Quarreling: Speech Acts Found in Quarreling Speech Events

Abstract

This research seeks to identify the types of speech acts found in 6 different quarreling speech events in Ted 2 film. The quarreling speech events analyzed in this research are couple's quarrel, neighbor quarrel, friends 'quarrel, and enemies' quarrel. The data were collected purposively and analyzed using content analysis and focus group discussions. The findings conclude that quarrels are dominated by assertive, directive, and expressive speech acts that imply the argumentative and emotional nature of the quarreling speech event. The types of participants and their relations also affect the speech acts found in quarrels. Couple's quarrel is dominated by expressive speech acts, while neighbors' quarrel is dominated by directive speech acts, and friends and enemy quarrels are dominated by assertive speech acts. A quarrel is less likely to find resolution unless the type of relation between the participants is close and one of the participants is willing to accept the disagreement proposed by the speech partner.