Classification of Directive Speech Acts Used in Learning Situations

Abstract

Japanese language learners need to understand the function of utterances in learning situations to understand or use utterances well. Directive utterances are often found in learning situations. Therefore, understanding the function of directive speech according to the context needs to be studied. This study aims to describe the purpose of the directive utterances used based on the context into classification, whether including commands, requests, prohibitions, granting permission, or advice. This research uses a pragmatic study and the data is classified based on Namatame's classification theory. The data for this study were taken from three Japanese movies that have learning situations and are relatively new, which are less than five years from this research was conducted. The descriptive qualitative approach was used by collecting data from transcribing movie dialogues. The results of this study indicate that of the 203 directive speech acts, whole utterances can be classified into five types of classification by Namatame, namely commands, requests, prohibitions, granting permission, and advice. Most of the directive utterances found are included in the commands classification. Classification of requests, prohibitions, and advice are found with relatively the same frequency. The utterances included in the directive speech act classification of granting permission found the least.