Khutbah Jum'at: Rezekimu dalam Jaminan Alloh Swt.

 Khutbah I

اَلْحَمْدُ لِلهِ وَاسِعِ الْفَضْلِ وَالْاِحْسَانِ،  اَلْكَرِيْمِ الَّذِيْ تَأَذَّنَ بِالْمَزِيْدِ لِذَوِي الشُّكْرَانِ. أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَااِلَهَ اِلَّا الله وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيْكَ لَهُ دَائِمُ الْمُلْكِ وَالسُّلْطَانِ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُوْلُهُ وَخِيْرَتُهُ مِنْ نَوْعِ الْاِنْسَانِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى أَلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ أَهْلِ الصِّدْقِ وَالْاِحْسَانِ.

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَيَا عِبَادَ اللهِ اِتَّقُوْا اللهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلاَ تَمُوْتُنَّ اِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُوْنَ
قَالَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالَى فِي الْقُرْاٰنِ الْعَظِيْمِ. أَعُوْذُ بِاللّٰهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيْمِ بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ وَمَنْ يَّتَّقِ اللّٰهَ يَجْعَلْ لَّهٗ مَخْرَجًا ۙ ، وَّيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُۗ

 

Maasyiral Muslimin rahimakumullah

Di dalam kitab Ushfuriyyah, dikisahkan. Suatu hari Nabi Sulaiman As. bertanya kepada seekor semut. Wahai semut, seberapa banyak Allah memberimu rezeki dalam satu tahun? Semut lalu menjawab, sebesar kepalan tanganmu wahai nabi.

Nabi Sulaiman pun lalu membuat kesepakatan dengan semut agar semut mau masuk ke dalam botol yang telah diisi dengan makanan sebesar kepalan tangan Nabi Sulaiaman. Semut pun setuju. Sehingga Nabi Sulaiman kemudian memasukkan semut tersebut ke dalam botol dan menutup rapat-rapat botol yang telah diisi makanan tersebut. 

Singkat cerita, setelah satu tahun, Nabi Sulaiman mendatangi semut dan melihat ternyata semut hanya memakan sebagian dari makanan tersebut. Nabi Sulaiman heran, dan kemudian bertanya kenapa makanan tersebut tidak dihabiskan. Bukankah semut telah mengatakan bahwa rezeki yang dia dapatkan dalam satu tahun adalah sebesar kepalan tangan.

Mendengar pertanyaan itu, semut menjawab dengan tenang, “Wahai Nabi yang mulia, memang benar hamba mampu memperoleh rezeki sebesar kepalan tangan dalam satu tahun. Namun, itu terjadi saat hamba tidak berada di dalam botol karena hamba yakin Allah akan memberiku rezeki dan DIA tidak akan melupakanku walau hanya sesaat. Tetapi, ketika aku berada di dalam botol yang engkau tutup rapat, apakah engkau bisa menjamin bahwa engkau tidak akan lupa memberiku makanan setelah satu tahun? Apakah engkau sanggup menjamin hidup dan rezekiku? Mendengar jawaban semut tersebut, Nabi Sulaiman pun tertegun, kemudian bersujud  mohon ampun kepada Allah dan melepaskan semut dari botol tersebut.

Jamaah shalat Jumat rahimakumullah,

Dari kisah singkat tersebut, kita bisa memetik sebuah pelajaran bahwa tidak ada satu makhluk pun di dunia ini yang sanggup menjamin keberlangsungan makhluk lainnya, kecuali Allah Swt. Di dalam Al Qur’an surat Hud: 6 Allah Swt. berfirman:

وَمَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱللَّهِ رِزْقُهَا

"Dan tiada satu pun makhluk bergerak di bumi ini melainkan telah dijamin rezekinya oleh Alloh" (QS. Hud: 6)

Jaminan rezeki yang dijanjikan oleh Allah kepada makhluk-Nya bukan berarti memberinya tanpa usaha. Oleh karena itulah, di dalam proses ikhtiar yang kita lakukan kita harus selalu berhusnudhon kepada Alloh dan meyakini bahwa rezeki kita tidak akan pernah tertukar agar hati kita selalu tenang dan tidak diliputi perasaan iri, dengki, dan hasud. Imam Syafi’I mengatakan:

عَلِمْتُ أَنَّ رِزْقِي لَا يَأْكُلُهُ غَيْرِي فَاطْمَأَنَّ بَالِي

Aku mengetahui bahwa rezekiku tidak akan dimakan orang lain, maka tenanglah hatiku. 

بَارَكَ اللهُ لِيْ وَلَكُمْ فِيْ هَذَا الْيَوْمِ الْكَرِيْمِ، وَنَفَعَنِيْ وَاِيَاكُمْ بِمَا فِيْهِ الأَيَاتِ وَألذِّكْرِ الْحَكِيْمِ، وَتَقَبَّلَ مِنِّيْ وَمِنْكُمْ جَمِيْعَ أَعْمَالِنَا إِنَّهُ    هُوَ الْحَكِيْمُ الْعَلِيْمُ، أَقُوْلُ قَوْلِيْ هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ لِيْ وَلَكُمْ، فَاسْتَغْفِرُوْهُ، اِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُوْرُ الرَّحِيْم                                                                      

Khutbah II

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ ثُمَّ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ. أَشْهَدُ أنْ لآ إلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أنَّ سَيِّدَنَا مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُوْلُهُ الَّذِيْ لَا نَبِيّ بعدَهُ. اَللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى أَلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ القِيَامَةِ. أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَيَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أُوْصِيْكُمْ وَنَفْسِيْ بِتَقْوَى اللهِ فَقَدْ فَازَ الْمُتَّقُوْنَ. فَقَالَ اللهُ تَعَالَى: إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّوْنَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ، يٰأَ يُّهَا الَّذِيْنَ أٰمَنُوْا صَلُّوْا عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلِّمُوْا تَسْلِيْمًا  اَللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى سَيِّدَنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى أَلِ سَيِّدَنَا مُحَمَّدٍ. اللهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِلْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ وَاْلمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَاْلمُسْلِمِيْنَ وَاْلمُسْلِمَاتِ، اَلْأَحْيآءِ مِنْهُمْ وَاْلاَمْوَاتِ. اللهُمَّ ادْفَعْ عَنَّا اْلبَلاَءَ وَاْلوَبَاءَ والقُرُوْنَ وَالزَّلاَزِلَ وَاْلمِحَنَ وَسُوْءَ اْلفِتَنِ وَاْلمِحَنَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ عَنْ بَلَدِنَا إِنْدُونِيْسِيَّا خآصَّةً وَسَائِرِ اْلبُلْدَانِ اْلمُسْلِمِيْنَ عآمَّةً يَا رَبَّ اْلعَالَمِيْنَ اللَّهُمَّ أَرِنَا الْحَقَّ حَقًّا وَارْزُقْنَا اتِّبَاعَهُ وَأَرِنَا الْبَاطِلَ بَاطِلًا وَارْزُقْنَا اجْتِنَابَهُ. رَبَّنَا آتِناَ فِى الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِى اْلآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ. وَاَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعٰلَمِيْنَ عِبَادَاللهِ، إِنَّ اللهَ يَأْمُرُ بِاْلعَدْلِ وَاْلإِحْسَانِ وَإِيْتآءِ ذِي اْلقُرْبىَ وَيَنْهَى عَنِ اْلفَحْشآءِ وَاْلمُنْكَرِ وَاْلبَغْيِ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُوْنَ، وَاذْكُرُوا اللهَ اْلعَظِيْمَ يَذْكُرْكُمْ، وَاشْكُرُوْهُ عَلىَ نِعَمِهِ يَزِدْكُمْ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللهِ أَكْبَرْ

Tinggalkan Hoax, Ambil yang Haq

Oleh: Muhammad Nur Hidayad, M.Pd *)

Munculnya berita-berita hoaks di era digital seperti saat ini sebenarnya bukanlah hal yang baru. Sejarah mencatat bahwa munculnya berita hoaks atau berita bohong setua sejarah awal-awal diciptakan manusia. Kita barangkali sangat familiar dengan cerita Nabi Adam 'alaihissalam yang diciptakan oleh Allah SWT sebagai khalifah di muka bumi ini. Melalui anugerah ilmu, Allah memuliakan Nabi Adam di atas malaikat dan iblis. Kemuliaan tersebut ditandai dengan perintah dari Allah SWT kepada para malaikat dan iblis agar bersujud (baca: hormat) kepada Nabi Adam. Saat itu, semua patuh bersujud, kecuali iblis yang dengan kesombongannya menolak untuk bersujud kepada Nabi Adam AS karena merasa dirinya lebih mulia. Dari sinilah permusuhan iblis dan Nabi Adam (baca: manusia) dimulai, termasuk munculnya pertama kali berita hoaks dari iblis kepada Nabi Adam.

Setelah peristiwa itu terjadi, Allah SWT memerintahkan kepada Nabi Adam dan istrinya, Hawa, untuk tinggal di surga dengan bahagia. Mereka berdua dibebaskan mengambil makanan apa saja dan dari mana saja tanpa susah payah. Mereka hanya dilarang mendekati satu pohon tertentu, apalagi sampai memakan buahnya. Bila dilanggar, maka keduanya akan masuk golongan yang dzalim dan durhaka.

Singkat cerita, iblis pun mencari cara untuk menghilangkan kenikmatan surga yang dinikmati Nabi Adam dan Hawa. Mereka mendesain sebuah skenario agar Nabi Adam dan Hawa bisa meninggalkan surga dengan segala kenikmatannya. Dengan penuh kedengkian, akhirnya  iblis membisikkan rayuan jahat kepada Nabi Adam agar mendekati dan memakan buah dari “pohon keabadian” itu. Iblis mengatakan bahwa buah dari “pohon keabadian” tersebut akan membuat Nabi Adam dan Hawa hidup abadi dan memiliki kekuasaan yang langgeng.

“Kemudian setan membisikkan pikiran jahat kepadanya, dengan berkata: ‘Hai Adam, maukah saya tunjukkan kepada kamu pohon khuldi dan kerajaan yang tidak akan binasa?’.” (QS Taha: 120)

Informasi yang disampaikan iblis tersebut adalah nyata-nyata sebuah hoaks. Informasi tersebut memang tampak manis dan menjanjikan, akan tetapi dusta dan palsu serta menyesatkan. Karena dampak dari informasi itulah yang akhirnya membuat Nabi Adam dan Hawa harus meninggalkan surga yang penuh dengan kenikmatan untuk kemudian tinggal di bumi. Itulah bahaya hoaks. Hoaks lebih dari sekadar mengelabuhi pengetahuan, melainkan juga menurunkan kemuliaan manusia.

Dari sepenggal kisah tersebut dapat diketahui bahwa ternyata yang menjadi pelopor penyebaran informasi yang bersifat hoaks untuk kali pertama adalah iblis. Dan celakanya apa yang telah dilakukan oleh iblis pada era Nabi Adam A.S. tersebut kini diikuti oleh umat milenial saat ini. Data Kementrian Kominfo RI, di akhir tahun 2016 menyebutkan bahwa terdapat  800 ribu situs yang terindikasi menyebarkan hoaks dan ujaran kebencian. Hoaks banyak disebar secara masif terutama melalui media sosial.

Oleh karena itu, Al Qur’an secara tegas mengingatkan kepada kita agar meniliti dan meminta klarifikasi untuk setiap informasi yang kita terima dari orang lain, khususnya dari orang-orang yang kredibilitasnya dan kapasitasnya diragukan. Hal ini ditegaskan oleh Allah SWT. di dalam Al Qur’an surat Al Hujurat ayat 6:

Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Jika seseorang yang fasik datang kepadamu membawa suatu berita, maka telitilah kebenarannya agar kamu tidak mencelakakan suatu kaum karena kebodohan (kecerobohan) yang akhirnya kamu menyesali perbuatan itu (QS. 49: 6).

Imam  Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Jarir Ath Thabari di dalam tafisrnya (Ath-Thabari) menjelaskan bahwa yang dimaksud dengan “tabayyun” adalah hendaknya kita meluangkan waktu untuk mengetahui dan meneliti kebenaran sebuah berita, serta tidak terburu-buru dalam menerima berita tersebut.

Oleh karena itulah, ditengah-tengah masifnya informasi yang beredar, kita dituntut untuk lebih arif dan hati-hati dalam menyikapi setiap informasi yang kita terima. Informasi yang diterima jangan langsung ditelan mentah-mentah dan langsung disebarkan kepada orang lain. Akan tetapi informasi tersebut harus dicari keabsahannya (baca: tabayyun), sehingga ketika di sebar, informasi tersebut tidak menimbulkan, masalah baru, kegaduhan, dan fitnah di tengah-tengah masyarakat.

Memang kalau kita mau mencermati, maka hampir semua konten yang terdapat pada berita-berita hoaks berupa fitnah dan ujaran kebencian. Padahal, kalau kita mau kembali kepada Al Qur’an, maka lebih dari 14 abad yang lalu, Al-Qurán sudah memperingatkan tentang bahaya menyebarkan kebencian dan aib orang lain serta bahaya fitnah. Bagi mereka yang suka menggunjing dan menyebarkan kebencian dan aib orang lain, diibaratkan orang yang memakan bangkai temannya sendiri. Hal ini secara eksplisit dijelaskan di dalam surat al-Hujurat ayat 12;

"Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Jauhilah banyak dari prasangka, sesungguhnya sebagian prasangka itu dosa, dan janganlah kamu mencari-cari kesalahan orang lain, dan janganlah ada di antara kamu yang menggunjing sebagian yang lain. Apakah ada di antara kamu yang suka memakan daging saudaranya yang sudah mati? Tentu kamu merasa jijik. Dan bertakwalah kepada Allah, sungguh Allah Maha Penerima Tobat, Maha Penyayang."

Di dalam sebuah hadits Rasulullah SAW. bersabda:

Dari Abu Hurairah r.a., ia berkata, Rasulullah shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam pernah bertanya, “Apakah kalian tahu apa itu ghibah?” Para sahabat menjawab: “Allah dan Rasul-Nya lebih mengetahui.” Kemudian Rasulullah shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam bersabda: “Ghibah adalah kamu menceritakan sesuatu tentang saudaramu sedangkan ia tidak senang (jika hal itu diceritakan).” Ditanyakan kepada beliau: “Bagaimana apabila yang aku katakan ini benar adanya? Rasulullah shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam bersabda: “Apabila engkau mengatakan sesuatu (yang buruk) kemudian itu benar, maka kamu telah berbuat ghibah, dan apabila yang kamu katakan itu tidak benar, maka kamu telah menuduhnya (memfitnahnya) (HR. Muslim)

Dari hadits tersebut kita dapat ditarik sebuah benang merah bahwa menebar kebencian saja dilarang apalagi sampai pada persoalan fitnah. Fitnah digambarkan dalam al-Quran sebagai sesuatu yang lebih kejam dari pembunuhan. Hal ini termaktub dalam surat al-Baqarah ayat 191;

...dan fitnah itu lebih besar bahayanya dari pembunuhan.

Melihat fenomena penyebaran berita hoaks yang sudah menjadi gaya hidup umat di era digital saat ini, maka sudah seharusnya kita kembali kepada yang haq (baca: kebenaran) dengan melihat firman Allah dalam Al Qur’an surat Al Ahzab ayat 70:

“Hai orang-orang yang beriman bertaqwalah kepada Allah dan sampaikanlah perkataan yang “sadid” (QS. 33: 70)

Ibnu Katsir menjelaskan bahwa yang dimaksud dengan kata “sadid” adalah perkataan yang lurus (benar), tidak bengkok dan tidak menyimpang atau menyesatkan. Sementara itu, menurut Prof. Dr. Quraish Sihab kata “sadid” dalam pesan di atas bukan hanya berarti “benar”. Lebih jauh dari itu, beliau menjelaskan, kata ini dalam berbagai bentuknya pada akhirnya bermuara kepada makna menghalangi atau membendung (dalam arti yang tidak sesuai, sehingga menghasilkan sesuatu yang berguna). Atas dasar makna itulah, para ulama memberikan stressing bahwa hendaknya semua ucapan kita, apapun bentuk, isi, dan kandungannya, harus sesuai dengan fakta yang ada, tidak menambah ataupun mengurangi, tidak menjerumuskan, tidak menyesatkan, namun justru ucapan tersebut harus bisa membawa manfaat dan kemaslahatan.

Sejalan dengan firman Allah tersebut, Di dalam sebuah hadits Rasulullah SAW. pernah bersabda:

Dari sahabat Abu Huroiroh r.a., ia berkata bahwa Rasulullah shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam pernah bersabda: “Barang siapa yang beriman kepada Allah SWT dan hari akhir, hendaklah ia berkata baik atau (jika tidak lebih baik) diam.” (HR. Bukhori dan Muslim)

Dari hadits tersebut kita bisa menyimpulkan bahwa seseorang tidak diperbolehkan berbicara kecuali untuk mengatakan sesuatu yang baik. Dengan kata lain, kalau kita kaitkan dengan konteks kehidupan di era saat ini, maka seseorang tidak diperbolehkan untuk menyebarkan informasi dan berita kecuali berita dan informasi tersebut benar adanya dan mendatangkan kemaslahatan. Apabila ada keraguan tentang kebenaran informasi dan berita tersebut, maka hendaklah tidak disebarkan. Jangan sampai kita menjadi setan dan iblis milenial yang suka menyebarkan berita dan informasi hoaks. Karena iblis tidak akan pernah berhenti untuk menggoda manusia agar menempuh jalan sesat. Wallahu A’lam bish- showab.

*) Penulis adalah muballigh LDNU Kota Bontang

SPEECH ACTS; A CRITICAL REVIEW

 

M.N. Hidayad

 

Language is a system of communication, a medium for thought, a vehicle for literary expression, a social institution, a matter for political controversy, a catalyst for nation building (O’ Grady, 1997). Language seems to have as many different functions as there are occasions for using language, but for all the apparent diversity the basic uses of language are rather limited. Therefore, this chapter will discuss about the form of sentences and the purpose of utterances, analysis of speech acts, and seven different kinds of utterances or speech acts. The basic premise of speech act theory is that language is a means by which we not only convey information but also perform things for our own benefit (Austin 1962; Searle 1969 in Songthama Intachakra 2004).

The form of Sentences and the Purpose of Utterances

Sentences are traditionally designated declarative if they tell something, interrogative if they ask, or imperative if they ask questions, but this classification is based on the form of sentences. Actual utterances can have various functions that are independent of form. The form of an utterance does not necessarily coincide with the speakers’ real intention. Before exploring the different kinds of purposes that speech acts can have, it will be useful to have a look at a syntactic classification of sentences.

Syntactically it is common to recognize three types of sentences in English: statement, commands and questions – or declarative, imperative and interrogatory sentences. Statements typically have subject, verb, and then perhaps and object, a complement and/or and adverbial phrase. According to Phillips (2004), a sentence (in the form of statement) in English must have at least one subject and one verb.

Here is the example.

a.        The customer paying the clerk for the clothes.

Example “a” is not a correct sentence in the form of statement since it does not have a verb. The word paying here is not a verb, but it is a participial adjective. The word paying must be preceded by be (is paying or was paying) or it can be written in the form of simple past (paid).

b.         A window broke.

In contrary to example “a”, although it is short, example “b” can be categorized as a sentence in the form of statement because it has subject (a window) and verb (broke).

Affirmative commands begin with the verb, which does not change; negative command begin with do not plus the verb, for example ‘Close your book’ or ‘Don’t go away.’

Questions have several different types. First, a question has the word order of a statement but it is spoken with a rising tune instead of falling one, for example; “This is a joke?.” If we analyze that sentence from the point of view of grammar, it can be said that the sentence is incorrect or ungrammatical. However, if we analyze the sentence from semantics’ point of view, it can be said that the sentence is correct. In other words, it can be said that the sentence is semantically correct, but grammatically it is incorrect. In this kind of question, the speaker wants to ask for confirmation or denial of what he/she understands. The hearer just answers the questions by saying ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ The marker in that sentence is the intonation.

The next type of question is made with inversion – putting an operator in first place. Operators can be in the form of be, have, or modal verbs (can/could, will/would, shall/should, may/might, must, ought, dare, or need). This type of question is also categorized as ‘yes-no’ question. Here are the examples.

a.        Is this a joke?

b.        Will you come to my party?

Another type of question is made by attaching a tag question in a statement, for example ‘This is a joke, isn’t it?’ The next type of question has inverted word order but it cannot be answered simply “Yes” or “No.” The marker is the word or. Here are the examples.

a.        Would you like coffee or tea?

b.        Is your son in the army or Navy?

If the speaker asks the hearer using this type of question, the hearer cannot simply answer the question by saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ since this is not ‘yes-no’ question. He/she must answer it by choosing the alternatives, for example coffee instead of tea or vice versa.

The next questions have a question word (WH-word), but are also marked by rising intonation. The examples are:

a.        You’re leaving when?

b.        Where did she leave it?

Those questions ask for a repetition or confirmation of something said previously.

The last type of question is a question that has a question word and does not have a rising intonation (at least not on the question word). This kind of question is to ask for new information, not for repetition or confirmation.

Here are the examples.

a.        Who presented the material?

b.        How many students came?

Analysis of Speech Acts

The principal use of language is to state facts, to describe how things are in the world, to present information which, generally, is either true or false. The English philosopher J.L. Austin pointed out that much of our ordinary use of language is just as much asking questions and give commands as making statements, and even utterances that have the form of declarative sentences are not intended to be statements. Therefore, in making utterances we have to consider whether they work or not in accomplishing their purpose – in Austin’s terms, whether they are felicitous or not.

Felicity Conditions are conditions that must be fulfilled and satisfied by the world if a speech act is to be performed appropriately and correctly, or felicitously (James R. & Brendan: 1983). A good way of discovering the felicity conditions of an illocutionary act is to imagine a situation in which a speaker carries out such an act but something in the situation makes the act not come off appropriately. Here is the example.

You are sitting in front of the class. Suddenly, there is a man coming to you and hit you. Then, you say “Thank you” to him. Here, your utterance, “Thank you”, is not felicitous because the utterance and the situation are not appropriate. The word “Thank you” is usually said to express gratitude.

In every speech act we can distinguish three things, following Austin (1962). What is said, the utterance, can be called the locution. What the speaker intends to communicate to the addressee is the illocution. The message that the addressee gets, his interpretations of what the speaker says, is the perlocution.  If communication is successful, the illocution and the perlocuiton are alike or nearly alike. Look at the situation below.

Tony and his girlfriend, Ann, are having a candle light dinner. When they are enjoying the dinner, suddenly Ann says “Can you pass the salt?” The locution of this utterance is a question or asking ability to pass the salt. The illocution is a request that Tony passes the salt. The perlocution is that Tony has to pass the salt to Ann. In this case, if the hearer (Tony) does not know the illocution meaning, may be he just says ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to Ann and he does not do anything. Nevertheless, if he understands the illocution meaning of the utterance “Can you pass the salt?”, he will pass the salt to Ann instead of saying ‘yes’ or ‘no.’

Such communication is guided by four factors, which Grice (1975, 1978) called maxims: the maxim of quantity, relevance, manner, and quality. The maxim of quantity requires the speaker to give as much information as the addressee needs but not more. The maxim of relevance requires us, as speakers, to make our utterances relative to the discourse going on and the contexts in which they occur. The maxim of manner is to be orderly and clear and to avoid ambiguity. The maxim of quality is to say only what one believes to be true. Grice distinguished between violating the maxims and flouting them. If a speaker deliberately lies, expecting the addressee to believe what he/she says, he/she is violating the maxim of quality. If he/she exaggerates, expecting the addressee to recognize the exaggeration, he is flouting the maxim.

An utterance has a purpose. In order to achieve that purpose – to be appropriate to that purpose – several conditions are necessary: the lexical content of the utterance must be appropriate, the social situation in which it occurs must be appropriate, the speaker must be sincere in what he says, and the hearer(s) accept the utterance as having that purpose.

Seven Kinds of Speech Acts

Assertive utterances

In the assertive function, speakers and writers use language to tell what they know or believe. Assertive language is concerned with facts. The purpose is to inform. So, assertive utterances are either true or false. However, in order to make the assertive utterances felicitous the speaker must commit himself or herself to the truth of what is reported. For example, “I voted for Mr. Zul in the last election.” That assertive utterance can be felicitous if in the last election the speaker really voted for Mr. Zul. On the other hand, that assertive utterance can be infelicitous if the speaker did not vote for Mr. Zul in the last election. These are some verbs that are usually used in an assertive language; announce, declare, disclose, explain, express, indicate, mention, proclaim, relate, report, etc.

Performative utterances

Speech acts that bring about the state of affairs they name are called performative: bids, blessings, firings, baptisms, arrests, marrying, declaring a mistrial. Performative utterances are valid if spoken by someone whose right to make them accepted and in circumstances which are accepted as appropriate. The felicity conditions of performative utterances are the authority of the speakers to make the utterance, the appropriateness of time, place, and other circumstances. For example, “Michael Arthur, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” That performative utterance can be felicitous if it is spoken by a priest in a church and in a formal situation. The verbs that are usually used in performative utterances are bet, declare, baptize, name, nominate, pronounce.

Verdictive utterances

Verdictives are speech acts in which the speaker makes an assessment or judgment about the acts of another, usually the addressee. These include ranking, assessing, appraising, and condoning. Verdictive verbs include accuse, charge, excuse, thank. Felicity conditions for verdictive utterances are the possibility of the act the ability of addressee to perform it, the sincerity of speaker in making the utterance, and the addressee’s belief that the speaker is sincere.  

Expressive utterances

Whereas a verdictive utterance is about what the addressee has previously done, an expressive utterance springs from the previous actions – or failure to act – of the speaker, or perhaps the present result of those actions or failures. Expressive utterances are thus retrospective and speaker – involved. The most common expressive verbs are acknowledged, admit, confess, deny, and apologize. Felicity conditions for expressive utterances are the act was feasible, the speaker was capable of it, the speaker speaks sincerely, and the addressee belives it.

Directive utterances

Directive utterances are those in which the speaker tries to get the addressee to perform some act or refrain from performing an act. Felicity conditions include the feasibility of the act and the ability of addressee. For example, “Would you make some tea, please?” This directive utterance can be felicitous if the addressee is not busy and he/she has ability to do the act (here, the act is in the form of request). 

Commissive utterances

Speech acts that commit a speaker to a course of action are called commissive utterances. These include promises, pledges, threats and vows. Commissive verbs are illustrated by agree, ask, offer, refuse, swear. Felicity conditions for commissive utterances are the speaker is capable of the act and intends to perform it; the addressee has faith in the speaker’s ability and intention. For example, “I promise to call you tonight.” This utterance can be felicitous if the speaker is sure that he/she is able to do the act of calling and he/she has intention to do it. Besides, the addressee must believe that the speaker will call him/her tonight.

Phatic utterances

The purpose of these utterances is to establish rapport between members of the same society. Phatic utterances include greetings, farewells, and polite formulas such as “Thank you,” “You’re welcome”, “excuse me.”

Conclusion

Language is a system of communication to express everything that we have in our mind. In order to make the communication successful, we have to understand felicity conditions; locution, illocution, and perlocution; and something which is called maxim.

There are seven kinds of utterances based on the general purpose of the speaker. They are assertive utterances, performative utterances, verdictive utterances, expressive utterances, directive utterances, commissive utterances, and phatic utterances.

Assertive utterances are utterances which are used in order to information.  The information which is given can be either true or false. Performative utterances make things happen just by being uttered. The examples are bets and things in various ceremonies and official acts which affect the people to whom they are said. Verdictive utterances are utterances that are used by the speaker in order to make an assessment or judgment about the acts of the addressee. The examples are accusing and blaming, congratulating and praising. Expressive utterances are that are uttered by the speakers in order to tell of their own actions, and present feelings. Directive utterances essentially involve the speaker trying to get the hearer to behave in some required way. The examples are advising, forbidding, requesting. Commissive utterances essentially involve the speaker committing himself to behave in some required way. They include volunteering, accepting, and undertaking. Phatic utterances are utterances which are uttered in order to maintain social bonds. One thing that we have to remember is that each utterance has felicity conditions. Therefore, in order to make the communication successful, we have to recognize and understand the felicity conditions of each utterance.

USING FACEBOOK TO IMPROVE THE STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXT

 M.N. Hidayad

Introduction

Compared to the other three language skills, there is no doubt that writing is the most difficult skill for second or foreign language learners to master (Richard and Renandya, 2002: 303). According to Byrne (1998), Heaton (1988) and Harmer (2004) in Mulyati 2012 the difficulties cover three common problems. The first problem is the process and organization which cover the choice of sentence structure, the way the sentence are linked together and sequenced together and the organization of ideas. Second is the problem of language use which deals with the ability to use certain structures or mechanical skills. Third problem is about what to say in writing. In consequence, English teachers should select the appropriate approach, materials, and procedures to use in teaching writing and create an apt condition to make the students write. In addition, English teachers need to provide the students with enough writing practices and information to allow them to complete writing task successfully.

From the preliminary study that has been conducted, it was revealed that the students of grade 7 encountered some problems in writing descriptive text. Descriptive writing is one among the text types that are taught for seventh graders of Junior High School. The students say that they often get stuck in expressing and organizing their ideas, choosing the appropriate words and using the correct structure. As a result, their writing products are not satisfactory. 

Trying to overcome these problems, the researcher suggests that Facebook is implemented as an alternative medium to use in teaching writing. Facebook is chosen because it has profile picture and information that can help the students to express and organize ideas. Moreover, Facebook also has wall application which can make the students motivated to publish their final result of writing. 

Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites used by people at any ages, especially teenagers. Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 while he was studying at Harvard University. Although Facebook started out in early 2004 as a Harvard-only social networking sites, it is currently the leading social networking site with more than 500 million active users as of March 2011 and Indonesia has the highest number of Facebook users in Asia (Yunus and Salehi: 2012). 

 Due to the fact that most of the students have Facebook account and use it most of the time, they are familiar with the application and features of Facebook. Therefore, it is a good idea for teachers to use Facebook as a medium to teach English. Some previous studies have shown that Facebook is useful for the teaching of English. Zahroh (2012) has conducted a research on the use of Facebook as a medium to improve students’ interaction in speaking. The result shows that Facebook can encourage the students to interact and communicate in English. Meanwhile, Cahyani (2011), Prihatiningsih (2011), Sahdan (2012), Yunus & Salehi (2012), and Irmawati (2012) have investigated the use of Facebook to teach writing. The studies show that Facebook is useful for the teaching of writing in English and it can enhance the students’ ability and motivation in writing. 

Method

The design applied in this study was classroom action research. According to McNiff and Whitehead (2006: 13) action research is used when the researcher wants to evaluate whether what he/she is doing is influencing his/her own or other people’s learning, or whether he/she needs to do something different to ensure that it is. The central idea of the action part of action research is to intervene in a deliberate way in the problematic situation in order to bring about changes and, even better, improvements in practice (Burns, 2010: 2). 

Action Research is defined as a form of self-reflection enquiry undertaken by participants in a social setting (including educational setting) in order to improve the rationality and justice of (a) their own practice, (b) their understanding of these practices, and (c) the situation in which the practices are carried out (Carr and Kemmis, 1986: 182).  It is related to the ideas of ‘reflective practice’ and ‘the teacher as researcher’ (Burns, 2010: 2). According to Kemmis and McTaggart (1988) in Burns (2010: 7 - 8) action research typically involves four broad phases in a cycle of research. They are planning, acting, observing and reflecting.

Result and Discussion

As has been mentioned earlier, this study was designed to improve students’ ability in writing descriptive text by using Facebook as a medium. The results of the data analysis show that the students’ ability in writing descriptive text improved after the Facebook was used. The data from the observation and questionnaire also prove that the use of Facebook helps the students in writing descriptive text, make the learning more interested and easy, and involve the students during the teaching and learning process.

The result of the study showed that the use of Facebook can improve the students’ ability in writing descriptive text. The data from the students’ writing product show that the number of the students who got the score 70 or above increased, from only 8.82% (3 students) in preliminary study to 44.12% (15 students) in Cycle 1 and to 73.53% (25 students) in Cycle 2. In other words, the use of Facebook can improve the students’ ability in writing descriptive text. There are three significant improvements that the students made after the implementation of the technique; content, vocabulary, and language use.

According to the findings above, the students’ improvement in writing descriptive text was gained through the use of Facebook as interactive medium. This is in line with Cahyani (2011) who says that the use of Facebook can improve students’ writing skill since the students become more active in writing class by giving comments and responses.  

The finding also reveals that Facebook does help the students in writing descriptive text, especially in the brainstorming process (generating ideas) before the actual writing since Facebook has profile pictures, profile information, and Facebook group features. The students also agree that they learn new vocabulary from reading the comments of others in the group, and the spell-check feature helps reduce their spelling errors. This fact is supported by Yunus and Salehi (2012), who say that Facebook group can help the students getting better idea in writing and the students find it easier to complete their essays after participating in the FB group discussion.

Conclusion

Based on the results of the study, it could be concluded that the use of Facebook can improve the students’ ability in writing descriptive text. The use of Facebook can make the students become more active in writing class. In addition, Facebook also helped the students in generating and organizing the ideas since in Facebook there are profile pictures, profile information, and Facebook group features. 

In line with this, English teachers are suggested to use Facebook as an alternative medium in teaching writing, especially descriptive text. 

References

Burns, Anne. 2010. Doing Action Research in Language Teaching; a Guide for Practitioners. New York: Routledge.

Cahyani, Hilda. 2011. Teaching Company Profile Writing through Facebook. In B. Y. Cahyono & H. Cahyani (Eds), Best Practices in the Teaching of English, (pp247-260). Malang: State University of Malang Press. 

Carr, W. & Kemmis, S. 1986. Becoming Critical: Education, Knowledge and Action Research. London: Routledge Falmer Press

McNiff, J. & Whitehead, J. 2006. All You Need to Know about Action Research. London: Sage Publication.

Mulyati, Momoh. 2012. The Implementation of Genre Based Approach in Teaching Writing Recount Texts. Unpublished Post Graduate Thesis. Bandung: Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. 

Prihatiningsih, Agustina. 2011. Developing Materials for Teaching Descriptive Texts Through Facebook for Year Seven Students of Junior High School. English Education Journal Vol 1, No 1 (2011)

Richard, J.C. & Renandya, W.A. 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sahdan. 2012. Using Facebook to Teach Students to Write Descriptive Text. In B. Y. Cahyono (Ed.), Teaching English by Using Internet Resources (pp. 183-187). Malang: State University of Malang Press.

Yunus, M & Salehi, H. 2012. The Effectiveness of Facebook Groups on Teaching and Improving Writing: Students’ Perceptions. International Journal of Education and Information Technologies. Issue 1, Volume 6, 2012.

Yunus, M., Salehi, H., and Chenzi, C. 2012. Integrating Social Networking Tools into ESL Writing Classroom: Strengths and Weaknesses. ELT Journal, 5(8), 42-48. Retrieved October 28, 2012 from www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/elt/article/download

Zahroh, N. 2012. Improving Students’ Interaction in Speaking Class through Web-Based Social Networking in B.Y. Cahyono and N Yannuar (Eds), English for Communication and Interaction in the Classroom and Beyond, (pp403-420). Malang: State University of Malang Press.