Interlanguage Pragmatics: Different Strategies of Compliment Responses by Madurese EFL Learners in English and Madurese (Pragmatik Bahasa Antara: Perbedaan Strategi dalam Menanggapi Pujian oleh Mahasiswa Madura dalam Bahasa Inggris dan Bahasa Madura)

Abstract

The less vital function of English in EFL (English as Foreign Language) context leads EFL learners to some problems. Sometimes the way they communicate in English is still influenced by their first language culture. Indonesia is one of multicultural country that learns English as foreign language. One of the cultures in Indonesia is Madurese. In Jember for instance, there are so many Madurese students learning English. Their cultural background as Madurese may influence the way they learn English. This study aims to investigate the way Madurese EFL learners respond compliments in English and Madurese to see whether they get influenced by their L1 or not. The data are collected through Discourse Completion Task (DCT) which are distributed to 20 Madurese EFL learners. They are students from academic year 2012 English Department, Faculty of Letters, Jember University. The results reveal that there are some similarities and differences found in the way Madurese EFL learners respond the compliments in English and Madurese. The similarities are found in low to high (L-H) status interaction, while the differences are found in equal status interaction.