Branches of Linguistics

AN ANALYSIS OF THE LEARNING PROCESS OF HOKKIEN BACKGROUND STUDENTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING: SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS

2025-07-04T12:43:47+07:00

This study explores the influence of sociocultural factors on the English language learning process of students from Hokkien-speaking backgrounds at SMP Swasta Methodist Tanjung Morawa. Using a qualitative method, the research investigates how language exposure, cultural identity, and social environment affect learners' experiences in acquiring English as a second language through structured questionnaires. Findings reveal that while students benefit from strong family and teacher support, they still face challenges such as pronunciation difficulties and limited vocabulary variation, mainly due to the dominant use of Hokkien at home and minimal engagement in English-related activities. The study highlights the importance of social interaction, community support, and cultural relevance in second language acquisition. The application of Sociocultural Theory, particularly concepts like the Zone of Proximal Development and scaffolding, is evident in the learners’ development. The research suggests that incorporating interactive learning strategies, culturally responsive materials, and consistent language practice in both formal and informal settings can significantly enhance learners’ motivation, confidence, and overall proficiency in English. The findings offer practical implications for educators aiming to support bilingual learners in multilingual environments.

A PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLE AND IMPLICATURE CONCERNING CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS IN SHOWKESMAS PODCAST

2025-07-04T12:43:47+07:00

This study examines the application of Grice’s Cooperative Principle and conversational implicature within the cultural context of the Showkesmas Podcast, featuring speakers from diverse Indonesian ethnic backgrounds—Sundanese, Javanese, and Batak. Using a qualitative discourse analysis approach, the research investigates how speakers adhere to or flout the maxims of quantity, quality, relation, and manner, and how these deviations generate implicatures influenced by cultural norms. The findings reveal that humor, indirectness, and pragmatic strategies differ across cultural groups and affect how meaning is constructed and interpreted. The study highlights the importance of cultural background in shaping pragmatic competence and provides insights into intercultural communication within multilingual and multiethnic societies. These results contribute to the broader understanding of intercultural pragmatics and underscore the relevance of cultural awareness in communication analysis.

SOCIOLINGUISTIC (LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE AND SHIFT): BATAKNESE’S SONGS CASE STUDY

2025-07-04T12:43:48+07:00

This article explores how Batak songs contribute to maintaining the local language while also reflecting signs of language shift through code mixing. Language maintenance involves the conscious efforts of a community to keep their native language alive, whereas language shift occurs when one language is gradually replaced by another in daily use. Fishman (1972) explains that language use is shaped by context and social settings, while the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis highlights how language influences people’s thinking and culture. Additionally, Hedenheimer, Heclo, and Adams (1983) argue that policies and social structures have significant effects on whether a community preserves or abandons its traditional language. The song Poda (Tagor Tampubolon, 1979) demonstrates the effort to sustain Batak language through cultural advice, while Martina I Love You (Romansa Trio, 2017) and Please Sahali Nai (Henry Manullang & Debora Pardosi, 2017) show how mixing languages and modern phrases can indicate a shift. This study also applies the Ethnolinguistic Vitality Theory (Giles, Bourhis, & Taylor, 1977) to identify factors that influence the strength or decline of a language. Overall, the analysis reveals that Batak songs help both preserve traditional language and highlight changes in its use among young people.

An Analysis of Conversational Maxim Flouting in Close the Door Podcast: A Case Study of Deddy Corbuzier and Maia Estianty’s Interview

2025-07-04T12:43:48+07:00

Language plays a crucial role in human interaction, especially in spoken communication where meaning is not only conveyed by words but also by implied messages. One of the important aspects of pragmatics is the concept of the cooperative principle introduced by (Grice, 1975), which includes four conversational maxims: quantity, quality, relation, and manner. Yet in real-life conversations, people often ignore these maxims to create certain effects. This study aims to analyze the types of flouting conversational maxims found in the Close the Door Podcast episode featuring Deddy Corbuzier and Maia Estianty. The research used a qualitative descriptive method by transcribing the podcast conversation and identifying the utterances that violated the maxims based on Grice's theory. This study found that speakers flouted all four categories of Grice’s conversational maxims at different moments throughout the conversation. The most frequently flouted maxim was the maxim of quantity, followed by relevance, manner, and quality. Most flouting occurred to create humor, avoid sensitive topics, and maintain politeness strategies. The outcomes of the study indicate that the use of maxim flouting in spoken media serves to regulate interpersonal dynamics and enhance the audience’s engagement. This research offers insights into how pragmatic strategies are applied in digital conversations, with a focus on Indonesian podcast discussions.

Sociolinguistics in the Indonesian Movie “Romansa Danau Toba”

2025-07-04T12:43:48+07:00

This study aims to analyze the phenomenon of code-switching and code-mixing in the Indonesian movie Romansa Danau Toba, focusing on the linguistic choices made by characters who are predominantly from Bataknese ethnic backgrounds. Utilizing the sociolinguistic frameworks of Poplack (1980), Suwito (1983), and Grosjean (1982), this research investigates the types and motivations of code-switching (inter- sentential, intra-sentential, and tag switching) and code-mixing (inner and outer) that occur throughout the dialogues. The data were analyzed through the qualitative method with the Miles and Huberman model: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The results show that inter-sentential switching is the most frequent type (71.43%), while intra-sentential switching appears the least (10.71%). For code-mixing, inner code-mixing (72%) surpasses outer code-mixing (28%). Moreover, the primary motivation behind the language alternation is expressing group identity (66.04%), followed by emphasizing a point, lexical need, and raising status. These findings reflect the sociolinguistic dynamics of regional, national, and global languages in media representation, especially in multilingual communities such as the Bataknese.

Conversational Implicature in Indonesian Motivational Talk Shows: A Study of ‘Daniel Mananta Network’ Program

2025-07-04T12:43:48+07:00

This study examines conversational implicature in the Indonesian motivational talk show “Daniel Mananta Network”, focusing on the episode titled “Go International, Agnez Mo Selalu Bangga Mewakili Indonesia”. Using Grice’s pragmatic framework, this research aims to identify the types of implicatures embedded within the interactions between Daniel Mananta and Agnez Mo, and to reveal how these implicatures function to construct meaning, identity, and motivational emphasis. The qualitative descriptive method was employed to analyse transcribed data from the episode, focusing on maxims violation and implicature categories such as generalized and particularized conversational implicature, presupposition, quantity implicature, and relevance implicature. The analysis reveals that Agnez Mo frequently used implicatures to implicitly express her pride as an Indonesian artist achieving international recognition while simultaneously promoting motivational messages to viewers. Daniel’s questions and responses also employed relevance implicatures to subtly direct the conversation towards national pride and self-confidence themes. These findings demonstrate that conversational implicature is not merely a pragmatic phenomenon but also a strategic linguistic tool to build personal branding, patriotic identity, and persuasive messaging in motivational talk shows. This study contributes to the broader understanding of pragmatics in Indonesian popular media discourse, highlighting how conversational implicature shapes meaning-making processes and audience perceptions within motivational contexts.