A STUDY OF POLITENESS STRATEGY IN REFUSAL USED BY ENGLISH TEACHERS IN MADIUN REGENCY THESIS Submitted to Postgraduate Program of Language Study of Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Getting Magister Degree of Language Study of English Written by: MAYA HARTUTI NIM. S. 200. 120. 033 POST-GRADUATE PROGRAM of LANGUAGE STUDY MUHAMMADIYAH UNIVERSITY of SURAKARTA 2014 i
NOTE OF ADVISOR 1 ST Prof. Dr. Endang Fauziati, M. Hum The lecturer of language study of Muhammadiyah University Surakarta - Official Note on This Thesis Student s Thesis. Dear, The Director of Graduate Program of Muhammadiyah University. Assalamu alaikum wr. wb. Having read, examined, corrected and necessarily revised towards the thesis: Title : A STUDY OF POLITENESS STRATEGY IN REFUSAL USED BY ENGLISH TEACHERS IN MADIUN REGENCY written by Name Nim Focus on : Maya Hartuti : S200120033 : Pragmatics I approve that the thesis is to be examined by board of examiners in the language study of Graduate Program of Muhammadiyah University Surakarta. Wassalamu alaikum salam Wr. Wb Surakarta, August, 2014 Advisor 1 Prof. Dr. Endang Fauziati, M. Hum i
NOTE OF ADVISOR 2 nd Agus Wijayanto, Ph.D. The lecturer of language study of Muhammadiyah University Surakarta - Official Note on This Thesis Student s Thesis. Dear, The Director of Graduate Program of Muhammadiyah University. Assalamu alaikum wr. wb. Having read, examined, corrected and necessarily revised towards the thesis: Title : A STUDY OF POLITENESS STRATEGY IN REFUSAL USED BY ENGLISH TEACHERS IN MADIUN REGENCY written by Name Nim Focus on : Maya Hartuti : S200120033 : Pragmatics I approve that the thesis is to be examined by board of examiners in the language study of Graduate Program of Muhammadiyah University Surakarta. Wassalamu alaikum salam Wr. Wb Surakarta, August, 2014 Advisor 2 Agus Wijayanto, Ph.D. ii
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MOTTO "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."- Theodore Roosevelt Follow the three R's: Respect for self, respect for others and responsibility for all your actions."- Dali Lama iv
DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to: My beloved parents, My beloved husband, And All my friends, classmates and family Thanks for the love, support, and pray v
PRONOUNCEMENT I hereby certify that this thesis, entitled A Study of Politeness Strategy in Refusal Used by English Teachers in Madiun Regency has been composed by Maya Hartuti. It is not a plagiarism or made by others. Anything related to others work is written in quotation, the source of which is listed on the bibliography. If then this pronouncement proves incorrect, I am ready to accept any academic punishment, including the withdrawal of my academic degree. Surakarta, August, 2014 Maya Hartuti vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Alhamdulillahirabbil alamin, praise to Allah SWT, The Most gracious, and the Most Merciful. First of all, I would like to praise to Allah for the blessings endowed to me so that I can accomplish this piece of work entitled A Study of Politeness Strategy in Refusal Used by English Teachers in Madiun Regency as the requirement for getting master degree of language study in English at Post-graduate Program of Language Study of Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta. Secondly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my beloved mother, Gijastuti and father, Hartojo who always support and back me up through their never ending prayers and also their care. Thank you very much for everything. You are my strength and this thesis is dedicated to you. Although there are many difficulties, I realize that those are the ways to get success. Therefore, I would like to express my special gratitude to: 1. Prof. Dr. Khudzaifah Dimyati, S.H., M.Hum, as a director of post graduate program of Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta for giving me permission to write the thesis. 2. Prof. Dr. Markhamah, M, Hum, the head of post graduate program of Language Study. 3. Prof. Dr. Endang Fauziati, M. Hum my thesis supervisor who has patiently given me her precious help, comments, as well as suggestions for improvement my thesis during the process of the writing. 4. Agus Wijayanto, M.A, Ph. D as my second thesis supervisor, for his helpful guidance and corrections during the process of writing this thesis. His insightful comments and suggestions have shown the way to enhancement of my thesis. 5. All English teachers of junior high school in Madiun regency as research participants, for their willingness to provide the research data. vii
6. Last but not least my special appreciation to all of the lecturers of Magister program of English education for giving me such priceless knowledge and experience. 7. Thanks to beloved my husband, Jaiman for his patient, support, help, and pray. Thanks also to all of my classmates for togetherness, kindness, the encouragement and motivation. To all of them I dedicate this piece of work. I understand well that this thesis is far from being perfect. I accept constructive comments and suggestions from the readers. Hopefully, this thesis will to useful for everyone who concerns with action research. Surakarta, August 2014 Maya Hartuti viii
TABLE OF CONTENT TITLE. CONSULTANT NOTE.. ACCEPTANCE MOTTO.. DEDICATION.... PRONOUNCEMENT.... ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.... TABLE OF CONTENTS........... LIST OF TABLES... LIST OF CHARTS....... LIST OF APPENDICES... LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS...... ABSTRACT... CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study...... B. Problem Statement..... C. Research Questions.......... D. Objectives of the Study.... E. Benefit of the Study... F. Scope of the Study. G. Thesis Organization... CHAPTER II : REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Previous Study B. Underlying Theory. 1. Pragmatics... 2. Speech Act... 3. Refusal..... 4. Politeness...... a. Grice s Cooperative Principle... b. Lakoff s Politeness Rule..... c. The Principle of Politeness of Leech.... d. Brown and Levinson s Face-Saving Strategy,... e. Watts conceptual distinction between Impoliteness and Politeness f. Javanese politeness (Sopan-Santun).... CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Type of Study...... B. Data and the Source of the Data..... C. The Method of Collecting Data.. D. Data Analysis.... CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDING AND THE DISCUSSION A. DATA ANALISIS....... 1. Refusal Strategies......... a. Refusal Strategies in Invitations....... 1) Refusal Strategies in an Invitation to a Collocutor of Higher Status... 2) Refusal Strategies in an Invitation to a Collocutor of Equal Status... i ii iii iv v vi vii ix xii xiii xiv xv xxii 1 7 7 7 8 9 9 22 22 23 25 33 34 35 37 40 70 70 73 74 74 77 82 83 84 85 88 ix
3) Refusal Strategies in an Invitation to a Collocutor of Lower Status... b. Refusal Strategies in Offers... 1) Refusal Strategies in an Offer to a Collocutor of Higher Status... 2) Refusal Strategies in an Offer to a Collocutor of Equal Status 3) Refusal Strategies in an Offer to a Collocutor of Lower Status... c. Refusal Strategies in Suggestions... 1) Refusal Strategies in a Suggestion to a Collocutor of Higher Status... 2) Refusal Strategies in a Suggestion to a Collocutor of Equal Status... 3) Refusal Strategies in a Suggestion to a Collocutor of Lower Status... 2. Politeness Strategies in Refusals... a. Politeness Strategies to Decline Invitations.... 1) Bald-on-Record Strategy Used in Declining Invitations... 2) Positive Politeness Strategies Used in Declining Invitations.. 3) Negative Politeness Strategies Used in Declining Invitations..... 4). Off Record Strategies Used in Declining Invitations. b. Politeness Strategies to Decline Offers. 1) Bald-on-Record Strategy in Declining Offers.. 2). Positive Politeness Strategies in Declining Offers.. 3). Negative Politeness Strategies in Declining Offers.... 4). Off Record Strategies in Declining Offers...... c. Politeness Strategies to Decline Suggestions.... 1). Bald-On-Record Strategy in Decline Suggestions... 2). Positive Politeness Strategies in Declining Suggestions. 3). Negative Politeness Strategies in Declining Suggestions... 4). Off-Record Strategies in Declining Suggestions... 3. Politeness Strategies in Refusals across Status Levels... a. Politeness Strategies in Declining Invitations across Status Levels... 1). Politeness Strategies in Declining an Invitation to a collocutor of Higher Status...... 2).Politeness Strategy in Declining an Invitation a collocutor of Equal Status.. 3). Politeness Strategy in Declining an Invitation to collocutor of Lower Status... b. Politeness Strategies in Declining Offers across Status Levels....... 1). Politeness Strategy in Declining an Offer to Collocutor of Higher Status... 2). Politeness Strategy in Declining an Offer to Collocutor of Equal Status... 3). Politeness Strategies in Declining an Offer to Collocutor of Lower Status... c. Politeness Strategies in Declining Suggestions across Status Levels... 1). Politeness Strategies in Declining a Suggestion to Collocutor of Higher Status... 2). Politeness Strategies in Declining a Suggestion to Collocutor of Equal Status...... 3). Politeness Strategies in Declining a Suggestion to Collocutor of Lower Status... 4. Politeness Strategies in Refusals across Different Genders... a. Politeness Strategies in Declining Invitations conducted by Males and Females... 92 96 96 99 103 107 107 111 115 118 120 121 123 126 128 130 130 132 134 135 136 136 138 141 143 145 145 147 148 149 149 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 x
b. Politeness Strategies in Declining Offers conducted by Males and Females... c. Politeness Strategies in Declining Suggestions conducted by Males and Females... 5. Findings... a. Refusal Strategies... b. Politeness Strategies... c. Politeness Strategies in Refusals across Status Level..... d. Politeness Strategies in Refusals across Different Genders... B. Discussion of Findings.. 1. Refusal Strategies. a. Refusal Strategies to Invitations... b. Refusal Strategies to Offers.. c. Refusal Strategies to Suggestions.... 2. Politeness Strategies... a. Politeness Strategies to Decline Invitations... b. Politeness Strategies to Decline Offers.. c. Politeness Strategies to Decline Suggestions. 3. Politeness Strategies in Refusals across Status Level... a. Politeness Strategies to Decline Invitations across Status Levels... b. Politeness Strategies to Decline Offers across Status Levels... c. Politeness Strategies to Decline Suggestions across Status Levels.... 4. Politeness Strategies in Refusals across Different Genders.... a. Politeness Strategies in Declining Invitations conducted by Males and Females... b. Politeness Strategies in Declining Offers conducted by Males and Females... c. Politeness Strategies in Declining Suggestions conducted by Males and Females... CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusion...... B. Pedagogical Implication... C. Suggestion.. 1. To the Teachers... 2. To the Students... BIBLIOGRAPHY... APPENDIX... 161 163 165 165 171 174 178 182 182 184 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 192 194 195 197 197 199 202 204 205 205 205 207 213 xi
LIST OF TABLE No Table Name of Table Page 1 1 The use of Refusal Strategy in an Invitation to a Collocutor of Higher Status on DTC 1 88 2 2 The use of Refusal Strategy in an Invitation to a Collocutor of Equal Status on DTC 2 92 3 3 The use of Refusal Strategy in an Invitation to a Collocutor of lower Status on DTC 3 95 4 4 The use of Refusal Strategy in an Offer to a Collocutor of Higher Status on DTC 4 99 5 5 The use of Refusal Strategy in an Offer to a Collocutor of Equal Status on DTC 5 103 6 6 The use of Refusal Strategy in an Offer to a Collocutor of Lower Status on DTC no 6 107 7 7 The use of Refusal Strategy in a Suggestion to a Collocutor of Equal Status on DTC 7 111 8 8 The use of Refusal Strategies in a Suggestion to a Collocutor of Equal Status on DTC 8 114 9 9 The use of Refusal Strategy in a Suggestion to a Collocutor of Lower Status on DTC 9 112 10 10 Politeness Strategies in Declining Invitations across Status Levels 117 11 11 Politeness Strategies in Declining Offers across Status Levels 146 12 12 Politeness Strategies in Declining Suggestions across Status Levels 150 13 13 Politeness Strategies in Declining Invitations Conducted by Males and Females 155 14 14 Politeness Strategies in Declining Offers Conducted by Males and Females 160 15 15 Politeness Strategies in Declining Suggestions Conducted by Males and Females 162 16 16 The use of Refusal Strategies in Invitations 163 17 17 The use of Refusal Strategies in Offers 166 18 18 The use of Refusal Strategies in Suggestions 167 19 19 The Use of Refusal Strategy across Three Acts of Refusals 170 xii
LIST OF CHART NO NO CHART NAME OF CHART PAGE 1 1 Positive Politeness Strategies Used in Declining Invitations 126 2 2 Negative Politeness Strategies Used in Declining Invitations 128 3 3 Positive Politeness Strategies Used in Declining Offers 133 4 4 Negative Politeness Strategies Used in Declining Offers 135 5 5 Positive Politeness Strategies Used in Declining Suggestions 140 6 6 Negative Politeness Strategies Used in Declining 143 Suggestions 7 7 Off-Record Strategies Used in Declining Suggestions 145 8 8 Politeness Strategies in Declining Invitations 172 9 9 Politeness Strategies in Declining Offers 173 10 10 Politeness Strategies in Declining Suggestions 173 11 11 The Use of Politeness Strategies in the Acts of Refusal 174 12 12 Politeness Strategies in Declining Invitations across Status 175 Level 13 13 Politeness Strategies in Declining Offers across Status Level 176 14 14 Politeness Strategies in Declining Suggestions across Status 177 Level 15 15 Politeness Strategies in Refusal across Status Level 178 16 16 Politeness Strategies in Declining Invitations across 179 Different Genders 17 17 Politeness Strategies in Declining Offers across Different 180 Genders 18 18 Politeness Strategies in Declining Suggestions across 180 Different Genders 19 19 Politeness Strategies in Refusals Used by Different Genders 181 xiii
LIST OF APPENDICES No NAME OF APPENDICES 1 Appendix 1: DCT items in the questionnaire research 2 Appendix 2: Refusal strategies used by the participants 3 Appendix 3: Politeness Strategies in Refusal used by the participants 4 Appendix 4: The Result of questionnaire research 5 Appendix 4: Attending List 6 Appendix 4: Photo Activities Research of questionnaire xiv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Apo Acc Ass Alt Avo Awk BOR Dis DCT Exc Fil Fut Gra Ina No NP OR Phi Prin Pos PP Set Wig apology/regret acceptance asking for assurance statements of alternative avoidance expressing awkwardness Bald on Record dissuasion discourse completion task excuse/explanation fillers future acceptance gratitude inability No directly Negative Politeness Off-Record statement of philosophy statement of principle positive opinion/feeling, and agreement Positive Politeness future acceptance with condition wishing for good luck xv
Wis expressing a wish xvi
ABSTRACT MAYA HARTUTI, A Study of Politeness Strategy in Refusal Used by English Teachers in Madiun Regency. Thesis, Surakarta, Post-Graduate Program of Language Study Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta, 2014 The study investigated politeness strategy in refusal conducted by the English teachers in Madiun regency relating to different social status levels and gender. The data were elicited, using discourse completion tasks (DCT), from 38 English teachers, 14 male and 24 female who teach in Junior high schools in Madiun regency. The collected data are analyzed by using Brown and Levinson s theory of politeness strategy. The refusal strategies were classified based on modified refusal taxonomy by Beebe et al. (1990). The findings of the research are described in line with the problem statements as follows: first, The English teachers of junior high school in Madiun regency applied two semantic formulae indirect and direct strategies in conjunction to adjunct identified by Beebe et al. (1990) across three refusals acts (invitations, offers and suggestions). The indirect strategy was the prominent refusal strategy especially in declining offers and suggestions where as the direct strategy was the highest strategy used in declining invitations. The second, the English teachers used all four politeness strategies (BOR, positive politeness (PP), NP, and OR) of Brown and Levinson (1987) across three refusals acts in more or less the same frequency, except in declining offers they did not use OR strategy. In declining invitations and suggestions, most of the English teachers applied PP strategy and the dominant type was PP 13 Give reasons. The dominant strategy in declining offers was BOR which most of them expressed gratitude. The third, the influence of social distance on politeness strategy used by the English teachers in declining invitations, offers, and suggestions was not significant. The most prevalent strategy in declining three acts of refusals across status levels was PP strategy. PP strategy mostly dominated the refusals to collocutors of equal and lower status but in refusals to collocutors of higher status, most of English teachers used NP strategy. The last, gender differences virtually has no influence on the choices of politeness strategy in three refusals acts across status levels. Both male and female English teachers conducted the same politeness strategies of Brown and Levinson (1987) in declining invitations, offers, and suggestions in more or less the same frequency. They used PP significantly the highest and OR was the least dominant strategy. Females used PP and NP little bit more often than males but males used BOR and OR little bit more often than females. Keywords: Politeness Strategy, Refusal Strategy. xvii