COMPLAINING STRATEGIES OF JUDGES’ COMMENTS IN

MASTERCHEF AMERICA JUNIOR SEASON 5 AND

MASTERCHEF INDONESIA SEASON 3: A CROSS-CULTURAL
PRAGMATIC STUDY

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

1. Background of the Study

As the primary means of communication between people, language plays an
important role in understanding and expressing the world around us and beyond.
Because of this critical importance of language in people's social lives, language has
been studied from various aspects, such as structure, wholesome processes, and
cultural aspects. In this global world, we were bombarded by many television shows,
yet we also exposed with many languages. This means that in one society there are
various ethnic groups with their respective cultures. They use a language with their
own cultural background. They engage in cross-cultural and linguistic
communication. The main aspects of language considered in this study are the
cultural aspects and variations of language, which can be called pragmatics.
Pragmatics refers to the study of language in context. As such, his focus is on
exploring the meaning given to utterances based on the social and situational contexts
in which they are embedded. (Yule, 1996) explains that pragmatics is the study of
contextual meaning. Consideration should be given to how the speaker structures
what he or she wants to say. There are many different ways people use language in
communication. Each community has its own way of using expressive speech acts.
These paths correspond to cultural contexts. (Wierzbicka, 2003) found that each of
the communities had different languages, cultures and speech practices. This means
that two different countries have different language codes, and also different
vocabulary, grammar and usage of codes. Speech act theory forms a major platform
for cross-cultural pragmatics. Speech acts focus on specific speech events. The most
noted speech acts included compliments, apologies, denials, demands, complaints,
greetings and disagreements. As Austin defined the speech act (Austin, 1962), it is
the act done by saying something. (Searle, 1969) states that all oral communication
involves speech acts, which form the basic unit of communication. One commonly
treated speech act is compliments and compliment replies. People use compliments to
initiate communication. It may also be used to find close friends, avoid awkward
feelings, or facilitate interaction.
In communicating cross-culturally, participants from each culture and
language use different communication patterns and strategies. This means that to
convey a certain intent or message, they use different ways. The different ways of
communicating from each ethnic group are very interesting to study. The participants,
speakers and interlocutors, in cross-cultural and linguistic communication, as claimed
by Wierzbicka (1996, 2002) and Goddard (2004) use certain speech modes and
dictums. Furthermore, it is said that the mode of speech can contain a dictum that can
be delivered directly or indirectly. Besides containing various speech meanings, an
utterance can also contain the meaning of the speaker. Therefore, in line with
Wierzbicka and Goddarad, Thomas (1995) says that the speaker's intention can be
understood from two aspects or levels, namely: the meaning of the speech as the first
level and force (the speaker's meaning) as the second aspect or level of the speaker's
meaning. The claim of the imperative dictum by some experts is “I want you to do
something”. In principle, the imperative dictum is a command. Commands are carried
out in two ways, namely: direct orders and indirect commands.
A speech act can be called an utterance. It means to make someone do
something. Searle (1979) states that there are five types of speech acts: representative,
referrer, comitative and expressor, and expository. Yule (1996) adds that the term
speech act includes “action''. They are requesting, questioning, giving orders, making
promises, and giving suggestions. Complaints are actually a part of communication,
information that informs the recipient of a statement, product, service, etc., about an
inappropriate situation. Complaints have several linguistic variations. Complaints are
often presented through declaration forms, question forms and mandatory forms. By
complaining, people show their dissatisfaction through these expressions. The power
of a speaker's complaint depends on volume and context. The purpose of the
complaint is clearly worded and cannot be predicted from the wording. Complaints
are spoken by many complaint strategies. Complaints are utterances spoken to offend
another person, so most of the time, complainers use the direct accusation strategy of
complaints.
The way people produce speech acts depends on the context. There are many
influencing factors such as gender (Tuner & Turhan, 2019) and culture.
Fundamentally, a person's words and actions influence their understanding of
behavior. In this case, the pragmatics also overlaps with other cultures and is
commonly referred to as cross-cultural pragmatics (Wierzbicka, 2003). One example
can be found in the international model competition titled MasterChef Junior US and
MasterChef Junior Indonesia. These competitions were chosen because of the
similarity of the two shows, both TV series featuring similar ‘naturally’ set condition
dialogue but taking place in different contexts or cultures. The reasons why the writer
chose both shows because MasterChef Junior is the biggest cooking competition and
it aired all over the world. The original format is the MasterChef which adults who
are amateur cooks competing with each other to show their ability to cook and win
the title of MasterChef. According to BBC (2023), MasterChef is a competitive
television cooking show format developed by Franc Roddam and launched in the UK
in July 1990. This format was revived and updated by him for the BBC in February
2005. It was done by executive producers Rodham and John Silver, and series
producer Karen Ross. The revived form will be distributed internationally by Banijay.
Its first international adaptation was MasterChef Australia, which started in 2009. The
show has since been adopted by several other countries. The show format has been
exported worldwide under the same MasterChef logo and is now produced in over 40
countries and broadcast in over 200 territories. MasterChef Junior is the spin-off of
MasterChef for the children age 8 to 13 to show their cook ability and their love
towards food. The second reason is MasterChef Junior US aired on FOX Season 5
got all the sharing at 3.0 of 4.0 according to Nielsen US (2017), while MasterChef
Junior Indonesia aired on RCTI also got 3.0 out of 4.0 according to Nielsen Indonesia
(2022). This thesis focuses on the commentary verbal speech act created by the
judges. Therefore, the writer interested to analyze both TV shows when the judges
use speech acts to give comments to the contestants, especially when they are
complaining about the contestants’ food. The writer also observed in detail the
differences between American and Indonesian cultures when commenting on the
candidates. The complaining strategies used are not in the natural setting, but then it
is on television. It means that it has been censored, edited, and scripted by the
producers. The format also could be adapted freely in each country based on the
country’s condition. For example, MasterChef Junior US always presented some
entertainment such as the judges are being poured by cream, candies, and many more,
while in MasterChef Junior Indonesia, the kids would impossible to do so because
they have to be polite to the judges because the judges are older than the kids.
As noted above, the researchers noted the comments of the MasterChef Junior
US and MasterChef Junior Indonesia judges. The judges are interested to analyze
because it is defined as the person who decides whether or not a candidate's career
should progress to the next stage. Also, the judges are the decision makers in the
competition. The judges' comments are therefore considered important to the
contestants' development by providing suggestions and advice for the contestants'
success in each performance. Therefore, I am interested in examining the complaints
strategies of judges when making comments. Due to the large number of seasons of
these TV shows, this study is limited to one season: MasterChef Junior US Season 5
and MasterChef Junior Indonesia Season 3. These seasons are chosen because there
are several problems such as how the judges treated and how the junior contestants
treated by the judges. Second, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, the complaint
strategies are more varied due to the set environment, especially media. Here, the
writer wants to see how the complaint strategies used in the media environment. Last,
MasterChef Junior US aired on FOX Season 5 got all the sharing at 3.0 of 4.0
according to Nielsen US (2017), while MasterChef Junior Indonesia aired on RCTI
also got 3.0 out of 4.0 according to Nielsen Indonesia (2022).
There are several studies that have examined the use of nonverbal speech acts
in various contexts. In the classroom, Budiasih et al. (2016) conducted a study on the
non-verbal behavior of international students in the Indonesian learning environment
by influencing the learning process. Malenab-Temporal (2018) investigated her ESL
learners' speech acts in classroom discourse. These studies show that in the
classroom, most speech acts are used to ask questions, express opinions, and confirm.
Speech act analysis was also performed on the utterances. Rosyidi et al. (2019), for
example, investigated Jokowi's non-verbal speech act during the first Indonesian
presidential debate in 2019. Putri (2018) investigated Donald's nonverbal conduct in
his Trump inaugural address. Both studies showed that nonverbal acts are commonly
used to express opinions, promise, and persuade in political speech. As a further type
of text, Sholihatin (2020) analyzed verbal and verbal speech acts in defamatory texts.
She found nonverbal acts to be representative, declarative, and indicative. A review
of these previous studies helps show that each text her genre uses different speech act
features.
However, in previous studies, different aspects of speech act were discussed
only in one subject, for example in the classroom or in the context of political
speeches. We found limited research on cultural aspects, especially non-verbal
behaviors related to Indonesian culture. Practical research across cultures has focused
on politeness (eg, Nureddeen, 2008; Spencer-Oatey & Jiang, 2003). It is therefore
important to examine how speech acts, especially speech acts, are applied in different
contexts by identifying the relationship between speech acts and other cultural
aspects, particularly American and Asian cultures. The researches above also focused
on adults’ complaint strategies, but lack of Furthermore, this paper aims to clarify the
types and functions of non-verbal speech acts performed by the comments of the
judges of MasterChef Junior US and MasterChef Junior Indonesia. The importance of
this research is to provide and enrich better insight into cross-cultural practical
research, especially non-verbal behavior that also considers cultural dimensions.

1. 2 Research Questions
There are three research questions according to the background of the study:
1. What strategies of speech act performed by the judges of MasterChef Junior
US Season 5 and MasterChef Junior Indonesia Season 3?
2. What are the types and functions of complaining strategy performed by the
judges of MasterChef Junior US Season 5 and MasterChef Junior Indonesia
Season 3?
3. How the cultural background of the judges affect the complaining strategies
performed by the judges of MasterChef Junior US Season 5 and MasterChef
Junior Indonesia Season 3?

1.3 Research Objectives

There are three objectives of the research according to the background of the
study:
1. To explore types of complaining strategy performed by the judges of
MasterChef Junior US Season 5 and MasterChef Junior Indonesia Season 3.
2. To explore functions of complaining strategy performed by the judges of
MasterChef Junior US Season 5 and MasterChef Junior Indonesia Season 3.
3. To analyze cultural background of the judges affect the complaining strategies
performed by the judges of MasterChef Junior US Season 5 and MasterChef
Junior Indonesia Season 3.
 1.4 The Significance of the Study
This study is expected to give both theoretical and practical contributions.
This study could help researches or studies in cross-cultural pragmatics. The readers
could enrich their knowledge about what is happening around them to comprehend
the complaining strategies, also could enhance understanding between two different
cultures, especially Indonesia and United States.

1.4.1 Theoretical Significance

Through this research, theoretically, the significance of the study is to enrich
researches or studies in cross-cultural pragmatics, especially in complaining strategies
done by the judges in Indonesia and United States, especially in MasterChef Junior
US and Indonesia. Through this cross-cultural pragmatics study, the readers could
enrich their knowledge about what is happening around them to comprehend the
complaining strategies.

1.4.2 Practical Significance

Practically, this research is expected to contribute to the understanding to the
society in different cultures from United States and Indonesia. Then, this research
gives us pictures how to give complaint, especially in our real life. The choice of the
utterance form from Indonesia could give benefit for students outside Indonesia to
learn about Indonesian complaining culture to avoid misunderstanding in cross-
cultural communication.

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