A study on the use of politeness by the characters of The Devil Wears Prada movie.
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A STUDY ON THE USE OF POLITENESS BY THE CHARACTERS
OF THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA MOVIE
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Margaretha Geraldine Arbella
Student Number: 091214014
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013
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A STUDY ON THE USE OF POLITENESS BY THE CHARACTERS
OF THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA MOVIE
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Margaretha Geraldine Arbella
Student Number: 091214014
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013
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I would like to dedicate this thesis
to my beloved parents
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STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work or
parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the
references, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, August 14, 2013
The Writer
Margaretha Geraldine Arbella
091214014
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama
: Margaretha Geraldine Arbella
Nomor Mahasiswa
: 091214014
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
A STUDY ON THE USE OF POLITENESS BY THE CHARACTERS
OF THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA MOVIE
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan
kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan data,
mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan
data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikan ke internet atau
media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya
maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya
sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 14 Agustus 2013
Yang menyatakan
(Margaretha Geraldine Arbella)
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ABSTRACT
Arbella, Margaretha Geraldine. (2013). A Study on the Use of Politeness by the
Characters of The Devil Wears Prada Movie. Yogyakarta: English Language
Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
This study analyzed The Devil Wears Prada movie, an American movie
based on a novel of the same name by Lauren Weisberger. The movie revolved
around Andrea Sachs as a struggling junior assistant at Runway Magazine - a job
that “a million girls would kill for” since working for Miranda Priestly, the editorin-chief, for a year opened a chance to get a job in any renowned magazine.
Andrea regarded her job as an opportunity to be a journalist. However, she
received cynical looks and insults about her outfits from her boss and colleagues.
The movie depicted real examples of the use of politeness in the characters’
utterances. Thus, the writer intended to analyze the politeness phenomena found
in The Devil Wears Prada movie. Two research problems were formulated in this
study: (1) What are the politeness strategies shown in The Devil Wears Prada
movie? (2) What are the factors affecting the characters’ politeness in speaking?
The writer employed Brown and Levinson’s (1987) theory to find out the
politeness strategies by the characters of The Devil Wears Prada movie. Also,
Spolsky’s (1998) theory of the politeness factors was included to find out the
factors affecting the characters’ speaking politeness. The writer applied document
analysis as the method of the study, in which The Devil Wears Prada movie’s
script became the primary source of the study. The secondary source of this study
contained theories of politeness strategies and politeness factors. The writer and
The Devil Wears Prada movie’s script, further, was employed as the instruments.
Based on the analysis, the writer found that the characters of The Devil
Wears Prada movie applied four politeness strategies, namely Bald-on Record,
Positive, Negative, and Off-record or Indirect Politeness Strategies in their
utterances. Additionally, Bald-on Record Politeness strategy was applied as many
as twenty-nine times. Positive and Negative Politeness strategies each was
employed eleven and nineteen times. Off-record or Indirect Politeness strategy
was the most utilized strategy. The total number of the characters’ utterances on
this strategy was forty-five. The use of politeness strategies were additionally
corresponded with frequent use of idioms. The second finding, furthermore,
revealed that the factors affecting the characters’ politeness in speaking were
language styles, social situations, solidarity, and power relation.
Keywords: The Devil Wears Prada movie, bald-on politeness, positive
politeness, negative politeness, off-record politeness
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ABSTRAK
Arbella, Margaretha Geraldine. (2013). A Study on the Use of Politeness by the
Characters of The Devil Wears Prada Movie. Yogyakarta: Program Studi
Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Studi ini menganalisa sebuah film berjudul The Devil Wears Prada yang
diadaptasi dari novel karya Lauren Weisberger. Film ini bercerita mengenai
Andrea Sachs yang bekerja sebagai asisten di sebuah majalah ternama, Runway.
Posisi sebagai asisten di Runway membuka peluang bagi siapapun yang mampu
bekerja selama setahun untuk diterima bekerja di majalah manapun sehingga
posisi tersebut dijuluki “pekerjaan yang diinginkan jutaan gadis.” Andrea
menganggap pekerjaannya sebagai kesempatan untuk meniti karir sebagai
jurnalis. Namun, ia justru mendapat pandangan sinis dan cemooh dari bos dan
rekan-rekan kerjanya karena gaya busananya yang dianggap kuno. Film The Devil
Wears Prada menggambarkan contoh nyata penggunaan kesopanan oleh para
karakternya. Oleh karena itu, melalui studi ini penulis menganalisa fenomena
kesopanan di film The Devil Wears Prada. Terdapat dua pokok permasalahan
dalam studi ini, yaitu: (1) apa saja strategi kesopanan yang ditampilkan dalam The
Devil Wears Prada? (2) faktor apa sajakah yang mempengaruhi kesopanan para
karakter dalam berbicara?
Penulis menerapkan teori dari Brown dan Levinson (1987) untuk
mengidentifikasi strategi-strategi kesopanan yang digunakan oleh para karakter.
Teori dari Spolsky (1998) digunakan untuk mengetahui faktor-faktor yang
mempengaruhi kesopanan para karakter dalam berbicara. Penulis menggunakan
metode analisis dokumen dengan naskah film The Devil Wears Prada sebagai
sumber utama. Sementara itu, sumber sekunder dalam penelitian ini meliputi
teori-teori strategi kesopanan dan faktor-faktornya. Instrumen yang digunakan
dalam penelitian ini adalah penulis dan naskah film The Devil Wears Prada.
Berdasarkan analisis, penulis menemukan bahwa para karakter
menerapkan keempat strategi kesopanan dalam berbicara, antara lain Bald-on,
Positive, Negative, dan Off-record/Indirect Politeness. Sebagai informasi
tambahan, para karakter menerapkan Bald-on Record sebanyak dua puluh
sembilan kali. Positive dan Negative Politeness digunakan sebanyak sebelas dan
sembilan belas kali. Sedangkan Off-record/Indirect Politeness diterapkan paling
banyak, yaitu empat puluh lima kali. Penggunaan strategi kesopanan juga
berhubungan dengan penggunaan ungkapan oleh para karakter. Penemuan kedua
menyatakan bahwa faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi kesopanan para karakter
dalam berbicara meliputi gaya bahasa, situasi sosial, solidaritas, dan kekuasaan.
Kata kunci: film The Devil Wears Prada, bald-on politeness, positive politeness,
negative politeness, off-record politeness
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks be to God for my life through all the tests in the past four years.
He has made my life more meaningful. May His name be honoured and glorified.
Foremost, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my thesis
advisor, Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd., who has been my inspiration as I
struggle with all the obstacles in the completion of this study. Her patience and
immense knowledge helped me to complete my thesis. I could not imagine having
a better advisor for this study.
This thesis would not have been possible without the help and support of
Sr. Margaret O'Donohue FCJ, Drs. Barli Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D., and my father
Drs. Antonius. They were always accessible and willing to help me with my
problem in English, particularly in grammar. As a result, my research process
became smooth and rewarding for me.
I would like to thank Stella Maris Mere and Elizabeth Nindya Paramita
Ariesta for the thesis discussions, precious time spent in the library, and help in
understanding theories. I also thank Liliana, Shela Novitasari, Veronica
Sulistyani, Adyaningrum Cinta, Felicita Devi, Father Anton, Christina
Mariana Ayogyani, Rendi Oktavianus, Ruth Septi Widiayu Pratiwi, and all
my friends of PBI batch 2009 for all the fun we have had in the last four years.
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My deepest gratitude goes to my mother Sarwitri, S.Pd. and my father
Drs. Antonius for their love and continuous support throughout my life. This
thesis is simply impossible without them, especially my mother. I remember her
constant support when I encountered difficulties and I remember, most of all, her
delicious dishes.
I would like to thank everyone who has supported me throughout the
entire process. I will be grateful forever for the love.
Margaretha Geraldine Arbella
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE............................................................................................... i
APPROVAL PAGES.................................................................................. ii
DEDICATION PAGE................................................................................. iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY........................................... v
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI............................................ vi
ABSTRACT................................................................................................ vii
ABSTRAK.................................................................................................... viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................... ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................. xi
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 1
A. Research Background........................................................ 1
B. Research Problem.............................................................. 4
C. Problem Limitation ........................................................... 4
D. Research Objectives .......................................................... 4
E. Research Benefits .............................................................. 5
F. Definition of Terms ........................................................... 6
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CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE..................... 8
A. Theoretical Description...................................................... 8
1. Pragmatics.................................................................... 9
2. Speech Acts.................................................................. 10
3. Locutionary, Illocutionary, and Perlocutionary Acts... 10
a) Locutionary Act..................................................... 11
b) Illocutionary Act.................................................... 11
i) Assertives......................................................... 11
ii) Directives......................................................... 12
iii) Commisives...................................................... 12
iv) Expressives...................................................... 12
v) Declarations..................................................... 13
c) Perlocutionary Act................................................. 13
4. Sociolinguistics............................................................. 13
5. Politeness...................................................................... 14
6. Positive Face ............................................................... 15
7. Negative Face .............................................................. 15
8. Face Threatening Acts................................................. 16
9. Politeness Strategies .................................................... 16
a) Bald-on Record .................................................... 17
b) Positive Politeness................................................ 17
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c) Negative Politeness .............................................. 18
d) Off-record or Indirect ........................................... 18
10. Factors Affecting the Characters in Speaking............. 18
a) Language Styles ................................................... 19
b) Registers and Domains......................................... 19
c) Slang and Solidarity ............................................. 20
d) Language and Gender .......................................... 21
e) Social Stratification .............................................. 22
B. Theoretical Framework ..................................................... 23
CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...................................... 24
A. Research Method............................................................... 24
B. Research Setting ................................................................ 25
C. Research Subject ............................................................... 26
D. Instruments and Data Gathering Technique ...................... 26
E. Data Analysis Technique .................................................. 28
F. Research Procedure ........................................................... 28
CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ................ 30
A. The Politeness Strategies Shown
in The Devil Wears Prada Movie ..................................... 30
1. Off-record/Indirect Politeness ..................................... 31
2. Bald-on Record Politeness .......................................... 37
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3. Negative Politeness ..................................................... 44
4. Positive Politeness....................................................... 48
B. The Factors Affecting the Characters’ Politeness
in Speaking ........................................................................ 54
1. Language Styles .......................................................... 54
2. Social Situations .......................................................... 55
3. Solidarity ..................................................................... 56
4. Power Relation ............................................................ 57
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS,
AND SUGGESTIONS ................................................................................ 59
A. Conclusions ....................................................................... 56
B. Implications........................................................................ 61
C. Suggestions ....................................................................... 62
1. To Future Researchers................................................. 62
2. To Language Learners................................................. 63
REFERENCES............................................................................................ 64
APPENDIX ................................................................................................. 66
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses the introduction of this study which consists of six
parts, namely the research background, research problems, problem limitation,
research objectives, research benefits, and definition of terms. The research
background will be about the background information of the study, which builds
rationale for the urgency of the study, presents general aims and a theoretical
starting point. The research problems section formulates the problems of the study
which are identified to discover the findings of the study. The problem limitation
is the scope and the focus of the study. The research objectives present the
expected outcomes of the study related to the research problems. The research
benefits provide the possibility that parties, such as English teachers, English
learners, future researchers, and readers make use of the results of the study. The
definition of terms defines the keywords that are used by the writer in the study to
avoid misinterpretation.
A. Research Background
Politeness has a substantial role in keeping the harmony of a community.
Most people think that politeness, to be specific, speaking politeness, is only a
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matter of saying please and thank you in the right place. Speaking politeness, on
the other hand, covers more than that. Politeness is a significant aspect in social
interaction. People need to consider their speaking politeness to avoid offending
others for it is one of the most important parts of courtesy. English language
learners, particularly EFL and ESL learners, still encounter difficulties in showing
the appropriate expressions of politeness. As a result, it is often found that they
speak English in a peculiar way. It is crucial, however, to be able to not only
speak fluently in the English language but also apply the concepts of politeness in
the target language as future English language teachers. Indonesians, as EFL
learners, often show denial to a compliment. For instance, when a native speaker
says, “Your English is good”, Indonesians will likely answer “No, of course not.”
Such response is uncommon in the English society and is considered impolite.
EFL learners tend to regard this response as a kind of disagreement (Daikuhara,
1986: 121). Thus, ESL or EFL’s language use are still influenced by their first
language.
This study focuses on a movie entitled The Devil Wears Prada. Andrea
Sachs, a recent Northwestern University graduate and aspiring journalist, tries to
survive working under pressure at Runway Magazine since her haughty senior
assistant underestimates her capability of working and adapting to the new work
environment. Similarly, Miranda Priestly, her boss is well-known for being firm
to her employees. The only reason she works at Runway is to pursue a job as a
writer.
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The Devil Wears Prada movie pervades aspects belonging to politeness.
According to Brown & Levinson (1987: 92), there are four politeness strategies in
society; they are Bald-On Record, Positive, Negative, and Off-record/Indirect
Politeness. Emily tells Andrea, for instance, to go to a certain store to pick up
some clothes ordered by Miranda. Emily says, “Do you have some pry
commitment – some hideous skirt convention you have to go to?” This utterance
refers to Off-record or Indirect Politeness because the speaker is being sarcastic to
the addressee by insinuating her poor sense of fashion.
The Devil Wears Prada movie was chosen for it contains a great deal of
politeness phenomena among the characters in their conversations and politeness
itself focuses on forms of social behavior involving language. This movie depicts
how politeness has been neglected by many people as well, especially young
adults, who concern more about their negative attitudes influenced by their
society.
The writer analyzes the use of politeness by the characters of The Devil
Wears Prada movie because movie can eventually be medium to study
sociolinguistics, specifically politeness. The writer believes that by acquiring the
concepts of politeness, English language learners will be able to speak English
politely in different social contexts. This study will give further data on the use of
politeness in The Devil Wears Prada movie and the major factors influencing the
characters’ politeness in speaking.
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B. Research Problems
Based on the background of the study, two research problems are
formulated as follows.
1.
What are the politeness strategies shown in The Devil Wears Prada
movie?
2.
What are the factors affecting the characters’ politeness in speaking?
C. Problem Limitation
The study is limited to the use of politeness by The Devil Wears Prada
movie’s six characters. The characters are Andrea Sachs, Emily Charlton,
Miranda Priestly, Nigel, Christian Thompson, and Nate Cooper. The writer only
focuses on those six characters because they appear more frequently than the
other characters do, which means they are the ones who play important roles in
the movie. The data of the two research problems will be analyzed based on the
theories of Brown and Levinson (1987) and Spolsky (1998). The methodology
used in this study is limited to document analysis and the study is done by
analyzing the movie’s script.
D. Research Objectives
The study is done in order to find out:
1.
the politeness strategies shown in The Devil Wears Prada movie.
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2.
the factors affecting the main characters’ speaking politeness in The
Devil Wears Prada movie.
E. Research Benefits
The writer believes that the study contributes benefits that will be useful
notably for:
1. English Teachers
This study will encourage teachers to assess learners’ English proficiency
in the grammar as well as in the sociolinguistics aspect, principally politeness.
2. English Learners
The study will help English education learners to apply their English
language proficiency appropriately in their teaching-learning process. This study
will also help English learners to be able to apply English expressions in the form
of conversations appropriately and politely.
3. Readers
This study will provide useful information related to speaking politeness
for its readers and hopefully it enriches their knowledge of politeness in social
contexts. Thus, readers are capable of applying politeness behavior as well as
modest demeanor in speaking and behaving.
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4. Future Researchers
This study will hopefully be a good reference to future researchers to
conduct further research on sociolinguistics. This study will also give valuable
information related to speaking politeness to help them conduct research under
the same topic.
F. Definition of Terms
In order to assist the readers in understanding the topic discussed, the
terms used in this study are defined as follows.
1. Politeness
According to Holmes (1996: 5), “Politeness refers to a behavior which
actively expresses positive concern for others, as well as non-imposing distance
behavior. In other words, politeness may take form of an expression of good-will
or camaraderie, as well as the more familiar non intrusive behavior which is
labeled “polite” in everyday usage”. According to Brown and Levinson (1987:
92), there are four politeness strategies, namely Bald-On Record, Positive,
Negative, and Off-record/Indirect Politeness. The characters’ utterances described
as a part of politeness aspects are the main concern in this study. This study will
present the speaking politeness of the characters of The Devil Wears Prada
movie.
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2. The Devil Wears Prada
The Devil Wears Prada is a 2006 American comedy-drama movie
directed by David Frankel. The story revolves around Andrea Sachs, an aspiring
journalist, who is trying hard to survive at work as it deals with something she
does not care much about: fashion. Despite her animosity towards fashion, she
applies for a job at Runway Magazine as a junior assistant. Her position as an
assistant is described as a job that “a million girls would kill for”. This movie
provides many examples of speaking politeness by the characters.
The term The Devil in both the book and the movie refers to a ruthless,
demanding and determined editor-in-chief of Runway Magazine, Miranda
Priestly. Prada is an upmarket brand name. The Devil Wears Prada, therefore,
describes the ruthless editor-in-chief, who dresses in high quality brands or is
famously known as a prominent figure in a high-fashion magazine.
3. Characters
A character is described by Abrams (1981: 20) as “the person presented in
dramatic or narrative work who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed
with moral and dispositional qualities expressed in the dialogue and action”. The
term characters in this study refer to individuals who possess their own traits and
motivations. The study focuses on six characters, namely Andrea Sachs, Emily
Charlton, Miranda Priestly, Nigel, Christian Thompson, and Nate Cooper.
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The writer provides two parts in this section. The first part is the
theoretical description, which includes the discussion of pragmatics, speech acts,
sociolinguistics, and politeness theory. The second part, the theoretical
framework, is used to synthesize all the theories elaborated in the theoretical
description in order to correlate the theories to the current study.
A. Theoretical Description
The writer presents four parts, namely pragmatics, speech acts,
sociolinguistics, and politeness. Pragmatics is necessary included as it is closely
related to meaning in contexts and the study, as a matter of fact, deals with the
utterances of The Devil Wears Prada movie’s characters. Pragmatics comprises
speech acts, which focus on language as a tool for communication.
Sociolinguistics is presented in order to make a distinct understanding of the topic
discussed. Politeness theory, moreover, is used as the basic theory of the study.
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1. Pragmatics
Levinson (1983: 9) states, “Pragmatics covers both context-dependent
aspects of language structure and principles of language usage and understanding
that have nothing or little to do with linguistic structure”. Further, he defines
pragmatics as, “the study of those relations between language and context that
grammaticalized, or encoded in the structure of a language”. He emphasizes that
pragmatics covers language usage as the basic concept in understanding language
itself within contexts. The focus of pragmatics is how speakers use language to
convey information.
Besides, Leech (1992: 19) mentions, “Pragmatics is the study of how
language is used to communicate. It concerns itself by how people use language
within context and why they use language in particular ways” and that it can also
be defined as “the study of how utterances have meanings in situations”. This
implies that pragmatics focuses on how speakers use language for communication
to convey meanings in particular contexts.
Mackinlay and Genesereth (1985: 18) define language as “a set of
conventions that a speaker and hearer have for constructing and interpreting the
messages”. Language, more importantly, can be described by “specifying the
correspondence between facts about the world and the message formulas that
represent them”. By delivering messages through a language, both speakers and
addressees must be familiar with the context of situations. Speakers, as a result,
are able to express meaningful utterances. As for the addressees, they are able
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interpret the speakers’ utterances well. It is, therefore, the way to express
politeness.
2. Speech Acts
Speech acts cannot be separated from the speakers’ intention to utter
something as they determine what the speakers mean. Nhan (2012: 903)
elaborates on speech acts by stating, “When people try to express themselves,
they do not only produce utterances containing grammatical structures and words,
but also perform actions via those utterances such as inviting, leave-taking and
accusing”. Further, Searle (1987: 54) states that speech acts consist of three
things, namely an act of saying something, act of doing something, and act of
affecting someone. Speakers, in that case, produce utterances to communicate
things containing actions. In order to distinguish the importance of performing an
action through an utterance, Searle (1987: 23) adopts terms from Austin (1962:
149). The terms are locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts.
3. Locutionary, Illocutionary, and Perlocutionary Acts
In this part, the writer elaborates the theories from Searle (1987: 23)
related to locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts and gives further
explanations of the use of these theories.
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a) Locutionary Act
Searle (1987: 23) mentions that this act contains the way people produce
an utterance and mean what they say literally. The utterance, “The weather is too
cold” could be perceived as its literal meaning that the weather or the temperature
is really cold.
b) Illocutionary Act
Cruse (2000: 332) states, “Illocutionary acts are acts which are internal to
the locutionary act, in the sense that, if the contextual conditions are appropriate,
once the locutionary act has been performed, so has the illocutionary act”. It
refers to what the speakers intend to say from the utterance they produce in such a
way that the addressees understand the meaning. Act of stating, promising,
apologizing, threatening, predicting, complaining, ordering, refusing, and
requesting are included in illocutionary act. If the speaker says, “The room is too
dark” that means he wants the addressee to turn on the light. Additionally,
following Austin’s (1962: 149) general categories of illocutionary acts, Searle
(1979: 39) modifies the categories of illocutionary acts into five types. They are
assertives, directives, commisives, expressives, and declarations.
i) Assertives
The term assertives means an act used by speakers of a language to clarify
that something is true or accurate. The acts include asserting, acknowledging,
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concluding, remarking, swearing, and insisting. The example of asserting is: “No
one can cook better than I do.”
ii) Directives
This act focuses on the speaker’s behavior. It performs ordering,
requesting, suggesting, imploring, defying, and challenging. Speakers can say,
“Could you please hand the bread?” as the example of requesting.
iii) Commisives
Commisives allows the speakers to do a certain act in the future, such as
promising, offering, threatening, intending, and vowing. Its function is less
competitive because it focuses on the interest of the addressee. The act of
promising is, for instance, “I am going to London next week.”
iv) Expressives
This act expresses the psychological state of the speaker explicitly. The
speakers reveal their feelings of certain situations. It includes acts of thanking,
congratulating, deploring, condoling, welcoming, and apologizing. “Thank you
for coming to my birthday party” is an example of thanking.
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v) Declarations
It is an act that brings into existence to which it refers. The acts include
passing sentence, blessing, firing, bidding, and excommunicating. For instance,
“You are fired!”, shows the example of firing.
c) Perlocutionary Act
According to Cruse (2000: 332), perlocutionary acts are “acts performed
by means of language, using language as a tool”. It contains acts of persuading,
embarrassing, intimidating, imitating, or inspiring the addressee. For example,
“Come on. Give it a try.” The way the speaker persuades the addressee is by
using language to utter something and let them do what the speaker is urging.
4. Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is a term used to describe the correlation between
language and society whereby people use in different social contexts.
Sociolinguistics provides facts about human speech in the society. People’s
dialects are aroused from various factors, such as age, sex, and their social class.
Llamas and Stockwell (2009: 21) clarify, “Societies differ from each other and
change over time” indicating that language is variable and ever-changing.
Therefore, it varies for both the speakers as well as the groups of language users
within the same language. Shumin (1997) states:
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Learning to speak a foreign language requires more than knowing its
grammatical and semantic rules, learners must also acquire the knowledge of
how native speakers use language in the context of structured interpersonal
exchange. Besides, it involves understanding not just the language but also the
social and cultural values of the community. (p. 204)
A speaker of a language should pay attention to the sociolinguistics aspects in a
conversation. They should be able to produce the appropriate language choice and
a good concept of communication.
5. Politeness
Brown and Levinson (1987: 13) mention politeness as “a complex system
for softening face threats”. For example:
(a) Will you go to see the concert?
(b) Won’t you go to see the concert?
Example (a) is considered less polite than example (b). The word “will”
sounds imminent. This sentence would be interpreted as “I will go to see the
concert if I have to”, while the word “won’t” sounds less imminent. It is up to the
addressee whether he wants to see the concert or not.
Those two examples lead to the two notions proposed by Brown and
Levinson (1987: 62) which are based on their model of politeness. The two
notions are positive face and negative face. The term face, according to Nhan
(2012: 903), refers to “the emotional and social sense of self that somebody has
and expects everyone else to recognize”. Brown and Levinson (1987: 61),
moreover, claim the term “face” as “the public self-image that every member
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wants to claim for himself”. Face, to be brief, is somebody’s self-image that needs
to be recognized by others.
6. Positive Face
Positive face is one’s desire for identification with the community. Brown
and Levinson (1987: 61-62) define positive face as “the want of every member
that his wants be desirable to at least some others” and “the positive consistent
self-image or ‘personality’ (crucially including the desire that this self-image be
appreciated and approved of) claimed by interactants”. It simply means that
people want to be approved by their community by the virtue of their own image.
7. Negative Face
Negative face, on the other hand, is one’s desire to be unimpeded in his
actions. Brown and Levinson (1987: 61-62) define negative face as “the want of
every 'competent adult member' that his actions be unimpeded by others” or “the
basic claim to territories, personal preserves, rights to non-distraction--i.e. the
freedom of action and freedom from imposition”. Negative face, thus, is in
reference to people’s desire not to be imposed upon as a part of their social
approval need.
Another theory of politeness is developed by Holmes (1996: 5) stating,
“Politeness refers to behaviour which actively expresses positive concern for
others, as well as non-imposing distance behaviour. In other words, politeness
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may take form of an expression of good-will or camaraderie, as well as the more
familiar non intrusive behaviour which is labeled “polite” in everyday usage”. It
implies altogether that politeness is about being polite, which is accentuated
through carrying out good behavior and showing positivity to others.
8. Face Threatening Acts
Face threatening acts (FTAs) occur universally in social interactions.
According to Brown and Levinson (1987: 65), FTAs are “acts that by their nature
run contrary to the face wants of the addressee and/or of the speaker”. The
speaker, in some way, threatens the self-image of the addressee. The acts are
usually done verbally. However, characteristics of speech, such as tone or
inflection are also used by the speaker to do FTAs. It can be done in the forms of
non-verbal communication as well.
9. Politeness Strategies
Apart from the positive and negative face stated previously, Brown and
Levinson (1987: 92) also propose four politeness strategies. The four strategies
are Bald On-Record, Positive, Negative, and Off-Record Politeness. The
following are the elaborations for each strategy as well as the examples.
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a) Bald On-Record
Brown and Levinson (1987: 95) state that Bald-on Record is used in
different situations since speakers can have different motives in doing the FTAs.
This strategy can be applied when speakers attempt not to minimize the threat to
the addressees’ face. It is usually employed to show urgency. For example:
“Watch out!” This strategy, alternatively, is often used as greetings or farewells.
Speakers can simply say, “Come in” or “Go.” Task-oriented is also included as
one of the examples. Speakers can ask the addressee, for example, “Pass me the
salt!” Using such a strategy can shock or embarrass the addressees, and therefore
it is usually applied in situations where both the speakers and the addressees
know each other well.
b) Positive Politeness
Positive politeness confirms that the relationship of both the speakers and
the addressees is friendly and expresses group reciprocity to minimize the
distance among them. Brown and Levinson (1987: 103) underline that this
strategy attempts to attend the addressees’ interests, needs, wants, and goods. For
instance, “You must be hungry. How about lunch?” Additionally, speakers can
also exaggerate interest with the addressees by saying, “What a fantastic garden
you have!” Positive Politeness, overall, expresses friendliness to make the
addressees feel good about themselves.
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c) Negative Politeness
According to Brown and Levinson (1987: 129), Negative Politeness is
“the heart of respect behavior” and that it is “more specific and focused.” The
function of this strategy is to minimize imposition on the addressees. Using
hedges or questions is one of the examples of Negative Politeness strategy.
Speakers can utter, “I was wondering if you would help me?” Apologizing can
alternatively be used. For example, “I am sorry to bother you.”
d) Off-record or Indirect
Off-record or indirect strategy is done to let the speakers attribute unclear
communicative intention (Brown and Levinson, 1987: 211). It indicates that if the
speakers want to avoid their responsibility of doing FTAs, they can employ the
strategy and let the addressees interpret the intended message. For instance, “That
window is not open” which means the speaker wants the addressee to open the
window.
10. Factors Affecting the Characters in Speaking
Furthermore, this study also analyzes the factors that affect the characters’
politeness in The Devil Wears Prada movie. The speaker’s intention in expressing
politeness is encompassed in the theory of Spolsky (1998). According to Spolsky
(1998: 31-39), language styles, registers and domains, slang and solidarity,
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language and gender, and social stratification determine the use of language
concerning politeness between the speakers and the addressees.
a) Language Styles
People from different countries possess different cultural backgrounds,
thereby distinguishing various language styles. Spolsky (1998: 31) mentions, “At
times, we are more careful, and at times we are more relaxed in our speech or
writing, just as at times we are more careful or more relaxed in other kinds of
behaviour, like how we dress or eat”. The statement is related to formality as one
of the examples of language styles. A speaker is usually aware of the addressee.
He can choose to speak formally or informally according to the person he is
addressing. Spolsky (1998: 33) also says that people can consciously choose how
they try to use language by applying formal or informal expressions to people that
they address. Further, he states that when people speak formally, they are engaged
in a “favoured and educated norms” of their society because they pay attention to
their language well. Thus, Spolsky (1998: 33) underlines the importance of
language style to represent the speaker’s sense of identity.
b) Registers and Domains
Spolsky (1998: 33) emphasizes that people with particular occupation may
create terms for new concepts. People who work at a particular trade, for
example, can develop terms, such as “hacking” and “surfing the internet.” Those
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terms may not be familiar for people who do not keep up with computer
revolution. The words “sticky wicket” and “hit for a six” are, in fact, only
understood by people who experience cricket. Thus, a register is a variety of
language involving roles and statuses, which is used in a certain situation.
Social situation is another key to determining politeness in speaking.
Spolsky (1998: 34) classifies social situations into three defining characteristics:
place, role-relationship, and topic. It deals with the role of the speaker who
involves in a certain situation. Spolsky (1998: 34) says that there is a typical
domain which defines the way people speak in terms of social situation. Spolsky
(1998: 34) says, “Domains are named usually for a place or an activity in it”. Two
common domains are home and work. This movie emphasizes the activities in an
office which means work is the main domain for the characters. The conversation
topic is work-related which include the boss, workers, colleagues, and even
clients.
c) Slang and Solidarity
Spolsky (1998: 35) mentions that slang is used as intimacies of in-group
speech. Nevertheless, slang transcends social norms by including taboo
expressions. The use of fuck or shit has become “a mark of liberation or a sign of
revolt” (Spolsky, 1998: 36). Hence, slang with taboo expressions is considered
tolerable among people who employ it as a sign of freedom in speaking as well as
emphasis on the utterances that they produce. It is widely applied among youth in
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casual speech. Moreover, slang has social functions as a sign of identity
membership and solidarity among people who use it.
Solidarity and language use are closely related. It is proved by Spolsky
(1998: 35) stating that solidarity has a major impact on language. People tend to
show group solidarity to others by applying the same language use, such as accent
or word choice. He says, “By choosing the form of language associated with a
specific group, we are making a claim to be counted as a member of that group”.
This action of showing solidarity means people have the desire to be accepted by
the society they are involved in.
Spolsky (1998: 35) points out another factor which has the impact on
language use concerning politeness. He mentions that power relation happens
when “a person’s speech carries a claim to be more or less powerful than the
other”. A boss has more power to control his workers because he is the one who
runs the company. On the other hand, juniors are less powerful than their seniors
at work. This movie deals with such a situation whereby the relationship between
the boss, workers, and colleagues are involved.
d) Language and Gender
Spolsky (1998: 36) underlines that the differences between men and
women in speaking were limited to the use of grammatical rules. Such differences
are found in languages which include masculine and feminine morphology. He
outlines the differences are marked by the use of pronouns, such as in French. For
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example, la table is a non-sexed table which can be considered as grammatically
feminine. Both men and women also share differences in vocabulary. As for
children, they tend to pick women’s and men’s talk as social stereotypes. They
assume women’s talk has something to do with home and domestic activities,
whereas men’s talk is associated with the outside world and economic activities.
e) Social Stratification
Spolsky (1998: 39) outlines William Labov’s work on establishing social
stratification, which is the major topic in sociolinguistics. He provides an example
of New York citizen’s choice of variation in pronouncing /r/ after a vowel. New
Yorkers pronounce /r/ after a vowel and sometimes they do not. The tendency of
pronouncing post-vocalic /r/ reveals the evidence of social status differences
among them. Even though there are no historical explanations on it, he believed
that lower middle-class speakers in New York would use a stigmatized form /t/ or
/tθ/ pronunciations only 20% in careful speech and 30% in casual speech. Further,
he explains that each social level was based on the income, occupation and
education. The upper-middle class people would use a stigmatized form about
10%, lower-middle class about 20%, working class about 80%, and lower class
about 90% in casual speech.
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B. Theoretical Framework
The study analyzes the use of politeness by the characters of The Devil
Wears Prada movie. The writer summarizes and synthesizes all the theory used in
the analysis of the study to solve the research problems. The first research
problem: “What are the politeness strategies found in The Devil Wears Prada
movie?” deals with politeness strategies, in which Brown and Levinson’s (1987)
theory is applied to analyze the data. In order to find out the factors affecting the
characters’ politeness in speaking, the second research problem, the theory of
Spolsky (1998) is used for it entails detailed and suitable information on speaking
politeness factors.
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the analysis of the methodology used to obtain data
of the research. There are six parts in this section, namely the research method,
research setting, research subject, instruments and data gathering technique, data
analysis technique, and research procedure. The research method contains the
definition of the research type chosen by the writer as well as the problem
formulation. The research setting is used to inform when the research is
conducted. The research subject section aims to elaborate on the subjects of the
research as well as the methods of sampling. The instruments and data gathering
technique include the explanations of the instruments used by the writer in the
study. The data analysis technique is in regard to the data collection analysis. The
last one, the research procedure, is the steps taken in the study.
A. Research Method
The writer’s focus in this study was on the utterances of The Devil Wears
Prada movie’s characters related to speaking politeness. The methodology was
employed to find out the answers to the two research problems: (1) What are the
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politeness strategies shown in The Devil Wears Prada movie? (2) What are the
factors affecting the characters’ politeness in speaking?
Document analysis was applied as the methodology for it “provides
narrative description and interpretation” according to Ary, Jacob, and Razavieh
(2002: 22-25). The characters’ utterances of The Devil Wears Prada movie
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A STUDY ON THE USE OF POLITENESS BY THE CHARACTERS
OF THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA MOVIE
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Margaretha Geraldine Arbella
Student Number: 091214014
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013
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A STUDY ON THE USE OF POLITENESS BY THE CHARACTERS
OF THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA MOVIE
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Margaretha Geraldine Arbella
Student Number: 091214014
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013
i
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I would like to dedicate this thesis
to my beloved parents
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STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work or
parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the
references, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, August 14, 2013
The Writer
Margaretha Geraldine Arbella
091214014
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama
: Margaretha Geraldine Arbella
Nomor Mahasiswa
: 091214014
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
A STUDY ON THE USE OF POLITENESS BY THE CHARACTERS
OF THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA MOVIE
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan
kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan data,
mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan
data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikan ke internet atau
media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya
maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya
sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 14 Agustus 2013
Yang menyatakan
(Margaretha Geraldine Arbella)
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ABSTRACT
Arbella, Margaretha Geraldine. (2013). A Study on the Use of Politeness by the
Characters of The Devil Wears Prada Movie. Yogyakarta: English Language
Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
This study analyzed The Devil Wears Prada movie, an American movie
based on a novel of the same name by Lauren Weisberger. The movie revolved
around Andrea Sachs as a struggling junior assistant at Runway Magazine - a job
that “a million girls would kill for” since working for Miranda Priestly, the editorin-chief, for a year opened a chance to get a job in any renowned magazine.
Andrea regarded her job as an opportunity to be a journalist. However, she
received cynical looks and insults about her outfits from her boss and colleagues.
The movie depicted real examples of the use of politeness in the characters’
utterances. Thus, the writer intended to analyze the politeness phenomena found
in The Devil Wears Prada movie. Two research problems were formulated in this
study: (1) What are the politeness strategies shown in The Devil Wears Prada
movie? (2) What are the factors affecting the characters’ politeness in speaking?
The writer employed Brown and Levinson’s (1987) theory to find out the
politeness strategies by the characters of The Devil Wears Prada movie. Also,
Spolsky’s (1998) theory of the politeness factors was included to find out the
factors affecting the characters’ speaking politeness. The writer applied document
analysis as the method of the study, in which The Devil Wears Prada movie’s
script became the primary source of the study. The secondary source of this study
contained theories of politeness strategies and politeness factors. The writer and
The Devil Wears Prada movie’s script, further, was employed as the instruments.
Based on the analysis, the writer found that the characters of The Devil
Wears Prada movie applied four politeness strategies, namely Bald-on Record,
Positive, Negative, and Off-record or Indirect Politeness Strategies in their
utterances. Additionally, Bald-on Record Politeness strategy was applied as many
as twenty-nine times. Positive and Negative Politeness strategies each was
employed eleven and nineteen times. Off-record or Indirect Politeness strategy
was the most utilized strategy. The total number of the characters’ utterances on
this strategy was forty-five. The use of politeness strategies were additionally
corresponded with frequent use of idioms. The second finding, furthermore,
revealed that the factors affecting the characters’ politeness in speaking were
language styles, social situations, solidarity, and power relation.
Keywords: The Devil Wears Prada movie, bald-on politeness, positive
politeness, negative politeness, off-record politeness
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ABSTRAK
Arbella, Margaretha Geraldine. (2013). A Study on the Use of Politeness by the
Characters of The Devil Wears Prada Movie. Yogyakarta: Program Studi
Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Studi ini menganalisa sebuah film berjudul The Devil Wears Prada yang
diadaptasi dari novel karya Lauren Weisberger. Film ini bercerita mengenai
Andrea Sachs yang bekerja sebagai asisten di sebuah majalah ternama, Runway.
Posisi sebagai asisten di Runway membuka peluang bagi siapapun yang mampu
bekerja selama setahun untuk diterima bekerja di majalah manapun sehingga
posisi tersebut dijuluki “pekerjaan yang diinginkan jutaan gadis.” Andrea
menganggap pekerjaannya sebagai kesempatan untuk meniti karir sebagai
jurnalis. Namun, ia justru mendapat pandangan sinis dan cemooh dari bos dan
rekan-rekan kerjanya karena gaya busananya yang dianggap kuno. Film The Devil
Wears Prada menggambarkan contoh nyata penggunaan kesopanan oleh para
karakternya. Oleh karena itu, melalui studi ini penulis menganalisa fenomena
kesopanan di film The Devil Wears Prada. Terdapat dua pokok permasalahan
dalam studi ini, yaitu: (1) apa saja strategi kesopanan yang ditampilkan dalam The
Devil Wears Prada? (2) faktor apa sajakah yang mempengaruhi kesopanan para
karakter dalam berbicara?
Penulis menerapkan teori dari Brown dan Levinson (1987) untuk
mengidentifikasi strategi-strategi kesopanan yang digunakan oleh para karakter.
Teori dari Spolsky (1998) digunakan untuk mengetahui faktor-faktor yang
mempengaruhi kesopanan para karakter dalam berbicara. Penulis menggunakan
metode analisis dokumen dengan naskah film The Devil Wears Prada sebagai
sumber utama. Sementara itu, sumber sekunder dalam penelitian ini meliputi
teori-teori strategi kesopanan dan faktor-faktornya. Instrumen yang digunakan
dalam penelitian ini adalah penulis dan naskah film The Devil Wears Prada.
Berdasarkan analisis, penulis menemukan bahwa para karakter
menerapkan keempat strategi kesopanan dalam berbicara, antara lain Bald-on,
Positive, Negative, dan Off-record/Indirect Politeness. Sebagai informasi
tambahan, para karakter menerapkan Bald-on Record sebanyak dua puluh
sembilan kali. Positive dan Negative Politeness digunakan sebanyak sebelas dan
sembilan belas kali. Sedangkan Off-record/Indirect Politeness diterapkan paling
banyak, yaitu empat puluh lima kali. Penggunaan strategi kesopanan juga
berhubungan dengan penggunaan ungkapan oleh para karakter. Penemuan kedua
menyatakan bahwa faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi kesopanan para karakter
dalam berbicara meliputi gaya bahasa, situasi sosial, solidaritas, dan kekuasaan.
Kata kunci: film The Devil Wears Prada, bald-on politeness, positive politeness,
negative politeness, off-record politeness
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks be to God for my life through all the tests in the past four years.
He has made my life more meaningful. May His name be honoured and glorified.
Foremost, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my thesis
advisor, Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd., who has been my inspiration as I
struggle with all the obstacles in the completion of this study. Her patience and
immense knowledge helped me to complete my thesis. I could not imagine having
a better advisor for this study.
This thesis would not have been possible without the help and support of
Sr. Margaret O'Donohue FCJ, Drs. Barli Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D., and my father
Drs. Antonius. They were always accessible and willing to help me with my
problem in English, particularly in grammar. As a result, my research process
became smooth and rewarding for me.
I would like to thank Stella Maris Mere and Elizabeth Nindya Paramita
Ariesta for the thesis discussions, precious time spent in the library, and help in
understanding theories. I also thank Liliana, Shela Novitasari, Veronica
Sulistyani, Adyaningrum Cinta, Felicita Devi, Father Anton, Christina
Mariana Ayogyani, Rendi Oktavianus, Ruth Septi Widiayu Pratiwi, and all
my friends of PBI batch 2009 for all the fun we have had in the last four years.
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My deepest gratitude goes to my mother Sarwitri, S.Pd. and my father
Drs. Antonius for their love and continuous support throughout my life. This
thesis is simply impossible without them, especially my mother. I remember her
constant support when I encountered difficulties and I remember, most of all, her
delicious dishes.
I would like to thank everyone who has supported me throughout the
entire process. I will be grateful forever for the love.
Margaretha Geraldine Arbella
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE............................................................................................... i
APPROVAL PAGES.................................................................................. ii
DEDICATION PAGE................................................................................. iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY........................................... v
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI............................................ vi
ABSTRACT................................................................................................ vii
ABSTRAK.................................................................................................... viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................... ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................. xi
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 1
A. Research Background........................................................ 1
B. Research Problem.............................................................. 4
C. Problem Limitation ........................................................... 4
D. Research Objectives .......................................................... 4
E. Research Benefits .............................................................. 5
F. Definition of Terms ........................................................... 6
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CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE..................... 8
A. Theoretical Description...................................................... 8
1. Pragmatics.................................................................... 9
2. Speech Acts.................................................................. 10
3. Locutionary, Illocutionary, and Perlocutionary Acts... 10
a) Locutionary Act..................................................... 11
b) Illocutionary Act.................................................... 11
i) Assertives......................................................... 11
ii) Directives......................................................... 12
iii) Commisives...................................................... 12
iv) Expressives...................................................... 12
v) Declarations..................................................... 13
c) Perlocutionary Act................................................. 13
4. Sociolinguistics............................................................. 13
5. Politeness...................................................................... 14
6. Positive Face ............................................................... 15
7. Negative Face .............................................................. 15
8. Face Threatening Acts................................................. 16
9. Politeness Strategies .................................................... 16
a) Bald-on Record .................................................... 17
b) Positive Politeness................................................ 17
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c) Negative Politeness .............................................. 18
d) Off-record or Indirect ........................................... 18
10. Factors Affecting the Characters in Speaking............. 18
a) Language Styles ................................................... 19
b) Registers and Domains......................................... 19
c) Slang and Solidarity ............................................. 20
d) Language and Gender .......................................... 21
e) Social Stratification .............................................. 22
B. Theoretical Framework ..................................................... 23
CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...................................... 24
A. Research Method............................................................... 24
B. Research Setting ................................................................ 25
C. Research Subject ............................................................... 26
D. Instruments and Data Gathering Technique ...................... 26
E. Data Analysis Technique .................................................. 28
F. Research Procedure ........................................................... 28
CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ................ 30
A. The Politeness Strategies Shown
in The Devil Wears Prada Movie ..................................... 30
1. Off-record/Indirect Politeness ..................................... 31
2. Bald-on Record Politeness .......................................... 37
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3. Negative Politeness ..................................................... 44
4. Positive Politeness....................................................... 48
B. The Factors Affecting the Characters’ Politeness
in Speaking ........................................................................ 54
1. Language Styles .......................................................... 54
2. Social Situations .......................................................... 55
3. Solidarity ..................................................................... 56
4. Power Relation ............................................................ 57
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS,
AND SUGGESTIONS ................................................................................ 59
A. Conclusions ....................................................................... 56
B. Implications........................................................................ 61
C. Suggestions ....................................................................... 62
1. To Future Researchers................................................. 62
2. To Language Learners................................................. 63
REFERENCES............................................................................................ 64
APPENDIX ................................................................................................. 66
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses the introduction of this study which consists of six
parts, namely the research background, research problems, problem limitation,
research objectives, research benefits, and definition of terms. The research
background will be about the background information of the study, which builds
rationale for the urgency of the study, presents general aims and a theoretical
starting point. The research problems section formulates the problems of the study
which are identified to discover the findings of the study. The problem limitation
is the scope and the focus of the study. The research objectives present the
expected outcomes of the study related to the research problems. The research
benefits provide the possibility that parties, such as English teachers, English
learners, future researchers, and readers make use of the results of the study. The
definition of terms defines the keywords that are used by the writer in the study to
avoid misinterpretation.
A. Research Background
Politeness has a substantial role in keeping the harmony of a community.
Most people think that politeness, to be specific, speaking politeness, is only a
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matter of saying please and thank you in the right place. Speaking politeness, on
the other hand, covers more than that. Politeness is a significant aspect in social
interaction. People need to consider their speaking politeness to avoid offending
others for it is one of the most important parts of courtesy. English language
learners, particularly EFL and ESL learners, still encounter difficulties in showing
the appropriate expressions of politeness. As a result, it is often found that they
speak English in a peculiar way. It is crucial, however, to be able to not only
speak fluently in the English language but also apply the concepts of politeness in
the target language as future English language teachers. Indonesians, as EFL
learners, often show denial to a compliment. For instance, when a native speaker
says, “Your English is good”, Indonesians will likely answer “No, of course not.”
Such response is uncommon in the English society and is considered impolite.
EFL learners tend to regard this response as a kind of disagreement (Daikuhara,
1986: 121). Thus, ESL or EFL’s language use are still influenced by their first
language.
This study focuses on a movie entitled The Devil Wears Prada. Andrea
Sachs, a recent Northwestern University graduate and aspiring journalist, tries to
survive working under pressure at Runway Magazine since her haughty senior
assistant underestimates her capability of working and adapting to the new work
environment. Similarly, Miranda Priestly, her boss is well-known for being firm
to her employees. The only reason she works at Runway is to pursue a job as a
writer.
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The Devil Wears Prada movie pervades aspects belonging to politeness.
According to Brown & Levinson (1987: 92), there are four politeness strategies in
society; they are Bald-On Record, Positive, Negative, and Off-record/Indirect
Politeness. Emily tells Andrea, for instance, to go to a certain store to pick up
some clothes ordered by Miranda. Emily says, “Do you have some pry
commitment – some hideous skirt convention you have to go to?” This utterance
refers to Off-record or Indirect Politeness because the speaker is being sarcastic to
the addressee by insinuating her poor sense of fashion.
The Devil Wears Prada movie was chosen for it contains a great deal of
politeness phenomena among the characters in their conversations and politeness
itself focuses on forms of social behavior involving language. This movie depicts
how politeness has been neglected by many people as well, especially young
adults, who concern more about their negative attitudes influenced by their
society.
The writer analyzes the use of politeness by the characters of The Devil
Wears Prada movie because movie can eventually be medium to study
sociolinguistics, specifically politeness. The writer believes that by acquiring the
concepts of politeness, English language learners will be able to speak English
politely in different social contexts. This study will give further data on the use of
politeness in The Devil Wears Prada movie and the major factors influencing the
characters’ politeness in speaking.
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B. Research Problems
Based on the background of the study, two research problems are
formulated as follows.
1.
What are the politeness strategies shown in The Devil Wears Prada
movie?
2.
What are the factors affecting the characters’ politeness in speaking?
C. Problem Limitation
The study is limited to the use of politeness by The Devil Wears Prada
movie’s six characters. The characters are Andrea Sachs, Emily Charlton,
Miranda Priestly, Nigel, Christian Thompson, and Nate Cooper. The writer only
focuses on those six characters because they appear more frequently than the
other characters do, which means they are the ones who play important roles in
the movie. The data of the two research problems will be analyzed based on the
theories of Brown and Levinson (1987) and Spolsky (1998). The methodology
used in this study is limited to document analysis and the study is done by
analyzing the movie’s script.
D. Research Objectives
The study is done in order to find out:
1.
the politeness strategies shown in The Devil Wears Prada movie.
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2.
the factors affecting the main characters’ speaking politeness in The
Devil Wears Prada movie.
E. Research Benefits
The writer believes that the study contributes benefits that will be useful
notably for:
1. English Teachers
This study will encourage teachers to assess learners’ English proficiency
in the grammar as well as in the sociolinguistics aspect, principally politeness.
2. English Learners
The study will help English education learners to apply their English
language proficiency appropriately in their teaching-learning process. This study
will also help English learners to be able to apply English expressions in the form
of conversations appropriately and politely.
3. Readers
This study will provide useful information related to speaking politeness
for its readers and hopefully it enriches their knowledge of politeness in social
contexts. Thus, readers are capable of applying politeness behavior as well as
modest demeanor in speaking and behaving.
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4. Future Researchers
This study will hopefully be a good reference to future researchers to
conduct further research on sociolinguistics. This study will also give valuable
information related to speaking politeness to help them conduct research under
the same topic.
F. Definition of Terms
In order to assist the readers in understanding the topic discussed, the
terms used in this study are defined as follows.
1. Politeness
According to Holmes (1996: 5), “Politeness refers to a behavior which
actively expresses positive concern for others, as well as non-imposing distance
behavior. In other words, politeness may take form of an expression of good-will
or camaraderie, as well as the more familiar non intrusive behavior which is
labeled “polite” in everyday usage”. According to Brown and Levinson (1987:
92), there are four politeness strategies, namely Bald-On Record, Positive,
Negative, and Off-record/Indirect Politeness. The characters’ utterances described
as a part of politeness aspects are the main concern in this study. This study will
present the speaking politeness of the characters of The Devil Wears Prada
movie.
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2. The Devil Wears Prada
The Devil Wears Prada is a 2006 American comedy-drama movie
directed by David Frankel. The story revolves around Andrea Sachs, an aspiring
journalist, who is trying hard to survive at work as it deals with something she
does not care much about: fashion. Despite her animosity towards fashion, she
applies for a job at Runway Magazine as a junior assistant. Her position as an
assistant is described as a job that “a million girls would kill for”. This movie
provides many examples of speaking politeness by the characters.
The term The Devil in both the book and the movie refers to a ruthless,
demanding and determined editor-in-chief of Runway Magazine, Miranda
Priestly. Prada is an upmarket brand name. The Devil Wears Prada, therefore,
describes the ruthless editor-in-chief, who dresses in high quality brands or is
famously known as a prominent figure in a high-fashion magazine.
3. Characters
A character is described by Abrams (1981: 20) as “the person presented in
dramatic or narrative work who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed
with moral and dispositional qualities expressed in the dialogue and action”. The
term characters in this study refer to individuals who possess their own traits and
motivations. The study focuses on six characters, namely Andrea Sachs, Emily
Charlton, Miranda Priestly, Nigel, Christian Thompson, and Nate Cooper.
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The writer provides two parts in this section. The first part is the
theoretical description, which includes the discussion of pragmatics, speech acts,
sociolinguistics, and politeness theory. The second part, the theoretical
framework, is used to synthesize all the theories elaborated in the theoretical
description in order to correlate the theories to the current study.
A. Theoretical Description
The writer presents four parts, namely pragmatics, speech acts,
sociolinguistics, and politeness. Pragmatics is necessary included as it is closely
related to meaning in contexts and the study, as a matter of fact, deals with the
utterances of The Devil Wears Prada movie’s characters. Pragmatics comprises
speech acts, which focus on language as a tool for communication.
Sociolinguistics is presented in order to make a distinct understanding of the topic
discussed. Politeness theory, moreover, is used as the basic theory of the study.
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1. Pragmatics
Levinson (1983: 9) states, “Pragmatics covers both context-dependent
aspects of language structure and principles of language usage and understanding
that have nothing or little to do with linguistic structure”. Further, he defines
pragmatics as, “the study of those relations between language and context that
grammaticalized, or encoded in the structure of a language”. He emphasizes that
pragmatics covers language usage as the basic concept in understanding language
itself within contexts. The focus of pragmatics is how speakers use language to
convey information.
Besides, Leech (1992: 19) mentions, “Pragmatics is the study of how
language is used to communicate. It concerns itself by how people use language
within context and why they use language in particular ways” and that it can also
be defined as “the study of how utterances have meanings in situations”. This
implies that pragmatics focuses on how speakers use language for communication
to convey meanings in particular contexts.
Mackinlay and Genesereth (1985: 18) define language as “a set of
conventions that a speaker and hearer have for constructing and interpreting the
messages”. Language, more importantly, can be described by “specifying the
correspondence between facts about the world and the message formulas that
represent them”. By delivering messages through a language, both speakers and
addressees must be familiar with the context of situations. Speakers, as a result,
are able to express meaningful utterances. As for the addressees, they are able
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interpret the speakers’ utterances well. It is, therefore, the way to express
politeness.
2. Speech Acts
Speech acts cannot be separated from the speakers’ intention to utter
something as they determine what the speakers mean. Nhan (2012: 903)
elaborates on speech acts by stating, “When people try to express themselves,
they do not only produce utterances containing grammatical structures and words,
but also perform actions via those utterances such as inviting, leave-taking and
accusing”. Further, Searle (1987: 54) states that speech acts consist of three
things, namely an act of saying something, act of doing something, and act of
affecting someone. Speakers, in that case, produce utterances to communicate
things containing actions. In order to distinguish the importance of performing an
action through an utterance, Searle (1987: 23) adopts terms from Austin (1962:
149). The terms are locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts.
3. Locutionary, Illocutionary, and Perlocutionary Acts
In this part, the writer elaborates the theories from Searle (1987: 23)
related to locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts and gives further
explanations of the use of these theories.
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a) Locutionary Act
Searle (1987: 23) mentions that this act contains the way people produce
an utterance and mean what they say literally. The utterance, “The weather is too
cold” could be perceived as its literal meaning that the weather or the temperature
is really cold.
b) Illocutionary Act
Cruse (2000: 332) states, “Illocutionary acts are acts which are internal to
the locutionary act, in the sense that, if the contextual conditions are appropriate,
once the locutionary act has been performed, so has the illocutionary act”. It
refers to what the speakers intend to say from the utterance they produce in such a
way that the addressees understand the meaning. Act of stating, promising,
apologizing, threatening, predicting, complaining, ordering, refusing, and
requesting are included in illocutionary act. If the speaker says, “The room is too
dark” that means he wants the addressee to turn on the light. Additionally,
following Austin’s (1962: 149) general categories of illocutionary acts, Searle
(1979: 39) modifies the categories of illocutionary acts into five types. They are
assertives, directives, commisives, expressives, and declarations.
i) Assertives
The term assertives means an act used by speakers of a language to clarify
that something is true or accurate. The acts include asserting, acknowledging,
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concluding, remarking, swearing, and insisting. The example of asserting is: “No
one can cook better than I do.”
ii) Directives
This act focuses on the speaker’s behavior. It performs ordering,
requesting, suggesting, imploring, defying, and challenging. Speakers can say,
“Could you please hand the bread?” as the example of requesting.
iii) Commisives
Commisives allows the speakers to do a certain act in the future, such as
promising, offering, threatening, intending, and vowing. Its function is less
competitive because it focuses on the interest of the addressee. The act of
promising is, for instance, “I am going to London next week.”
iv) Expressives
This act expresses the psychological state of the speaker explicitly. The
speakers reveal their feelings of certain situations. It includes acts of thanking,
congratulating, deploring, condoling, welcoming, and apologizing. “Thank you
for coming to my birthday party” is an example of thanking.
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v) Declarations
It is an act that brings into existence to which it refers. The acts include
passing sentence, blessing, firing, bidding, and excommunicating. For instance,
“You are fired!”, shows the example of firing.
c) Perlocutionary Act
According to Cruse (2000: 332), perlocutionary acts are “acts performed
by means of language, using language as a tool”. It contains acts of persuading,
embarrassing, intimidating, imitating, or inspiring the addressee. For example,
“Come on. Give it a try.” The way the speaker persuades the addressee is by
using language to utter something and let them do what the speaker is urging.
4. Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is a term used to describe the correlation between
language and society whereby people use in different social contexts.
Sociolinguistics provides facts about human speech in the society. People’s
dialects are aroused from various factors, such as age, sex, and their social class.
Llamas and Stockwell (2009: 21) clarify, “Societies differ from each other and
change over time” indicating that language is variable and ever-changing.
Therefore, it varies for both the speakers as well as the groups of language users
within the same language. Shumin (1997) states:
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Learning to speak a foreign language requires more than knowing its
grammatical and semantic rules, learners must also acquire the knowledge of
how native speakers use language in the context of structured interpersonal
exchange. Besides, it involves understanding not just the language but also the
social and cultural values of the community. (p. 204)
A speaker of a language should pay attention to the sociolinguistics aspects in a
conversation. They should be able to produce the appropriate language choice and
a good concept of communication.
5. Politeness
Brown and Levinson (1987: 13) mention politeness as “a complex system
for softening face threats”. For example:
(a) Will you go to see the concert?
(b) Won’t you go to see the concert?
Example (a) is considered less polite than example (b). The word “will”
sounds imminent. This sentence would be interpreted as “I will go to see the
concert if I have to”, while the word “won’t” sounds less imminent. It is up to the
addressee whether he wants to see the concert or not.
Those two examples lead to the two notions proposed by Brown and
Levinson (1987: 62) which are based on their model of politeness. The two
notions are positive face and negative face. The term face, according to Nhan
(2012: 903), refers to “the emotional and social sense of self that somebody has
and expects everyone else to recognize”. Brown and Levinson (1987: 61),
moreover, claim the term “face” as “the public self-image that every member
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wants to claim for himself”. Face, to be brief, is somebody’s self-image that needs
to be recognized by others.
6. Positive Face
Positive face is one’s desire for identification with the community. Brown
and Levinson (1987: 61-62) define positive face as “the want of every member
that his wants be desirable to at least some others” and “the positive consistent
self-image or ‘personality’ (crucially including the desire that this self-image be
appreciated and approved of) claimed by interactants”. It simply means that
people want to be approved by their community by the virtue of their own image.
7. Negative Face
Negative face, on the other hand, is one’s desire to be unimpeded in his
actions. Brown and Levinson (1987: 61-62) define negative face as “the want of
every 'competent adult member' that his actions be unimpeded by others” or “the
basic claim to territories, personal preserves, rights to non-distraction--i.e. the
freedom of action and freedom from imposition”. Negative face, thus, is in
reference to people’s desire not to be imposed upon as a part of their social
approval need.
Another theory of politeness is developed by Holmes (1996: 5) stating,
“Politeness refers to behaviour which actively expresses positive concern for
others, as well as non-imposing distance behaviour. In other words, politeness
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may take form of an expression of good-will or camaraderie, as well as the more
familiar non intrusive behaviour which is labeled “polite” in everyday usage”. It
implies altogether that politeness is about being polite, which is accentuated
through carrying out good behavior and showing positivity to others.
8. Face Threatening Acts
Face threatening acts (FTAs) occur universally in social interactions.
According to Brown and Levinson (1987: 65), FTAs are “acts that by their nature
run contrary to the face wants of the addressee and/or of the speaker”. The
speaker, in some way, threatens the self-image of the addressee. The acts are
usually done verbally. However, characteristics of speech, such as tone or
inflection are also used by the speaker to do FTAs. It can be done in the forms of
non-verbal communication as well.
9. Politeness Strategies
Apart from the positive and negative face stated previously, Brown and
Levinson (1987: 92) also propose four politeness strategies. The four strategies
are Bald On-Record, Positive, Negative, and Off-Record Politeness. The
following are the elaborations for each strategy as well as the examples.
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a) Bald On-Record
Brown and Levinson (1987: 95) state that Bald-on Record is used in
different situations since speakers can have different motives in doing the FTAs.
This strategy can be applied when speakers attempt not to minimize the threat to
the addressees’ face. It is usually employed to show urgency. For example:
“Watch out!” This strategy, alternatively, is often used as greetings or farewells.
Speakers can simply say, “Come in” or “Go.” Task-oriented is also included as
one of the examples. Speakers can ask the addressee, for example, “Pass me the
salt!” Using such a strategy can shock or embarrass the addressees, and therefore
it is usually applied in situations where both the speakers and the addressees
know each other well.
b) Positive Politeness
Positive politeness confirms that the relationship of both the speakers and
the addressees is friendly and expresses group reciprocity to minimize the
distance among them. Brown and Levinson (1987: 103) underline that this
strategy attempts to attend the addressees’ interests, needs, wants, and goods. For
instance, “You must be hungry. How about lunch?” Additionally, speakers can
also exaggerate interest with the addressees by saying, “What a fantastic garden
you have!” Positive Politeness, overall, expresses friendliness to make the
addressees feel good about themselves.
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c) Negative Politeness
According to Brown and Levinson (1987: 129), Negative Politeness is
“the heart of respect behavior” and that it is “more specific and focused.” The
function of this strategy is to minimize imposition on the addressees. Using
hedges or questions is one of the examples of Negative Politeness strategy.
Speakers can utter, “I was wondering if you would help me?” Apologizing can
alternatively be used. For example, “I am sorry to bother you.”
d) Off-record or Indirect
Off-record or indirect strategy is done to let the speakers attribute unclear
communicative intention (Brown and Levinson, 1987: 211). It indicates that if the
speakers want to avoid their responsibility of doing FTAs, they can employ the
strategy and let the addressees interpret the intended message. For instance, “That
window is not open” which means the speaker wants the addressee to open the
window.
10. Factors Affecting the Characters in Speaking
Furthermore, this study also analyzes the factors that affect the characters’
politeness in The Devil Wears Prada movie. The speaker’s intention in expressing
politeness is encompassed in the theory of Spolsky (1998). According to Spolsky
(1998: 31-39), language styles, registers and domains, slang and solidarity,
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language and gender, and social stratification determine the use of language
concerning politeness between the speakers and the addressees.
a) Language Styles
People from different countries possess different cultural backgrounds,
thereby distinguishing various language styles. Spolsky (1998: 31) mentions, “At
times, we are more careful, and at times we are more relaxed in our speech or
writing, just as at times we are more careful or more relaxed in other kinds of
behaviour, like how we dress or eat”. The statement is related to formality as one
of the examples of language styles. A speaker is usually aware of the addressee.
He can choose to speak formally or informally according to the person he is
addressing. Spolsky (1998: 33) also says that people can consciously choose how
they try to use language by applying formal or informal expressions to people that
they address. Further, he states that when people speak formally, they are engaged
in a “favoured and educated norms” of their society because they pay attention to
their language well. Thus, Spolsky (1998: 33) underlines the importance of
language style to represent the speaker’s sense of identity.
b) Registers and Domains
Spolsky (1998: 33) emphasizes that people with particular occupation may
create terms for new concepts. People who work at a particular trade, for
example, can develop terms, such as “hacking” and “surfing the internet.” Those
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terms may not be familiar for people who do not keep up with computer
revolution. The words “sticky wicket” and “hit for a six” are, in fact, only
understood by people who experience cricket. Thus, a register is a variety of
language involving roles and statuses, which is used in a certain situation.
Social situation is another key to determining politeness in speaking.
Spolsky (1998: 34) classifies social situations into three defining characteristics:
place, role-relationship, and topic. It deals with the role of the speaker who
involves in a certain situation. Spolsky (1998: 34) says that there is a typical
domain which defines the way people speak in terms of social situation. Spolsky
(1998: 34) says, “Domains are named usually for a place or an activity in it”. Two
common domains are home and work. This movie emphasizes the activities in an
office which means work is the main domain for the characters. The conversation
topic is work-related which include the boss, workers, colleagues, and even
clients.
c) Slang and Solidarity
Spolsky (1998: 35) mentions that slang is used as intimacies of in-group
speech. Nevertheless, slang transcends social norms by including taboo
expressions. The use of fuck or shit has become “a mark of liberation or a sign of
revolt” (Spolsky, 1998: 36). Hence, slang with taboo expressions is considered
tolerable among people who employ it as a sign of freedom in speaking as well as
emphasis on the utterances that they produce. It is widely applied among youth in
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casual speech. Moreover, slang has social functions as a sign of identity
membership and solidarity among people who use it.
Solidarity and language use are closely related. It is proved by Spolsky
(1998: 35) stating that solidarity has a major impact on language. People tend to
show group solidarity to others by applying the same language use, such as accent
or word choice. He says, “By choosing the form of language associated with a
specific group, we are making a claim to be counted as a member of that group”.
This action of showing solidarity means people have the desire to be accepted by
the society they are involved in.
Spolsky (1998: 35) points out another factor which has the impact on
language use concerning politeness. He mentions that power relation happens
when “a person’s speech carries a claim to be more or less powerful than the
other”. A boss has more power to control his workers because he is the one who
runs the company. On the other hand, juniors are less powerful than their seniors
at work. This movie deals with such a situation whereby the relationship between
the boss, workers, and colleagues are involved.
d) Language and Gender
Spolsky (1998: 36) underlines that the differences between men and
women in speaking were limited to the use of grammatical rules. Such differences
are found in languages which include masculine and feminine morphology. He
outlines the differences are marked by the use of pronouns, such as in French. For
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example, la table is a non-sexed table which can be considered as grammatically
feminine. Both men and women also share differences in vocabulary. As for
children, they tend to pick women’s and men’s talk as social stereotypes. They
assume women’s talk has something to do with home and domestic activities,
whereas men’s talk is associated with the outside world and economic activities.
e) Social Stratification
Spolsky (1998: 39) outlines William Labov’s work on establishing social
stratification, which is the major topic in sociolinguistics. He provides an example
of New York citizen’s choice of variation in pronouncing /r/ after a vowel. New
Yorkers pronounce /r/ after a vowel and sometimes they do not. The tendency of
pronouncing post-vocalic /r/ reveals the evidence of social status differences
among them. Even though there are no historical explanations on it, he believed
that lower middle-class speakers in New York would use a stigmatized form /t/ or
/tθ/ pronunciations only 20% in careful speech and 30% in casual speech. Further,
he explains that each social level was based on the income, occupation and
education. The upper-middle class people would use a stigmatized form about
10%, lower-middle class about 20%, working class about 80%, and lower class
about 90% in casual speech.
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B. Theoretical Framework
The study analyzes the use of politeness by the characters of The Devil
Wears Prada movie. The writer summarizes and synthesizes all the theory used in
the analysis of the study to solve the research problems. The first research
problem: “What are the politeness strategies found in The Devil Wears Prada
movie?” deals with politeness strategies, in which Brown and Levinson’s (1987)
theory is applied to analyze the data. In order to find out the factors affecting the
characters’ politeness in speaking, the second research problem, the theory of
Spolsky (1998) is used for it entails detailed and suitable information on speaking
politeness factors.
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the analysis of the methodology used to obtain data
of the research. There are six parts in this section, namely the research method,
research setting, research subject, instruments and data gathering technique, data
analysis technique, and research procedure. The research method contains the
definition of the research type chosen by the writer as well as the problem
formulation. The research setting is used to inform when the research is
conducted. The research subject section aims to elaborate on the subjects of the
research as well as the methods of sampling. The instruments and data gathering
technique include the explanations of the instruments used by the writer in the
study. The data analysis technique is in regard to the data collection analysis. The
last one, the research procedure, is the steps taken in the study.
A. Research Method
The writer’s focus in this study was on the utterances of The Devil Wears
Prada movie’s characters related to speaking politeness. The methodology was
employed to find out the answers to the two research problems: (1) What are the
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politeness strategies shown in The Devil Wears Prada movie? (2) What are the
factors affecting the characters’ politeness in speaking?
Document analysis was applied as the methodology for it “provides
narrative description and interpretation” according to Ary, Jacob, and Razavieh
(2002: 22-25). The characters’ utterances of The Devil Wears Prada movie