CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

In everyday life, human communicate with other human using language.

We should use the correct language so that our intentions and desires are

appropriately conveyed and understood by the hearer. The accuracy of a language

can influence the fluency of communication between each other. Communication

is an interaction between the speaker and the hearer in conveying something.

Through language, a human can also express their thoughts and feelings to others.

These thoughts and feelings can be communicated orally or in writing in

communication.

However, nowadays, there are many misunderstandings between the

speaker and the hearer when they communicate, which is often found in the

community, so it can trigger conflict between them. This happens because the

hearer needs to understand the context of the speaker's utterance to avoid

misunderstandings in communication. In this case, pragmatics plays an essential

role in seeing the context of the intention of an utterance. Pragmatics is concerned

with the study of meaning as communicated by a speaker and interpreted by a

hearer (Yule, 1996, p. 3).

The speech act is an action performed when saying something (Yule,

1996, p. 47). So, a speech act can be interpreted as an action in utterance. These

utterances have implied meanings that must be understood by the hearer so that

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communication can be adequated. Therefore, it is beneficial to study speech acts

for society to know how to do an action and understand the utterance they will

convey.

Various kinds of speech acts can be conveyed in the context of speaking

according to the situation. Based on Searle’s theory there are 5 types of speech

acts: assertive speech acts, directive speech acts, commissive speech acts,

expressive speech acts, and declaration speech acts (Searle, 1979, p. 12-17).

According to this research, the researcher is examined with commissive speech

acts. The commissive speech act is the speaker's employ to commit themselves to

the hearer in carrying out an action in the future, including a promise, threat,

refusal, and warning. The reason the writer chooses the commissive speech act is

that this is closely related to everyday life, especially in communication.

Commissive speech acts can be found in various media, such as novels,

short stories, YouTube videos, journals, magazines, debates, speeches, movies,

and so on. Therefore, the writer considers to conduct this study by identifying the

types of commissive speech acts on the YouTube video entitled The Wonderful

Wizard of Oz. The writer is interested to analyze this topic because commissive

speech acts related to everyday life to communicate with each other. Then, the

writer chooses this YouTube video entitled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz because

it is a well-known story and is familiar for many people.

On the YouTube video entitled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, some

utterances contain the types of commissive speech acts. Here is an example of a

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commissive on the YouTube video entitled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz of

promise:

At that time, the Queen of Mice spoke with the Tin Woodman. Suddenly,
Toto, Dorothy’s pet, woke up and barked, causing the Queen of Mice to
run. The Tin Woodman took Toto in his arms and said to the Queen of
Mice.

Tin Man : Come back! Come back! Toto will not hurt you. I
promise, Toto won’t hurt you.
The Queen of Mice : Are you sure he will not bite us?
Tin Man : I won’t let him

This conversation between Tin Man and the Queen of Mice occurs in the

forest. Tin Man helps chase away a cat chasing the Queen of Mice. Then, the

Queen of Mice thanked Tin Man for helping her. She says, indebted to Tin Man.

Suddenly, Toto, Dorothy's pet, wakes up and barks at all the mice. Then, Tin Man

calls the mice back, and he promises that Toto will not hurt the mice. It can be

found in the utterance, "I promise, Toto won't hurt you." To further convince the

Queen of Mice, Tin Man promises once more that he will not let Toto bite the

mice with the utterance, "I won’t let him."

The utterances above are included in commissive speech acts of promises.

The speaker commits the hearer. This can be seen from the utterance "I promise,

Toto won't hurt you," where the Tin Man, as the speaker, promises the Queen of

Mice that he would protect the mice from Toto's bite. The speaker tries to

persuade the hearer to believe what the speaker is saying. So the speaker promises

again to the hearer in the utterance, "I won't let him." Thus, the speaker reassures

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the hearer that they will be fine. Therefore, the speaker commits to take action in

the future from these utterances.

In the background above, commissive speech acts can be delivered in

various types according to the discussed conditions. This is an interesting study to

analyze, so the researcher is interested in deciding to identify the types of

commissive speech acts in utterances spoken by the characters on the YouTube

video entitled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. So in this study, the writer gave the

title "Commissive Speech Acts on YouTube Video Entitled The Wonderful

Wizard of Oz.

1.2 Theoretical Framework

This research is aimed to discover the commissive speech acts, especially

the types of commissive speech acts spoken by the characters on the YouTube

video entitled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In analyzing the data, the researcher

will refer to the following theories:

1.2.1 Pragmatics

Pragmatics is a branch of linguistics that focuses on language, especially

its context. Usually, pragmatics will see a context of meaning in the utterance.

This is because when someone speaks, it is not just about the words or phrases

they use. However, there speech also has a deeper meaning than just literal

meaning of those words (Yule, 1996, p. 3). Utterances in communicating in

everyday life are also related to pragmatics science. According to Yule, in his

book about pragmatics, first pragmatics is a study of linguistics about an utterance

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carried out by the speaker and understood by the hearer. Second, pragmatics has a

contextual meaning. This means that a speaker can consider what they want to

say. Third, pragmatics is how the hearer understands the implied meaning of what

is said by the speaker. The last one, pragmatics, is a science of expression

concerning relative distances (1996, p. 3). The advantage that can be learned from

pragmatics is knowing the meaning that someone wants, what their opinions are,

their intentions, and their actions when speaking (Yule, 1996, p. 4). However,

studying pragmatics also requires more work to understand in terms of human

concepts objectively ((Wulandary, 2021, p. 5). In this case, it is important to see a

context of meaning for the use of sentences in communication so that there is no

misunderstanding between the speaker and the hearer.

1.2.2 Speech Act

According to Yule, a speech act is an action produced through utterance

when speaking (Yule, 1996, p. 47). An example of a speech act is when we say

something and show action from what is said in various ways. These actions are

carried out simultaneously when saying something. Therefore, a person's

utterance is seen not only from words or phrases but has a certain meaning.

Furthermore, Austin said that we are not only able to say an utterance, but we are

also able to do it (Austin, 1962, p. 12). In a speech act, the speaker tries to convey

something well so that the hearer can understand it. Speech acts have three things

that must be investigated, such as the language they use, the intent of the

conversation, and the interaction between groups. All utterances are spoken by the

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speaker have a specific function so that they can affect each other (Wulandary,

2021, p. 7).

John Austin first launched speech act theory in his book How To Do

Things With Word (1962), which was developed by his student Searle (1979) and

other scholars named Back and Hamish. Searle even developed the theory by

revealing three acts in one speech act. These three types of speech acts are used to

communicate in society. Meanwhile, Austin, in his book entitled How To Do

Things With Word, states these three types of speech acts as follows:

a) Locutionary Act

A locutionary act is saying something in a certain sentence that has a

certain meaning in the traditional sense (Austin, 1962, p. 108). He said that by

studying the locutionary act, one could set a good goal of what it is. Based on

Cutting said that the locutionary act is what is said (2002, p. 16). It can be

understood that the locutionary act comes from the speaker's utterance to convey a

sentence with a specific meaning. Locutionary acts have three types of saying

something such as phonetic acts, phatic acts, and rhetic acts. First, the phonetic act

is an action performed through the pronunciation of certain sounds. Second, the

phatic act is performed through the pronunciation of certain words (certain

vocabulary and grammar). Finally, the rhetic act is performed with the vocabulary

and refers to certain meanings and references.

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b) Illocutionary Act

An illocutionary act is an action to do something through utterances with a

certain (conventional) force (Austin, 1962, p. 108). The illocutionary act is the

core of every speech act theory (Dilgjeri, 2017, p. 21). The illocutionary act is

closely related to the speaker’s meaning. According to Yule, an illocutionary

utterance has a specific function in mind (1996, p. 48). The illocutionary act

includes a unit related to the communication of every human being, such as

orders, promises, statements, questions, and others. Our conversations with each

other in everyday life also include illocutionary acts with the following attention:

1. Using a sentence to perform a certain action.

2. There is power over conversation with spoken sentences such as promises,

statements, offers, and others (Searle & Vanderveken, 1985, p. 1).

In the development of theory, Searle (1979, p. 12-17) divided five groups

of general functions performed by illocutionary acts such as assertives, directives,

commissives, expressives, and declarations.

a) Assertives

Assertives are kinds of illocutionary acts that represent a statement about

something that happened by the speaker (Searle, 1979, p. 12). They will say

something that has been observed and related to the facts. This depends on the

belief of the speaker who has presented the proposition to be studied or not (Yule,

1996, p. 53). This includes something that represents the actual situation that

occurs in the world.

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Examples: a. The earth is flat
b. It was a warm sunny day (Yule, 1996, p. 53)
From the two examples of assertives above, it can be seen that there are

speech acts in conveying how things are. For example, "The earth is flat"

represents the earth where the speaker believes that the earth is flat. While for the

example “It was a warm sunny day” states the truth that it is a sunny and warm

day. From these examples, we can conclude that an assertive state is a belief in the

actual situation. In this case, the speakers represent the world they believe in by

conveying the appropriate words.

b) Directives

Directives are kinds of illocutionary acts determined by the speaker so

that the hearer can do something (Searle, 1979, p. 13). Usually, the speaker will

convey what they want. There are various ways that speakers do to hearers, such

as requests, commands, suggestions, ask, orders, beg, and so on.

Examples: a. Don’t touch that.

speech acts that ask or force someone to do something. This can be something

positive or negative. When the speaker uses a directive, they try to make the world

fit the words to the hearer. For example, “Don't touch that” the speaker asks the

hearer not to touch something the speaker has forbidden. This is the command

form of the directive type. While for the example "Could you lend me a pen,

please?" includes speech acts in which the speaker makes a request when

borrowing a pen from the hearer.

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c) Commissives

Commissives are kinds of illocutionary acts that the speaker employs to

commit themselves to a specific course of action in the future (Searle, 1979, p.

14). This speech act refers more to the speaker’s intentions, such as promises,

threats, refusals, and warnings. Then, in commissive speech acts, this can be done

by the speaker alone or the speaker as a part of a group (Yule, 1996, p. 54).

Examples: a. I’ll be back

binds itself to take action in the future to someone. For example, "I'II be back"

where the speaker has made a promise which is indicated by the word "will"

where the speaker promises to return. While in the example "I'm going to get it

right next time" also includes commissive speech acts from the form of a promise.

The speaker promises to try to get it right next time than ever before.

d) Expressives

Expressives are kinds of illocutionary acts that express the speaker's

feelings (psychological states) in certain propositions to other people (Searle,

1979, p. 15). This speech act is expressed as reasons, joy, pain, likes, empathy,

apology, congratulations, thank you, and others. Speakers will express something

according to the truth they express.

Examples: a. Congratulations!
b. I’m really sorry! (Yule, 1996, p. 53)

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 From the two examples of expressives above, we can see that speaker

expresses their feelings to someone through an utterance. We can see this from the

example of "Congratulations!" where the speaker is happy to congratulate

someone who has succeeded. The second example is "I'm really sorry!" where the

speaker expresses his regret for having done something wrong so that he

apologizes to someone he has hurt or harmed. From this, it can be seen that the

speaker conveys the words fit according to their feelings.

e) Declarations

Declarations are kinds of illocutionary acts that can change a person's

status or condition of the referred-to object, in fact, through an utterance (Searle,

1979, p. 17). It all depends on their situation. This change occurs if someone

succeeds in performing his/her speech acts that have a special role in a certain

context so that it can express declarations appropriately, such as the position of

humans as priests, presidents, ministers, firing from employment, and others.

Examples: a. Priest: I now pronounce you husband and wife

states something that can change a person's status or ownership. For example,

"Priest: I now pronounce you husband and wife" is a speech act that can change

someone who is initially single and eventually becomes a husband and wife after

marriage. As for the example “Referee: You're out!” the speaker changes the

status of someone who originally worked at a company but was asked to go out

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because he had done something wrong. From this, a person’s status or ownership

depends on each situation.

c) Perlocutionary Act

A perlocutionary act is an achievement or impact of the hearer on

someone's speech (Austin, 1962, p. 108). This can be from the beliefs, attitudes,

or behaviors of the hearer. As Levinson said, the perlocutionary act has intentional

or inappropriate consequences from the speaker's utterance (Dilgjeri, 2017, p. 21).

Austin also states that even when saying something normally will affect one's

feelings, actions, and thoughts, even though it is done with certain goals and

intentions, some actions only think, remain silent, and even refuse. In addition,

perlocutionary acts can be achieved if the speaker is able to convince, persuade,

say, deter, and so on to the hearer to do something.

From the three types of speech acts above, we can know how to

distinguish something that is said. First, the locutionary act includes the type of

pronouncing a certain sentence with a certain meaning. Second, the illocutionary

act includes utterances that have a certain force. Third, the perlocutionary act

includes a result or impact achieved after saying something (Austin, 1962, p. 108).

1.2.3 Commissive Speech Act

In this study, the writer will discuss specifically commissive speech acts so

that the theoretical study refers more to studies related to the ins and outs of

commissive speech acts. Commissive speech acts are the speaker employs to

commit themselves to a specific course of action in the future (Searle, 1979, p.

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14). Speakers have commitments or intentions that they will do in the future. The

speaker can be done on his own basis or the speaker as a member of a group

(Yule, 1996, p. 54). For example, “I’m going to get it right next time.”

1.2.4 Types of Comissive Speech Act

The types of commissive speech acts employed by the characters on the

YouTube video entitled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz can be identified based on

Searle’s speech acts classification, namely promise, threat, refusal, and warning.

a. Promise

A promise is a commitment from the speaker to do or not do something in

the future (Searle, 1979, p. 14). This can be done orally or in writing. Promise is

one of the commissive verbs that has certain special characteristics, namely the

existence of an obligation. A promise is a statement made to another person about

the future, indicating whether or not one will do or not do something. It is a verbal

agreement between two people to do something. The purpose of the speaker's

speech is also important to note in order to persuade the hearer to believe in the

speaker.

Example: I’ll take you to the movie tomorrow (Pambudi, 2017, p. 20)

The example above includes the commissive speech acts in the promise

conveyed by the speaker to the hearer. The speaker promises that he/she will take

the hearer to the movie tomorrow. From this, it can be seen that the speaker has an

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obligation to do something. The speaker is persuading themselves to carry out

their intention of taking the hearer to the movie.

b. Threat

A threat is an action that harms the hearer, and there is no obligation for

the hearer to do something from the sepaker (Searle and Vanderveken, 1985, p.

193). However, if the hearer does not do what the speaker wants, usually the

speaker tells the hearer that he/she will do something troublesome or dangerous to

the hearer.

Example: Come! Try! I must really scold you if you don’t (Pambudi, 2017, p. 20)

The example above includes commissive speech acts in the form of a

threat uttered by the speaker to the hearer. The speaker threatens to scold the

hearer if he/she does not try. This is a form of action that can make it difficult for

someone. The speaker will try to convince the hearer to believe that something

dangerous or violent is about to happen.

c. Refusal

A refusal is an act of not doing, giving, or receiving something in the

future. The speaker has the right to refuse something that cannot be done (Searle,

1969, p. 33). Utterances in refusal can be done directly or indirectly. As a reactive

speech act, refusal is an initial action to respond to something the speaker cannot

do. These actions are like denying what was asked for or offered for acceptance

(Pambudi, 2017, p. 21-22).

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Example: Unfortunately, I don’t think I will be able to attend the party (Pambudi,
2017, p. 21)

The example above includes commissive speech acts in the form of refusal

because the speaker cannot take action in the future. From this, it can be seen that

the speaker took an act of refusal because he/she could not attend the party.

d. Warning

A warning is an action in which the speaker warns the hearer so that they

can follow or do what the speaker wants. This is because the speaker tells the

hearer something is going on (Searle, 1979, p. 28). Usually, the speaker will use

an utterance with a proverb when implying a warning in a brief goal rather than

the speaker explaining long or short about an impending dangerous situation

(Pambudi, 2017, p. 22).

Example: Don’t even dare you to take my flowers! I’II kill you! (Pambudi, 2017,
p.21)

The example above includes the commissive speech acts in the form of a

warning in which the speaker warns the hearer not to take his/her flowers. The

speaker warns that he/she will kill the hearer if the hearer does not do what the

speaker wants.

1.2.5 Context

Context is an important factor in understanding the meaning of a speaker's

utterance to the hearer in a conversation. This is so that the hearer understands the

speaker’s intent correctly. If there is a misunderstanding, it will usually be a

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conflict between them. Therefore, the hearer must understand the context in a

conveyed utterance. This all depends on the situation and conditions of each.

There are several aspects of the situation that must be considered in

understanding the context of an utterance as follows (Leech, 1983, p. 13):

a. Addressers or addressees (speaker or hearer)

There is the speaker as a person who produces utterance and the hearer as

a person who hears or receives utterance from the speaker.

b. The context of utterance

There are various ways to understand a context, such as an utterance’s

physical or social setting. According to Leech, context is a form of background

knowledge between the speaker and hearer, and context is involved in the hearer’s

interpretation. This can be interpreted that Leech saying meaning is seen from the

context, and then, every different meaning will have a different context.

c. The goal of utterance

The purpose of the utterance conveyed by the speaker has the intended

meaning of the utterance.

d. The utterance as a form of act

In pragmatics, the utterance conveyed has an action that depends on a

particular situation.

e. The utterance as product of verbal act

In pragmatics, the word "utterance" can be regarded as a verbal speech act.

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1.2.6 Synopsis of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's story written by Lyman Frank

and first published in 1900. A story set in America and is very popular in

children’s literature. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz can be found freely as an

animated video on the YouTube. Besides being found on the YouTube video, this

work was originally written in the form of a novel. The story begins when

Dorothy and her friends, the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and The Cowardly Lion,

embark on a journey to meet the Great Wizard of Oz and ask him to grant their

wish. However, Oz will not grant their wish before Dorothy, and her friends can

kill the Wicked Witch of the West.

1.3 Review of Previous Studies

Other researchers are needed to support this research, and at least five

studies have been reviewed.

First, the researcher reviewed research conducted by Hardyanti Wulandary

(2021) entitled Analysis of Commissive Speech Act In Moanna The Movie. In her

research, there are descriptions of the types and functions of commissive speech

acts taken from a movie entitled Moanna. She uses the observation method to

determine the data that will be analyzed. In addition, she takes data samples using

the purposive sampling method. This study’s data result only amounts to 18

utterances from the types of commissive speech acts. This is because there is no

data on the types of commissive speech acts in the form of a pledge. Then, this

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study is also supported by several theories from many references that can enrich

the knowledge regarding commissive speech acts.

Second, the researcher reviewed a journal article by Desica and Ambalegin

(2021) entitled Commissive Speech Acts Found In “Onward” Movie By Dan

Scanlon. This study analyzes the types of commissive speech acts proposed by

Searle (1979). The researchers took data from the utterances spoken by the

characters in Onward movie that contain types of commissive speech acts. In

collecting the data, the researchers used observation methods and non-

participatory technique. Meanwhile, in analyzing the data, this study uses

analyzing descriptive qualitative research. The data result of this study amounts to

17 utterances from the types of commissive speech acts found in the Onward

movie. They were 2 data of promising, 4 data of threatening, 2 data of accepting,

6 data of refusing, and 2 data of offering. The most data of this study is type of

commissive speech acts in the form of refusing.

Third, the researcher reviewed a journal article taken from the Lingual

Journal by I Wayan Juniartha, Desak Putu Eka Pratiwi, and I Made Yogi Wijaya

(2020) entitled Commissive Speech Act In The Movie John Wick Chapter 2. This

study analyzes the types of commissive speech acts originating from the

characters’ utterances and looks at the meaning of the utterances in it. To discuss

in knowing the types of commissive speech acts, they used the pragmatics theory

of Yule (1996), then analyzed the implied meaning using the theory of Thomas

(1995), and finally used the theory of situational context from Halliday and Hasan

(1989). In collecting data, they used the observation method. After that, the

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researchers analyzed the data using a descriptive qualitative method. After

identifying the data, the researchers found four types of commissive speech acts

uttered by the characters in the movie John Wick Chapter 2, such as promises

(12%), refusals (12%), threats (28%), and warnings (48%). The conclusion is that

most data is a type of commissive speech acts in the form of warning, which

amounts to 48%, and the least data are types of commissive speech acts in the

form of promise and refusal, which both amount to 12%.

Fourth, the researcher reviewed research by Santi Kumalasari (2019)

entitled Commissive Speech Acts In Cinderella Movie. The researcher conducted

this research intends to identify the types of commissive speech acts that can be

found in the Cinderella movie and can contribute to commissive speech acts in

semantic studies with the movie. For the method, the researcher uses a qualitative

descriptive research design. Then, in selecting the data, the researcher did it

purposively to answer the research questions. For data collection, the researcher

used documentation. After conducting the research, the researcher found that 83

utterances belonged to the types of commissive speech acts in the Cinderella

movie, such as commit (6.02%), promise (15.66%), threat (18.07%), accept

(14.46%), consent (6.02%), refusal (20.481%), offering (10.84%), assure (1.02%),

and bet (7.22%). The conclusion is that most data is in the form of refusal found

in the Cinderella movie.

Fifth, the researcher reviewed a journal article taken from English

Education Journal by Hasan Abdul Kohar, Dwi Anggani Linggar Bharati, and

Dwi Rukmini (2018) entitled The Realization And Responses Of Commissive

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Speech Acts On The Third Presidential Debate In The United States Presidential

Election 2016. This study aims to determine the types of commissive speech acts

originating from the candidates in the debate, analyze how the commissive speech

acts are delivered, show how the audiences respond to the commissive speech

acts, interpret why the commissive speech acts are responded to during the debate,

the occurrence of the actions taken in the debate, and explain the types of

commissive speech acts that are the most dominant in the debate. This study

focuses on commissive speech acts based on Searle's theory. There are three

instruments used in this study such as observation technique, recording technique,

and note-taking technique. According to the result, this journal article finds that

most collected data are promises. Then, this journal article used many supporting

theories in explaining commissive speech acts and has many data with a total of

50 utterances.

After reviewing the five previous studies, the researcher found several

guidelines to support this research. This is because the five previous studies also

analyzed commissive speech acts. However, there are differences between the

previous studies and the current study. The fifth previous studies analyze

commissive speech act from movie and debate on Youtube video. Meanwhile, the

current study analyzes the types of commissive speech acts from a YouTube video

entitled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Then, two previous studies analyzed

commissive speech acts based on Yule’s theory (1996), one previous study

analyzed commissive speech acts based on the theory of Searle and Vanderveken

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(1985), and one previous study analyzed commissive speech acts based on

Searle’s theory (1976).

Meanwhile, another previous study also analyzed commissive speech acts

using the same theory as the current study, namely Searle’s theory (1979). The

data of this current study will be collected from the YouTube video entitled The

Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Accordingly, this study attempts to find out types of

commissive speech acts in the utterances spoken by the characters on a YouTube

video entitled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

1.4 Research Question

This research focused on commissive speech acts, which identified the

types of commissive speech acts and analyzed the implied meaning uttered by the

characters on the YouTube video entitled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Based on the problem identification above, the writer states the research

question in this study: What are the types of commissive speech acts as found on

the YouTube video entitled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?

1.5 Objective of the Study

The objective of the study is to identify the types of commissive speech

acts as found on the YouTube video entitled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

1.6 Scope of the Study

The object of this research are utterances spoken by the characters on the

YouTube video entitled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that contain the types of

commissive speech acts. So, this research focuses on identifying the types of

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commissive speech acts found on the YouTube video entitled The Wonderful

Wizard of Oz. In analyzing the types of commissive speech acts in the data, this

research uses the theory of Searle (1979).

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