Because of the different length of studying time and the different speaking skills that the students get, it is expected that the longer the studying time, the more appropriate the functions of fillers produced because the seventh semester students, compared to the first semester students, are expected to be able to make the conversation run smoothly and fluently by producing the fillers for an appropriate purpose. In short, it may imply that the longer the studying time, the more lexicalized fillers produced, and the more appropriate the functions of fillers produced.
In terms of the types and the functions of fillers produced, if it is compared to the first semester students, logically it is expected that the seventh semester students are able to produce more complex fillers for several appropriate functions because of the speaking skills that they get in six speaking classes for a longer studying time in the English Department. Then, I assume that the first semester students mostly produce simple non-word fillers or unlexicalized fillers, such as ee, err, ehm, etc for fewer purposes, such as filling the pauses, thinking about what will be said next, giving responses, and correcting mistakes.
On the other hand, I assume that the seventh semester students are expected to produce mostly complex fillers or lexicalized fillers, such as you know, sort of, well, and kind of for more purposes, such as filling the pauses, thinking what will be said next, holding the conversation turn, interrupting, empathizing, mitigating, and correcting mistakes. These differences may be influenced by the length of studying time between the first and the seventh semester students. To confirm the assumption above, I will do the research in the types and the functions of fillers that the first and the seventh semester students produce when they communicate.
Statement of the Problem
This research aims to find out the types and the functions of fillers used by the first and the seventh semester students of the English Department, Petra Christian University, Surabaya. Therefore, to cope with the problem, I formulate the questions as follows:
- What are the differences and/or similarities between the types of fillers used by the first semester students and those used by the seventh semester students?
- What are the differences and/or similarities between the functions of fillers used by the first semester students and those used by the seventh semester students?
Purpose of the Study
By conducting this research, I would like to find out the types and the functions of fillers used by the first and the seventh semester students in the English Department, Petra Christian University, Surabaya. Then, I would like to find out the differences and/or the similarities between those types and those functions of fillers.
Significance of the Study
By working on this study, hopefully, the findings can give some contributions for the students of speaking classes in the English Department, Petra Christian University. It is expected that the students realize how important the fillers are and how big the function roles of fillers are in the spoken interaction, especially in the interactional speech. Fillers function a lot in helping the students to have a good communication skill for appropriate purposes in interactional speeches because it cannot be denied that the students in the English Department are not accustomed to have interactional speeches in speaking classrooms due to the more transactional speeches, such as presentation, negotiation, and public speaking.
However, interactional speech is also very important in social life where the students can communicate among friends for chit-chat or gossip. Learning and understanding fillers and their functions appropriately can help the students to have a good sociolinguistic competence. Hopefully this study can encourage the English Department students to improve their communication skill in order to be well skilled speakers.
Besides, I hope this study will contribute a lot to the English Department lecturers, particularly the curriculum designers, in order to design more interactional or two-way speeches for the students in the classroom rather than transactional or one-way speeches. The curriculum designers can add more methods for pair or small group discussion (two-way speeches). By having more interactional speeches, the students will learn and understand more the use of fillers and their functions for appropriate purposes because fillers are like oil in a conversation to make it smooth, and fillers can function to hesitate, to interrupt, to give responses, to mitigate, and so forth.
