LANGUAGE ATTITUDES TOWARDS WRITTEN ALAY VARIETY IN FACEBOOK INTERACTION.
Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook
Interaction
A Research Paper
Submitted to the English Education Department of the Faculty of Language and Arts Education of the Indonesia University of Education as a Partial Fulfilment of the
Requirements for Sarjana Sastra Degree
Arranged by: Widya Astuti
(0807537)
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION
THE FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND FINE ARTS
INDONESIA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
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Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety
in Facebook Interaction
Oleh Widya Astuti
Sebuah skripsi yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar Sarjana Sastra pada Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni
© Widya Astuti 2013 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Februari 2013
Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.
Skripsi ini tidak boleh diperbanyak seluruhya atau sebagian, dengan dicetak ulang, difoto kopi, atau cara lainnya tanpa ijin dari penulis.
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Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
ABSTRACT
This research paper entitled Language Attitudes towards Written ‘Alay’ Variety in
Facebook Interaction aims to reveal the use of the alay variety in Facebook media
and the attitudes of users and ex-users of the variety. The study employs a descriptive method to describe and interpret the data. As the writer mainly divides the study into two aspects: linguistic feature of alay variety and the language
attitudes towards the variety, the study applies Crowley’s theory of language change (1999) and Ryan’s (1982) and Anderson’s (1991) theory of language
attitudes. The study reveals that the realization of written alay variety in Facebook
covers two broad categories, namely spelling and writing modifications. The spelling modifications in written alay variety were found to occur in five different cases, spelling shift, spelling addition, spelling deletion, contraction, and irregular spelling modification. Related to language attitudes toward the written alay
variety, users and ex-users develop different attitudes towards the use of alay
variety. Users tend to have more neutral attitudes to the use of alay variety; they develop more positive attitudes towards the variety. In contrast, most ex-users react negatively towards the use of alay variety because they consider the variety to have a low prestige or status and is not a proper variety to use.
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Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
ABSTRAK
Penelitian berjudul Language Attitudes towards Written ‘Alay’ Variety in
Facebook Interaction ini dimaksudkan untuk mengungkap penggunaan variasi
alay di media Facebook dan sikap pengguna serta mantan pengguna variasi tersebut. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif dalam menjelaskan dan menginterpretasikan data. Dengan pertimbangan bahwa penulis membagi penelitian ini kedalam dua aspek, yaitu fitur liguistik dan sikap bahasa terhadap variasi, penelitian ini menggunakan teori milik Crowley tentang perubahan bahasa (1999) serta teori milik Ryan (1982) dan Anderson (1991) mengenai sikap bahasa. Penelitian ini mengungkap bahwa perwujudan variasi alay di Facebook meliputi dua kategori besar, yaitu, modifikasi pada ejaan dan tulisa. Modifikasi pada ejaan ditemukan terjadi pada lima kasus yang berbeda, yaitu, spelling shift (pergeseran ejaan), spelling addition (penambahan ejaan), spelling deletion (penghapusan ejaan), contraction (kontraksi), dan irregular spelling modification (modifikasi ejaan yang tidak beraturan). Berkaitan dengan sikap bahasa terhadap variasi alay, pengguna dan mantan pengguna memiliki sika yang berbeda terhadap penggunaan variasi tersebut. Pengguna cenderung memiliki sikap yang netral terhadap variasi
alay; mereka memiliki sikap yang lebih positif. Sebaliknya, kebanyakan mantan pengguna merespon secara negative terhadap penggunaan variasi alay karena mereka menganggap variasi tersebut berstatus rendah dan bukan merupakan variasi yang pantas untuk digunakan.
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Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
TABLE OF CONTENTS
STATEMENT OF AUTHORIZATION ... i
PREFACE ... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... iii
ABSTRACT ... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... vi
LIST OF TABLES ... x
CHAPTER I ... 1
INTRODUCTION ... 1
1.1 Background of the Study ... 1
1.2 Research Questions ... 4
1.3 Aims of the Study ... 4
1.4 Scope of the Study ... 5
1.5 Significance of the Study ... 5
1.6 Research Methodology ... 6
1.6.1 Research Design ... 6
1.6.2 Site and Participants of the Study ... 6
1.6.3 Data Collection... 7
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1.7 Clarification of Terms ... 8
1.8 Organisation of the Paper ... 8
CHAPTER II ... 10
LITERATURE REVIEW ... 10
2.1 Language and Variety ... 10
2.1.1 Language and Definition ... 10
2.1.2 Variety and Definition ... 12
2.2 Word Formation ... 14
2.2.1 Defining ‘Word’ ... 14
2.2.2 Word Formation Process ... 15
2.3 Language Attitude ... 17
2.3.1 Definition ... 17
2.3.2 Types of Language Attitudes ... 20
2.4 Language Choice ... 21
2.5 Teen and Language ... 23
2.6 Motivation ... 24
2.7 Peer Pressure ... 25
2.8 Previous Studies ... 26
CHAPTER III ... 30
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Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
3.1 Introduction ... 30
3.2 Formulation of Problems ... 30
3.3 Research Design ... 31
CHAPTER IV ... 40
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ... 40
4.1 The Realization of Alay Variety in Facebook ... 40
4.1.1 Spelling Modifications ... 41
4.1.2 Mix of Punctuations and Capitals ... 56
4.1.3 Discussion ... 58
4.2 Alay Variety and Bahasa Gaul ... 60
4.3 Alay Variety Users and Motivations ... 63
4.4 Language Attitudes ... 66
4.1 Users’ Language Attitudes and Perceptions towards Alay Variety ... 66
4.2 Ex-Users’ Language Attitudes and Perceptions towards Alay Variety and Its Users ... 69
4.3 Discussion ... 71
CHAPTER V ... 74
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 74
5.1 Conclusions ... 74
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REFERENCE
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the introduction of the study which consists of the background of the study, the research questions, the aims of the study, the scope of the study, and the significance of the study.
1.1 Background of the Study
Rapid development of Social Media such as Facebook has allowed new varieties of language use to emerge. The term variety here is used to refer to a set of linguistic forms used under specific social circumstances (Holmes, 2001, p. 6). Users of Facebook may belong to a certain community and have their own way or style in communicating with other users. This way or new style of communicating may initiate new varieties. As virtual communications such as Facebook
interaction involve written forms of language use, Alay is one of written varieties which can be found. The term Alay is usually used to describe the use of a certain language particularly Indonesian in social media which is different from the use of the language in standard use. Alay variety is believed to be distinctive especially in terms of its written form which includes its spelling system.
In using alay variety, users tend to modify vocabularies of Indonesian, for example, in terms of its spelling system. This modification is mostly done by combining numbers, abbreviations, capitals or lower cases in one word or more
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(Kuswandini, 2009). The creation of „new‟ writing systems is commonly believed to be results of imitating other users‟ writing or users‟ own creative inventions.
Using certain varieties, people cannot help but having attitudes towards the varieties that they use or towards other varieties that others use. People generally make judgements which reflect their perceptions or views on certain varieties (Holmes, 2001, p. 343). These judgements convey their attitudes towards the varieties and the users of the varieties. They hold and develop opinions about how one variety may be more favourable than the others.
The way people express their minds through speech or writings do provide clues to others about who they are, where they are from, even into which community they belong to (Holmes, 2001, p. 2). These clues do help to create attitudes towards certain varieties and the users of the varieties. People may have opinions or judgements about somebody from the way he or she writes or talks.
Communicating in the virtual world, one may deal with two terms of style in using language, namely Bahasa Gaul and Alay variety. As the study is aimed at revealing the use of alay variety in particular, the term Bahasa Gaul in this study is intended to attract and stimulate varied responses from the participants. Therefore the study does not put a significant attention to the term. In creating words, the users of an alay variety seem to be so „creative‟ in making words that people sometimes misunderstand the meaning of the words they create (Kuswandini, 2009). As misunderstanding could be one point which may lead people to misjudge or develop negative attitudes towards the variety, the use of written alay variety in Facebook interaction may be interesting to explore.
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There are a lot of studies have been done in the field of language attitudes. One of the research is the work of Lambert in 1960 who used a matched guise technique to investigate the socio-psychological effects of the bilingual situation in Montreal. It was revealed that English-Canadian listeners judged speakers of their own ethnic group more favourably. Meanwhile, French-Canadian listeners not only went along in the same evaluative direction, but also accentuated this in favouring the out group over their own. There is also another research which was conducted by Ryan et.al. (1982). He classified the methods which can be used in language attitudes study. Ryan asserts that there are three methods of language attitudes study. These include an analysis of societal treatment of language varieties, indirect assessment within the speaker evaluation paradigm and direct assessment with interviews or questionnaires.
Studies of language attitudes especially in the field of teen language were also conducted. One of the research was one coming from Tagliamonte and Denis (2008). It was a corpus based analysis concerning the use of IM (Instant Messaging) by teens which were considered to lead to a breakdown in English. The study discovered that the use of IM reflected heterogeneity (variation) and ongoing process of linguistic change of varieties of English.
This research, however, focuses on teens‟ language use in the virtual world
of Facebook which is concentrated on the alay variety use in the media. Research
in the field of alay variety in Indonesia, however, have not been conducted a lot. Several studies which have been conducted especially in the field of alay variety, came from Kuswandini (2009), Ramadhani (2011), and Wicaksosno (2011). The
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Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
studies mostly revealed that alay variety users try to make words appear “cuter”,
such as replacing “home” with “humzz” to communicate their „unique language‟ of their members, to motivate adolescents to seek self-identity and existence, and to express social interactions and relationships among alay variety users. These previous studies seem to focus mainly on how users use the variety. The present study aims to reveal not only the use of the variety in Facebook, but also attitudes of participants including the users of alay variety and ex-users of the variety towards the variety. Furthermore, the present study seeks to disclose the perceptions of the users about the variety they use and the motivations behind the use of the variety.
1.2 Research Questions
The research questions of the study are formulated as follows:
1. What are the characteristics of the alay variety used in Facebook?
2. What are the motivations behind the use of the alay variety in Facebook? 3. What are the attitudes of ex-users and users towards the alay variety?
1.3 Aims of the Study
The study aims to reveal the use of the alay variety in Facebook media. Moreover, it aims to reveal the attitudes of ex-users towards the variety and the users. In addition, the present study attempts to disclose the perceptions of the users about the variety they use and the motivations behind the use of the variety.
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1.4 Scope of the Study
The study specifically investigates Facebook interactions in terms of the language use in the media. It examines the use of non-standard forms of language, especially Indonesian. These non-standard forms are called alay variety, written forms which, for example, combine lower cases, upper cases, and numbers in one certain word or phrase, and also use punctuations incorrectly (Kuswandini 2009; Candra 2010; Wicaksono 2010). The study examines linguistic features of alay
variety focusing on the spelling of words of the variety. It particularly analyses linguistic forms or words with the spelling which deviates from the standard spelling.
The investigation covers examinations of Facebook statuses, and wall to wall or timeline interactions between the users of the Facebook account and other users.
1.5 Significance of the Study
This study is expected to describe the phenomenon of written alay variety use in Facebook interaction and the attitudes towards the use of the variety. The investigation of the alay variety can enrich the knowledge in sociolinguistics especially in the field of language attitudes. It can also enrich the knowledge in the field of teen language and teen language use in virtual media. Teachers or
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educators, for example, can understand more about the feelings and creativities of teenagers especially in expressing their minds in written forms.
In addition, the study of the alay variety can provide information of how an independent language such as Indonesian stands among other new language varieties such as alay variety.
1.6 Research Methodology 1.6.1 Research Design
The study employs a descriptive method to describe and interpret the data. It primarily uses a qualitative approach in analyzing the data considering the purpose of this study is to authentically capture the phenomenon of human linguistic experience which is alay variety use in Facebook.
1.6.2 Site and Participants of the Study
The study was conducted to 20 Indonesian Facebook users who were purposively selected. As many as 10 participants were categorised as the users of the alay variety. They are people who were considered not to observe norms of standard written variety. Meanwhile the 10 other people were categorised as e x-users of alay variety. They are people who used to write in alay variety style but now primarily observe the norms of standard written variety. In addition, the study used questionnaires distributed to two categories of participants; the users of
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1.6.3 Data Collection
The data were collected from the walls of the accounts of the participants (internet based source). The data did not cover every part of the Facebook
accounts of the participants; rather, they covered the parts related to the study. Furthermore, the data and examples to analyze were drawn from relevant sources which were taken from websites (which are listed clearer at the references).
In addition, the data of the study were also obtained from the results of questionnaires distributed to the participants who were divided into two categories: the users of alay variety and ex-users (see site and participants of the study).
1.6.4 Data Analysis
The data gathered from related websites and questionnaires were analysed as follows:
1. Classifying sample data from related websites (Facebook) including the status written by the participants and other related postings of the
wall or the timeline of the participants‟;
2. Classifying or mapping the results based on categories; 3. Analysing the results of categorisation;
4. Classifying the results of the questionnaires to answer research questions;
5. Analysing the results of the questionnaires; 6. Interpreting the results of data collection;
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7. Presenting the results using a descriptive method to describe the use of
alay variety in social media, Facebook, and further the motivations
behind the use of alay variety and attitudes of users and ex-users towards the variety.
1.7 Clarification of Terms
To avoid misconceptions and misunderstandings, there are some significant terms have to be clarified as follows:
1) Alay : Alay is a term used to refer to a written variety that actually derives from Indonesian or English, but is modified especially in terms of
words‟ spelling systems which is mostly done by mixtures or combinations of numbers, abbreviation, capitals and lower cases (Kuswandini 2009; Candra 2010; Wicaksono 2010).
2) Walls or Timeline: Wall or Timeline is an important part of a Facebook
profile, where friends can leave public messages for one another (Urban Dictionary.com, Facebook.com).
1.8 Organisation of the Paper
The paper consists of five chapters including Introduction, Literature Review, Research Method, Findings and Discussion, and the Conclusion of the study.
Chapter one or Introduction introduces the background of the study, the formulation of the problems or research questions, the aims of the study, the scope
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of the study, the significance of the study, the research method and design, clarification of the terms used in the study, and finally the organisation of the paper.
Chapter two or Literature Review contains related theories used as the foundation of the study and previous studies conducted in the field of Alay
variety. The theories reviewed in the chapter are about language and variety, word formation, language choice, language attitudes, teen and language, and a brief review of related previous research in the field of language attitudes and teen language.
Chapter three or Research Method covers the methodology of the study including the research design, participants of the study, the resources of the data or data collection, and the steps and procedures in analysing the data which were gathered. Finally, the chapter displays examples of data analysis of the study presented further in chapter four.
Chapter four presents the results of the study. It consists of the findings of the research and the discussion of the findings that answer the problems of the study.
Chapter five provides the conclusions of the study, an interpretation toward the findings or the results of the study. It also presents suggestions for further future research in the same field.
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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD
3.1 Introduction
This chapter aims to give a description concerning the procedure of this study. The chapter firstly covers the formulation of problems which comprises the issues being investigated in this study. Afterwards, the research design applied during the course of this study encompasses a conceptual structure used in the research. It constitutes the design of the collection of data, instruments used for the study, and the analysis of the data collected.
3.2 Formulation of Problems
This study presents an examination of people’s language attitudes. It
covers an investigation of how people react towards a variety of language use. The variety which is the focus of the study is an alay variety. The Alay variety here refers to a type of written variety used in Facebook that does not observe the norms of standard written language. In this study, the participants involved were classified into two categories, the users of alay variety and ex-users of alay
variety. This study investigates the attitudes of the two categories of the participants towards alay variety. In particular, this study also seeks to reveal the motivation of the users of alay variety in Facebook.
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Not only does this study deal with the attitudes of the participants towards
alay variety, it also attempts to explore the realization of the variety in Facebook
media. It includes a description of the general use of alay variety in Facebook.
3.3 Research Design 3.3.1 Research Method
This study employs a descriptive method to describe and interpret the data. The descriptive method used in this study enabled the researcher to portray the characteristics of a particular individual, situation, or a group (Kothari, 2004). The
method provided a description of the state of people’s linguistic experience especially as it exists at the present.
This research primarily uses a qualitative approach in analyzing the data considering that the purpose of this study is to authentically examine the phenomenon of human linguistic experience. In line Polkinghorne (2005), the qualitative method enabled the researcher to analyse the data in depth because it served as a means for the researcher to investigate the phenomenon being discussed from the view point of participants’.
The use of the qualitative approach provided an access for the researcher to describe the feelings of the participants involved and further to discover the underlying motives of their behaviour (Kothari, 2004, p. 3), especially the users in using written alay variety in Facebook.
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3.3.2 Participants
This study was conducted to 20 Indonesian Facebook users who were purposively selected. This purposive sampling was used to obtain various realities for the study. Purposive sampling which is also known as deliberate sampling or non-probability sampling (Kothari, 2004), refers to purposive or deliberate selection of particular samples or individuals of the world which can represent the world itself.
The participants of this study were categorized into two groups: users and
ex-users of alay variety. First, the participants categorised as the users of alay
variety were those who write and do not observe the norms of standard variety of Indonesian and English. The second category of participants was ex-users; they were those who used to write in alay variety style, but now they primarily write a standard form of Indonesian and English and generally observe the norms of standard variety. The ex-users were known not to use the alay variety anymore as they mentioned in the answers of the questionnaire.
The selection of the participants was based on the reasons that firstly, the participants both the users of alay variety and ex-users of alay variety were those who had accounts in Facebook and had actively used the account at least for the past 3 months calculated since June 2012. The age of the participants ranged from 15 years old up to 22 years old. The choice of this range of age was based on the focus of the study which is concerned with alay variety that is considered to be a variety mostly used by teenagers.
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3.3.3 Instrument
A matched-guise technique was originally used in examining people’s attitudes towards certain languages or varieties. Back in 1960, Lambert used the
matched-guise technique in his study in which socio-psychological effects of the
bilingual situation in Montreal were tested. The matched-guise technique has been an instrument in examining language attitudes which provide researchers elicitations of spontaneous attitudes (O’Rourke, 2011). This technique however is considered to be artificial as it uses recorded unnaturally occurring conversation.
Thus in conducting the present study, the researcher used Ryan’s methodological
approach (1998) which measures the attitudes of language directly through interviews or questionnaires.
Questionnaires and interviews tend to be less contrived or planned and increase the number of participants (O’Rourke, 2011). Thus, the findings can be generated to a larger population. Questionnaires used in the present study were intended to provide valuable information concerning attitudes towards a specific language or variety.
The questionnaire used as the instrument for the study was a structured questionnaire in which the participants were required to reply to a set of questions. The questionnaire was divided into two different types of set of questions. The first type was intended for the participants categorised as the users of alay variety and the second type was intended to the participants categorised as ex-users of
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The questionnaire was an open ended questionnaire in which the researcher provided a larger space for the participants to freely express their minds and thought related to the issues being addressed. Both of the types of the questionnaire consisted of 8 questions distributed to the participants to answer the research questions of the study. The users of alay variety were required to fill in the questionnaire which consisted of 8 questions related to their use of written variety in Facebook, including their motivation behind the use of the variety. On the other hand, ex-users of alay variety were required to fill in the questionnaire which consisted of 8 questions related to their feelings towards those who mostly use the variety that does not observe the norms of standard language.
3.3.4 Data Collection
First of all, the data were drawn from related and relevant Internet sources which were compiled from the walls or timelines of the Facebook accounts of the participants who are categorised as the users of alay variety. This observation was not meant to be recognised or known by the owners of the accounts. This does not suggest that the researcher had less respect towards the participants. This covert
observation was conducted merely for the sake of the ‘naturalness’ of the data
gained.
The observation was conducted during the last three months started from June 2012 until September 2012. The accounts of the participants were continuously observed until the patterns of the written alay variety use repeated themselves. The data did not cover every part of the Facebook account of the
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participants; rather, they covered an examination of language use of the participants including wall to wall interaction, comments, and their status updates that represent the use of written language which does not observe the norms of standard language. The participants whose accounts were used for the study were 10 teenagers both men and women with their ages ranging from 15 years old to 22 years old. These participants were categorised as the users of alay variety because their use of written variety in Facebook is considered not to observe the norms of standard language.
In addition, the study used questionnaires distributed to the participants, requesting their responses towards questions related to the objectives of the study. The questionnaires were mostly distributed directly to the participants. These questionnaires, as previously mentioned, were distributed to both categories of the participants, the users of alay variety and ex-users of alay variety. Both of the categories of participants contributed 10 people from each. Therefore, the total participants were 20 people.
3.3.5 Data Analysis
Data analysis was divided into two main sections. The first is related to the analysis of the results of the observation of the users of alay variety’s Facebook
account. The data collected from the accounts were firstly examined to detect errors and to assure that the data were accurate, and complete to facilitate further analysis.
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The second step was the coding step which involved the assignment of numbering and symbols to every linguistic phenomenon captured in the realization of alay variety in Facebook. This step was intended to enable the data collected to be put into a limited number of categories or classes.
Later, the data which had been coded were classified into five categories of modification mentioned in Chapter II including spelling shift, spelling addition, spelling deletion, contraction, and irregular spelling modification. The data were reduced into homogenous groups in order to get meaningful relationships. The data were arranged in groups or categories on the basis of common characteristics. The final step in dealing with the data collected was to assemble the data in a concise and logical order. This final step involved a summarisation of the raw data and a display of the data in a more compact form for deeper analysis.
The identification of the language use of participants’ Facebook accounts was intended to formulate general rules of forming words or expressions in alay
variety. The findings were used as the references for the researcher to answer research question number 1 which examines the phenomenon of the alay variety writing system.
The second section of the data analysis dealt with the analysis of the results of the questionnaires. In trying to interpret the data collected from the results of the questionnaire, the first phase was an in-depth reading of the results of the questionnaires which had been distributed to the participants. The in-depth reading of the results of the questionnaires was intended to obtain an accurate and thorough understanding of the data source.
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The later step was started by labelling or coding every item of information so that the differences and similarities between all the different items were recognized. The labelling phase was intended to dissect the findings and group them into categories in order to enable the researcher to compare the findings in one category and another. The labelling step was divided into two groups. The first type of the questionnaire intended for participants categorised as users was identified and coded to answer the research questions number 2 until number 3. The second type of the questionnaire intended for ex-users was categorised and analysed to answer the questions concerning their attitudes towards alay variety and the users of the variety.
The last step in analysing the data was the presentation of the results using a descriptive method to describe the use of alay variety in social media, Facebook, and further the motivations behind the use of alay variety and attitudes of ex-users towards the variety and the users and also the feelings of the users towards the variety.
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3.3.6 Examples of Data Analysis
3.3.6.1 The Realization of written Alay Variety in Facebook
The first section of the data analysis of this research is the analysis of language use in Facebook. The analysis is presented as follows:
Table 3.1. Spelling Shift in Written Alay Variety No.
Spelling
Shift Freq. P. (%)
Examples Word Examples in Written Alay
variety
Words’ Origin
Non-standard Use in Indonesian
Standard Use in Indonesian
1. k q 79 79.78 Qlu kalo kalau/ jika
2. k x 20 20.22 Cewex cewek wanita/
perempuan
TOTAL 99 100
Freq. = Frequency P = Percentage
Table 1 above displays an example of analyses presented at chapter IV. The table is about the realization of alay variety that is included in spelling shift category. The first column of the table indicates types of shift that occur. The second and third columns indicate the frequency and percentage of each spelling shift. The three next columns are examples of the spelling shift that include examples in alay variety use and the standard and non-standard form of the examples. Later on, there will be other categories which cover the realization of
alay variety such as spelling addition, spelling deletion and irregular spelling modification.
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3.3.6.2 Language Attitudes
As the questionnaires were intended to two different types of participants, users of alay variety and ex-users of alay variety, the analysis of the results of the questionnaire were based into two categories of analysis.
Table 3.2. Users Language Opinions towards Alay Variety
No. Opinions Frequency Percentage (%)
1. Naturalness 6 60
2. Inner group identity 2 20
3. Trendy 1 10
4. Attractiveness 1 10
TOTAL 10 100
Table 2 above is an example analysis of users’ language affective attitudes
towards written alay variety. The first column indicates users’ opinions towards
written alay variety they are using. These opinions will be a base to determine
users’ attitudes towards alayvariety. Beside the table that displays users’ attitudes
there is also another similar table that displays the attitudes of ex-users’ towards
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Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
5.1 Conclusions
This paper has examined the use of written alay variety in the virtual world of Facebook. It has revealed the realization of alay variety in Facebook
interaction and the attitudes towards the variety that cover users’ and ex-users’
attitudes. Moreover, this paper has also disclosed users’ motivation behind their
use of written alay variety in Facebook.
The realization of written alay variety in Facebook covers two broad categories, namely spelling modifications and writing modifications that involve a mix of capitals and punctuations. The spelling modifications in written alay
variety were found to be in five different cases, spelling shift, spelling addition, spelling deletion, contraction, and irregular spelling modification.
The users of the variety do not simply change or modify a certain alphabet with other alphabet with a random pattern. Based on the observation, it was found that the modification of spellings in written alay variety may be explained by two general patterns. Firstly, the modification is viewed merely as a modification between alphabet with the same linguistic characteristics, such as phonemic manner of articulation or place of articulation. Secondly, the modification of one alphabet with the other may be the result of one alphabet resembling the written form of other alphabets.
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Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
There are not any certain rules that dictate which modifications should be applied in written alay variety. The observation has revealed that when one user feels bored with certain form of modifications then he or she will just change the style with a style that he or she creates by her or his own or just copy a style their friends’ use of the variety.
In choosing one variety over another, users of alay variety revealed their motivations behind the use of the variety. Language is not merely a tool that can
be used to communicate with others. Language can also be a marker of one’s
identity and personality. It can be a useful cue in determining one’s identity of certain communities they belong to. The study has revealed that there are two major motivations that trigger users to use alay variety, namely social pressure and creativity. Social pressure covers pressures that come from environment and friends users used to hanging out with. It ranks as many as 70% or the highest percentage of the motivations users uttered. Meanwhile, creativity seems to get fewer respondents. It only ranks as many as 30% of all. This may be because the pressure of being alike with friends is more important than being creative with language.
Furthermore, users and ex-users develop different attitudes towards the use of alay variety. As the users tend to have more neutral attitudes with the use of
alay variety, they develop more positive attitudes towards the variety. They favour the use of alay variety and consider the variety to be an identity marker, users' attitudes belong to positive attitudes. Users of alay variety have the loyalty in
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Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
using the variety continuously and believe that the variety has prestige that in this case makes them fashionable or creative while using the variety.
In contrast, most ex-users react negatively towards the use of alay variety. They undervalue alay variety and consider the variety to have a low prestige or status so that it is not proper to use the variety. This may be due to the fact that they no longer have the language loyalty and pride towards the variety. As people get older they become more aware of norms and rules. Thus, ex-users of alay
variety gradually diminish their use of the variety and write in a more standard style.
5.2 Suggestions
This study has presented answers regarding the research problems. The study, however, can raise numerous questions requiring further research. Future research can enrich the data by using any other data sources. The observation has proven two opposite attitudes between users of alay variety and ex-users of alay variety whose ages range from 15 to 22 years old. As people get older, their speech, however, becomes gradually more standard and they will reach a point of their age where their use of language becomes conservative. Thus the results may be different if the range of ages is widened, for example, 15 to 35 years old.
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Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
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Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
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Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined Communities. London ad New York: Verso. Aronoff, M., & Fudeman, K. (2005). What is Morphology? Oxford: Blackwell
Publishing Ltd.
Baker, C. (1992). Attitudes and Laguage. Clevedon, Philadelphia, Adelaide: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Booth, C. L. (2009). “An Ocean of Culture”: Language Ideologies and the Social
Life of Language in Multilingual Darjeeling, India1. Austin: Rutgers
University.
Bordbar, F. (2010). Gender, identity, and language Use: A case of Tehrani teenage
bloggers’ virtual speech community. International Journal of Language
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Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Chiung, W.-v. T. (2001). Language Attitudes toward Written Taiwanese.
Arlington: The University of Texas.
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Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
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Macmillan.
Plag, I. (2003). Word Formation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Polkinghorne, D. E. (2005). Language and Meaning: Data Collection in Qualitative Research. Journal of Counseling Psychology Copyright , Vol. 52, No. 2, 137–145.
Ramdhani, A. (2011, October 27). Fenomena Daya Tarik Bahasa Alay dalam Komunikasi di Kalangan Remaja Kota pada Penggunaan Jejaring Sosial
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Ryan, E. B., & Giles, H. (1982). Attitudes towards Language Variation, Social
(37)
Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Tagliamonte, S. A., & Denis, D. (2008). Linguistic Ruin? LOL! Instant Messaging
and Teen Language. Toronto: American Dialect Society.
Tayie, S. (2005). Research Methods and Writing Proposals. Cairo: Center for Advancement of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Engineering Sciences, Faculty of Engineering - Cairo University (CAPSU).
Tonkin, H. (2003). Language and Society. The American Forum for Global
Education , 1-24.
Tuwakham, M. (2005). Laguage Vitality and Language Attitude Among the Young
People in Lamphun Province: A Sociolinguistic Study. Chiang Mai: Payap
University.
Unit, T. J. (2005). The Language Attitude Survey of Jamaica. Mona: University of the West Indies.
Wardhaugh, R. (2006). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Victoria: Blackwell Publishing.
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from Psychology Today:
http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologytopics/tp/theories-of-motivation.htm
Wicaksono, A. (2011, February 21). Tinjauan Sosiolinguistik Bahasa Alay dalam
Konstelasi Kebahasaan Saat Ini. Retrieved January 19, 2012, from
Blogspot.com: http://andriew.blogspot.com/2011/02/tinjauan-sosiolinguistik-bahasa-alay.html
(38)
Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Yule, G. (1996). The Study of Language Second Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
(1)
Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
(2)
Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
References
Aitchison, J. (2003). Teach Yourself Linguistics.
Allport, G. W. (1985). The historical background of social psychology. In G. a. Aronson, Handbook of Social Psychology, Vol. 1, 3rd edition (pp. 1–46). Addison-Wesley.
Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined Communities. London ad New York: Verso. Aronoff, M., & Fudeman, K. (2005). What is Morphology? Oxford: Blackwell
Publishing Ltd.
Baker, C. (1992). Attitudes and Laguage. Clevedon, Philadelphia, Adelaide: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Booth, C. L. (2009). “An Ocean of Culture”: Language Ideologies and the Social
Life of Language in Multilingual Darjeeling, India1. Austin: Rutgers
University.
Bordbar, F. (2010). Gender, identity, and language Use: A case of Tehrani teenage
bloggers’ virtual speech community. International Journal of Language
Studies (IJLS), Vol. 4(2) , 29-48.
Candra, A. (2010). Meng-Alay dalam Dunia Maya:Disorder Bahasa dalam Cyberspace. Jurnal Komunikator Volume 2 No.1 , 27-39.
Carr, P. (1993). Phonology. London: The Macmillan Press Ltd.
Cherry, K. (2013). Theories of Motivation. Retrieved January 29, 2013, from About.com Guide: http://psychology.about.com/od/mindex/g/motivation-definition.htm
(3)
Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Chiung, W.-v. T. (2001). Language Attitudes toward Written Taiwanese. Arlington: The University of Texas.
Crowley, T. (1997). An Introduction of Historical Linguistics 3rd Edition. New York: Oxford University Press.
Duan, L. (2004). A Sociolinguistic Study of Language Use and Language
Attitudes Among the Bai People in Jianchuan County, China. Chiang Mai:
Payap University.
Eagly, A. H., & Chaiken, S. (1993). The Psychology of Attitudes. Fort Worth, Texas: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Edwards, J. (1999). Refining Our Understanding of Language Attitudes. Journal
of Language and Social Psychology 1999 18: 101 , 1-11.
Fasold, R. (1984). The Sociolinguistics of Society. New York: Basil Blackwell. Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, Attitude, Intention and Behavior: An
Introduction to Theory and Research. London: Addison-Wesley.
Garvin, P. L., & Mathiot, M. The Urbanization of the Guarani Language: A Problem in Language and Culture. In J. A. al., Readings in the Sociology
of Language (pp. 365-374). Mouton: The Hague.
Holmes, J. (2001). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics 2nd Edition. London: Pearson Education Limited.
Kothari, C. R. (2004). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. New Delhi: New Age International (P) Ltd., Publishers.
Kranawetter, B. (2012). Because You Need It Everywhere - English Laguage
(4)
Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Kuswandini, D. (2009, October 28). Messing With Letters. Retrieved December
27, 2011, from The Jakarta Post:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/10/28/messing-with-letters.html Morgan, M., & Grube, J. (1991). Closeness and Peer Group Influence. British
Journal of Social Psychology , 159-161.
Nordquist, R. (2012). A List of Standard Contractions in English. Retrieved 12 26, 2012, from about.com: www.about.com
O’Rourke, B. (2011). Galician and Irish in the European Context: Attitudes
towards Weak and Strong Minority Languages. Hampshire: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Plag, I. (2003). Word Formation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Polkinghorne, D. E. (2005). Language and Meaning: Data Collection in Qualitative Research. Journal of Counseling Psychology Copyright , Vol. 52, No. 2, 137–145.
Ramdhani, A. (2011, October 27). Fenomena Daya Tarik Bahasa Alay dalam Komunikasi di Kalangan Remaja Kota pada Penggunaan Jejaring Sosial
Facebook. Retrieved December 27, 2011, from Digital Library:
http://elib.unikom.ac.id/gdl.php?mod=browse&op=read&id=jbptunikomp p-gdl-aprisaramd-26351
Ryan, E. B., & Giles, H. (1982). Attitudes towards Language Variation, Social
(5)
Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Tagliamonte, S. A., & Denis, D. (2008). Linguistic Ruin? LOL! Instant Messaging
and Teen Language. Toronto: American Dialect Society.
Tayie, S. (2005). Research Methods and Writing Proposals. Cairo: Center for Advancement of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Engineering Sciences, Faculty of Engineering - Cairo University (CAPSU).
Tonkin, H. (2003). Language and Society. The American Forum for Global
Education , 1-24.
Tuwakham, M. (2005). Laguage Vitality and Language Attitude Among the Young
People in Lamphun Province: A Sociolinguistic Study. Chiang Mai: Payap
University.
Unit, T. J. (2005). The Language Attitude Survey of Jamaica. Mona: University of the West Indies.
Wardhaugh, R. (2006). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Victoria: Blackwell Publishing.
Whitbourne, S. K. (2013). Fulfillment at Any Age. Retrieved January 29, 2013,
from Psychology Today:
http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologytopics/tp/theories-of-motivation.htm
Wicaksono, A. (2011, February 21). Tinjauan Sosiolinguistik Bahasa Alay dalam
Konstelasi Kebahasaan Saat Ini. Retrieved January 19, 2012, from
Blogspot.com: http://andriew.blogspot.com/2011/02/tinjauan-sosiolinguistik-bahasa-alay.html
(6)
Widya Astuti, 2013
Language Attitudes towards Written Alay Variety in Facebook Interaction Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Yule, G. (1996). The Study of Language Second Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.