An Analysis of Language Style in Instagram Caption of English Department Students of HKBP Nommensen Medan

Abstract

This research aims to find out (1) the types of language styles used by English Department Students of HKBP Nommensen University Medan in writing captions on Instagram; and (2) the reasons for using language styles in writing captions on Instagram. This research uses Martin Joos' Theory (2010) and uses the qualitative method as the research design. The data of this study are captions written by students majoring in English at HKBP Nommensen University on their Instagram accounts. The data were collected using documentation and questionnaires. The data were analyzed using the interactive model proposed by Miles, Huberman, and Saldana (2014) which consists of three steps: data condensation, data presentation, and conclusion drawing/verification. The findings of this study show that: (1) there are four types of language styles used by English major students of HKBP Nommensen in writing their Instagram captions. The types are formal style, consultative style, casual style, and intimate style. The most frequently used styles casual style, formal style, and consultative style, and; (2) there are five reasons for using language styles in their Instagram captions. The first is to express feelings or emotions such as happy, sad, anxiety, doubt, and others, the second is for communication purposes such as celebrations, relationships, encouraging self-love, and confidence, and conveying good wishes, the third is due to the influence of social media trends, the fourth is due to educational background. As students majoring in English Education, students likely apply their learned language skills in writing captions, to communicate effectively and attract the attention of the audience. And finally, because of personal preferences, each student has their unique preferences, this is reflected in the language styles they use to improve the quality and attractiveness of their Instagram captions. The most widely used reason is to express feelings or emotions (expressive).