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REFUSAL EXPRESSIONS AMONG CHARACTERS IN THE FILM ENTITLED KNOWING
(Based on Socio-Pragmatics Approach)
THESIS
Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Sarjana Sastra Degree in English Department
Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts Sebelas Maret University
by:
RIDHO WIDOWATI
C 1306063
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LETTERS AND FINE ARTS SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY
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REFUSAL EXPRESSIONS AMONG CHARACTERS
IN THE FILM ENTITLED KNOWING
(Based on Socio-Pragmatics Approach)
By:
RIDHO WIDOWATI
C 1306063
Approved to be examined before the Board of the Examiners
Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts
Sebelas Maret University
Thesis Supervisor
Drs. Agus Hari Wibowo, M.A.
NIP. 196708301993021001
Head of English Non Regular Program
Drs. S. Budi Waskito, M.Pd.
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Accepted and approved to be examined by the Board of the Examiners
On February 1st 2011
The Dean of Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts
Sebelas Maret University
Drs. Sudarno, M.A.
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iv
PRONOUNCEMENT
Name : Ridho Widowati
NIM : C 1306063
Stated truthfully that this thesis entitled REFUSAL EXPRESSIONS AMONG CHARACTERS IN THE FILM ENTITLED KNOWING (Based on Socio-Pragmatics Approach) is originally made by the researcher. It is not a
plagiarism nor it is made by others. The statements related to other people’s work
are written in quotations and included within the bibliography.
If this pronouncement is proven incorrect in the future, the researcher is ready to
take the responsibility.
Surakarta, February 2011
The Researcher
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v MOTTO
And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed,
'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor];
but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.'
(The Holy Qur’an, Ibrahim 7)
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vi
To my beloved parents
for their love and support
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
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vii
All praise and thanks are for the one and only, Allah SWT. Thanks for His
true blessing, guidance and miracle so that I could complete this thesis.
However, this thesis could not be achieved without help and support from
everyone during finishing the thesis. Therefore, in this memorable opportunity, I
would like to express my deepest gratitude to the following people:
1. Drs. Sudarno, M.A., as the Dean of Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts of
Sebelas Maret University, for his approval in conducting this thesis.
2. Drs. S. Budi Waskito, M.Pd., as the Head of English Non Regular Program of
Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts, Sebelas Maret University.
3. Drs. Agus Hari Wibowo, M.A., as my thesis supervisor for his advice,
guidance and kindness on assisting this thesis from the beginning until the
end.
4. Yuyun Kusdianto, S.S, M.A., as my academic supervisor, thanks for the
guidance during my study in Sebelas Maret University.
5. All lecturers of English Department who have given valuable knowledge and
experience.
6. All librarians in ILC, Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts, and Center Librarian of
Sebelas Maret University for their professional service in obtaining the
required references.
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viii
8. My heroine, Ibuk. Thank you very much for your endless love, patience,
supports, cares, pray and everything given to me. I am proud of being your
daughter.
9. My idiots teams Ida and Kiki, thanks for every support, sprit and advice they
given to me. To my special friends: Mimah, mb Atun, Endang, Tika, Ratna,
Nova, Debora, Rury, Ulung, mb Cha & Eros thanks for painting my life so
colorfully.
10.All of ED Non Reg 06 boys and girls for the friendship, it’s nice to have you guys.
11.All of the people who always help and also support me. I am so sorry that I
cannot mention one by one. Thank you very much.
Last but not least, I realize that this thesis is far from being perfect. Therefore,
I wholeheartedly welcome any suggestions, comments, and criticism from anyone
who has concern in improving this thesis. Finally, I really hope that this thesis will
be useful for everyone who reads it.
Surakarta, 2011
The Researcher
Ridho Widowati
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ix
TITLE ... i
APPROVAL BY THE THESIS SUPERVISOR ... ii
APROVAL BY THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS ... iii
PRONOUNCEMENT ... iv
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2. Scope of Sociolinguistics ... 9
C. Pragmatics ... 10
D. Sociopragmatics ... 11
E. Ethnography of Communication ... 11
1. Definition of Ethnography of Communication ... 11
2. Speech Community ... 12
3. Organization of Speaking ... 12
4. Components of Speech ... 16
F. Refusal... 18
C. Sample and Sampling Technique ... 28
D. Technique of Collecting Data ... 28
E. Data Coding ... 29
F. Technique of Analyzing Data ... 29
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xi
B. Analysis ... 31
1. The types of refusal expressions ... 31
2. The ways in expressing refusal expressions... 32
3. The reasons in employing particular refusal expressions ... 64
C. Discussion ... 65
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusion ... 71
B. Suggestions ... 72
BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDICES
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xii
Table 4.1 Refusal ... 66
Table 4.2 The Distribution of Refusal ... 68
Table 4.3 The Reason in employing Direct Refusal ... 69
Table 4.4 The Reason in employing Indirect Refusal ... 69
Table 4.5 The Reason in employing Adjuncts to Refusal ... 70
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RIDHO WIDOWATI. C1306063. 2011. Refusal Expressions Among Characters in the Film Entitled Knowing (Based on Socio-Pragmatics Approach). Thesis: English Department, Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts, Sebelas Maret University.
This research was conducted to know about the refusal strategies employed by characters in the film entitled Knowing. It is also carried out to explain how the refusals are performed by the characters and to know why each type of refusal is employed by the characters.
This research used socio-pragmatics approach. It is a descriptive qualitative research which takes purposive sampling technique. The data of this research were the dialogues in the film entitled Knowing that contain refusal expressions. They were classified by using Beebe, Takahashi and Uliss-Weltz’s refusal classification.
The findings of the research show that there are three main types of refusal employed by the characters in the film entitled Knowing, namely direct refusal (6 data), indirect refusal (13 data) and adjuncts to refusal (3 data).
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Research Background
In our life, language plays a great part since people as human being always
need language to have communication. Language as means of communication has an
essential role in daily interaction. It can be seen when people interact each other by
using language. By having communication through language, people can get more
information and knowledge. Moreover, they can also express their ideas, thoughts,
and feelings. Effendi (1990: 11) claims that by using language, man can express his
thought to each other in the form of ideas, information or opinions, either concrete or
abstract for the past or the future.
Refusal is important in maintaining the relationship because sometimes
people must say “no” directly or indirectly toward request, demand, command, offer,
invitation, or suggestion. In conducting refusal, people should pay attention to the
form of refusal because expressing refusal has a possibility of offending the listener.
Therefore, people must be aware in selecting the appropriate refusal strategies.
There are many ways in expressing refusals that can be used to avoid
offending the listener. Rubin in Wolfson (1983: 12) classifies the refusal expressions
into nine strategies as follows: 1). Be silent, hesitate, show lack of enthusiasm 2).
Offer an alternative 3). Postponement (delaying answer) 4). Put the blame on a third
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party or something over which you have no control 5). Avoidance 6). General
acceptance of an offer but giving no details 7). Divert and distract the addressee 8).
General acceptance with excuse 9). Say what’s offered is inappropriate.
In this present research, the researcher chooses the drama mystery film
entitled Knowing as the main data because the researcher found that in this film the
characters utter three main types of refusal. This film tells about the man who finds
secret message from the letter buried in time capsule since 50 years ago. He gets that
letter accidentally when his son, Caleb, receives it in the 50th school celebration. That
mysterious letter contains disorder numbers which tells about the big disaster that will
come. To give more comprehensive understanding, the following example will reveal
the phenomenon above.
The participants of the dialogue below are Ted, the father and Caleb, the son.
The relationship between them is close. This dialogue happens in the backyard when
Caleb and Ted see planets through the telescope. In that moment Ted orders Caleb to
eat the hot dogs, but suddenly without saying any reason Caleb refuses it and Ted
shocks. The genre of this dialogue is daily conversation
Ted : Where are you going?
Caleb : To watch that Discovery program.
Ted : But it's Dad's famous Sunday night
Hot dogs on the run...
time
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I've decided to become a vegetarian
Ted : Well, when were you planning on
telling the guy who buys the groceries around here?
Caleb : Are you deaf? I just told you now, Dad.
From the conversation above we can see that Caleb uses the direct refusal.
The direct refusal can be seen in the form of non performative statement by saying I
can't consume that. In this context of situation, Caleb uses direct refusal because he
wants to make clear refusal, since he is bored with the activity of seeing planet which
means nothing for him.
Then, it is followed with the indirect refusal namely giving excuse / reason /
explanation by saying I've decided to become a vegetarian. Here, the reason of
refusal after the direct refusal employed by Caleb has a function to emphasize the
refusal message which explains that he does not want to consume hot dogs.
To make the phenomenon above clear, another conversation below may help
to clarify:
The participants of the conversation below are Ted and Caleb. Ted is the
father and Caleb is the son. They have a close relationship. This conversation happens
in Caleb’s room and runs in non formal situation. As usual, Caleb is watching TV for
one hour before going to bed and because it is almost over one hour, Ted commands
him to switch off the TV. But, Caleb refuses the command because it is almost over
and because he does not have class tomorrow. The genre of the dialogue is daily
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Ted : Off
Caleb : It’s almost over!
Ted : You won’t be able to concrete in class tomorrow.
Caleb : We don’t have class, it is the fiftieth anniversary,
remember?
The conversation above applies indirect refusal namely giving excuse / reason
/ explanation. It can be seen when Caleb said It’s almost over!. From Caleb’s refusal,
we know that he insists on watching TV. This sentence delivers a message that he
refuses indirectly for Ted’s command.
Besides, he also gives additional explanation that he does not have class
tomorrow. Here, Caleb prefers to use indirect refusal because he wants to refuse
politely since he knows that he is over the time for watching TV. Moreover, this
indirect refusal employed by Caleb has function to soften the refusal because Ted is
his father and older than him. Thus, he refuses the order politely to save the hearer’s
face.
Based on the phenomenon above, the researcher is interested in analyzing the
refusal expressions used by the characters in the film entitled Knowing. Thus, the
researcher wants to conduct a research entitled “REFUSAL EXPRESSIONS
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B. Problem Statements
Based on the phenomenon above, the research was conducted to answer the
following questions:
1. What kinds of refusal expressions are expressed by the characters
in the film entitled Knowing?
2. How is each type of refusal expression expressed by the characters
in the film entitled Knowing?
3. Why is each type of refusal expression employed by the characters
in the film entitled Knowing?
C. Research Objectives The objectives of this research are as follow:
1. To find out the kinds of refusal expressions used by the characters
in the film entitled Knowing.
2. To know how each type of refusal expression is expressed by the
characters in the film entitled Knowing.
3. To find out why each type of refusal expression is employed by the
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D. Research Benefits 1. English Department Students
The result of this research can be used to enrich information to
improve the ability of English Department Students in understanding
about the refusal expressions.
2. Other Researchers
The result of this research is expected to be used as reference for the
further researchers who want to do a research in Socio-Pragmatics
field.
E. Problem Limitation
In this research, the analysis is limited on utterances of refusals expressed by
the characters on the film entitled Knowing. For avoiding deviation in this research,
the researcher just focuses on the refusal expressions based on Beebe, Takahashi and
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F. Thesis Organization
As a scientific writing, this research will be organized into five chapters, as
follows:
Chapter I consists of Introduction. In this chapter the research introduces
background, problem statements, research objectives, research benefits, problem
limitation and thesis organization.
Chapter II consists of Literature Review. It discusses some theories which are
used in solving the three problem statements.
Chapter III consists of Research Methodology. It discusses the research type,
data and source of data, sample and sampling technique, technique of collecting data,
data coding, and technique of analyzing data.
Chapter IV consists of Data Analysis. In this chapter, the researcher processes
the data by classifying, describing and analyzing them.
Chapter V consists of Conclusion and Suggestions. In this chapter, the
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CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Introduction
This part contains the related theories which are used in solving the three
problem statements in chapter I. This recent research talks about strategy of
expressing refusal. Thus, sociopragmatics approach is needed for analyzing the data.
In addition, the theories of Sociolinguistics, Pragmatics, Sociopragmatics,
Ethnography of Communication, Refusal, Social Dimensions, Related Research, and
Synopsis of the Film will guide the researcher to interpret and to describe the
meaning of data.
B. Sociolinguistics 1. Definition of Sociolinguistics
Chaika (1994: 3) states that the study of the ways people use language in
social interaction is called sociolinguistics. Moreover, Hudson claims that
sociolinguistics is the study of language in relation to society (1996: 4).
Meanwhile, according to Holmes, sociolinguistics is concerned with the
relationship between language and the context in which it is used. It explains why
people speak differently in different social contexts and it is concerned with
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identifying the social functions of language and the ways it is used to convey social
meaning (1992: 1).
From all the definition above, it can be concluded that sociolinguistics is a
branch of linguistics study which focuses on the relationship between language and
society that concerns on how language is used to identify social function and to
convey social meaning.
2. Scope of Sociolinguistics
Wardhaugh claims that in studying a language, sociolinguistics has two
approaches which are called micro-sociolinguistics and macro-sociolinguistics
analysis (1998: 12).
Trudgill states that micro-sociolinguistics is the individual approach. It is a
term sometimes used to cover the study of face to face interaction, discourse analysis,
conversation analysis, and other areas of sociolinguistics involving the study
relatively small groups of speakers (1992: 52). In other word, it can be said that
micro-sociolinguistics studies the use of language involving small group of speakers.
For example, the use of slang words in Black community.
Meanwhile macro-sociolinguistics can be called as the social approach. It
studies interactions on different large groups, including between states. According to
Trudgill (1992: 51) macro-sociolinguistics is a term sometimes used to cover secular
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speakers. It focuses on the society rather than individuals. For example the study of
the use of English dialect in China.
This research studies the individual behavior toward language. Therefore, all
of the theories used are under the scope of micro-sociolinguistics study since this
research only focuses on the refusal expressions employed by the characters in the
film entitled Knowing.
C. Pragmatics
According to Yule, pragmatics is the study of meaning as communicated by a
speaker and interpreted by a listener. By studying language via pragmatics, someone
can talk about people’s intended meanings, their assumptions, their purpose or goal,
and the kinds of actions that they are performing when they speak (1996: 4).
Meanwhile, Levinson (1983: 21) states that pragmatics is the study of the
relations between language and context that are basic to an account of language
understanding. He also states that pragmatics is the study of the role of context which
plays in speaker of utterance in meaning (ibid: 24).
To sum up, pragmatics is a branch of linguistics study which studies the
utterances meanings of the speaker based on the context of situation when the
utterances happen. Thus, pragmatics is considered as a study of linguistics meaning
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D. Sociopragmatics
According to Trosborg (1995: 37), sociopragmatics is concerned with the
analysis of significant patterns of interaction in particular social situations or in
particular social systems. It emphasizes on the interactive aspect and the
acknowledgement of the social context in which a speech act becomes the basis of
sociopragmatics research (ibid: 38).
In short, it can be said that sociopragmatics is a combination study from
sociolinguistics and pragmatics which concerns on the analysis of significant patterns
of interaction namely speech act.
E. Ethnography of Communication 1. Definition of ethnography of communication
Hymes in Wardhaugh (1998: 242) states that ethnography of communication
is a description of all the factors that are relevant in understanding how that particular
communicative event achieves its objectives.
Whereas Fasold defines that ethnography of communication is the approach to
the sociolinguistics of language in which the use of language in general is related to
social and cultural values (1996: 39).
Based on the explanation above, it can be pointed out that ethnography of
communication is the study of an activity in the society, in which the important points
of ethnography of communication involve speech community, speech situation,
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2. Speech Community
Some experts give various definitions of speech community. Fishman (1972:
22) states that speech community is one, all whose members share at least single
speech variety and the norms for its appropriate use. A speech community may be as
small as a single close interaction network, all whose members regard each other in
but a single capacity. It means that a speech community is a group of people who
employs the same forms of language and the same norms of language.
Whereas Hymes in Fasold (1996: 41) defines that all members of a speech
community share not only the same rules of speaking but also at least one linguistics
variety as well. They share a set of norms and rules for the use of language. It can be
said that a speech community is a group of people who are tied with at least one type
of language and norms of communication.
In short, it can be summarized that a speech community is a group of people
who shares at least a single speech variety which has the same rules and norms in
conducting and interpreting speech.
3. Organization of Speaking
In studying communicative behavior within a speech community, it is
necessary to work with units of interaction. Hymes in Fasold (1996: 42) suggests that
a nested hierarchy of units called the speech situation, speech event and speech act
would be useful. The speech act is part of speech event and the speech event takes
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The first level in the hierarchy is speech situation. Hymes claims speech
situation as situation associated with speech. The situations refer to any constellation
of status and settings, which constrain the interaction that should or may occur, for
examples are ceremonies, fights or hunts. Speech situations are not purely
communicative; they are composed of both communicative and other kinds of events.
Thus, it can be said that speech situation refers to where the speech occurs (ibid: 42).
The second level in the hierarchy is speech event. According to Yule, speech
event is an activity in which participants interact via language in some conventional
way to arrive at some outcome (1996: 57). Speech events are both communicative
and governed by rules for the use of speech. A speech event occurs in a non verbal
context. Hymes in Fasold (1996: 42) states that the term of speech event is restricted
to activities or aspect of activities that are directly governed by rules or norms for the
use of speech. A speech event takes place within speech situation and is composed of
one or more speech acts. Several speech events can occur successively or
simultaneously in the same situation. For example, a compliment might be a speech
act that is part of a conversation (speech event), which takes place at a party (a speech
situation).
The third level in the hierarchy is speech act. Speech act is the minimal unit of
the set just discussed. Austin in Thomas uses the term speech act to refer to an
utterance and the total situation in which the utterance is issued (1995: 51).
According to Hymes in Fasold (1996: 43), a speech act is to be distinguished from the
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Yule states (1996: 47) that in attempting to express something, people not
only produce utterances containing grammatical structured words but also perform
actions via those utterances. Those actions which are performed via utterances are
called speech act. The action performed by producing an utterance will consist of
three related acts; they are locutionary act, illocutionary act, and perlocutionary act
(ibid: 48).
a. Locutionary act: the basic act of utterance, or producing a meaningful
linguistic expression. According to Thomas, locutionary is the actual
words uttered (1995: 49).
b. Illocutionary act: is performed via the communicative force of an
utterance. Illocutionary act is the act of getting audience’s recognition
from the speaker’s meaning. It is the making of a statement, offer,
promise, or for some other communicative purpose. Thomas states that
illocutionary is the force or intention behind the words (1995: 49).
c. Perlocutionary act: a simple utterance has a function to bring the effect
from that utterance. Perlocutionary act is what a person does as the
response of what we intend.
Based on Searle’s classification in Cutting (2002: 16-17), speech act is
divided into five categories as follows:
1. Declarations
These are words and expressions that change the world by their particular
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2. Representatives
These are acts in which the words state what the speaker believes to be the
case, such as describing, claiming, hypothesizing, insisting and predicting. (For
example: The earth is round).
3. Commissives
Commissives include acts in which the words commit the speaker to future
action, such as promising, offering, threatening, refusing, vowing and volunteering.
(For example: No, thank you).
4. Directives
This category covers acts in which the words are aimed at making the hearer
do something, such as commanding, requesting, inviting, forbiding, suggesting, and
so on. (For example: Get off the train!).
5.Expressives
This last group includes acts in which the words state what the speaker feels,
such as apologizing, praising, congratulating, deploring, and regretting. (For example:
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4. Components of Speech
In studying at communication as composed of speech situations, speech
events and speech acts, Hymes in Fasold (1996: 44-46) suggests that there are certain
components of speech that the ethnographer should look for. Hymes divides the
components of speech into eights groups called SPEAKING, namely:
a. Situation
Situation is composed of setting and scene. The setting is about the physical
circumstances of a communicative event, including the time and the place. The scene
is the psychological setting. It is kind of speech event taking place according to
cultural definition as formal or informal, serious or joyful.
b. Participants
Participants are persons who are involved in a conversation. Participants
consist of (a) An addresser, a speaker who produces the utterance. (b) An addressee, a
hearer who receives the utterance. (c) The audience, the over hearers may contribute
to specification of the speech event. For example, father who orders his son to eat hot
dogs. Here, the participants are father and son. Father is the addresser who transmits
the order and son is the addressee who receives the order.
c. Ends
Ends are the purposes of the speech event and the speech act. Ends can be
divided into outcomes (the purpose of the event from a cultural point of view) and
goals (the purpose of the individual participants). For example, in bargaining events,
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person to the other. The goal of the seller is to maximize the price while the goal of
the buyer is to minimize it.
d. Act sequence
Act sequence consists of message form and content. Message form deals with
how something is spoken by participants, whereas message content deals with what is
said or it is simply called a topic of a conversation. Act sequence relates on aesthetic
and stylistic manner. For example, speakers should know how to formulate
appropriate speech in public lectures, casual conversation, or in cocktail party.
e. Keys
Keys refer to the tone, manner, intonation or spirit in which a speech act is
carried out, for example whether it is serious, perfunctory or painstaking.
f. Instrumentalities
Instrumentalities include both channels and forms of speech. Channel simply
means way message travels from one person to another, for example, oral, written, or
telegraphic. Hymes defines forms of speech as the actual forms of speech employed
such as language, dialects, codes, varieties, and registers that is chosen.
e. Norms
Norms refer to interaction and interpretation. Norms of interaction is a set of
rules which governs when, how, and how often speech occurs while norms of
interpretation involve trying to understand what is being conveyed beyond what is the
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h. Genres
Genres refer to categories like poems, myths, proverbs, lectures, commercial
messages, jokes etc. In Hymes’s view, casual speech act is not the absence of any
genre, but a genre of its own.
F. Refusal
Wierzbicka (1987) in Phuong (2006) states that refusal means the speech act
of saying “no”, expressing the addressee’s non-acceptance, declining of or
disagreeing with a request, an invitation, a suggestion or an offer. More clearly,
refusing means, essentially, saying ‘no, I will not do it’ in response to someone else’s
utterance.
There are no exact formulas in expressing refusal since every culture in the
world has different way to express a refusal. Thus, someone has to know the norms
and values in a society while conducting a refusal. A refusal can be risky because it
has a possibility of offending the listener. Therefore, the appropriate refusal strategies
are needed.
There are many refusal strategies that can be applied to avoid offending the
listener. Based on Rubin’s classification, the refusal strategies are divided into 9
ways. Meanwhile, in this present research, the researcher prefers to use Beebe,
Takahashi and Uliss-Weltz’s classification because it provides deeper variety of
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To know the strategy of expressing refusal, we can concern with the
classification of refusal by Beebe, Takahashi and Uliss-Weltz (1990) in Al-Eryani
(2007) as follows:
1. Direct Refusal: It is a kind of refusal which is used to refuse request, demand,
command, offer, invitation, or suggestion directly. In this kind of refusal, the speaker
does not use a reason in rejecting something. It is signaled by the use of denying
vocabulary, such as I refuse, no or statements showing unwillingness or inability.
a. Performative (e.g. I refuse)
b. Non performative statement
- no
- negative willingness / ability (e.g. I can’t, I won’t, I don’t
think so)
2. Indirect Refusal: It is a kind of refusal which is used to refuse request, demand,
command, offer, invitation, or suggestion indirectly. In this kind of refusal, the
speaker does not use denying vocabulary in rejecting something.
a. Statement of regret / apology (e.g. I’m sorry… I feel terrible)
b. Wish / hope (e.g. I wish I could help you)
c. Excuse / reason / explanation (e.g. My children will be home that night,
I have a headache)
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1. I can do X instead of Y (I’d rather do...I’d prefer)
2. Why don’t you do X instead of Y (Why don’t you ask someone else?)
e. Set condition for future or past acceptance
(If you had asked me earlier, I would have…)
f. Promise of future acceptance (I’ll do it next time: I promise I will)
. g. Statement of principle (I never do business with friends)
h. Statement of philosophy (One can’t be too careful)
i. Attempt to dissuade interlocutor
1. Threat / statement of negative consequences to the requester
(I won’t be any fun tonight; to refuse an invitation)
2. Guilt trip (waitress to customers who want to sit a while: I can’t make a
living off people who just order coffee)
3. Criticize the request/requester, negative opinion, insult/ attack etc.
(Who do you think you are? That’s a terrible idea)
4. Request for help, empathy, and assistance by dropping or holding the
request
5. Let interlocutor off the hook
(Don’t worry about it, That’s okay, You don’t have to)
6. Self defense (I’m trying my best: I’m doing all I can)
j. Acceptance that functions as a refusal
1. Unspecific or indefinite reply
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k. Avoidance
1. Nonverbal
a. silence
b. physical departure
c. hesitation
d. do nothing
2. Verbal
a. Topic switch
b. Joke
c. Repetition of part of request, etc. (Monday?)
d. Postponement (I’ll think about it)
e. Hedging (Gee, I don’t know: I’m not sure)
3. Adjuncts to Refusals: It is expressions that accompany a refusal. These expressions
function as extra modifications to protect the speaker’s positive face and it is usually
used before the main refusal.
a. Statement of positive opinion / feeling of agreement
b. Statement of empathy
c. Pause filler
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G. Social Dimensions
Having communication with other people, a speaker cannot forget the social
factors influencing the running of interaction. According to Holmes (1992: 9) there
are four different dimensions reflected during the communication, namely social
distance scale, social status scale, formality scale and functional scale.
1. Social distance scale
This scale is useful in emphasizing how well we know someone. It relates on
the relationship among participants, how well they know each other and who is
talking to whom is an important factor, e.g. parents to children or labors to managers.
This scale is used to show different solidarity between the group members.
Intimate Distant
High solidarity Low solidarity
(Holmes, 1992:12)
In this scale, the closeness between speaker and hearer can influence the
language choices they use in communication. An intimate relationship between
speaker and hearer will have high solidarity within their interaction and for those who
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2. Social status scale
This scale deals on the relationship among participants that influences the
language choices. It accounts for a variety of linguistics difference as a way that
signals people’s status.
Superior High status
Subordinate Low status
(Holmes, 1992:13)
This scale shows vertical differences between speaker and hearer. It can be
seen from the way people talk each other during communication. The language
choices used in communication can indicate whether participant is superior or
subordinate.
3. Formality scale
This scale is useful in assessing the influence of the social setting or type of
interaction on language choice. It accounts for speech variation in different setting
since formality and informality can determine the language choices of
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Formal High formality
Informal Low formality
(Holmes, 1992:13)
4. Functional scales (referential and affective function scales)
Language serves many functions in all communities but the basic functions of
referential and affective meaning have proved useful scale of analysis. The two
identified in these scales are particularly persuasive and basic. Language can convey
objective information of a referential kind; and it can also express how someone is
feeling.
Referential
High information Low information
content content
Affective
Low affective High affective
content content
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H. Related Research
A research about refusal has ever been done by Rosita Asparaningrum
(2008) in her research entitled Refusals in the film entitled In her shoes. In analyzing
refusal strategy, she uses Rubin’s refusal classification.
Her research shows that there are eleven types of refusal strategies employed
in the film entitled In her Shoes namely; 1). Be silent, hesitate, show lack of
enthusiasm 2). Offer an alternative 3). Postponement / delaying answer 4). Put the
blame on a third party or something over which you have no control 5). Avoidance
6). Divert and distract the addressee 7). General acceptance with excuse 8). Say
what’s offered is inappropriate 9). Refusal without giving reason 10). Refusal with
giving reason and 11). Refusal with giving thanking.
Although the previous research discusses about the strategies of refusal but
the theory applied is different with the current research. That is why the researcher is
sure that the result of this research is going to be different from the previous study.
I. Synopsis of the Film
Title : Knowing
Starring : Nicolas Cage as Professor John Koestler
Rose Byrne as Diana Wayland
Chandler Canterbury as Young Caleb Koestler
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Nadia Townsend as Grace
Writer : Ryne Pearson
Producer : Alex Proyas
Genre : Crime and Mystery, Drama
Year : 2009
Knowing is a kind of drama, crime and mystery film. This film tells about the
man who finds secret message from the letter buried in time capsule since 50 years
ago. He gets that letter accidentally when his son, Caleb, receives it in the 50th school
celebration. That mysterious letter contains disorder numbers which tells about the
big disaster that will come. This condition disturbs Ted since he finds the fact about
that and no one believes in him. That is why; he tries to reveal the secret by looking
for some information about Lucinda Embry. Until he finds Lucinda’s daughter,
Diana, for the first time Diana refuses to discuss about her mom, but eventually she
joins with Ted to reveal the message behind the letter. In the end, although they can
not stop the disaster, they have done the best to save the earth. This story is ended by
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CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter gives information about the methodology in conducting the
research. It involves research type, data and source of data, sample and sampling
technique, technique of collecting data, data coding and technique of analyzing data.
A. Research Type
This research is a descriptive qualitative research. It can be called descriptive
because it wants to describe a linguistic phenomenon. Miles and Huberman (1992: 1)
state that the data in qualitative research concerned appear in form of words rather
than in form of numbers.
Furthermore, this research is qualitative because the data produced are in
form of words and sentences. Sutopo (2006: 55) states that in qualitative method, data
were collected in the form of words, sentences or pictures having meaning rather than
merely numbers.
B. Data and Source of Data
Arikunto states that a source of data is an object from which all the data of
research are obtained (1998: 114). While, the data themselves may appear in the form
of discourse, sentences, clauses, phrases or words (Subroto, 1992: 35).
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In conducting this research, the researcher employs the film entitled Knowing
as the source of data. While the data are the dialogues in the film entitled Knowing
that contain refusal expressions.
C. Sample and Sampling Technique
In this research, the researcher uses a purposive sampling technique.
According to Miles and Huberman (1992: 47) in qualitative method, samples tend to
be more purposive than random. Moreover Lincoln and Guba (1985: 40) claim that
the sample of qualitative method was determined by the use of purposive sampling to
accommodate all possible data so that there will be no deviant cases.
Sutopo (2006: 64) states that this kind of sampling is used for the data going
to be analyzed, which includes the entire phenomenon that fits with the criteria of the
research. Thus, samples in this research are refusal expressions spoken by the
characters in the film entitled Knowing that fits with the criteria of Beebe, Takahashi
and Uliss-Weltz’s refusal classification.
D. Technique of Collecting Data
The data of the research are collected by doing the following procedure:
1. Replaying the film entitled Knowing at least five times by using a set of computer.
2. Selecting the data containing refusal expressions.
3. Transcribing the selected data from the film into the form of dialogues.
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5. Giving a code to each datum.
E. Data Coding
The researcher employs data coding to make easy in analyzing data. Data
coding is needed to make the classification of data. Below is the example of data
coding of this research:
01 / K / Disc. 1 / IF / I- Ref / MT - LE
01 : The number of datum.
K : Knowing.
Disc 1 : The number of disc (the first disc).
IF : The situation namely Informal Situation.
I– Ref : The type of Refusal Strategy. A - Ref for Adjunct Refusal,
D - Ref for Direct Refusal, and I - Ref for Indirect Refusal.
MT : The speaker namely Miss Taylor.
LE : The listener namely Lucinda Embry.
F. Technique of Analyzing Data
The collected data were analyzed based on the following steps:
1. Classifying the data based on Beebe, Takahashi and Uliss-Weltz’s classification.
2. Describing the social context by using SPEAKING theory.
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4. Finding out why each type of refusal is expressed by the characters.
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CHAPTER IV
DATA ANALYSIS
A. Introduction
This chapter is the most important part of the research since it contains the
result of the research. By the result of the data analysis, the problem statements in
Chapter I will be answered. To make it systematic, this chapter is divided into three
subchapters namely: Introduction, Analysis and Discussion.
The first subchapter provides the outline of how the research findings will be
conducted. The second subchapter analyzes each datum based on the theories of
SPEAKING and refusal. The third subchapter, discussion, is the general
interpretation of all the data.
The objectives of this research are to find out the kinds of refusal expressions
used by the characters in the film entitled Knowing, to know how each type of refusal
is expressed by the characters in the film entitled Knowing and to find out why each
type of refusal is employed by the characters in the film entitled Knowing.
B. Analysis
1. Types of refusal expressions in the film entitled Knowing
From 22 data containing kinds of refusal expression, the researcher found that
there are three types of refusal expressions; namely direct refusal, indirect refusal,
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and adjuncts to refusal.
a. Direct Refusal: 6 data, they are
Non Performative Statement : 6 data
b. Indirect Refusal: 13 data, they are divided into
Excuse / reason / explanation : 7 data
Physical departure : 1 data
Silence : 2 data
Topic switch : 1 data
Postponement : 1 data
Hedging : 1 data
c. Adjuncts to Refusal: 3 data, they are
Gratitude / appreciation : 3 data
2. The ways in expressing refusal expressions
In this present research, the 22 data are classified based on Beebe, Takahashi
and Uliss-Weltz classification of refusal, there are three main types of refusal namely:
Direct Refusal, Indirect Refusal, and Adjuncts to Refusal. Below are the ways in
expressing refusal expressions employed by the characters in the film entitled
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DIRECT REFUSAL
Direct refusal is a kind of refusal which is used to refuse request, demand,
command, offer, invitation, or suggestion directly. In this kind of refusal, the speaker
does not use a reason in rejecting something. It is signaled by the use of denying
vocabulary, such as I refuse, no or statements showing unwillingness or inability.
These are the direct refusal applied by the characters in the film entitled Knowing:
A. Non Performative Statement
Data 03 / K / Disc 1 / IF / D-Ref / T-C
The participants of the dialogue below are Ted and Caleb. Ted as father and
Caleb as son. They have a close relationship. This conversation runs in non
formal situation. It happens in the backyard when Caleb and Ted see planets
through the telescope. In that moment Ted orders Caleb to eat the hot dogs,
but suddenly without saying any reason Caleb refuses it and Ted shocks. The
genre of this dialogue is daily conversation.
Ted : Where are you going?
Caleb : To watch that Discovery program.
Ted : But it's Dad's famous Sunday night
Hot dogs on the run... time
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I've decided to become a vegetarian
Ted : Well, when were you planning on
telling the guy who buys the groceries around here?
Caleb : Are you deaf ? I just told you now, Dad.
Data Interpretation
From the conversation above we can see that Caleb uses the direct refusal.
The direct refusal can be seen in the form of non performative statement by saying I
can't consume that. In this context of situation, Caleb intends to use direct refusal
because he wants to make clear refusal, since he is bored with the activity of seeing
planet which means nothing for him.
Then, it is followed with the indirect refusal namely giving excuse / reason /
explanation by saying I've decided to become a vegetarian. Here, the reason of
refusal after the direct refusal employed by Caleb has a function to emphasize the
refusal message which explains that he does not want to consume hot dogs.
Data 09 / K / Disc 1 / IF / D-Ref / MT-T
The conversation below is conducted between Miss Taylor and Ted. Their
relationship is distant. The conversation occurs in Miss Taylor’s house, in non
formal situation. Topic of this conversation is Lucinda Embry. After reading
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information about Lucinda since Miss Taylor is the teacher who ever taught
Lucinda. Then, after talking so long, Miss Taylor offers him a drink but Ted
refuses it. The genre of this dialogue is daily conversation.
Miss Taylor : Would you like some red tea?
Ted : No. Thank you
Data Interpretation
In the conversation above, Ted employs direct refusal strategy namely non
performative statements. It can be seen when Ted says No. Thank you for Miss
Taylor’s offer. It is spoken directly so Miss Taylor can catch the message easily. In
this context of situation, Ted intends to apply the direct refusal because he wants to
make a clear refusal, so that Miss Taylor who is little bit senile can catch the message
easily. Moreover, Ted prefers to express the refusal politely because Miss Taylor is
older than him. By employing a polite refusal, Ted tries to achieve the goal in
maintaining harmonious relationship with Miss Taylor. That is why, after saying
“no” directly, Ted shows his appreciation by saying thank you for Miss Taylor’s
offer.
Data 16 / K / Disc 1 / IF / D-Ref / T-D
The participants of the dialogue below are Ted and Diana. This conversation
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are not close each other because this is the first time they meet. In this scene,
Ted tries to get information about Lucinda by following Lucinda’s daughter,
Diana. Here, Ted feels that Lucinda’s letter will mean bad for Caleb. That is
why, after telling and asking about Lucinda’s ability of seeing the future, Ted
asks Diana to help him and his son due to the Lucinda’s letter which has been
received by Caleb. He tries hard in begging Diana’s help, but Diana refuses it.
Since it is the first conversation, Diana feels uncomfortable with the topic of
conversation about her Mom. Thus, she answers the question at a glance. The
genre of dialogue is daily conversation.
Ted : Diana, please (catches up)
If I’m wrong about this…in seventy –two hours you’ll never have
to hear from me again!
Ted : But I think this has something to do with my son.
I don’t know how or why, but I think he’s in danger…
so if you won’t do this for me, please do it for him…
I’m asking you to help us
Diana : I can’t
Data Interpretation
In datum above, Diana employs direct refusal namely non performative
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can not help him. Here, Diana intends to refuse Ted’s request because she does not
believe all what Ted says about Lucinda’s ability in seeing the future.
Moreover, their relationship is distant since they are strangers each other. That
is why Diana prefers to employ direct refusal because it will not hurt the hearer’s
feeling too deep. Besides, Diana employs direct refusal because she wants to make a
clear refusal, so Ted can accept what she wants without any longer thinking. In this
context of situation, Diana feels uncomfortable with the topic of discussion about her
Mom. Thus, to cut the conversation, she applies the direct refusal for showing her
inconvenience.
Data 14 / K / Disc 1 / IF / D-Ref / T-C
The conversation below is conducted between Ted, the father and Caleb, the
son. The relationship between them is close. This conversation takes place in
Ted’s house and runs in non formal situation. In this scene, Ted feels so
terrible after facing the truth of Lucinda’s letter on thee airplane accident.
Thus, when Caleb asks what has happened, Ted goes to switch the topic by
saying that he is going to bed. Next, Ted commands Caleb not to watch TV
because he wants to hide the airplane accident which involves him. Caleb
feels weird with that command, therefore he asks the reason. Moreover, Ted
who refuses to discuss anything says No more questions Caleb for Caleb’s
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Caleb : What happened Dad? What’s going on?
Ted : The truck broke down on the freeway.
Sorry I couldn’t pick you up
Caleb : It is more than that isn’t it?
Why won’t you tell me what’s going on?
Ted : I’m going to bed. Get your homework done
and you should go to bed, too. No TV tonight.
Caleb : Why ? I always watch an hour before
Ted : No more questions Caleb.
Caleb : I can ask question when you tell me to do things that don’t
make sense.
Data Interpretation
In the dialogue above, we can see that Ted is employing direct refusal namely
non performative statements. It can be seen when he says No more questions Caleb.
This sentence delivers a message that Ted prohibits Caleb to watch TV. In this
context of situation, Ted prefers to use direct refusal because he wants to make a clear
refusal, so Caleb can accept what he wants without any longer thinking. Moreover,
the direct refusal is used to emphasize the refusal message of watching TV since Ted
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Data 22 / K / Disc 2 / IF / D-Ref / T-C
The participants of the dialogue below are Ted, the father and Caleb, the son.
Their relationship is close. This conversation happens in front of Lucinda’s
house and runs in non formal situation. After looking for Caleb, finally Ted
finds him in front of Lucinda’s house. In this scene, Caleb tries to persuade
Ted to go with him, but Ted refuses to go because he thinks that the tickets
are only for two people, Caleb and Abby. In addition, Ted thinks that Caleb
should decide itself because it is his future. The genre of this dialogue is daily
conversation.
Ted : They've chosen you, both of you
You have to take care of Abby now.
You have to be strong for her.
Caleb : No. I don't want to go without you.
They could've taken you away from me
Ted : But they didn't…
because you have to make this decision yourself.
Data Interpretation
In datum above we can see that Caleb is using the direct refusal and indirect
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saying No. In this context of situation, Caleb employs direct refusal because the
conversation happens in the non formal situation between him and his father. Here,
Caleb intends to use direct refusal because he wants to make clear refusal.
Then, it is followed with the indirect refusal namely giving excuse / reason /
explanation by saying I don't want to go without you. The use of indirect refusal in
the form of giving reason after the direct refusal employed by Caleb has a function to
emphasize the refusal message which explains that he does not want to go without
Ted.
Data 19 / K / Disc 2 / IF / D-Ref / T-D
The participants of the dialogue below are Diana and Ted. The relationship
between them is close. It takes place in Ted’s house. This conversation runs in
emergency situation. In this scene, Ted tries to convince Diana that the right
place to rescue is not the cave but the last place in which Lucinda pointed out
in her letter. It can be seen when Ted answers Diana’s command by saying
directly that they are not going to the caves. The genre of this dialogue is daily
conversation.
Diana : Ted?
Ted ! What are you doing? We have to get to the caves!
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Diana : What??
Ted : I was wrong Diana, your mother wrote a latitude and longitude
for this event –it just wasn’t on the sheet
Ted : She tried to write it down, but ran out of time – so she scratched it
into this door instead! She’s trying to tell us something –
where we need to go
Diana : Ted, you are making any sense! Look at you!
Look at what you’re doing!
Data Interpretation
In the dialogue above, Ted employs direct refusal expression namely non
performative statements (negative willingness / ability). It can be seen when Ted
answers Diana’s command by saying We’re not going to the caves. In this scene, Ted
states that they are not going to the caves. He insists that they will not go to the cave
because the right place to go is the place in Lucinda’s letter. In this context of
situation, the direct refusal is preferred because the conversation happens in the
emergency situation. Besides, Ted employs direct refusal because he wants to make a
clear refusal, so Diana can accept what he wants without any longer thinking.
INDIRECT REFUSAL
Indirect refusal is a kind of refusal which is used to refuse request, demand,
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speaker does not use denying vocabulary in rejecting something. Below are the
indirect refusal applied by the characters in the film entitled Knowing:
A. Excuse / reason / explanation
Data 04 / K / Disc 1 / IF / I-Ref / T-C
The conversation below is conducted between Ted, the father and Caleb, the
son. They have a close relationship. This conversation happens in Caleb’s
room and runs in non formal situation. As usual, Caleb is watching TV for
one hour before going to bed and because it is almost over one hour, Ted
commands him to switch off the TV. But, Caleb refuses the command because
it is almost over and because he does not have class tomorrow. The genre of
the dialogue is daily conversation.
(Ted orders Caleb to switch off the TV)
Ted : Off
Caleb : It’s almost over!
Ted : You won’t be able to concrete in class tomorrow.
Caleb : We don’t have class, it is the fiftieth anniversary, remember?
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Data Interpretation
The conversation above applies indirect refusal namely giving excuse / reason
/ explanation. It can be seen when Caleb said It’s almost over! . From Caleb’s refusal,
we know that he insists on watching TV. This sentence delivers a message that he
refuses indirectly for Ted’s command. Furthermore, he also gives additional
explanation that he does not have class tomorrow. Here, Caleb prefers to use indirect
refusal because he wants to refuse politely since he knows that he is over the time for
watching TV. Moreover, this indirect refusal employed by Caleb has function to
soften the refusal because Ted is his father and older than him. Thus, he refuses the
order politely to save the hearer’s face.
Data 06 / K / Disc 1 / IF / I-Ref / T-C
The participants of the dialogue below are Ted and Caleb. They are between
father and son. The relationship between them is close. The conversation
below occurs in the kitchen between Ted and Caleb after having dinner. This
conversation runs in non formal situation. In this scene, Ted orders Caleb to
save the ear-aid in a proper place because he does not want him to lose
another one. The genre of this dialogue is daily conversation.
Ted : Caleb, could you please watch where you put this?
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Caleb : It's making funny noises
Ted : Try turning the volume down.
Data Interpretation
In the dialogue above, Caleb uses indirect refusal by giving: excuse / reason /
explanation. It can be seen when Caleb says It’s making funny noises towards Ted’s
command. In this context of situation, Caleb prefers to employ indirect refusal rather
than direct refusal because he wants to refuse politely by giving reason that the
ear-aid is making funny noises. Moreover, the indirect refusal by giving excuse / reason /
explanation can refuse Ted’s command appropriately because by giving reason,
Caleb can show the reason behind the refusal.
Data 08 / K / Disc 1 / IF / I-Ref / T-C
The participants of the dialogue below are Ted, the father and Caleb, the son.
They have a close relationship. This conversation takes place in the kitchen
and runs in non formal situation. The topic of this dialogue is the Lucinda
Embry’s letter. In this scene, Caleb brings the letter to home and it surprises
Ted because he thinks that Caleb should not bring it home. Therefore, Ted
suggests that Caleb should return it but Caleb tries to refuse the suggestion by
saying that he wants to understand it more because maybe it contains some
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Ted : What are you doing with this?
Caleb : I wanted to look at it some more… try to figure it out.
Ted : Caleb, you weren’t supposed to bring this home. It belongs to the
school.
Caleb : But maybe it means something
Ted : I don’t know, but it’s not ours to keep. You return this as soon
as you get to school tomorrow. Got it?
(Caleb nods it)
Data Interpretation
In dialogue above, we can see that Caleb employs indirect refusal by giving:
excuse / reason / explanation. It can be seen when Caleb says But maybe it means
something. From that sentence, we know that Caleb wants to keep the Lucinda’s
letter to figure it more. In this dialogue, Caleb prefers to employ indirect refusal
rather than direct refusal because he wants to refuse politely by giving reason towards
his father. Moreover, the indirect refusal by giving excuse / reason / explanation can
refuse Ted’s suggestion appropriately because by giving reason, Caleb can show the
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Data 11 / K / Disc 1/ IF / I-Ref / T-C
The participants of this dialogue below are Ted and Caleb. Ted as father and
Caleb as son. The participants have a close relationship. This conversation
takes place in the backyard and runs in non formal situation. In this scene,
Caleb is playing football and suddenly a car with the two passengers
approaches him. They do not say anything and only give a stone to him.
Worrying about that, Ted asks Caleb about what has happened. Then, he
commands him to study but Caleb refuses that. The genre of this dialogue is
daily conversation.
Ted : What did I tell about talking to strangers Caleb
Now you’ve got homework to be getting on with
Caleb : Give me ten more minutes of practice
Ted : I don’t want to tell you twice, Caleb
Data Interpretation
The dialogue above applies the indirect refusal strategy by giving excuse /
reason / explanation. It can be seen when Caleb says Give me ten more minutes of
practice. In that refusal, Caleb intends to refuse Ted’s command by using indirect
refusal in order not to hurt Ted’s feeling. Moreover, the indirect refusal by giving
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giving reason, Caleb can show the reason behind the refusal.
Data 17 / K / Disc 2 / IF / I-Ref / T-P
The dialogue below is conducted between Ted and the passenger. This
conversation happens in non formal situation inside the train. The relationship
between them is distant since they are stranger each other because they just
met on the train. In this scene, Ted commands the passenger to get off the
train because he wants to save her from the accident that will happen. The
genre of this dialogue is daily conversation.
Ted : Get off the train.
Passenger : Why? What's wrong?
Ted : Just take the baby and get off the train.
Data Interpretation
In dialogue above, the passenger employs indirect refusal expression by
saying excuse / reason / explanation. It can be seen when she says Why? What's
wrong?. Here, the passenger intends to say like that because Ted’s command is
unreasonable. That is why; the passenger refuses the command by asking the reason.
Moreover, the indirect refusal by asking the reason / explanation can refuse
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out the reason behind the command.
Data 20 / K / Disc 2 / IF / I-Ref / T-C
The participants of the conversation below are Ted and Caleb. They are
between father and son. Their relationship is close. This dialogue occurs in
front of Lucinda’s house and runs in serious condition. In this scene, Ted
worries about Caleb’s condition. Thus, he asks Caleb to go with him because
he thinks that the strangers will hurt him. However, Caleb refuses Ted’s
request since he thinks that they must go with the strangers. The genre of this
dialogue is daily conversation.
Ted : Where is he?
Where is Caleb?
I want my son - now
Caleb : Dad –don’t
Ted : Are you hurt? What did he do to you?
Caleb : It’s okay dad. I’m okay.
This is my friend.
They said I could keep him.
Ted : Caleb… I want you to come with me.
