SEPTARIANY K.C (0713042044)

NEGOTIATION OF MEANING
(An Assignment of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) Subject)

ENGLISH STUDY PROGRAM
ART AND LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND PEDAGOGY
THE UNIVERSITY OF LAMPUNG
BANDAR LAMPUNG
2011


PREFACE

In an interaction where an addressor and addressee work together to solve the misunderstandings, negotiation of meaning will occurs. It will be rise by checking each other comprehension, requesting clarification and confirmation. Negotiation of meaning itself defined as a series of exchanges conducted by addressees to help themselves understand and be understood by interlocutors (Yufrizal 80:2008).
In the reason of obtaining a clear view of this term and to find how many sequences of it, the researcher recorded the three conversations talking about information gap in the procedure text found in magazine and newspaper.


FRAME OF THEORY

Negotiation of meaning is defined as a series of exchanges conducted by addressors and addressees to help themselves understand and be understood by their interlocutors. In this case, when native speakers and non native speakers are involved in an interaction, both interactants work together to solve any potential misunderstanding or non understanding that occurs, by checking each others’ comprehension requesting clarifications and confirmation and by repairing and adjusting speech.

There are several models of negotiation of meaning process. I will use the simple one by Varonis and Gas (1985). In this model, there are four primes called:

a. Trigger (T) which invokes or stimulates incomplete understanding o the part of the hearer.
b. Indicator (I) which is the hearer’s signal (S) of incomplete understanding.
c. Response (R) is the original speaker’s attempt to clear up the unaccepted-input.
d. Reaction to the Response (RR), which is an element that signals either the hearer’s acceptance or continued difficulty with the speaker’s repair.

The model consists of two components, which are the trigger component and the resolution component. Trigger is the only content of trigger component, while the other three belong to resolution component. A trigger altogether with the resolution is called the negotiation of meaning sequence.


TRANSCRIPT OF CONVERSATIONS

Conversation I

The interactants in this conversation are two female students of Senior High whose level in English are both Low, Helen and Ayu. They were going to make a web blog by following the instructions they found in a magazine.

Ayu : “Hi Helen, what’s going on?”
Helen : “Hi. I’m reading.”
Ayu : “Reading what?”
Helen : “XY-Kids.”
Ayu : “What?”
Helen : “Eks-wai kids magazine.”
Ayu : “Oh, Eks-wai kids magazine.”
Helen : “Yes, XY-Kids magazine.”
Ayu : “What it about?”
Helen : “Many. This page about web blog.”
Ayu : “Website?”
Helen : “No no no. Blog.”
Ayu : “Oh. You want make it?”
Helen : “No, I have.”
Ayu : “Oyeah? When?”
Helen : “Secret.”
Ayu : “Secret… Tell me please?”
Helen : “Here. Follow this one.”
Ayu : “What should I do? ”
Helen : “Look number 1, do you have email?”
Ayu : “Yes, ayumaniz@yahoo.com.”
Helen : “Is there another?”
Ayu : “Sorry?”
Helen : “Another email address.”
Ayu : “Why?”
Helen : “To join in blogspot you need email google.”
Ayu : “Ooo..i have. Next from google?”
Helen : “See the first picture. Select blog from email google.”
Ayu : “Where?”
Helen : “This one..”
Ayu : “Too small word.”
Helen : “Of course, we only see the picture, gal!”
Ayu : “Ok, after click?”
Helen : “Select create an account. “
Ayu : “Click again?”
Helen : “Ya.”
Ayu : “Next, which one?”
Helen : “Put your identity.”
Ayu : “Pardon? My name?”
Helen : “Yes, your name, your password, etc.”
Ayu : “Must original name?”
Helen : “Up to you. Enter your cat name,hihihi…”
Ayu : “ OK, next?”
Helen : “Ya next. See number 3 and 4.”
Ayu : “Where?”
Helen : “ Here…name your blog and choose template.”
Ayu : “Template? What?”
Helen : “Template…background like in HP.”
Ayu : “Tem-plate?”
Helen : “Yeah… now, content? How?”
Helen : “Like sending email.”
Ayu : “Sure? Easy,right?”
Helen : “Yes, you’re right!”
Ayu : “Can it be expired?”
Helen : “What?”
Ayu : “Expired...expired…”
Helen : “No I think, if it is food maybe.”
Ayu : “Hihihi…you are lively!”
Helen : “Ha??”
Ayu : “Lively…synonym of funny.”
Helen : “Lively…live plus ly. Yeah, that’s I am.”
Ayu : “Yupz!”


Conversation II

The interactants in this conversation are one female and male students of Senior High whose level in English are Low and Intermediate, Helen and Rangga. They were talking about the issue that facebook will be stopped soon.

Helen : “Look at this.”
Rangga : “What?”
Helen : “This newspaper. Facebook!”
Rangga : “Ooo..facebook, what happen with it?”
Helen : “It will be stopped soon.”
Rangga : “Stop? Could you repeat?”
Helen : “Yes, stop. S-T-O-P!”
Rangga : “Hmmm…”
Helen : “Here you are.”
Rangga : “It must be bullshit. Unbelievable!”
Helen : “Unbeliev…what? How to pronounce that word?”
Rangga : “An-be-liv-vebel, can you?”
Helen : “An-be-liv-vebel…yes!”
Rangga : “What do you think?”
Helen : “Think what?”
Rangga : “Your opinion toward this news actually.”
Helen : “Well, I’m not worry because I don’t like it much.”
Rangga : “Don’t like? How poor you are!”
Helen : “Sorry? You say I’m poor?”
Rangga : “Poor means how pity you are…”
Helen : “Sure? That word? Oh..I see.”
Rangga : “Yeah!”
Helen :”Prepare yourself from now.”
Rangga : “For what?”
Helen :”Minimize your interaction with facebook .”
Rangga : “OK, Let’s say I have done your suggestion, so what’s the impact?”
Helen : “Impek? How do I spell?”
Rangga : “Hmm…i-m-p-a-c-t, see?”
Helen : “i-m-p-a-c-t…impact!”
Rangga : “So what’s the impact?”
Helen : “It will easy to lost it, hehe..”
Rangga : “You mean it will be easier for me to lose it someday?”
Helen : “Yes, I mean to lose, not lost.”
Rangga : “Well, I’m not sure it will occur.”
Helen : “Why?”
Rangga : “Because so many people need this service not only for relationship but also for business and information.”
Helen :”There are other media.”
Rangga : “But not as simple as facebook. Not as cheap as this one.”
Helen : “Well, let’s safe the important ones!”
Rangga : “Pardon?”
Helen : “Yes, the important things you have on it.”
Rangga : “Oh, yes. You mean the data like notes and photos?”
Helen : “Yeah, notes and photos.”
Rangga : “Don’t worry, I have the backup of those.”
Helen : “Let’s join twitter, would you?”
Rangga : “Join in twitter?”
Helen :”Yes, that I mean, join in twitter!”
Rangga : “Yes, I think. I have already have twitter account. Suppose I should activate it right now.”


Conversation III

The interactants in this conversation are two male students of Junior High School whose level in English are both Intermediate, Rangga dan Yoga. They were talking about the case of Gayus Tambuyan, the hottest news topic nowadays.

Rangga : “What a tricky one!”
Yoga : “Pardon?”
Rangga : “This person, Gayus Tambunan.”
Yoga : “Ow, yeah! He is genius.
He must be the key to reveal corruption chain in this nation.”
Rangga : “What? Chain?”
Yoga : “Yes, bro! Chain…like that motorcycle, you see?”
Rangga : “Yes?”
Yoga : “Each part is tighly tie each other so that no one can break it down.”
Rangga : “What a implicative word…You are right.”
Yoga : “So, what is his newest act?”
Rangga : “Still about his faked passport.”
Yoga : “Sorry? Faked?”
Rangga : “I mean the illegal one.”
Yoga : “I see.”
Rangga : “Money is the key to get it easily.”
Yoga : “But actually, how is the process to get password legally?”
Rangga : “Let’s see this flowchart.”
Yoga :”Hmm..the first illustration shows that we should gives the document to the counter in immigration office.”
Rangga : “Yes, and then the document is being checked by the officer.”
Yoga : “Well, what about this illustration? Can you see it clearly?
Rangga : “Which one?”
Yoga : “This one, the fourth illustration.”
Rangga : “I suppose that it shows the act of giving a kind of number.”
Yoga : “Oh, yes. The following term is screening number.”
Rangga : “Look. The next is signatory.”
Yoga :” Aha..”
Rangga : “What does it mean?”
Yoga : “I think a kind of agreement.”
Rangga : “hmm..yeah..”
Yoga : “And from the illustration number five, we see the interviewing session.”
Rangga : “Yes. The interviewee must be nervous in that stage.”
Yoga : “Nervous? It depends.”
Rangga : “Pardon?”
Yoga : “Depends on your intention of making passport. If you make it to make fool you may be nervous, boy!”
Rangga : “Haha..that’s the nature of lying.”
Yoga : “Well, what next?”
Rangga : “Let me read. Verification of biometric data.”
Yoga : “Oh, what a confusing term. What is it?”
Rangga : “As what I have seen in television, it is a kind of scanning process of your photo and fingerprint.”
Yoga : “Sure?”
Rangga : “Yes. It is the indication of the originality.”
Yoga : “It is very confusing.”
Rangga : “But it is quite cheap. You must pay Rp 270 thousands rupiah only.”
Yoga : “If I have much money as Gayus. I prefer paying Rp 900 millions than following this procedure.”
Rangga : “You are daydreaming.”


ANALYSIS

In analyzing those three conversations, I use the symbol (T) for trigger, (S) for signal, (R) for response, and (F) for follow up.

The first conversation transcript above contains 8 (eight) sequences as follows:

Helen : “Hi. I’m reading.” (T)
Ayu : “Reading what?” (S)
Helen : “XY-Kids.” (R)
Ayu : “What?” (S)
Helen : “Eks-wai kids magazine.” (R)
Ayu : “Oh, Eks-wai kids magazine.”(F)
Helen : “Many. This page about web blog.” (T)
Ayu : “Website?” (S)
Helen : “No no no. Blog.” (R)
Ayu : “Oh. You want make it?” (F)

Helen : “Here. Follow this one.” (T)
Ayu : “What should I do? ”(S)
Helen : “Look number 1, do you have email?” (R)
Ayu : “Yes, ayumaniz@yahoo.com.”(R)
Helen : “Is there another?”(R)
Ayu : “Sorry?” (S)
Helen : “Another email address.” (R)
Ayu : “Why?”(S)
Helen : “To join in blogspot you need email google.”(R)
Ayu : “Ooo..i have. Next from google?”(F)

Helen : “See the first picture. Select blog from email google.” (T)
Ayu : “Where?”(S)
Helen : “This one..” (R)
Ayu : “Too small word.” (F)

Helen : “Put your identity.”(T)
Ayu : “Pardon? My name?” (S)
Helen : “Yes, your name, your password, etc.”(R)
Ayu : “Must original name?” (S)
Helen : “Up to you. Enter your cat name,hihihi…”(R)
Ayu : “ OK, next?” (F)

Helen : “Ya next. See number 3 and 4.”(T)
Ayu : “Where?” (S)
Helen : “ Here…name your blog and choose template.” (R)
Ayu : “Template? What?” (S)
Helen : “Template…background like in HP.”(R)
Ayu : “Tem-plate?” (S)
Helen : “Yeah… now, content? How?” (F)
Helen : “Like sending email.”(T)
Ayu : “Sure? Easy,right?”(S)
Helen : “Yes, you’re right!”(R)
Ayu : “Can it be expired?”(S)
Helen : “What?”(S)
Ayu : “Expired...expired…”(R)
Helen : “No I think, if it is food maybe.”(F)

Ayu : “Hihihi…you are lively!”(T)
Helen : “Ha??” (S)
Ayu : “Lively…synonym of funny.”(R)
Helen : “Lively…live plus ly. Yeah, that’s I am.”(F)

The second conversation contains 10 (ten) sequences as follows:
Helen : “Look at this.”(T)
Rangga : “What?”(S)
Helen : “This newspaper. Facebook!”(R)
Rangga : “Ooo..facebook, what happen with it?”(F)

Helen : “It will be stopped soon.”(T)
Rangga : “Stop? Could you repeat?”(S)
Helen : “Yes, stop. S-T-O-P!”(R)
Rangga : “Hmmm…”(F)

Rangga : “It must be bullshit. Unbelievable!”(T)
Helen : “Unbeliev…what? How to pronounce that word?”(S)
Rangga : “An-be-liv-vebel, can you?”(R)
Helen : “An-be-liv-vebel…yes!”(F)

Rangga : “What do you think?”(T)
Helen : “Think what?”(S)
Rangga : “Your opinion toward this news actually.”(R)
Helen : “Well, I’m not worry because I don’t like it much.”(F)

Rangga : “Don’t like? How poor you are!”(T)
Helen : “Sorry? You say I’m poor?”(S)
Rangga : “Poor means how pity you are…”(R)
Helen : “Sure? That word? Oh..I see.”(F)

Helen :”Prepare yourself from now.”(T)
Rangga : “For what?”(S)
Helen :”Minimize your interaction with facebook .”(R)
Rangga : “OK. (F)

Rangga : “ Let’s say I have done your suggestion, so what’s the impact?” (T)
Helen : “Impek? How do I spell?”(S)
Rangga : “Hmm…i-m-p-a-c-t, see?” (R)
Helen : “i-m-p-a-c-t…impact!” (F)

Helen : “It will easy to lost it, hehe..”(T)
Rangga : “You mean it will be easier for me to lose it someday?” (S)
Helen : “Yes, I mean to lose, not lost.”(R)
Rangga : “Well, I’m not sure it will occur.”(F)

Helen : “Well, let’s safe the important ones!” (T)
Rangga : “Pardon?” (S)
Helen : “Yes, the important things you have on it.”(R)
Rangga : “Oh, yes. You mean the data like notes and photos?”(F)

Helen : “Let’s join twitter, would you?”(T)
Rangga : “Join in twitter?”(S)
Helen :”Yes, that I mean, join in twitter!”(R)
Rangga : “Yes, I think. I have already have twitter account. Suppose I should activate it right now.”(F)

While, in third conversation, there are 7 (seven) sequences we can find:
Rangga : “What a tricky one!” (T)
Yoga : “Pardon?”(S)
Rangga : “This person, Gayus Tambunan.”(R)
Yoga : “Ow, yeah! He is genius. (F)

Yoga : “He must be the key to reveal corruption chain in this nation.”(T)
Rangga : “What? Chain?” (S)
Yoga : “Yes, bro! Chain…like that motorcycle, you see?”(R)
Rangga : “Yes?”(F)

Rangga : “Still about his faked passport.”(T)
Yoga : “Sorry? Faked?”(S)
Rangga : “I mean the illegal one.”(R)
Yoga : “I see.”(F)

Yoga : “Well, what about this illustration? Can you see it clearly?”(T)
Rangga : “Which one?”(S)
Yoga : “This one, the fourth illustration.”(R)
Rangga : “I suppose that it shows the act of giving a kind of number.”(R)
Yoga : “Oh, yes. The following term is screening number.” (F)

Rangga : “Look. The next is signatory.”(T)
Yoga :” Aha..” (R)
Rangga : “What does it mean?” (S)
Yoga : “I think a kind of agreement.” (R)
Rangga : “hmm..yeah..”(F)

Yoga : “Nervous? It depends.”(T)
Rangga : “Pardon?”(S)
Yoga : “Depends on your intention of making passport. If you make it to make fool you may be nervous, boy!”(R)
Rangga : “Haha..that’s the nature of lying.” (F)

Rangga : “Let me read. Verification of biometric data.” (T)
Yoga : “Oh, what a confusing term. What is it?”(S)
Rangga : “As what I have seen in television, it is a kind of scanning process of your photo and fingerprint.”(R)
Yoga : “Sure?”(S)
Rangga : “Yes. It is the indication of the originality.”(R)
Yoga : “It is very confusing.”(F)


CONCLUSION

Throughout above analysis, it can be seen that sequences found in the conversations of the same proficiency level (conversation 1 and 3) is less than the conversation occur in different level of proficiency. Conversation 1 has 8 sequences, conversation 3 has 7 sequences, while the third conversation has 10. We can infer from this data that different level interactants need more effort to clear the misunderstandings between them. It may because the communication is relatively easier to be run between the same level interactants. According to this findings, the influential factor is not the gender of the interactant but merely their proficiency of the language they speak in.