On directive acts among Arek-dialect Javanese speakers: A politeness aspect

Abstract

Being polite is vital in fostering a harmonious relationship with any member of society with different sociocultural backgrounds. This paper aims to contribute to the field of an ethnic politeness behavior, especially the Javanese sub-ethnic, well-known as Arek Soroboyo, who speak Arek-dialect Javanese (ADJ). The main objective of this study is to know ADJ Speaker’s polite linguistic behavior in performing directive acts such as ordering, asking, requesting, or suggesting, which are examined based on Brown and Levinson’s (1987) theoretical account. The study was qualitatively approached, employing observation techniques of speech events and Discourse Completion Test (DCTs) for data collection. The study participants, of at least 17 years of age, were born and raised in Surabaya, Sidoarjo, and Mojokerto and must speak Arek dialect. The data were analysed using Brown and Levinson’s (1987) Politeness Strategies. The findings reveal that ADJ speakers, who are mostly egalitarian, dominantly employ positive politeness and bald on-record strategy, rarely employ negative strategies and none of the employing case of off-record strategy. This implies a conclusive proposition that sociocultural values greatly affect the linguistic politeness behavior of members of a speech community.