ABSTRACT
Siwi, Anggita Kristi. (2017). An Analysis of Tag Questions and Rising Intonation on Declaratives in Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
Women using women’s language features, including tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives, are often considered lack of certainty and confidence. However, the reality sometimes shows different assumptions. Some of women’s language features, including tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives, sometimes show other sides of women using those features – polite and caring. This phenomenon attracted the writer to conduct this research.
This research is aimed at examining the use of tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives by Bex and Suze as the female main characters in Confessions of a Shopaholic movie. To attain the aim of this research, the writer employed Lakoff’s (1973 & 2004) and Holmes’ theory (2001) about women language, specifically about tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives.
This research is qualitative research in which content analysis is used to support the writer in conducting the research. Then, the data analyzed is the transcript of Confessions of a Shopaholic movie and the movie itself. In order to analyze the data, the writer employed analysis tables to categorize the utterances containing tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives based on the functions of those features.
The findings are divided into two parts. First, tag question was only used for four times. This feature was used by Suze as an uncertainty tag, a facilitative tag and as a softening tag. Meanwhile, this feature was used by Bex only as a facilitative tag. In addition, a tag with a rising intonation served as an uncertainty tag. Meanwhile, a tag with a falling intonation served as a facilitative or a softening tag. Second, rising intonation on declaratives was only used for six times. This feature was used by Bex to indicate lack of finality, reduce the force of an utterance and show positive politeness. On the other hand, this feature was used by Suze only to show positive politeness. Meanwhile, one of the functions which is to show uncertainty did not appear in the movie. In addition, the rising intonation helped Bex and Suze producing soft, friendly and non-authoritative utterances which all of them are parts of politeness.
ABSTRAK
Siwi, Anggita Kristi. (2017). An Analysis of Tag Questions and Rising Intonation on Declaratives in Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Wanita yang menggunakan fitur-fitur bahasa wanita, termasuk tag questions dan rising intonation on declaratives, sering dianggap kurang pasti dan kurang percaya diri. Namun, terkadang kenyataannya menunjukkan asumsi yang berbeda. Beberapa fitur bahasa wanita, termasuk tag questions dan rising intonation on declaratives, terkadang memperlihatkan sisi lain dari para wanita yang menggunakan fitur-fitur tersebut – sopan dan peduli. Fenomena ini membuat penulis tertarik untuk melakukan penelitian ini.
Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis penggunaan tag questions dan rising intonation on declaratives oleh Bex dan Suze sebagai pemeran utama wanita dalam film Confessions of a Shopaholic. Untuk mencapai tujuan penelitian ini, penulis menggunakan teori Lakoff (1973 & 2004) dan Holmes (2001) tentang fitur-fitur bahasa wanita, secara spesifik tentang tag questions dan rising intonation on declaratives.
Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian qualitatif dimana analisis isi digunakan untuk mendukung penulis dalam melakukan penelitian. Data yang dianalisis merupakan transkrip film Confessions of a Shopaholic dan film itu sendiri. Untuk menganalisis data, penulis menggunakan tabel-tabel analisis untuk mengelompokkan ucapan-ucapan yang mengandung tag questions dan rising intonation on declaratives berdasarkan fungsi dari fitur-fitur tersebut.
Hasil penelitian dibagi menjadi dua bagian. Pertama, tag question hanya digunakan sebanyak empat kali. Fitur ini digunakan oleh Suze sebagai sebuah penanda ketidakpastian, sebuah penanda fasilitatif dan sebagai sebuah penanda pelembutan. Sementara itu, fitur ini digunakan oleh Bex hanya sebagai sebuah penanda fasilitatif. Selain itu, tag question yang melibatkan sebuah intonasi naik berperan sebagai sebuah penanda ketidakpastian. Sementara itu, tag question yang melibatkan sebuah intonasi turun berperan sebagai sebuah penanda fasilitatif atau sebuah penanda pelembutan. Kedua, rising intonation on declaratives hanya digunakan sebanyak enam kali. Fitur ini digunakan oleh Bex untuk mengindikasikan kurangnya finalitas, mengurangi kekuatan dari sebuah ujaran dan menunjukkan kesopanan positif. Di sisi lain, fitur ini digunakan oleh Suze hanya untuk menunjukkan kesopanan positif. Sementara itu, salah satu fungsi yang berperan untuk menunjukkan ketidakpastian tidak muncul dalam film tersebut. Sebagai tambahan, intonasi naik membantu Bex dan Suze menciptakan ujaran-ujaran yang lembut, ramah dan tidak otoriter yang semuanya itu merupakan bagian dari kesopanan.
AN ANALYSIS OF TAG QUESTIONS AND RISING
INTONATION ON DECLARATIVES IN CONFESSIONS
OF A SHOPAHOLIC MOVIE
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN FINAL PAPER
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Anggita Kristi Siwi Student Number: 101214044
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
iv
“And if you’ve come this far, maybe you are willing to come little further. Hope
is a good thing. Maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies.”
~ The Shawshank Redemption ~
“Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift”
~ KJV - 2 Corinthians 9:15 ~
This final paper is dedicated to:
my beloved Bapak and Ibu
Mbak Wid, Mas Jo, Mas Agung and Mbak Isna
my beloved friends
ABSTRACT
Siwi, Anggita Kristi. (2017). An Analysis of Tag Questions and Rising Intonation on Declaratives in Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
Women using women’s language features, including tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives, are often considered lack of certainty and confidence. However, the reality sometimes shows different assumptions. Some
of women’s language features, including tag questions and rising intonation on
declaratives, sometimes show other sides of women using those features – polite and caring. This phenomenon attracted the writer to conduct this research.
This research is aimed at examining the use of tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives by Bex and Suze as the female main characters in Confessions of a Shopaholic movie. To attain the aim of this research, the writer
employed Lakoff’s (1973 & 2004) and Holmes’ theory (2001) about women language, specifically about tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives.
This research is qualitative research in which content analysis is used to support the writer in conducting the research. Then, the data analyzed is the transcript of Confessions of a Shopaholic movie and the movie itself. In order to analyze the data, the writer employed analysis tables to categorize the utterances containing tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives based on the functions of those features.
The findings are divided into two parts. First, tag question was only used for four times. This feature was used by Suze as an uncertainty tag, a facilitative tag and as a softening tag. Meanwhile, this feature was used by Bex only as a facilitative tag. In addition, a tag with a rising intonation served as an uncertainty tag. Meanwhile, a tag with a falling intonation served as a facilitative or a softening tag. Second, rising intonation on declaratives was only used for six times. This feature was used by Bex to indicate lack of finality, reduce the force of an utterance and show positive politeness. On the other hand, this feature was used by Suze only to show positive politeness. Meanwhile, one of the functions which is to show uncertainty did not appear in the movie. In addition, the rising intonation helped Bex and Suze producing soft, friendly and non-authoritative utterances which all of them are parts of politeness.
viii ABSTRAK
Siwi, Anggita Kristi. (2017). An Analysis of Tag Questions and Rising Intonation on Declaratives in Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Wanita yang menggunakan fitur-fitur bahasa wanita, termasuk tag questions dan rising intonation on declaratives, sering dianggap kurang pasti dan kurang percaya diri. Namun, terkadang kenyataannya menunjukkan asumsi yang berbeda. Beberapa fitur bahasa wanita, termasuk tag questions dan rising intonation on declaratives, terkadang memperlihatkan sisi lain dari para wanita yang menggunakan fitur-fitur tersebut – sopan dan peduli. Fenomena ini membuat penulis tertarik untuk melakukan penelitian ini.
Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis penggunaan tag questions dan rising intonation on declaratives oleh Bex dan Suze sebagai pemeran utama wanita dalam film Confessions of a Shopaholic. Untuk mencapai tujuan penelitian ini, penulis menggunakan teori Lakoff (1973 & 2004) dan Holmes (2001) tentang fitur-fitur bahasa wanita, secara spesifik tentang tag questions dan rising intonation on declaratives.
Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian qualitatif dimana analisis isi digunakan untuk mendukung penulis dalam melakukan penelitian. Data yang dianalisis merupakan transkrip film Confessions of a Shopaholic dan film itu sendiri. Untuk menganalisis data, penulis menggunakan tabel-tabel analisis untuk mengelompokkan ucapan-ucapan yang mengandung tag questions dan rising intonation on declaratives berdasarkan fungsi dari fitur-fitur tersebut.
Hasil penelitian dibagi menjadi dua bagian. Pertama, tag question hanya digunakan sebanyak empat kali. Fitur ini digunakan oleh Suze sebagai sebuah penanda ketidakpastian, sebuah penanda fasilitatif dan sebagai sebuah penanda pelembutan. Sementara itu, fitur ini digunakan oleh Bex hanya sebagai sebuah penanda fasilitatif. Selain itu, tag question yang melibatkan sebuah intonasi naik berperan sebagai sebuah penanda ketidakpastian. Sementara itu, tag question yang melibatkan sebuah intonasi turun berperan sebagai sebuah penanda fasilitatif atau sebuah penanda pelembutan. Kedua, rising intonation on declaratives hanya digunakan sebanyak enam kali. Fitur ini digunakan oleh Bex untuk mengindikasikan kurangnya finalitas, mengurangi kekuatan dari sebuah ujaran dan menunjukkan kesopanan positif. Di sisi lain, fitur ini digunakan oleh Suze hanya untuk menunjukkan kesopanan positif. Sementara itu, salah satu fungsi yang berperan untuk menunjukkan ketidakpastian tidak muncul dalam film tersebut. Sebagai tambahan, intonasi naik membantu Bex dan Suze menciptakan ujaran-ujaran yang lembut, ramah dan tidak otoriter yang semuanya itu merupakan bagian dari kesopanan.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Jesus Christ for everything He has given to me. I thank Him because with His involvement I could finish this final paper.
My greatest gratitude also goes to the secretariat staffs and lecturers of English Language Education Study Program in Sanata Dharma University, especially to my final paper advisor Carla Sih Prabandari, S.Pd., M.Hum. and my former final paper advisor Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd. for their kindness and patience in guiding me to finish my final paper. I thank them for their support and time to advise me, read and give feedback to my final paper. I will not forget to express my gratitude to Drs. Barli Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D. who is my academic advisor and Caecilia Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd. who was my former academic advisor. I thank them for the guidance and advice during my study. Then, I thank Paulus Kuswandono, Ph.D. and Yohana Veniranda, M.Hum., Ph.D. who really care about me and my friends (batch 2010). I know that they are very busy with their duties but they still think about us.
x
here, who has helped and involved in my final paper writing process. May God always bless them.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ... .i
APPROVAL PAGES ... .ii
DEDICATION PAGE ... iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... v
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ... vi
ABSTRACT ... vii
ABSTRAK ... viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... xi
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ... 1
A. Research Background ... 1
B. Research Question ... 5
C. Research Method ... 5
CHAPTER II. DISCUSSION ... 8
A. Review of Related Literature ... 8
1. Tag Question ... 8
a. As an Uncertainty Tag ... 8
b. As a Facilitative Tag ... 9
c. As a Softening Tag ... 10
2. Rising Intonation on Declarative (Uptalk) ... 10
a. Expressing Uncertainty ... 11
b. Reducing the Force of an Utterance ... 11
c. Indicating Lack of Finality ... 12
d. Showing Positive Politeness ... 12
xii
1. The Use of Tag Questions by the Two Female Main Characters
in Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie ... 13
a. Tag Question Used as an Uncertainty Tag ... 13
b. Tag Question Used an a Facilitative Tag ... 14
c. Tag Question Used as a Softening Tag ... 15
2. The Use of Rising Intonation on Declaratives (Uptalk) by the Two Female Main Characters in Confessions of a ShopaholicMovie ... 16
a. Rising Intonation on Declarative Used to Reduce the Force of an Utterance ... 17
b. Rising Intonation on Declarative Used to Indicate Lack of Finality ... 18
c. Rising Intonation on Declarative Used to Show Positive Politeness ... 19
CHAPTER III. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ... 21
A. Conclusions ... 21
1. Tag Questions in Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie ... 21
2. Rising Intonation on Declaratives in Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie ... 22
B. Recommendations ... 23
REFERENCES ... 24
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter consists of three parts; they are research background, research question and research method. First, the research background presents the general information of the topic, the reasons why the writer chose the topic, the importance of this research and the research benefits. Second, the research question presents the focus or objective of this research. Third, the research method presents the method and the steps applied to this research.
A. Research Background
As a social being, human interacts with others. Social interaction is needed for the sake of a dynamic life. One of the requirements that causes social
interaction is communication. “Communication is the exchange and negotiation of
information between at least two individuals through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, oral and written or visual modes, and production and comprehension process” (Canale, 1983, p. 4). In other words, language involvement is needed in communication. The language can be in the form of verbal or non-verbal symbols, oral or written. The important point is that the language used must be understood by those who are communicating. In conclusion, language has its own role in creating a dynamic life for human.
language differently means that men and women still use the same language to communicate but they convey the language with different ways. For example,
“women speak less forcefully than men, and men swear much more than women”
(Wardhaugh, 1992, p. 319). Women prefer to say oh dear than say shit (Lakoff, 1973, p. 50). However, men are the opposite. This happens because of the influence of mindset, habits and personalities. In addition, other aspects like social
status, women‟s role in society, women‟s status as a subordinate group become
the reasons why women and men use language differently (Holmes, 2001, p. 171). From the examples, it is obvious that the language used by women has other purposes. One of them is to prove that women have better behavior than men (Holmes, 2001, p. 158).
In sociolinguistics, it is mentioned that men and women have different ways in using language while they are talking. As cited in Eckert and Ginet (2003), Lakoff argues that “Women have a different way of speaking from men…” (p. 1). In everyday life, women tend to give more attention to the language features. Moreover, they use the language features while they are talking. The features are known as women‟s language features. Here are the tenth
features of women‟s language presented by Lakoff (1973): lexical hedges or
fillers, tag questions, rising intonation on declaratives, „empty‟ adjectives, precise colour terms, intensifiers, „hypercorrect‟ grammar, „superpolite‟ forms, avoidance of strong swear words and emphatic stress.
However, in this paper the writer will only focus on the two features of
3 The writer only focuses on these features because of their uniqueness. These features are unique because they involve intonation. This is important since the use of intonation affects the meaning of the sentences using these features. Another thing makes the writer chose women‟s language features, especially tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives to analyze because the use of
women‟s language features, including tag questions and rising intonation on
declaratives, is often considered “lack of certainty and confidence” (Lakoff 1975, as cited in Holmes, 2001, p. 285). However, the reality sometimes shows different
assumptions. It is in line with Holmes (2001, p. 288) who says that “a more
detailed analysis sometimes showed that these forms were not always expressing
uncertainty”. Later, these features are used by Bex and Suze who are the female
main characters in Confessions of a Shopaholic movie. In this case, the writer believes that Bex and Suze use women‟s language features not merely to make their speech lack of certainty and confidence but to make it polite and soft. This also shows that they care about others‟ feelings.
Then, the writer chose a movie to analyze because a movie is a portrait of life. Movies represent what usually happens in the society. Everything figured out by the actors in a movie, such as think, walk, cry as well as talk and use language, is the acts people do in society. The movie used in this research entitled Confessions of a Shopaholic. The writer chose Confessions of a Shopaholic movie
the focus of this research – analyzing the two features of women‟s language, namely tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives. Bex and Suze are the main characters in the movie, it also means that these two characters could have more dialogues than other characters in the movie. Therefore, the writer could also collect more data to analyze.
Confessions of a Shopaholic was a movie produced in America in 2009. It
tells about a twenty-five-year-old woman, named Rebecca Bloomwood (Bex). She is an employee in an office. Besides, she is a shopaholic. She enjoys using her credit card to go shopping. Unfortunately, one day she is warned to pay off her credit card bills which have reached the limit. She is very confused since she does not have enough money to pay off the bills. The situation is getting worse when she knows that the office in which she works is failed. She cannot pay the bills if she does not work. She is very frustrated but then her best friend Suze helps her finding a new job. Bex finally finds a new job but the job does not really help since the bills are too much. Finally, she decides to sell her stuff and auction her famous green scarf to pay off her bills.
This research is conducted by analyzing a movie entitled Confessions of a Shopaholic. It focuses only on the two female main characters in the movie,
namely Bex and Suze. It also limits the features that are going to analyze; they are tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives.
5 expected that this research will be a useful reference for other future researchers who are conducting similar research focusing on women‟s language.
B. Research Question
Based on the background and the rationale of this research, a research question has been formulated. The research question is how question tags and rising intonation on declaratives are used by the two female main characters Bex and Suze in Confessions of a Shopaholic movie? From the question, the objective of this research is to examine the use of question tags and rising intonation on declaratives by the two female main characters Bex and Suze in Confessions of a Shopaholic movie.
C. Research Method
“Sociolinguistics studies the relationship between language and society”
(Holmes, 2001, p. 1). This research was a sociolinguistic study because it discussed the relationship between language and society. The language discussed in this research was women‟s language, while the society referred to the two female main characters Bex and Suze and their environment, including other characters in the movie.
phenomenon by studying certain documents” (p. 31). In addition, Ary et al. (2010) also state that “content analysis focuses on analyzing and interpreting recorded
material to learn about human behavior” (p. 29). Furthermore, Ary et al. (2010)
explain that:
Document analysis can be of written or text-based artifacts (textbooks, novels, journals, meeting minutes, logs, announcements, policy statements, newspapers, transcripts, birth certificates, marriage records, budgets, letters, e-mail messages, etc.) or of non-written records (photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, computer images, websites, musical performances, televised political speeches, YouTube videos, virtual world settings, etc.) (p. 442).
Therefore, content analysis was the appropriate method to answer the research
question since this research discussed a phenomenon which was women‟s
language, focusing on tag questions and rising intonations, by studying the transcript of Confessions of a Shopaholic movie.
The data gathering was conducted by the writer by transcribing all of the conversations in Confessions of a Shopaholic movie. Finally, the data were analyzed after the transcript was set. The data analysis was done by involving a table. The table contained the two features of women‟s language which functioned to group the utterances consisting of tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives used by the two female main characters in the movie.
In conducting this research, some steps were applied. The first step was determining the topic. The topic focused on tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives used by the two female main characters Bex and Suze in Confessions of a Shopaholic movie. The second step was determining the research objective.
7 intonation on declaratives by the two female main characters Bex and Suze in Confessions of a Shopaholic movie. The third step was reviewing some theories
which were related to women‟s language, specifically the theory of tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives. The fourth step was collecting the data. The data were collected by the writer by transcribing all of the conversations in Confessions of a Shopaholic movie. The fifth step was analyzing the transcript
8
CHAPTER II DISCUSSION
This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part is the review of related literature and the second part is the findings. The first part presents the theory which is used as the foundation for solving the problem discussed in this paper. Meanwhile, the second part presents the result as well as the interpretation of the data.
A. Review of Related Literature
This part contains theory and also the example of each feature. The theory used in this research is the theory of tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives by Lakoff (2004) and Holmes (2001).
1. Tag Question
Tag question is a phrase added at the end of a sentence. The phrase “contains an inverted auxiliary form determined by the auxiliary in the main
clause, and a pronoun that agrees with the subject of the main clause” (Eckert & Ginet, 2003, p. 167). There are three functions of tag question: as an uncertainty tag, as a facilitative tag and as a softening tag.
a. As an Uncertainty Tag
9 questions in their speech are expressing doubt or uncertainty (Lakoff, 2004, p. 74). Uncertainty tag is a tag which is said with a rising intonation (Allen, 1954, p. 104). This tag is usually used when the speakers do not have enough information so that makes them doubt about their utterance. A speaker who uses this tag suggests: “I believe that is so, but please correct me if I am wrong. By using this tag, the speaker is asking the listener‟s opinion and would not be very surprised if
he were contradicted” (Allen, 1954, p. 104). Here is an example of uncertainty tag
and also the pattern of the intonation taken from Allen (1954, p. 104). [1] You came this բmorning, | աdidn‟t you?
Example [1] shows us that the speaker is not really sure that her statement is true. Therefore, she employs an uncertainty tag in her statement in order to obtain information or a confirmation from the addressee (Thomson & Martinet, 1986, p. 114).
b. As a Facilitative Tag
Facilitative tag functions as a facilitative or a politeness device and it is said with a falling intonation. When a woman is using this tag, she “does not normally need information but merely expects agreement therefore the tag is said with a falling intonation, as in statements” (Thomson & Martinet, 1986, p. 114).
responsible for the success of an interaction between herself and her pupil (Holmes, 2001, p. 289).
From example [2], it can be seen that by using a facilitative tag, the teacher has been successfully carried on the conversation. The use of a facilitative tag by the teacher encourages the pupil to contribute to the conversation.
c. As a Softening Tag
Softening tag is a tag which “attenuates or mitigates the potential negative
impact of something like a criticism” (Eckert & Ginet, 2003, p. 168). Just like a facilitative tag, a softening tag is said with a falling intonation. The example of a softening tag is in the sentence.
[3] It is impolite when you talk with a mouth full of food, բisn’t it? In this case, the speaker wants to criticize the addressee. However, she does not want to discourage the addressee by her criticism. Therefore, she employs a softening tag to her utterance. The use of the tag also makes her criticism more accepted by the addressee. The use of the tag by the speaker also shows that the speaker cares about the addressee‟s feelings (Holmes, 2001, p. 289).
2. Rising Intonation on Declarative (Uptalk)
Rising intonation on declarative which is also called „uptalk‟ or „question intonation‟ is the use of a high-rising tone at the end of a sentence (Eckert &
[2] Mrs. Short : Here‟s a pretty one what‟s this one called Simon? Simon : Mm, erm [pause]
11 Ginet, 2003, p. 173). When a high-rising tone is applied to a sentence which is a declarative answer, the declarative answer becomes a question (Lakoff, 2004, p. 77). Actually, this feature has four functions. They are to express uncertainty, to reduce the force of an utterance, to indicate lack of finality and to show positive politeness.
a. Expressing Uncertainty
According to Lakoff (2004), rising intonation on declarative is used by women to expresses uncertainty (p. 77). When women are uncertain, they use rising intonation on declarative to make sure the accuracy of information. Here is an example of rising intonation on declarative that express uncertainty.
[4] A : When will dinner be ready? B : Oh… around six o’clock…?
From example [4], Lakoff concludes that the speaker B sounds unsure about her answer and seeks for confirmation from speaker A (Lakoff, 2004, p. 78). Even though the answer is in the form of declarative, it becomes a question since a rising intonation is applied to it.
b. Reducing the Force of an Utterance
expressing uncertainty, it merely functioned as politeness devices” (Holmes, 2001, 288).
c. Indicating Lack of Finality
Rising intonation on declarative also simply signs that the person is not giving the final word on that matter – they are open to continuing the exchange (Eckert & Ginet, 2003, p. 174).
Eckert & Ginet (2003) noted that there were many possible reasons for the speaker B to use the high rising terminal (HRT) in such an exchange other than insecurity about whether the time suggested was “right” or unwillingness to commit herself. She might be asking any one of a number of questions whose content is not explicitly given in the utterance: why do you want to know? ... are you proposing that we go out for dinner instead of eating here at home? (p. 174).
Similar argument is also said by Ladd that “rising finals simply mark incompleteness, lack of finality” (as cited in Eckert and Ginet, 2003, p. 175).
d. Showing Positive Politeness
Ainsworth states that rising intonation on declarative also indicates positive politeness (as cited in Blahušová, 2013, p. 24). Positive politeness is the impression of being friendly and non-authoritative expressed by the uptalkers, due to the rising nature of the tone (Bradford, 1997 as cited in Blahušová, 2013, p. 24). Therefore, positive politeness also means solidarity or support for the addressee (Britain, 1992 as cited in Blahušová, 2013, p. 25).
B. Findings
13 intonation on declaratives are used by the two female main characters Bex and Suze in Confessions of a Shopaholic movie. Later, some words in the dialogues are bolded to indicate the significant feature discussed.
1. The Use of Tag Questions by the Two Female Main Characters in Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie
A tag question is a phrase “contains an inverted auxiliary form determined by the auxiliary in the main clause, and a pronoun that agrees with the subject of the main clause” (Eckert & Ginet, 2003, p. 167). It was mentioned in the theory that there were three functions of tag question: as an uncertainty tag, a facilitative tag and a softening tag. Then, based on the analysis, all of the functions were found in Confessions of a Shopaholic movie. However, it was found that this feature was rarely used by the two female main characters in the movie since it was only used for four times. Here are the examples of tag question used by the two female main characters in Confessions of a Shopaholic movie as an uncertainty tag, a facilitative tag and a softening tag.
a. Tag Question Used as an Uncertainty Tag
Here is the example of tag question functions as an uncertainty tag found in the movie.
[5] At a wedding dress store (00:39:21 – 00:40:06)
Suze : (looking at Bex) This is so relevant. It‟s the most relevant thing in the world. There isn‟t another reason why you want to go to Miami, աis there?
Bex : No.
Bex : Luke (blushing)
Suze : A-ha-ha-ha… (laughing) Bex : What?
Suze : That‟s it. You‟re making that face.
The writer found that the tag question used by Suze in dialogue [5] was an uncertainty tag. The writer believed that the tag is there was to indicate Suze was lack of information that made her doubt about her utterance “There isn’t another reason why you wanna go to Miami”. In other words, Suze did not really know whether her utterance was true or not. On the other hand, the use of tag question in her utterance indicated Suze was curious about Bex‟s reason to go to Miami and expected clarification form Bex. This could also be seen from the next question she gave to Bex “Maybe it rhymes with Fluke?” The writer believed this question emphasized that Suze was so curious and did want an answer from Bex. In this dialogue, Suze also laughed and said “That’s it. You’re making that face”. These reactions showed that Suze was happy because finally she got the answer that she really wanted to know. Furthermore, a rising intonation applied to the tag proved that Suze was not sure about her utterance and expected clarification. It is in line with Thomson & Martinet (1986) who say that if a speaker does want information or confirmation, the speaker will use a tag question with a rising intonation in his or her sentence (p. 114). Therefore, in this case the use of a tag question was to show uncertainty or to ask clarification.
b. Tag Question Used as a Facilitative Tag
15 be a bag somewhere in this room.
Bex : Suze, do not open that closet! (but Suze opens that closet and makes the clothes scattered around her) Suze! (Bex saving Suze from the pile of clothes) Suze! Suze! Suze, are you there? Oh, oh… Oh my God.
Suze : You didn‟t throw anything away, բdid you? Bex : I‟m sorry.
In this case the writer believed that the tag did you was used as a facilitative tag. The falling intonation applied to the tag also indicated that Suze was “reasonably sure that her utterance was correct” since she found there were still so many clothes kept in Bex‟s closet (Allen, 1954, p. 103). It also indicated Suze “merely
expected agreement” from Bex (Thomson & Martinet, 1986, p. 114). It was proved from the response given by Bex “I’m sorry”. This response showed Bex admitted her guilt and indirectly said “Yes” to Suze‟s utterance which also meant that she agreed that she did not throw her clothes away. On the other hand, Bex‟s response was also proof that the tag was a facilitative or politeness device since it “provided an easy entrée into the conversation” (Holmes, 2001, pp. 288-289).
c. Tag Question Used as a Softening Tag
The last function of tag question found in the movie was as a softening tag. The example is in dialogue [7].
[7] In a restroom of Suze‟s office) (00:03:54 – 00:04:12)
Suze : Why can‟t you get changed in your own office?
arranged an interview at Alette magazine? Did I mention I have an interview at Alette magazine? (smiling happily) Suze : Only about a billion times. OK. Bex, it‟s kinda leap,
բisn’t it? You know, gardening to fashion. Mean, not that I meant you couldn‟t do it.
Dialogue [7] tells that Suze did not agree with Bex‟s plan to move to Alette the fashion magazine. For Suze, Alette and Gardening Today were quite distinct from each other. Therefore, Suze said “it’s kinda leap” which was a criticism for Bex. In this case, the writer believed that Suze did not want to upset Bex by saying the criticism so that she used a tag question with a falling intonation. The tag question used by Suze was to soften her criticism. As said by Holmes (1995) that “a softening tag attenuates or mitigates the potential negative impact of the criticism” (as cited in Eckert & Ginet, 2003, p. 168). Therefore, by using this tag Suze was able to produce more acceptable criticism. The writer also found that the use of tag question by Suze showed that she cared about Bex‟s feelings. It is in line with Holmes (2001) who says “a softening tag functions to reflect concern for someone‟s feelings” (p. 289). Thus, it is clear that in this case the tag question was
used as a softening tag.
2. The Use of Rising Intonation on Declaratives (Uptalk) by the Two Female Main Characters in Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie
17 adding a high-rising tone at the end of a declarative answer. Based on the theory used in this research, rising intonation on declarative has four functions which are to express uncertainty, to reduce the force of an utterance, to indicate lack of finality and to show politeness. However, based on the analysis, there were only three functions found in the movie which were to reduce the force of an utterance, to indicate lack of finality and to show positive politeness. However, this feature was used infrequently by the two female main characters in the movie since it was only used for six times. Here are the examples of rising intonation used by the two female main characters in Confessions of a Shopaholic movie to reduce the force of an utterance, to indicate lack of finality and to show positive politeness.
a. Rising Intonation on Declarative Used to Reduce the Force of an Utterance
Here is the example of rising intonation on declarative appeared in the movie and functioned to reduce the force of an utterance.
[8] On the way home (00:27:55 – 00:27:59)
Luke : OK. You know why we did that? Bex : Some kind of cruel initiation աrite?
intonation on declarative or question intonation is the part of hedging devices whose function is to reduce the force of an utterance. However, the use of rising intonation by Bex did not mean lack of confidence or uncertainty. The writer believed that the rising intonation was used to make the answer softer and more accepted to Luke. This also meant that rising intonation used by Bex had a role as a politeness device.
b. Rising Intonation on Declarative Used to Indicate Lack of Finality
Rising intonation on declarative which functions to indicate lack of finality also found in the movie. The example is provided in dialogue [9].
[9] In Luke‟s office
In a meeting with Successful Saving employees
Luke : The girl in the green scarf. (pointing at Bex) Thank you. …
19 wish, to use a pen name instead of her real name, by employing a rising intonation. The writer found that the use of a rising intonation on declarative by Bex in dialogue [9] indicated lack of finality or showed that Bex was not giving the final word on that matter. It was as if there was another question uttered by Bex, but the content of the question was not explicitly given in the utterance (McConnell-Ginet, 1975 as cited in Eckert & Ginet, 2003, p. 174), for instance, is there any suggestion? The writer believed that the use of a rising intonation by
Bex in dialogue [9] was to indicate lack of finality which also meant that Bex was asking for Luke‟s suggestion. It could be proved by the response given by Luke
who said “hmm” and smiled after listening to Bex‟s answer. Luke‟s response indicated that he had an idea for Bex‟s pen name – the girl in the green scarf.
c. Rising Intonation on Declarative Used to Show Positive Politeness
The other function of rising intonation on declarative found in the movie was to show positive politeness. The example is in dialogue [10].
[10] In Bex‟s room
(00:15:35 - 00:16:15)
In dialogue [10], Suze was actually refusing Bex‟s idea about winning the lottery to pay Bex‟s debt because Suze considered that the idea was not an appropriate
solution to do. However, Suze did not want to directly tell Bex that she refused Bex‟s idea. Therefore, Suze conveyed her refusal by another way – by saying
“Maybe you should have a backup plan”. When Suze said it, she employed a
CHAPTER III
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter consists of two parts, namely conclusions and recommendations. The conclusions part presents the major findings of the research. Meanwhile, the recommendations part presents the suggestion for the students in English department and future researchers who are interested in conducting a research in the same field.
A. Conclusions
The problem discussed in this paper is about tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives used by the two female main characters Bex and Suze in Confessions of a Shopaholic movie. Then, content analysis was used as the method of this research. In addition, this research used the movie transcript and the movie itself to analyze the data. This part is divided into two parts. The first part is about tag questions. Then, the second part is about rising intonation on declaratives.
1. Tag Questions in Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie
uncertainty tag, to ask agreement and provide an easy entrée into the conversation or as a facilitative tag and to soften a criticism or as a softening tag. Meanwhile, Bex used this feature only to ask agreement or as a facilitative tag. From this result, it is true that “Treating all tags as signals of uncertainty is clearly
misleading” (Holmes, 2001, p. 290).
Furthermore, intonation used in the tag also played an important role in conveying meaning of a sentence or utterance containing a tag question. In this case, intonation became the indicator whether a tag question served as an uncertainty tag, a facilitative tag or a softening tag. When a tag was said with a rising intonation, it served as an uncertainty tag. However, when a tag was said with a falling intonation, it served as a facilitative or a softening tag. Facilitative and softening functions created by the falling intonation also reflected another side of the two female main characters in the movie – cared about others‟ feelings. Therefore, it is very important to use a precise intonation in order to obtain the intended function of a tag.
23 to show positive politeness. Meanwhile, rising intonation on declaratives used to show uncertainty was not used by Bex and Suze in this movie. Just like tag question, it was also proved that the use of rising intonation on declarative was not always to show uncertainty or indicate lack of confidence. In addition, the rising intonation helped the two female main characters in the movie producing soft, friendly and non-authoritative utterances which all of them are parts of politeness. It also showed that those women did care about “politeness and solidarity” (Britain, 1992, as cited in Blahušová).
B. Recommendations
In this part, the writer provides some recommendations for students in English department and future researchers. First, students in English department, especially those who are studying Sociolinguistics, can use this paper as an additional reference in order to enrich their knowledge about the two features of
women‟s language, namely tag questions and rising intonation on declaratives.
Second, for future researchers who plan to conduct a research dealing with
women‟s language, they are suggested to choose another data to analyze, such as
novels, comics and talk show transcripts to improve this research. Future researchers can also choose other features of women‟s language to analyze, for
example „superpolite‟ forms and avoidance of strong swear words. Therefore, the
24 REFERENCES
Allen, W. S. (1954). Living English speech. London: Longman.
Ary, D., Jacobs, L. C., & Sorensen, C. (2010). Introduction to research in education (8th ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Blahušová, Bc. J. (2013). Uptalk and its implementation in teaching English. Prague: Charles University. Retrieved on January 19, 2017, from
https://is.cuni.cz/webaps/zzp/download/120133355
Canale, M. (1983). From communicative competence to communicative language pedagogy. In Richards J. C. & Schmidt R. W. (Eds.), Language and communication. London: Longman.
Eckert, P., & McConnell-Ginet, S. (2003). Language and gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Holmes, J. (2001). An introduction to sociolinguistics (2nd ed.). Harlow: Longman Group UK, Ltd.
Lakoff, R. (1973). Language and woman’s place: Language in society, 2(1), 45-80. Retrieved on November 27, 2014, from
http://www.jstore.org/stable/4166707.
Lakoff, R. (2004). Language and woman’s place: Text and commentaries (M. Bucholtz, Ed.). New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.
Thomson, A. J., & Martinet, A. V. (1986). A practical English grammar (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
APPENDIX
Analysis Tables of Tag Questions and Rising Intonation on Declaratives in Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie
A. The Classification of Tag Questions Employed by the Female Main Characters in Confessions of Shopaholic Movie
No. Tag Questions
Functions
Uncertainty tag Facilitative tag Softening tag
1. Suze: “Bex, it’s kinda leap,բisn’t it?”
2. Bex: “Yes, բwasn’t it? The whole metaphor was…”
3. Suze: “There isn’t another reason why you wanna go to
Miami, աis there?”
4. Suze: “You didn’t throw anything away, բdid you?”
B. The Classification of Rising Intonation on Declaratives Employed by the Two Female Main Characters in Confessions of Shopaholic Movie
No. Rising Intonation on Declaratives (Uptalk)
Functions
Show uncertainty
Indicate lack of finality
Reduce the force of an utterance
Indicate positive politeness
1. Suze: “Maybe you should have a backup աplan?”
2. Bex: “A thousand words on store card աAPRs?”
3. Bex: “Some kind of cruel initiation աrite?”
4. Bex: “than just … Um, a little more ooh-ooh-ooh mysterious rather
աBecky?”
5.
Bex: “I think that is great dress. Um, but I was thinking a little more … of something … like աthis? I mean, I’d pair it with a new Yves Saint Laurent coat.”
6. Bex: “I did a աdeal?”
