The Analysis of Politeness Strategies and Reciprocity in Requestive Exchange used by English Literature Students

Abstract

This study analyzed the politeness strategies and reciprocity in requestive exchanges used by English Literature students at Universitas Negeri Padang. This research aims to find out the types of politeness strategies in requestive exchange and its reciprocity used by English language and literature students. This research uses descriptive quantitative research method with data collected through Discourse Completion Tasks (DCT), which were distributed to fourth and second-semester students.The data used in this research are utterances spoken by 4th semester and 2nd semester English department students of Universitas Negeri Padang. The researcher uses Brown and Levinson (1987) to analyze the types of politeness strategies and Culpeper (2021) to analyze the reciprocity. Based on the result of the research, the most frequently used politeness strategy was negative politeness, with a total of 24 utterances. Positive politeness was used 18 times, while bald on record appeared in 5 utterances. The least used strategy was bald off-record, with only 3 utterances. Females are more likely to use Normal Politeness requests with additional positive comments and utilize Extra Politeness in a way that shows appreciation and respect. While males tend to favor Normal Politeness requests, they often accept requests without adding extra comments. Additionally, the results show that positive politeness and negative politeness were the dominant strategies used in requestive exchanges between seniors and juniors, while Bald on record and bald off-record strategies were used less frequently. Based on gender differences in the use of politeness strategies, a comparison of female's and male's in requestive exchanges reveals the different communication styles in terms of politeness and response.