THE STRATEGIES OF USING ‘WELCOME’ EXPRESSION … · This method intends to describe everything...

THE STRATEGIES OF USING ‘WELCOME’ EXPRESSION TO COSTUMERS Developing the Students’ Language Competence and Performance

-A Discourse Analysis Study-

By Fernandes Arung

English Education Study Program

Teachers and Education Faculty

2013

Abstract

One most important in doing public service is to maintain the relationship between the

services supplier and the customers. In this case, that there must be problems to put

into account in order to come to the best services deal with a public service. The thing

is that most of customers feel dissatisfied when they come into a public service. They

perforce come into such situation because they think that they cannot find any place

that provides more than they expect. Based on this classic problem, the researcher

would like to investigate what should be the points of the best services concerned with

public service. The complicated thing in this investigation is the way of services

supplier use the language expression to make the customers will be enjoyable.

This study aims to investigate how a Customer Service used the expression of

„welcoming‟ in providing services for customers and to study the strategy of using

expression of „welcoming‟ costumers from the appearance of the level of structures.

This research applied descriptive qualitative method. Qualitative research refers to the

meaning, concepts, definitions, charateristic methapores, symbols and descriptions of

things. In this sense, the research will find out the non-statistic data and then

describes it. This method intends to describe everything related to the topic of the

research. In this case, the researchers will describe about „The strategies of using

“Welcome Expressions” by ticketing at Suita Tour and Travel agency‟.

The strategies in using the expression of welcoming may be used as the basic ways in

serving customers and used to improve the ability to use these expression in daily life

of conversation and also can be the strategies of the students in developing their

language competence and performance.

Key words: Strategies of Using Welcome Expression

Introduction

Those who want to be the greatest should become the slave for others. Management

Service become the most point of each firm in all over the world and it is the basic thing that

should be applied in terms of services. The best service has become the characteristic of

European Management, they do pay attention on their customers need in order to make them

endure, comfortable, peaceful, and find their needs and interests during getting in touch with.

No longer be denied that the European management has the best service by which they

maintain their costumers appropriately. However, there was an ideal of public service

Fernandes Arung, S.Pd, M.Pd University of Sembilanbelas November

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JURNAL ILMIAH AL-ADABI Volume 8 Nomor 3 November 2013

www.jurnalbung.com ISSN: 1907-4875

(O‟toole, 2006) in a public administration and it is just for the customers. This is the most

important thing to think of the best management service, there should be the standard of a

service to decide in order to gain the establishment of guideline for the recognition of

qualification (O‟toole, 2006).

Looking at what we have seen in Indonesia in terms of its public service, it is absolutely

different in the thing of service and we cannot deny that it is true. Mostly services that we

have in this country are still far from expectation. It is not referring to its management but it

is more to the qualification and or the character of the doers of management. It might be a

possibility of human sources or human values as applied to the performance of public

agencies (Talbot, 2010). We are of course apprehensive on this situation because mostly

firms, agencies, both macro and micro are still not able to maintain the customers as maximal

as possible. Whether they do understand or not or even because of the thing of personal

quality that cause this matter will be the characteristic of Indonesian public service but the

point is still real of such situation.

In Indonesia, there are only few institutions or firms or anything concerned that has

good service. It is clearly that most of institutions or firms are not expectable in doing public

service and they are being still in such situation that they seemly keen on such situation. We

sometimes meet good services but we often meet the bad one. Those firms should understand

that the relationship between the firms and customers is determined by good public service.

Customers need it because they need what they expect as long as they have their business

finished in proper time. So, the research tries to solve the problem and provide the strategies

in using appropriate expression deal with welcoming customers by analyzing all collecting

data to meet the appropriate strategies.

Actually, this research aims to develop the English learners‟ language comprehension

in using welcome expression as the ability to use the language. The results will be very useful

in providing the English learners the appropriate expressions in their daily conversations,

both in formal and informal way.

Research Method

This research applied a descriptive qualitative method and the Ticketing Customer

Servicers of Suita Tour were the source of the data in this research. The researcher was at the

Travel during work hours and starting to take data through the recording of the activity of the

Ticketing. The recorder was turned on for each conversation between customers and

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Ticketing and it would be finished if the conversation contained the data needed. After taking

the recording, the researcher got the customers to hold the interview in order to get the

supporting data. These supporting data were in the recording and on notes. All recorded data

were transcribed and analyzed to meet the findings.

Findings and Discussion

Findings

This part discusses the strategies of welcoming expression used by the Ticketing in

terms of Customer Services.

1. Using simple utterances

Setting of Extract 1:

This conversation was happening at Suita Tour between Ticketing and customer, asking

about a ticket to Surabaya.

Extract 1:

a) Ticketing : OK. Selamat pagi pak.

„Ok. Good morning, Sir.

b) Customer : Selamat pagi!

„Good morning‟

c) Ticketing : Silahkan duduk, bisa dibantu?

„Sit down please, May I help you?‟

d) Customer : Yah, Saya mau pesan Tiket mau ke .. Surabaya.

„Yeah, I would like to book a ticket for.. Surabaya‟

In Extract 1,in the first meeting the Ticketing greeted the customer and asked him

about helping and in that time the customer would like to book a ticket for surabaya.

In extract 1, In this conversation there are two persons namely; Ticketing and customer.

In the first sentence the ticketing said ”selamat pagi pak” (Good morning, Sir”) and customer

direcly replied “selamat pagi” (Good morning). So What the Ticketing said in the first

sentence indicates the Welcoming Expression. It means that welcoming expression in the first

meeting by using greeting is very good expression. And in the second sentence the Ticketing

said ”Silahkan duduk, bisa dibantu?” (Sit down, please. May I help you?) it means that

phrase silahkan duduk (Sit down, please) showes the welcoming expression.


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They were talking about a ticket to Jakarta the following day at Suita Tour and Travel.

Extract 2:

a) Ticketing : Selamat siang bisa dibantu!

„Good afternoon May I help you?‟

b) Customer : Ya mba‟, saya mau pesan tiket ke Jakarta besok

„Yes Mom, I want to book a ticket for Jakarta for tomorrow‟

c) Ticketing : Besok yah?

„Is it for tomorrow?‟

d) Customer : yah

„Yes‟

In extract 2, the situation, when the customer came to the office, directly the Ticketing

greeted and offered a help to customer and the Customer booked a ticket for jakarta.

In the first line in extract 2, there is phrase ”Selamat siang bisa dibantu “ (Good

afternoon May I help you?) it means that there is a good expression how to face the customer,

therefore the sentence „Selamat siang bisa dibantu?” (Good afternoon. May I help you?)

denotes good welcoming expression.


The conversations was held in the Suita tour office, where the customer wanted to book

a ticket for jakarta.

Extract 3:

a) Ticketing : Selamat siang pak! Ada yang bisa dibantu?

„Good afternoon, Sir. May I help you?‟

b) Customer : Masi ada tiket ke Jakarta?

„Could you tell me whether there is still a ticket or not for

Jakarta?‟

c) Ticketing : eee ke Jakarta mau naik apa pak?

„eee What would you like to book for Jakarta, Sir?‟

d) Customer : Lion aja

„It‟s Lion, please‟.

In extract 3, there were two speakers who were Ticketing and Customer, For knowing

the ticket to Jakarta the customer asked to Ticketing.

In extract 3 showed that conversation between ticketing and customer have a good

attitude. Beacaue ticketing expressed the good utterance as the first sentence said “selamat

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siang pak ada yang bisa dibantu?” (Good afternoon, Sir. May I help you?) So, we interprete

the sentence that “Selamat siang pak ada yang bisa dibantu?” (Good afternoon, Sir. May I

help you? included in welcoming expression. On the other hand people feel satisfied when

welcoming expression is used on its condition. For example, when the Ticketing services the

customer in the office.


The two conversations were between Ticketing and Customer; they were talking about

Tour in the Suita Tour Office.

Extract 4:

a) Ticketing : Selamat siang pak, saya Amelia bisa saya bantu?

„Good afternoon, Sir. I am Amelia, could I help you?‟

b) Customer : Apa bisa dapat informasi tour?

„May I get the tour information?‟

c) Ticketing : Iya, betul sekali pak.

„Yes, exactly, Sir‟.

d) Customer : <x words x>

„<x words x> [Unclear Transcription]‟

In extract 4, the speakers were communicating in the Suita Tour office. The Ticketing

introduced her name (AMELIA), greeted and offered to Customer a help then the Customer

would like to get information about Tour.

We can interprete that when Ticketing said in the first sentence “ selamat pagi pak,

saya Amelia bisa saya bantu?” (Good afternoon, Sir. I am Amelia, may I help you?) denoted

good expression. Something that must be provided by people when encounter the people is

demonstrating the good expression especially the use of welcoming expression.

2. Level of Structures

A. Syntactic Level


This conversation takes place between ticketing and customer in the office of Suita Tour

& Travel which has difference sex and status. The customer is a man and he wants to

ask the tour information.

Extract 4:


„Good afternoon sir, I am Amelia may I help you?‟


„May I get the tour information?

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„Yes, exactly sir‟.


<x words x> [Unclear transcription]

e) Ticketing : Iya, betul. Eee kebutulan bapak .. sedang duduk di depan

orang yang … yang mengurus bagian Middle East, saya

bagian timur tengah dan kami punya paket – paket tour untuk

ke Holy Land.

„Yes, exactly. Eee actually you.. are sitting in front of a person

who eee…handles Middle Eastern, I am handling Middle

Eastern and we have tour packages to go to Holy Land‟

In the first turn, the ticketing uses “Welcome Expression” „Selamat pagi, saya Amelia

bisa saya bantu?‟ (Good afternoon sir, I am Amelia may I help you?) She uses welcome

expression above to the customer when the customer comes to ask tour information.

The ticketing directly uses “Welcome Expression” „Selamat pagi, saya Amelia bisa

saya bantu?‟ (Good afternoon sir, I am Amelia may I help you?) is suitable based on the level

of structure related to syntactic level, because she starts greeting, introducing then offering a

help. This expression is systematic.


This conversation takes place in the office of Suita tour. There are two female speakers

who have difference status. One speaker is ticketing and one is a customer. The

customer will buy a ticket for going to Jakarta tomorrow.

Extract 2:


„Good afternoon. May I help you‟

b) Customer : Ya mba‟, saya mau pesan tiket ke Jakarta besok.

Yes Mom, I would like to book a ticket for Jakarta for

tomorrow‟



d) Customer : yah

„Yes‟

e) Ticketing : Mau naik pesawat apa?

„What plane you would like to book?‟

f) Customer : Coba lion mba yah

„Do you mind checking me the Lion, Mom?‟

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On the extract 2, there is a conversation which takes place between ticketing and

customer and the ticketing uses “Welcome Wxpression” „Selamat siang bisa dibantu!‟ (Good

afternoon. May I help you?) to customer when she comes in front of the ticketing to buy a

ticket to leave for Jakarta tomorrow.

The welcome expression selamat siang bisa dibantu! (Good afternoon. May I help

you‟) who is used by the ticketing to customer is not acceptable based on the syntactic level,

because the expression is not use punctuation, such as „selamat pagi‟ (Good morning)

actually it should be a comma ( , ) before she continuous the next expression „bisa dibantu‟

(May I help?) than at the end of the expression should be used question mark, because it is an

interrogative expression.

B. Semantic level


This conversation takes place in the office of Suita tour. There are two female speakers

who have difference status. One speaker is ticketing and one is a customer. The

customer will buy a ticket for going to Jakarta tomorrow.

Extract 2:


„Good afternoon. May I help you?‟

b) Customer : Ya mba‟, saya mau pesan tiket ke Jakarta besok

Yes, Mom. I want to book a ticket for Jakarta for tomorrow‟.

c) Ticketing : Besok ya?


d) Customer : Ya

„Yes‟


„What plane you would like to book?‟

f) Customer : Coba Lion ya mba‟

„Do you mind checking me the Lion?‟

On the extract two, the ticketing uses “Welcome Expression” „Selamat pagi bisa

dibantu!‟ (Good morning. May I help you?) to customer when she comes in front of the

ticketing and she wants to buy a ticket for going to Jakarta.

The “Welcome Expression” „Selamat pagi bisa dibantu!‟ That is used by the ticketing

to customer is ambiguous meaning because the ticketing does not use the question mark in

the end of the expression, so it can appear other meaning based on semantic level.

3. Kinds of Action in Utterances

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Two speakers were talking to each other at a Travel Agency. A female was the

Ticketing and a male was the customer. The Ticketing is 25 years old and her name was

Lina. The customer was 26 years old and his name was DK and he planned to leave for

Surabaya from Makassar by Lion Air.

Extract 1:

a) Ticketing : OK. Selamat pagi pak.

„Ok. Good morning, Sir.

b) Customer : Selamat pagi!

„Good morning‟

c) Ticketing : Silahkan duduk, bisa dibantu?

„Sit down please, May I help you?‟

d) Customer : Yah, Saya mau pesan Tiket mau ke .. Surabaya.

„Yeah, I would like to book a ticket for.. Surabaya?‟

In the first turn, Ticketing firstly greeted then gave customer (DK) the chance to

respond to. While in the second turn, Ticketing asked the customer to sit down then asked for

customer‟s need.

The concept of Ticketting‟s locution encouraged her to make conversation in

hierarchical Turn-Taking model. She is able to use the language in welcoming the customer

by asking for a response from the customer after greeting. She acts speech in three steps. In

other words, she has a concept in thought (Locution), she is able to utter and use the language

(Illocution), and she is able to get the response from her interlocutor as the effect of utterance

she spoke to her customer (Perlocution).


There were two females talking to each other concern the ticket booking at the Travel

Agency. The first female was the Ticketing, her name was Iin Resma and she was 23

years old. The second female was the customer, she was 34 years old and her name was

PKB. She planned to leave for Jakarta with somebody else from Makassar by Lion Air

for the following day.

Extract 2:

a) Ticketing : Selamat siang bisa dibantu.

„Good afternoon. May I help you?‟

b) Customer : Ya mba‟. Saya mau pesan tiket ke Jakarta besok.

„Yes, Mom. I want to book ticket to [I would like to book a

ticket for] Jakarta [for] tomorrow‟.



d) Customer : Yah.

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„Yes‟.


„What plane would you like to book for?‟

f) Customer : Coba Lion mba yah.

„Do you mind checking me the Lion, Mom?‟

In the first turn, Ticketing greeted and offered a help. She uttered the expression with

slow voice and flat intonation. She did not mention her own name and did not let the

customer sit down but she just actuated her arm.

This is the simple welcoming when a customer service welcomes her or his customers

in the mid day during work hours. In the concept of her thought concern language function,

she knows that a customer only needs a quick service especially in the mid day of work hours

so she just greets and offers a help.


Two speakers were talking to each other at the Travel Agency. The customer service

which was the Ticketing was a female. Her name was Ester and she was 21 years old.

The second speaker was a male which was the customer, he was 42 years old and his

name was H. He planned to leave for Jakarta from Makassar at 03.55 pm by Lion Air.

Extract 3:

a) Ticketing : Selamat siang pak! Ada yang bisa dibantu?

„Good afternoon, Sir. May I help you?‟

b) Customer : Masi ada tiket ke Jakarta?

„Could you tell me whether there is still a ticket or not

for Jakarta?‟

c) Ticketing : eee ke Jakarta mau naik apa pak?

„eee what would you like to book for Jakarta, Sir?‟

d) Customer : Lion aja

„It‟s Lion, please‟.

In the first turn of conversation, Ticketing, as usually, greeted and offered a help to

customer. When she greeted her customer, she used a proper pronoun „Sir‟ at the end of her

greeting.

In this extract 3 as well as extract 1 and 4, the Ticketing uses „Sir‟ to direct to a proper

customer‟s sex. By the concept of a locution, the Ticketing has had a patterned unit of

language in thought to utter concerning with habitual action of speech in welcoming a

customer. She knows of course what proper pronoun to use when she is facing with a woman

and she must use „Mom‟ or „Miss‟ or „Mrs‟ instead.


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There were two speakers talking to each other at the Travel Agency. The female was

the Ticketing, her name was Erna Amelia and she was 26 years old. Amelia was the

person who handled the Tour Package for Middle Eastern. The second speaker was a

male, his name was BA and he was 37 years old. He just actually wanted to get

information of Tour Package.

Extract 4:


„Good afternoon, Sir. I am Amelia, may I help you?‟


„May I get the tour information?‟


„Yes, exactly, Sir‟.


„<x words x> [Unclear Transcription]‟

e) Ticketting : Iya, betul. eee kebetulan bapak .. sedang duduk di depan

orang yang eee … yang mengurus bagian Middle East, saya

bagian Timur Tengah dan kami punya paket paket tour untuk

ke Holy Land.

„Yes, exactly. eee actually you .. are sitting in front of a person

who eee … handles Middle Eastern, I am handling Middle

Eastern and we have tour packages to go to Holy Land.

In the first turn, Ticketing used a welcoming expression by mentioning her own name

before offering a help and in the beginning of the sentence she welcomed by greeting the

customer.

Language pattern that the Ticketing has in her thought enable her to use appropriately

the expression. She has a good language pattern and knows how to use the language so that it

encourages her to express the language. Her interlocutor; customer, must be feeling

enjoyable, knows her name or knows to whom he talks to and feeling looked lively.

Data Display

NO EXPRESSIONS EXTRACT

LEVEL of

STRUCTURES KINDS of ACTION

1

a. OK. Selamat pagi pak. 1

Syntactic Level

Locution

b. Selamat siang pak, saya 4

Illocution

Amelia bisa saya bantu? Perlocution

2 Selamat siang bisa dibantu. 2 Semantic Level Locution

Illocution

3 Selamat siang pak!

Ada yang bisa dibantu? 3 Syntactic Level

Locution

Illocution

Perlocution

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Discussion

All the extracts discussed above present the strategies of using „Welcoming‟

expressions that are used by a Customer Service in general and or Ticketing of a Travel

Agency in serving the customers to find their needs.

Referring to extract 1, 2, 3, and 4, the Ticketing always use greeting in welcoming the

customers such as „…Selamat pagi…‟ „Good morning‟ (Extract 1), „Selamat siang…‟ „Good

afternoon‟ (Extract 2, 3, and 4) in her utterances. These, of course, are the basic strategy in

how to welcome appropriately. The next is as shown in extract 1, 3, and 4, the Ticketing use

proper gender in her utterances such as „…Selamat pagi, Pak…‟ „Good morning, Sir‟

(Extract 1), „Selamat siang, Pak‟ „Good afternoon, Sir‟ (Extract 3), and „Selamat siang,

Pak…‟ „Good afternoon, Sir‟ (Extract 4). Especially in extract 4, one of the Ticketing

mentions her own name in her utterance like „Selamat siang, pak. Saya Amelia, …‟ „Good

afternoon, Sir. I am Amelia,...‟. The last is a closing welcoming that the Ticketing use in her

utterances such as „… bisa dibantu‟ „… „May I help you?‟ (Extract 2), „… ada yang bisa

dibantu?‟ „Is there anything to help?‟ (Extract 3), and „… bisa saya bantu?‟ „May I help

you?‟ (Extract 4).

The findings above show the structured strategy of utterances. An utterance means the

way of expressing something in a simple way. Thus, the way of welcoming is to use simple

utterances. In extract 1, 2, 3, and 4 show the simple utterances that are used by the Customer

Service in welcoming the customers. Simple does not mean to be very short (Verspoor &

Sauter, 2000) but it is more to a syntactically practical use. Simple refers to something

expressed or uttered that is semantically understandable. The extract 2 shows this case as a

simple utterance „Selamat siang bisa dibantu?‟ „Good afternoon. May I help you?‟ From the

view of the level of structures; syntactic level, this utterance is far from good structure of a

sentence but it still has meaning; semantic level, to show an expressing of welcoming. As

well as extract 2, in extract 3 and 4 also show the same thing of unstructured utterances; „…

ada yang bisa dibantu?‟ „…Is there anything to help?‟ and „… saya Amelia bisa saya bantu?‟

„… I am Amelia, May I help?)‟ but these two utterances are still understandable as an offering

a help and they are assumed as a welcoming expression in general.

Mostly utterances that are used by Ticketing in welcoming the customers really

contribute to the kinds of action in speech. In extract 1, 3, and 4 indicate the complete kinds

of action in speech because there is a mutually influence between Ticketing and the customer

when they are being in a conversation. Firstly, the Ticketing as a professional customer

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service has a good concept in thought about how to welcome appropriately the customers,

they are trained to have such concept when they tend to serve any need of customers. Extract

4 is the most utterance that indicates trained professionalism which is being saved as a

concept in the thought. Structurally, the utterance is uttered in an impression of trained habit.

The expression „Selamat siang, Pak. Saya Amelia bisa saya bantu?‟ „Good afternoon, Sir. I

am Amelia, may I help you?‟ will show the case of a concept in the thought. The Ticketing

knows what should say and what utterance should express in terms of welcoming. In other

words, the Ticketing are able to show the Locution.

Second, the Ticketing are able to impart what in their thought are in a speech act

because they realize that „Words alone are, however, not enough‟ (Gustavsen, 1992). They

have the ability in Illocution; the ability to use or to express or to produce the language in a

speech act. By imparting their sophisticated action in producing the speech, they then are able

to give impression or effect on the customers so that they can feel enjoyable, acceptable,

looked lively, and respond to what the Ticketing ask to do in their utterances; the kind of

Perlocution appears to be the final result of applying the strategies of using the expression of

welcoming.

Conclusion

As the professional Customer Service at Suita Tour and Travel, the Ticketing use the

applicable strategies in welcoming their customers. The first step is to use the simple

utterances as the result of trained habit due to the work of Ticketing Department. Second step

is to apply the level of structures such as Syntactic Level and Semantic Level; the words that

arranged in the shape of utterances with good intonation, stress, and sounds. The last strategy

is to apply the kinds of action in speech which is the abilities in Locution, Illocution, and

Perlocution.

Suggestion

Those who want to be professional in structuring the discourse then they should pay

attention to the strategies of using expressions. There are many kinds of expressions that we

can use formally, informally, and politely. These findings suggest to those customer services,

the academic staff, and the students so that they know and are able to use these expressions in

order to serve customers or anyone that needs services or any help.

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References

Gustavsen, Bjorn. 1992. Dialogue and development. Netherlands: Van Gorcum, Assen

O‟Toole, Barry J.. 2006. The Ideal of Public Service Reflections on the higher civil service in

Britain. New York: Taylor & Francis e-Library

Talbot, Colin. 2010. Theories Of Performance - Organizational and Service Improvement in

the Public Domain. New York: OXFORD University Press

Verspoor, Marjolijn et. al. 2000. English Sentence Analysis - An Introductory Course.

Philadelphia: John Benjamins B.V.

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