Politeness in Indonesian Oral Discourse: An Analysis
This study investigates politeness strategies, as proposed by Brown and
Levinson (1987), used by Indonesian speakers in colloquial conversations intra-
culturally. It discusses the notion of ‘face,’ which is an important part of
Asian cultures, including Indonesian, in which how one is perceived by others
matters. An overview of the Brown and Levinson’s politeness phenomena is
provided. The study then analyzes how positive and negative politeness is
displayed in an Indonesian colloquial conversation, and why certain kinds of
politeness strategies are chosen by the interlocutors. It seeks to discover
whether there are factors that might affect the politeness strategies between
them and what they are, and, finally, how those factors actually play a role in
a speakers’ deciding what to do in terms of politeness in conversation.
This study employs the method of discourse analysis of a conversation by native
Indonesian speakers, which was recorded, transcribed and, where necessary,
translated. Analysis of the data reveals several linguistic devices employed by
the interlocutors to do politeness and the most common strategies used in
Indonesian colloquial conversations are positive politeness strategies, as well
as a sociological variable that influenced the participant to do politeness.
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