AN ANALYSIS OF ILLOCUTIONARY ACTS AND IMPLICATURES IN UNDERSTANDING TOEFL SHORT CONVERSATION

Abstrak

Listening comprehension is found to be among the most difficult tasks for the
learners due to several reasons. Mostly, test-takers find difficulty in interpreting
the intended meaning of the utterances in the TOEFL examination. To understand
the intended meaning which is implied in and beyond the utterance itself, the test
takers must have background knowledge of the context of the utterances. Based
on the problems faced by the test takers above, this study gives some solutions in
understanding the short conversation in TOEFL so they can draw conclusion of
the intended meanings. The writer uses illocutionary acts and implicatures in
analyzing the problems found in TOEFL short conversation. Based on the
analysis, this study concludes that TOEFL short conversations consist of four
illocutionary acts classifications of five. There are Directive, Expressive,
Assertive and Commisive. Most of the illocutionary acts found in TOEFL short
conversations are directive, assertive and expressive. Meanwhile, Commisive is
sometimes found in TOEFL short conversations. This study also gets the data of
the implicatures on the utterance in TOEFL short conversations. There are some
implicatures that can help the test takers in understanding the intended meaning
of the utterance in TOEFL short conversations. Thus to understand the intended
meaning on the utterances, the test takers can interpret the meaning by applying
the illocutionary act theory and the implicatures. The illocutionary will help the
test taker to identify the types of the utterance and then can understand the
intended meaning of the utterance. The implicatures will explain what a speaker
can imply, suggest, or mean, as different from what the speaker literally says.