Speec Act Assertive Utterance

ABSTRACT

            Every utterance is made in particular place, at a particular time and it is usually addressed

in some other persons (the listener). The speaker and the listener are of a crucial centre because both of them have multiple roles in utterance. Assertive utterance is speakers and writers use language to tell what they know or believe; assertive language is concerned with facts. this language concerned with knowladge, with cognition. It deals with data, what exist or existed, what is happening or has happened or not. So assertive utterances are either true or false, and generally they can be verified or falsified not necessarily at the time of the utterance or by those who hear them, but a general sensw they are subject to empirical investigation.  The readers ‘ forum is one of column which contains some opinions and comments and it covers many are up to date issues. Readers’ forum also includes some oppinions and comments with is various forms of people’s opinion from every perspective of life such as social and political perspective. 

            The purpose o this study is to understand clearly about the references of the text and what the language points out or what it refers to. This research was conducted by using descriptive qualitative method. It is descriptive because the data are words such as description of assertive utterance used in readers’ forum. The data were in the  forms of words or utterances in readers’ forum of the Jakarta post which were published on May and June 2011.

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

            This section includes background of the study,statement of the problem,obective of the study,significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study and definition of key terms. Each of these is discussed as follows.
1.1  Background of the study

Cohen (1996) claims that the fact that speech acts reflect somewhat routinized language behavior helps learning in the sense that much of what is said is predictable. For example, Wolfson & Manes, (1980) have found that adjectives nice or good (e.g., "That's a nice shirt you're wearing" or "it was a good talk you gave") are used almost half the time when complimenting in English and beautiful, pretty, and great make up another 15 percent.

  Speech acts differ in their purposes, whether they deal with real or potential facts, prospective or retrospective, in the rple of speaker or addressee in these facts, and of course in felicity conditions.

            According to(Brown and Yule), there are seven kinds of speech act theory, assertive utterance, performative Utterances, expresive utterance, directive utterance, commisive utterance. This research focuses on assertive utterance, how the speech acts that commit a speaker to the truth of the expressed proposition.

            The fuction of assertive, speakers and writers use language to tell what they know or believe. assertive utterances start with I or we, who, what, which, where, when, how, why; and an assertive verb. Some sentences of English are virtually imposible to understand to the readers if we do not know those sentences to be uttered who is speaking, the time and place of the speaking, the gesture of the speaker and the current location in the discourse.

            The source of this research is the readers forum af the Jakarta Post reader’s forum is one of columns which contains some opinions and commens on up to date issues. Readers forum is an explanation ot criticismor illustration that is added in the textual material and also includes some opinions and comments with its various form of opinion from every perspective of live such as social and political perspective. it also shows the way of expressing their opinion with their own language. In addition, reader’s forum is one of columns for the readers to give their opinion about a topic that is discussed in an up date issue. Besides, the language used in the readers forum not only gives a good but also give a bad opinion. It shows us that the readers are not really satisfied of what have been read on the news, the readers also give some comments about their expectation. The resources and Directories of the Jakarta Post are taken from: Indonesian History, Indonesian Cabinets, Acronyms Important Addresses, and Universities.

1.2 Statement of the problem

In line with the above disscussion the problem proposed is

1.  what are types of speech act?

2. .How are the Assertive Utterance used in readers forum of the Jakarta post Newspaper?

1.3 Objective of the study

            Based on the statement of the problem above, the objective of the study is to describe the Assertive Utterance used in the utterance  readers forum of the Jakarta Post Newspaper.

1.4 Significance of the study

            The present study provides some significance: First, this helps the readers to understand clearly about the references of the text clearly and what the language points out or what it refers to. Second, it can add he richness of the data on this particular area, aspecially the references such as who is speaking, place and time in readers forum. Third, for the next research, it can be easy to the readers to got the point what the writers mean, they also can use this study to know the speech act types and the analysis to function maximally and also it can givebasic concept of assertive utterance theory such as person, place, time, social, especially about assertive utterance.

1.5 Scope and Limitation of the study

            Due to the available time, I limit my data of  readers forum discussing about the general electional topic from Jakarta Post published on May and June 2011.

1.6 Definition of Key Term

            To avoid misunderstanding misinterpretation of the key term used, I define some terms are follows.

1.      Speech act is minimal functional unit in human communication

2.      Assertive Utterance is the technical term of language to tell what they know or believe.

3.      Person utterance is realized with personal pronouns

4.      Place utterance is speaker can refer to something that is in the vicinity or further away.

5.      Time utterance is reference to a temporal reference point.

6.      Social utterance is the social relationship in linguistic expresion.

7.      Readers forum is one of the columns in the Jakarta Post which contains some opinions and comments.

                                   

CHAPTER II

REVIEW RELATED LITERATURE

2.1  Discourse Analysis

            Discourse is formal treatment of a subject in speech writing and also a unit of text used by linguistics for the analysis of linguistic phenomena that range over more than one sentence (Mills, 1997:2).     

            Brown and Yule (1983:27) state that discourse analyst’s approach to linguistic data differs from that of the formal linguist and lead to specialized use of certain terms because the analyst Is investigating the use of language in context by a speaker or writer.

            Meanwhile, Renkama (1993:1) explined that discourse study is the discipline devoted to the investigation. in addition, discourse analysis covers and extremely wide range of activities from the narrowly focused investigation of how words such as ‘oh’ or ‘well’ are used in casual talk, to the study of dominant ideology in a culture as reresented, for example, in its educational or political practices. When it is restricted to lingustic issues, discourse analysis focuses on the record (spoken or written) of the process by wich a language is use in  some context to express intention. In addition, discourse analysis isa general term for a number of approaches to analyzing written, spoke or singned language use.(Yule.1996:83-84).

          The discourse analysis is is describing what speakers and hearers are doing and not relationship with axists between one sentences or proposition and another (Brown and

Yule). So, that discourse analysis is speakers and listeners are crucial of the utterance and the central of the object in speech and writing.

  2.2  Reference

            Reference is treated as an action on the part of the speaker or writer (Brown and Yule,1983:28.). In addition, Strawson in Brown and Yule (1983:28) also claims that refernce is not something an expression does it is something that someone can use an expression to do it.

            Brown and Yule (1983:192) state that reference can be devided into endophoric and exophoric. Endophoric is related to the interpretation lies within a text while exophoric is related to the interpretation lies outside the text.There are two kinds of endophoric: anaphoric and cataphoric. The identities of the presupposed items are given previously and refer to presupposition which is called anaphoric. Next presupposition is given in the beginning and the presupposed items at the end is called cataphoric.

For example;

Anaphoric      : The studrnt of IAIN should be diligent students, open your mind

                        ( you refer back to student)

Cataphoric     : Open your mind, the student of IAIN should be diligent students

                        (you refer forwards to the students)

            Yule (1996: 17) considers that reference is as an act in which a speaker writer uses linguistic from enable a listener or reader to identify something. It is clearly tied to the speakers goals and the speakers belief. Namely the listener is expected to know the particular thing, in the use of language. The reference expression forms can be be a proper noun (for example, ‘Hemingway’, ‘Bali’) noun phrases which are definite (for example, ‘the author’,  ‘the island’) or indefinite  (for example, ‘a man’, ‘a beautiful place’) and pronouns (for example, ‘he’,  ‘her’, ‘it’, ‘them’).Lyon in Yule (1983:28) says that te relationship which holds between  words and things is the relationship of reference: word refer to things.

            There appears to be a pragmatic connection between proper names and objects that will be conventionally associated, whitin a socio-culturally defined community, with those names. Using proper name referetinally to identify any such object invites the listener to make the expected inference (for example, from name of writer to book by writer) and thereby show him or herself to be a number of the same community as the speaker. (Yule, 1996; 20-21).

            Meanwhile, Yule (1996:19) there is a convention that certain expressions will be used to identify certain entities on regular basis. It is the people’s daily experience that may cause to assume that referring expressions can only designate very spesific eitities. For exampl, the word refer to the book not a person. Consider the following utterance.

Eva      :”may I borrow your Yule?”

Nuril   :   “yup, it is there in my bag.”

            The example above that reference can be established from the convention. Given the context just created, the intended referent and the inferent and the inferred would not be a person but probably a book.

2.3 Inference

            According to Brown and Yule describe inference is as the process which the reader or hearer must go through to get from the literal meaning of what is written or said to what the writer or speaker intended to convey. In addition, inference is the is the collective term for all possible implict information which can be derived from a discourse.

            Since the discourse analyst, like the hearer, has no direct access to a speakers intended meaning in producing an utterance, he often has to rely on a process of inference to arrive at an interpretation for utterances or for the connection between utterances. Such inferences appear to be of different kinds. It may be the casethat we are capable of deriving a specific conclusion from specific premises and via deductive inference, but we are rarely asked to do so in the everyday discourse we encounter.

2.4 Assertive Utterances

            According to Charles W. Kreidler (1997:183) in the assertive function speakers and writers use language to tell what they know or believe; assertive language is concerned with facts. this language concerned with knowladge, with cognition. It deals with data, what exist or existed, what is happening or has happened or not. So assertive utterances are either true or false, and generally they can be verified or falsified not necessarily at the time of the utterance or by those who hear them, but a general sensw they are subject to empirical investigation.

            Speech act theory originates in Aaustin’s (1962) observation that while sentences can often be used to report states of affairs.Such utterances Austin described as ‘performatives’ and  the specified circumtances required for their succes he outlined as a set of ‘felicity condition’.

            Austin pointed out, however, that muc of our ordinary use of language is just as much asking question and giving commands as making statements, and even utterance that have the form of declarative sentences. Whenever one person speaks to another, the speaker has some intention in producing the utterance, and the addressee interprets the utterance. In spite of occasional misunderstandings the hearer’s interpretation often does match the speaker’s intention, even when the speaker is joking or being sarcastic.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHOD

                In this chapter I present research design, data source, data collection.

3.1 Research Design

                In this research I use qualitative method, it is qualitative because it has natural setting as the direct source of the data, besides, data are analyzed naturally with a rich description under a particular setting because it is concerned with context. it is descriptive qualitative method because the data are in the forms of words such as description of assertive utterance used in the readers forums.

3.2 Data Source

                The data source of the research is the readers’ forum of the Jakarta post which contain assertive utterance on May and June 2011  because in this recent time there is  interesting comment and opinion about politic and corruption. In addition, it is considered the most current issue of it publication.

3.3 Data Collection

                Based on research question, the data of the research are collected in following steps. first, select the general topics . Second, arrange the obtained data based on time of published such as writing data firstly published on June and May 2011.

CHAPTER VI

RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION

                This chapter presents the research findings and discussion, the data are classified based on the research problem namely “Hoe are assrtive utterance used in readers “forum of the Jakarta post?”  the writer take    data published on May and June 2011 which discussed about politic and corruption case.

 Data 1

                This opinion is written by Wisaksana in the readers’ forum of the Jakarta post which published on 6 June, 2011. It is about “on arrest of judge Syarifuddin”.

                “I agree with the aforementioned public stoning, cutting of hands etc. Way to go, KPK. please eradicate corruption, but if you become corrupt yourself I’d wish for you to suffer an extremely painful and slow death before you burn in hell. God bless”.

(Wisaksana Jakarta).

                This letter ‘agree with the aforementioned public stoning, cutting of hands etc’. Means that the speaker agree with public stoning and cutting of hands for corrupt.  You in that utterance refers to KPK, the speakers want to express what the speaker know or believe about the laws of corruption in Indonesia.

Data 2

                This comment write by Wayan in the readers’forum of the Jakarta post which is published on 28 May 2011. It is about  “Indonesia is in danger, court chief says”.

                “Pak Mahfud is a man before his time in a nation that is well behind its time. let us hope he survives political assassination.

                Hope is all there is that someday similar honestly, respect and enlightenment will prevail in the dim corridors of Indonesian power brokers”.

(Wayan, Bali)

                “Pak Mahfud is a man before his time in a nation that is well behind its time is a subject of the utterance which be classified into person utterance. furthermore it is utterance expression or speakers’ believe that expressed in readers’ forum. Next  ‘corridors of Indonesia’ is a subject and can be classified into place utterance and it is used since it points to the moment of speaking.

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

            The aasertive utterance used on readers’ forum of the Jakarta post using Austin theory is part of theory of discourse a conversation, a aformal lecture, a poem, a short story, a business letter.  A spoken of discourse is any act of speech that occurs in a given place and during a given period of time.

            The meaning of an utterance is the meaning of the sentence plus the meanings of the circumstances, the time and place, the people involved, their backgrounds,  their relationship to one another, and what they know about one another.

BIBILIOGRAPHY

Brown, G and Yule, G. 1983. Discourse Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Charles, W. Kreidler. 1997. Introduction English Semantic. Georgetown University.

Levinson, Stephen C. 1983. Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Renkama, jan. 1993. Discourse Studies: An introductory text book. Amsterdam: John benjamins publishing company