COMPLIMENT RESPONSES USED BY INDONESIANS LEARNING ENGLISH BASED ON THE COMPLIMENT TOPICS AND SOCIAL STATUSES Yustika Saril Abstract: This article is a study of compliment responses used by Indonesians learning English to respond to English compliments based on the compliment topics (appearance and ability) and social statuses of the addressor (higher, equal, and lower). The data were collected using a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) and a questionnaire. The results of this study showed that appreciation token was the mastfrequently used in all situations given. The results also revealed that the subjects' background (academic year cohort) did not give a significant effect on the preference of the types of compliment responses. Key words: pragmatics, compliment responses, compliment topics, social statuses INTRODUCTION Language plays an important role in communication since it is used as a means to interact with other people. However, people from different communities are affected by social norms or rules characterizing their speech community. Thus, it is important to develop a kind of communicative competence. According to Yule I Yustika Sari, S.Pd. is a graduate of the English Department, State University ofMalang 144 Celt, Volume 9, Number 2, December 2009: 126-149 cohort) did not give a significant effect on the preference of the types of compliment responses. This study only investigated compliment responses based on the compliment topics (appearance and ability) and social statuses of the addressor (higher, equal, and lower). Therefore, the same or further studies in relation to compliment responses and with higher quality data are needed to contribute more to the real application of pragmatic theory. A study about other social factors that may influence the preference of the types of compliment responses might be interesting to carry out. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Special gratitude is given to Prof. Bambang Yudi Cahyono, M.Pd, M.A., Ph.D., a faculty member of the English Department of State University ofMalang, for his guidance and support during the writing of my undergraduate thesis and the writing of this article. REFERENCES AI Falasi, H. "Just Say "Thank You": A Study of Compliment Responses". In The Linguistics Journal. Vol. 2, No. 1 2007: 28-42. In http://www.linguisticsjournal.comlApril_2007_VoI2_Issuel.pdf. retrieved 12 January 2009. Brown, P. and Levinson, S.C. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Cedar, P. "Thai and American Responses to Compliments in English". In The Linguistics Journal. Vol. 1, No.2, 2006: 6-28. In http://www.linguistics-journal.com/TLJ June 2006.pdf, retrieved 12 January 2009. Chiang, 8., and Pochtrager, F. 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Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. APPENDIX! Discourse Completion Test (DCT) This DCT will investigate how you respond to compliments. It consists of 6 situations in which you are expected to give responses to compliments based on the compliment topics and social statuses. Imagine you were being in those situations. Please respond AS NATURALLY as possible and try to write your response as you feel you would say in the real life. For each situation, you are asked to give the most complete information possible. Please give your answers in English. 1. A compliment on appearance which is said by someone in the higher position than you Imagine that you participate in the Shakespeare's play of "King Lear" in your campus. In that play, you wear so gorgeous costume that your lecturer says, "I like your costume. It's really gorgeous!" Your response: Y. Sari, Compliment Responses Used by Indonesians Learning English 147 2. A compliment on appearance which is said by someone in the equal position to you. . You come to the class by wearing your new cloth for the first time. Suddenly, one of your friends comes approaching you and says, "That's great! You look different. You look more handsomelbeautiful with your new cloth." Your response: 3. A compliment on appearance which is said by someone in the lower position than you Imagine that you are the top executive in the advertising firm. You tell your administrative assistant that you are wearing your new contact lenses instead of your glasses today. When looking at you, your administrative assistant says, "Gee, you really look different with your contact lenses. You look awesome". Your response: 4. A compliment on ability which is said by someone in the higher position than you Imagine that you work as a new English magazine editor. You have been working very hard to prove your competence. [n the day of evaluation meeting, your boss calls you to hislher office and says, "I've been very pleased with your job performance in this first year. You've proved that you are an excellent worker". Your response: 5. A compliment on ability which is said by someone in the equal position to you You got 98 on your final exam. The lecturer reads the result of it in front of the class. One of your classmates congratulates you by saying, "You must have done a great job on your final exam. Your grade is so good". Your response: 148 Celt, Volume 9, Number 2, December 2009: 126-149 6. A compliment on ability which is said by someone in the lower position than you Imagine that you are taking a position of senior English tutor in one of the English courses in Malang. One day, a new tutor comes to observe the way you are teaching and says, "You are really good at delivering your material. I hope that I could do the same like you did later." Your response: APPENDIX 2 Questionnaire This questionnaire is intended to obtain the information your backgrounds related to the study of compliment responses. In this questionnaire, you are expected to answer all of the questions correctly. Please give a check mark [?] for your answer. Choose one answer for each of the questions provided. 1. Name: 2. 3. Sex Major Male Female __ English Education __ English Literature 4. Academic Year: 200812009 __ 200612007 2007/2008 2005/2006 5. Have you taken and passed these courses? a. Sociolinguistics __ Yes, I have taken and passed the course __ Yes, but I have not passed the course Y. Sari, Compliment Responses Used by Indonesians Learning English 149 b. __ Not yet __ I'm taking it this semester Pragmatics __ Yes, I have taken and passed the course __ Yes, butIhave not passed the course __ Not yet __ I'm taking it this semester