Table of Contents
Title Page………i
Original Literary Work Declaration………...…ii
Abstract……….iii
Abstrak………..………iv
Acknowledgement………..v
1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background of Study……….………..….………….….……..1
1.2. Communication through Internet……….…….2
1.3. Statement of Problem……….…...5
1.4. Purpose of the Study………...………..6
1.5. Research Questions………..……….6
1.6. Scope of the Study………7
1.7. Significance of the Study………...……….………..7
1.8. Definition of Terms used in the Study……….……….8
2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.1. Introduction……….………….…….……….11
2.2. Virtual Communication………...……...….………...11
2.3. What is a Chat Room?...13
2.4. Language on the Internet………...………...………..14
2.4.1. Netspeak………….………..………16
2.4.2. Netiquette Rules……….………..21
2.4.3. Computer Mediated Communication (CMC)………..………21
2.5. Theories of Politeness…...………..23
2.5.1. The Gricean Cooperative……….………25
2.5.2. Brown’s and Levinson’s Theory of Politeness……….…..……….26
2.5.2.1. Face Threatening Acts (FTAs)………..26
2.5.2.2. Politeness Strategy………27
2.5.2.3. Brown’s and Levinson’s Negligence of Impoliteness……….……….32
2.5.3. Leech’s Politeness Principle………..………..33
2.5.4. Lakoff’s Rules of Politeness ……….………..35
2.6. Politeness………36
2.6.1. Gender and Politeness………..37
2.7. Gender and CMCs……….……….…….38
2.8. Politeness Strategies: Power, Social Distance and Cost of Imposition………..40
2.9. Impoliteness in CMCs………..………..42
2.10. Linguistic Features in Conversation……….………43
2.10.1. Indirect Request………….……….………….…………..44
2.10.2. Minimal Responses………..……….……….……45
2.10.3. Collaborative Completion………...………..……….45
2.10.4. Repair………..……….…..46
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1. Introduction……….………...48
3.2. Sample Population……….……….48
3.3. Research Instrument……….………..…...50
3.4. Methods………...……….…..…….………..……51
3.5. Data Collection……….……….52
3.6. Data Analysis………..………..……….54
4. DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
4.1. Introduction……….…….………..….…...56
4.2. Language Forms and Functions……….………...…57
4.2.1. The Use of Emphatic Stress, Capitalization and Excessive Punctuation Marks……….…...….57
4.2.2. Greetings and Excessive Politeness………...……..65
4.2.3. Leave-Taking………..……….…...…….68
4.2.4. Profane Language………...……….………..…...…….…..71
4.2.5. Self Censorship……….………..………….74
4.3. Politeness Strategies Used Among the Chatters………...…..………..…76
5. CONCLUSION………..….……...…..86
5.1. Language Forms and Functions………..……….…..……….89
5.1.1. Greetings and Excessive Politeness……….………90
5.1.2. The Use of Emphatic Stress, Excessive Punctuation Marks and Capitalization.………91
5.1.3. Leave Taking………..……….………92
5.1.4. Profane Language………...……….………93
5.1.5. Self Censorship……….………...94
5.2. Politeness Strategies Used Among Chatters……….…..95
5.3. Summary………..…….……….….96
5.4. Recommendations for Further Study………..98
Appendix A………..100
Appendix B………..114
Appendix C………..………119
Appendix D……….129
Appendix E……….….133
Appendix F………...134
Bibliography....………..…..135
List of Figures
Figure 2.1. Graphical Icons in Yahoo Instant Messenger……….16
Figure 2.2. Example of Yahoo Messenger Chat Window………...…….18
Figure 2.3. Framework of Politeness and Cooperative Principle……….……….23
Figure 3.1. Steps Involved in Data Collection……….……..……...…53
List of Tables
Table 2.1. List of Abbreviation……….………19
Table 3.1. Sample of Population According to Gender……….…49
Table 3.2. Sample Population According to Age group………..………….….50
Table 4.1. Distribution of the Politeness Strategy among MalaysianChatters…………..77
Table 4.2. Frequency of Each Variation of Positive Politeness Strategy……….….77
Table 4.3. Distribution of the Positive Politeness Strategy among Malaysian Chatters...78
Table 4.4. Example of Positive Politeness in a conversation………78
Table 4.5. Frequency of Each Variation of Bold on Record Strategy……...….…79
Table 4.6. Distribution of Bald on Record Strategy among Malaysian Chatters………...80
Table 4.7. Example of Bold on Record in a conversation……….…80
Table 4.8. Frequency of Each Variation of Negative Politeness Strategy…...………...81
Table 4.9. Distribution of Negative Politeness Strategy among Malaysian Chatters………...…82
Table 4.10. Example of Negative Politeness Strategy in a conversation………..82
Table 4.11. Frequency of Each Variation of Off the Record…………..………..83
Table 4.12. Distribution of Off the Record among Malaysian Chatters………..….84
Table 4.13. Examples of Off the Record in a conversation……….………..…..….84
