Positive Politeness Used in the Interviews Conducted by Desi Anwar to Dewi Soekarno and Bill Gates

Abstract

Interview is a popular means of gathering information in our society. However, there is little research on cross-cultural interviews which has been conducted. This research is a descriptive qualitative study which aims to examine Desi Anwar’s choice of positive politeness strategies in relation to her interviewees’ cultural backgrounds, i.e., Dewi Soekarno (Japanese) and Bill Gates (American). The interviews are transcribed and coded based on the positive politeness strategies used and the cultures of Japanese and American communication styles. The instrument used in analyzing the data is Excel Matrix. Findings show that the interview with Dewi Soekarno (Japanese interviewee) contains more positive politeness strategies than the interview with Bill Gates (American interviewee). The positive politeness strategies used in the interview with Dewi Soekarno are Exaggeration, Repetition, Including Both S and H, and also Compliments. This result is contradictory to Japanese and American communication styles, which Japanese do not prefer positive politeness; while Americans do. This study will shade some light on positive politeness used in cross-cultural interviews involving Japanese and American interviewees. Since both interviewees in this research are from different genders, it would be satisfactory if future research includes this aspect into consideration.

Positive Politeness Strategies Performed by International Guest Speakers in Mata Najwa Exclusive Interview

“…However, there are three sub-strategies that were not performed by the non-native English guest speakers, which are Being Optimistic, Joking, and Assuming or Asserting Reciprocity. Those sub-strategies also were not found in the study conducted by Arianti (2022) that analyzed the realization of politeness strategies in cross-cultural interview setting especially by a non-native English speaker.…”

“…On the other hands, there are some studies carried out in Indonesian context to examine positive politeness strategies in the interview show. Arianti (2022) conducted a study analyzing positive politeness strategies used by an Indonesian TV host, Desi Anwar, in communicating with a Japanese and an American guest speaker. The result showed that the host applied positive politeness strategies more often when talking to the Japanese guest speaker rather than the American guest speaker.…”