Refusal

Strategy in
Indonesia

Background
Refusal is the act of expressing oneself as unwilling to
accept, to do or comply with, or deny. (Merriam-Webster
Dictionary, 2005),
(Brown & Levinson, 1987)
Refusal is a face threatening act either greater or lesser
extent the speaker threats the hearers face
Politeness strategies to mitigate the threats.
(1) social distance, (2) relative power (social status), (3)
severity of the act. (Brown & Levinson, 1987, p. 74)

Indonesia Context
Indonesia is culturally collectivistic, (Barnes, 2006).
Kadarisman (2009, p. 191), social harmony is the
prominence among Indonesian
Aziz, (2000) said that this culture is established from the
prinsip saling tenggang rasa (the principle of mutual
consideration)
The core of the principle are (1) avoid saying something you
do not like to be addressed to you, and (2) say
something that makes you happy if it is addressed to
you.

Indonesia Context (continue)

Kartomiharjo (1990) in his study about verbal forms of
refusals in the East Java province, the social
variables involved were:
1). Age

2). Gender

4). Social status

3). Ethnicity

5). Social distance

6). Topic

He concluded that the people in East Java tended to

use hints in expressing a refusal.

Hints examples:
A: Maukah kamu ikut bersama kami (satu mobil) ke
pesta ulang tahunnya Dina?
would you like to come with us (in a car) Dinas
birthday party?
B: Ohh, sudah adzan, mungkin habis solat saya pergi
dengan Andi.
Ohh, its adzan already, I might go with Andi after
praying.

What would be the hints of your refusal if

your close friend ask you to go out for
dinner?

For instance:
A: Tau kan bentar kita futsal bareng?
Tonight we have futsal exercise, right?
B: Saya tidak yakin bisa, kakak saya datang dari kampung
Im not sure I can, my brother is here, he just arrived
from the town.

Indonesia Context (continue)

Aziz (2000) as his sampling were Sundaneses (one of
ethnics in java)
In his findings, intrinsically, the act of refusals
potentially threaten the hearers face. (Brown &
Levinson, 1987)
He concluded that most speakers (in doing the act of
refusal) rather used indirect politeness.

Conclusion
Chojimah (2015) generalizes the idea from Kartomiharjo by
sampling 161 university students in Indonesia.
In her study, she concluded that most university students
(Indonesia) are used an indirect politeness strategy to refusal.
By saying so, she agreed that the three social factors (mentioned
previously, (Brown & Levinson, 1987)) matched with
Indonesian people strategies.
The strategy to realize the act of refusing is significantly
influenced by the social status of an addresser and an
addressee, their closeness, and the severity of the
refusal.

References
Aziz, E. Aminudin. (2000). Refusing in Indonesian: Strategies and Politeness
Implication. Monash. Monash University. Ph.D. Dissertation.
Chojimah, Nurul. (2015). Refusal and Politeness Strategies in Relation to Social Status:
A Case of Face-threatening Act among Indonesian University Students. Theory and
Practice in Language Studies, 5(5) pp. 906-918
Barnes, Bruce. (2006). Culture, conflict, and Mediation in the Asian Pacific. Boulder Co.
University Press of America.
Brown, Penelope. & Levinson, Stephen C. (1987). Politeness: Some Universals in
Language Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kadarisman, A Effendi. (2009). The Language is a Mirror Metaphor and Its
Implications on Foreign Language Teaching. In Mengurai Bahasa Menyibak
Budaya. Malang. Malang University Press. 172-198.
Kartomiharjo, Suseno. (1990). Bentuk Bahasa Penolakan the Linguistic form of Refusal
Utterances. Unpublished Research Paper. Malang Institute of Teacher Training,
Indonesia.