LANGUAGE ATTITUDES TOWARDS WRITTEN ALAY VARIETY IN FACEBOOK INTERACTION.

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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

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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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

Februari 2013

Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.

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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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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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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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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

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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

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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,

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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

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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

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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;

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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

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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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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

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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'

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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

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