CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION - Vagueness as found on "Metropolis Watch" in Jawa Pos newspaper - Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya Repository
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
C H AP' I' HRI
INTRODI}CTION
l.l Backgroundofthe Snrdy
Human beingsare social creaturesthat their life dependson others. It
meansthat they cannotlive alone and alwaysdependon eachother to survive.
Thus, they need to socializethemselveswith others in their life- In order to
socializewith their society,they needto communicatewith the surroundings.In
this case,communicationis the mainrole in society.
Accordingto McCombsand Becker(19795) communicationis a process
of involving some very complex human behaviorsof both the senderand the
receiverof the message.It meansthat communicationneedspeople to have an
interactionon both sides.This statementis also supportedby Whitney(1991:3).
He also statesthat communicationalwaysinvolvestwo factors.They area source
and a receiver.A sourcecan be a humanbeing or a media that cariesa messa€le.
Conversely,a receiveris a personwho receivesthe messagefrom other peopleor
to oneanother.
massmediathat enablethemto comrnunicate
In order to support the need of communication, human beings need a
media, which ctn carry a messagethat they want to communicate.Many kinds of
media are availablenowadays.The most famousand well-known massmedia in
Newspapersare read by a lot of people;thus, the
the society are newspapers.
shouldprovide
Besides,newspapers
langrrageshouldbe clearand understandable.
clearrnessages
and infbrmationtbr readers.so that they will not misunderstand
theintendedrnessages.
andrnisinterpret
thereshouldbe a lefterscolumn.The lettershereare
In everyuewspaper,
sentby the readers.Basically,therearetwo tlpes of lettersin letterscolumn.The
first type is the lettersbetweenthe readersandthe editorialstaff. The second$,pe
is the lettersamongthe readersthemselves.Both of thesetwo types of lettersin
letterscolumn are useful to make possiblecomrnunicationbetweenthe readers
and the editorial staff or amongthe readersthemselves.Besides,with the use of
will not be monotonous.
letterscolumn,the newspaper
Accordingto Baddock(1988:51)the letterscolumn is the only part of a
newspaperwhich is written by people. Letters are written by people from all
walks oflife, and from a varietyofsocial andeducationalbackgrounds.Often,the
letters column is to request, complain, criticize and give suggestions.All
newspaperscarry a letters column, and such letters are widely read; it is an
authenticway to keepin touch with thoughtsandopinions.
As a part of the newspaper,the languagein the lesers colunn should also
be clear and understandable.In this case,the writers of the letters should present
their intended messageand meaning as clearly as possible in order to avoid
misunderstandingin the part of the readers.Even though it is only a letters
column, many people read the letters and try to understand and interpret the
messages
intendedby thoseletters.
However, vague words, phrasesand sentencesare still found in some
letters,whetherthey are intentionallyor unintentionallywritten. Vaguenessoften
or lack of specification
appearsin someof letterssentby the readers.Vagueness
from the
makesreadersdifficultto getthe intendedrneaning
{Kernpson197'7.124\
letters clearly. As a result, the readers
INTRODUCTION
C H AP' I' HRI
INTRODI}CTION
l.l Backgroundofthe Snrdy
Human beingsare social creaturesthat their life dependson others. It
meansthat they cannotlive alone and alwaysdependon eachother to survive.
Thus, they need to socializethemselveswith others in their life- In order to
socializewith their society,they needto communicatewith the surroundings.In
this case,communicationis the mainrole in society.
Accordingto McCombsand Becker(19795) communicationis a process
of involving some very complex human behaviorsof both the senderand the
receiverof the message.It meansthat communicationneedspeople to have an
interactionon both sides.This statementis also supportedby Whitney(1991:3).
He also statesthat communicationalwaysinvolvestwo factors.They area source
and a receiver.A sourcecan be a humanbeing or a media that cariesa messa€le.
Conversely,a receiveris a personwho receivesthe messagefrom other peopleor
to oneanother.
massmediathat enablethemto comrnunicate
In order to support the need of communication, human beings need a
media, which ctn carry a messagethat they want to communicate.Many kinds of
media are availablenowadays.The most famousand well-known massmedia in
Newspapersare read by a lot of people;thus, the
the society are newspapers.
shouldprovide
Besides,newspapers
langrrageshouldbe clearand understandable.
clearrnessages
and infbrmationtbr readers.so that they will not misunderstand
theintendedrnessages.
andrnisinterpret
thereshouldbe a lefterscolumn.The lettershereare
In everyuewspaper,
sentby the readers.Basically,therearetwo tlpes of lettersin letterscolumn.The
first type is the lettersbetweenthe readersandthe editorialstaff. The second$,pe
is the lettersamongthe readersthemselves.Both of thesetwo types of lettersin
letterscolumn are useful to make possiblecomrnunicationbetweenthe readers
and the editorial staff or amongthe readersthemselves.Besides,with the use of
will not be monotonous.
letterscolumn,the newspaper
Accordingto Baddock(1988:51)the letterscolumn is the only part of a
newspaperwhich is written by people. Letters are written by people from all
walks oflife, and from a varietyofsocial andeducationalbackgrounds.Often,the
letters column is to request, complain, criticize and give suggestions.All
newspaperscarry a letters column, and such letters are widely read; it is an
authenticway to keepin touch with thoughtsandopinions.
As a part of the newspaper,the languagein the lesers colunn should also
be clear and understandable.In this case,the writers of the letters should present
their intended messageand meaning as clearly as possible in order to avoid
misunderstandingin the part of the readers.Even though it is only a letters
column, many people read the letters and try to understand and interpret the
messages
intendedby thoseletters.
However, vague words, phrasesand sentencesare still found in some
letters,whetherthey are intentionallyor unintentionallywritten. Vaguenessoften
or lack of specification
appearsin someof letterssentby the readers.Vagueness
from the
makesreadersdifficultto getthe intendedrneaning
{Kernpson197'7.124\
letters clearly. As a result, the readers