INFORMAL
INTERACTION BETWEEN A YOUNG EXECUTIVE AND A YOUNG ASSISTANT
Mufid Zulia and Fatah Ahmadi
Ahmad Dahlan University
1.
INTRODUCTION
Language has the main role in human life. Every man
in the world uses language to interact and communicate to other people to
convey messages. People can express their feeling, opinion, and ideas by
communicate to other people using language. In the form of language production,
there are two parts; they are written and spoken language. External language applies to language in social context, i.e.
behavioral habits shared by community (N. Chomsky).
People will communicate with other people using
language that is approved in its community. . A
conversation will be happen if there is more than one person. Although the
speakers live under the same community, they have their own style in speaking
and their talks will be different if the context doesn’t same. If they talk to the older, boss,
someone who never meet before, equal and the parents.
Communication and interaction are important in human
life to convey the messages and express their feeling. In an interaction
consist of many utterances and turns that related to Sociolinguistics study and
the theories have their own role in linguistics. In this paper, writer tries to
elaborate a conversation between a boss and an assistant that can be analyzed
using the S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G model of Hymess.
In this paper, writer
analyzed about the implementation of using informal style in a conversation
between a young executive with his assistant that was taken from a movie
“Beauty and the Briefcase” based on the theories in Linguistics.
2. DISCUSSION
A.
S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G ANALYSIS
The
S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G model by Hymes is an identification of some aspects of an
interaction that consist of some points based on the first letter of each
component. The finding can be seen as following explanation:
·
SETTING
AND SCENE
Setting:
Place
·
“A” was in a company
(indoor)
The
evidence:
Q:
“Did you forget? We have a presentation today”
Q:
“I was just upset with you. The presentation is in two hours and I need
those visuals.”
Q:
“I didn’t fire you.”
Q:
“Lane, this isn’t the seventh grade. It’s investment banking. Now, get me those
boards!”
·
“Q” was in the house. “Q”
didn’t go anywhere because she thought that the boss fired her and she became a
jobless.
The
evidence:
A:
“What do you mean? Let me eat my breakfast”
A:
“Did you forget that you fired me?”
Q:
“I didn’t fire you.”
Time:
It
was happen in the morning at working hour.
The
evidences:
A:
“What do you mean? Let me eat my breakfast.
Q:
“Did you forget? We have a presentation today”
Q:
“I was just upset with you. The presentation is in two hours and I need
those visuals.”
Scene:
It
was a panic situation and it was very busy and complicated before a meeting
with the investors to attract them invests in the department to make a
partnership and corporation.
The
evidences:
Q:
“Did you forget? We have a presentation today”
Q:
“Lane, this isn’t the seventh grade. It’s investment banking. Now, get me
those boards!
Q:
“I was just upset with you. The presentation is in two hours and I need
those visuals.”
·
PARTICIPANTS
There
are two participants; they are a boss “Q” and an assistant “A”.
-
Speaker :
Q (the boss)
-
Addressee : A (his
assistant)
-
Addressor : The company
-
Audience : A (assistant)
There
were many commands from the boss.
The
evidences:
Q:
“Did you forget? We have a presentation today”
A:
“Did you forget that you fired me?”
Q:
“I didn’t fire you.”
Q:
“I was just upset with you. The presentation is in two hours and I need
those visuals.”
Q:
“Lane, this isn’t the seventh grade. It’s investment banking. Now, get me
those boards!”
A:
“thank you for being my boss again. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
·
ENDS
Participant
|
Purpose
|
Goals
|
Outcomes
|
Boss
|
Asking for
help
|
To have a good
presentation
|
To get a big
investment from the business partner.
|
Assistant
|
To help the
boss
|
To impress
other people
|
To get her job back, get salary, and promotion
|
·
ACT
SEQUENCE
Content:
The
topic: clarify a misunderstanding and asking for help for a presentation with
and investor.
The
evidences:
Q:
“I didn’t fire you.”
A:
“That’s what it sounded like to me.”
Q:
“I was just upset with you. The presentation is in two hours and I need those
visuals.
Form:
1. The
boss came to the office.
2. The
boss found that his assistant didn’t come.
3. The
boss picked his phone up and dialed the number to call.
4. The
boss asked the assistant to bring a visual media for presentation.
5. The
assistant felt that the company didn’t need her anymore.
6. The
boss told to his assistant that he needed her to come to the office.
7. The
assistant refused it.
8. The
boss clarified the situation.
9. The
assistant was agree and promised to come to the office and bring the media for
presentation.
·
KEY
The
key of power of the boss:
-
The boss had right to
fire his employees.
-
The boss had power to
ask the assistant to do anything.
Evidences:
A:
“Did you forget that you fired me?”
Q:
“I didn’t fire you.”
Q:
“I was just upset with you. The presentation is in two hours and I need
those visuals.”
Q:
“Well. Then run to the printer’s! ”
Q:
“Lane, this isn’t the seventh grade. It’s investment banking. Now, get me
those boards!”
·
INSTRUMENTALITIES
Channel:
The
conversation traveled by phone because “Q” (the boss) asked where was “A” at
that time. It is impossible for a person asking “where are you” if they talk
directly and can see each other in the same place.
-
The evidence:
Q:
“Where are you?”
A:
“What do you mean? Let me eat my breakfast.”
Code:
Although
the conversation was between a boss and his assistance, the form of speech was
a casual register. It happened because both of them were on the same age and
“A” called “Q” without honorific so “A” called “Q” by “Q” name though he was
the boss.
-
The evidences:
A:
“What do you mean? Let me eat my breakfast.
A:
“Tom, Everyone is mad at me. I lied to everyone.
·
NORMS
Interaction:
“Q
“(the boss) had much turn than “A” (the assistant) because he built the
conversation and more diligent than “A”. In the dialog, “Q” made some commands
and suggestions to A that showed he was a smart man.
-
The evidences:
Q:
“Where are you?”
Q:
“Did you forget? We have a presentation today”
Q:
“I was just upset with you. The presentation is in two hours and I need
those visuals. ”
Q:
“Lane, this isn’t the seventh grade. It’s investment banking. Now, get me those
boards!”
Q:
“Well. Then run to the printer’s! ”
Interpretation:
The
problem in the conversation was the boss needed his assistant to bring a visual
media for a presentation with investor but the assistant got a trouble because
she lied to anyone in the company.
-
The evidences:
Q:
“Did you forget? We have a presentation today”
Q:
“I was just upset with you. The presentation is in two hours and I need
those visuals.”
Q:
“Lane, this isn’t the seventh grade. It’s investment banking. Now, get me
those boards! ”
A:
“Tom, Everyone is mad at me. I lied to everyone. )”
·
GENRE
-
Informal: two ways
participation and interruption were allowed.
-
The evidences:
Q:
“Where are you?”
A:
“What do you mean? Let me eat my breakfast.”
Q:
“Did you forget? We have a presentation today”
A:
“Did you forget that you fired me?”
Q:
“I didn’t fire you.”
A:
“That’s what it sounded like to me.”
3. CONCLUSION
By
the analysis about a conversation from a movie, writer found some points below:
1. Writer
found informal style in a conversation between a young executive with his
assistant that was taken from a movie “Beauty and the Briefcase”.
2. Politeness
is about how the participants of the conversation showing respect each other.
Because of they were equals, so they used informal form that didn’t need any
politeness rules like in a conversation with the older.
3. As
the participant of the conversation were equal, the S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G model of
Hymes on the part of genre was informal that allowed them to interrupt the
conversation.
REFERENCES
Hornby,
A. S. 1995. Oxford Advance Learners
Dictionary. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hymes,
Dell. 1994. Linguistics Communication and
Speech act. MIT Press.
Mey,
Jacob L. 1993. Pragmatics: An
Introduction. Great Britain: T. J. Press.
Yule,
George. 1996. The Study of Language
Second Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.