A COMPARISON OF POLITENESS STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH AND MAKASSARESE

ABSTRACT
NURJANNAH SYARIFUDDIN. A Comparison of Politeness Strategies in English and Makassarese (supervised by Abdul Hakim Yassi and Harlinah Sahib).
The research aims (1) to describe which variables between the education and age that can dominantly affect the use of the politeness systems, and (2) to analyze the processes of English and Makassarese native speakers in using the politeness systems through conversations.
The research used the quantitative method and statistical frequency. There were two research variables which affected the politeness. Data were processed based on the identification, classification, description, grouping and calculation. Yassi's theoretical framework found that there were six politeness strategies. The strategies were: deference in non-kinship, deference in kinship, intimacy in non-kinship, intimacy in kinship, hierarchy in non-kinship, and hierarchy in kinship. Based on his theory, the age and seniority variables were the most affecting in the politeness use. This research was different from the previous researches.
The research result indicates that the two variables do not affect English politeness system, but they affect Makassarese politeness system. The English use the positive politeness, negative politeness, and off-record in performing communications, whereas, the Makassarese have the positive politeness and negative politeness. The educational background represents the dominant variable in the negative politeness use, and the age affects the positive politeness use for Makassarese.