Research Paper
Year: 2019 | Month: November | Volume: 6 | Issue: 11 | Pages: 92-98
Students’ Ability in the Use of Speech Act (Keigo): A Comparative Study on Two Japanese Study Programs in North Sumatera and Riau
Siti Muharami Malayu, Yuddi Adrian Muliadi
Faculty of Cultural Science University of Sumatera Utara, Indonesia
Corresponding Author: Yuddi Adrian Muliadi
ABSTRACT
Japanese speech acts are known as keigo consisting of two types, namely sonkeigo and kenjoogo. The first is used to express respect with regard to activities or circumstances of the other person and the persons being discussed. The second is used to denote respect to other persons or persons who become the topic of conversation by humbling oneself. The purpose of this study is to determine the ability of Japanese non-native learners in the use of keigo and to describe the forms of errors and the factors underlying the occurrence of errors in the use of keigo. The research was carried out in two Japanese Literature Study Programs at Faculty of Cultural Sciences, University of Sumatera Utara and at Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Riau. The research used qualitative and quantitative methods with its main characteristics for the measurement (the questionnaires) are the same. The result shows that the percentage of students’ abilities in the use of sonkeigo and kenjoogo are 39.3% and 43.11% respectively at the Japanese Literature Study Program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, University of Sumatera Utara and 35.3% and 35.08% respectively at the Japanese Language Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Riau. The result also shows that, from both institutions, their abilities in using the keigo is low (below 50%) meaning the keigo is considered very difficult because of the large amount of vocabularies and of shape pattern changes.
Key words: Speech acts, keigo, sonkeigo, kenjoogo, ability
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