What is the role of the government? (A dialectical-relational approach to discursive struggle in the arena of community education presented by an Indonesian online media)

The Indonesian national law states that the National Education System could be universally implemented in a complete and totally integrated manner. There are three key words to ponder: universal, complete, and integrated. As a replacement, a complement, and/or a supplement to formal education, community education ideally should have had an appropriate system and management. The present study aims to reveal issues in the implementation of community education in Indonesia as represented on an online media and to examine the solutions to those problems. The existence of such problems under investigation makes the values of the National Education System, namely universality, completeness, and integration appear to be impracticable. Under the framework of a qualitative method, this study used a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of Fairclough’s tradition (1997). The selected texts from an online media, called the Jakarta Post, were analysed by following the method and stages of dialectical-relational approach (Fairclough, 2013). The analysis was not only leaned on textual analysis, but also covered an inter-discursive analysis. This study reveals that there is a ‘social wrong’, namely the overwhelming level of responsibility possessed by community education. Generally, the problems of community education can be solved through the collaboration of various elements in the society. The Central Government, specifically, the Ministry of Education, should deal with and implement feasible programs starting from solving the philosophical issues: the different concepts of educating and teaching, being adaptive (able to deal with the current issues to be placed in pedagogical practices), and a fair distribution of funding (expenses for providing infrastructure). This form of contemplation can be considered to be a part of an essential discourse analysis to comprehend the dialectics of semiotic elements and textual evidence. Moreover, this study also shows that there are still many actual problems in the Indonesian education sector

A writing workshop model to enhance students’ skills in writing essays in Sundanese

Writing is difficult. Having a limited understanding on what to write or the fear of getting grammar or spelling errors is often a major problem for students when they are instructed to write something, be it an essay or an article.  Such difficulties are respective for Sundanese language classes in West Java. The study reported in this paper aims to investigate a number of fundamental problems of writing in Sundanese classes at a Junior High School. The study seeks to address the problems in the area of teaching writing in Sundanese classes by providing a comprehensive picture of the practice of a writing workshop model in the selected class. The study is classroom action research taking place in a public Junior High School in West Java, specifically in a Sundanese language class. The participants of the study were 36 students of 9th grade (comprising 14 male students and 22 female students) in 2018-2019 academic years. There were 3 cycles involved in this action research implemented throughout a semester. The study revealed that the use of the writing workshop model in teaching writing in Sundanese could improve the students’ writing skills. The writing workshop model, which focused on personal analysis and peer-feedback in the essay writing process, facilitated 9th grade students in producing, evaluating, and presenting essays within their respective groups. A supportive social environment in groups allowed for students’ enjoyment in writing. This environment thus led students to be exposed to varied topics and linguistic expressions in multi-social contexts. This study suggests that there are potential benefits from implementing the writing workshop model in the practice of teaching writing. Therefore, language teachers are suggested that they should apply this model in their teaching of writing. Through this model, students will be more engaged in their writing classes and learn writing in more meaningful, fun, creative, and dialogic ways

An analysis of multimodal resources in environmental protection posters

Exposure of environmental issues is essential to prevent mass environmental destructions; therefore, campaigns (posters) should be able to activate the viewers’ contemplation on such issues. The emergence of multimodal texts provides a vast opportunity for semioticians to do their analyses in a more creative manner in current communication processes. Accordingly, this study focuses on the interactive meanings of semiotic resources in posters on environmental campaigns using a multimodal perspective. It examines the contribution of visual and textual resources to raise people’s awareness on the significance of preserving the environment for future generations. This study drew upon analytical tools from SFL, social semiotics, and reading images (Bezemer Kress, 2008; Kress, 2011; Kress Van Leeuwen 1996; Martinec Salway, 2005).  This form of contemplation can be considered to be a part of an essential educational process to build a good character. This study shows that the sample posters are significant to represent and transfer environmental messages through these multimodal resources

PERSEPSI GURU-GURU SEKOLAH DASAR PASCAPELATIHAN GOOGLE MEET UNTUK MENGATASI MASALAH-MASALAH PEMBELAJARAN SELAMA MASA PANDEMI COVID-19

Pandemi mengubah jalannya sekolah kita. Semua kelas tatap muka tradisional diubah menjadi kelas dalam jaringan. Hal ini mempersulit perencanaan pendidikan yang sangat baik untuk mata kuliah berbasis praktik, karena mata kuliah ini mengandalkan fasilitas laboratorium untuk meningkatkan kemampuan siswa. Oleh karena itu, pelayanan sosial kepada 24 guru SD menjadi penting melalui pemanfaatan platform dalam jaringan, khususnya Google Meet. Oleh karena itu, tujuan dari makalah ini adalah untuk mempelajari tentang proses pengajaran penggunaan Google Meet selama pandemi Covid-19, serta untuk menilai pendapat instruktur tentang pelatihan dan penggunaan platform ini. Penulis menggunakan paradigma kualitatif untuk menggambarkan metode pembelajaran dan menentukan pendapat instruktur tentang pelatihan menggunakan observasi lapangan dan survei. Berdasarkan observasi lapangan yang terdokumentasi, presenter kursus menggunakan Google Meet untuk diskusi konten. Menurut survey ini, 73,62 persen responden lebih memilih mode pembelajaran dalam jaringan karena minimnya masalah yang dihadapi. Menariknya, temuan kuesioner mengungkapkan 81,95 persen persepsi yang baik tentang penggunaan pelbagai platform selama sesi. Ini memiliki potensi untuk menjadi peningkatan yang signifikan untuk kuliah dalam jaringan di semua konteks

An Analysis of Code-Switching Used by the Models and Judges in Indonesia's Next Top Model Cycle 2

This study entitled “An analysis of code-switching used by the models and judges in Indonesia’s Next Top Model Cycle 2” aims to analyze the types and factors of code-switching that were found in the TV show. This study used a descriptive qualitative method in which the data were obtained from the video downloaded from YouTube. The data were in the form of utterances of all the models and judges in the TV show. Drawing on Appel and Muysken’s (2006) types of code switching and Hoffman’s (1991) factors contributing to code switching, the results of the study revealed that there were 167 types and 172 factors of code-switching in Indonesia’s Next Top Model Cycle 2: 13.17% (22) inter-sentential switching, 78.44% (131) intra-sentential switching, 6.59% (11) tag-switching, and 1.80% (3) inter-sentential switching in Bahasa Indonesia-Javanese. Meanwhile, the factors that found were talking about particular topic, being emphatic about something, interjection, repetition, intention to clarify, and expressing group identity. The most dominant factors were talking about particular topic 64.53% or 111 data and followed by intention of clarifying the speech content for interlocutors 14.53% or 25 data. The findings of the study indicated that intra-sentential switching was used dominantly to assure the audience of the show, which is mostly Indonesians, can understand entirely the conversation. Additionally, the subjects used code-switching to talk about particular topic, mostly for fashion terminologies, as it is intended to create an exclusivity for the people who belong to the same group, which is fashion enthusiasts

Investigating the use of text modifications in L2 reading

Research on text modifications has been around since the 80s until the present day. These studies have come a long way from manual text modification methods to the use of computerized models in its present form. However, there seems to be no resolution to the question of whether modified texts can help language learning. This study went back to the basics, manually modifying a text to find out whether it can help non-native English readers’ English reading comprehension. A text taken from a semiotic textbook was modified using the text modification strategies outlined by Parker Chaudron (1987). The text was then given to an experiment group comprising of 7th semester students studying linguistics at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Having read the text, these students were given a written test alongside a questionnaire. Their scores and their attitudes toward the modified text (from the written test the questionnaire, respectively) were taken to measure and compare with the scores and attitudes of a control group reading the original text. The results showed a difference between the scores of students in the control group and those in the experiment group, with the latter having more students who scored high. There are also more students in the experiment group with a positive attitude toward the text they read compared to those in the control group. However, the difference in scores proved to be statistically not significant, and also most students who viewed the modified text positively scored low on the written test. Keywords: Elaboration of text, simplification of text, text modification

Humor functions and flouting of conversatiomal maxims: A case study of humor in Indonesian academic lectures

This case study explored the unlikely phenomenon of the use of humor in academic lectures. The previous studies in this area have shown that, though traditionally unlikely, humor is commonly used as a linguistic strategy in academic discourse. Therefore, this case study aims to contribute to the literature of Indonesian academic discourse by examining the creation and functions of humor in Indonesian academic lectures. Through the descriptive qualitative method, this study analyzed five classroom lectures of English Literature major in Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. After the lectures were transcribed according to Jefferson’s (2004) transcription convention, the question of the creation of humor was answered based on Grice’s (1975) conversational maxim theory. This analysis discovered that there was a slight inclination to create humor by flouting the Maxim of Quality in the data, which implies that the lecturers tend to rely on untruthfulness to create jokes. Afterward, the function is analyzed based on Nesi’s (2012) theory of functions of humor in academic contexts, and it was found that the lecturers mostly used humor to build rapport with the students.Keywords: Academic context, Conversational maxims, Cooperative principles, Humor, Functions of humor, Pragmatic

COUNTER-CLAIMING FOR A CRIME NARRATIVE: AN EVALUATION OF THE DEFENDANT’S PLEA AT THE CORRUPTION CRIMINAL COURT

In a criminal trial, the plea of the accused is arguably a very important appraising discourse tool functioning mainly to counter the crime narrative made by public prosecutors in their indictment and closing statement. As an appraisal instrument, the plea represents the stance of the accused with regards to the facts of the case as well as the legal aspects of the alleged crime. In this regard, the plea may serve both argumentative and persuasive functions and may shape, to some extent, the understanding and the consideration of the judges who decide on the case. The study, which is qualitative in nature, uses Martin and White’s appraisal theory (Martin and White, 2005) to investigate evaluation strategies employed by an accused of a corruption case in his plea. Evaluation strategies are defined here as strategies in discourse used to counter the crime narrative by employing relevant evaluative resources. The result of the analysis shows that the accused strategically uses the three main discourse semantics resources, i.e. engagement, attitude, and graduation. The contractive options of engagement (deny, counter, and pronounce) are used to counter aspects of the crime narrative, while judgment of propriety (social sanction) and capacity (social esteem) of the attitude component are employed mainly to evaluate aspects of the crime narrative negatively and aspects of the counter narrative positively. Furthermore, amplification and quantification options of the graduation component are used to strengthen the degree of evaluation. It can be concluded that the narrative of plea is arguably an important evaluative instrument which, strategically and professionally constructed, may help the accused convince the judges of his/her innocence

Investigating the types and causes of slips of the tongue of one of the Indonesian female singers

A slip of the tongue is one of the speech errors that often encounter in everyday life. Many people may have experienced this phenomenon either consciously or not. However, it would be different when a public figure made slips of the tongue. One of the Indonesian female singers has been viral on social media because of slips of the tongue that she made. She frequently made slips of the tongue when speaking in front of people. Thus, the study is conducted to investigate the phenomenon of slips of the tongue of this singer by revealing the mistakes found in the process of the articulatory program of her utterances, the dominant types of slips of the tongue used by her, and the causes of slips of the tongue. Furthermore, the study is based on a qualitative case study. The data were obtained by downloading three YouTube videos that contained the compilation video of slips of the tongue by the singer and her interview video with Sarah Sechan Talk Show as well as Narasi Entertainment’s Podcast. The transcriptions of the three videos became the source of the data. The study uses the theory from Garrett (1975) about the process of the articulatory program and Clark and Clark (1977) about types of slips of the tongue and factors of speech error. This study also uses the theory from Carroll (1986) about other types of slips of the tongue which are addition and deletion to analyze the data. This study has revealed that this Indonesian female singer mostly made mistakes in the process of phonetic segments as many as 33 times. It was also found that substitution is the dominant type of slips of the tongue that used in the video, as many as 22 times. Moreover, the causes of slips of the tongue were cognitive difficulty and social factors. Keywords: Speech error; slips of the tongue; one of the Indonesian female singers

Kodi Lee in Online Media: How is Autism Represented?

This study entitled Kodi Lee in Online Media: How is Autism Represented? aims to reveal the representation of Kodi Lee, a savant autistic young man, in three different online media, namely Good Housekeeping US, The Wrap, and HuffPost. This study uses Halliday’s (1994) Systematic Functional Linguistic (SFL) focuses on Transitivity Analysis (TA) as the main analytical tool. Other theories uses to support the findings are representation (Hall, 1997), media representation (Orgad, 2012) and autism representation which includes savant autism (Prochnow, 2014) and mothering and autism (Stevenson, 2008). The findings show that material processes are dominantly used on the three websites. Material processes are used to describe Kodi’s talents. Meanwhile, from the analysis of verbal processes, it is evident that Kodi still cannot voice himself, even though he has some talents to be proud of, which on the same time contradicts with Clarke’s (2011) study. This study also finds that representations of Kodi are different on each media. Good Housekeeping US represents Kodi as a talented person with disabilities who stands behind his mother shadow. The Wrap represents Kodi as an extraordinary disabled young man who has a very strong bond with his mother, while HuffPost represents Kodi as a talented human being despite his disabilities. These results show despite Kodi’s claim as a savant autistic young man, the media still emphasize his disabilities to represent him. Keywords: autism, representation, savant autism, transitivity analysi