4 research outputs found
A ‘NEW NORMAL’ OF CODE-SWITCHING: COVID-19, THE INDONESIAN MEDIA AND LANGUAGE CHANGE
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed behavioural norms and how people conceptualise everyday life. It has led to prolific use of specific terminology that is new or was previously outside the lexical boundaries of common use. Terms like ‘social distancing’, ‘lockdown’ and ‘new normal' were previously jargon limited to specialist fields. The COVID-19 pandemic which spread globally in 2020 has led to great social change and an associated lexical influence. To study this phenomenon, we examine the lexical effects of COVID-19 on the Indonesian language, through analysis of two well-known Indonesian national newspapers – Kompas and Suara Pembaruan, for the month of May 2020. This was at a time of growing awareness of COVID-19 in Indonesia, that included a partial lockdown in Jakarta. As such, there was a great deal of attention to COVID-19 in the mass media. To study this, we apply quantitative content analysis to the sample data to identify the range and frequency of words borrowed from English. We examine this use of code-switching to also undertake qualitative analysis, exploring the various socio-linguistic dimensions of those borrowed terms. Some usage was found to address lexical gaps in Indonesian language, where other usage appeared more for stylistic, emphatic purposes, drawing on the semiotic power of English in the Indonesian context. Code-switching reiteration was particularly prominent in the sample data. We argue that through code-switching reiteration, the print media can introduce new foreign vocabulary to Indonesian readers, which subsequently generates opportunities for language change. COVID-19 has expedited this process, meaning that there has been an increased likelihood of Indonesian language change during 2020
Pronominal choice: Indonesian diglossic code-switching on the Kick Andy show
Indonesian language contains a variety of pronouns and pronoun substitutes which enable speakers to position themselves in a variety of ways in relation to others for communicative purposes. Factors such as social standing, age, gender and cultural background influence pronominal choice but also reflect language alternation between standardised formal and informal Indonesian, a phenomenon known as diglossic code-switching. To study this, we examine the effects of pronominal choice by speakers on an episode of the popular Indonesian television talk show, Kick Andy. We first apply quantitative Discourse Analysis to sample conversations to identify the range of pronominal choice by speakers and instances of diglossic and English code-switching. Next we examine the use of diglossic code-switching through qualitative Conversation Analysis, to explore how speakers index themselves and others through individual linguistic choices of pronoun selection. In this study, we apply social positioning theory as a useful framework to analyse these dynamics. We detail how pronouns reflect social positioning of speakers and serve as a key indicator of societal power dynamics that broadly link to cultural norms. Our study contributes to sociolinguistic literature arguing that pronominal choice in Indonesian language is closely linked to diglossic code-switching.
Code-Switching and Linguistic Diversity in Contemporary Indonesian Language
This research explores the linguistic phenomenon of code-switching in contemporary Indonesian language with a particular focus on the diverse effects of English influence. It is argued that code-switching is an important resource in the daily communication of Indonesian language users and heightened use of code-switching both enriches and diversifies the Indonesian language and associated identity positions.</p
P stones and provos : group violence in Northern Ireland and Chicago
Although the government of the United States of America was established to protect the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness among all American citizens, this thesis argues intractable gang violence in inner-city Chicago has persistently denied these rights, in turn undermining fundamental (and foundational) American political values. Thus, gang violence can be argued to represent a threat to both civil order and state legitimacy. Yet, where comparable (and generally lower) levels of community-level violence in Northern Ireland garnered the sustained attention and direct involvement of the United Kingdom's central government, the challenge posed by gang violence has been unappreciated, if not ignored, by the American federal government. In order to mobilise the political commitment and resources needed to find a durable resolution to Chicago's long and often anarchic 'uncivil war', it is first necessary to politicise the problem and its origins. Contributing to this politicisation, this thesis explains why gang violence in Chicago has been unable to capture the political imagination of the American government in a way akin to paramilitary (specifically republican) violence in Northern Ireland. Secondly, it explains how the depoliticisation of gang violence has negatively affected response, encouraging the continued application of inadequate and largely ineffective response strategies. Finally, it makes the case that, while radical, a conditional agreement-centric peace process loosely modelled on that employed in Northern Ireland might offer the most effective strategy for restoring the sense of peace and security to inner-city Chicago lost over half a century ago
