PHATIC EXPRESSIONS BETWEEN INDONESIANS AND FOREIGNERS IN THE CASUAL CONVERSATIONS A THESIS

Transcription

1 PHATIC EXPRESSIONS BETWEEN INDONESIANS AND FOREIGNERS IN THE CASUAL CONVERSATIONS A THESIS Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of Strata 1 Program of the English Language Department specialized in Linguistics by: REKI MARO SITOHANG C FACULTY OF HUMANITIES DIAN NUSWANTORO UNIVERSITY SEMARANG 2013

2 PAGE OF APPROVAL This thesis has been approved by Board of Examiners, Strata 1 Study Program of English Language, Faculty of Humanities, Dian Nuswantoro University on March 5 th, Board of Examiners Chairperson First Examiner Dra. Sri Mulatsih, M.Pd. Sunardi S.S., M.Pd Second Examiner Third Examiner as The Advisor Achmad Basari S.S., M.Pd. Setyo Prasiyanto Cahyono S.S., M.Pd. Approved by: Dean of Faculty of Language and Letters Achmad Basari S.S., M.Pd.

3 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I certify that this thesis is absolutely my own work. I am completely responsible for the content of this thesis. Opinions or findings of others are quoted and citied with respect to ethnical standard. Semarang, 4 th March, 2013 Reki Maro Sitohang

4 MOTTO Good character, with honestly and integrity at its core, is essential to success in any area of life. (John Maxwell) They can because they think they can. (Virgil)

5 DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated with love and grateful heart to: My God and King Jesus Christ. My beloved Parents who always love me whoever I am. All of my family who always encourage me to finish my study. All of my friends and my beloved someone who always support me until now.

6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT At this happiest moment, I wish a prayer to the Almighty God who has blessed me during the writing of this thesis, so that this thesis could finally be completed. This thesis would not be possible to be finished without help many people. Therefore, gratitude would be given to the following people: 1. Mr. Achmad Basari, S.S., M.Pd., Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Dian Nuswantoro University, who gave permission to me to conduct this study 2. Mr. Sarif Syamsul Rizal, S.S., M.Hum., The Head of English Department of Strata 1 Program, Faculty of Humanities, Dian Nuswantoro University, who gave permission to me to conduct this research 3. Mrs. Rahmanti Asmarani, M.Hum, thesis coordinator of English Department of Strata 1 Program, the Faculty of Humanities, Dian Nuswantoro University, who gave me permission to conduct this thesis 4. Mr. Setyo Prasiyanto Cahyono, S.S., M.Pd., as my advisor for his continuous and valuable guidance, advice and encouragement in completing this thesis. 5. Mr. Sunardi, S.S., M.Pd., as my guardian in English Department for his support and motivation to me in completing this thesis 6. All lecturer at the English Department of the Faculty of Humanities, Dian Nuswantoro University, who have taught, motivated and given guidance to me during my study at this university

7 7. The librarians of Self Access Center of Dian Nuswantoro University for their permission for me to use some valuable references in writing this thesis 8. My beloved family: my mother, my father, my sisters and my brother thank you for your endless love, prayers, motivation, and supports. I am so blessed to have you. I love you 9. The last but not least, I thank for all people who helped me during the process in writing this thesis; Mr. Chris, Mr. Will, Roman, Cik Eva, Denia, Fitri, Nico, Cik De, PMK Udinus family, MK Zion s family, Youth Fire s family, Brown Café s family, English First s family Thanks for the memories and your supports for all this time. It is an honor to know all of you guys, thank you very much Hopefully, this thesis will be useful for the readers, especially for the students of English Department of the Faculty of Humanities Dian Nuswantoro University. It can be a reference book to get the information about phatic communication. Finally, I do realize that due to my limited ability this thesis must have shortcoming. For this I welcome any suggestions and criticisms. The Researcher Reki Maro Sitohang

8 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE OF TITLE.. PAGE OF APPROVAL... STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY. MOTTO. DEDICATION.. ACKNOWLEDGMENT... TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES.. LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF APPENDICES ABSTRACT... i ii iii iv v vi viii xii xiii xiv xv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study Statement of the Problem Scope of the Study Objective of the Study Significance of the Study Thesis Organization 6 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 Communication Spoken Language Casual Conversation Pragmatic Study. 15

9 2.5 Phatic Communication Native and Non-native English Speakers 29 CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD 3.1 Research Design Unit of Analysis Source of Data Technique of Data Collection Techniques of Data Analysis.. 37 CHAPTER IV DATA ANALYSIS 4.1 Findings of Phatic Communication among Indonesian and Foreigner Speakers in English Casual Conversation Discussion of Phatic Communication Topics of Phatic Communication among Indonesian and Foreigner Speakers in English Casual Conversation Country Occupation Business Study Family Customer Closing Planning Introduction Domicile Opinion 63

10 Food Ability Comparison Duration Hobby Activity Asking Agreement Opening Closing Movie Politic Partner The Different Ways to Sustain Communication Among Indonesian and Foreigner Speakers in English Casual Conversation To Show Interest To Ease the Communication To Find a Point of Agreement The Functions and Interpretations of Phatic Communication To Sustain or Keep the Talk To Make Chit-Chat Opening Middle or Content Closing To Express Solidarity... 88

11 To Express Friendship To Express Hospitality To Break the Silence To Make Gossip Opening Middle or Content Closing To Create Harmony To Create Comfort To Start the Talk To Express Empathy. 102 CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION Conclusion Suggestion. 104 BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDICES. 106

12 LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1 The Classification Phatic and Non-phatic Utterances 41 Table 4.2 The Topic Segmentation. 42 Table 4.3 Ways to Sustain Communication Between an Indonesian Interpreter and A Libyan, an Indonesian Employee and a Wales and An Indonesian Student and a Germany.. 44 Table 4.4 The Function of Phatic Communication Based on an Indonesian Interpreter and a Libyan, an Indonesian Employee and a Wales, an Indonesian Student and a Germany 46

13 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 A Model of Communication 10 Figure 2.2 The Ontology Theory.. 19 Figure 2.3 Kachru s three circle model 31 Figure 2.4 The Interlangugage Continuum.. 32

14 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1 The Analysis of the Topics of Phatic Communication of an Indonesian Interpreter and a Libyan s Conversation 1 Appendix 2 The Analysis of the Topics of Phatic Communication of an Indonesian Employer and a Wales Talk 12 Appendix 3 The Analysis of the Topics of Phatic Communication of an Indonesian Student and a Germany s Talk. 21 Appendix 4 The Analysis of the Way of an Indonesian Interpreter and a Libyan Sustain the Talk 27 Appendix 5 The Analysis of the Way of an Indonesian Employer and a Wales Sustain the Talk 38 Appendix 6 The Analysis of the Way of a Indonesian Student and a Germany Sustain the Talk 47 Appendix 7 The Analysis of the Functions of Phatic Communication of an Indonesian Interpreter and a Libyan. 56 Appendix 8 The Analysis of the Functions of Phatic Communication of an Indonesian Employer and a Wales Talk.. 65 Appendix 9 The Analysis of the Functions of Phatic Communication of an Indonesian Student and a Germany s Talk 74

15 ABSTRACT This research study is entitled Phatic Expressions Between Indonesians and Foreigners in the Casual Conversations. This study is focused on utterances in casual conversations among three couples of Indonesians and foreigners. The Indonesians are an interpreter, an employee, and a student while the foreigners come from Libya, Wales, and Germany. The speakers are divided into three group of conversations. The first group contains of an Indonesian interpreter and a Libyan s conversation, the second group is an employee and a Wales conversation, and the last group includes of a student and a German s conversation which has been taken on July 11 th, 2012 at the place where they were. By using a descriptive qualitative method, the researcher s purposes are concerned to describe the topics which appear in the conversations, to identify the different ways to sustain communication, and to identify the functions of phatic communication used among Indonesians and foreigners in English casual conversation. From the analysis, the topics which appeared in conversation between Indonesians and foreigners are country, occupation, business, study, family, customer, closing, planning, introduction, domicile, opinion, food, ability, comparison, duration, hobby, activity, asking agreement, movie, and politic. The three Indonesians and foreigners conversations all used showing interest, easing communication, and finding a point of agreement to sustain communication, so there is no any different ways in sustaining communication. There are 11 functions of phatic expression which are found from the data. They are to sustain or keep the talk, to make chit-chat, to express solidarity, to express friendship, to express hospitality, to break the silence, to make gossip, to create harmony, to create comfort, to start the talk, and to express empathy. Keywords: Casual Conversation, Native and Non-native, Phatic Communication, Phatic Expressions, Topics

16 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study Language is an important role in human society as a tool to interact among people. It is a human system that uses arbitrary signals and symbolic device, such as voice sounds, gestures or written symbols. Arbitrary signal is a process to choose any sound to mean anything. Symbolic device is a language symbols to represent any kind of objects structurally. These language symbols are different from one language to the others. Language is an effective ways for communicator to share his or her feelings, ideas or attitudes. It also maintains social relation among society. Language is base aspect to do communication. Communication is a process of sending and receiving information among people. An American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, National Joined Committee(NJC), (1992: 2) concluded that communication is any act by which one person gives to or receives from person information about that person s needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states. Communication is needed to arise good social relations and avoid a misunderstanding between speaker and hearer. In general, there are two types of communication. They are spoken and written communication. Spoken language is a human natural language in which the words are uttered through mouth as organ of speech. It is also called as oral language because of its communication process is happened through of this organ of speech. The communication of spoken language is spontaneous and ungrammatically because it is communicated directly between speaker and listener. This spoken communication between two

17 people or more is called conversation. This understanding is related with the meaning of conversation by Francesca Pridham in her book The Language of Conversation. She argued that conversation, therefore, is any interactive spoken exchange between two or more people and can be face-to-face exchanges... (2001: 2). Conversation is an ideal form of communication because speaker can reveal his or her meaning sense completely with body language and intonation even though silence and laughter.speaker can make sure the massage is understood by addressee s feedback when he or she does conversation face-to-face. There are two types of conversation. They are formal and casual conversation. Formal conversation is designed for used in situations in which natural language is unsuitable, for example lawyer to judge, goal setting between manager and employee, or parent-teacher conversation. Casual conversation is the most type of conversation which is used in society and it is called everyday talk. Suzanne Eggins (1997: 8) argued that... casual conversation is the kind of talk we engage in when we are talking just for the sake of talking. Casual conversation is daily talk and it has no tie to grammar rule. It connects social bonds and maintains relationships and friendship with other people. Casual conversation is usually followed by small talk. Small talk is social conversation which the main purpose is for managing interpersonal distance. It avoids awkwardness by doing chit-chat with common topics like about weather, current event, hometown or entertainment. Small talk is also called as phatic communication or phatic communion. Richards et al. (1992: 214) assumed that phatic communion is a communication which is not for finding or sending information, but it is a communication which has social function to make steady or maintain social contact.

18 In this research, the researcher prefers to choose Phatic Expressions Between Indonesians and Foreigners in the Casual Conversation as the title of this thesis because it is interesting to analyze and important to add readers knowledge, especially who has English as the second language. English learner can improve his or her knowledge about phatic and practice it better in everyday talk since English learner has relation with foreigners and speak English as the language communication. Indeed, this result of researching can prove the truth of theory of phatic where phatic phenomenon itself most appears in casual conversation. Based on the research idea, she especially wants to observe this phenomena which is happened among Indonesians and foreigners in their casual conversation who use English as the tool of communication. The topic or styles of small talk are different in each countries. It is based on one reason that every country has different cultures and customs. This reason causes the researcher inquisitive sense is appeared to observe and analyze phenomena of phatic communication among Indonesians and foreigners. Then, she chose different speakers nationalities to find the phatic communion in casual conversation by each of the speakers where they have different national backgrounds. By this research, the researcher hopes the readers who use English as their second language can interact with foreigners using phatic communication better and apply it in many purposes to create a good relationship to other people. 1.2 Statements of the Problems Based on the background of the study, the researcher states problems as follows: 1. What are the topics which appear in the conversations between Indonesians and foreigners in the casual conversation?

19 2. What are the different ways to sustain communication between Indonesians and foreigners in the casual conversation? 3. What are the functions of phatic communication used between Indonesians and foreigners in the casual conversation? 1.3 Scope of the Study The main purpose of this research is to analyze phatic communication between Indonesians and foreigners in the casual conversations. The Indonesians are an interpreter, an English learner and a employee. The foreigners are from Libya, Germany and Wales. These three conversations have been taken randomly to analysis the features of small talk. The analyzing covers to the topics, ways to sustain communication and the functions of phatic communication in the conversations. 1.4 Objectives of the Study In related with the statements of the study, the researcher concludes objectives of the study as follows: 1. To describe the topics which appear in the conversations between Indonesians and foreigners. 2. To identify the different ways to sustain communication in the conversations between Indonesians and foreigners. 3. To identify the functions of phatic communication in the conversations between Indonesians and foreigners.

20 1.5 Significance of the Study The researcher hopes that the results of this study can give some advantages to: 1. Reader The reader becomes more knowing that small talk is one of the most important parts of conversation between speakers. It has no important topics, but it keeps the conversation running smoothly. 2. English learner Through this research, English learner can improve knowledge and ability to speak and to practice small talk in English society. 3. Researcher This paper will contribute minded of using of small talk to her, know a good situation with good topics to break the awkward moment. 4. Other researcher Other researcher is able to use this thesis as his or her reference about phatic communication in casual talk. 5. Mentor Based on the result of this study, all kind of mentor in school or company can study and apply the benefit of using small talk. 6. Faculty of Humanities Hopefully, this research contributes to English program of linguistic education, pragmatic branches, especially in phatic communication. It adds the riches knowledge of linguistic section.

21 1.6 Thesis Organization This thesis contains into five chapters. The chapter I is introduction. It describes background of the study, statement of the problems, scope of the study, objectives of the study, and significances of the study and thesis organization. Chapter II explains review of related literature. This chapter exposes about some theories used as the theoretical basis in carrying out this study. They are communication, spoken language, casual conversation, language and culture, pragmatic study and phatic communication. Chapter III is research method. It covers research design, unit of analysis, source of data, techniques of data collection, and techniques of data analysis. Chapter IV is data analysis. It presents the research finding and the discussion of the data analyzed. Chapter V consists of conclusion and suggestion of this research.

22 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE In this thesis, the researcher rolls out some theories related. They are communication, spoken language,casual conversation,pragmatic study, phatic communication, native and nonnative English speaker,and language and culture Communication is needed to arise good social relations and avoid a misunderstanding between speaker and hearer. By doing good communication, people can share feelings, ideas, attitudes or change information. One of the way to be good communicator is by using spoken language. Spoken language happens face-to-face. Through spoken language, speaker can extend his or her ideas clearly because it is supported not only language itself, but also body language or intonation. This spoken communication among speakers is called conversation. The most conversation which is used in human society is casual conversation. It is happened because casual conversation has no tie with grammar rules. That s why, casual conversation is also called as everyday talk. In everyday talk, what the speaker wants to share will be known by the meaning that he or she gives. The study which learned people s intended meaning is called pragmatic. In pragmatic studied, people use many ways to maintain social relationship. This way can be shown by doing small talk. Small talk needed for managing interpersonal distance. In pragmatic section, small talk is one of the branches studied which is deepened in term phatic communication.the way to do phatic communication is not same between native and non-native English speaker. Although they use the same language, it will be quite different because they come from different countries. Every place or country has different ways to do phatic communication. It is happened

23 because those countries has differentculture and custom to convey meaning. All the theories related are explained in the following points. 2.1 Communication Language is used to communicate, to express ideas and to connect with the addressee. As defined by Lyons (1997:34), there are two further points having to do with the notion of communication which should be mentioned. 1. Communication deals with addresser and addressee. The addressergives the signal which identifies the intended addressee and invitesher/him to payattention or respond to the signal. 2. A successful communication does not depend only upon theaddressee sreception of the signal and her/his appreciation, but alsoupon her/hisrecognition of the addresser s communicative intention and an appropriate behavioral or cognitive response. It means that communication minimal needs an addresser as transmitter and an addressee as receiver. Good communication happens if the transmitter gives a signal and the signal is received completely by the addressee. Lyons (1997:34) showed a process or model of communication to build a communication. It is described in the following figure. Signal transmitted Received signal X Transmitter Channel Receiver Y Source of noise

24 Figure 2.1 A Model of Communication The figure 2.1 expresses that X is addresser and Y is addressee. X as a transmitter gives information or message through channel by giving signal transmitted and Y as receiver conveys the message by giving received signal first, then responding. There is a source of noise in a channel, the addressee cannot get the message clearly. Hence, the information or the message should be conveyed successfully to get in touch with people in a communication, so there is no misunderstanding in the conversation. Having a good communication is very important. It can be happened if the signal or message from the speaker (X) is received clearly to the hearer (Y) and the source of noice is pressed to avoid misunderstanding. Rod Windle and Suzanne Warren(1999:18) mentioned three important components in making good communication. They are sending messages, receiving messages, and barriers to effective communication. 1. Sending messages In sending messages, there are three acts of communication involves: a. Verbal messages. Effective verbal messages must be brief, succinct, organized, and do not create resistance in the listener. b. Nonverbal message. It is a primary way to communicate emotions which is included by facial expression, postures, and gestures. c. Paraverbalmessages: it refers to the messages that speaker transmits through the tone, pitch, and voices. 2. Receiving messages

25 Receiving message are included: a. Listening. It is a combination of hearing what another person says and desire to respect another s point of view. b. Giving full physical attention to the speaker. It is an attitude of fully attention to have a hunch that what the speaker saying is very important. c. Being aware of the speakers nonverbal messages. Pay attention to body language and paraverbal messages. d. Paying attention to words and feelings. It is necessary not to ignore the emotional aspect to avoid risk of missing important information. 3. Barriers to effective communication People use communication barriers 90% in conflict situation. These barrier can exist into: a. Attacking: interrogating, criticizing, blaming, shaming. b. You messages : moralizing, preaching, advising, diagnosing. c. Showing power: ordering, threatening, commanding, directing. d. Other verbal barriers: shouting, name calling, refusing to speak. e. Flashing or rolling eyes. f. Quick or slow movements. g. Arms crossed, legs crossed. h. Gestures made with exasperation. i. Slouching, hunching over. j. Staring at people or avoiding eye contact. k. Excessive fidgeting with materials.

26 To avoid a misunderstanding in a communication, the message must be brief and organized. It is combined with the attitude and body language while the meaning is conveyed. Receiving message by giving full attention also influences the clarity of the information.. Making good communication with other people is not easy. There must have some ways to sustain communication in conversations. Fine (2005:47-48) has three techniques to get engaged in keeping conversation going well. Those techniques are explained in following details. 1. Show interest to the speakers, but stand slightly away from the group. This means to let people become accustomed to seeing, then slowly bringing into the circle of communication. 2. Ease into the group by listening. This technique is to welcome people's signs, such as asking or giving opinion. 3. Find a point of agreement; barring that, just acknowledge the speaker. In this point, people must be careful when giving opinions in a group since they probably feel offended with someone's statements. Those techniques are used by Fine as the ways to keep conversation going. Meanwhile, it can be also useful for people to sustain communication in a dialogue in order to make good communication in expressing ideas or feelings. 2.2 Spoken Language Spoken language or oral language is language produced in its spontaneous form. It is different with written language. It is clearly better tool for communication in a vast majority of cases because speakers do talk face-to-face and they can read the reactions of the listeners in realtime. This helps the speakers clarify terms and concepts when it is needed and adjust the communication according to how it is perceived.

27 Spoken language is ungrammatically and has more repetition. It is signed with the using of simple sentences in most conversation. Halliday (1989: 31) described characteristics of spoken language into: 1. Variation in speed. Spoken is generally faster than writing. 2. Loudness or quietness. Controlling voice depend with the intent whichspeaker wants to be perceived. 3. Gesture. Body language affects 50% to share meaning. 4. Intonation. It influences delivery of the message. 5. Stress. By the stress, addresser knows if the speaker conveys an information, asking question or command. 6. Rhythm. A true rhythm gives an exact conveying meaning. 7. Pitch range. It gives a change to speaker to share ideas clearly. 8. Pausing and phrasing. Spoken has more pausing and phrasing because it happens in real time and spontaneous. Based on the characteristics above, it can be assumed that spoken language is communicated with two or more participants in the same place at the same time. They use language to do communication without preparing what is going to be said in informal way and everyday life. It is used to interact with other social people like friends, neighbors, co-workers to greet one another. Another characteristics feature of spoken, Eggins (1996: 57) mentioned into: 1. Turn-taking organization and context dependent. It means that there are two or more participants in conversation or dialogues to recover the meaning in a certain context. 2. Dynamic structure. Spoken language needs interactive staging and open-ended structure.

28 3. Spontaneity phenomena. It is also spontaneity phenomena in which a lot of topics are discussed in spoken language included false starts, hesitations, interruptions, overlaps, and incomplete clauses. 4. Everyday lexis and non-standard grammar. People use everyday lexis and non-standard grammar like I ain t, I m gonna, I wanna eat, etc. 5. Grammatical complexity and lexically sparse. Grammatical complexity and lexically sparse appear in spoken language to express something which is difficult to say, so it needs a lot of time to express feeling. So,spoken language will be happened where there are two or more speakers. There will be a turn-taking and dynamic between them. It is spontanous and has no any such grammar rules. It means that spoken language happens in a conversation which is most familiar is calledcasual conversation. 2.3 Casual conversation Conversation for maintaining relationship is called casual conversation. It is usually not directed at any purpose other than to pass the time or to make or strengthen friendships. Casual form of information sharing typically is used in personal conversations, more socializing with families, friends and co-workers. It disobeys many rules of grammar and sometimes new words and phrases are invented. states that: Suzanne Eggins and Diane Slade, in their book Analysing Casual Conversation (1997:6),... casual conversation is a critical linguistic site for the negotiation of such important dimension of our social identity as gender, generational location, sexuality, social class membership, ethnicity, and subcultural and group affiliations... casual conversation is concerned with the joint construction of social reality.

29 It means that casual conversation makes sense to everyday society and the conversation itself tells something about social life. It is the kind of talk that is engaged in just for the sake of talking. In a casual conversation, people share meaning and ideas. The study which learned people s intended meaning is learnt in a branch of language study called pragmatic. 2.4 Pragmatic Study Speakers and hearers use language to communicate meaning in real life discourse contexts. The course will deal with two broad issues, those are how language meaning can depend on the context of use and the contrast between what is saidand what is communicated. All these are studied in pragmatics section. In language studies, pragmatics is a very wide field. It examines the using and understanding of the language which the speakers speak and hear, read and write. According to George Yule (1996:3), there are four areas that pragmatics is concerned with. They are explained as follows: 1. Pragmatics is the study of speaker meaning. It is concerned with the study of meaning as communicated by a speaker (writer) and interpreted by a listener (reader). It has, consequently, more to do with the analysis of what people mean by their utterance than what the words or phrases in those utterances might mean by themselves. 2. Pragmatics is the study of contextual meaning. This type of study necessarily involves the interpretation of what people mean in particular context and how the context influences what is said. It requires a consideration of how

30 speakers organize what they want to say in accordance with who they re talking to, where, and under what circumstances. 3. Pragmatics is the study of how more gets communicated than is said. This approach also necessarily explore how listeners can make inferences about what is said in order to arrive at an interpretation of the speaker s intended meaning. This type of study explores how a great deal of what is unsaid is recognized as part of what is communicated. It is the investigation of invisible meaning. 4. Pragmatics is the study of the expression of relative distance. This perspective then raises the question of what determines the choice between the said and unsaid. The basic answer is tied to the notion of distance. Closeness, whether it is physical, social, or conceptual, implies shared experience. On the assumption of how close or distant the listener is, speakers determine how much needs to be said. Based on the different meaning of pragmatics studies, it can be conclude that it is the study of language meaning in social phenomenon. The advantage of studying pragmatics is that one can talk about people s intended meanings, assumptions, purposes or goals, and the kinds of actions they are performing when they speak. Phatic is included one of the social phenomenon whose primary purpose is not about the content so much as its effects in social solidarity. It is one of the branches of pragmatics. 2.5 Phatic Communication Phatic Communication/communion (small talk) is a conversation for its own sake or is spoken communication that is intended more to share feelings or establish an atmosphere of sociability so that they can communicate facts and ideas.

31 The phenomenon of small talk was initially studied in 1923 by Bronislaw Malinowski, who coined the term phatic communication to describe it. He argued that the ability to conduct small talk is a social skill. It also communicates both in verbal and nonverbal. Verbal is speaking act. Nonverbal is gestures like a warm handshake or a wave, facial expression like a smile or a worrisome expression and tone of voice. Phatic communication or phatic speech also refers to a form of relationship communication which opens the channels of communication. It is a kind of preface to the main business to be discussed. It is the small talk that precedes the big talk. It relates with an opinion by Timothy Bickmore in A Computational Model of Small Talk (1999) who mentioned that: small talk is made about topics of general interest (e.g., weather, current event) or in which personal experiences, preferences and opinions are shared. Phatic communication has function to open the channels of communication, to say that normal communication rules operate here, and that someone wants to communicate. This is just a way to be friendly and to create harmony or maintain social relationship. In creating phatic communication, people should know the ontology theory to explore the specific functions of phatic communication. Kridalaksanaas quoted by Jumanto (2008:12) drew the following figure.

32 Phatic communion Malinowski (1923) 3 functions of language Buhler(1934): Expressive,Appellative, Representative 6 functions of language Jakobson (1960): Emotive, Conative, Referential, Phatic, Multilingual, Poetic Phatic Communication Richard et al (1992); Leech (1983), Cook (1989), Holmes (1992), Kridalaksana (1994, 2004), O Sullivan et al (1994), Renkema (1994), Schiffrin (1994), Abercrombie (1998), Verschueren (1999), Coupland (2000), Saville-Troike (2003), Mey (2001) 12 functions of phatic communication

33 (to break the silence, to start the talk, to give chit-chat, to make gossip, to sustain or keep the talk, to show solidarity, to create harmony, to create comfort, to express empathy, to express friendship, to express hospitality, to express politeness) Figure 2.2 The Ontology Theory Based on the ontology theory in figure 2.2, the functions of phatic, communication can be summarized as follows: 1. To break the silence. It is used to make a talk in a quiet situation. It expresses: a. Greetings, for examples: Hoo, what s happening?; Hello! b. Farewells, for instance: Oh, it was good to see you, thank you verymuch. c. Name or title, for examples: Doctor Longford!; Liz! d. Comments, for examples: Well, you look well today!; Oh, it s a terribleweather! 2. To start the talk. It functions to start making a conversation or dialogue by: a. Expressing greetings, for examples: Hello, how are you doing?;hello! b. Expressing farewells, for instance: Thank you for meeting with mebecause I won t have chance to have a meeting with you soon. c. Calling the name or title to the person who has been known or evenunknown. The examples are Sir!; Mr. Walter! d. Giving comments, for examples: Oh, it s hot today!; Oh, look at therain, pouring down really hard! e. Interrupting, for instance: Excuse me! Can I borrow your time for aminute?

34 f. Expressing sorry to open the conversation or dialogue, for examples:excuse me. Sorry to interrupt; Oh, I m sorry To make chit-chat. It is used to be friendly to the person in an informal talk. To make chit-chat, there should be: a. Opening It is used to start making chit-chat, for examples: It s a nice day, isn tit?; How are you doing? b. Middle or content It contains a safe and unimportant topic. The topics may be aboutfamily, holiday, weekend, TV program, job, school, weather, etc. Theexamples are How is it going?; Did you have a pleasant weekend? c. Closing It is used to end chit-chat, for examples: Excuse me. Sorry, I havesomething else to do. 4. To make gossip. It talks about other people or people s private lives. It is informal situationwhen there is no the third person in a talk. There are threestages to makegossip. They are: a. Opening It is used to start gossiping, for instance: Did you hear about...?;wanna tell me? I only heard this. I don t know if it s true. b. Middle or content

35 It contains any kind of topics. They are about friends, classmate, publicfigure, etc. The example is Have they broken up yet? c. Closing It is used to end making gossip, for instance: Goodbye. I have to getback to work. 5. To sustain or keep the talk. It functions to keep something alive or existence by: a. Interrupting the talk, for instance: Hey, can I ask you something? b. Avoiding silence while speaking, for examples: Let me think about it;ehm...; Cck, what do you call it? c. Changing the topic, for examples: Oh!;Ssh!; How about this...? d. Giving a sign that people are still listening to what someone is saying, for examples: Ehm; Aha; Really?, Oh, yeah? 6. To express solidarity. It is used to show support by one person or group to another because theyshare opinions or aims by: a. Giving hopes, for examples: I hope you...; Good Luck! b. Congratulating, for examples: Good job!; Well done! I knew you coulddo it. c. Agreeing something, for examples: Yes, exactly!, Yeah, I go along withthat. d. Expressing sorry, for instance: If I m wrong, I m sorry. e. Thanking, for instance: Thanks a lot! That s a big help! f. Giving praise, for examples: Happy birthday!; Well I like your hairstyle. g. Giving criticism, for instance: I think you should have...

36 h. Expressing taboo words, for examples: Fucking useless! Did you see that game last night? i. Mocking, for instance: Ah, you re so fat! j. Making jokes, for instance: Hey, since you don t have enough to do, I mgoing to give you some work! 7. To create harmony. It states a peaceful existence by: a. Giving hopes, for instance: I hope that the situation works out well. b. Congratulating, for instance: Congratulations. That s great news! c. Agreeing something, for instance: I think that s a good idea! d. Expressing sorry, for instance: I m sorry. I m messed up. e. Thanking, for instance: Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. f. Giving praise, for instance: I thought you did a really good piece ofwork. g. Giving criticism, for instance: You know, I don t think it s going towork. h. Expressing taboo words, for instance: Didn t you think that latestmessage we got from...was bloody stupid? i. Making jokes, for instance: Is that an executive decision? 8. To create comfort. It shows pleasant feeling by: a. Giving hopes, for instance: I really hope you feel better. b. Congratulating, for instance: Congratulations for having productionmeet the quota for the month. c. Agreeing something, for instance: I agree totally!

37 d. Expressing sorry, for instance: I wanna say sorry. e. Thanking, for instance: Thank you for listening to me. f. Giving praise, for instance: I know you can do it! g. Giving criticism, for instance: With all due respects, I don t agree. h. Expressing taboo words, for instance: Shit, yeah! i. Making jokes, for instance: Why are so happy today? j. Making people calm, for instance: Take it easy! k. Giving spirit, for instance: Don t worry. You can do it. 9. To express empathy. It is able to imagine and to share feelings or problems by: a. Giving hopes, for instance: I hope that you pass the exam. b. Congratulating, for instance: Congratulations on passing your test! c. Agreeing something, for instance: Ah, don t worry. They don tunderstand. d. Expressing sorry, for instance: Look, I made decision. I said this and Iwas wrong. I m sorry. e. Thanking, for instance: Okay, thanks for the job you did. f. Giving praise, for instance: Yesterday you were a fantastic woman! g. Giving critics, for instance: Well, I understand what you re trying tosay, I don t agree with you. Perhaps, there s another way to look atthis. h. Expressing taboo words, for instance: Yeah, you re fucking right! i. Making jokes, for instance: Have you finished your dinner, guy? Okay,then you have to wash the dishes.

38 j. Making people calm, for instance: Maybe it s none my business, but youdon t look very well today, are you okay? k. Giving spirit, for instance: Well, you know, your boss is mad becauseyou didn t make the production. Let s put it in this way. It s alreadypast! Next month we can do better. We can try the production by doingthis, this and this. l. Expressing sympathy, for instance: I think I understand how you feelbecause I ve experienced something recently, and I felt very depressed,very sad. 10. To express friendship. It is used to make friendly relationship by: a. Giving hopes, for instance: Break a leg! b. Congratulating, for instance: Way to go! c. Agreeing something, for instance: Yes, it s so hot. d. Expressing sorry, for instance: I m such an idiot! e. Thanking, for instance: Thanks for doing that for me. f. Giving praise, for instance: I ve found in you... g. Giving critics, for instance: Why did you say that...? h. Expressing taboo words, for instance: Bloody stupid, wasn t it? i. Mocking, for instance: Well, you look gorgeous! j. Making jokes, for instance: Is that your very beautiful dress?... It slike me, beautiful... k. Making people calm, for instance: Cool down! l. Giving spirit, for instance: You re much better than them. m. Expressing sympathy, for instance: Sorry to hear that. I feel terrible.

39 11. To express hospitality. It shares responsive and kind behavior towards people by: a. Giving hopes, for instance: I hope that you get the promotion. b. Congratulating, for instance: Well done! c. Agreeing something, for instance: Don t worry. You re in the right. d. Expressing sorry, for instance: I apologize that I was taking the wrongway, I said the wrong thing. e. Thanking, for instance: Thank you. I really appreciate you doing that. f. Giving praise, for instance: Congratulations. I really thought thatspeech was effective. g. Giving critics, for instance: Black shirt is nice, but the pink tie isprobably better with something else. h. Making jokes, for instance: I just have mineral water to drink. i. Making people calm, for instance: You look and sound very upset. Thisis not good for you. I think it d be better for you to calm down. Try tocalm down. j. Giving spirit, for instance: Don t worry. You re an amazing person.some other faculty will take you. k. Expressing sympathy, for instance: Well, I m here. Let s have a look atwhere we are. I might be out to help you. 12. To express politeness. It shows good manners. They are: a. Breaking the silence, for examples: Hello!; Oh, it was good to see you,thank you very much; Oh, it s a terrible weather!

40 b. Starting the talk, for examples: Hello!; Thank you for meeting with mebecause I won t have chance to have a meeting with you soon; Mr.Walter! c. Giving chit-chat, for examples: How are you doing?; Did you have apleasant weekend?; Excuse me. Sorry, I have something else to do. d. Sustaining or keeping the talk, for examples: Hey, can I ask yousomething?; Let me think about it; Ehm...; How about this...? e. Showing solidarity, for examples: Good Luck!; Good job!; Yes,exactly!, Yeah, I go along with that. f. Creating harmony, for examples: I hope that the situation works outwell; Congratulations. That s great news!; I think that s a good idea! g. Creating comfort, for examples: I really hope you feel better;congratulations for having production meet the quota for the month; Iagree totally! h. Expressing empathy, for examples: I hope that you pass the exam;congratulations on passing your test!; Ah, don t worry. They don tunderstand. i. Expressing friendship, for examples: Break a leg!; Way to go!; Yes, it sso hot; I m such an idiot! j. Expressing hospitality, for examples: I hope that you get the promotion;well done!; Don t worry. You re in the right; I apologize that I wastaking the wrong way, I said the wrong thing. The descriptions about the functions of phatic communication exposethat making gossip in conversations or dialogues is not used to express politeness since it talks about people s private lives. It is only for those who are close in a friendship. The key is to be polite with people in order

41 to make a good social relationship in conversations or dialogues. At this point, making conversations or dialogues also needs some ways to start, to sustain and to end it. Fine (2005:4) described: Small talk serves an extremely important function. Without it, someone rarely gets to the real conversation. Small talk is the icebreaker that clears the way for more intimate conversation, laying the foundation for a stronger relationship. People who excel at small talk are experts at making others feel included, valued, and comfortable then it goes a long toward furthering a business relationship, closing a deal, opening the door for romance, or making a friend. Fine agrees that small talk has very important function for people to make good social relationship in making good interaction each other so they can have friends and get into the real conversation softly. Through small talk, people can be able to make communication in pleased way and it is a strategy for managing interpersonal distance. 2.6 Native and Non-native English Speaker It is not a secret if almost all countries in the world use English as their language. But, there are different English competence between native and non-native speaker. Native speaker is a person who has spoken a certain language since early childhood. It is related withpaikeday and Bloomfield s definition of native speaker. Paikeday (1985:58) mentioned that everyone is a native speaker of the particular language states that the person has grown in his/her mind/brain. Bloomfield (1933:43) stated that the first language a human being learns to speak in his native language; he is a native speaker of this language. So, native is he or she who accept a certain language since his or her born. Based on the definition of who is native above, it can be concluded that English native speakeris a speaker who uses English as his or her first language or mother tongue.native

42 speakers of English are people whose first language is English. They learned English when they were children. They think in English. They use it naturally. Native English comes from American, Australian, British, Canadian, New Zealand and Scottish. In the development, people who learn English as International language increase rapidly. It creates such people who able to speak English even they do not come from countries which use English as their mother tongue. These people is called by non-native English speaker. A nonnative English speaker is a speaker who comes from countries where English is gennerally not a local medium of communication. He or she has another native tongue. Kachru (1992:2) drew a cicle which is called Kachru s three cicle model. It has been accepted for years as the most accurate representation of the spread of English language. It can be shown in following figure. Expanding circle english Outer-circle english inner-circle english Figure 2.3 Kachru s three circle model

43 On the figure 2.3, inner circle is for countries which use English as their first language or native language (ENL). They are USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Outer circle mentions is for coutries where English is used as a second language (ESL). They are Singapore, Malaysia, India, Philippines, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, etc. Expanding circle English stands for countries where English is a prominent or most foreign language (EFL) used. They are included China, Japan, Russia, Indonesia, Korea, Nepal, etc. Based on the Kachru s cicle, the nationalities included in inner cicle are they who can be called as native English speaker. People who are in outer circle and expanding circle are called as non-native English speaker. They speak and learn English, but not as their first language. They adopt English from the native. How the native and non-native in using English is not same. They have different competence and pronounciation. Medgyes (1992:341) claimed that the differences of English competence between native and non-native are very substantial. It cannot be outweighed by other factors prevalent in the learning situation, whether it be motivation, aptitude, perseverance, experience, education, or anything else. In other words, for all their effort, non-native speaker can never achieve a native speaker s competence. This assumption is made clearer by Medgyes interlanguage continuum which is shown into figure 2.4 below. zero competence native competence Figure 2.4 The Interlangugage Continuum

44 Figures 2.4illustrates that non-native speakers constantly move along the continuum as long as they learn-to-use / use-to-learn English. A select few come quite close to native competence, but sooner or later they are halted by a glass wall. The main reason why non-natives cannot turn into natives lies in the fact that they are, by their very nature. Their use of English is but an imitation of some form of native use. Non-native speaker can never be as creative and original as whom they have learnt to copy. It has been clear that however non-native English speakers copy the natives language, it cannot be as clear and original as like natives themselves. It is because for who non-natives are. They use English as imitation. They learn English as second language, not the original like native who learns since birth. 2.7 Language and Culture It is generally agreed that language and culture are closely related. Language, of course, is determined by culture and culture is determined by language. Language can be viewed as a verbal expression of culture because language provides human with many of the categories they use for expression of their thoughts. So, it is therefore natural to assume that their thinking is influenced by the language which they use. Culture is the ideas, customs, and expression of a belief as a way of life of a community in a society that develops as a distinct art and taste. Language is the medium of expression in distinct vocalized or written form as social interact that gives the cultural identity. Therefore, everyone s views are dependent on the culture which has influenced them, as well as being described using the language which has been shaped by that culture. The understanding of a culture and its people can be enhanced by the knowledge of their language.