A Conversation Analysis of Dispreferred Social Act in Paddington Movie

Name : Dwi Mega Nur Safitri

Student number : 173211091
Class : Linguistics 5E
Lecturer : Robith Khoirul Umam, S.S., M. Hum.

English Department
Cultures and Languages faculty
2019
Due date: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
1. INTRODUCTION
A. Background
Pragmatics is a branch of linguistics that study about meaning and context, or it can
called as study of “invisible” meaning. According to Yule (1996: 3), Pragmatics is
concerned with the study of meaning as communicated by speaker (or writer) and
interpreted by a listener (or reader). In daily life we also used a pragmatics even we didn’t
realize that. Pragmatics became an important term of communication that cannot be
separated in our life. When someone talking or making conversation, they will
unconsciously using a pragmatics. With pragmatics we can know how to understand more
about our communication, we can know how people delivered their thought and we know
how to responses well.
Communication is the important things to do in our life. People can share their
feeling and ideas through communication. There are verbal communication, nonverbal
communication and written communication. Verbal communication is one of the common
form that we use in our daily life and conversation is the one of form in verbal
communication. According to Cambridge Dictionary, conversation is a talk between two
or more people in which thought, feelings, and ideas are expressed, question are asked and
answered, or news and information is exchanged. In pragmatics we learn some aspect that
can be found in conversation such as, deixis, speech act, politeness, cooperation and
implicatures, and so on. But, this paper will discuss about conversation analysis of
dispreferred.
B. Theories
According to Liddicoat (2007: 6), conversation analysis is a study which focuses
on the organization and structures of social interaction. So, we learn about the way people
speak and other’s reaction. The concept of preference organization discusses that not all
social actions are equal between the first and second part of some pairs in structural
complexities (Levinson, 1983: 307). For example when we’re making a request it’s
generally responded by acceptance, it called preferred. But when it responded by refusal,
it’s called dispreferred.
Yule (1996: 79) explain that the preference organization divides the SPPs into two
types, called preferred and dispreferred social act. The preferred social act provide the
common responses performed in the next act, for example a request would be responded
with acceptance. While the dispreferred social act is unexpected responses performed in
the next act. There are some types of dispreferred based on Levinson (in mey, 1993: 231)
and Yule (1996: 79) theory that will be discussed in the next chapter.
C. Reason
Dispreferred is the common thing that happen when we are making conversation,
but people didn’t know about dispreferred. The reason why I choose this dispreferred
analysis in this movie because Paddington is a good example of dispreferred social act
movie. In this movie there are many arguments by the each member of family that we can
analyse. A movie is reflect a reality, so this analysis can be applied in our real life. Many
people doesn’t realize that there is a dispreferred social act that performed in the movie.
So, I choose this subject to analyse.
D. Research focus
1. What are the types of dispreferred social act performed by the characters in Paddington
movie
2. What is the dominant dispreferred social act that portray in Paddington movie?
E. Research objectives
1. To describe the types of dispreferred social act performed by the characters in
Paddington movie
2. To analyse why the dominant dispreferred social act being dominant in Paddington
movie.
2. DISCUSSION
A. Types of Dispreferred
According to Yule (1996: 76) and compared to Levinson (1983: 308) there
are some types of dispreferred.
1. The dispreferred social act of Request – refusal
In this pattern, when someone request the others and sets up an
expectation of acceptance in the next act, it called preferred, but when
it comes with refusal, it called dispreferred.
The example
Mega: can you clean this room?
Joni: sure, but I have to do my work.
2. The dispreferred social act of offer – refusal
Levinson (in mey, 1993: 231) pints out that an acceptance is the
preferred responses of offer, it means that refusal is considered as the
dispreferred social act. Look the example bellow
Jinni: like a tea?
Cloe: thanks, but I’m not drinking tea.
3. The dispreferred social act of Invitation- Refusal
According to Levinson (in mey, 1993: 231) tells that an invitation
sets up an expectation of acceptance; meanwhile a refusal is performed
a dispreferred social act.
Jane: I have a celebration tonight, will you come?
Judy: it sounds good, but I have to go LA tonight
4. The dispreferred social act of assessment- disagreement
The assessment usually need an agreement from the hearer, but in
dispreferred it will be a disagreement responses by the hearer, read the
example.
Jack: I’m sure they have a yummy food there.
Jun: mmm, I guess the food isn’t good.
5. The dispreferred social act of Question - No answer or an unexpected
answer
A question are expected to be responses by an expected answer by
the hearer, while the dispreferred of question are unexpected answer or
no answer. By indicating a silence. For example,
Joko: do you know where my bag is?
Jine: I don’t know
Or this example,
Cindy: do you see Jonny?
Mark: (silence)
6. The dispreferred social act of blame – admission
According to Yule (1996: 79) and Levinson (1993: 231) points out
that blame is sets up an expectation of denial, but when it comes with
admission it called the dispreferred social act. The example:
 Clay: you stole my pencil!
John: I need it, sorry.
The general pattern patterns are presented in this table.
First part Second part
Preferred act Dispreferred act
Request Acceptance Refusal
Offer Acceptance Refusal
Invitation Acceptance Refusal
Assessment Agreement Disagreement
Question Answer No answer/ unexpected
Blame Denial Admission

B. Findings
The researcher got many data that indicating a dispreferred social act by the
characters in Paddington movie. I provide in a table below:

No Data Types of dispreferred

RR OR IR AD QU BA
1 Paddington: Can I have the last √
sandwich?
Pastuzo: oh, no, I need that. (00.05.21
)
2 Lucy : you must find a new home, in √
London
Paddington: but, I don’t know anyone
there. (00.08.37)
3 Mary : he’ll have to come with us √
Brown : no way (00.15.37)
4 Tony: when can I come round your √
house?
Judy : that’s never going to happen
(00.26.47)
5 Brown : perhaps we could just go and √
check
Women : I’m going to have to ask you
to leave (00.48.59)
6 Paddington : we need to get into that √
archive
Brown: Paddington, please don’t take
this the wrong way. (00.49.40)
7 We’ll send a real explorer to get a √
specimen
Clyde: never! (01.12.23)
8 Women : come on, hand over the bear √
Mary : no, we won’t do that (01.21.31)
9 Jonathan : he can sleep in my room √
Brown : he’s not sleeping in anyone’s
room (00.23.10)
10 Jonathan: shall we go after him? √
Brown : its better this way (01.05.40)
11 Grandma: would you like a wee nip √
of antifreeze for the old pacemaker?
Security: no, no, no, not while I’m on
my duty. (01.14.58)
12 Mary: tea anyone? √
Tony : no
Judy : no (01.26.09)
13 Lucy : we must remember to take him √
a jar when we go to London
Pastuzo: no, we’ve been talking
about that trip for 40 years
(00.04.21)
14 Mary: I know, Paddington. But I’ve √
been looking for everywhere and I
still can’t find any mention of an
English expedition to Peru.
Paddington: but there really was an
explorer, Mrs Brown, he gave my
uncle this hat. (00.27.59)
15 Women: we have never been to Peru. √
Paddington: what? But you must have
done. (00.48.42)
16 Brown : this is never going to work √
Paddington : of course it will
(00.50.13)
17 Mary: Paddington is the best thing √
that ever happened to the children.
They’re happy.
Brown: but what’s the point of them
being happy if they’re not safe?
(01.02.28)
18 Paddington: But why would you want √
to go anywhere, when we live in the
best place in the world?
No answer (00.04.27)
19 Paddington: Are you alright? √
Lucy : (Silence) (00.06.08)
20 Lucy: real brolly-buster, isn’t it? √
No answer (00.05.14)
21 Paddington: what are we going to do? √
Lucy : (silence) (00.07.27)
22 Brown: what are you doing? √
Grandma : the storm is upon us
(00.23.37)
23 Paddington: mm, nice weather for the √
ducks?
All : silence (00.24.37)
24 Brown: How can he live with us if we √
can’t even trust him?
Mary : I don’t know, henry (01.02.49)
25 Jonathan: where is Paddington? √
Brown : I don’t know (01.20.11)
26 Pastuzo : I thought I told you to be √
careful
Paddington: yes, uncle, but.
(00.04.48)
27 Jonathan : That was so boring √
Brown: I’m sorry you feel like that.
(00.12.39)
28 Paddington: Aren’t you coming? √
Lucy : I am too old too tired to go any
further (00.08.17)
29 Mr.Curry: mm, where exactly are you √
going?
Mrs. Cyle: What concern is it of
yours? (01.10.03)
30 Mary: come darling, it’s not like that. √
Its subterranean labyrinth that can
take you anywhere in the city.
Judy: it’s weird, its smells, and it’s
embarrassing. (00.23.33)

Notes:
RR: Request – Refusal AD: Assessment – Disagreement
OR: Offer – Refusal QU: Question – Unexpected
IR: Invitation – Refusal BA: Blame – Admission
 Based on the table of data, we can conclude the most appearing phenomenon is
question – no answer or unexpected answer, it occurs 9 times. Then the second is request
– refusal, with 8 times. The next rank is assessment – disagreement, it occurs 5 times.
Then, offer – refusal, and the last two are blame – admission and invitation – refusal.
See the table below to know the percentage
No Types of dispreferred Frequency of percentage
emergence
1 Request – refusal 8 26.6%
2 Offer – refusal 4 13.3%
3 Assessment – disagreement 5 16.6%
4 Invitation – refusal 2 6.6%
5 Question – no answer 9 30%
6 Blame - admission 2 6.6%
Total 30 100%

C. Analysis
There are six types of dispreferred that the researcher got from paddington movie
1. Request – refusal
Paddington : Can I have the last sandwich?
Pastuzo : oh, no. I need that (00.05.21)
In this scene, there is conversation between paddington and his uncle. Paddington
requested a sandwich, but his uncle refuse the request of Paddington, he used a polite
sentence by using “I need that”. It is indicating the dispreferred social act in request –
refusal. The same pattern occurs in the number of data, 3, 4,5,7, and 8.
The other example,
Paddington : We need to get into that archive
Brown : Paddington, please don’t take this wrong way (00.49.40)
In this case, the next responses is indicating dipreferred. But, brown is using
indirect utterances. Brown is refusing the request from Paddington by using indirect
responses. The same pattern occurs in number of data 2.
2. Offer – refusal
Jonathan : He can sleep in my room.
Brown : He is not sleeping in anyone’s room. (00.23.10)
In this conversation, Jonathan is offering that Paddington can sleep in his room,
but Mr Brown refused by saying “he is not sleeping in anyone’s room”. Mr Brown is
using an indirect utterance, to refused Jonathan. It’s a dispreferred. The same data in the
number 10, 11, 12.
 3. Assessment – disagreement
Brown : this is never going to work
Paddington : of course it will (00.50.13)
In this conversation, Mr Brown states a statement but Paddington directly disagree
with that statement. When someone gave an assessment and the second pair part is using a
disagreement, it’s called dispreferred. The same pattern occurs in the number of data
13,14,15,17
4. Question – no answer or unexpected answer
Jonathan : where is Paddington?
Brown : I don’t know (01.20.11)
When someone is giving a question the next responses is answer the question based
on the context. But, in this conversation between Jonathan and his father, when Jonathan
ask “where is Paddington?” it means he want to know the truth, but his father answer an
expected answer “I don’t know”. Its indicating a dispreferred.
5. Blame – Admission
Jonathan : That was so boring.
Brown : I’m sorry you feel like that (00.12.39)
In this conversation, Jonathan is blaming the father about a condition that so boring,
but his father didn’t deny the blaming. In contrast, he gives an apology to Jonathan, that is
a dispreferred.
6. Invitation – Refusal
Paddington : Aren’t you coming?
Lucy : I am too old too tired to go any further (00.08.17)
In this conversation, Paddington is inviting his aunt to join with him, but he using
an interrogative utterances, and his aunt refused the invitation by giving a reason why she
cannot go with him. This conversation is using a dispreferred.
 3. CONCLUSION
Conversation analysis is the one of aspect in pragmatic that we learnt. It deals with how
we are giving an utterances and how we responses well, one of the conversation analysis is
dispreferred social act. Based on the discussion, the researcher found six types of dispreferred
that occurs in the Paddington movie. Those types are
1. Request – refusal
2. Offer – refusal
3. Invitation – refusal
4. Assessment – disagreement
5. Question – no answer or unexpected answer
6. Blame – admission.
Those types are portray by the character using the direct utterance, with the dominant
percentage is the dispreferred social act of question – no answer or unexpected answer 30%,
and it occurs 9 times. Social factors may be the influence in why the characters dominantly
using that kind of dispreferred act. With this analysis, the researcher hope that we can know
more about dispreferred social act.
4. REFERENCES

Levinson, Stephen. 1983. Pragmatics. Cambridge University Press: New York

Liddicoat, Anthony. 2007. An introduction to Conversation Analysis. Continuum:
London
Yule, George. 1996. Pragmatics. Oxford University Press: New York