A THESIS
In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements
For Master’s Program in Linguistics
Yesika Maya Ocktarani
A4C009033
POSTGRADUATE PROGRAM
DIPONEGORO UNIVERSITY
SEMARANG
A THESIS
PRESCHOOL CHILDREN’S PERFORMANCE ON
DIRECTIVE SPEECH ACTS
(A study of Preschool Students in TK Islam Masjid Al Falaq Semarang)
Submitted by : Yesika Maya Ocktarani
A4C009033
Approved by Advisor,
Dr. Nurhayati
NIP.19661004 199001 2 001
Master’s Program in Linguistics Head,
A THESIS
PRESCHOOL CHILDREN’S PERFORMANCE ON
DIRECTIVE SPEECH ACTS
(A study of Preschool Students in TK Islam Masjid Al Falaq Semarang)
Submitted by :
Master’s Program in Linguistics Postgraduate Program Diponegoro University On 17 February 2012
Chairperson
Dr. Nurhayati ___________________________
First Member
J. Herudjati Purwoko, Ph.D. ___________________________
Second Member
Drs. Mualimin, M.Hum. ___________________________
Third Member
CERTIFICATION OF ORIGINALITY
I hereby declare that this submission in my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, this study contains no material previously published or written by another person or material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of a university or other institutes of higher learning, except where due acknowledgement is made in the text of the thesis.
Semarang, 17 February 2012
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Alhamdulillah… thanks to Alloh SWT for the beautiful journey His given to me until this thesis is ready to be submited.
By this page, my deepest gratitute goes to Dr. Nurhayati for her time and energy in giving advise..Thank God I met you when I was lost. My big thanks goes to J. Herudjati Purwoko, Ph.D. for the valuable sharing, and also for Mualimin, M.Hum and Hendarto Supatra, S.U. for their support.
My appreciation also goes to Prof. Astini Su’udi, Prof. Djamaluddin Darwis, Oktiva Herry Chandra, M.Hum, Deli Nirmala, M.Hum, and all my lecturers for giving such inspiration to me in facing my future. For mbak Ambar,
mas Akhlis, mas Wahyu, ‘maturnuwun’ is the best word for you. Liya, Hino, and all my fellows in Master’s Program in Linguistics, let’s rock! Ladiesplus in FBBA, big hug for the joyful moments. To the rebana and Pramuka team, thanks for the understanding. For mas Wowo’ and mbak Lita, your kindnes will never be forgotten. To my big family in Salatiga, Wonosobo, and Blackburn, thanks for the prayer and support. Last but not least, to my marvelous star, Ghulam Manar.. thank you, Honey.. It’s just the beginning of our big dreams and Alloh will always give what we need.
Finally, although the researcher has maximally explored her knowledge and skill in finishing this thesis, but she still needs constructive criticism. Therefore, commands for the better thesis will be very useful. The writer also hopes that this thesis can contribute something to the world.
Semarang, 17 February 2012
TABLE OF CONTENT
A. Background of the Study...1
B. Problem Statement...4
C. Research Objectives...4
D. Significance of the Study...4
E. Scope of the Study...6
F. Research Method and Steps...7
G. Theoretical Framework...8
H. Operational Definition...10
I. Organization of Writing...11
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ...13
A. Previous Study...13
B. Literature Study...16
1. Children’s Language Development...17
2. Children’s Language Competence and Performance...18
4. Speech Act Theory...21
5. Directive Speech Acts: Direct or Indirect...24
6. The Response of DSA: Preferred and Dispreffered...26
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...29
A. Research Design...29
B. Research Approach...30
C. Location of the Study...31
D. Collecting the Data...31
1. Data and Data Resource...32
2. Method of Collecting Data...32
3. Population and Sample...33
4. Instrument...33
E. Data Analysis...33
CHAPTER IV FINDING AND DISCUSSION...35
A. Children’s Responses as Their Undarstanding of DSA...38
1. Children’s Ability to Respond Direct DSA...38
2. Children’s Ability to Respond Indirect DSA...48
B. Children’s Ability in producing DSA...55
LIST OF TABLE
NO TITLE PAGE
ABSTRACT
Directive Speech Act (DSA) is a subject in Pragmatics which can be used to see children’s competence on language in use. Children’s competence in ‘using’ language is needed to be observed because people usually only focus on children’s ability in producing new words whereas children soon will interact with other people from various backgrounds. Children’s performance on using language to interact with others means the manifestation of their competence on pragmatics. This research aims to give perspective on preschool children’s pragmatic performance, particularly on DSA. Using direct observation towards preschool students, the result of this qualitative research is that children age 4-6 years old are able to response and produce DSA. Children’s responses occur in the form of preferred and dispreferred verbal responses and non verbal response. The structure of conversation with children is different from that of adult where the dispreffered act arises directly without delay. In producing DSA, the children can perform both direct speech acts and indirect speech acts.
Key words: language competence, children’s pragmatic performance, directive speech acts, direct-indirect speech acts, preferred-dispreferred acts.
ABSTRAK
Tindak Tutur Direktif (TTD) adalah subyek dalam Pragmatik yang dapat dijadikan sebagai tolok ukur untuk melihat kompetensi anak dalam ‘menggunakan bahasa’. Kompetensi ini perlu diteliti, mengingat biasanya jika ada yang berbicara tentang kompetensi bahasa anak, mereka hanya melihat kemampuan anak dalam memproduksi kata-kata baru, padahal anak-anak akan segera berinteraksi dengan banyak pihak dengan berbagai latar belakang. Performa anak dalam menggunakan bahasa saat berinteraksi dengan orang lain, berarti juga bentuk manifestasi dari kompetensi pragmatik anak. Riset ini bertujuan untuk memberi gambaran tentang performa pragmatik anak usia prasekolah, khususnya dalam penguasaan TTD. Dengan menggunakan metode observasi langsung, penelitian kualitatif ini menghasilkan fakta bahwa anak prasekolah usia 4-6 tahun sudah mampu merespon dan memproduksi TTD. Dalam merespon, anak menunjukkan kemampuannya dalam bentuk tindakan serta menggunakan preferred dan
dispreferred acts sebagai bentuk respon verbal. Berbeda dengan orang dewasa,
dispreffered acts anak bersifat spontan tanpa penundaan. Sementara dalam memproduksi, mereka telah mampu menggunakan bentuk direct speech acts
maupun indirect speech acts.
Kata Kunci: kompetensi bahasa,performa pragmatik anak, tindak tutur direktif,
