Interlanguage Pragmatics: Comparing The Complaining Strategies Used by Male and Female EFL Learners and Indonesian Speakers

Abstract

This research analyzes the differences in complaining strategies used by five male and five female EFL learners using English, as well as five male and five female Indonesian speakers using Indonesian Language. This research used a descriptive method with Oral Discourse Completion Task (DCT) as the data collection instrument and was conducted in simulation for role play. From the data analysis, there are 200 data in total from ten situations. The results showed that annoyance was most widely used by male (29) and females (22) in EFL Learners. Direct accusation is most used by male (16) and females (19) in Indonesian Speakers. However, it was also compared for the same gender and showed that Male EFL Learners tend to use annoyance and Male Indonesian Speakers tend to use direct accusation. And Female EFL Learners tend to use annoyance and Female Indonesian Speakers tend to use direct accusation. This research found that the level of education and cultural background affect the way individuals convey complaints. EFL Learners tend to be more formal and consider politeness in complaining, while Indonesian Speakers are more spontaneous and direct in expressing their dissatisfaction.