Language and Social Context

construal semiotics

SOCIAL CONTEXT

LANGUAGE
(Text)
 LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL
CONTEXT
 IDEOLOGY

CULTURE

SITUATION

LANGUAGE
(Text)
 Social
Context
IDEOLOGY

CULTURE

SITUATION

Language

Semantics

Lexicogrammar

phonology
Phonology/
Graphology/
Sign
 LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL CONTEXT
IDEOLOGY
Interpersonal tristratal
Function trinocular
CULTURE

Textual
Natural Reality SITUATION Function
Social Reality
Tenor Verbal Reality
Ideational Natural Reality
Field
Function (Discourse) Mode
Semantics descriptive adequacy
Negotiation methodological adequacy
Ideation/ Identification
explanatory adequacy
Conjunction

Lexicogrammar

Transitivity/ Mood Theme/

Ergativity/ Rheme
Taxis LANGUAGE
SOCIAL Phonology/
Graphology/
CONTEXT Sign
 Genre
Genre: staged, goal-oriented social activities
There are numerous genres in one culture.
Academic genres

1. Description
2. Explanation
3. Procedure
4. Exposition
5. Discussion
6. Narrative
7. Recount
8. Report/Report Spoof
9. Anecdote
10. Academic Text/Essay
11. Newspaper texts
12. Scientific Articles
13. … (of relevance)
Linguistic Realizations as coded in the three elements of Metafunction
 Narrative
Social Function: tell a story, that something goes wrong
Generic Structure

(Abstract)  Orientation  [(Evaluation)]n 

Complication  Resolution  (Coda)

Abstract : a short introductory remarks

Orientation : ‘who is who and where’
Evaluation : the narrator’s judgment or comments
Complication : the crisis or climax
Resolution : efforts to solve the problem
Coda : additional remarks
 Experience in Smoking
I have an unforgettable story on smoking.
This happened when I was 9 years old. I liked heroes in cowboy films
where the heroes fired shoots while they were smoking. One day, my friend
Ali and I went to our special place –under the bamboo tress near the bank of
a river in a remote place in Asahan. Ali took a packet of cigarettes, which he
snatched from his father’s drawers and I stole half a packet from my father’
pocket.
There we enjoyed the cigarettes.
After almost two hours’ smoking I felt headache. I saw Ali’s face turning
pale and Ali told me that he saw the earth moving. In no time Ali collapsed
and got fainted.
I ran back home quickly and told our parents and the news spread all over
the village. All of a sudden all members of the village came to our favorite
place at the bank of a river and at no time Ali and I were taken to the
community medical centre. When we recovered our parents got very angry
and as a lesson my uncle smacked me on the face and Ali was hit by his
elder bother.
It was an awful experience
 Exposition
Social Function: to argue for or against a social issue

Generic Structure:
(Abstract)  Thesis  [Argument] n  Conclusion, where 
means ‘followed by’, (…) indicates ‘optional’ and […]n means
reiteration or occurring repeatedly in their orders of 1, 2, 3… n .

Abstract: brief definition

Thesis: (1) idea, opinion, proposal(2) side i. e. Protagonist (P) or
Antagonist (A)
Argument: (1) example, (2) illustration, (3) statistics, (4) quotation
The scale of value 1, 2, 3, 4 respectively
Conclusion: (1) paraphrase (2) summary, (3) implication

Types of Exposition: (1) analytical (to argue that…) and (2)

hortatory (to argue to…)
 Ban for Smoking (P)
(Ab) Smoking is inhaling smokes from burning cigarettes.
(Th) Smoking causes disadvantages to health, welfare and environment.
(Ag) Firstly, smoking is hazardous to health. Because of breathing in
poisonous smoke a smoker often has respiratory diseases such as
tuberculosis or lung cancer. Not only does smoking cause risk to the
smoker himself/herself but it is harmful to other people around (the passive
smokers) as well. For example, the passive smoker such as the fetus in the
womb of pregnant women can have the same amount of nicotine as its
smoking mother’s blood.
(Ag) Secondly, smoking causes economical disadvantage. The smokers
are always sicky so they have low-productivity activity. Therefore, they are
disadvantageous to economy. It is estimated that more than 87% smokers
work less efficiently than non-smokers do.
(Ag) Thirdly, smoking litters the surroundings. Cigarette butts are
everywhere with a huge amount of poisonous smoke is sent into the
atmosphere. Jones (1998: 12) has observed that millions hectares of forest
are felled for cigarette paper and filter.
(Co) In conclusion, smoking is disadvantageous to people, economy and
environment. It is suggested that smoking should be banned).
 Advantages of Smoking (A)
Smoking is inhaling smokes from burning cigarettes.
It is understood that smoking causes various problems. However,
nowadays more and more people are smoking. It is believed that smoking
is advantageous in term of economic development, population growth
control and social solidarity.
Firstly, smoking enhances economic development. For example,
the smokers buy cigarettes which stimulate cigarette industries which pay
taxes to the government. The smokers also support tobacco farmers.
Secondly, smoking increase mortality rate. As the effect of
consuming nicotine, the smokers shorten their life spans by 5%. This is a
good control for population growth rate and at the same time offers
conducive situation to the family planning programs
Thirdly, smoking motivates social solidarity. Smokers make
themselves more cohesive social beings. When a smokers runs out of
cigarettes, other smokers are very willing to help him or her with cigarettes.
In conclusion, as smoking offers advantages in terms of economy,
population growth control and social cohesiveness the practice should not
be banned.
 Comparison of Linguistic Realizations
Smoking is inhaling smokes from burning cigarettes.
Smoking causes disadvantages to health, welfare and
environment. Firstly, smoking is hazardous to health.
Because of breathing in poisonous smoke a smoker
often has respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis or
lung cancer. Not only does smoking cause risk to the
smoker himself/herself but it is harmful to other people
around (the passive smokers) as well. For example,
the passive smoker such as the fetus in the womb of
pregnant women can have the same amount of
nicotine as its smoking mother’s blood. Secondly,
smoking causes economical disadvantage. The
smokers are always sicky so they have low-productivity
activity. Therefore, they are disadvantageous to
economy. It is estimated that more than 87% smokers
work less efficiently than non-smokers do. Thirdly,
smoking litters the surroundings. Cigarette butts are
everywhere with a huge amount of poisonous smoke is
sent into the atmosphere. Jones (1998: 12) has
observed that millions hectares of forest are felled for
cigarette paper and filter. In conclusion, smoking is
disadvantageous to people, economy and environment.
It is suggested that smoking should be banned).
I have an unforgettable story on smoking. This
happened when I was 9 years old. I liked heroes in
cowboy films where the heroes fired shoots while
they were smoking. One day, my friend Ali and I
went to our special place –under the bamboo tress
near the bank of a river in a remote place in Asahan.
Ali took a packet of cigarettes, which he snatched
from his father’s drawers and I stole half a packet
from my father’ pocket. There we enjoyed the
cigarettes. After almost two hours’ smoking I felt
headache. I saw Ali’s face turning pale and Ali told
me that he saw the earth moving. In no time Ali
collapsed and got fainted. I ran back home quickly
and told our parents and the news spread all over the
village. All of a sudden all members of the village
came to our favorite place at the bank of a river and
at no time Ali and I were taken to the community
medical centre. When we recovered our parents got
very angry and as a lesson my uncle smacked me on
the face and Ali was hit by his elder bother. It was an
awful experience
 Comparison of Linguistic Realizations

exposition narrative
1. Relational Process 1. Material Process
2. The simple present 2. The simple past
3. Cause effect relation 3. Location relation
4. Circumstance of manner 4. Circumstance of location
 IDEOLOGY
- A system of concepts and images by which one , as
a member of society, sees and grasps things and
interpret what is seen, heard or read (Trew 1979:
95). Ideology is rooted/ingrained in the practices of
its society. Ideology is a semiotics; therefore
decision can be best understood by applying
semiotic procedures.

- All perception involves theory or ideology and there

are no ‘raw’, un-interpreted or theory-free facts.

- A social construct which says ideally what one

should or should not do as a member of the
community.

- Ideology functions as a guide to act (potentially) and

a filter to react (defend)
 - IDEOLOGY is related to RACE OR ETHNICITY, AGE,
SEX/GENDER AND ASPIRATIONS ; consequently
perception of the world varies. The perception is realized in
various modes; one of which is language and hence is
realized in linguistic varieties.

- Ideology determines culture, which in turns rules out elements

of context of situation (Field, Tenor and Mode)

- Ideology is a construct, thought, concept, theory or

meaning idealized by the society as a guide to act
internally and a filter to react externally for the
betterment of the members.

- Ideologi adalah konsep, konstruksi, atau pemikiran

sosial yang diidealkan atau diidamkan oleh pemakai
bahasa dan menjadi panduan (guide) dalam beraksi, dan
menjadi penapis (filter) dalam bereaksi.
Ideology is defined as particular ways of
representing and constructing society, which
reproduce unequal relations of power, relations
of domination and exploitation; they are often
false and ungrounded (Wodak 1996: 17-20).

Ideology is realized in the use of language,

specifically in the elements of Processes,
Participants and Circumstances of the clauses.

Synoptically Ideology is ascertained through the

use of language or text in its context.
 Ideology

1. Synoptic: product/text as product

2. Dynamic: process/text as process

Synoptically ideology is loaded in

- Race/ Ethnicity
- Sex/Gender
- Age
- Goup or Class/Aspiration
 Text
(1) Keberhasilan seorang pejabat banyak ditentukan oleh istrinya. Hampir
semua pejabat yang sukses berada dalam kehidupan rumah tangga
yang harmonis, baik dan bahagia dengan istri yang setia dan ikhlas
mendampingi suami sebagai suri rumah tangga.
(2) Semua masalah ini ditimbulkan oleh bini si Usman yang gegabah dan
pongah itu. Apapun belum terjadi dia sudah menceritakan kepada
tetangganya bahwa mobil mereka akan diganti baru. Tetapi
kenyataannya tidak ada. Lalu orangpun mulai memperguncingkan
omomngan bininya itu. Gosip pun beredar dan akhirnya kacaulah
semua seperti keadaan sekarang.
(3) Orang rumah si Suman termasuk yang telaten. Itulah yang patut ditiru.
Pendidikan baik tetapi masih mau ke dapur. Terhadap mertua baik dan
malayan ibu mertua dengan ikhlas. Kerja-kerja rumah dan anak-anak
mereka terurus. Beda dengan bini si Usman yang sibuk dan bergosip.
Bini si Usman lebih sibuk dari dia. Padahal si Usman yang pejabat,
bukan bininya itu.
 Ideology

neutral

istri

wives

pejorative
bini

skewing

domestic
orang rumah
 Haji Wilfred Situmorang
Pendeta Marwan Jabri

Dia berusia 15 tahun pada saat itu.

Tiga puluh tahun kemudian dia
berkenalan dengan pamannya yang
berusia 12 tahun.
 Ideologically Loaded Words
No word is free from ideology in one language. A word in one language may
share similarities to another in different language at a certain level but at the
level of ideology the word is differently perceived.
mother—ibu
brave—berani
house—rumah

A word in the same language may be ideologically different.

ibu (Indonesia vs Malaysia)
kelamin (Indonesia vs Malaysia)
ho, ham, hamu, kam, ngko (among the Batak speakers)

Names are loaded with ideology (Borneo-Kalimantan; Falklands-Malvinas;

Penang—Pulau Pinang; Irian Barat/Jaya-Papua; Kuta Raja-Banda Aceh;
Poltak; Tigor; Anggaraini/Annggreny; Wagirin; Wagiman; Ponirin; Tomat Barus;
Kentang Ginting; Taylor; Smith; Thatcher; Nurhayati; Nurlaily; Nurbetty; Beta
Rapita)
 Ideology in Broad Sense

The USA
melting pot...........(cf at one time in Indonesia during Suharto’s administration)
globalization

UK/Australia
multiculturalism
internationalization

Liberalism
Capitalism

Socialism
Communism
the Bataks
dalihan na tolu ‘three pilars of life’ (tondong/hula-hula one’s (extended) mother’s
sides’, dongan tubu/sanina ‘one’s (extended) brother’s sides and boru one’s
(extended) sister’s sides). An ideal life is compromised by the elements of the
dalihan na tolu.

the Toba Bataks

1.Hamoraon ‘wealth’
2.Hagabeon ‘good extended family’
3.Hasangapon ‘respect’

extended family 33 children (having 17 sons and 16 daughters)

the Simalungun
habonaron do bona ‘the truth is the essence/substance’

the Bugeese
An ideal solution to the problems by reference to three
systematic/procedural U’s: ujung lidah (the tip of tongue), ujung kelamin (tip of male
genital) and ujung badik (tip of (sharp) knife, which is respectively interpreted as
negotiation, (goal-oriented) marriage and physical attack/war

the Malays
Berkali sudah ombak melanda, namun pantai tetap berpasir
 Ideology
Sex/Gender: superiority of male over female or the
other way round. In Islamic states such as Iran and
Pakistan a woman is not to hold the position of the
Judge/jury in the courtroom

- Age: an ideal saying or expression at a certain

period of time in Indonesia

- Class or Group/Aspiration: political party, company,

etc...
 Ideology
synoptic realization: humming the Godfather’s song
to a member of Parliament to symbolize the mafia
group.

Ideology in naming: Irian Jaya vs Papua

Borneo vs Kalimantan