OKARA: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra

Conversational Maxims and Persuasive Communication: Verbal Offer Strategies Among Sellers in Aceh Traditional Markets

Fri, 30 May 2025 08:37:40 +0700

This research explores the use of conversational maxims and verbal offers in traditional market interactions in Pasar Aceh, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, aiming to expand the understanding of communication strategies that enhance seller-customer interactions. Despite extensive studies on Grice's Cooperative Principle in various contexts, limited research has examined how sellers in traditional markets strategically engage with these maxims to persuade customers. The study involved detailed observations, audio recordings, and interviews with eight Acehnese clothing sellers chosen for their active roles in daily market interactions. Using Grice's Cooperative Principle, which includes the maxims of quantity, quality, relevance, and manner, the findings reveal that these eight sellers strategically employ these maxims to persuade customers, with occasional variations encouraging smoother and more effective interactions. The analysis identified seven distinct verbal offer types: direct product mentions, polite customer calls, pricing discussions, product origin mentions, customer needs assessment, store entry invitations, and color-based product promotions. These findings provide a grounded theory of seller-customer interactions in traditional markets, presenting persuasive techniques that may enhance market engagement and consumer satisfaction. This study provides communication patterns within traditional market settings, especially in Aceh, and cross-cultural market communication research.

I Heard “Hunedresit?”: Uncovering Language Barriers Among Indonesian Diasporas in Glasgow

Hurrotul Firdausiyah, Ahmad Abu Rifai — Sat, 31 May 2025 08:39:58 +0700

Despite the history of the 30th of September Movement (Gerakan Tiga Puluh September, G30S) incident and the Indonesian diasporas' status as exiles with feelings of being haunted and separated from their homeland, many Indonesians currently reside abroad. This current study aims to uncover and scrutinize language barriers among Indonesian diasporas in Glasgow, focusing on language barriers encountered, the effects of the language barriers, and adaptation strategies to face the language barriers. The findings of this study uncover that the Indonesian diasporas in Glasgow encompass the language barriers in Glaswegian accents, vocabularies or slang, and the fast pace of Glaswegian speech. The language barrier has significantly affected their living in Glasgow, especially regarding their communication with the locals and their emotional responses. In navigating the language barriers and adjusting to their new environment, the Indonesian diasporas employ various strategies, such as engaging with locals and learning through entertainment. In shedding light on the language barriers experienced by the Indonesian diasporas in Glasgow, this study highlights the imperative to learn and understand the cultures of host countries aimed at mitigating the challenges and obstacles while living over there.

Signified Deviations in Federer’s What Every American Needs to Know About the Qur’an: A Saussurean Analysis of Islamic Themes

Fatima Aurelian Sugandi, Ubaidillah Ubaidillah, Anar Gafarov — Sat, 31 May 2025 00:00:00 +0700

Western orientalist writings on Islam often present selective historical narratives that influence public understanding of Islamic teachings. One of these works is William J. Federer’s What Every American Needs to Know about the Qur’an – A History of Islam and the United States, which portrays Islam, the Qur’an, and the Prophet Muhammad in ways that raise theological and textual concerns. This study aims to analyze how key signifiers, Islam, the Qur’an, and the Prophet Muhammad are associated with signified meanings that deviate from established Islamic interpretations. Using Ferdinand de Saussure’s semiotic framework and a qualitative descriptive method, this research identifies three major patterns of signified deviation: (1) Islam is linked to coercion and revenge despite Qur’anic principles of religious freedom and forgiveness; (2) the Qur’an is portrayed as legitimizing violence and sexual misconduct through selective readings of specific verses; and (3) the Prophet Muhammad is represented as acting based on personal desire rather than divine command. The study concludes that these deviations result from reassigning signified meanings to key Islamic signifiers, producing an ideologically framed interpretation. This research contributes to understanding how semiotic processes shape contemporary representations of Islam in orientalist discourse.

Against the Flow: Islamic Trauma and the Reinterpretation of Musso in Indonesian Literature

Joko Santoso — Fri, 30 May 2025 00:00:00 +0700

The 1965 events involving the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) are considered one of the greatest human catastrophes in Indonesia. However, the 1948 Madiun PKI uprising also represents a significant historical moment. In 1965, the PKI became associated with victimhood, particularly in relation to the mass killings, while in 1948, the PKI was cast as the perpetrator of violence. This article examines two literary works that address the PKI’s 1948 involvement: Tentang Kamu by Tere Liye and Ayat-Ayat yang Disembelih by Anab Afifi and Thowaf Zuharon. Using Marianne Hirsch’s postmemory theory, the study explores how these narratives construct an Islamic counter-memory, framing the PKI as a source of trauma for the second generation of Indonesian Muslims. One strategy, termed "Re-Mussonization," involves the reimagining of the historical figure Musso as a central character, highlighting the PKI’s antagonism toward Islam. Additionally, the article examines the concept of post-Musso narratives, which challenge the dominant, 1965-centric memory of the PKI and offer an alternative perspective on Indonesia’s communist past.

Cultural Rituals and Personal Mourning: A Comparative Analysis of Grief in The Book of Life and Manchester by the Sea

Anabelle Angelica Dora Pangaribuan, Dhita Hapsarani — Sat, 31 May 2025 00:00:00 +0700

Although grief as a narrative trope is widely circulated in media intended for both children and adults, a gap remains in how contemporary grief models, particularly Continuing Bonds and the Dual Process Model, are represented in movies intended for different age groups. This study aims to provide insight into the differences and similarities in grief depictions in The Book of Life (2014) and Manchester by the Sea (2016) and whether these portrayals can be attributed to the intended age groups of the films, where the former is aimed at children and the latter is targeted toward general audiences. Using textual analysis, this research explores how contemporary grief theories manifest in the two films' narratives and cinematic elements, and the implications for the differing perspectives on grief. The findings reveal that while The Book of Life (2014) approaches grief symbolically by framing loss through communal rituals to offer hope amid loss, Manchester by the Sea (2016) presents grief as solitary and unresolved, highlighting emotional fracture and cultural complexities. Reading them together shows that the narratives of grief are shaped by cultural values and by assumptions about who the story is for.

Learning Path EXOOCO-2R Model in E-Module Based Reading and Writing Learning with Formative Assessment Tools

Giati Anisah, Pramesti Wulandari, Fiyan Ilman Faqih, Julia Binti Madzalan — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 13:00:25 +0700

Literacy is the foundation of education; it allows students to understand, evaluate, and communicate information effectively. However, many challenges arise in developing these skills, including limited access to adequate reading materials, ineffective teaching methods, and insufficient support and motivation from the surrounding environment. This research aims to develop a learning path in literacy learning, especially reading-to-write, based on e-modules with formative assessment tools. The development of learning paths in e-module-based reading-to-write learning with formative assessment tools is carried out using the ADDIE development model. This research began with a needs analysis to identify gaps in literacy learning. The e-module design and formative assessment tools are designed to provide a clear structure and continuous feedback to students. Based on the results of the research that has been carried out, it can be seen that the feasibility test results obtained an average value of 95.14%. These results show that the EXOOCO-2R learning path, formulated as an e-module, is considered very suitable for use, and this is in line with students' positive response to the learning path, with 68% included in the good category.

Avoiding Getting Lost in Song Translation: The Annotated Study

Yeni Artanti, Azhari Azhari, Muhammad Zikrullah, Dinda Destari — Sat, 31 May 2025 00:00:00 +0700

The rapid advancement of digital technology has led many texts to be freely translated by anyone or anything, including machine translation, without paying attention to the context or linguistic rules, resulting in misleadingly translated texts. Technological advances that allow everyone to have free access to anything have made it easy for anyone to obtain texts. The study used annotated translations to correct the misleading renderings of Putri Ariani’s songs, "Loneliness" and "Perfect Liar." The research utilized a qualitative research design. Data was obtained from the song lyrics. Dictionaries, scientific articles, literary works, reports, books, and other reliable documents provide the data for annotation. We analyzed the data using a translation approach that prioritizes the target text and annotations. The researchers discovered that the annotated literal translation strategy could provide a precise, good, accurate, comparable, and clear reference to the translation of the text or lyrics of Putri Ariani’s Loneliness and Perfect Liar. The translation can also serve as a reference for the correct translation of the songs, as it is based on a reliable foundation. It concluded that annotated translation is more contextually accurate and not misleading. Readers of the translated song lyrics need to clarify and think critically to avoid taking them for granted.

Sleep Expression Category in Arabic: A Morphosemantic Approach

Alif Cahya Setiyadi, Anhar, Riza Nurlaila, Maram Traf — Sat, 31 May 2025 00:00:00 +0700

The Arabic language is renowned for its immense richness and depth. It is widely recognized as one of the world's most intricate and expressive languages. This richness stems from several factors, including its extensive vocabulary, complex grammar, and diverse linguistic features. Despite Arabic's reputation for linguistic depth, there is limited morphosemantic analysis focusing on the variety of Arabic nouns derived from verb-root patterns that express sleep. This study aims to investigate these sleep-related nouns to uncover the diverse roots, meanings, and classifications that demonstrate the richness of Arabic vocabulary in this semantic field. This article presents a morphosemantic investigation to determine the verb-root pattern of sleep nouns from which the noun construction originates. The study comprises three main stages. Firstly, each sleep expression is extracted by consulting an online and a classical Arabic dictionary to identify their basic root. Secondly, the meanings of all aforementioned sleep-noun expressions are determined based on the same dictionary. Lastly, the categorization of Arabic sleep nouns is established. This study's findings reveal at least twenty distinct basic roots that convey the concept of sleep in Arabic, each with its unique and distinguishable meaning. These expressions can then be classified into three categories: Durations, Stages, and Time.

Do Blended Learning and Autonomous Learning Affect EFL Students’ Writing Achievement? Insight from Indonesia

Dwi Fita Heriyawati, Like Raskova Octaberlina, Daniel Ginting — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 13:44:07 +0700

Blended learning plays an important role in teaching writing and offers new prospects for enhancing autonomous learning in writing instruction for the Indonesian educational context. This study investigates the effectiveness of blended learning on students’ autonomous learning and writing achievement. This study employed a mixed-method research design, with sixty-six students from a private university in Malang, Indonesia, participating in the study, engaging in blended learning sessions comprising both online and face-to-face components. Findings indicate a significant interaction between blended learning and learners’ autonomy, positively influencing students’ writing proficiency. The study revealed a p-value of 0.029. The p-value is lower than the significance level of 0.05, which means that sig = 0.029 < 0.05. Based on the statistical computation’s outcomes, it can be inferred that the effect of blended learning depends on Autonomous Learning. This suggests that Autonomous Learning and blended learning both have an impact on students’ ability to write. Cooperatively, blended learning and autonomous learning have an interactive rather than additive impact on writing achievement. While the study underscores the potential benefits of blended learning, limitations include its focus on a specific student demographic and educational setting, potentially limiting generalizability. Implications suggest that educators consider integrating blended learning to enhance student engagement and writing skills.

The Linguistics of Faith: Understanding the Human-God Relationship in Javanese and Arabic Expressions

Sat, 31 May 2025 00:00:00 +0700

Language functions not only as a means of communication, but also as a medium that represents a society's worldview and spiritual values. Within this context, religious expressions in Javanese and Arabic reflect the ways in which societies perceive the relationship between humans and God. This study examines the similarities in linguistic representation and philosophical meaning in these expressions. This study used a mixed-methods approach, integrating qualitative linguistic and hermeneutic analyses with descriptive quantitative analysis. The research data consisted of 39 expressions related to divine attributes, which portrayed the relationship between humans and God, gathered from written Javanese texts and verses from the Qur’an and Arabic wisdom expressions. The data were obtained through documentation technique and analyzed by identifying the lexemes, syntactic structures, and the philosophical meanings reflected in the expressions. The findings reveal those expressions in both languages indicate four underlying philosophical meanings: reverence, submission, devotion, and humility. These meanings are reflected in the occurrence of identical or synonymous lexicons and in the syntactic structures of both languages. Findings of this study demonstrate conceptual harmony in interpreting the vertical relationship between humans and God, which also illustrates the historical and cultural interaction between Javanese traditions and Islamic teachings. This study provides a contribution to linguistic and hermeneutic studies, particularly in understanding language as a medium that represents the religious values and philosophical views of society.