AN ANALYSIS OF COMPLAINING RESPONSES
USED BY THE CHARACTERS IN THE FILM
ENTITLED SEX AND THE CITY
(A Socio- Pragmatics Approach)
THESIS
Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment For Requirements
For The Sarjana Sastra Degree in English Department
Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts
Sebelas Maret University
By
ARI WAHYUNI
C0305013
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LETTERS AND FINE ARTS
SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY
ii
AN ANALYSIS OF COMPLAINING RESPONSES USED BY
THE CHARACTERS IN THE FILM ENTITLED SEX AND
THE CITY
(A Socio- Pragmatics Approach)
By
ARI WAHYUNI
C0305013
Approved to be examined before the Board of Examiners
Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts
Sebelas Maret University
Thesis Consultant
Drs. Sri Marmanto, M.Hum.
NIP 19500901 198601 1 001
The Head of English Department
iii
Accepted and Approved by the Board of Examiners
Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts, Sebelas Maret University
On April 27th, 2010
Chairman
: Dr. Djatmika, M. A.
( )
NIP 19670726 199302 1 001
Secretary
: Dyah Ayu Nila K, S.S, M. Hum
( )
NIP 19830211 200604 2 001
First Examiner
: Drs. Sri Marmanto, M. Hum.
( )
NIP 19500901 198601 1 001
Second Examiner
: Ida Kusuma D, S.S, M. A.
( )
NIP 19710525 199802 2 001
The Dean of Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts
Sebelas Maret University
iv
PRONOUNCEMENT
Name : Ari Wahyuni
NIM : C0305013
I stated whole- heartedly that the thesis entitled An Analysis of
Complaining Responses Used by the Characters in the Film entitled Sex and the
City is originally composed by myself. It is neither a plagiarism, nor written by
others. The things related to other people’s work are written in quotation and
included within bibliography.
If it is then proved that the researcher cheats, the researcher is ready to
take the responsibility.
Surakarta, April 2010
The Researcher
v
MOTTOS
So verily, w ith hardship, there is relief (Al- Inshira 94: 5)
Life is sim ple; dar e t o dr eam t hen m ake it r eal (Silent ium - Par a
Pem im pi)
When you’re forced to stand alone, you realiz e what you have in
vi
DEDICATION
I whole heartedly dedicate this thesis to:
M y beloved M AM A and PAPA
For the everlasting prayer, love, care, and patience
vii
and to myself
ACKNOWLEDMENT
Assalamu’alaikum wr. wb.
First and most of all, I would like to say Alhamdulillahirobbil’alamin,
praise to Allah SWT, the Almighty God, and the Prophet Muhammad SAW for
the great blessings, guidance, and love so I can accomplish this thesis. Finally, I
can make one of my dreams come true. I realize I would never be able to
accomplish this thesis without the encouragement from people surround me.
Therefore, I would like to express my gratitude to those who has given valuable
contribution to this thesis. My gratitudes go to:
The Dean of Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts, Drs. Sudarno, M.A. for approving
this thesis.
The Head of English Department, Dr. Djatmika, M.A. for giving the approval for
this thesis to be examined and the big support. I appreciate it, Sir.
My first thesis consultant, Mr. Agus Dwi Priyanto, S.S. M.CALL. for the
guidance, assistance, and advice during the process of doing this thesis. I
appreciate all that you have given to me. Thank you, Sir.
My second thesis consultant, Drs. Sri Marmanto, M.Hum. for the guidance,
advice, and the patience during the last two months nice consultation. Thank
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My academic supervisor, Mr. Yuyun Kusdiyanto, S.S. M.A. for the support
during four years and beyond of my academic period.
Ms. Ardianna Nuraeni, S.S. M.Hum. for the knowledge, patience, the film, and
the nice conversation.
All the lecturers who have given me valuable knowledge and priceless
experiences. Thank you so much.
My beloved Mama and Papa. From the bottom of my heart, I want to say thank
you so much for your everlasting love, care, patience, and prayer all of my
life. I hope I can be a daughter whom you proud of. This thesis is a little gift
for both of you.
My little brother for all the time sharing together, the laughs, teasing, and anger.
My grand parents, Mbah Baital Makmur and family. Thank you so much for the
love, care, and big support.
My best friend ever, Elis and Ismi. Thank you so much for all your love, care, and
support. It’s been valuable and unforgettable moments having laughs and
tears together with you. I will never forget all your kindness, girls. Hope our
friendship will last forever.
All my best friends in Salita and KaEm. Mbak Martha, Ratna, Vani, Nita, Marisa,
Nia, Mbak Farida, Mbak Nirna, Mbak Astria, Mbak Eny, Mbak Dewi, Icha,
and many others. Thank you so much gals. You’re all my second family. It’s
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All my friends in English Department ’05. Intan, Fera, Eva, Hesti, Yogi, Winda;
for keeping encourage me finish the thesis. Nafiz and Maya; for the time
sharing our experiences in doing the thesis. Melon, Lilis, Hemy, Vian, Anggi,
Ima, Woro, Nurin; for accompanying in the lobby. Rizky Adi, Sonny, Puspa,
Fauzi; for giving inspirations and model for me. My Chomskies’ classmates;
Dini, Ratih, Arif, Dian, Fitria, Sari, Irena, and Chemitz. And all my
“SEMANGAT” 2005 classmates: Ebsi, Dyah Us, Ongko, Arif, Alwi, Bebek,
Arih, Astri, Nunik, Erdeaka, Ratih, Dida, Arum, Kimut, Adwin, Andika,
Lambang, and Jotika. You all complete me, guys.
All the people that means a lot for me and giving me valuable things in my life
that I can’t mention one by one; thank you very much. I will never forget you
all.
I have tried my best in conducting this research, but I do believe this research
is not perfect. Therefore, any supporting suggestion and recommendation are
thoughtfully accepted. Hopefully this research will be beneficial for all readers.
Surakarta, April 2010
The Researcher
x
AN ANALYSIS OF COM PLAINING RESPONSES USED BY THE CHARACTERS IN THE FILM ENTITLED
SEX AND THE CITY (A Socio- Pragmatics Approach)
Ari Wahyuni1
Drs. Sri M arm ant o M . Hum2
ABSTRAK
2010. Thesis. English Depart m ent . Facult y of Let t ers and Fine Art s. Sebelas M aret Universit y.
Penelit ian ini t erfokus pada tindak t ut ur m engeluh. Penelit ian ini dilakukan unt uk m enent ukan m acam m acam st rat egi m engeluh yang digunakan oleh t okoh- t okoh di dalam film “ Sex and t he Cit y” , t anggapan t erhadap t indak t ut ur m engeluh, dan alasan m engapa pendengar m enggunakan t anggapan t ersebut .
Penelit ian ini m enggunakan pendekat an Sosio- Pragm at ik dan m et odologi deskript if kualit at if. Dalam m engum pulkan dat a, penelit i menggunakan t eknik pengam bilan sam pel t ot al. Penelit i mengam bil sem ua dialog yang m engandung t indak t ut ur m engeluh sebagai dat a. Peneliti m enem ukan t iga hasil dari penelit ian ini.Hasil pert ama m enunjukkan bahw a ada lim a m acam t indak t ut ur m engeluh di dalam film “ Sex and t he Cit y” , yait u Hint st rat egi, Annoyance st rat egi, Direct Accusat ion st rat egi, Explicit Condem nat ion of t he Accused’s Act ion st rat egi, dan Explicit Condem nat ion of t he Accused as a Person st rat egi. Dilihat dari t ingkat an kelangsungan t indak t ut ur m engeluh yang diut arakan oleh Anna Trosborg, Hint st rat egi adalah yang paling halus sedangkan Explicit Condem nat ion of t he Accused as a Person st rat egi adalah yang paling kasar.
Hasil yang kedua menunjukkan bahw a ada lim a m acam t anggapan pendengar t erhadap t indak t ut ur m engeluh, yang diut arakan oleh Richard dan Schm idt , yait u apology, denial, excuse, just ificat ion, dan challenge.
Hasil yang ket iga m enunjukkan bahw a ada lima alasan m engapa pendengar m enggunakan t anggapan t ert ent u t erhadap suat u t indak t ut ur m engeluh.Pert am a adalah karena pendengar m engert i bahw a dia merasa bersalah dan m enyesal. Alasan ini dit em ukan pada t anggapan apology. Kedua, karena pendengar yakin bahw a dia t idak bersalah at au t idak m enyadari kesalahannya. Alasan ini dit em ukan pada t anggapan denial. Ket iga, karena pendengar t idak m au mengakui secara langsung apa yang t elah dia lakukan dan ingin m em bela dirinya. Alasan ini ditem ukan pada t anggapan excuse. Keem pat , karena pendengar t idak ingin m enghindari keluhan pem bicara dan dia m au
1
Mahasiswa Jurusan Sastra Inggris dengan NIM C0305013
2
xi
m engakui secara langsung kesalahannya. Alasan ini dit em ukan pada t anggapan just ificat ion. Kelim a, karena pendengar yakin bahw a dia t idak bersalah dan yakin unt uk m engelak. Alasan ini dit em ukan pada challenge.
Berdasarkan kesim pulan diat as, penelit i berharap bahw a penelit ian ini dapat m em berikan kont ribusi kepada m ahasisw a unt uk belajar lebih lanjut t ent ang t indak t ut ur m engeluh. Disarankan pada penelit i lain yang t ert arik pada st udi Linguistik unt uk m elakukan penelit ian lebih lanjut t ent ang t indak t ut ur m engeluh yang diam bil dari sum ber dat a lain cont ohnya per cakapan sehari- hari.
AN ANALYSIS OF COMPLAINING RESPONSES USED BY THE
CHARACTERS IN THE FILM ENTITLED
SEX AND THE CITY
(A Socio- Pragmatics Approach)
Ari Wahyuni
3Drs. Sri Marmanto, M.Hum.
4ABSTRACT
2010. Thesis: English Department Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts Sebelas Maret
University.
The research focused on the acts of complaining. It was conducted to find out the kinds
of complaining strategies used by the characters in the film “Sex and the City”, the
responses employed towards the complaint, and the reasons why the hearer uses such
responses.
This research applied Socio- Pragmatics approach which employed descriptive
qualitative method. In taking the data, the researcher used total sampling technique. The
researcher took the dialogues containing the act of complaining as data. The researcher
found three results in this research.
The first result is that there are five kinds of complaint strategies found in the film
entitled Sex and the City. They are Hint strategy, Annoyance strategy, Direct Accusation
strategy, Explicit Condemnation of the Accused’s Action, and Explicit Condemnation of
the Accused as a Person. According to the directness level of the complaint proposed by
Anna Trosborg, Hint strategy is the mildest strategy and the Explicit Condemnation of
the Accused as a Person strategy is the most severe one.
The second result shows that there are five types of responses employed by the hearers
towards the complaint proposed by Richard and Schmidt. They are apology, denial,
excuse, justification, and challenge.
The third result shows that there are five reasons why the hearers employed such kinds of
responses. The first is because the hearer knows that he is guilty and feels regretful. It is
found in the apology response. Second, because the hearer is sure that he is not guilty or
not realizing his mistake. It is found in the denial response. Third, because the hearer
does not want to confess directly what he has done and wants to defend himself. It is
3
Mahasiswa Jurusan Sastra Inggris dengan NIM C0305013
4
xii
found in the excuse response. Fourth, because the hearer does not want to avoid the
complaint and he intends to admit explicitly his mistake. It is found in the justification
response. Fifth, because the hearer is certainly sure that he is not guilty and confident to
dispute it. It is found in the challenge response.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE ... i
THE APPROVAL OF THE CONSULTANT ... ii
THE APPROVAL OF THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS ... iii
PRONOUNCEMENT ... iv
MOTTOS ... v
DEDICATION ... vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... x
ABSTRACT ... xiii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
A.
Research Background... 1
B.
Problem Statement ... 6
C.
Research Objectives ... 7
D.
Research Benefit ... 7
E.
Research Methodology ... 8
F.
Thesis Organization ... 8
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW
A.
Sociolinguistics ... 10
xiv
2.
The Scope of Sociolinguistics ... 11
3.
Dimension of Sociolinguistics ... 12
B.
Ethnography of Communication... 15
1.
Speech Community ... 15
2.
Speech Situations, Speech Events, and Speech Acts ... 16
3.
Components of Speech ... 17
C.
Pragmatics ... 20
D.
Context ... 21
E.
Communicative Competence ... 22
F.
Speech Acts ... 25
G.
Classification of Speech Acts ... 25
H.
Direct and indirect Speech Acts... 27
I.
The Act of Complaining ... 28
1.
The Definition of Complaint... 28
2.
Directness Levels of Complaint ... 30
3.
Complaint Strategies ... 32
4.
Complaint Perspective ... 34
5.
Internal Modification... 36
6.
External Modification... 38
J.
Response... 38
K.
The Film Theory ... 39
xv
M.
Review of Related Study ... 41
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. Research Methodology... 44
B. Data and Source of Data ... 44
C.
Sample and Sampling Technique... 45
D. Equipments of the Research ... 46
E. Technique of Collecting Data ... 46
F. Technique of Coding Data ... 47
G. Technique of Analyzing Data ... 47
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS
A. Introduction ... 49
B. Analysis ... 50
B. 1. The Kinds of Complaining Strategies Employed by the
characters in the Film ... 50
B. 2. The Hearer’s Responses and the Reasons towards the
Complaints applied by the speakers ... 66
C.
Discussion... 95
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
A. Conclusion ... 84
B. Suggestion ... 85
xvi
APPENDICES... 89
ABSTRACT
Ari Wahyuni. 2010. C0305013. An Analysis of Complaining Responses Used
by the Characters in the Film Entitled Sex and the City (A Socio- Pragmatics
Approach). Thesis: English Department Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts
Sebelas Maret University.
The research focused on the acts of complaining. It was conducted to find
out the kinds of complaining strategies used by the characters in the film “Sex
and the City”, the responses employed towards the complaint, and the reasons
why the hearer uses such responses.
This research applied Socio- Pragmatics approach which employed
descriptive qualitative method. In taking the data, the researcher used total
sampling technique. The researcher took the dialogues containing the act of
complaining as data. The researcher found three results in this research.
The first result is that there are five kinds of complaint strategies found in
the film entitled Sex and the City. They are Hint strategy, Annoyance strategy,
Direct Accusation strategy, Explicit Condemnation of the Accused’s Action, and
Explicit Condemnation of the Accused as a Person. According to the directness
level of the complaint proposed by Anna Trosborg, Hint strategy is the mildest
strategy and the Explicit Condemnation of the Accused as a Person strategy is the
most severe one.
The second result shows that there are five types of responses employed
by the hearers towards the complaint proposed by Richard and Schmidt. They are
apology, denial, excuse, justification, and challenge.
The third result shows that there are five reasons why the hearers
employed such kinds of responses. The first is because the hearer knows that he is
guilty and feels regretful. It is found in the apology response. Second, because the
hearer is sure that he is not guilty or not realizing his mistake. It is found in the
denial response. Third, because the hearer does not want to confess directly what
he has done and wants to defend himself. It is found in the excuse response.
Fourth, because the hearer does not want to avoid the complaint and he intends to
admit explicitly his mistake. It is found in the justification response. Fifth,
because the hearer is certainly sure that he is not guilty and confident to dispute it.
It is found in the challenge response.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background
Language can not be separat ed from people’s life. People use language t o
int eract bet w een one anot her in t heir life. The significance of language w as explained
by Sapir (in Fasold, 1996). He describes how im port ant language as follow s: language is
a guide t o ‘social realit y’…Hum an beings do not live in t he object ive w orld alone, nor
alone in t he w orld of social act ivit y as ordinarily underst ood, but very m uch at t he
m ercy of t he part icular language, w hich has becom e t he m edium of expression for t heir
societ y (p.50)”
The crucial funct ion of language is t o com m unicat e. People com m unicat e by
using language everyday. They share ideas, inform at ion, know ledge, sciences, et c. They
also use language t o express feelings, desires, and m any ot hers. It m akes language
becom es t he easiest com m unicat ion t ool broadly used by people in t his w orld.
Language as a com m unicat ion t ool relat es t o conversat ion. Conversat ion
happens w hen t w o or m ore people express t heir selves by exploring w ords, phrases, or
sent ences in a cert ain int ent ion and in cert ain condit ion. Conversat ion consist s of
xviii
sent ences not only t o share inform at ion, ideas, or needs but also t o perform act ions.
According t o Yule (1996: 47) act ions perform ed t hrough ut t erances are called speech
act s. Speech act s can be said as a speech w hich is int ended t o m ake people do
som et hing.
Besides, according t o Searle, a conversat ion relat ed m uch t o t he st udy of
speech act s. When people do t he conversat ion, t hey do not only produce ut t erances,
but also perform act ions. Searle also st at ed t hat linguist ics com m unicat ion is necessarily
involving speech act s nam ely perform ance of cert ain kinds of funct ions; request ing;
ordering; t hanking; com plaining; apologizing; and so on (1976: 17).
In every conversation, people do not alw ays get w hat t hey w ant . Som et im es
t hey do not get w hat exact ly t hey expect t o. They som et imes get disappoint ed or
dissat isfied w it h som et hing w hich happens or done by som eone t hey t alk t o. This could
happen in every conversat ion, for inst ance w hen som ebody failed t o do w hat ot her
person has request ed t o him or w hen he has done or say som et hing t hat against ot her
person’s int erest . That is w hy people som etim es express t heir negat ive feelings in a
conversat ion. This expression of negat ive feeling is called a speech act of com plaining.
The act of com plaining happens w hen t he speaker expresses t he negat ive feeling
t ow ards t he ot her (hearer). In expressing com plaint , som eone show s his/ her
disapproval or disappoint m ent t o t he hearer. The ut t erances of com plaint also vary
from t he m ost indirect t o t he m ost direct according t o speaker’s int ent ion. As t he result ,
t he hearer m ay also give a response or answ er t o apologize, deny, or prom ise t o fix
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The act of com plaining becom es an int erest ing t opic in t his st udy. It is because
t he act of com plaining m ay happen in every conversat ion even w it hout being
considered. Film as a m anifest at ion of hum an life can reflect t he use of t his act of
com plaining. A film can be said as t he reflect ion of societ y. This is w hy t he researcher
int ends t o explore t he usage of com plaining act s in a film ent it led “ Sex and t he Cit y” .
This film is chosen as t he source of dat a because t here is a lot of com plaining act s
em ployed in it . The ut t erances of com plaining act s vary according t o t heir t opics,
degree, and responses. The charact ers apply a different ut t erance in t he int eract ion t o
express t heir negat ive feeling t ow ards t he ot hers. The following exam ples will give an
underst anding about t he com plaining act s:
1. No Explicit Reproach or Hint Complaining Strategy
CARRIE: She’s a doll. M azel t ov!
She kisses Harry on t he cheek and st ar t s aw ay.
HARRY: He asked m e t o ask you t o call him .
Carrie st ops. Turns around. Looks at him .
HARRY: I know ! It ’s none of m y business. But I felt bad for t he poor schm uck hanging around t he hospit al w ait ing room hoping t o see you. I sw ear every t im e he heard som eone in heels com ing dow n t he hall his heart st opped.
CARRIE: Harry, it’s so much more complicated than you can imagine.
HARRY: I know it is, and you have every right t o never call him but I’m just a big
pile of love t oday and I feel bad for t he guy.He said he’s been w rit ing you but you never responded.
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The conversat ion t akes place in a hospit al. The participant s are Carrie
and Harry; Charlot t e’s husband. They are friends and t hey know each ot her.
Charlot t e has just given birt h t o her child. Carrie com es and congrat ulat es t hem.
When Carrie is about t o go, Harry says som et hing t o her. He says t hat Big asked
him t o ask Carrie t o call Big. Carrie is am azed. She ut t ers a com plaint t o him .
She st ill feels m ad at Big for w hat he did; cancelling t he w edding.
In t his exam ple, t he hint st rat egy is used. In t his st rat egy, t he speaker
m ay or m ay not m ent ion t he com plainable direct ly t o t he hearer. Carrie ut t ers a
com plaint because she st ill feels m ad at Big for cancelling t heir wedding. She
expresses his dislike using No Explicit Reproach strategy or Hint strategy. She
does not direct ly say t hat w hat Big has request ed t o her t hrough Harry is bad.
She only expresses her disappoint m ent and indicat es t hat she is act ually st ill
m ad at Big. This st rat egy can be used t o prepare for m ore forceful st rat egies.
2. Expression of Annoyance or Disapproval Complaining Strategy
M IRANDA : How oft en do you guys have sex?
CHARLOTTE : M iranda please.
M IRANDA : What ?
M IRANDA : She’s t hree, she doesn’t know w hat it m eans. I’m fort y- one
and I st ill don’t know w hat it m eans.
CHARLOTTE : I know , but she’s repeat ing everyt hing.
SAM ANTHA : If I knew the girl talk w as going to be on “lock dow n," I w ouldn’t have flown tw o thousand miles.
CHARLOTTE : No, w e can t alk, let ’s just not use t hat w ord.
xxi CARRIE :... “ Color” ?
CHARLOTTE : Thank-you.
The conversat ion t akes place in a coffee shop. The part icipant s are
M iranda, Charlot t e, Sam ant ha, and Carrie. They have t heir breakfast . Lily,
Charlot t e’s daught er is w it h t hem coloring a book. M iranda asks a quest ion t o
her friends about how oft en t hey have sex. Charlot t e w ho is afraid of her lit t le
daught er’s developm ent asks M iranda t o avoid say t he w ord “ sex” . Hearing
Charlot t e’s request t o M iranda, Sam ant ha feels annoyed. She com plains t o her.
Charlot t e get s shocked w hen she hears M iranda says t he w ord “ sex” in
front of her daught er. She asks M iranda t o avoid using t he w ord. Sam ant ha
feels annoyed and com plains using Annoying strategy of complaining. In t his
st rat egy she does not say t hat Charlot t e is guilt y for prohibit ing t hem t o discuss
about t heir sex life. But she says her disappoint m ent t ow ards Charlot t e’s
request . This st rat egy is m ore direct t han t he previous.
3.
Accusation Complaining StrategyCARRIE
: Right, and...well, Big and I decided to get married.
SAMANTHA : Really?
CARRIE
: Yes.
SAMANTHA : That’s great.
CARRIE
: You sounded more excited about the Botox.
SAMANTHA : Well, honey I am excited for you but you know me... I
don’t really believe in marriage....Botox on the other hand
That works every time.
xxii
The conversat ion occurs in t he phone. The part icipant s are Carrie and
Sam ant ha. Sam ant ha is in her office w hile Carrie is in a bout ique. Carrie calls
Sam ant ha and t ells her t hat she w ill be m arried. Samant ha is shocked w it h t he
new s. She responds it plainly. Carrie t hen com plains t o her.
The t hird exam ple show s t he Accusation strategy. Carrie ut t ers a
com plaint t hat Sam ant ha does not give her any excit em ent at all at her
m arriage plan. This kind of st rat egy is m ore powerful t han t he previous
st rat egy.
From t he exam ples above, it can be seen t hat t here are m any different
com plaining act s found in t he dialogue of t he film . Those com plaining act s are classified
int o som e kinds of st rat egies. Besides, t he analysis of com plaining act s relat es m uch
w it h responses of t he hearers w hich have cert ain t ypes and t he reasons. Therefore, t he
researcher is int erest ed t o analyze t he com plaining responses used by t he charact ers in
t he dialogue of t he film ent it led “ Sex and t he Cit y” . Therefore, t he t it le of t his research
is AN ANALYSIS OF COM PLAINING RESPONSES USED BY THE CHARACTERS IN THE FILM
ENTITLED SEX AND THE CITY (A Socio- Pragmatics Approach)
B. Problem statements
Based on t he background above, t he research aim ed t o discover t he
com plaining responses on t he film script of “ Sex and t he Cit y” . Thus, t he research is
xxiii
1. What kinds of com plaining st rat egies are em ployed by t he charact ers in t he
film ent it led “ Sex and t he Cit y” ?
2. How do t he hearers respond t o t he com plaint s applied by t he speakers?
3. Why do t he hearers in t he film use such kind of responses?
C. Research Objectives
The research w ill be expect ed t o answ er t he problem above, nam ely:
1. To discover t he kinds of com plaining st rat egies em ployed by t he charact ers in
t he film ent it led “ Sex and t he Cit y”
2. To ident ify t he responses of t he hearers t ow ards the com plaint s applied by
t he speaker.
3. To find out t he reasons w hy t he hearers use such kinds of responses.
D. Research Benefits
The research is expect ed t o be beneficial for:
xxiv
It w ill give m ore inform at ion about com plaining st rat egies and st im ulat es
st udent s t o st udy m ore about socio- pragm at ics, especially about speech
act s.
2. The m ovie spect at ors
It can m ake t hem aw are about m any kinds of com plaint st rat egies ut t ered in
m any w ays and m ake t hem underst and t he st ory m ore deeply.
3. Fut ure researcher
It can help t hem t o underst and m ore about speech act s especially com plaint
st rat egies, and how t o m ake anot her research dealing w it h speech act s
t heory.
E. Research M ethodology
The research is a descript ive qualit at ive. Descript ive m eans t o describe t he
event s and sit uat ion of t he dat a. The st eps of t he research is collect ing dat a, analyzing
t he dat a, and draw ing t he conclusion. Qualit at ive means t o exam ine non- st at ist ical or
descript ive dat a. The com plet e descript ion about research m et hodology w ill be
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F. Thesis Organization
The syst em at ic organizat ion of t he t hesis is arranged as follow s:
CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION
Research Background, Problem St at em ent s, Research Object ives,
Research Benefit s, Research M et hodology, Thesis Organizat ion.
CHAPTER II : LITERATURE REVIEW
Sociolinguist ics, Et hnography of Com m unicat ion, Pragm at ics,
Cont ext , Com m unicat ive Com pet ence, Speech Act s, Classificat ion of
Speech Act s, Direct and Indirect Speech Act s, The Act of
Com plaining, Responses, The Film Theory, The Synopsis of t he Film
Sex and t he Cit y. Review of Relat ed St udy.
CHAPTER III : RESEARCH M ETHODOLOGY
Research M et hodology, Dat a and Source of Dat a, Sam pling and
Sam pling Technique, Equipment s of t he Research, Technique of
Collect ing Dat a, Technique of Coding Dat a, Technique of Analyzing
Dat a.
CHAPTER IV : DATA ANALYSIS
Int roduct ion, Dat a Analysis, Discussion.
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CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapt er cont ains som e t heories and references w hich are relat ed t o t he
research. A socio- pragm at ics approach is t aken as t he w ay of analysis t o carry out t he
research. Therefore, t he references relat ed t o sociolinguist ics and pragm at ics, especially
about com plaint st rat egy are necessary t o guide t he researcher t o describe and
int erpret t he dat a.
A.
Sociolinguistics
1.
Definition of Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is one of linguistics branch which study about the
relationship between language and society. Language cannot be separated from
the society. Society influences how language is used. Hudson (1996:4) states that
Sociolinguistics is the study of language in relation to society. While Chaika
(1994: 3) states that Sociolinguistics is the study of the ways people use language
in social interactions of all kinds.
In addition, Holmes states that Sociolinguistics studies the relationship
between language and society (2001:1). They are interested in identifying ways of
describing and explaining why we speak differently in different social context
and they are concerned with identifying the social functions of a language and the
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Sociolinguistics does not study language but also society. It explains why people
can speak differently in any different social context. In any situation linguistics
choices will generally reflect the influence of one or more of the following
components:
a.
The Participants: who is speaking and who are they speaking to?
b.
The Setting or social context of the interaction: where are they speaking?
c.
The topic: what is being talked about?
d.
The function: why are they speaking?
Based on t he definit ion above it can be concluded t hat Sociolinguistics concerns
on analyzing how social com m unit y use language in social int eract ion. It also rules t hat
w hen w e speak, w e cannot separat ed from t he social fact ors of w ho speaks t o w hom , in
w hat sit uat ion, w hen, w hy, and w here t he conversat ion happens.
2.
The Scope of Sociolinguistics
According t o Fishm an, Sociolinguist ics has t w o scopes of st udy; t hey are m
icro-sociolinguist ics and m acro-icro-sociolinguist ics (1972: 242).
a.
Micro-sociolinguistics, it concerns with the study of language in specific
speech communities with the scope of discussion such as the behavior
toward language, style of speech, domains of language use, register,
speech act, etc. It means that micro-sociolinguistics covers the intra-group
interaction or relatively small group of speakers.
b.
Macro-sociolinguistics, it concerns with the study of language history and
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aspects. It means that macro-sociolinguistics covers the inter-group
interaction or large group of speakers.
In t his research, t he researcher t akes m icro-sociolinguist ics as t he fram e of t he
st udy since it focuses on t he individual int eract ion, especially com plaining act s
em ployed by t he charact ers in t he m ovie ent it led “ Sex and t he Cit y” .
3.
The Dimension of Sociolinguistics
Holm es st at es t hat t here are four social dim ensions w hich are relat ed t o t he
social fact ors. He st at es t hat it is useful t o t ake account of t hose four social dim ensions
(2001:376).
a.
Solidarity/ Social Distance
This dimension takes account for pattern of linguistic interaction.
How well the participants know each other is a relevant factor in linguistic
choice. The linguistic choice can show group difference, existence, or
solidarity between the group members. People use certain speech styles in
their interactions with intimates or other persons having distant
relationship.
The solidarity/social distance scale is as follows:
Intimate
Distant
High solidarity
Low solidarity
b.
Status/ Power
The dimension of status/power accounts for a variety of linguistic
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show someone’s status in the community, whether he/she is superior, equal, or
subordinate. The status/power scale points to the relevance or relative status in
some linguistic choices.
The status/power scale is as follows:
Superior
High status
Subordinate
Low status
The status scale relates with participants relationship. The status or
power dimension accounts for a variety of linguistics differences in the way
people speak. The speaker speaks in such ways that signal their social status in
community. The participants who have a different social status, a superior and
a subordinate, will be different in their way of conversation from those
participants who have the same status. The way people talk to others also
reflects their relationship on this status and power dimension.
c. Formality
Formality dimension accounts for speech variation in different setting
or contexts. The language used is influenced by the formality or informality of
the setting. The formality scale is concerned in assessing the influence of the
social setting or type of interaction on language choices. Official languages are
the appropriate varieties for formal government interactions and state
occasions. Vernaculars are the languages of informal interaction.
The formality scale is as follows:
xxx
Informal
Low formality
d. Function – Affective and Referential
The function of interaction is also an important influence on the
linguistic form. The linguistic features in some interactions are strongly
influenced by the kind of information they need to convey. The basic functions
of language in all communities are referential and affective (or social)
meaning. The referential function serves that language can convey objective
information of a referential kind. The affective function refers to language as a
means of expressing how someone is feeling. Basically, the more referentially
oriented an interaction is, the less it tends to express the feelings of the
speaker.
The referential and affective function scales are as follows:
Referential
High
Low
Information
Information
Content
Content
Affective
Low
High
Affective
Affective
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Those four social dim ensions above are useful in analyzing t he sociolinguist ics
variat ion in m any different t ypes of speech com m unit ies and in different cont ext .
B.
Ethnography of Communication
The et hnography of com m unicat ion st udies t he relat ionship bet w een language
and cult ure. Fasold (1996: 39) st at ed t hat t he et hnography of speaking (It is know n as
et hnography of com m unicat ion) is t he approach t o t he sociolinguist ics of language in
w hich t he use of language in general is relat ed t o social and cult ural values.
The et hnography of com m unicat ion is not sim ply a study of language st ruct ure
or gram m ar. It concerns of how t he speakers use ut t erances, w het her t o show
deference, t o get som eone t o do som et hing, t o display verbal skill or t o give someone
else inform at ion w hich is considered sim ply out side t he concerns of linguist ic t heory.
Therefore, t he et hnography of com m unicat ion seeks t o account not m erely for
w hat can be said but for w hen, w here, by w hom , to w hom , in w hat m anner, and in
w hat part icular circum st ances. Since t he w ays or rules of speaking can vary from one
cult ure t o anot her. It is necessary t o underst and t he fundam ent al concept s of t he
et hnography of com m unicat ion.
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Gumperz (in Chaika, 1994:309) defines that a speech community is a
group of speakers who share a set of norms about the use of a language or
languages.
Fishman (1972) defines that a speech community is one, all whose
members share at least a single variety and the norms for its appropriate use. A
speech community may be as small as single close interaction network, all of
whose members regard each other in but a single capacity (p.22)
Furthermore, Hymes says that all members of a speech community share
not only the same rules for speaking, but at least one linguistic variety as well.
From those definitions, it can be concluded that a speech community is a
group of speakers who share at least a single speech variety and has the same
rules for speaking. In addition, Saville-Troike argues that it is not necessary for
each speaker to belong to only one speech community or even to two or more
completely separate communities. People can be members of several speech
communities at the same time if they alter their norms for speech behavior to
conform to the appropriate speech community by adding, subtracting and
substituting rules of communicative behavior (in Fasold, 1996:42). Basically, a
speech community must at least share rules for speaking because members of a
speech community may not use the rules of language the same way.
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There are three units of interaction within a speech community namely
speech situation, speech event, and speech act. The speech acts are part of
speech events which is in turn, part of speech situations.
Hymes (in Fasold, 1996:42) defines speech situations as situations
associated with (or marked by the absence of) speech. Speech situations are not
purely communicative. They may be composed by both communicative and
other kinds of events. It means that speech situations may be in the form of
nonverbal context. They are not themselves subject to rules of speaking, but can
be referred to by rules of speaking as contexts.
Speech events are both communicative and governed by rules for the
use speech. They are the largest units for which one can discover linguistic
structure. A speech event takes place within a speech situation and is composed
of one or more speech acts. It is also possible for a speech event to be the entire
speech event which might be the only event in a speech situation.
The third units of interaction, speech acts, are the minimal component of
speech events. A speech act focuses on how to do something by saying word. It
means that the speaker actually does the action through the language and
expects that the hearer will recognize his or her communicative intention. For
example, a speech act of commands given by a leader to a student is part of the
teaching-learning activity (a speech event) which takes place in a class (a
speech situation).
xxxiv
Related to the study of the ethnography of communication, according to
Hymes (in Fasold, 1996:44), there are eight components of speech, abbreviated
as SPEAKING, which reflect the relationship and the intentions of participants
in communicative events. The explanation is as follows:
a. Situation (S)
Situation includes the setting and the scene. The setting refers to
the concrete physical circumstances which speech takes place, including the
time and place. Scene refers to the abstract psychological setting, or the
cultural definition of the occasion.
b. Participants (P)
The participants include various combinations of speaker-listener,
addresser-addressee, or sender-receiver. They generally fill certain social
specified roles. It deals with who is speaking and who are they speaking to.
For example, a telephone conversation involves a sender and a receiver.
c. Ends (E)
Goals are the purpose of the individual participants. For example,
in bargaining event, the outcome is to be orderly exchange of something of
value from one person to the other, but each of its participants has his or her
own personal goals. The goal of the seller is to maximize the price while the
buyer wants to minimize it.
xxxv
Act sequence refers to message forms (how something is said) and
message content (what is said). It deals with the precise words used, how
they are used, and the relationship of what is said to the actual topic of
conversation. Both message form and message content involve
communicative skills that vary from one culture to another. Speakers have
to know how to formulate speech events and speech acts in their culture
appropriately, how to recognize what is being talked about, and how to
manage changes in topic. For example, casual conversations may discuss
about hobby (message content) in informal situations between intimate
friends.
e. Key (K)
Key refers to the tone, manner, or spirit in which a speech act is
performed, whether it is serious, mocking, sarcastic, and so on. Key also
refers to the feeling, atmosphere, and attitude. Furthermore, the key may be
marked by nonverbal action such as certain kinds of behavior, gesture, or
posture. The definition of aspects of key is as follows:
1) Tone
: It is the general spirit of the scene, such as angry, afraid,
brave, etc.
2) Manner
: It refers to the participants’ way of behaving toward
others, whether it is polite, impolite, formal, informal,
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3) Feeling
: It refers to emotions indicating happiness, anxiety, shock,
anger, etc.
4) Atmosphere : It refers to the feeling that affects the mind in a place or
condition, such as good, evil, etc.
5) Attitude
: It refers to the participants’ ways of thinking and
behaving toward a situation whether it is sympathetic,
optimistic, pessimistic, etc.
f. Instrumentalities (I)
Instrumentalities refer to channel and form of speech. Channel
means the way a message travels from one person to another whether by
oral or written. Messages can also be transmitted by such means as
telegraph, semaphore, smoke signals or drumming. The form of speech
refers to language and their subdivisions, dialects, codes, varieties and
register.
g. Norms (N)
Norms include norms of interaction and norms of interpretation.
Norms of interaction refer to non-linguistic rules of when, how, and how
often speech occurs in the community. Norms of interaction are determined
by the culture of the community, and they are different in each community.
Norms of interpretation implicate the belief system of a community.
Interpretation involves trying to understand what is being conveyed beyond
xxxvii
communicating in a certain culture, one has to follow both norms of
interaction and norms of interpretation.
h. Genre (G)
Genre refers to categories such as poems, myths, proverbs, joke,
lecture, sermons, editorials, etc. Genres often coincide with speech event,
but genres need to be distinguished from speech events since a speech genre
can occur in more than one kind of speech event. A casual genre is not the
absence of any genre, but a genre of its own. (Hymes in Fasold, 1996:44-
45).
C. Pragmatics
Pragm at ics according t o Levinson (1983:9) is t he st udy of t he relat ion bet w een
language and cont ext t hat are gram m at icalized, or encoded in t he st ruct ure of
language. It is t he st udy of t he relat ion bet w een language and cont ext t hat are basic t o
an account of language underst anding (ibid, 21). M eanw hile, Leech st at es t hat
pragm at ics is t he st udy of ut t erance m eaning in relat ion t o speech sit uat ion (1983:6).
From t his definit ion, it can be said t hat language cannot be separat ed from t he cont ext
of sit uat ion. Pragm at ics is also a st udy about m eaning of ut t erances in regarding t o t he
sit uat ion.
In addit ion, Yule (1996:3) st at es t hat pragm at ics is t he st udy of cont ext ual
m eaning. He also st at es t hat pragm at ics involves t he int erpret at ion of w hat people
xxxviii
Things t hat are involved in pragm atics according t o him are people’s int ended
m eanings, purposes or goals, or assum pt ions t hat are said w hen t hey speak.
D. Context
Cont ext is an im port ant aspect in int erpret ing t he m eaning of an ut t erance.
According t o Leech (1983:13) cont ext deals w it h relevant aspect of physical or social
set t ing of an ut t erance. It is t he background knowledge w hich is shared by t he speaker
and t he hearer in underst anding t heir ut t erance. Therefore, cont ext has m any
cont ribut ions in spoken and w rit t en language. It funct ions t o help t he speaker and t he
hearer deliver and underst anding t he m eaning of ut t er ance.
M eanw hile, Levinson point s out t he im port ance of cont ext , w hich is included in
t he definit ion of pragm at ics, as a st udy of t he abilit y of language user t o pair sent ences
w it h t he cont ext in w hich t hey w ould be appropriat e (1983:24).
M alinow sky (in Halliday and Hasan, 1985) st at es t hat t here are t w o not ions of
cont ext . They are cont ext of sit uat ion and cont ext of cult ure t hat have an im port ant
role in t he int erpret at ion m eaning of language. Cont ext of sit uat ion is t he sit uat ion
w hen speech is ut t ered, including part icipant , t im e, place, and social environm ent .
Cont ext of cult ure is cult ure background or hist ory of t he part icipant s. In st udying
language, w e should know and underst and t he cult ural background of language. It
includes part icipant s or people w ho are involved in speech, t im e, place, social
environm ent , and polit ical condit ion (Halliday and Hasan, 1985:6).
xxxix
According t o Canale and Sw ain (1980) (in Schmidt , 1996:5) com m unicat ive
com pet ence w as underst ood as t he underlying syst em s of know ledge and skill required
for com m unicat ion. Comm unicat ive com pet ence refers t o bot h know ledge and skill in
using t his know ledge w hen int eract ing in act ual com m unicat ion. Know ledge refers t o
w hat one know s (consciously and unconsciously) about t he language and about ot her
aspect s of com m unicat ive language use, w hile skill refers t o how w ell one can perform
t his know ledge in act ual com m unicat ion.
According t o Canale, t here are at least 4 areas of know ledge and skill
com pet ence:
1. Gram m at ical Com pet ence
This t ype of com pet ence rem ains concerned w it h m ast ery of language code
(verbal or non- verbal) it self. It includes feat ures and rules of t he language
such as vocabulary, w ord form at ion, sent ence form at ion, pronunciat ion,
spelling and linguist ic sem ant ics. This com pet ence focuses direct ly on t he
know ledge and skill required t o underst and and express accurat ely t he
lit eral meaning of ut t erance.
2. Sociolinguist ic Com pet ence
Sociolinguist ic com pet ence addresses t he ext ent t o w hich ut t erances are
produced and underst ood appropriat ely in different sociolinguist ic cont ext
depending on cont ext ual fact ors such as st at us of par t icipant s, purposes of
t he int eract ion, and norm s or convent ions of int eract ion. Appropriat eness
xl
appropriat eness of form. Appropriat eness of m eaning concerns t he ext ent
t o w hich part icular com m unicat ive funct ions (e.g. com m anding,
com plaining, and invit ing), at t it udes (including polit eness and form alit y) and
ideas are judged t o be proper in a given sit uat ion. Appropriat eness of form
concerns t he ext ent t o w hich a given meaning (including com m unicat ive
funct ions, at t it udes, and proposit ions/ ideas) is represent ed in a verbal and/
or non- verbal form t hat is proper in a given sociolinguist ic cont ext .
3. Discourse Com pet ence
This t ype of com pet ence concerns m ast ery of how t o com bine gramm at ical
form s and m eanings t o achieve a unified spoken or writ t en t ext in different
genres. The unit y of a t ext is achieved t hrough cohesion in form and
coherence in m eaning. Cohesion deals w it h how ut t erances are linked
st ruct urally and facilit at es int erpret at ion of a t ext . For exam ple, t he use of
cohesion devices such as pronouns, synonym s, ellipsis, conjunct ions, and
parallel st ruct ures serves t o relat e individual ut t erances and indicat e how a
genre of ut t erances is t o be underst ood as a t ext . Coherence refers t o t he
relat ionships am ong t he different m eanings in a t ext , w here t hese m eanings
m ay be lit eral m eanings, com m unicat ive funct ions, and at t it udes. This is t he
exam ple from Widdow son (1978) (in Schm idt , 1996).
Speaker A: That ’s t he t elephone.
Speaker B: I’m in t he bat h.
xli
There is no overt signal of cohesion am ong t hese ut t erances. They do form
coherent discourse t o t he ext ent t hat A’s first ut t erance funct ions as a
request , t hat B’s reply funct ions as an excuse for not com plying w it h A’s
request , and t hat A’s final rem ark is an accept ance of B’s excuse.
4. St rat egic Com pet ence
This com ponent is com posed of m ast ery of ver bal and non- verbal
com m unicat ion st rat egies t hat m ay be called int o act ion for t w o m ain
reasons: (a) t o com pensat e for breakdow ns in com m unicat ion due t o
limit ing condit ions in act ual com m unicat ion (e.g. mom ent ary inabilit y t o
recall an idea or gram m at ical form ) or t o insufficient com pet ence in one or
m ore of t he ot her areas of com m unicat ive com pet ence; and (b) t o enhance
t he effect iveness of com m unicat ion (e.g. deliberat ely slow and soft speech
for rhet orical effect ).
F. Speech Acts
In general, people perform act ion t hrough ut t erances w hen t hey at t em pt t o
express t hem selves. Act ions perform ed t hrough ut t er ances are generally called speech
act s (Yule, 1996:47). The t erm of speech act covers “ act ion” such as request ing,
quest ioning, and perform ing (1996:100).
An English philosopher, John L. Aust in not ices t he fact t hat w hen a speaker says
som et hing, he is doing som et hing. The condit ion of doing som et hing in saying
xlii
Aust in (in Thom as 1995: 49) pr oposed t hree kinds of act s:
a. Locut ionary Act : t he act ual w ords ut t ered
b. Illocut ionary Act : t he force or int ent ion behind t he w ords
c. Perlocut ionary Act : t he effect of t he illocut ionary on t he hearer
There is an exam ple t o give a clear underst anding about t he act s above:
“ It ’s hot here.” (in Thom as, 1995: 49)
The locut ionary act is t he ut t erance “ It ’s hot here” it self, w hile t he
illocut ionary act is t he speaker int ends t o say “ I w ant som e fresh air! ” , and t he
perlocut ionary act is t hat som eone m ight opens t he w indow .
G. Classification of Speech Acts
While Searle (in Trosborg, 1995: 14-16) proposed five m acro- classes of
illocut ionary act :
1. Represent at ives
The speaker’s purpose in perform ing represent at ives is t o com m it him / herself
t o t he belief t hat t he preposit ional cont ent of t he ut t erances is t rue. In an
at t em pt t o describe t he w orld, t he speaker t ries t o m ake “ t he w ords m at ch t he
w orld” .
Exam ple: The sun arises at t he east .
xliii
In performing direct ives, t he speaker t ries t o get t he hearer t o com m it him /
herself t o som e fut ure course of act ion (verbal or non- verbal), or usually
direct ives are defined as all at t em pt s by t he speaker t o get t he hearer t o do
som et hing e.g. request , com m and, advice, et c. As opposed t o represent at ives,
direct ives at t em pt t o m ake “ t he w orld m at ch t he w ords”
Exam ple: Bring m e a cup of coffee.
3. Com misives
In com misives, t he speaker com mit s his/ herself in varying degrees t o som e
fut ure course act ion. As was t he case wit h direct ives, t he direct ion of fit is
“ World t o w ords” . They are pr om ises, offers, t hreat s, et c.
Exam ple: I’ll give it t o you t om orrow .
4. Expressives
The purpose of t his class of illocut ionary act s is to express t he speaker’s
psychological st at e of m ind about or at t it ude t o som e prior act ion or st at e of
affairs. There is no direct ion of fit , as t he int ent ion is neit her t o describe t he
w orld nor t o exert an influence on fut ure event s; rat her, t he t rut h of t he
preposit ional cont ent is t aken for grant ed. They are t hanking, com plaint ,
apology, et c.
Exam ple: Please forgive me?
xliv
Declarat ions require ext ralinguist ic inst it ut ions for t heir perform ance; it t akes a
priest t o christ en a baby, a dignit ary t o nam e a ship, a judge t o sent ence a
defendant , et c. The direct ion of fit is bot h “ w ords t o w orld” and “ w orld t o
w ords” , as t he act ual expression of t he declarat ion brings about a change in
realit y.
Exam ple: I pronounce you a husband and w ife. (a priest in chur ch)
H. Direct and Indirect Speech Act
a. Direct Speech Act
Direct speech act is perform ed w hen t here is a direct relat ionship
bet w een t he linguist ic form of an ut t erance and it s pragm at ics funct ion. Yule
(1996: 54) st at es t hat t here is an easily recognized relat ionship bet ween t he
t hree st ruct ural form s (declarat ion, int errogat ion, and im perat ive) and t he
t hree general com m unicat ive funct ions (st at em ent , quest ion, com m and).
For exam ple: a. The bag is under t he t ree. (declarat ive)
b. Can I go w it h you? (int errogat ive)
c. Do not ent er t his room . (im perat ive)
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Indirect speech act is perform ed w hen t here is an indirect relat ionship
bet w een a st ruct ure and a funct ion. For exam ple a declarat ive used t o m ake a
st at em ent is a direct speech act , but w hen a declarat ive used t o m ake a request
is an indirect speech act (Yule, 1996: 54- 55).
According t o Fraser, indirect speech act s are t hose illocut ionary act s
w hich are not direct ly perform ed in t he sense in w hich w e have used t he t erm ,
but w hich are int ended t o be inferred by t he speaker on t he basis of w hat has
been said, t he w ay in w hich it w as said, and t he cont ext of speaking (in Schmidt ,
1996: 46). In ot her w ords, t he indirect speech act occurs w hen t he speaker
expresses his int ent ion im plicit ly. The st ruct ural form of t he ut t erance is
different w it h t he funct ion.
For exam ple: The door is open. The form is declarat ive but t he funct ion is a
request t o shut t he door.
I. The Act of Complaining
1. The Definit ion of Com plaint
According t o Trosborg (1995: 311-312) a com plaint is defined as an illocut ionary
act in w hich t he speaker (t he com plainer) expresses his/ her disapproval, negat ive
feelings et c. t ow ards t he st at e of affairs described in t he proposit ion (t he com plainable)
and for w hich he/ she holds t he hearer (t he com plainee) responsible, eit her direct ly or
xlvi
The speech act of com plaint belongs t o t he cat egory of expressive funct ions.
This cat egory includes m oral judgem ent s w hich express t he speaker’s approval as w ell
as disapproval of t he behaviour m ent ioned in t he judgem ent . When com plaining, t he
speaker passes a m oral judgement on som et hing w hich (he/ she believes) t he
com plainee has already done or failed t o do, or is in t he process of doing (Trosborg,
1995:311). From t hose definit ions, a com plaint can be defined wit h t he expression of
disapproval, disappoint m ent , or negat ive feeling of t he speaker t ow ards cert ain
behaviour, act ion, or person and it cont ains m oral judgem ent .
In Leech t erm inology, t he com plaint is a represent at ive of t he conflict ive
funct ion, w hich includes act s of t hreat ening, accusing, cursing, and reprim anding. These
act s are by t heir nat ure designed t o cause offence and t hey are t herefore highly
t hreat ening t o t he social relat ionship bet w een speaker and t he hearer (in Trosborg,
1995:312).
Olsht ain & Weinbach, 1993, st at ed t hat a com plaint is defined as an expression
of “ displeasure or annoyance” in response t o an act ion t hat is seen by t he speaker as
unfavourable (in w w w .jalt .org). While Kow alski, 1996: 179, st at ed t hat com plaining can
be described as “ a behavioural expression of an unfavourable at t it ude t ow ard an
object , person, or sit uat ion” (in w w w .free-researchpapers.com). How ever, m any
com plaint s do not reflect people’s t rue at t it udes t ow ard t he object or person in
quest ion but rat her involve at t em pt s t o elicit part icular int erpersonal react ions from
ot her, such as sym pat hy from ot hers or t he avoidance of aversive event s. Considering
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dissat isfact ion, w het her subject ively experience or not , for t he purpose of vent ing
em ot ions or achieving int rapsychic goals, int erpersonal goals, or bot h” (Kow alski, 180 in
w w w .free-researchpapers.com). From t hose definit ions, it can be said t hat com plaint is
an expression of displeasure, discont ent , or dissat isfact ion as a react ion of an at t it ude,
sit uat ion or object t hat is unfavourable.
A num ber of st rat egies are available t o a com plainer w ho w ant s t o avoid a
direct confront at ion w it h t he com plainee. The degree of involvement of t he com plainer
and t he com plainee specified in an act of m oral censure is decisive in est ablishing a
scale of direct ness levels of com plaint s. A speaker m ay use cert ain st rat egy for t he
com plainee/ t he hearer t o avoid m ent ioning him/ her w ho is nevert heless indirect ly
held responsible. When com plaining, it is im port ant t o supply support ive st at em ent s t o
just ify t he act of m oral censure. If a com plaint is convincingly support ed, it is difficult t o
overt urn or disput e it . In addit ion, disarming st rat egies can be used as a means of
avoiding conflict . Anot her possibilit y is t o replace conflict ing funct ions by ot her t ypes of
com m unicat ion. By form ulat ing a com plaint indirect ly as a piece of inform at ion or a
request for inform at ion, it is oft en possible t o avoid t hat a direct confront at ion arises
from a direct accusat ion. (Trosborg, 1995: 313-314).
2. Direct ness Levels of Com plaint s
Com plaint s can be expressed at varying levels of direct ness ranging from hint s
and m ild disapprovals t o severe challenges in w hich t he com plainee is explicit ly
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In a com plaint , t he ut t erance m ay only indirect ly express t he com plainer’s ill
feelings t ow ard t he com plainee, or t hese m ay be phrased in t erm s of a st raight forw ard
accusat ion or in t erm s of m oral judgem ent . In t he form er case, t he com plainee has t o
perform an inference process t o est ablish a link bet w een w hat is said and w hat is really
int ended on t he basis of t he sit uat ional cont ext . By choosing a part icular level of
direct ness, t he com plainer is able t o decide on t he conflict pot ent ial of t he com plaint
(ibid, 314).
There are crit eria used for est ablishing t he scale of direct ness levels:
P: Proposit ional cont ent (com plainable)
C: Com plainer
A: Accused (com plainee)
There are fact ors det erm ining t he direct ness level of com plaint s:
1. The com plainable is or is not expressed direct ly in t he proposit ional
cont ant . (P describes/ does not describe t he com plainable)
2. The com plainer’s negat ive evaluat ion of t he proposit ional cont ent is
im plicit ly or explicit ly expressed. (P is bad- art iculat ed or im plied)
3. The agent ive involvem ent of t he com plainee is im plicitly or explicit ly
expressed. (A has done P- art iculat ed or im plied)
4. The com plainer’s negat ive evaluat ion of t he com plainee’s behaviour is
im plicit ly or explicit ly expressed. (C evaluat es A’s act ion as bad- art iculat ed
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5. The com plainer’s negat ive evaluat ion of t he com plainee as a person is
im plicit ly expressed. (C evaluat es A as a bad person- ar t iculat ed or im plied)
3. Com plaint St rat egies
Anna Trosborg (1995: 316-319) set up cert ain com plaint st rat egies: no explicit
reproach, expression of annoyance or disapproval, accusat ion, and blam e. Alt oget her,
eight sub- cat egories are est ablished, st rat egy 1 is t he m ost indirect , and st rat egy 8 is
t he m ost direct . For exem plificat ion, com plaint s are present ed from conversat ions
bet w een speaker and hearer in t he sit uat ion w hen t he hearer t urns on t he radio loudly
w hile his brot her st udy. The speaker com plains.
1. No Explicit Reproach
The com plainer does not direct ly st at e t hat som et hing is bad, t he com plainee does
not know w het her an offence is referred t o or not . This st rat egy is a w eak
com plaint st rat egy but it m ight be used successfully t o prepare for m ore forceful
st rat egies.
Strategy 1: Hints
Exam ple: It w as quiet here before you t urn on t he radio.
2. Expression of Annoyance or Disapproval
A com plainer can express his/ her annoyance, dislike, disapproval, et c. concerning
a cert ain st at e of affairs he/ she considers bad for him/ her. The com plainer im plies
t hat he/ she holds t he com plainee responsible but avoids m ent ioning him / her as
l
Strategy 2: Annoyance
Exam ple: What kind of sound is out t here?
I am st udying, and I can’t concent rat e.
Strategy 3: Ill consequences
Exam ple: Oh no! Now I can’t concent rat e on t his paper.
3. Accusations
The com plainer can ask t he
