Language Power Language, Power, and Ideology

2.4.1 Language

Language is one of the most important parts of human life. Through language, both verbal and nonverbal, people can interact, communicate, and show the existence of each other. However, today the language is no longer only serves as a means to communicate, the language has become the medium for the construction of life. Hayashi and Hayashi 1997: 42 in Idris 2008: 1 also states that now the language has also been used to alter, escorting people, and realize the power of social. Therefore, it can be formulated that language and social structures around them are the two parts that cannot be separated. The study of the languages of today has to pay attention and related social structures that exist in society. In the contrary, social assessment should take into account the study of language in its analysis. One form of language study that deals with the social and interesting to study is the use of language as a means of distribution of power in society. In reality, there is a fact that distribution of power is much practiced in political discourse such as: political speech, political debates, and political ads, because in the political discourse, person who practicing on it always aims to win the power. For critical discourse analysis CDA, language is not powerful on its own, it gains power by the use of powerful people make of it. This explain why critical discourse analysis often chooses the perspective of those who suffer, and critically analyses the language use of those in power, who are responsible for the existence of inequalities and who also have the means and opportunity to improve conditions.

2.4.2 Power

Power is about relation of difference, and particularly about the effects of differences in social structures. The constant unity of language and other social matters ensures that language entwined in social power in a number of ways: language indexes power, expresses power, is involved where there is contention over and a challenge to power. Power does not derive from language, but language can be used to challenge power, to subvert it, to alter distributions of power in the short and long term. Language provides a finely articulated means for differences in power in social hierarchical structures.

2.4.3 Ideology