channel Limitation: Come home right now!
b. Cases of FTA oriented usage It is polite for the speaker to reduce hearer‟s anxieties by preemptively
inviting hearer to impinge on the speaker‟s preserve. Welcoming (the speaker insists that the hearer may transgress): “Come in,
don’t hesitate, I’m not busy”. Greeting and farewell (the speaker insists that the hearer may transgress on
his positive face by talking his leave): “ I am staying, you go!”
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Offer (when the speaker insist that the hearer may impose the speaker‟s
negative face): “Don’t bother, I’ll clean it up/ leave it to me”
2. Positive Politeness
Positive politeness strategy provides an attempt to minimize the damage to the hearer‟s face. They are used to make the hearer feel good about himself and his
possessions. It is intended to avoid the conflict and to minimize the social distance between the participants by expressing friendliness. This strategy is likely to be used by group of friends or in situations where the participants know each other fairly well.
Positive politeness deals with the redress consisting in partially satisfying the desire by communicating that the speaker‟s wants is equally respected with the
hearer‟s face. The speaker treats the hearer as a member of group, a friend, or someone who is personally liked. The speaker considers that the hearer is the same with himself by means of status, rights and duties. This strategy is used as a kind of social accelerator, where the speaker wants to be closer to the hearer. The statements such as friendship, solidarity, and compliment belong to positive politeness strategy.
Sub strategies of positive politeness are:
Attend to the hearer‟s desire: You look sad. Can I do anything? Exaggerate (interest, approval, and sympathy with hearer): what a nice dress you wear! Intensify interest to hearer: this is done by making a good story.
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Use solidarity in-group identity markers: Heh, mate, can you lend me your mobile phone? Be optimistic: I’ll just come along, if you don’t mind. Include both speaker (S) and hearer (H) in activity (using an inclusive „we‟ form): If we help each other, I guess, we’ll both sink or swim in this course. Offer or promise: If you wash the dishes, I’ll vacuum the floor. Avoid Disagreement: Yes, you’re right. It’s rather long, not short certainly.
Give or ask for reason: Why don’t we go to school together? Assume agreement: "So when are you coming to see us?" Presuppose/raise/assert common ground: OK now, let’s stop the chatter and get on with our little essay. Joke: it may be used to stress the participants share background and values. For example: How about lending me this old heap or junk? Assert or Presuppose speaker knowledge of and concern for hearer wants. For example: I know you love roses but the florist didn’t have more, so I brought you geraniums . Give gifts to hearer (goods, sympathy, understanding, cooperation): satisfy hearer‟s wants.
3. Negative Politeness
Negative politeness strategy is oriented towards the hearer‟s negative face, which appeals the he arer‟s desire not to be impeded or put upon, to be left free to act as they choose. It also emphasizes avoidance of imposition on the
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space. This implies that negative politeness strategy involves some social distance between the participants. This strategy is used when the speaker wants to put a social brake on to the course of social interaction. It conveys a higher potential for awkwardness or embarrassment than in bald on record strategies and positive politeness strategies. However, this strategy also employs conventional politeness markers to minimize the imposition. Some strategies of Negative politeness are:
Be conventionally indirect: Would you know where Oxford Street is? Use hedges or questions: Perhaps, he might have taken it, maybe. Could you please pass the rice? Be pessimistic (expressing doubt): You couldn’t find your way to lending me a thousand dollars, could you?
Minimize the imposition: It’s not too much out of your way, just a couple of blocks.
Apologizing: I’m sorry; it’s a lot to ask, but can you lend me a thousand dollars? Impersonalize speaker and hearer (avoid the pronoun I and you): one shouldn’t do things like that, Take them out! State the FTA as some general social rule, regulation or obligation: Passengers will please refrain from flushing toilets on the train Go on record as incurring a debt, or as not indebting hearer: I’d be eternally grateful if you would …
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Nominalize: Your good performance on the examinations impressed us favourably.
4. Off-record
Off record is likely to be called as indirect strategy. It is considered as an attempt by the speakers to remove themselves from any imposition whatsoever. This strategy is used when the speaker wants to damage another‟s face without any responsibility of doing it, by leaving it up to the hearers to be interpreted by themselves.
Off record covers the act of employing indirectness. The speakers say something that is actually different from what they literary say. The indirect utterance is intended to be understood by the hearers as an attempt to minimize
the threat on the hearer‟s face. For example, a speaker using the indirect strategy might merely say “Oh..its so hot here” initiating that it would be nice if the hearer would get up and turn on air conditioner without directly asking the listener to do so. Some sub strategies of this strategy are:
Give hints: “it is hot here”. Be vague: “the committee should have been more creative in managing it”. Be sarcastic or joking: “Yeah, he is a real rocket scientist”. Understate: “what do you think of Anne? (I think she is not a good girl). Overstate: “I have to pass thousands miles to reach you”. Use rhetorical question:” How many times I have to tell you?”
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Be incomplete, use ellipsis : Well, if one leaves one’s tea on the wobbly table …
Be ambiguous: John is a pretty sharp (smooth) cookie. Be ironic: Lovely neighborhood, eh? (in a slum) Use contradiction: Are you upset about that? Well, yes and no/ I am and
I’m not Give association clues: Are you going to market tomorrow? … There’s a market tomorrow, I suppose . (Give me a ride there). Presuppose: I washed a car again today.
Use tautologies: Boys will be boys. Use metaphors: Harry is a real fish. Over generalize: People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
G. REVIEW OF RELEVANT STUDIES
A study having relationship with the present research is Request expression in the film entitled Philadelphia . The research was conducted by Yuliana Indrasari (2004). The study aimed to describe the types of request expression as well as the factors influencing the use of each type of request expressions. The result found four types of request expression, namely offer, request for action, request for permission, and proposal and revealed that the use of those request expressions are influenced by the situation and the relationship between participants.
Then, Edi Suparno (2006) conducted a research dealing with request entitled Analysis of Request in Action Movie Spiderman 1. The research was
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intended to describe the form and the types of request based on Tsui‟s classification. The result found four types of request expression namely request for action, request for permission, offer, and proposal which are realized in the form of interrogative and imperative sentence.