carries certain social values to the brand image making. One of possible methods to investigate the realization of these social values can be conducted by social actor
representation proposed by van Leeuwen, especially to the ingrained brand positive values desired by the customers.
Related to the presented researches, this study attempts to investigate the social value embodied in the advertising cues, especially in the verbal element. The
investigated social value is the identity-building strategy executed in the usage of English in the discourse. However, instead of analyzing it based on the
standardization versus adaptation theoretical framework applied in Bulawka‘s study 2006, this research implements two methods of study: the transitivity and the socio-
semantic representations. These applications are deemed appropriate with the objectives of the study in investigating the creative grammatical and lexical choices
reflected in the transitivity processes and socio-semantic categories which mirror the opinion, idea, or suggestion implied by the commercial advertisers to induce the
prospective customers to consume their products in Indonesia.
2.9 Theoretical Framework
In the previous discussion, it has been mentioned that there are several theories applicable in this study. Hence, in this section, the elaboration of the
implementation of the theoretical function is presented. The first theory is about advertisement which presents the definition and
nature of advertisement. It gives comprehensive understanding on the characteristic and purpose of the advertisement that has become an inseparable part of the
contemporary society. Thus, this theory is important to ground the assumption made
in this study that advertisement possesses a compelling ability to influence the changes of social world. It also exhibits the implication that the commercial industry
utilizes advertisement as a feasible strategy to stimulate the consumerism ideology for its own capital benefit. In that matter, the study addresses the issue of identity-
building strategy exploited by the advertisers and the advertising agencies in the forms of English significant value in the society.
The following theory of printed advertisements points out the type of advertisement used as the main source in this study. This theory is important in this
study because it distinguishes the intended source of data from its variant. Therefore, the display printed advertisement taken from Kompas newspaper can be categorized
as the appropriate tool for the analysis in this study. Furthermore, it presents the general structural domains of print advertising. It is an essential part in the analysis as
it provides the function of each segment contained in the promoting device. It can help to relate the exploited linguistic construction position with the context of
advertisement. It is followed by the third theory which is the language of advertisements.
This theory comprises an angle that advertisements utilize creative choice of lexical and grammatical patterns to function as the consumerism tool. Consequently, it gives
a basic understanding in analyzing the unique and constricted verbal element employed in the advertisement, especially in terms with the social condition in the
respective commercial device. Therefore, it motivates the study to relate the analysis with the advertisement regulation and culture in Indonesia. The official reference of
advertisement regulation to cover the context of Indonesian advertisement is issued
by the Indonesian Advertising Council 2007, entitled Etika Pariwara Indonesia Tata Krama dan Tata Cara Periklanan Indonesia.
The identity-building strategy theory is included as the following theory in the research. It is utilized in the study for it accommodates the insight of the
advertisement strategy in promoting the brands and products through accompanying identity effect. In addition, it remarks the role of English as the powerful identity
markers in global advertising. Hence, the English clauses embodied in the printed advertisements are taken as the data of analysis in this study.
The fifth theory utilized in this research is the discourse analysis theory. It is appreciatively needed because it strengthens the close affinity between text and
context in realizing social practices for a certain purpose. Furthermore, it accommodates the distinction between text and context of advertisement. This
distinction is significant for it highlights the criteria for text and context in forming a discourse of advertisement. Regarding with the context, the study gives prominent
emphasis on the participants involved in the text because of their roles as the actors of the social practices in the text and the interpreters of the meaning making process in
the communication. Afterwards, the theories of the analysing methods are presented in the form of
transitivity processes and social actor representations. The first method is urgently needed for it is the main tool in answering the first research question in the study
which is the English linguistic choices incorporated in the display advertisement in Kompas newspaper. It can examine the English grammatical and lexical choices
employed in the discourse to trace the manner of the identity building-strategy implied in this pseudo-reality of advertisements.
The second method is the completion of the advertising linguistic cues in the strategy investigated in the study that is the social actor representation theory. This
theory is regarded as appropriate in answering the second problem of the research concerning with the possible social actors representations in the clauses. Though the
participants have been examined in the first analysis, unfortunately, it does not uncover the possible social actors who may be involved in the process and the major
implications on how they are depicted in the clauses. Therefore, the combination of these methods is intended to reveal the powerful actor representations in the identity-
building strategy proposed by the commercial companies in Kompas newspaper. Based on the reviewed theory, there are six transitivity processes in the
linguistic system Halliday, 2004. Each process emphasizes different implications in regards with the ingrained idea embodied in the clauses. Nevertheless, it can be
assumed that the dominant process in the discourse is relational clause. It is grounded by the function of the relational clause itself which is to attach certain characteristic
or identification directly with a participant. Another tentative outcome regarding the process is the application of material
process. It is considered as an important grammatical configuration as the salient aspect is the concrete action in accommodating the identity-building implication,
either from the target market or the merchandise. Additionally, this concrete activity realization can point out the powerful forces that have influence over the other
participant in the process.
For the socio-semantic representations, the analysis of the possible and descriptive representations of the social actors can be identified through three
categories in the socio-semantic theory: the exclusioninclusion, role allocation, and personalizationimpersonalization. Working with these categories, it seems that the
backgrounding is the major representation in the exclusion category. It is related to the nature of the advertisement that highlights the creative and innovative language
Myers, 2009. Hence, indirect representation is usually construed by the producers, especially in the form of symbolization. Consequently, abstraction can be the
dominant representation in conceptualizing the value of the social actors. Regarding the role allocation, it can be assumed that the commodities are likely to be the
dynamic forces in influencing the target market as they embody the representation of the commercial industries or the powerful group behind the consumerism ideology.
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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The third chapter of this study elaborates the methodology employed in the study. The first part which precedes the technical method of analysis sections
presents the type of study as the approach of the analysis. The following parts comprise the organization in conducting the analysis, from describing the source of
data, the manner of acquiring the data, the technique of displaying the data, to the step of analysing the data for reaching the conclusion of the study.
3.1 Type of Study
This study is included in Discourse Analysis DA study for it views a text as an act of systematic communication dedicated for a certain purpose. Texts are not
merely a form of language products to communicate thought, feeling, and experience, yet they propose an idea of someone or certain group toward other people which is
aimed to penetrate the mind of society for the producers‘ interest Fairclough, 2003. Furthermore, Matheson 2005 elaborates them as a part of present domination,
arbitrary opinion, and power play by utilizing particular manner, knowledge, and context gingerly. The meaning making of language is anything but randomly
developed. It is a deliberate action that contains a network of thought and intention to assert an idea as the proper and acceptable notion in the public unconscious opinion
in the favour of particular group. Hence, the primary concern of the analysis is on the linguistic forms of the text because texts consist of language construction. It will