POLITENESS STRATEGIES USED BY ELLEN DEGENERES AND U.S ... · antara pembawa acara yang bernama...

i

POLITENESS STRATEGIES USED BY ELLEN DEGENERES

AND U.S. POLITICIANS IN THE ELLEN SHOW

A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

By

Carolina Yuni Rahastri K.

Student Number: 131214013

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2017

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

A Smjana Pendidikan Thesis on

POLITENESS STRATEGIES USED BY ELLEN DEGENERESAND U.S. POLITICIANS IN THE ELLEN SHOW

By



Approved by

Advisor

Barli Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D.

ii

Date

12 June 2017

__1 _


POLITENESS STRATEGIES USED BY ELLEN DEGENERESAND U.S. POLITICIANS IN THE ELLENSHOW

By

CAROLINA YUNI RAHASTRI K.


Defended before the Board of Examinerson 11 July 2017

and Declared Acceptable

Board of Examiners

Chairperson Yohana Veniranda, M.Hum., M.A., Ph.D.

Secretary : Christina Lhaksmita Anandari, Ed.M.

Member : BarH Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D.

Member : Christina Lhaksmita Anandari, Ed.M.

Member : Dr. Retno Muljani, M.Pd.

Yogyakarta, 11 July 2017Faculty ofTeachers Training and EducationSanata Dharma University

iii

------------------------


STATEMENT OF WORK'S ORIGINALITY

I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the workor paIis of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and thereferences, as a scientific paper should.

Yogyakarta, 11 July 2017

The Writer

Ca !ina Yuni Rahastri K.

131214013

IV

...&r _


LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUANPUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang belianda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dhanlla:

Nama

Nomor Mahasiswa


131214013

Demi pengembangan i1mu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada PerpustakaanUniversitas Sanata Dhal111a karya i1miah saya berjudu1:

POLITENESS STRATEGIES USED BY ELLEN DEGENERESAND U. S. POLITICIANS IN THE ELLEN SHOW

Dengan demikian saya membelikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas SanataDhanlla hak untuk menyimpan, menga1ihkan da1am bentuk media lain,menge101anya da1am bentuk pangka1an data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, danmempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademistanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada sayase1ama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat di YogyakartaPada tangga1: 11 Juli 2017

Yang menyatakan

C 7;<Car lina Yuni Rahastri K.

v


vi

ABSTRACT

Rahastri, Carolina Yuni. (2017). Politeness strategies used by Ellen DeGeneres

and U.S. politicians in The Ellen Show.Yogyakarta: English Language Education

Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.

Learning a language, especially for EFL students, is related to learning the

structural rules of the language, namely grammar. Meanwhile, there are other

essential aspects required in learning the language. One of them is understanding

how to use the language in social conditions. It means that students need to use

the language appropriately. They will be able to avoid miscommunication if they

understand the language. The capability of using language appropriately is related

to politeness.

This study analyzed the application of politeness strategies in a talk

show, namely The Ellen Show. Furthermore, the writer analyzed the interaction

between the host, Ellen, and two U.S. politicians as the guest stars. The interaction

between them represented the use of politeness strategies in social context. There

were two research questions in this study: (1) Which politeness strategies are used

by Ellen and U.S. politicians in The Ellen Show? and (2) What are the factors that

influence Ellen and the politicians in using politeness strategies in the talk show?

Discourse analysis which belongs to qualitative research was used by the

writer to conduct this study. The writer analyzed the utterances that were

produced by Ellen and U.S politicians by using the s and the transcripts of the talk

show. The writer employed Brown and Levinson‘s (1987) theory to classify the

use of politeness strategies that were used by the speakers. The factors that

influence the choice of strategies were analyzed by using Brown and Levinson‘s

theory as well.

The study revealed that Ellen and U.S. politicians used almost all of the

politeness strategies. The factors that influence the choice of the strategies were

the payoffs and the sociological variables which consisted of social distance and

rank of imposition. The writer expected that the result of the study will be helpful

for readers, especially for learners, teachers, and future researchers in

understanding politeness in English.

Keywords: politeness strategies, payoffs, sociological variables, talk show


vii

ABSTRAK

Rahastri, Carolina Yuni. (2017). Politeness strategies used by Ellen DeGeneres

and U.S. politicians in The Ellen Show.Yogyakarta: Program Studi Bahasa

Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Mempelajari bahasa, terutama bagi mahasiswa yang mempelajari Bahasa

Inggris sebagai bahasa asing, berkaitan dengan mempelajari aturan-aturan dalam

struktur kebahasaan, atau yang biasa disebut grammar. Sementara itu, terdapat

beberapa hal penting yang diperlukan dalam mempelajari bahasa. Salah satunya

adalah dengan memahami cara bagaimana menggunakan bahasa tersebut di dalam

kehidupan bersosial. Hal ini menunjukan bahwa mahasiswa perlu menggunakan

bahasa dengan sesuai. Mahasiswa dapat menghindari terjadinya miskomunikasi

yang terjadi di antara mereka ketika mereka dapat memahami bahasa yang mereka

pakai. Kemampuan dalam menggunakan bahasa dengan baik dan benar berkaitan

erat dengan kesopanan.

Studi ini menganalisis tentang penggunaan strategi kesopanan dalam sebuah

talk show bernama The Ellen Show. Selanjutnya, penulis menganalisis interaksi

antara pembawa acara yang bernama Ellen dan para politisi Amerika sebagai

bintang tamu. Interaksi yang terjadi diantara mereka menunjukan penggunaan

strategi kesopanan dalam konteks sosial. Terdapat dua rumusan masalah dalam

studi ini: (1) Strategi kesopanan apa saja yang digunakan Ellen dan politisi

Amerika di The Ellen Show? (2) Faktor-faktor apa saja yang mempengaruhi Ellen

dan politisi Amerika dalam menggunakan strategi kesopanan dalam talk show

tersebut?

Analisis wacana yang termasuk dalam penelitian kualitatif digunakan oleh

penulis untuk melakukan studi ini. Penulis menganalisis ungkapan-ungkapan yang

dikemukakan oleh Ellen dan politisi Amerika dengan menggunakan cuplikan

video beserta transkrip yang terdapat dalam talk show. Penulis menggunakan teori

dari Brown dan Levinson (1987) untuk mengklasifikasi penggunaan strategi

kesopanaan yang diterapkan oleh pembicara. Faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi

pemilihan strategi kesopanan juga dianalisis dengan teori Brown dan Levinson.

Studi ini menyimpulkan bahwa Ellen dan politisi Amerika menggunakan

hampir semua strategi kesopanan. Faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi pemilihan

strategi kesopanan adalah keuntungan untuk penutur dan variabel sosiologis yang

mencakup jarak sosial dan tingkat pembebanan. Penulis berharap supaya hasil dari

studi ini akan berguna bagi pembaca khususnya bagi pembelajar, pengajar, dan

penulis selanjutnya dalam memahami kesopanan dalam bahasa Inggris.

Kata kunci: politeness strategies, payoffs, sociological variables, talk show


viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It has been a long journey I went on to achieve my Sarjana Pendidikan

degree. I would like to sincerely express my gratitude to those who kindly walked

beside me to strengthen me and give me support during the process of writing this

thesis.

First of all, I would like to praise Jesus Christ for all the blessings, time,

and everything given to my life. His blessings have been guiding me through my

journey. I would also like to thank Him for sending me the people who supported

me during the writing of my thesis. Foremost, I would like to thank my beloved

parents, Papa Yosep Adrianus Muljono and Mama Maria Caecilia Novitta Sri

Sanggrama Hastawati Wuniasmoro, and my sisters, Crescentiana Diah

Lindiyasari Kusumaningtyas and Lusia Ratih Desi Kusumaning Hapsari for

their prayers and support throughout my life.

I respectfully express my gratitude to my advisor, Barli Bram, M.Ed.,

Ph.D., for being very patient in guiding me. I thank him for spending his valuable

time critically read my writing and advise me for better writing. My gratitude also

goes to my academic advisor, Drs. Y.B. Gunawan M.A. for his patience in

guiding me throughout my study in this university. I also thank all lecturers,

staff, and students of ELESP Sanata Dharma University for everything. I

would peculiarly thank Ibu Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd. for kindly

supporting me and giving me references in writing this thesis.

I am grateful to have cheerleaders in writing this thesis: Mas Yos (as

my tutor since Structure 2 course), Mami Eggie, Monica, Cimbul, all of my


ix

friends in Class A batch 2013, all of GRISADHA members especially Yu

Warni Emprit, Mas Agus, Swelana, and Yostin, all of my friends in Thesis

class, REMBOL, and all of Kos Sagan No.22 girls. Last but not least, for all

inspirations, I thank my beloved partner, Victor Wijaya Dewantara.

Carolina Yuni Rahastri Kusumarani

(Aci)


x

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE ........................................................................................................... i

APPROVAL PAGES .............................................................................................. ii

STATEMENT OF WORK‘S ORIGINALITY ...................................................... iv

PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ........................................................ v

ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... vi

ABSTRAK .............................................................................................................. vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................. viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................ x

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................... xii

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................... xiii

LIST OF APPENDICES ...................................................................................... xiv

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1

A. Research Background ............................................................................. 1

B. Research Questions ................................................................................ 4

C. Research Significance............................................................................. 4

D. Definition of Terms ................................................................................ 4

CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ...................................... 7

A. Theoretical Description .......................................................................... 7

1. The Study of Language ........................................................................... 7

2. The Study of Language and Society ....................................................... 8

3. Discourse Analysis .................................................................................. 9

4. Politeness Theory .................................................................................... 9

5. Politeness Strategies .............................................................................. 12

6. Factors of Politeness Strategies ............................................................. 26

B. Review of Related Research ................................................................. 30

C. Theoretical Framework......................................................................... 32

CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY ...................................................................... 33

A. Research Method .................................................................................. 33

B. Research Setting and Data Source ........................................................ 34


xi

C. Data Gathering Technique .................................................................... 36

D. Data Analysis Technique ...................................................................... 37

CHAPTER IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .................................................. 39

A. The Politeness Strategies Used by Ellen and the U.S. Politicians in The

Ellen Show ............................................................................................ 39

B. The Factors Which Influence the Application of Politeness Strategies

by Ellen and the Politicians in The Ellen Show .................................... 56

CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND

RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................... 65

A. Conclusions .......................................................................................... 65

B. Implications .......................................................................................... 67

C. Recommendations ................................................................................ 67

REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 69

APPENDICES ...................................................................................................... 71


xii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1. EFL = English as a Foreign Language

2. U.S. = United States

3. FTA = Face-Threatening Act

4. BoR = Bald on Record

5. PP = Positive Politeness

6. NP = Negative Politeness

7. OR = Off Record


xiii

LIST OF TABLES

3.1 The Categorization of Politeness Strategies Used by Ellen and U.S. Politicians

in The Ellen Show .......................................................................................... 38

4.1 Politeness Strategies Found in The Ellen Show ............................................. 40

Table Page


xiv

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix Page

A The List of Politeness Strategies Produced by Ellen and U.S. Politicians in

The Ellen Show .............................................................................................. 72

B The Transcript of The Ellen Show ................................................................. 78


1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents four sections, namely the research background,

research questions, research significance, and definition of terms. The research

background presents the background issues and concerns of the study. The

research questions formulate questions related to the study. The research

significance presents the writer‘s contribution of the study. The definition of terms

defines the significant keywords and phrases related to the study.

A. Research Background

People use language every day in their daily life to communicate with

others. They use language as a tool in social activities. Based on Holtgraves

(2002), language is a method that allows people to interact among themselves (p.

5). Furthermore, communication become one of the important aspects in human

daily life. People use the language to interact and communicate for reasons and

purposes especially in interpersonal communication. Through the language,

people can express their thoughts and feelings, ask for help, criticize, and give

compliment. The use of language is not about doing an action for one self, but

also ―a social action that involves other people‖ (Holtgraves, 2002, p. 1). Clark

(1996a) states that people should coordinate with others in using the language to

understand and to be understood (as cited by Holtgraves, 2002).

Meanwhile, people need to control themselves in using the language

especially in interpersonal communication. People need to avoid improper use of


2

language because it can harm other people who are involved in the conversation.

Hence, they need to choose proper way and proper diction in producing their

utterances. The adjustment of utterances and the way to consider what people feel

can be identified as politeness. Politeness as said by Brown and Levinson (1987)

is a psychological state that is related to something emotionally established and

can be lost, maintained, and must be constantly attended to in interaction.

Meanwhile, van Herk (2012) defines politeness as an act of behaving properly in

any social interaction and treating the interlocutor properly. Generally, speaking

politeness involves understanding the feelings of others. People who speak

politely will make other people feel comfortable. Inappropriate choice of words

and choice of the way people speak may be considered as rude.

It is important for learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to learn

about politeness in order to be able to produce an utterance properly. Learning

English Language for EFL students is not only understanding about the form and

the structure of language, early named grammar. However, the students need to

understand how to use the language in social conditions. Moreover, English

learners will face difficulties in choosing the right way to communicate properly

and politely by using different language. It can lead them into improper use of the

language itself. However, EFL students need to have good knowledge in using

English language as a tool to communicate in interpersonal communication.

Different languages will lead English learners to different cultures as well.

Furthermore, the different cultures can affect the way the English learners produce

an utterance. Therefore, English learners shall also understand the diversity of the


3

culture in order to avoid misunderstanding in speaking different languages. It is

clear that people need to firstly understand the culture of a language before they

want to study the language itself.

The writer aims to analyze how politeness strategies are used in the daily

conversation. The focus of this study is to observe and analyze the use of

politeness strategies in an American talk show named The Ellen Show. The writer

wants to analyze how politeness strategies are used by Ellen DeGeneres, as the

host, and the United States (U.S.) politicians as the guests. Ellen is well known as

an American comedian in her first debut. Now, she has her own TV program

named The Ellen Show. The writer choose this talk show because it provides

dialogues which show interpersonal relationship. In addition, the writer choose

Ellen DeGeneres as the subject of the study because the writer wants to know how

Ellen, who has a background as comedian, used her politeness towards U.S.

politicians as the guests of the talk show. Meanwhile, the politicians are chosen

because the writer wants to know how politicians used their politeness in non-

state events.

What makes this study different from other politeness studies is about the

object. Many of politeness studies concern how politeness strategies are used in

several movies or novels. Meanwhile, the writer of this study concerns how

politeness strategies are used in the daily conversation as presented in a talk show.

Besides, the selected clips of the talk show that will be discussed in this study are

clips which containing the conversation between Ellen and the U.S. politicians.


4

B. Research Questions

Based on the background of the study, two research questions are

formulated as follows.

1. Which politeness strategies are used by Ellen and U.S. politicians

in The Ellen Show?

2. What are the factors that influence Ellen and the politicians in

using politeness strategies in the talk show?

C. Research Significance

The writer expects that this study will be useful for English learners,

English teacher candidates, English teachers, and future researchers. For English

learners, the writer believes that this study will encourage them to be more aware

in using English language. This helps them to be capable in using appropriate

English utterances in social situations. For English teachers and teacher

candidates, the writer believes that this study will encourage them to assess and

evaluate not only the grammatical skill, but also the students‘ skill in using

language in social situations, in terms of politeness. For future researchers, the

writer believes that this study will give them enough information about politeness

so that it can be a reference for their own studies.

D. Definition of Terms

In this section, the writer will define three terms related to this study. The

terms are:


5

1. Politeness

Holmes (1996) states that politeness is a behavior that shows positive

concerns for others. The theory accounts for the redressing of the affronts to face

posed by face threatening acts (FTA) to addressees. Mills (2003) mentions that

politeness is the speaker‘s expression to reduce the face threats that carried by

assertive face threatening acts to the hearer. Meanwhile, Brown and Levinson

(1987) state that emotional and social sense have a relation to everyone‘s self-

public image and it will be expected by everyone else to recognize. The utterances

in which the politeness were produced by Ellen and U.S. politicians will be the

focus of this study.

2. Face Threatening Act

Brown and Levinson (1987) describe that Face Threatening Act is an act

that inherently threats hearer‘s or speaker‘s face. There are two different notions

that are stated by Brown and Levinson (1978), namely positive face and negative

face. FTA is the expression that threats the positive face or negative face of both

speaker and hearer within the interpersonal communication. In this study, FTA is

used to analyze the politicians and Ellen‘s interaction in The Ellen Show.

3. Politeness Strategies

Based on Brown and Levinson (1987), ―politeness strategy is a strategy

that concerns saving hearer‘s face by formulating an expression that is less

threatening for the hearer‘s face‖ (p. 61). In this study, politeness strategy is

dealing with interpersonal communication between U.S. politicians and the host in


6

The Ellen Show. Furthermore, the study will analyze how the politicians and the

host mitigate their utterances towards hearer‘s face.

4. The Ellen Show

In this study, The Ellen Show is used as the data source. The Ellen Show is

a daytime American talk show which is hosted by a comedian and actress, Ellen

DeGeneres. The talk show had its first debut on September 8, 2003. This talk

show invites several types of guests who include celebrities, politicians, actors,

musicians, newsmaker, and also interviews ordinary people who have

extraordinary talents. This TV program was also nominated in Emmy Award in

2004 that became a successful year for The Ellen Show in the early debut of the

talk show. The Ellen Show has unique concepts in each episode, for example

audience participation games with prizes, Ellen dance moves with the guest star,

and audience surprise introduction to their favorite celebrities.


7

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter consists of two parts, namely the theoretical description and

theoretical framework. The theoretical description includes the description of

related theories that are used in this study. The theoretical framework summarizes

and synthesizes all major relevant theories which will help the writer analyzes the

study to answer the research questions.

A. Theoretical Description

This part discusses five major theories which can be the bases of this study,

namely the study of language usage, language in society, discourse analysis,

politeness, and politeness strategies. Since the study deals with the utterances

which are produced by Ellen and the politicians in The Ellen Show, it is necessary

to include the pragmatic theory because it is related to the meaning within the

context. The language and society theory is included because it focuses on how

language is used in social context. Discourse analysis theory is included because

the study deals with how people produce the language within the context. The

other theories are the theories of politeness and politeness strategies which

become the main theories of this study.

1. The Study of Language

Van Dijk (2009) describes that the study of language usage or pragmatics

is one of the fields of linguistics and discourse studies that has most

systematically studied the relations between context and language. Leech (1992)


8

states, ―pragmatics is the study of how language is used to communicate and also

how someone uses language within context in particular ways in communication‖

(p. 19).

Besides, pragmatics aims to analyze the meaning of the language that is

used by a speaker in connection with speech situations (Leech, 1983). The

pragmatic theory is in accordance with the focus of this study which is how the

language is used by people to communicate with others. It concerns how people

use the language and why they use it in particular ways.

Meanwhile, pragmatics focuses on the study of the utterance‘s meaning

conveyed by the speaker, not in grammatical form of the utterance. It is in line

with Levinson‘s (1983) theory that ―pragmatics cover both context-dependent

aspects of language structure and principles of language usage and understanding

that have nothing or little to do with linguistics structure‖ (p. 9). Thus, the theory

of pragmatics itself clarifies the language usage and language structure as the way

to understand the context within the language that is used by the speaker in

communicating with others.

2. The Study of Language and Society

The study of language and society or sociolinguistics is a study that

focuses on the social aspect of language and how the language is used (Davis,

1995). It concerns how people use the language in social life. Llamas and

Stockwell (2009) state that ―societies differ from each other and change over time

which show that language is variable‖ (p. 21). It means that language varies for

one to another. Meanwhile, social variables make the variation in the use of


9

language. There are four social variables which can affect people in doing

conversation, such as age, gender, geography, and social class (Stockwell, 2002).

Furthermore, each language is used by different people in different contexts

within different reasons. It becomes essential that people need to consider those

social variables in learning a language to communicate with each other.

3. Discourse Analysis

Nunan (1993) states that ―discourse analysis involves the study of language

in use‖ (p. 7). Based on this view, discourse conveys what the language is, how

the speakers produce the language, and how the context within which the

language is used (Nunan, 1993). In other words, discourse refers to the

interpretation of the communicative event in context. Avdi and Georgaca (2007)

state that discourse is defined as systems of meaning that is related to the

interactional in wider sociocultural context and operate regardless of the speakers‘

intentions. In discourse analysis, language is also considered as a form of social

action. Therefore, people use language to achieve certain interpersonal goals in

specific interactional contexts (Nunan, 1993).

4. Politeness Theory

Brown and Levinson (1987) define politeness as a psychological state that

is related to something emotionally established and can be lost, maintained, and

must be constantly attended to in interaction. There are four strategies to maintain

the psychological state in the interaction that are presented by Brown and

Levinson (1987), namely bald on record, positive politeness, negative politeness,

and off record.


10

Meanwhile, there are two elements that are firmly related to the application

of politeness strategies that are proposed by Brown and Levinson (1987). The

elements are the notion of face and Face Threatening Act (FTA). Before

explaining the politeness strategies by Brown and Levinson (1987), the writer

discusses the elements in the following paragraphs.

a. Face

Brown and Levinson (1987) define face as the public self-image that every

member wants to claim for himself. There are two related aspects of face. The two

aspects are negative face and positive face.

Negative face is defined by Brown and Levinson (1987) as ―the basic

claim to territories, personal preserves, rights to non-distraction‖ (p. 61). Negative

face is known as the want of every individual to be independent and be

unimpeded by others (Brown and Levinson, 1987, p. 62). It means that every

individual has the desire to be free from imposition and action towards him.

Positive face is defined by Brown and Levinson (1987) as the positive

consistent self-image claimed by interactants. As Brown and Levinson (1987)

state that positive face refers to ―the want of every member that his wants be

desirable to at least some others‖ (p. 62). The positive face crucially includes the

desire that self-image be appreciated and approved of. It means that positive

politeness is used when an individual wants to be appreciated or to be approved

and liked by others.

To make it clear, consider an example. Mrs. Thompson is a cat lover.

Much of her time and effort are expended on her cats. She is proud of her cats,


11

and she likes others to admire them. She is gratified when people say ‗What a

lovely cat; I want to touch it. How do you take care of its fur?‖, implying that they

want just what she has wanted and achieved (Brown & Levinson, 1987).

b. Face Threatening Act

When a speaker produces an utterance that violates hearer‘s positive or

negative face, he does the Face Threatening Act (FTA). It is intuitively the case

that the speaker‘s utterances threaten the hearer‘s face. The utterances will

threaten the hearer‘s face when there is a difference between the speaker and

hearer‘s wants or desire. In other words, the speaker and hearer‘s wants run

contrary. Brown and Levinson (1987) state that FTA is a threat used by a speaker

that consists of mitigating statement and verbal repair or politeness (p. 66). The

speaker may threaten the hearer‘s face, for example by asking for help which

threatens hearer‘s negative face since the speaker is potentially imposing on the

hearer or just simply by giving compliments which threatens hearer‘s positive face

since the speaker satisfying the hearer. Furthermore, FTA can be done within

verbal and non-verbal communication. However, the focus of this study is to

analyze FTAs which are produced verbally.

People need to be aware of the utterance that they produced. They must be

careful in choosing the words to be uttered to maintain the hearer‘s face. Any

misunderstanding will happen if the speaker‘s utterance threatens the hearer‘s

face. Besides, the misunderstanding will damage their interpersonal

communication. Therefore, Brown and Levinson‘s (1987) politeness strategies


12

serve four notions to save both speaker and hearer‘s face. The four notions will be

described in the following section.

5. Politeness Strategies

Based on Brown and Levinson (1987), politeness strategies are strategies

which concern saving hearer‘s face by producing an expression that is less

threatening for the hearer‘s face. There are four main strategies which are

presented by Brown and Levinson (1987), namely bald on record, positive

politeness, negative politeness, and off record. The following points show deeper

explanation of each politeness strategy.

a. Bald on Record

Brown and Levinson (1987) state that bald on record is the maximum

efficiency in communication. The speaker uses bald on record when he does the

FTA with maximum efficiency more than his wants to satisfy the hearer‘s face.

On the other hand, there are two different classes of bald on-record depending on

the cases and motives of the speakers to do the FTA with maximum efficiency,

namely non-minimization of the face threat and the usage of FTA-oriented bald

on record.

1) Non Minimization of the Face Threat

The first class of bald on record deals with the condition where the face

threat is irrelevant. This class is the class where the FTA is ignored and not

minimized. The communication difficulties of this class exert pressure to speak

with maximum efficiency. The class where the FTA is ignored includes the case

of great urgency or desperation, the case where the speaker‘s willingness to satisfy


13

hearer‘s face is low and the case where doing the FTA by the speaker is primarily

for hearer‘s interest. The case of great urgency shown in the utterance ―Watch

out!‖ The speaker‘s low willingness to satisfy hearer‘s face is shown in the case

when the speaker is more powerful, does not fear retaliation from hearer, or

because the speaker wants to be rude. It is exemplified by the utterance ―Bring me

these clothes, John.‖ as said by the oldest sibling. The case where doing the FTA

by the speaker is primarily for hearer‘s interest is shown in the utterance ―Hey,

girl. Don‘t be sad.‖ and ―Be careful! The floor is wet.‖ Thus sympathetic advice

or warning can be performed baldly on record.

2) FTA-Oriented Bald on Record Usage

The second type is where a threat is minimized by the implication. Based

on Brown and Levinson (1987), the threat which is inherently brought by the FTA

is minimized by saving hearer‘s particular face. For instance, the utterance

implicitly saves the hearer‘s face but the utterance that the speaker makes is an

FTA. This nicely requires mutual orientation which involves the attempt of each

participant of social interaction to foresee what the other participant attempts to

foresee (Brown & Levinson, 1987).

There are three states which are included in this type of bald on record,

namely welcomings, farewells, and the state where the speaker insists the hearer

to impose on speaker‘s face. The example of welcomings is the utterance ―Come

in. I‘m not busy.‖ as said by a person with higher power to the subordinate who is

waiting outside his room. The example of farewells is in the utterance, ―Good

bye! See you when I see you.‖ The state in which the speaker insists the hearer to


14

impose on speaker‘s face is exemplified by the utterance, ―Don‘t worry about it.

I‘ll clean it up.‖ as said by the host to a guest, who wants to clean the mess.

b. Positive Politeness

Positive politeness is a redress directed to the addressee‘s positive face, the

want to be approved, desired, and accepted (Brown & Levinson, 1987).

Holtgraves (2002) states that positive politeness is an approach depends on

strategy. It refers to an action to minimize the distance between the speaker and

hearer. By using positive politeness, the speaker wants to make the hearer feel

accepted and feel good about his interest. Brown and Levinson (1987) divide

positive politeness into three big mechanisms, namely claiming common ground,

conveying that speaker and hearer are cooperators, and fulfilling hearer‘s want.

1) Claiming Common Ground

The first mechanism of positive politeness is claiming common ground

which includes the act of indicating that the speaker and hearer belong to a

particular group. The particular group here is considered as a group of people who

share the same desire that includes goals and values. However, Brown and

Levinson (1987) elaborate this mechanism into eight sub-strategies which are

exemplified in the following paragraphs.

Sub-strategy 1 is the state where the speaker attends to notice the condition

of the hearer (Brown & Levinson, 1987). It includes noticing hearer‘s interests,

wants, needs, and goods. Another aspect of notice output is when the speaker

respects the hearer condition. It can be in the form of sympathy, care or even


15

compliment. The example of this sub-strategy is the utterance ―Your performance

is very good! Congratulations.‖

Sub-strategy 2 is the state where the speaker exaggerates interest, approval,

and sympathy with the hearer. This strategy is often done by saying something

more impressive than its actual status using exaggerated intonation or stress in the

adjective. The example is the utterance ―What a fantastic car you have!‖

Sub-strategy 3 is intensifying interest to hearer. This sub-strategy is used

when the speaker shares his wants to a hearer by making a good story and drawing

the hearer into it. Brown and Levinson (1987) state that it is another way for the

speaker to intensify the interest of his own contributions to the conversation. It is

exemplified with the utterance state by Brown and Levinson (1987) ―I come down

the stairs, and what you think I see? – a huge mess all over the place, the phone‘s

off the hook and clothes are scattered all over…‖ (p. 106).

Sub-strategy 4 is done by using any of the innumerable way to convey in-

group membership. It indicates that both the speaker and hearer belong to a group

of people who share specific wants. Brown and Levinson (1987) state that the use

of address forms, language or dialect, jargon or slang, and ellipsis are the elements

of in-group identity markers. The example is in utterance ―Come here, fellas.‖

Sub-strategy 5 is seeking agreement. Brown and Levinson (1987) state that

seeking agreement indicates speaker‘s wants to seek hearer‘s agreement and

therefore to satisfy hearer‘s desire to be ‗right‘. It is done by delivering safe topics

to the hearer and repeating part or all of what the preceding speaker has said in the


16

conversation. The example is proposed by Brown and Levinson (1987) in the

dialogue:

A: I had a flat tyre on the way home.

B: Oh God, a flat tyre!

It can be seen that hearer B repeats the part of what the preceding speaker A has

said in the conversation as the response to speaker A‘s safe topic.

Sub-strategy 6 is done by avoiding disagreement. There are four

mechanisms of avoiding disagreement according to Brown and Levinson (1987).

The mechanisms are token agreement that leads the speaker to twist his utterances

to hide disagreement, pseudo-agreement which is the use of ‘then’ as a conclusory

marker, white lies, and hedging opinions. This sub-strategy is exemplified with

the utterances ―I‘ll be seeing you then.‖

Sub-strategy 7 is presupposing common ground. Brown and Levinson

(1987) state that gossiping or having small talk is the example of presupposing or

asserting common ground. This is an act of believing something happens before it

is proven. The example is in the utterance ―I really had a hard time learning to

dive, you know.‖

Sub-strategy 8 is using joke. Brown and Levinson (1987) explain that

joking is a basic positive-politeness technique. In this way, jokes can be used to

stress mutual background knowledge and values that are shared by the speaker

and hearer. The example is in the utterance ―OK if I tackle those cookies now?‖

(Brown & Levinson, 1987, p. 124).


17

2) Conveying that Speaker and Hearer are Co-operators

The second mechanism is conveying that the speaker and hearer are co-

operators. It means that the speaker and hearer have the same goal and same wants

in particular way. Brown and Levinson (1987) divide this strategy into six sub-

strategies that will be explained in the following paragraphs.

Sub-strategy 1 is asserting speaker‘s knowledge of and concern for

hearer‘s wants. Brown and Levinson (1987) note that this sub-strategy purposes to

assert the hearer‘s wants and willingness based on the speaker‘s knowledge to fit

one‘s own wants within them. The example that is proposed by Brown and

Levinson (1987) is in the utterance ―I know you can‘t bear parties, but this one

will really be good – do come!‖ (p. 125).

Sub-strategy 2 is offering or promising. Brown and Levinson (1987) state

that offers and promises demonstrate speaker‘s good intention to satisfy the

hearer‘s wants. The intention of satisfying the hearer‘s wants claims that the

speaker will obtain whatever the hearer‘s wants. This sub-strategy is exemplified

with the utterance ―I‘ll drop by sometime next week.‖

Sub-strategy 3 is being optimistic. Brown and Levinson (1987) explain that

this is the act of assuming that speaker‘s wants is also wanted by hearer and that

the hearer will help the speaker to obtain them. Thus, the speaker presumptuously

assumes that hearer will cooperate with him because both of them share mutual

interest. The example of the utterance is ―You‘ll lend me your lawnmower for the

weekend, won‘t you?‖ (Brown & Levinson, 1987, p. 126).


18

Sub-strategy 4 is including the speaker and hearer in a particular activity.

This sub-strategy is done by using an inclusive ‗we‘ form, when the speaker really

means ‗you‘ or ‗me‘. By using ‗we‘ form, the speaker wants the hearer to be

involved in the activity and eventually become cooperators. The example is in the

utterance ―Let‘s get on with dinner, eh?‖ (i.e. you).

Sub-strategy 5 is giving or asking for reasons. Brown and Levinson (1987)

state that giving or asking for reason is a way of assuming cooperation between

the speaker and the hearer (H wants S‘s desires). This sub-strategy shows that

help is needed as in a way of implying ‗I can help you‘ or ‗you can help me‘. The

example is in utterance ―Why don‘t I help you with that suitcase?‖

Sub-strategy six is assuming or asserting reciprocity. This sub-strategy is

done by giving evidence of reciprocal rights or obligations which are obtained

between speaker and hearer (Brown & Levinson, 1987). It is an act when the

speaker and hearer create mutual advantages. The sub-strategy is exemplified with

the utterance ―I‘ll give you pizza if you win the competition.‖

3) Fulfilling Hearer’s Want

The third mechanism is fulfilling hearer‘s wants. It means that the speaker

wants the hearer‘s desire for hearer himself. The speaker can satisfy the hearer‘s

positive face by making the hearer satisfy about positive face he wants. Hence,

Brown and Levinson (1987) state that satisfying hearer‘s wants is done by the act

of gift-giving. The gift itself is not only in a form of tangible gift, but it also in the

form of intangible gift, such as goods, sympathy, understanding, and cooperation

that is done among the speaker and the hearer. This sub-strategy is exemplified


19

with the utterance ―I heard that your son won yesterday‘s singing competition. I

am happy for you.‖

c. Negative Politeness

Brown and Levinson (1987) state that negative politeness is a redressible

action addressed to the addressee‘s negative face. It is about the speaker‘s desires

to have his freedom of action unhindered and his attention unimpeded. Negative

politeness is more specific and focus rather than positive politeness which is free-

ranging. There are four sub-strategies in the mechanism of negative politeness

strategy that are classified by Brown & Levinson (1987).

1) Being Conventionally Indirect

Brown and Levinson (1987) state that conventional indirect forms can be

seen by asking questions or asserting the felicity conditions underlying the act.

The conventional indirectness occurs when the speaker uses phrases or sentences

that have contextually unambiguous meaning which are different from their literal

meanings. These sub-strategies can be performed when a speaker wants to bother

a person for favors, for example, ―Can you shut the door?‖ In this way, the

speaker‘s on record utterance is conveyed indirectly. Brown and Levinson (1987)

add that ―conventional indirectness encodes the clash of wants and partially

achieves them both‖ (p. 132).

2) Avoid Presuming or Assuming

Brown and Levinson (1987) explain that avoiding presuming or assuming

anything towards the hearer‘s belief includes avoiding presumption about the

hearer, his wants, and what is the relevant of his attention (p. 144). The ability to


20

avoid performing a particular action regarding the hearer‘s belief is through the

use of hedges. For example, the use of ‗if‘ clause suspends the relevant felicity

condition, as in the utterance ―Close the door, if you can‖; the use of hedges

addressed to Grice‘s Maxim, as seen in the utterance ―I assume that junk food is

not good for health.‖, the hedge ‗assume‘ can suggest that the speaker is not

taking full responsibility for the truth of his utterance; the use of hedge on the

relevance maxim to soften the imposition of topic changes, as in the utterance

―I‘m sorry to say this, but…‖ (as cited in Holtgraves, 2002, p.45).

3) Avoid Coercion

A strategy to lessen coercion includes not only conventional indirectness,

but also an act which conveys pessimism regarding the appropriateness of the act

that is performed by the speaker (Brown & Levinson, 1987). The use of

subjunctive and tag questions, as in the utterance ―Would you open the door?‖, are

the output of this strategy. In addition, the other sub-strategies to lessen coercion

include attempting to minimize the imposition, humbling themselves

(downgrading a compliment), and giving deference (using formal address terms).

4) Communicate a Speaker’s Wants to Not Impinge on Hearer

Brown and Levinson (1987) state that communicating the speaker‘s wants

to not impinge on the other can be accomplished by providing an apology which

indicates reluctance, as in utterance ―I don‘t want to disturb you, but could you

lend me a hand?‖; admitting the impingement, as in utterance ―I know you are

busy, but could you come to me please?‖; or by asking for forgiveness, for

instance ―I wish you‘ll forgive me.‖ Meanwhile, there is another sub-strategy to


21

borderline the addressee (hearer) from the act that will be delivered by the speaker

linguistically. The sub-strategy is impersonalizing the speaker and hearer. For

example, the use of pronoun ‗I‘ in ―It‘s wrong‖ rather than ―I tell you it‘s wrong‖;

and pronoun ‗you‘ as in ―Close the door‖ rather than ―You close the door‖; and

the use of passive rather than active instructions as in ―It is expected that students

will follow the lesson‖ rather than ―I expect you to follow the lesson.‖

5) Go on Record of Incurring Debt

The last sub-strategy by Brown and Levinson (1987) is going on record of

incurring debt or by disclaiming any indebtedness on the part of the hearer. An

example of this sub-strategy is the utterance ―I‘d be happy for your help‖ and ―I

could easily do it for you.‖

d. Off Record

Brown and Levinson (1987) state that an off record utterance is actually an

indirect use of language. People who use the off record strategy will produce

utterance that is either more general or essentially different from what others

mean. It means that the utterance which is stated by someone contain less

information so that the hearer have to interpret them in order to understand the

real meaning. Thus, it is clear that the meaning of the utterance is not directly

stated by the speakers since the utterance is categorized as an indirect utterance. It

is supported by Holtgraves (2002), who states that off record strategy is an

indirect communication. There are two mechanisms that are proposed by Brown

and Levinson in the off record strategy, namely inviting conversational

implicature and being vague or ambiguous.


22

1) Inviting Conversational Implicatures

If the speaker wants to do an FTA and chooses to do it indirectly, the

speaker must give the hearer some clues. Besides, the speaker hopes that the

hearer can interpret what the speaker really means to say. Brown and Levinson

(1987) state that the basic way to do the FTA is by inviting the conversational

implicatures so that the speaker can assume an interpretation that makes the clues

understandable. This mechanism is divided into ten sub-strategies that will be

explained in the following paragraphs.

Sub-strategy 1 is by giving hints. Brown and Levinson (1987) state that

this sub-strategy is done by the speaker who says something that is not explicitly

relevant. The speaker invites the hearer to find an interpretation of the possible

relevance. An example for this sub-strategy is in the utterance ―This soup‘s a bit

bland‖ (Brown & Levinson, 1987, p. 215). From the utterance, the speaker gives

hints to the hearer to pass the salt.

Sub-strategy 2 is by giving association clues. This sub-strategy is done by

the speaker who gives a related kind of implicature triggered by relevance

violations. Brown and Levinson (1987) state that ―it is provided by mentioning

something associated with the act required of a hearer by mutual knowledge

irrespective of their interactional experiences‖ (p. 215). This sub-strategy is

exemplified by the utterance ―Are you going to market tomorrow? There‘s a

market tomorrow, I suppose‖ (Brown & Levinson, 1987, p. 216). From the

utterance, the speaker conveys a request to the hearer to give a ride there.


23

Sub-strategy 3 is presupposing prior event. The example of the strategy is

in the utterance ―I washed the car again today.‖ The use of again is done by the

speaker to force the hearer to find the relevance of the presupposed prior event

(Brown & Levinson, 1987).

Sub-strategy 4 is by understating what the speaker actually wants to say.

Brown and Levinson (1987) explain that this is an act of saying something less

than what is required. The example is in the utterance ―That dress is quite nice‖

(Brown & Levinson, 1987, p. 218), when the speaker actually means that he does

not particularly like it for understated criticism implicating, or the speaker actually

likes it very much for understated compliment implicating.

Sub-strategy 5 is overstating. This sub-strategy is done by the speaker who

exaggerates or chooses a point on scale which is higher than what is required

(Brown & Levinson, 1987). It is the opposite of the previous sub-strategy which is

understating. The example of the sub-strategy is in the utterance ―There were a

million people in the Co-op tonight!‖ (Brown & Levinson, 1987, p. 219).

Sub-strategy 6 is using tautologies. It is done by the speaker who

encourages the hearer to search for an informative interpretation of the non-

informative utterance. As stated by Brown and Levinson (1987), the example is

the utterance ―If I won‘t give it, I won‘t,‖ (c.i. I mean it!).

Sub-strategy 7 is using contradiction. Brown and Levinson (1987) explain

that this sub-strategy is the act of stating two things that contradict to each other.

In this case, the speaker cannot tell the truth and encourage the hearer to look for


24

an interpretation that conforms both contradictory propositions. The example is

―Well, John is here and he isn‘t here‖ (Brown & Levinson, 1987, p. 221).

Sub-strategy 8 is being ironic. This is an act where the speaker says the

opposite of what he really means. Brown and Levinson (1987) state that the

speaker can indirectly convey his intended meaning by saying the opposite. The

example is in the utterance ―Beautiful weather, isn‘t it!‖ (As said by the speaker to

a postman drenched in rainstorm).

Sub-strategy 9 is using metaphors. In this sub-strategy, the speaker uses

metaphor and hedges the utterance. By doing this, the speaker invites the hearer to

interpret the meaning of the utterance. This sub-strategy is exemplified by the

utterance ―Emma‘s a real fish.‖ (c.i. She swims like a fish).

Sub-strategy 10 is using rhetorical question. Brown and Levinson (1987)

state that this sub-strategy is done when the speaker wants to ask a question with

no intention for the hearer to answer the question. The example of this sub-

strategy is in the utterance ‖What can I do?‖ As said by the speaker who actually

has nothing to do.

2) Be Vague or Ambiguous

Being vague or ambiguous is another mechanism that can be used by the

speaker to go off record. There are five sub-strategies of being vague or

ambiguous that are explained in the following sections.

Sub-strategy 1 is being ambiguous. Brown and Levinson (1987) explain

that this sub-strategy is done by the speaker who makes purposeful ambiguity

which may be achieved by using metaphor. It can be seen in the utterance ―John‘s


25

a pretty (sharp/smooth) cookie.‖ It could be either a compliment or an insult,

depending on which of the connotations of sharp or smooth are latched on to.

Sub-strategy 2 is being vague. Brown and Levinson (1987) state that the

speaker can go off record with an FTA by being vague about who the object is or

what the offence is. This sub-strategy is exemplified with the utterance ―Perhaps

someone did something naughty‖ as said by the speaker to convey criticism.

Sub-strategy 3 is over-generalizing. Brown and Levinson (1987) explain

that this sub-strategy is done when the speaker gives a rule instantiation which

may leave the object of the FTA vaguely off record. Then, the hearer have to

decide whether the general rules apply to him. The example is in the utterance

―Mature people sometimes help do the dishes.‖

Sub-strategy 4 is displacing the hearer. Brown and Levinson (1987) state

that this sub-strategy happens when the speaker pretends to address the FTA to

someone whom it would not threaten. Thus, the speaker expects that the real

target will understand that the FTA is aimed at him. The example case of this sub-

strategy is stated by Ervin Tripp in which one secretary in an office asks another

using negative politeness to pass the stapler, in circumstances where a professor is

much nearer to the stapler than the other secretary (as cited in Brown & Levinson,

1987, p. 226). It does not threaten the professor‘s face and he may choose to do it

himself as a bonus for the secretary.

Sub-strategy 5 is being incomplete and using ellipsis. This is an act of

saying unfinished utterance. Brown and Levinson (1987) state that by leaving an

FTA half undone, the speaker can leave the implicature ‗hanging in the air‘ as


26

same as rhetorical question. This sub-strategy is exemplified with the utterance

―Oh sir, a headache…‖ as used by a niece to ask her father‘s younger brother for

an aspirin. This utterance gave him the option of telling her to take a rest rather

than dispensing a precious pill.

6. Factors of Politeness Strategies

Brown and Levinson (1987) state that there are two factors which can

influence the speaker to use politeness strategies. The factors are the politeness

strategies‘ payoffs and the sociological variables.

a. Payoffs

Brown and Levinson (1987) state that payoffs are the expected results of

the politeness strategies. When politeness strategies are used by the speaker, there

will be the expected result concealed in the strategies. In addition, Brown and

Levinson (1987) explain that the expected results in applying the strategies must

be beneficial for him. Therefore, every politeness strategy has its own advantages

for the speaker.

The payoff is classified into four payoffs based on each politeness strategy,

namely bald on record payoff, positive politeness payoff, negative politeness

payoff, and off record payoff. The following sections discuss the four payoffs.

1) Bald On Record Payoff

Brown and Levinson (1987) state that bald on record is used by the speaker

when he wants to be clear, straight-forward, and efficient in expressing his wants.

Meanwhile, the speaker has particular intentions in applying this strategy that will

give them some advantages. Brown and Levinson (1987) state that by using bald


27

on record strategy, the speaker avoids the possibility of being misunderstood,

being seen to be a manipulator, and being dishonest. In addition, the speaker who

uses this strategy can have the opportunity to give compensation for the face that

has been threatened by the FTA (Brown & Levinson, 1987).

2) Positive Politeness Payoff

Based on Brown and Levinson (1987), one of the advantages for the

speaker who applies positive politeness strategy is that he can minimize the threat

of an FTA by assuring the addressee that he is ‗the same kind‘ as the hearer. It

means that the speaker likes the desire that a hearer wants. Furthermore, Brown

and Levinson (1987) state that ―positive politeness is used by the speaker to

satisfy hearer‘s positive face in some respects‖ (p. 71). By doing so, the speaker

wants to maintain social closeness toward the hearer. The speaker who uses

positive politeness can value what the hearer has by giving compliments towards

the hearer. Therefore, the speaker can also avoid or minimize the debt implication

of doing the FTA by referring to the relationship between speaker and hearer.

3) Negative Politeness Payoff

Negative politeness is a strategy that is used by the speaker to satisfy

hearer‘s negative face. Brown and Levinson (1987) explain that by using negative

politeness, the speaker wants to pay his respect and deference towards the hearer

for the FTA that he makes. In other words, by using negative politeness, the

speaker wants to respect other, maintain social distance, and avoid the threat that

speaker gives to the hearer (Brown & Levinson, 1987). The example from this

case is when the speaker gives the hearer freedom to decide his choice in


28

perceiving the speaker‘s request. The speaker who uses negative politeness will

clarify that he does not really expect the hearer to say ‗Yes‘ in perceiving the

speaker‘s request unless he wants to. Thereby, the speaker can minimize the

mutual face loss incurred if the hearer has to say ‗No‘. Furthermore, the speaker

can avoid the threat of advancing familiarity towards the hearer by maintaining

social distance (Brown & Levinson, 1987).

4) Off Record Payoff

Brown and Levinson (1987) state that the off record strategy is used by the

speaker to satisfy the hearer‘s negative face and to minimize the threat which the

speaker makes towards the hearer in a greater degree. By applying the off record

strategy, the speaker can have profit in the following ways: the speaker can get

credit for being sympathetic and non-coerciveness, avoid responsibility for the

potentially face-damaging interpretation, and give the hearer an opportunity to be

seen to care for speaker so that he can test hearer‘s feelings towards him.

b. Sociological Variables

Another factor that influences the speaker in using politeness strategies is

the sociological variables. There are three variables that are proposed by Brown

and Levinson (1987), namely social distance, relative power, and the rank of

imposition. It is considered as the calculation in the assessment of the seriousness

of an FTA. The calculation affects the way the speaker uses the politeness

strategies. Furthermore, each of the calculation has its own values that the hearer

knows.


29

1) Social Distance

As stated by Brown and Levinson (1987), social distance is ―symmetrical

social dimension of similarity or difference‖ (p. 76). Moreover, Holmes (2001)

describes that the dimension deals with the judgment of the relationship between

the speaker and hearer. Thus, intimacy between the speaker and hearer affects the

choice of the strategy.

Social distance also discusses how stable social attributes (age, social class,

and ethnic background) affect the relationship between the speaker and hearer

(Brown & Levinson, 1987). In other words, it indicates the intimacy between the

speaker and hearer whether they have close or distant relationship. If the speaker

has high intimacy with the hearer, the speaker will choose the least polite

strategies as in positive politeness and bald on record strategies. Meanwhile, if the

speaker has less intimacy with the hearer, the speaker will choose more polite

strategies as in negative politeness and off record strategies.

2) Relative Power

Relative power is an asymmetric relation. Brown and Levinson (1987)

explain that relative power is the degree to which the hearer can impose his own

wants. It is supported by Holmes (2001) that using similar terms of relative power

called ―relative status‖. It explains about the status of the hearer over the speaker

which actually focuses on the power of the hearer over the speaker. It means that

the speaker will use more polite strategy when the speaker has lower power than

the hearer. Meanwhile, when the speaker has higher power than the hearer, the

speaker will use less polite strategy.


30

3) Rank of Imposition

The last sociological variable is rank of imposition. Brown and Levinson

(1987) state that ―the rank of imposition is the degree of a matter that is

considered as the interference to the face of the hearer‖ (p. 77). The interference

itself is the FTA that the speaker made. In other words, the degree of the FTA

defines the rank of impositions. A speaker who wants to impose the hearer‘s

negative face will choose more polite strategies as in negative politeness and off

record strategies. Meanwhile, a speaker who wants to impose the hearer‘s positive

face will choose less polite strategies as in positive politeness and bald on record

strategies.

B. Review of Related Research

In this section, the writer will review other related studies previously done

by other researchers. There are two studies that will be reviewed by the writer.

The first study was written by Oktorio (2015) entitled A Study of Politeness

Strategies Used by The Four Main Characters of Yes Man. The study analyzed

the types of politeness strategies that were used by the four main characters and

the factors that influenced the four characters in using politeness strategies. The

theory of Brown and Levinson (1987) about the types of politeness strategies and

the factors in choosing the strategies was employed in the study. Oktorio (2015)

applied document analysis method and used the movie script of Yes Man movie.

The second study was written by Gloria (2016) entitled The Use of Brown

and Levinson’s Politeness Strategies as seen in Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love.

Different from Oktorio‘s (2015) politeness studies which analyzed a movie,


31

Gloria (2016) analyzed the politeness strategies employed in a novel. The study

discussed how the main characters of the novel used politeness strategies and

what factors that affected them in choosing the politeness strategies. The theory of

politeness strategies by Brown and Levinson (1987) and the theory of Holmes

(2001) about the factors affecting the use of politeness strategies were employed

in the study. Gloria (2016) implemented a document analysis method in which it

was associated with discourse analysis since the study was a socio-pragmatic

research of a novel.

However, there are some differences between the previous studies from

this study. The studies by Oktorio (2015) and Gloria (2016) analyzed about

politeness strategies in the movie and novel. However, this study will discussed

the use of politeness strategies in a talk show, namely The Ellen Show. It becomes

the new thing of this study because the writer analyze the conversation between a

host and the guest stars which run spontaneously. It is different from the analysis

of the conversation between the characters in the movie and novel which have

been conducted before. Moreover, the focus of this study is to analyze how

politeness strategies are used by Ellen as a multitalented host who has a

background as comedian and two U.S. politicians who attended the talk show.

The U.S. politicians are Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The clips of the talk

show will be the data source of this study. Specifically, most of the clips are taken

during the presidential campaign.


32

C. Theoretical Framework

The purpose of this study is to analyze the implementation of politeness

strategies which are done by Ellen and U.S. politicians in The Ellen Show. There

are two research questions, namely the types of politeness strategies implemented

by Ellen and the U.S. politicians in The Ellen Show and the factors which

influence the choice of politeness strategies in the conversation between Ellen and

the politicians in the talk show. Brown and Levinson‘s (1987) theory is used to

underlay the writer in analyzing the study to answer the research questions.

In order to answer the first research question, the writer uses Brown and

Levinson‘s (1987) politeness strategies theory to analyze the utterances that are

produced by the speakers. Brown and Levinson (1987) elaborate the politeness

strategies theory into four strategies, namely bald on record, positive politeness,

negative politeness, and off record strategy. The writer applies the four strategies

to analyze the utterances which are produced by Ellen and the politicians in The

Ellen Show and classify the types of strategies that are used by them.

Meanwhile, in order to analyze the factors which affect the choice of the

strategies, the writer also uses Brown and Levinson‘s (1987) theory. Brown and

Levinson (1987) elaborate the factors which influence the application of the

politeness strategies into two factors. Those two factors are the payoffs of the

politeness strategies and the sociological variables. The writer analyzes the

utterances which are produced by Ellen and the politicians in the talk show in

accordance with the two factors to see what factors which influence the choice of

the strategies.


33

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents a methodology rationale which is used to find the

data for this study. This chapter is divided into four parts, namely the research

method, research setting and data source, instrument and data gathering technique,

and data analysis technique.

A. Research Method

In this study, the writer focused on the implementation of politeness

strategies used by Ellen DeGeneres and U.S. politicians in a talk show namely

The Ellen Show. The method used by the writer aimed to answer two research

questions. The two research questions in this study are (1) Which politeness

strategies are used by Ellen and U.S. politicians in The Ellen Show? and (2) What

are the factors that influence Ellen and the politicians in using politeness strategies

in the talk show? This study discussed how language was used in a social context

especially in the form of conversation as shown in the talk show. Therefore, the

concern of the study was about the way how Ellen and the U.S. politicians

implemented the politeness strategies in their conversation in The Ellen Show.

The writer employed this study which was categorized as qualitative

research. Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh (2010) state that ―a qualitative research

focuses on the understanding of social phenomenon from the perspective of the

human participant in natural setting‖ (p.22). It was the same as the objectives of

the study which were to analyze the politeness strategies employed by Ellen and


34

the politicians and to find the factors that influence the choice of the strategy. The

goal of this qualitative research is a depth understanding in narrative description

and interpretation, rather than a numeric data analysis (Ary, et al. 2002).

Meanwhile, to answer the research questions, the writer applied a discourse

analysis method since it concerned how language was used in the communication

between Ellen and U.S. politicians (see Chapter 2, section A, p. 8). In this study,

the utterances of the subjects that carried politeness strategies were discussed. The

utterances became the model of how language was used in context. Therefore,

discourse analysis method was considered as the most appropriate method for this

study since it dealt with language used in social interactions.

B. Research Setting and Data Source

The writer started to analyze the data on November 10th

, 2016.

Specifically, the writer watched the clips of the talk show in order to know which

politeness strategies that were used by Ellen and the politicians in The Ellen Show.

The talk show was televised in United States (U.S.) as one of the most favorite

talk shows. The clips and the transcripts of the dialogue between Ellen and the

politicians was provided in the clips uploaded by The Ellen Show You Tube

channel.

The clips that were chosen were all the clips in The Ellen Show that were

attended by the politicians (Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton) from the last two

years (2014 until 2016). Most of the clips were taken during the presidential

campaign.


35

The utterances that were analyzed in this study were produced mainly by

three speakers in the talk show. The first speaker was Ellen DeGeneres as the host

of the daytime talk show named The Ellen Show. Ellen DeGeneres is one of the

most popular comedians and the host of a successful daytime talk show. She

started her career as a stand-up comedian in the early 1980s. As a film actress,

there are several movies that are starred, such as Mr. Wrong (1996) and The Love

Letter (1999). She also dubbed the voice of Dory in the Pixar animated films

Finding Nemo (2003) and Finding Dory (2016). She becomes the host in The

Ellen Show since 2003. In hosting, she always creates an interesting performance

in every episode in The Ellen Show. She creates a pleasing atmosphere and

sometimes she makes some jokes to entertain the audience and guest stars. The

Ellen Show earned positive reviews and solid ratings across nation (―Ellen

DeGeneres, The Ellen Show‖). Moreover, The Ellen Show was nominated in

Emmy Award in 2004. That was a successful year for Ellen and The Ellen Show in

the early debut of the talk show.

The second subject was the 44th

President of the United States of America,

Barack Hussein Obama. Obama was born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

He is a father of two daughters, namely Malia and Natasha, from his marriage

with Michelle Robinson. He started his career as a civil rights attorney and

professor and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School.

In November 2008, he was elected as President of USA. Furthermore, he was the

first African-American president who was chosen to become the leader of

America. He was really respected by the people who supported him.


36

Parameswaran (2009) states that American news media recorded the euphoric

reaction of citizen around the world in the aftermath of the inauguration

ceremonies.

The third subject was the President candidate of the United States of

America Election 2016, Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton. In the time the writer

conducted this research, Hillary Clinton was joining a campaign as the President

Candidate of USA. She was born on October 26, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois. She

married Bill Clinton in 1975 and have a daughter named Chelsea Clinton. In her

career she was elected as the first female senator from New York in 2000 and

became a Secretary of State in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2013. As

stated by Taylor, Lord, McIntyre, and Paulson (2011), Hillary Clinton was in the

top three most frequently mentioned successful woman. She was an advocate for

gender equality and healthcare reform. In addition, she was appointed by

President Carter to the board of Legal Service Corporation and won a Grammy for

her recording of her book It Takes a Village (Taylor, et al., 2011).

C. Data Gathering Technique

In gathering the data, the writer firstly observed the selected clips of the

talk show. Then, the writer analyzed the utterances which were produced by Ellen

and U.S politicians with the help of the transcripts of the selected clips. In

selecting the clips, the writer went to http://www.youtube.com/TheEllenShow.

The clips with the transcripts were taken from The Ellen Show You Tube channel.

After that, the writer determined the clips that would be used as the main source

of the data. The writer chose all the clips of The Ellen Show that were attended by


http://www.youtube.com/TheEllenShow

37

the U.S. politicians. Further, the writer selected and collected the utterances which

are produced by the speakers which carried politeness strategies. Thus, the

selected utterances were used to find out the factors which influence the choice of

politeness strategies.

Meanwhile, in conducting the research, the writer acted as human

instrument. Lincoln and Guba (1985) state that the writer as a human instrument

has the ability to collect information concerning multiple factors simultaneously.

Similarly, the writer employed some information taken from books, journals,

internet, and previous studies in terms of supporting the process of data analysis.

D. Data Analysis Technique

All the utterances produced by Ellen and U.S. politicians were taken from

the transcripts of the talk show. The writer analyzed the utterances in order to

know how the speakers conveyed the messages and intentions. Meanwhile, there

were three steps that were used by the writer to answer the research questions.

First, the writer made a checklist in the form of a table that contains the

speakers, the utterances, and what politeness strategies were used. There were

four types of politeness strategies written in the table, namely bald on record

(BoR), positive politeness (PP), negative politeness (NP), and off record (OR).

Thus, the purpose of the checklist was to classify which politeness strategies used

by Ellen and U.S. politicians in the talk show.

Second, the analysis was done by observing the occurrence of each

politeness strategy that was used by each speaker. Then, the revealed strategies

were listed based on the categorization that written in the table. The categorization


38

is shown in Table 3.1. Meanwhile, the completed data analysis was presented in

Appendix A. Furthermore, the selected utterances from the table were analyzed to

answer the first research question by using Brown and Levinson (1987) politeness

strategies theory.

Table 3.1 The Categorization of Politeness Strategies Used by Ellen and U.S.

Politicians in The Ellen Show

Speakers Utterances Politeness Strategies

Ellen Mr. President, it has been

awhile since we‘ve

spoken. You look great.

How are you?

PP

Barack Obama Ellen dog bowls are

somewhere. I‘m sorry,

but…

NP

Hillary Clinton Don‘t let all the

wonderful, beautiful

young women who are

here, don‘t get

discouraged. Don‘t give

in, don‘t give up. Don‘t

quit on yourself, on your

dreams, on your future.

BoR

… … …

At last, the writer identified the utterances which carried politeness

strategies that were described in the first research question‘s discussion to find out

what factors that influence the speakers to use certain politeness strategy. Thus,

the writer also used Brown and Levinson (1987) politeness theory to find out what

factors that influence the speakers to use certain politeness strategies.


39

CHAPTER IV

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the results and discussions to answer the research

questions which were formulated in the first chapter. The first research question

discusses the politeness strategies used by Ellen and the politicians in The Ellen

Show. The second research question discusses the factors that influence Ellen and

U.S. politicians in using politeness strategies in the talk show.

A. The Politeness Strategies Used by Ellen and the U.S. Politicians in The

Ellen Show

This section elaborated the results of the analysis of the utterances which

were spoken by Ellen and U.S. politicians in The Ellen Show. Ellen was the host

of the talk show while the U.S. politicians were the guest stars of the talk show.

The selected U.S. politicians were Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

There are four main parts of politeness strategies that are stated by Brown

and Levinson (1987), namely bald on record, positive politeness, negative

politeness, and off record. The four parts of politeness strategies were applied by

Ellen and Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, Obama only used bald on record, positive

politeness, and negative politeness strategies in his utterances. The politeness

strategies used by the speakers were listed in Table 4.1.


40

Table 4.1 Politeness Strategies Found in The Ellen Show

Speaker

Politeness Strategy

Positive

Politeness

Negative

Politeness

Bald on

Record Off Record

Ellen 18 5 12 2

Barack Obama 14 1 1 -

Hillary Clinton 6 2 2 2

Total 38 8 15 4

The analysis of the politeness strategies used by the three speakers was

elaborated in the following discussion based on the most frequent strategy until

the infrequent one.

1. Positive Politeness Strategies Found in The Ellen Show

The function of positive politeness is to redress the addressee‘s positive

face. Positive politeness has the basis to fulfill hearer‘s positive face by satisfying

their desire. It refers to the speaker‘s action to minimize the distance with the

hearer by using the intimate language. The speaker makes the hearer feel being

accepted, respected, and wanted.

The three speakers in The Ellen Show applied the positive politeness while

doing the conversation. The positive politeness strategy was shown through three

mechanisms, namely claiming common ground, conveying that speaker and

hearer are cooperators, and fulfilling hearer‘s want. From the data, the writer

found out that the most frequent and apparent positive politeness strategies that

were used by Ellen and the U.S. politicians were the sub-strategies of

exaggerating interest, intensifying interest to hearer, using joke, giving offer and

promise, and giving gifts to the hearer.


41

The first mechanism of positive politeness was claiming common ground.

It indicated that both speaker and hearer shared the same wants, including goals

and values. In using this mechanism, the speaker wanted to satisfy the hearer that

hearer‘s desire was interesting to the speaker as well. There were three

applications of the sub-strategies in claiming common ground that were found in

the talk show, namely exaggerating interest, intensifying interest to hearer, and

using jokes. Dialogue 1 showed the application of exaggerating interest by Ellen

and Obama.

The exaggerating interest or the positive politeness was labeled as ‗PP‘.

Dialogue 1

Clip Title : Pres. Barack Obama on Ellen Breaking his Twitter Record

Time : 03.59 – 04.34

Participants : Ellen and Obama

Obama : We were on a trip to New York, and the gap announced that they

were gonna make sure that all their employees at least got paid

$10 an hour, so they're increasing their wages for tens of

thousands of employees across the country, and since we've been

saying that America deserves a raise, and we should provide a

minimum wage of at least $10.10 an hour. I thought it was great

for me to be able to go frequent a store. That's doing right by their

employees.

Ellen : Good for you.

Obama : I thought that was really important.

Ellen : [cheers and applause] Good for you. That's fantastic. (PP)

(Full transcript can be seen in Appendix B, p. 78)

Ellen asked Obama about his experience in visiting a gap or a department

store in New York. He told Ellen and the audience about the salary of the

employees that work on the gap. At that time, Obama was really satisfied to hear

that the gap parties would increase the employee‘s wages. Obama told Ellen and


42

the audience that he was also satisfied to be able to visit the gap. Ellen responded

Obama by saying ―Good for you. That‘s fantastic.‖ The word ‗fantastic‘ indicated

that Ellen was impressed by Obama‘s action. Moreover, in saying the word

‗fantastic‘, Ellen used the exaggerated stress to show her interest in Obama‘s

statement and keep his positive face.

Intensifying hearer‘s interest was the next example of claiming common

ground. It represented the way how the speaker communicated with the hearer to

give contribution by making a good story to intensify hearer‘s interest. The use of

exaggerated facts was one of the techniques to intensify the hearer‘s interest.

Dialogue 2 showed the conversation between Ellen and Obama that was consisted

of intensifying hearer‘s interest mechanism. The intensifying interest or positive

politeness was labeled as ‗PP‘.

Dialogue 2

Clip Title : President Obama Discusses His Daughters Time : 01.02-1.24


Obama : They don‘t have an attitude, they‘re courteous and kind to

everybody. They work hard, they don‘t feel like they‘re entitled

anything.

Ellen : Well, they have great parents. Both you and Michelle are really,

really amazing. Michelle is such a strong, wonderful role model

for all women. And she has been a great First Lady. (PP)

Obama : I agree, that I agree with. [Audience applause]


Obama is a father of two daughters, Malia and Natasha Obama. At that

time, Ellen asked Obama about his opinions of his daughters. Then, Obama talked

about his daughters‘ personalities. He told the story of his daughters proudly.


43

Responding to Obama‘s story, Ellen stated another related good story that could

increase Obama‘s interest. Ellen said the good story to intensify her interest

towards Obama‘s story. She shared her opinions about Obama and his wife,

Michelle, who have been raising Malia and Natasha. Moreover, Ellen used

exaggerated facts by saying, ―Michelle is such a strong, wonderful role model for

all women.‖ Here, Ellen was trying to intensify Obama‘s interest by stressing her

good intention to give her opinions and expressing them dramatically.

Dialogue 3 also showed the use of intensifying interest to hearer mechanism

in the conversation by Hillary Clinton. The use of intensifying interest to hearer or

positive politeness was labeled as ―PP‖.

Dialogue 3

Clip Title : Hillary Clinton Catches Up with Ellen Time : 03.21-03.33

Participants : Ellen and Hillary

Ellen : You have a grand-daughter called Charlotte now.

Hillary : I do, yes. Yeah, she is going to be one year old on September 26.

Ellen : That‘s a cute age.

Hillary : Yeah. On my way here, I stopped by just to see her, so that I

could kinda catch a glimpse…(PP)


Dialogue 3 showed the conversation between Ellen and Hillary who talked

about Hillary‘s grand-daughter. In responding to Ellen‘s statement, Hillary told a

good story about her grand-daughter. By telling a good story of her grand-

daughter, Hillary wanted to satisfy Ellen‘s interest instead of just saying ‗yes‘ to

respond to Ellen.


44

Another example of claiming common ground was the use of joke. The use

of joke explained that both the speaker and hearer shared the same background

knowledge. The speaker put the hearer at ease so that it could minimize the threat

from the speaker. Dialogue 4 showed the conversation between Ellen and Obama

that consisted of joke. The use of joke or positive politeness was labeled as ‗PP‘.

Dialogue 4

Clip Title : Pres. Barack Obama on Ellen Breaking His Twitter Record

Time : 00.11 – 00.23


Ellen : Mr. President, it has been a while since we‘ve spoken. You look

great. How are you?

Obama : I am doing great. You look wonderful also.

Ellen : Well, thank you so much for saying that. You didn‘t have to just

because I said you look good, but that was nice of you. [Audience

laughing] (PP)

Obama : It is true.


The dialogue showed that Ellen greeted President Obama as her guest

star via video call. She greeted Obama by giving him a compliment towards his

appearance and asking him about his life. In order to satisfy Ellen‘s positive face,

Obama replied her with the compliment also. However, Ellen responded Obama

by using a joke. Ellen said that Obama did not need to pay her compliment.

However, Ellen immediately said ―that was nice of you‖ to Obama. This approach

was done by Ellen because she wanted to put Obama at ease and to save his

positive face from the threat.

The use of joke also showed in Dialogue 5 in the same situation when

Ellen talked about her retweets‘ record. It was labeled as ―PP‖.


45

Dialogue 5


Time : 00.24-00.48


Ellen : I don‘t know if you know this, but I was aiming to break your

record of retweets, and I apologize for doing it, but I broke your

retweet record. (PP)

Obama : I heard about that. I thought it was a pretty cheap stunt myself,

getting a bunch of celebrities in the background.

Ellen : That‘s the only thing—

Obama : You feeding them pizza?

Ellen : Yeah.


Ellen told Obama that she broke his retweets‘ record. Obama‘s role as a

president of course gave so many influences in his daily life including his

existence in social media. However, Ellen had broken Obama‘s record of retweets

in one of his social media, namely Twitter. Ellen was aware that her utterance

might threaten Obama‘s positive face. She might make Obama embarrassed since

they were having a live talk show. Thus, Ellen used a joke in delivering her

intentions to Obama.

Another mechanism of positive politeness is conveying that speaker

and hearer are co-operators. This mechanism indicates that both speaker and

hearer are involved in the same activity. The speaker and hearer are cooperatively

connected by a relevant activity. By cooperating, the speaker and the hearer share

the same goals. Furthermore, giving offer and promise are the examples of the

sub-strategies in conveying the speaker and hearer as co-operators.

The speaker would choose to intensify his cooperation with the hearer

by giving an offer or promise. By doing that, the speaker showed his good


46

intentions in satisfying hearer even though he could be wrong. Dialogue 6 showed

the use of offering by Obama. The utterance of using offer was labeled as ‗PP‘ as

the part of positive politeness.

Dialogue 6


Time : 03.23-03.32


Ellen : I hate to say, but I hope they get tattoos. I really do.

Obama : Ellen, you should be a part of this. You should pledge to also get a

tattoo with us. (PP)


The dialogue above showed Ellen and Obama‘s conversation about making

tattoos. Ellen talked to the audience about her wish that Obama and his wife

would have the tattoos. Then, Obama offered Ellen to get tattoos with them as

well by saying, ―you should be part of this…‖ By saying that, Obama wanted to

demonstrate his good intention and to satisfy Ellen‘s positive face.

The use of promise was shown in Dialogue 7 when Obama gave his

promise to Ellen and the audience. The use of promise was labeled as ‗PP‘ as the

part of positive politeness.

Dialogue 7


Time : 03.03-03.27


Ellen : If your daughter got tattoos, that you and Michelle would also

get the same tattoo in the same place, and you‘ll take a family

photo of all the tattoos.

Obama : That‘s exactly right. [Cheering and laughing] We will reduce the

cool factor of any tattoo. Michelle and I will be right there, and


47

we‘ll post it so that everybody will be able to see it, and we‘ll

say, ―We all got matching tattoos‖ and I suspect that will be a

pretty good deterrent for both Malia and Sasha. (PP)

Ellen : I hate to say, but I hope they get tattoos. [Laugh] I really do.


Ellen asked Obama about his statements that he and his wife would get

the tattoos if their daughters got the tattoos. Obama agreed with it and confirmed

that his statements were true. The conversation above indicated that Obama was

willing to fulfill Ellen‘s wants. As co-operators, Obama wanted to show his good

intention in satisfying Ellen wants by giving her a promise.

The last mechanism of positive politeness strategy was by fulfilling the

hearer‘s wants. Speaker could satisfy the hearer‘s wants by giving gift. The gifts

could be in the form of intangible gift, such as sympathy, understanding, and

cooperation. The speaker who used this strategy wanted to redress the hearer‘s

positive face directly. The example in giving gift was shown in the Dialogue 8

when Hillary Clinton was interviewed by Ellen. The sub-strategy was labeled as

‗PP‘.

Dialogue 8

Clip Title : Hillary Clinton Catches Up with Ellen

Time : 00.31-00.48


Ellen : I want someone who is qualified, and I feel like when you‘re

talking about, if you look at the other candidates…

Hillary : Right

Ellen : …someone who is for rights across the board, equal right for

women, equal rights for every ethnicity, equal rights for everyone.

It is…the only person I can look at is you. (PP)

Hillary : Thank you. Thank you, Ellen.



48

Hillary Clinton was one of the president candidates of USA. She was

invited to The Ellen Show and did the interview with Ellen about her campaign.

Dialogue 8 showed that Ellen gave her compliment to Hillary for her action in

keeping the equal rights for women, ethnicity, and everyone. Ellen expressed her

admiration to Hillary directly by saying ―the only person I can look at is you‖. It

indicated that Ellen gave her sympathy towards Hillary, who could keep the equal

rights. By saying that, Ellen wanted to fulfill Hillary‘s want and redress her

positive face. Moreover, this intangible gift was important for Hillary herself

because Ellen‘s compliment showed that Ellen would be by her side, since she

was doing the campaign while doing the interview.

2. Bald on Record Strategies Found in The Ellen Show

Bald on record strategy is the direct way of conveying meanings. The

speaker who uses this strategy wants to ignore the hearer‘s face. The use of this

strategy is related to the speaker‘s wants to threat the hearer‘s face. In other

words, the speaker do not have the willingness to redress hearer‘s face. The

application of this strategy is classified into two different motives, namely the

motive where the face threat is not minimized at all and motive where the face

threat is minimized by implication.

The findings from the data found out that bald on record strategy was used

mostly by Ellen and Hillary. However, the utterances produced by Ellen and

Hillary only consisted of one motive in which the face threat was not minimized

at all. The motive where the face threat was not minimized could be seen in some


49

cases, for example the case of great urgency and the case where the speaker used

non-redressed comforting advice.

The case of great urgency indicated that the speaker wanted to make a

rhetorical point. It could be found in the conversation that conveyed the attention-

getters. Dialogue 9 showed the application of bald on record in the case of great

urgency. It described the conversation between Ellen and Obama. The bald on

record strategy was labeled as ‗BoR‘.

Dialogue 9

Clip Title : President Obama Talks The First Lady

Time : 03.53-04.11


Obama : You‘re so upset about that.

Ellen : I am so because she didn‘t go down all the way and she claimed

she had longer arms and so she‘s, listen, it was very impressive

that she kept going but she didn‘t go down as far as me.

Obama : Okay

Ellen : Look at, look! (BoR)

Obama : She‘s going down pretty far.

Ellen : No, no, no. Not as far down as me. [Audience laugh]


During the interview, Obama was asked by Ellen about his opinions

towards the video that showed Ellen and Michelle‘s push-up game. The video

showed the previous episode of The Ellen Show. Obama‘s wife, Michelle, was

invited to the talk show as a guest star. Then, they did the push-up game. At that

time, Ellen was defeated by Michelle. Meanwhile, in the episode when Obama

was invited as a guest star, Ellen told Obama about the push-up game that she did

with Michelle. Ellen expressed her disappointment to Obama in a funny way.

Ellen was upset that Michelle did the push up game in a wrong way. She


50

considered that Michelle cheated her. In the conversation, Ellen asked Obama to

watch the video as an evidence and give his comment about the game.

In Dialogue 9, Ellen said ―Look at. Look!‖ to Obama. This utterance

contained an FTA which was not redress Obama‘s face. Ellen used this utterance

because of the urgency that Ellen faced. They were watching at a short video

about Ellen and Michelle‘s push-up game. Ellen had to make sure that Obama

would not miss the scene when Michelle was considered as cheating by Ellen.

Thus, she did not redress the threat and said the utterance baldly.

Another case that indicated the unminimized motive was when the speaker

used non-redressed sympathetic advice. It could be in the form of sympathetic

advice and warning. In using this strategy, the speaker showed his attention for the

hearer. In this case, non-redressed comforting advice usage could be performed in

bald on record. This case happened in the scene where Hillary Clinton was doing

her campaign in The Ellen Show. Dialogue 10 showed the conversation between

Ellen and Hillary that consisted of sympathetic advice. The bald on record

strategy was labeled as ‗BoR‘.

Dialogue 10


Time : 00.31-01.09


Ellen : I want someone who is qualified, and I feel like when you‘re

talking about—If I look at all the other candidates..

Hillary : Right.

Ellen : Someone who is for rights across the board. Equal rights for

women. Equal rights for every ethnicity. Equal rights for

everyone. It is – the only person I can look at is you.

Hillary : Thank you. Thank you, Ellen. Well, no. First of all, look, I think

it's just a reality that we're held to a higher, different double

standard. And it gets a little old, to be honest, but you just forge


51

ahead. Don't let--all the wonderful, beautiful young women who

are here, don't get discouraged. Don't give in. Don't give up. Don't

quit on yourself, on your dreams, on your future. (BoR)


The conversation in Dialogue 10 showed that Ellen shared her opinion

about the other candidates. Then, Ellen continued to give Hillary a compliment for

her job recently. The conversation indicated that Ellen stood by her side. In other

words, Ellen supported and chose Hillary to be the next President for the United

States. Then, Hillary responded to Ellen by demonstrating the case where doing

the FTA was in the hearer‘s interest.

In Dialogue 10, Hillary applied the bald on record strategy by giving some

sympathetic advice for Ellen and all of the audience in the studio. Hillary did not

redress the utterances she said. It meant that she said that for the sake of Ellen and

the audience‘s interest. As a president candidate who did a campaign, it was a

must for her to make the audience impressed with her. Thus, Hillary wanted to

express herself that she cares for them by giving the sympathetic advice.

3. Negative Politeness Strategies Found in The Ellen Show

Negative politeness strategy was a strategy that was used by the speaker to

redress the hearer‘s negative face. These strategies were used when a speaker

knew that his or her utterance and action would threaten a hearer. The examples of

negative politeness usage were asking and ordering something from a hearer by a

speaker. From the collected data, negative politeness was used by all of the

speakers. There were five mechanisms of negative politeness, namely being

direct, avoiding presumption or assumption, avoiding coercion to hearer,


52

communicating speaker‘s want to not impinge on the hearer, and redressing others

want of the hearer‘s. There were two sub-strategies that appeared mostly in those

three mechanisms, such as using hedge and question and apologizing. However,

the first and the last mechanism of negative politeness were not found in the

collected data.

Hedge and question were two of the sub-strategies that included in

avoiding presumption and assumption mechanism. When the speaker used

negative politeness strategy, he had to avoid presuming and assuming the wants of

the hearer. Dialogue 11 showed the example of question usage by Hillary Clinton

when she was interviewed by Ellen. The question or negative politeness was

labeled as ‗NP‘.

Dialogue 11


Time : 01.40-02.14


Ellen : It wasn‘t until 1920 when the 19th

Amendment passed that women

were allowed to vote.

Hillary : That‘s right.

Ellen : We couldn‘t vote until then. Women weren‘t allowed to serve in

the military until 1948. Not allowed into combat until 2013. It

wasn‘t until 1973 that woman could serve on juries. A woman

could not have her own credit card until 1974.

Hillary : Can I tell you about that? (NP) This is hard to believe, but there

was a law passed so that if you were married, or you were a single

woman, you would be legally entitled to a credit card. So I

applied to credit card.


Ellen and Hillary were talking about the gender equality in U.S. year to

year. They talked about women‘s policy to use their rights in joining an election,


53

serving in the military, until women‘s rights in using their own credit card. When

Ellen stated her opinion about the gender policy, Hillary responded to Ellen with

her opinions by saying, ―Can I tell you about that?‖ The utterance which was said

by Ellen was considered as avoiding presumption by using question. In this case,

Hillary was aware that her utterance might threaten Ellen‘s negative face. Thus,

Hillary used the question first before stating her opinions to give Ellen choice

whether she allowed Hillary to say it or not.

The following mechanism of negative politeness that was found in the

collected data was by communicating the speaker‘s want to not impinge on the

hearer. Apologizing was the sub-strategy of this mechanism that appeared mostly

in some conversations between Ellen and U.S. politicians. Dialogue 12 showed

the conversation between Ellen, Obama, and Macey that contained apologizing.

Macey was also a guest star in that episode together with Obama. The negative

politeness or apologizing was labeled as ‗NP‘.

Dialogue 12

Clip Title : Macey Meets President Obama

Time : 02.27-02.49

Participants : Ellen, Obama, and Macey

Macey : Are you still using the Ellen dog bowls?

Obama : You know, the Ellen dog bowls are somewhere, I am sorry, but…

(NP) (Audience laughing)

Ellen : Give me my trump back. (Audience laughing)


The dialogue showed that the speakers were talking about the dog

bowls that were given by Ellen to Obama as gifts for his dogs. Then, Macey asked

Obama about the dog bowls whether he still used it. Unfortunately, Obama rarely


54

used the dog bowls because the dog bowls were somewhere. Obama knew that his

answer would offend Ellen‘s feeling. Thus, in answering Macey‘s question and

redressing Ellen‘s negative face, Obama gave his apology towards Ellen by saying

―I am sorry, but…‖

4. Off Record Strategies Found in The Ellen Show

Off record strategy is the indirect use of language. This strategy is done by

the speaker in such a way by making not only one clear communicative intention

to the act. In using off record strategy, the speaker has a tendency to avoid the

responsibility in doing FTA. By making the communicative intention in such a

way, the speaker let the hearer to decide how to interpret his intention. The

application of off record strategy is classified into two mechanisms. The first

mechanism is inviting conversational implicatures that can be done by giving

hints and overstating words. The second mechanism is by being vague or

ambiguous.

Based on the data, the writer found out that Ellen and Hillary used the off

record strategy. However, the off record strategy did not found in Obama‘s

utterances. The conversation that consisted of the off record strategy used by

Hillary and Ellen was shown in the Dialogue 13. The dialogue showed the

application of inviting conversational implicature mechanism that could be done

by giving hints. The hints or off record strategy was labeled as ‗OR‘.

Dialogue 13

Clip Title : Hillary Clinton's Debate Dance Moves

Time : 01.17-01.40

Participants : Hillary and Ellen


55

Ellen : Listen, before I say goodbye to you, it is your 69th

birthday in a few

weeks.

Hillary : It is.

Ellen : And I can imagine, but tell you wish for your birthday.

Hillary : Well, I have several wishes, one of them obviously includes the

election, but I also, I really wish that I will be the president that are

country needs right now, that‘s my deepest hope. [Applause] (OR)


The president candidate, Hillary Clinton, was interviewed by Ellen

about her progress in doing the campaign. Hillary told Ellen and the audience

about her campaign and some memorable moments during the campaign. When

the talk show was approaching to finish, Ellen reminded Hillary that her birthday

was close. Then, Ellen asked Hillary to share her wishes in front of the audience.

Dialogue 13 showed Hillary‘s wishes. She applied the off record strategy by

giving hints to Ellen and the audience. By giving the hints, Hillary left the hearer

to search for an interpretation about her intention. She was in the condition of

doing the campaign and she wished that she could be elected as a president. It was

clear that she gave the hint for Ellen and the audience to choose her in the election

so that she would be a president. Thus, she used the off record strategy to avoid

the responsibility in doing the FTA towards Ellen and the audience.

The use of overstating words in the off record strategy indicated that

the speaker wanted to exaggerate a point on a scale which was higher than the

actual state. In this case, Hillary used the overstating words while doing her

campaign. The conversation between Hillary and Ellen that contained overstating

words was shown in Dialogue 14. The overstating words or the off record strategy

was labeled as ‗OR‘.


56

Dialogue 14


Time : 01.16-01.32

Participants : Hillary Clinton and Ellen

Hillary : I‘m not asking people to vote for me because I‘m a woman, but I

think if you vote for somebody on the merits, one of my merits is

I‘m a woman, and I think that makes a big difference in today‘s

world. (OR)

Ellen : Yes, yes. But I do, and I think that a lot of women, we‘re so

conditioned for so long to be—to be less than.


In the interview, Ellen was talking about the achievements that had been

produced by Hillary. Ellen asked Hillary to give her opinion about women rights

and motivations for all women in the world. Since she was one of the president

candidates in U.S., she used those opportunities to do the campaign. She showed

her privileges as a woman and her promises to the audience. She used the off

record strategy to deliver her wants implicitly, so that the audience should

interpret what she really wanted. The actual fact was that she wanted the audience

to choose her as the next president of U.S.

B. The Factors Which Influence the Application of Politeness Strategies

by Ellen and the Politicians in The Ellen Show

There were two possible factors that could influence Ellen and U.S.

politicians to choose what kind of politeness strategies that would be used. The

factors were the payoffs of politeness strategies and the social variables.

Politeness strategies‘ payoffs were divided into four payoffs based on each

strategy, namely bald on record payoffs, positive politeness payoffs, negative


57

politeness payoffs, and off-record payoffs. Meanwhile, the social variables factors

were divided into three variables, namely social distance, relative power, and rank

of imposition.

In addition, to simplify the discussion, the writer would remind the reader

about the example of speakers‘ utterances taken from the previous discussion.

Each factor was discussed in the following paragraphs.

1. Payoffs

Payoffs were the results or the advantages from the chosen politeness

strategies. The discussions of politeness strategies payoffs and the findings were

explained deeper in the following paragraphs.

a. Positive Politeness Payoffs Found in The Ellen Show

Positive politeness payoffs discussed the speaker‘s wants to satisfy the

hearer‘s positive face in some respect. The speaker who used positive politeness

could be in the form of giving compliment. It showed that the speaker valued what

the other had. This payoff was explained in the Utterance 1 when Ellen talked

about Obama‘s family life.

Utterance 1

Ellen : Well, they have great parents. Both you and Michelle are really,

really amazing. Michelle is such a strong, wonderful role model for

all women. And she has been a great First Lady. (PP)

(Transcript #4, p. 85)

Obama shared his story about his daughters to Ellen and the audience.

Then, Ellen responded Obama by saying good things about Obama and Michelle.


58

Ellen said that Obama and Michelle are great parents. She used exaggerated

words, such as amazing, wonderful, and great to satisfy Obama‘s positive face.

However, the focus of this payoff was not about the exaggerated words but about

the compliments that Ellen gave to Obama. Ellen‘s compliment indicated that she

valued what Obama and Michele had done.

b. Bald on Record Payoffs

If the speaker wanted to avoid the danger of being misunderstood and to

be clear, the speaker chose the bald on record strategy. These were the essence of

bald on record payoffs. The payoff was exemplified in Utterance 2.

Utterance 2

Ellen : Look at, look! (BoR)


Ellen and Obama were watching a short video of Michelle Obama and

Ellen who were having push up game. From the conversation between Ellen and

Obama, bald on record strategy was used by Ellen by saying, ―Look at, look!‖

Ellen could not avoid the responsibility of doing FTA to Obama. Furthermore, she

wanted to be clear and efficient. It was related to the situation when both Ellen

and Obama watched the short video. Therefore, Ellen said it directly toward

Obama so that he could immediately take a look at the video before the scene

passed.


59

c. Negative Politeness Payoffs

Negative politeness payoff discussed the speaker‘s wants to satisfy the

hearer‘s negative face. Negative politeness payoff was exemplified in Utterance 3

in the following paragraphs.

Utterance 3

Obama : You know, the Ellen dog bowls are somewhere, I am sorry, but…

(NP) [Audience laughing].


In Utterance 3, Obama talked about the dog bowls that were given by

Ellen. Obama used the negative politeness strategy as a result that he did not want

to threat Ellen‘s negative face. By doing so, he did not want to offend Ellen‘s

feeling. Obama gave his apology to Ellen by saying, ―I am sorry, but,..‖ to respect

Ellen. By respecting Ellen, Obama did not directly convey FTA to her. Therefore,

he could manage himself to satisfy Ellen‘s negative face.

d. Off Record Payoffs

The idea of off record payoffs is satisfying the hearer‘s negative face in

greater degree to minimize the threat towards the hearer. By doing this, the

speaker gives the hearer an intention which is not stated explicitly so that the

hearer shall interpret the actual meaning of the intention.

This payoff was exemplified in Utterance 4 in the following paragraphs.

Utterance 4


election, but I also, I really wish that I will be the president that are

country needs right now, that‘s my deepest hope. [Applause] (OR)



60

Utterance 4 was about Hillary who was interviewed by Ellen about her

campaign. When the show was approaching to finish, Ellen reminded Hillary

about her birthday and asked her wish for her birthday. In responding to Ellen‘s

question, Hillary told her wishes by saying, ―Well, I have several wishes, one of

them obviously includes the election, but I also, I really wish that I will be the

president that are country needs right now, that‘s my deepest hope.‖ This kind of

utterance included as off-record strategy. Hillary left Ellen and the audience to

interpret what she really wanted. Thus, the reason to choose the strategy was to

satisfy the hearer‘s negative face in a greater degree than what negative politeness

did.

2. Sociological Variables

Another factor which affected Ellen and US politicians to choose a

particular politeness strategy was the sociological variables. There were three

elements in sociological variables, namely the social distance, relative power, and

rank of imposition. However, from the example of the results, the writer found out

that the relative power factor did not influence the speakers in using politeness

strategies. The discussion of sociological variables and the findings were

explained deeper in the following paragraphs.

a. Social Distance

Social distance discusses about how stable social attributes (age, social

class, and ethnic background) affect the relationship between the speaker and


61

hearer. In other words, it indicates the intimacy between the speaker and hearer

whether they had close or distant relationship.

If the speaker has a high intimacy with the hearer, the speaker will choose

less polite strategies as in positive politeness and bald on record strategies.

Meanwhile, if the speaker has less intimacy with the hearer, the speaker will

choose more polite strategies as in negative politeness and off record strategies.

Utterance 5 showed Obama‘s utterance that contained positive politeness.

Obama chose to use positive politeness to lessen the social distance between him

and Ellen.

Utterance 5

Obama : Ellen, you should be a part of this. You should pledge to also get a

tattoo with us. (PP)


Utterance 5 showed that Obama invited Ellen to get a tattoo together

with Obama‘s family. Obama invited Ellen by using the positive politeness, as in

utterance ―You should pledge to also get a tattoo with us.‖ By saying this, Obama

lessened the social distance between him and Ellen. Therefore, he regarded Ellen

as a part of his family by inviting Ellen to get the tattoo together with Obama‘s

family. Thus, Utterance 5 showed that Ellen and Obama had a great intimacy.

b. Relative Power

Relative power discusses the power of the hearer over the speaker. When

the speaker has lower power than the hearer, the speaker will use more polite

strategy. Furthermore, when the speaker has higher power than the hearer then the

speaker will use less polite strategy.


62

Meanwhile, the example of the results showed that the relative power did

not influence the speakers in using the politeness strategies. Utterance 2 showed

Obama‘s utterance.

Utterance 2

Obama : You know, the Ellen dog bowls are somewhere, I am sorry, but… (NP)

(Audience laughing).


Utterance 2 showed that Obama was talking about Ellen‘s dog bowls.

Obama gave his apology to Ellen when he talked about the dog bowls by saying

―I am sorry, but…‖. It indicated that Obama was aware that his utterance might

threaten Ellen‘s negative face. At that time, Obama was the president of United

State of America. It meant that he had higher power than Ellen who was a host of

the talk show. However, Obama ignored his status and power as president, so he

used the negative politeness strategy to be more polite towards Ellen.

Utterance 6 showed Hillary‘s utterance that consisted of negative

politeness.

Utterance 6

Hillary : Can I tell you about that? (NP) This is hard to believe, but there was a

law passed so that if you were married, or you were a single woman,

you would be legally entitled to a credit card. So I applied to credit

card.


Hillary was talking about gender quality in U.S. and she wanted to add

some information about the fact of the situations at that time. Before Hillary

continued to share the facts, she immediately said ―Can I tell you about that?‖


63

towards Ellen. In this case, Hillary was aware that her utterance can threaten

Ellen‘s negative face. However, Hillary used the negative politeness strategy

instead of the other politeness strategy which had lower power. Hillary ignored

her status and power as president candidate to tell the hearer baldly. By using the

negative politeness strategy, Hillary respected Ellen as the host and minimized the

status distance between Ellen and her.

c. Rank of Imposition

There are two variables in rank of imposition, namely imposition towards

negative face and positive face. The speaker who wants to impose hearer‘s

negative face will choose more polite strategies as in negative politeness and off

record strategies. Meanwhile, the speaker who wants to impose the hearer‘s

positive face will choose less polite strategies as in positive politeness and bald on

record strategies.

Utterance 7 showed Hillary‘s utterance that contained the off record

strategy. In that conversation, Hillary used the off record strategy to make an

imposition that required service and goods.

Utterance 7

Hillary : I‘m not asking people to vote for me because I‘m a woman, but I

think if you vote for somebody on the merits, one of my merits is

I‘m a woman, and I think that makes a big difference in today‘s

world. (OR)


Hillary was in her campaign while she was interviewed by Ellen. In

doing her campaign, she used the off record strategy as stated in the dialogue box.


64

She showed her intentions implicitly to the hearer by using the off record strategy,

so that the hearer should interpret what she really wanted. Hillary did not directly

ask the hearer to vote her as a president. However, she gave the hearer freedom to

interpret what she wanted and choose what they would do. Therefore, she satisfied

the hearer‘s negative face in a higher level.

However, the speaker‘s desire to impose hearer‘s positive face was

showed in Utterance 8. The Utterance 8 showed Ellen‘s utterance that used the

positive politeness strategy. Ellen made a joke for Obama in the beginning of the

show when she greeted Obama.

Utterance 8

Ellen : Well, thank you so much for saying that. You didn‘t have to just

because I said you look good, but that was nice of you. [Audience

laughing] (PP)


The dialogue showed that Ellen did an approach towards Obama by

making a joke. She immediately said ―You didn‘t have to just because I said you

look good, but that was nice of you‖ when she was given a compliment by Obama

in the beginning of the show. By saying that, she imposed Obama‘s positive face

with the joke. Furthermore, Ellen also lessened the social distance between her

and Obama.


65

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter consists of three parts, namely the conclusions, implications,

and recommendation. The conclusions aim to sum up the result especially the data

and findings of the study. The implications point out how the research findings

contribute to language learning. The recommendations are addressed to future

researchers and language learners to conduct further studies on a similar topic.

A. Conclusions

This study was conducted to analyze the use of politeness strategies by

Ellen and U.S. politicians in The Ellen Show. Ellen was the host of the talk show

when the data were collected, while the U.S. politicians were the guests. The U.S.

politicians who were analyzed by the writer were Barack Obama and Hillary

Clinton. This study aimed to report two research questions. The first research

question deals with the use of politeness strategies and the second research

question deals with the factors that affect the speakers in using the strategies.

The writer applied the theory of Brown and Levinson (1987) to find out the

politeness strategies used by Ellen and U.S. politicians and the factors which

affect the strategies. The writer found out that Ellen and U.S. politicians used

politeness strategies. There are four types of politeness strategies as stated by

Brown and Levinson (1987), namely bald on record, positive politeness, negative

politeness, and off record. Furthermore, the writer found out that the most

frequent strategy used by Ellen and the U.S. politicians was positive politeness.


66

The data revealed that all of the speakers, Ellen and U.S. politicians, used positive

politeness strategy as well. This finding proved that Ellen and U.S. politicians

used positive politeness in their conversation. It was basically to save each other‘s

positive face. They wanted to maintain a close relationship through the interaction

between them.

The factors which influence the use of politeness strategy by Ellen and US

politicians were the payoffs of the politeness strategies and the sociological

variables. Politeness strategies payoffs were divided into four types, namely bald

on record payoffs, positive politeness payoffs, negative politeness payoff, and off

record payoffs. Bald on record payoffs was related to the speakers‘ want to be

straight forward and efficient. Positive politeness payoffs were the speakers‘

wants to maintain social closeness towards the hearer. Negative politeness payoffs

was the speaker wants to satisfy hearer‘s negative face by respecting other and

maintaining social distance between speaker and hearer. Lastly, off record payoffs

was related to the speaker wants to minimize the threat towards the hearer and to

satisfy the hearer‘s negative face in a greater degree.

The sociological variables are divided into three variables, namely social

distance, relative power, and rank of imposition. Social distance was related to

how the social attributes affected the relationship between Ellen and the U.S

politicians. Rank of imposition was related to the degree of the FTA that is

considered as the interference to the face of the hearer. However, relative power

factor did not influence the speakers in using politeness strategies. It indicates that


67

all the speakers ignored their power and social status while doing the

conversation.

B. Implications

Based on the findings, this research contributes important information to

the practice of language learning especially for English learning. This research

analyzed how politeness strategies used in a daily conversation. Politeness

strategies focus on how the speaker saves hearer‘s positive face by making an

expression that is less threatening for hearer‘s face (Brown & Levinson, 1987).

Thus, it is important for English learners to comprehend the strategies in order to

be able to formulate an utterance properly and politely.

It is important for English learners to understand how politeness strategies

affect people in maintaining interpersonal relationship. Besides, this research

findings are expected to be the examples of the use of politeness strategies in a

talk show. Hopefully, this research can enrich EFL students‘ knowledge in using

English language as a tool to communicate with each other properly. Furthermore,

politeness is one of the theories that is included in Sociolinguistics. The findings

of this research are expected to give contribution to the Sociolinguistics, as it

provides examples on how language is used in society.

C. Recommendations

The recommendations are addressed to future researchers and language

learners. The writer expects that these recommendations will help them in

learning this topic or writing further research about this topic. The writer hopes


68

that it can contribute to improve the success in English learning or teaching

activities and the application of English language.

1. For Future Researchers

This research provides useful information and example which can enrich

future researcher‘s knowledge of politeness strategies used in a talk show. The

writer would like to present the recommendations to the future researchers to

conduct other research regarding utterances based on politeness strategies. Since

this research was aimed to analyze the use of politeness strategies and the factors

which affect it in a talk show, the writer expects that the future researchers can

write a research of politeness strategies that occur in a daily conversation, for

example a natural conversation between teacher and student. In conducting the

research, the future researchers can use the theory of politeness strategies which is

proposed by Brown and Levinson (1987) as well.

2. For English Learners

It is important for English learners to understand politeness strategies. In

this study, the writer encourages students who learn English as a foreign language

to pay attention to the use of their language based on the aspects of politeness

strategies. By comprehending politeness strategies, English learners will be able

to express their English utterances appropriately in a daily conversation. Studying

politeness strategies will also help English learners to apply a better strategy and

avoid misinterpreting and misunderstanding while doing interpersonal

communication.


69

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APPENDICES


72

APPENDIX A

The List of Politeness Strategies Used by Ellen and U.S. Politicians inThe Ellen Show

Data 1Clip Title : Pres. Barack Obama on Ellen Breaking His Twitter RecordPublished on : March 19, 2014

No. Speaker UtterancePoliteness Strategy(BoR, PP, NP, OR)

1. Ellen Mr. President, it has been awhile since we've spoken.You look great. How are you?

PP

That's amazing PPWell, thank you so much for PPsaying that.You didn't have to just becauseI said you look good, but thatwas nice of you.

2. Ellen

3. Ellen4. Ellen

I don't know if you know this,but I was aiming to break yourrecord of retweets, and Iapologize for doing it, but Ibroke your retweet record.

PP

Good for you. That's fantastic PPI am doing great. You look PPwonderful also

Ellen, you should be a part of PPthis.You should pledge to also get atattoo with us.

PP

PP

PP

BoRBoR

They're doing great in school,and they're smart, and they'refunny, and they're kind, and,

I'm stuck with two dogs,and... I'm expected to walkthem and do what you do whenyou walk dogs.

Let me mention this.Let's also talk about-youwent shopping.Well, you have a family ofgood taste.

12 Obama

5. Ellen6. Ellen

7. Ellen

8. Ellen eo"

9. Obama

10. Obama

11. Obama


73

No. Speaker Utterance Politeness Strategy

(BoR, PP, NP, OR)

you know, they're athletic

13. Obama Michelle and I will be right

there, and we'll post it so that

everybody will be able to see

it.

PP

Data 2


Published on : September 10, 2015


(BoR, PP, NP, OR)

14. Ellen The first thing that I think we

should discuss is Kanye running

for president, and how do you

feel about that?

NP

15. Ellen The only person I can look at is

you.

PP

16. Hillary Look, I think it's just a reality

that we're held to a higher,

different double standard.

BoR

17. Ellen I just want to read a couple of

things that--because I was

looking at this and it's just

unbelievable to me.

PP

18. Ellen We have to take a break, but I

just also--

I want to say I am not a political

person.

I don't like politics. I don't

understand politics.

What I--what I am is a human

being who wants everyone to

have equal rights.

NP

19. Ellen I want inclusive.

I don't want exclusive. I want

everyone to get along.

BoR

20. Ellen I want everyone to want a

common goal of a better

country.

OR

21. Ellen So let's talk about the fact that

you're a grandmother.

BoR

22. Hillary And I saw you in the debate. PP


74


(BoR, PP, NP, OR)

You were great.

23 Hillary Don't let--all the wonderful,

beautiful young women who are

here, don't get discouraged.

Don't give in. Don't give up.

Don't quit on yourself, on your

dreams, on your future.

BoR and PP

24 Hillary I'm not asking people to vote for

me because I'm a woman, but I

think if you vote for somebody

on the merits, one of my merits

is I'm a woman, and I think that

makes a big difference in today's

world.

OR

25 Hillary Can I tell you about that? NP

26 Hillary This is hard to believe, but there

was a law passed

so that if you were married, or

you were a single woman,

you would be legally entitled to

a credit card.

NP

27 Hillary On my way here, I stopped by

just to see her, so that I could

kinda catch a glimpse

PP

28 Hillary ―No sing, Mommy.‖ Yeah, yeah,

exactly.

PP

Data 3


Published on : February 12, 2016


(BoR, PP, NP, OR)

29 Ellen Well, seems like somebody spill

the secrets already. OR

30 Ellen I'd like you to meet her. BoR

31 Ellen Give me, give me my trump

back. BoR and PP

32 Ellen

We're going to have to ask him

after the show because the show

is over, but is there any one last

question you want to ask him?

NP

33 Obama How are you doing Macey, you

look great. PP


75


(BoR, PP, NP, OR)

34 Obama

I like Ellen dog bowls,

sometimes I use the bail and

bowls though.

PP

35 Obama

I think I brought something for

you though because you are

such a presidential expert.

PP

36 Obama

Well, the truth is Macey, we

haven't actually made direct

contact with aliens yet, but

when we do I'll let you know.

PP

37 Obama Very good point. PP

38 Obama

I can't believe it you know so

much about presidents

yeah that's amazing

PP

39 Obama Come here. BoR

40 Obama Ellen dog bowls are somewhere.

I'm sorry but… NP

Data 4

Clip Title : President Obama Discusses His Daughters



(BoR, PP, NP, OR)

41. Ellen And you have been a great

President.

PP

42. Ellen Well, they have great parents.

Both you and Michelle are

really, really amazing.

Michelle Is such a strong,

wonderful role model for all

women.

And she has been a great First

Lady.

PP

43. Ellen We have to take another break. BoR

44. Ellen You‘ve done an amazing job. PP

Data 5




76


(BoR, PP, NP, OR)

45. Ellen You're probably not kidding? PP

46. Ellen That's everybody's hope, but

let's talk about me.

BoR

47. Ellen I am so because she didn't go

down all the way and she

claimed she had longer arms

and so she's.

PP

48. Ellen Look at, look.

She's going down pretty far.

BoR

49. Ellen That's, I would think so. PP

50. Ellen Do you look at what's going on

now in the campaigning and do

you miss it any way and do

you look at them and go, you're

making big mistakes?

NP

51. Ellen No, it‘s not helpful. PP

52 Ellen I have better form than her, and

I –

PP

53. Obama I'm kinda not kidding. PP

54. Obama After about 15 years,

I finally figured out that she's

always right.

PP

55. Obama I mean those are good, you

have good form.

PP

Data 6

Clip Title : Hillary Clinton’s Debate Dance Moves

Published on : October 14, 2016


(BoR, PP, NP, OR)

56. Ellen

And I can imagine, but tell

what you wish for your

birthday.

NP

57. Ellen We have to show it. PP

58. Ellen After you are elected president,

come back and see us. PP

59. Ellen

Listen, before I say goodbye to

you, it is your 69th birthday in

a few weeks.

BoR

60. Ellen We‘ll be right back. BoR

61. Hillary I also, I really wish that I will OR


77


(BoR, PP, NP, OR)

be the president that are

country needs right now, that's

my deepest hope.

62. Hillary

I will be the youngest woman

ever elected President of the

United States.

PP

63. Hillary I will. Absolutely, absolutely PP


78

APPENDIXB

The Transcript of The Ellen Show

Transcript 1Clip Title : Pres. Barack Obama on Ellen Breaking His Twitter RecordPublished on : March 19, 2014

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Ellen

We're back with the 44th President of the United States, BarackObama, who's joining us from the Ellen blue room at the WhiteHose. [Audience cheer and applause]Mr. President, it has been awhile since we've spoken. You lookgreat, how are you?I am doing great. You look wonderful also.Well, thank you so much for saying that. You didn't have to,just because I said you look good, but that was nice of you.[Audience laughing] .It is true.I don't know if you know this, but I was aiming to break yourrecords of retweets, and I apologize for doing it, but I brokeyour retweet record. [Audience cheer and applause]I heard about that. 1thought it was a pretty cheap stunt myselfgetting a bunch of celebrities in the background.That's the only thing--You feeding them pizza.Yeah.So, The First Lady's in China.How is she doing?You know, she hasn't landed yet, but the house is abandoned.I'm stuck with two dogs, and...I'm expected to walk them anddo what you do when you walk dogs. But I think they're gonnahave a wonderful time, though. They haven't been to Chinabefore, and the opportunity for them to talk to young peoplethey've actually met with students here in the United Stateswho've made these trips before and helped brief them in terms ofwhat they should see, and it's gonna be a wonderful exchange, andhopefully because of this trip, they may be able to invite someChinese students back to the United States as well.Your daughters-How are they doing?I mean, they're growing up so fast, every time I see a picture ofthem, and first of all answer that question, please, and then I havea comment about the tattoo thing that you told them.Well, they are doing wonderfully. You know, Malia, she turns 16this summer, which is a little scary.Wow.


79

Obama : And Sasha‘s gonna be 13. And they are doing great in school,

and they’re smart, and they’re funny, and they’re kind, and,

you know, they’re athletic, and so I really have no complaints,

except for the fact that increasingly they don‘t have that much

time for me.

You know, I am just—I am not that interesting. They‘re nice about

it, though, because they still love me, so they‘ll come in and

they‘ll pat me on the head and kiss me, and they‘ll say, ―Oh,

Daddy, we love you so much,‖ and they‘ll talk to me for about

five minutes, and then they‘ll say, ―We‘re gonna be gone all

weekend.‖

Ellen : They‘re very busy.

Obama : So that‘s making me a little sad.

Ellen : Well, and I bet. Let me mention this. I don‘t know if everyone

heard this, but you made the most amazing comment about if they

would ever get a tattoo, and I think everyone should stick to this

rule.

If your daughters got tattoos, that you and Michelle would also get

the same tattoo in the same place and you‘d all take a family photo

of all the tattoos.

Obama : That‘s exactly right. [Audience cheer and applause]

We will reduce the cool factor of any tattoo.

Michele and I will be right there, and we’ll post it so that

everybody will be able to see it, and we‘ll say, ―We all got

matching tattoos.‖

And I suspect that will be a pretty good deterrent for both Malia

and Sasha.

Ellen : I hate to say, but I hope they get tattoos. I really do. [Audience

laughing]

Obama : Ellen, you should be a part of this. You should pledge to also

get a tattoo with us.

Ellen : Yeah, well, you know what? If that happens, I will, but other than

that, I‘m not inti tattoos. I‘m not gonna do that.

Let’s also talk about—you went shopping. I don‘t know how

you can do this, but you went to a mall and you shopped at a gap

recently, because you were photographed so I know it‘s true.

Obama : It happened.

Ellen : It happened. You went to the gap, and you went shopping.

How do you have time?

Obama : Well, here—here‘s the thing.

We were on a trip to New York, and the gap announced that they

were gonna make sure that all their employees at least got paid

$10 an hour, so they‘re increasing their wages for tens of

thousands of employees across the country, and since we‘ve been

saying that America deserves a raise, and we should provide a

minimum wage of at least $10.10 an hour, I thought it was great


80

for me to be able to go frequent a store that‘s doing right by their

employees.

Ellen : Good for you.

Obama : I thought that was really important [audience cheer and applause]

Ellen : Good for you. That’s fantastic.

They sold a lot of those sweaters that you bought. I understand

those sweaters that you bought sold out, because everybody

wanted to wear the same sweaters that your daughters are wearing.

Obama : Well, I thought they were pretty nice sweaters, and Malia and

Sasha, they did not scowl when I brought them in, which was a

good sign. I mean, they didn‘t immediately say, ―Eww, that‘s

terrible.‖

Ellen : Well, you have a family of good taste.

Obama : I have not yet seen them wear them, but I‘m hoping that I make

the cut.

Ellen : Well, I would like to see them wear them also.

Transcript 2


Published on : September 10, 2015

Ellen : I have so many things to ask you about and talk to you about.

The first thing that I think we should discuss is Kanye running

for president, and how do you feel about that?

Hillary : Well, I heard him make the announcement.

Ellen : Right.

Hillary : And he said he wanted to run in 2020.

Ellen : Yes

Hillary : I would ask him if I‘m running for re-election, to wait.

Ellen : Okay.

Hillary : Okay?

Ellen : Okay.

Hillary : But otherwise… [Audience cheer and applause]

A lot of people want to run for president these days.

Ellen : It seems like a lot of people do want to run.

Hillary : Yeah.

Ellen : I don‘t understand it myself.

Hillary : And I saw you in debate. You were great.

Ellen : Thank you so much. I want someone who is qualified, and I feel

like when you‘re talking about—if I look at all the other

candidates..

Hillary : Right.

Ellen : Someone who is for rights across the board. Equal rights for

women. Equal rights for every ethnicity. Equal rights for

everyone. It is—the only person I can look at is you.


81

Hillary : Thank you. Thank you, Ellen.

Well, no.

First—first of all, look, I think it‘s just a reality that we‘re held to

a higher, different double standard. And it gets a little old, to be

honest, but you just forge ahead.

Don’t let—all the wonderful, beautiful young women who are

here, don’t get discouraged. Don’t give in. don’t give up. Don’t

quit on yourself, on your dreams, on your future. And I

actually think, you know, look, I’m not asking people to vote for

me because I’m a woman, but I think if you vote for somebody

on the merits, one of my merits is I’m a woman, and I think

that makes a big difference in today’s world. Ellen : Yes, yes. But I do, and I think that a lit of women—we‘re so

conditioned for so long to—to be less than. To be—and I just

want to read a couple of things that—because I was looking at

this and it’s just unbelievable to me. It wasn‘t until 1920 when the 19

th Amandemen passed that women

were allowed to vote.


Ellen : 1920. We couldn‘t vote until then. Women weren‘t allowed to

serve in the military until 1948.

Not allowed into combat until 2013. It wasn‘t until 1973 that a

woman could serve on juries.

A woman could not have her own credit card until 1974.

Hillary : Can I tell you about that?

This is hard to believe, but there was a law passed so that if

you were married, or you were a single woman, you would be

legally entitled to a credit card.

So I applied to a credit card.

I was married, this was probably like 1976, ‘77.

And I got a letter back saying that I could not apply for my own

credit card. I would have to use my husband‘s.

And so, this is not, like, ancient history.

Ellen : No.

Hillary : And I was making more money than he was. And I actually was

ready to have my own credit card. [Audience cheer and applause]

Ellen : We have to take a break, but I just also—I want to say I am

not a political person. I don’t like politics. I don’t understand

politics.

What I – what I am is a human being who wants everyone to

have equal rights.

Hillary : Right.

Ellen : And I hate the ―us and them.‖ I don‘t like that someone is a

Republican, so they‘re bad. They‘re a Democrat, so they‘re bad.

I want inclusive

Hillary : Exactly.


82

Ellen : I don’t want exclusive. I want everyone to get along. I want

everyone to want a common goal of a better country. Hillary : Right.

Ellen : And to not piss off any more countries. I want us all to be loved.

Hillary : Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ellen : I want us to be happy.

Hillary : The happiness agenda. [Hillary gives high five to Ellen]

Ellen : Peace. I want happiness and I want peace. Across the world.

[Audience cheer and applause]

All right, we‘ll take a break, and when we come back, we will

have world peace.

~break time~

Ellen : So let’s talk about the fact that you’re a grandmother.

You have a grand-daughter called Charlotte now.

Hillary : I do, yes. Yeah, she is—she‘s going to be one year old on

September 26.

Ellen : That‘s a cute age.

Hillary : Yeah.

On my way here, I stopped by just to see her, so that I could

kinda catch a glimpse, you know, it changes so fast, well there

she is, when she‘s, like, just born.

But now she‘s doing all kinds of interesting and exciting things.

Ellen : What does she call you?

Hillary : She hasn‘t called me anything yet, because she doesn‘t have that

many words yet.

Ellen : Aww, that‘s a shame.

Hillary : Yeah, she‘s got a couple of words.

I‘m waiting to see what she wants to call me. If I like it, I‘ll say,

―Yeah, that‘s a good one.‖

If I don‘t, then I‘m gonna have to work on what else can she call

me.

Ellen : Well, can‘t you guide her into—what would you like to be called?

Hillary : Well, you know, I‘m fine with Grandma.

I‘m fine with Madame President.

I mean, whatever is right. Fancy.

Ellen : That‘s a mouthful for a child.

Hillary : Yeah, yeah.

Ellen : That would be great if those are her first word is, ―Madame

President.‖

Hillary : Yeah. I don‘t know I‘ll have to wait.

Ellen : Do you sing to her?

Hillary : I am singing to her just like I sang to my daughter.

I sang to my daughter until she was about 18 months old, and with

our little ritual, I‘m singing to her before I put her to bed.

Ellen : What would you sing? What was the song?

Hillary : Oh, I sang all kinds of things, you know. Old favorites—I think at


83

that time, I was singing ―Moon River‖ because we were looking

out the window. We were looking at the moon. And she reached

her little finger up, she goes, ―No sing, Mommy, no sing.‖

Ellen : Oh.. [laughing]

Hillary : She finally developed an ear, so I figure I‘ve got about another,

you know, eight months or six or seven with Charlotte to keep

singing.

Ellen : Before she says, ―No sing, Madame President.‖

Hillary : ―No sing, Mommy.‖ Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Ellen : That‘s a shame.

So, uh, the one thing people are saying also, ‗cause I want to give

you a chance to talk about things that are important to you, that

you want to discuss, but they‘re saying that if you are elected, you

would be one of the oldest presidents elected, which does that

matter?

Don‘t we want experience more than anything?

Isn‘t that important?

Hillary : Well I think it‘s very important, but the way I look at it, is I would

be the youngest woman ever elected President of the United

States.

Ellen : Yes, that‘s it.

Transcript 3



Ellen : We have a little presidential expert and she is never met a

president before and her name is Macey Hensley and I'd like you

to meet her. Obama : All right. Yeah [Macey comes]

How are you doing Macey, you look great.

Macey : Thanks.

Ellen : You won‘t believe it?

Macey : No.

Ellen : I mean you know when I told you you're going to meet the

president you were like ―I can't believe it!‖

Obama : You know so much about presidents.

Macey : Yeah.

Obama : That’s amazing. Yeah.

Ellen : Yeah, I mean you know just about will tell me something about

Roosevelt.

Macey : Um, like—which one?

Ellen : Oh man.

Obama : Very good point [everyone laughs]

Ellen : Whichever one you want to tell me about.


84

Macey : All right, so like, he, um, after his mama and grandma died he

went off to be a cowboy.

Ellen : Did you know that?

Obama : You know, I gotta say Teddy Roosevelt is one of my favorite

presidents. So he lived a pretty exciting life, really.

Ellen : So you have questions for the president, this is a big moment. You

can do whatever, you want to ask. What‘s your first question?

Macey : So, is there really a Book of Secrets?

Obama : That‘s secret.

Ellen : What kind of secrets would you want to know, what would you,

what would be in the Book of Secrets?

Macey : If aliens are real.

Obama : Well, what do you think?

Macey : Well, after watching these TV shows, I think aliens are probably

real.

Ellen : Okay, well, which TV show?

Macey : I think, it's called like America's Book of Secrets. [audience laugh]

Obama : There you go [laugh]

Ellen : Well, seems like somebody spill the secrets already.

Obama : I thought that was classic. I didn't think there's a TV show.

Macey : Yeah.

Obama : Well, the truth is Macey, we haven't actually made direct

contact with aliens yet, but when we do I'll let you know.

Ellen : Yeah, yeah. What else?

Macey : So, your dogs even have a secret service? [audience laugh]

Obama : No. Bo and Sunny they‘re on their own, but usually we don‘t let

him out of the White House unless they‘re with us. So, you know,

they‘re protected.

Macey : So, are you still using the Ellen dog bowls?

Obama : You know, Ellen dog bowls are somewhere. [audience laugh]

I am sorry, but..

Um, Bo and Sunny, they--

Ellen : Give me, give me my trump back. [audience laugh]

Obama : You know that they had their favorite bowls and they, it turns out

that they weren‘t the only bowl, you know, but I like Ellen dog

bowls, sometimes I use the bail and bowls though. Ellen : [laughs] All right, if you have more questions we’re going to ask

him after the show, because the show is over, but is there any

one last question you want to ask him? Macey : Um. No.

Ellen : [audience laugh] Okay.

Obama : You know, I wish you‘re a reporter, because that would be great,

if there is a press conference and then asking, ―Is there any more

questions?‖ and she says ―no‖.

Ellen : [laughs] Okay.

Obama : I think I brought something for you though because you are


85

such a presidential expert. Come here, so this is the Presidential

Seal, see, and so wherever the president goes he always has the

seal and I signed it on the back, so in case you become president,

you will already have one.

You don‘t even have to get a new one. You‘ll be all set.

Macey : Thank you. [smiling]

Obama : You‘re welcome.

Ellen : Yeah, all right, we‘re going on.

Transcript 4

Clip Title : President Obama Discusses His Daughters


Ellen : So this is Malia is going off to college, and that's got to be.

Obama : It‘s hard.

Ellen : Yes.

Obama : Yeah.

Ellen : That‘s got to be.

Obama : Look. As Michelle reminds me, our job is to prepare them not

need us. And both my daughters are wonderful people, and Malia

is more than ready to leave. But I'm not ready for her to leave, and

I was asked if I would speak at her graduation and I said

absolutely not. Because I'm gonna be sitting there with dark

glasses sobbing.

She's one of my best friends and it's gonna be hard for me not to

have her around all the time.

But she's ready to go. You know you can tell when they're she's

just a really smart, capable person and she's ready to make her

own way. And they're--

Ellen : Wow.

Obama : Wonderful, they're wonderful girls and I-- Michelle gets all the

credit, maybe an assist from my mother in law.

But they really are just solid kids. They don't have an attitude,

they're courteous and kind to everybody.

They work hard, they don't feel like they're entitled to anything.

Ellen : Well, they have great parents. Both you and Michelle are

really, really amazing.

Michelle Is such a strong, wonderful role model for all women.

And she has been a great First Lady. Obama : I agree, that I agree with. [audience applause]

Ellen : We have to take another break.

Obama : That is indisputable.

Ellen : Yep.

And you have been a great President. And like you said people

can say things over and over and over again about unemployment


86

or the economy or anything else.

If you listen to that, you're gonna believe it.

If you look into it and see what the facts are-- It's just not the truth.

Obama : We're better off now then when I came in.

There's no doubt.

Ellen : You’ve done an amazing job.

Transcript 5



Ellen : Do you look at what’s going on now in the campaigning and do

you miss it any way and do you look at them and go, you’re

making big mistakes?

Obama : [laugh] I don‘t miss it.

Ellen : [laugh] It‘s always good to get out of Washington, which can

sometimes be a little depressing. What will, to get out of

Washington or to, what part is depressing?

Obama : Well, Washington. [audience laugh]

Ellen : That’s, I would think so.

Obama : Yeah. [audience applause]

Ellen : I mean, really.

Obama : Yeah, no, but--

Ellen : You‘re probably not kidding--

Obama : I’m kinda not kidding.

Ellen : Yeah, I mean, what was the biggest surprise for you when you

became president, what surprised you the most?

Obama : Well, the fact is that most of the time if something reaches my

desk, it means it's really hard, which is why they bumped it up to

me ‗cuz nobody else could figure it out.

And when I came in, the economy was collapsing.

We were about to go into a great depression.

We had to make a whole bunch of decisions about saving the auto

industry or making sure that business has got back on their feet, or

the housing market would recover.

And you're having to make big bets with incomplete information.

You're not sure that everything's gonna work.

And I think that part of what's happened in this Instagram.

You know, Twitter culture is that we expect quick answers

without sacrifice, without having to make choices, and politicians

play into that.

But the truth of the matter is, you know the world is a big

complicated place.

The good news is that we're generally going in the right direction,

and my hope is that we'll continue to do so.


87

Ellen : That’s everybody’s hope, but let’s talk about me. [Audience

and Obama laugh]

I feel like. Don‘t you think if more people danced?

Obama : Yes.

Ellen : And just had fun instead of, everyone takes everything so

seriously and I think that we have these people, I'm kinda kidding

there, obviously, but I think we have people that we all have the

one thing in common which is we just want a good quality of life.

Obama : Right.

Ellen : And then we had these people that feel one way and if someone

feels another way, we tend to hate them and it's just-

Obama : That‘s not helpful.

Ellen : No, it’s not helpful.

Obama : The amount of stuff that is just put out there on the internet or on

sometimes news broadcasts that are just factually inaccurate, is

surprising.

And it's really hard to catch up.

Since I came into office, we reduced the deficit by two thirds. But

if you ask the average person, they're sure that spending has shot

up. And the reason is because there are a bunch of folks who say

that. We‘re wildly overspending even though we aren‘t.

Ellen : Right.

Obama : And that's just one small example, but it happens all the time.

And that's something that we have to fix partly by people paying

more attention to what's going on every single day.

And it's hard because people are busy.

They're dropping off their kids, they're working. They're, you

know, trying to figure out how they get some exercise, do some

push-ups and.

Ellen : Speaking of her.

Obama : Okay.

Ellen : What do you and Michelle disagree on? [audience laugh]

Obama : Well.

Ellen : Like what do you fight about--

Obama : After about, 15 years, I finally figured out that she's always

right.

So. [Audience applause] So then surprisingly we just stopped

fighting. And there's no more fighting.

Ellen : Well, she‘s a cheater, you know that, when you talk about the

push-ups.

I‘m not even gonna, I‘m not gonna argue about it anymore.

[Obama laughs]

But she‘s a cheater. So look at how far down I went, and look

how--

Obama : You‘re so upset about that.

Ellen : I am so because she didn't go down all the way and she


88

claimed she had longer arms and so she's, listen, it was very

impressive that she kept going but she didn't go down as far as

me.

Obama : Okay.

Ellen : Look at, look!

Obama : She‘s going down pretty far.

Ellen : No, no, no.

Not as far down as me.

Look. [audience laughing]

Obama : I mean, those are good, you have good form.

Ellen : I have better form than her, and I – [all laughing]

Obama : You have good form.

Ellen : All right. [applause]

Transcript 6

Clip Title : Hillary Clinton’s Debate Dance Moves

Published on : October 14, 2016

Ellen : Everybody's talking about the debate, and everyone's talking about

the winner of this debate, and clearly the winner of the debate was

the guy in the red sweater.

Hillary : Yes.

Ellen : Ken Bone. And for some reason, no one is talking about this

moment, but we have to show it.

~video playing~

Hillary : There's a lot at stake.

This is not an ordinary time, and this is not an ordinary election.

[Audience laughing]We are going to be choosing a president who

will set policy for, not just for eight years, but because of some of

the important decisions we have to make here at home and around

the world, from the Supreme Court to energy and so much else.

And so there is a lot at stake. It's one of the most consequential

elections that we've had. And that's why I've tried to put forth

specific policies and plans. Kind of get it off of the personal and

put it on to what it is I wanna do as president.

Thank you very much both of you.

~video stopped~

Hillary : Yeah. [applause, laugh]

Ellen : You can move.

Hillary : That was the best dancing I‘ve ever done.

Ellen : Yeah. [laugh] You can move.

Hillary : He wasn‘t bad either.

Ellen : No, Ken Bone was great. Listen, before I say goodbye to you, it

is your 69th birthday in a few weeks. Hillary : It is.


89

Ellen : And I can imagine, but tell what you wish for for your

birthday.


election, but I also, I really wish that I will be the president that

are country needs right now, that's my deepest hope. [audience

applause]

And, you're right, it is my birthday and just think of it this way, I

will be the youngest woman ever elected President of the

United States [Laugh]

Ellen : Yes, you will.


Ellen : I cannot wait. I have high hopes and I trust in the good people of

this country to make the right decision. After you are elected

president, come back and see us. Hillary : I will.

Ellen : All right.

Hillary : Absolutely, absolutely.

Ellen : We’ll be right back.


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