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Directives and preferences used between Daphne Wilder and Milly in the film Because I Said So

This is the study about the types of directives used by the main character
to her daughter in the film Because I Said So, the social factors that condition the
use of each type of directives, and the types of preference given by her daughter
toward each type of directives by the main character. In conducting this study, the
writer proposed three research questions. The theory of directives by Ervin-Tripp
(1976) was used as the main theory to classify the types of directives. The theory
of social factors by Holmes (2001) and theory of preference by Yule (2000) were
also used in this study. The approach used in this study is qualitative. From the
study, it was found that the main character used four types of directives, which are
bald imperatives, imbedded imperatives, need statements, and hints to her
daughter. It was also found that the topics, settings, and the presence of the third
person did not significantly condition the use of each type of directives by the
main character. It may be due to the relationship between the main character and
her daughter, which is very close as they are mother-daughter. Besides, the
function seems to somewhat give influence to the main character in using
directives. It can be seen that instead of using bald imperatives, need statement,
and hint, the main character uses imbedded imperatives when she asks her
daughter to do a difficult or not routine task. In addition, it can be seen that her
daughter gives both types of preference toward each type of directives by the main
character, which are preferred and dispreferred act. Her daughter seems to give
preferred act toward the main character when she tries to rearrange her apartment.
On the other hand, she gives dispreferred act most of the time when the main
character tried to control her in relation with her clothing and her date.