Modal Auxiliary Verbs in The Jakarta Post Op-Ed Articles by Indonesian and Non-Indonesian Writers

This study was aimed at finding the meaning, similarities, and differences of the use of modal auxiliary verbs in editorial articles from an Indonesian newspaper, The Jakarta Post, regarding the writers’ various linguistic backgrounds.  The data were collected from 20 editorial articles written by Indonesian and non-Indonesian writers using corpus linguistics software #Lancsbox v. 6.0, which found 286 instances of eight modal auxiliary verbs. The most commonly employed modal auxiliary verbs by both Indonesian and non-Indonesian writers are can, will, should, may, would, could, must, and might, respectively. Biber et al.’s (1999) classification of deontic and epistemic meanings was used to find the meaning of the modal auxiliary verbs. The results of this study show that Indonesian and non-Indonesian writers used modal auxiliary verbs significantly differently, suggesting that linguistic and cultural background might affect the use of modal auxiliary verbs, especially in newspaper editorial articles. Furthermore, the results also show that both groups of writers used more modal auxiliary verbs with epistemic meaning rather than with deontic meaning, indicating their commitment to the truth of their argument.

Navigating Academic Texts: Challenges and Strategies of International Students in Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is a fundamental skill essential for academic success. However, many international students, particularly those from non-English-speaking backgrounds, face significant challenges in understanding academic texts. This study explored the reading comprehension challenges encountered by four Asian international students from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Vietnam at an American university in New York during the Fall Semester of 2023. It explored the Problem-Solving Strategies they used to overcome these challenges. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaires. The findings revealed that linguistic factors, such as limited academic vocabulary, and non-linguistic factors, such as background knowledge, significantly affect students' reading comprehension. Despite these challenges, students frequently utilized Problem-Solving Strategies, including rereading, adjusting reading speed, and inferring meanings from context, to enhance their understanding. The study highlighted the crucial role of these strategies and suggested that targeted instruction in Problem-Solving Strategies could further support international students' academic success

English Alveolar /t/ And Approximant /ɹ/ Convergence Phenomenon in Indonesians’ Interaction: Reflection of Social Dynamics

This study investigates the phenomenon of sound convergence in Indonesian-English bilingual interactions, focusing on a podcast setting. This study investigates three key aspects; the convergence of two English sounds: alveolar /t/ to Indonesian dental /t̪/ and approximant /ɹ/ to Indonesian trilled /r/ using Phonetic and Phonology approach; the reciprocal nature of the convergence; the social factors motivating this linguistic behavior using Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) approach.. The data collected from six podcast episodes reveal that reciprocity played a significant role in the frequency of convergence, with higher levels of mutual adjustment leading to increased overall convergence. Additionally, the speakers' educational backgrounds, particularly those from prestigious universities, influence the emergence of sound convergence. This research contributes to our understanding of sound convergence in multilingual contexts, shedding light on the complex relationship between language, identity, and social factors. The findings have implications for language education, cross-cultural communication practices, and our broader understanding of how linguistic choices reflect social structures in bilingual settings

Complexity of Love in Wuthering Heights and Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck

This study explores the theme of doomed love as depicted in Buya Hamka’s Tenggelamnya Kapal Van der Wijck (1938) and Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847), examining the profound social barriers that doomed these relationships. It particularly focuses on the characters Zainuddin and Heathcliff, who are both rejected by their societies and lovers due to insurmountable social inequalities, a rejection that culminates in the tragic deaths of their beloveds. The aim of this paper is to dissect how intrinsic narrative elements and socio- cultural contexts collectively shape the central themes of love and societal rejection in these works. The approach used in this study is Genetic Structuralism by Lucien Goldmann (1980), a literary theory that combines structural analysis with socio-cultural context. This approach argues that a literary work should be understood as a product of both its internal structure and the socio-historical conditions in which it was created. The dialectical method is used to analyze and compare literary works by examining the interaction between intrinsic elements of the texts (structures) and their socio-historical contexts (worldviews). Applying this method to compare Tenggelamnya Kapal Van der Wijckand Wuthering Heights involves tracing the internal structures of each text, including characters, narrators, irony, and worldviews, and the external socio- historical realities shaping these structures, such as colonialism and traditionalism in Indonesia for Hamka, and industrialization and social stratification in England for Brontë. The findings show how in both works, love is portrayed as a complex and often obstructed idea, shaped by cultural and social barriers of their eras and worldviews of their authors. This idea simultaneously reflect their unique cultural contexts and engage with universal human questions about morality, love and society

First-Person Pronouns as Authorial Presence in Research Articles: A Cross-Linguistic Study of English and Indonesian

This paper is a corpus-based study that attempts to examine how first-person pronouns are used in English research articles in comparison to Indonesian research articles in the field of linguistics since Indonesian writers tend to avoid the use of first-person pronouns in academic writing. This study intends to identify the types of first-person pronouns used to express authorial presence in English and Indonesian research articles. It also explores the discourse functions of first-person pronouns that serve in English and Indonesian research articles. The source of the data consists of 40 research articles that are collected from reputable journals and analyzed using AntConc. This study employs the categorization of discourse functions proposed by Hyland (2002). The results show that I, my, me, we, our, us, and the author(s) are employed by the English authors and kami, penulis, and peneliti are used by the Indonesian authors. The pronoun we is the most frequently used by both English and Indonesian authors. The English authors tend to use the pronoun I rather than the Indonesian authors. The Indonesian authors hide themselves in the phrases of the author(s) and the researcher(s).  In addition, the results also identify that these first-person pronouns serve discourse functions in research articles

A Formalist Approach to Religious Imagery in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

One of the most popular novels written for children is The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (2005). However, this novel is controversial amongst critics because it contains religious symbols. This research argues that The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe has its way of presenting religious symbols implicitly therefore children can enjoy reading it. Thus, this research aims to examine the effective presentation of religious symbols in the novel. This research uses the Formalism approach. To support the analysis, the researcher uses library research as the method with the religious symbols found in the novel as the primary data and the books and journals written by experts as the secondary data. The result of this research is The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe presented religious symbols through the characters of children, role models, central subjects and important events of the story of the novel

The Complexities of Mathilda’s Character as a Tragic Heroine in Mathilda by Mary Shelley

This research explores the character complexities of Mathilda as a tragic heroine, the main character in Mary Shelley's Mathilda, from the beginning until the end of the story. To achieve the aim of this research, the researchers use data collection and the novella Mathilda to analyze Mathilda's character. The approach for this research is psychoanalytic, theory of character and characterization, personality, and psychological process. The analysis shows that Mathilda is a complex tragic heroine who yearns for both affection and tragic death. Her experiences of unrequited parental affection and emotional turmoil contribute to her portrayal as a tragic character. However, her longing for her idealized tragic fate remains unfulfilled, adding complexity to her character. Despite her desires, she cannot obtain the tragic ending she seeks, further highlighting the tragic irony of her situation. Mathilda's portrayal as a tragic character highlights the depths of her desires and yearning and the complexities of her character

Navigating Communication Challenges in using English as a Lingua Franca: The Stories of Indonesian Students in Australia

This research explores intercultural communication encountered by Indonesian students studying in Australia, where English serves as the lingua franca. Employing the narrative accounts of participants as a valuable source of qualitative data, this research aims to identify the distinct categories of understanding-related problems experienced by Indonesian students when engaging with non-native speakers of English and to explain the strategies employed in managing such challenges. Additionally, an evaluation of the efficacy of English language teaching and learning in Indonesia is conducted to ascertain its role in mitigating understanding issues. Data for this study were gathered through open-ended interviews conducted with eight Indonesian students enrolled in master's programs at Monash University, Australia. The findings reveal that students encounter three levels of understanding problems: 1) non-understanding, 2) partial understanding, and 3) misunderstanding. The analysis underscores two predominant strategies employed by students in managing these challenges: 1) signaling the problem and 2) allowing it to pass without clarification. Furthermore, the research reveals that although participants find their English studies effective in academic contexts like class discussions and written tests, they feel that their acquired language skills lack adequate guidance for daily interactions in Australia. The study proposes specific improvements in English language teaching (ELT) in Indonesia to better equip students for the diverse linguistic challenges in intercultural settings by incorporating three competences namely interactional competence, strategic competence and multidialectal competence

Sarcastic Utterances in the Novel Series Nevermoor

This study investigates sarcastic utterances used in the novel series Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend. The novels consist of Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (2017), Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow (2018), and Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow (2020). The data for the research were taken from the characters’ dialogues containing sarcastic utterances in the three novels. By applying the descriptive qualitative method, the research aims to classify sarcastic utterances using the theory proposed by Camp (2011): propositional sarcasm, illocutionary sarcasm, lexical sarcasm, and like-prefixed sarcasm. There are 75 data with the four types of sarcastic utterances, including propositional sarcasm (62.67%), illocutionary sarcasm (26.67%), lexical sarcasm (8%), and like-prefixed sarcasm (2.67%). The research also aims to identify negative emotions as triggers for each type of sarcastic utterance using the theory proposed by Vikan (2017): anger, disgust, contempt, sadness, fear, shame, and guilt. The novels contain these negative emotions, except guilt. The type of sarcastic utterance frequently used in the novels is propositional sarcasm. Meanwhile, like-prefixed sarcasm has the most minor occurrence compared to the others. Even though propositional sarcasm and illocutionary sarcasm contain several negative emotions as triggers, lexical sarcasm and like-prefixed sarcasm only have one each

Authorial Presence in English Research Articles in Medicine Written by American and Indonesian Authors

The present research attempts to investigate authorial presence in English research articles in medicine written by American and Indonesian authors. In doing so, the study first attempts to describe first-person pronouns used to express authorial presence. Secondly, the research aims to examine the discourse functions of first-person pronouns in the research articles. Data for the present research were taken from 20 English research articles in medicine, consisting of 10 articles published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians (Wiley) and 10 in Medical Journal of Indonesia. A corpus of 81,657 words was analyzed with the help of a concordance program, WordSmith Tools 5.0 (Scott, 2008), to identify the occurrences of first-person pronouns used in research articles. A qualitative analysis was also conducted to examine the discourse functions of each first-person pronoun using the classification proposed by Filimonova (2005) and Tang and John (1999). Hopefully, the present research findings could indicate the intention of authorial presence in academic writing, specifically in medical research articles. The findings also contribute to investigating the difference between American and Indonesian authors in presenting themselves in academic writing