Ni Made Ayu Purnami1

P-ISSN: 2338-6231 E-ISSN: 2620-5033 Vol. 1, No. 1, Maret 2018

A GENDER-BASED ANALYSIS OF OBSERVANCE AND NON-

OBSERVANCE OF CONVERSATIONAL MAXIMS IN FRONT OFFICE
STUDENTS’ SPEECH AT MEDITERRANEAN COLLEGE IN
ACADEMIC YEAR 2015/2016

Ni Made Ayu Purnami 1

1
Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, STKIP Suar Bangli
Bangli, Indonesia

madeayupurnami21121991@yahoo.com1

Abstract
This study was intended to investigate, describe and explain how conversational maxims are observed
by the Front Office Students at Mediterranean College when they do the practice as Front Office Staff
and what types of non-observance are committed by the Front Office Students in observing
conversational maxims in relation to politeness. The subjects were the Front Office students of
Mediterranean College in the restaurants. The data for this naturalistic qualitative study were collected
through observation and interviews which were then analyzed by using Paul Grice’s (1975) Cooperative
Principle theory. The study showed that the Front Office students observed conversational maxims in
certain part of handling table reservation via telephone in restaurant setting. This study found that both
male and female students produced high percentage of observing maxim of quantity (45.09%) of male
students’ percentage and (55.71%) of female students’ percentage. This study also found that maxim of
quantity was the dominant maxim observed by the front office students at Mediterranean College. The
point was making a conversation as informative as is required. Moreover, based on the percentages of
non-observance of maxims, it was found that male front office students observed flouting the maxims
(29.41%) and female front office students observed (21.42%) of flouting the maxims in restaurant
interaction. The highest frequency male of observance and non-observance of Gricean maxims was
maxim of quantity (45.09%), then followed by flouting of maxims (29.41%), violating of maxims
(11.76%), then maxim of quality (9.80%). Furthermore, the highest frequency of observance and non-
observance of Gricean maxims was maxim of quantity (55.71%), then followed by flouting of maxims
(21.42%), violating of maxims (12.85%), maxim of quality (5.71%), and infringing of maxims (4.30%).
Different from the male front office staff, some of the female front office staff did infringing of maxims.
Infringing of maxims reflects that the speaker has an imperfect knowledge or performance of language.
The study showed that both male and female front office staff observed maxim of quantity to make the
conversation informative as is required.

Key words : conversational maxims, gender, observance of maxims, non-observance of maxims,

politeness

INTRODUCTION
Communication is an interactive process by means of language; language delivers
messages from an interlocutor to others. To the extent that participants aim to successfully
communicate, politeness exists in all interpersonal communications. Politeness is a primarily
linguistic phenomenon that interacts with social and cultural expectations or norms. It is also
possible to specify a number of different general principles for being polite in social interaction
within a particular culture. Theoretically, if we pay attention and consider gender in social
interaction, we will find a lot of differences between men and women. As we know that most
men will talk something to the point, talk briefly and also in detail based on the topic of
conversation, without any exaggerations. It is totally contrasted to women, most women will
talk something which is too much, which is not required, exaggeratedly, and rarely women talk

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P-ISSN: 2338-6231 E-ISSN: 2620-5033 Vol. 1, No. 1, Maret 2018

something to the point like the men do. Those are just common phenomena which are usually
occurred in a real conversation setting. Different from the classroom setting which is so
artificial, systematically structured, the students will just do the conversation as what they have
learnt from the teacher, lecturer or based on the source books that they have read, in which lack
adequate for the data to be analyze.
Hawley (2002) states that there is a misunderstanding of Grice’s distinction between
saying and implicating. What other people meant is not depending on what other people said;
furthermore, people have to find out the implied meaning of other people’s utterances.
Implicature is a technical term in the pragmatics subfield of linguistics, stated by H.P. Grice,
which refers to what is suggested in an utterance, even though it is neither expressed nor is
strictly implied by the utterance. Conversational implicature is a nonconventional implicature
based on an addressee’s assumption that the speaker is following the conversational maxims
and the cooperative principle. A conversational maxim is four rules which were proposed by
Grice 1975, stating that a speaker is assumed to make a contribution that is adequately but not
overly informative (quantity maxim), the speaker does not believe to be false and for which
adequate evidence is possessed (quality maxim), relevant (maxim of relation or relevance), and
also clear, unambiguous, and brief (maxim of manner). In addition, the cooperative principle
is the one in which participants expect that each will make a “conversational contribution such
as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by accepting purpose or direction of the talk
exchange.”
Generally, in the application of conversational maxims, people often flout and violate
the maxims rules. If we correlate the application of the conversational maxims to gender, so
we will find various phenomena in its application. Like we know that most men will talk
something to the point, talk briefly and also in detail based on the topic of conversation, without
any exaggerations. It is totally contrasted to women, most women will talk something which is
too much, which is not required, exaggeratedly, and rarely women talk something to the point
like the men do. That is just common phenomena that occurred in a conversation, how about
the conversation between front office students when they play as a front office staff and also a
guest in the restaurant and hotel setting. This study looks at the use of Maxims of Quality,
Quantity, Relevance and Manner in relation to Politeness.
This study exactly aims to investigate, describe and explain how the conversational
maxims are observed by the front office students at Mediterranean College when they do the
practice as front office staff. Through this study, the researcher correlates the observation of
the conversational maxims to gender, so the researcher will find various findings in its
observation.
As what have been stated above, the researcher is eager to find out the observation of
conversational maxims, especially by the front office students at Mediterranean College when
they do the practice as front office staff on the job training. Therefore, the researcher is highly
motivated to do a scientific research entitled “A Gender-based Analysis of Observance and
Non-Observance of Conversational Maxims in Front Office Students’ Speech at Mediterranean
College in Academic Year 2015/2016”. Based on the background of the study, the researcher
formulates the research questions of the present study as follows;
1) What conversational maxims are observed by the male and female front office students
at Mediterranean College when they do the practice as front office staff on the job
training?
2) What is dominant maxim among conversational maxims in relation to politeness
observed by the front office students at Mediterranean College?
3) What types of non-observance are committed by the front office students at
Mediterranean College in observing conversational maxims in relation to politeness?

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4) What the sources of types of non-observance are committed by the front office students
at Mediterranean College in observing conversational maxims in relation to politeness?

RESEARCH METHOD
This study used qualitative research particularly in term of sociopragmatic that focus
on observing and describing the observation of conversational maxims, especially by the front
office students at Mediterranean College when they do the practice as front office staff on the
job training. In this study, the collected data were in the form of: a) transcripts of the audio-
recorded interaction performed by the subjects in the restaurant b) written notes taken from
restaurant observation activity during the subject behaviors in the restaurant interaction.
As one of the key characteristics of qualitative study, this study used direct data
collection in collecting the data. The researcher took the data directly from the setting of the
study as an observer and an interviewer. In collecting the data of the study, there are some
methods used namely 1) tape-recording; 2) note-taking. Observation was done to obtain the
data by listening the participants. McMillan & Schumacher (2010:350) stated that observation
is a way for the researcher to see and hear what is occurring naturally in the research site.
During the observation, the researcher also recorded all the data that occurred in the restaurant
interaction.
Audio-recording activity was done to gather primary data by means of an audio-
recorder. The process of audio-recording was done in the restaurant interaction. Audio-
recording was done when the process of interviewing the subjects of the study. After recording
process, the audio-data recorded were transcribed into data transcriptions while looking at
audio-recorded to know the situation when it was needed.
Fraenkel & Wallen (1993:422) stated that one of the characteristics of qualitative
research is that the natural setting is the direct source of data, and the researcher is the key
instrument in qualitative research. Moreover, in this research, the researcher was the main
instrument that used some resources of data collection namely pen, notebook, and audio-
recorder.
In this study, the researcher used Miles and Huberman procedures of data analysis that
explain as follows.
a) In data collection, the researcher collected the data. The data were collected by
conducting restaurant observation and recording the restaurant observation. The
researcher also took notes during the observation. Besides, the researcher also did
interview to the lecturers. The interview was done in different day. The recorded data of
restaurant interaction observation was transcribed.
b) In data reduction, the researcher transcribed all the recorded data into written
transcription, and then classified the data into the observation of conversational maxims
of H.P. Grice.
c) In the data display, the researcher organized the data for the analysis of research
questions. The data display was also related to the records of interview and notes. After
displaying the data, the researcher did data analysis by identifying and classifying the
strategies employed by the lecturers and the students, identified and analyzed the teachers
and students’ reasons and the impacts of observing conversational maxims.

In the conclusion step, the researcher did interpretation and drawn some conclusion on
data. Fraenkel & Wallen (1993:427) states that a qualitative researcher who is observing the
ongoing activities of restaurant interaction, for example, is likely to write up not only what the
researcher sees on each day but also the interpretations of those observation.

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FINDING AND DISCUSSION

In this research, there were 30 conversations of taking table reservation via telephone
which were conducted by the front office students at Mediterranean College, in which taken
from 30 restaurants in Bali, specifically in Ubud, Jimbaran, Sanur, Kuta and Nusa Dua. Those
five places are the linking-places where the students of Mediterranean College applied their
vocational knowledge that they have acquired in the classroom at Mediterranean College, so
as graduation’s requirement at Mediterranean College in those five places the students had to
do practice as front office staff.

Table 1. Percentages of Male of Observance and Non-Observance of Gricean Maxims

No. The Observance of Grice’s Maxims Male
Categories Frequency %
1. Quantity 23 45.09
2. Quality 5 9.80
3. Relation 0 0
4. Manner 0 0
The Non-Observance of Grice’s Maxims
Categories
Flouting
1.
a. Flouting of quantity maxim
b. Flouting of quality maxim 15 29.41
c. Flouting of relation maxim
d. Flouting of manner maxim
Violating
2.
a. Violating of quantity maxim
b. Violating of quality maxim 6 11.76
c. Violating of relation maxim
d. Violating of manner maxim
Infringing
3. 0 0
Opting
4. out 0 0
Suspending
5. 0 0
Phatic Utterances ( not types of conversational 5 3.94
maxims)
TOTAL 54 100

Table 2. Percentages of Female of Observance and Non-Observance of Gricean Maxims

No. The Observance of Grice’s Maxims Female
Categories Frequency %
1. Quantity 39 55.71
2. Quality 4 5.71
3. Relation 0 0
4. Manner 0 0
The Non-Observance of Grice’s Maxims
Categories
Flouting
1.
a. Flouting of quantity maxim 15 21.42
b. Flouting of quality maxim
c. Flouting of relation maxim
d. Flouting of manner maxim

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Violating
2.
a. Violating of quantity maxim
b. Violating of quality maxim 9 12.85
c. Violating of relation maxim
d. Violating of manner maxim
Infringing
3. 3 4.30
Opting
4. out 0 0
Suspending
5. 0 0
Phatic Utterances ( not types of conversational 0 0
maxims)
TOTAL 70 100

From the table 1 and 2 above, the total utterances of observance and non-observance
on Gricean Maxims produced by male front office students and guest were 54 utterances; in
addition, female front office students and guest were 70 utterances. The utterances were
obtained from 30 data in restaurant setting. In general, both male and female front office staff
produced more observance of maxims than non-observance of maxims. From the data above,
I can conclude that the dominant maxim was applied by both male and female front office staff
is maxim of quantity. According to Paul Grice, it states that “Make your contribution such as
it is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk
exchange in which you are engaged.” The important thing should be emphasized that the main
focus of hotel and restaurant industry is service.It means that both male and female front office
staff assisted the restaurant / hotel guest artificially, applied maxim of quantity effectively and
efficiently in order to make the conversation such as it is required. In this case, when front
office staffs handle taking reservation, they should be informative as is required. Do not speak
too much or too little information. The point is making your conversation as informative as is
required. Not only it can reduce the high cost of communication via telephone, but also to build
the trustworthy between the hotel and restaurant staffs and the guests and also to establish the
hotel and restaurant more prestigious. Moreover, it is obviously needed to be informative,
effective and efficient while doing a conversation in the hotel and restaurant; furthermore, it
will bring advantages for both front office staffs and the guest.

CONCLUSION
This study has focused on the analysis of the gender-based analysis of observance and
non-observance of conversational maxims in front office students’ speech at Mediterranean
College in Academic Year 2015/2016”. Here, in this study has focused on the conversational
maxims theory that belongs to Grice which only focused on four maxims, those are; maxim of
quantity, maxim of quality, maxim of relevance, and also maxim of manner. As its scope, to
reveal as such area, the writer limits only on Grice’s maxims of analysis, in fact, still many
other theories of revealing them, such as the theory of Leech’s maxims and many other theories.
It is a great value and much better for the further researchers to see those areas, as the above
mentioned, through broader aspects or theories of analysis by means of the similar basis, which
is different from conversational maxims that belong to Grice, such as the Politeness Principle
and theory of Leech’s maxims.
The fundamental purpose that language has evolved to serve is to enable language users
to make meanings with each other. In other words, language users should be aware of what
other people meant is not only by what is stated by other people, but also what is strictly implied
in an utterance or what is implicated by other people. People interact to make meanings; to
make sense of the world and each other. It is made in particular context in which language is

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used. With respect to the result of analysis of the conversational maxims under study, the
students are suggested to be able in communicating with each other by deeply understanding
what is being implied or implicated by other people to get real meaning of what other people
meant. Moreover, the students are hoped to understand what is being talked, what other people
meant and know how to maintain the interpersonal relations with each other, especially through
other people utterances. If the students can do it successfully, the communication would also
be truly meaningful.

REFERENCES
Grice, H. P. 1975. Logic and Conversation. In: Syntax and Semantics, Vol. 3, Speech Acts, ed.
by Peter Cole and Jerry L. Morgan. New York: Academic Press 1975, 41-58; here 45-
47.
Grice, H.P. 1975. Studies in the Way of Words. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Hawley, P. 2002. What is said. Cambrigde: Journal of Pragmatics.
McMillan, J.H. & Schumacher, S. 2010. Research in Education: Evidence-Based Inquiry
(Seventh Edition). Virginia Commonwealth University: Pearson.

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