The Power of Visual Communication: Analyzing Visual Multimodal Cybertext Contexts in Indonesian Cyber Pragmatics
Main Article Content
Keywords
cybertext context, context features, multimodal visual, determining intent, media
Abstract
The rapid advancement of technology has significantly influenced the field of linguistics, particularly pragmatics, by expanding its scope from traditional intra-linguistic factors to encompass extralinguistic contexts such as social, cultural, situational, and cyber dimensions. This shift has ushered in functionalistic and post-functionalistic approaches in Indonesia, broadening the field to include semantic, cultural, cognitive, and cyber pragmatics. This study investigates how visual multimodal cybertext contexts in Indonesian digital media affect the interpretation of speech intent. This research draws on five selected visual, multimodal text excerpts from social media collected through free-flowing listening and note-taking, and it employs distributional and extralinguistic analysis methods. The findings reveal three primary roles of visual elements in cybertext: (1) typographic visuals that clarify background context for intended meaning, (2) visual icons that aid in contextual explanation, and (3) illustrative visuals that enhance understanding of the communicated message. These visual components are essential in facilitating accurate interpretation and engagement with speech acts in digital spaces. Addressing the gaps in understanding these elements can enhance communication strategies in Indonesian digital media, supporting clearer interaction and comprehension in a multicultural digital environment. This research contributes to the evolving field of cyber pragmatics by demonstrating the need for effective multimodal approaches to digital communication, especially in diverse sociocultural settings.
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References
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Rahardi, R. K., Rahmat, W., & Kurniawan, Y. (2023). Pseudo-directive speech act in the Javanese language: Culture-specific pragmatic perspective. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 66(11), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_jslhr-23-00223
Rahardi, R. K., Rahmat, W., Tiawati, R. L., & Setyaningsih, Y. (2024). Unraveling the psychological impact of spatial cybertext environments on speech intent. AILA Review, June, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.23022.rah
Rahardi, K. (2017). Linguistic impoliteness in the sociopragmatic perspective. Jurnal Humaniora, 29(3). https://doi.org/10.22146/jh.24954
Rahardi, K. (2020). Variations of the meaning of the emotive word “Wela” in Javanese: A socioopragmatic perspective. Realm: Journal of Language Studies, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.26499/rnh.v9i2.2937
Rahardi, K. (2022). Virtual extralinguistic context landscape in cyber pragmatics. Indonesian Linguistics, 40(1). https://doi.org/10.26499/li.v40i1.287
Rahardi, R. K. (2023). Social–societal context element changes in cyberpragmatics perspective. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 13(11), 2771–2779. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1311.06
Rahardi, R. K. (2020a). Depicting pragmatic meanings of Covid-19 hoaxes in social media: Cyber-pragmatic perspective mendeskripsikan makna pragmatik hoaks Covid-19 dalam media sosial: Perspektif cyber-pragmatik. Word Journal: Research on Language and Literature, Volume 4, (7).
Rahardi, R. K. (2020b). Konteks eksternal virtual dalam pragmatik siber virtual external contexts in cyberpragmatics. Journal of Indonesian Language and Literature Education Metalingua, 15(2).
Rahardi, R. K. (2021). Lanskap konteks sosial-sosietal dalam pragmatik berbasis cybertexts vaksinasi Covid-19 (socio-social context landscape in cybertexts-based pragmatics Covid-19 vaccination). Indonesian Language Education and Literature, 6(2), 236. https://doi.org/10.24235/ileal.v6i2.8112
Rahardi, R. K., Handoko, H., Rahmat, W., & Setyaningsih, Y. (2024). Javanese silly gags on daily communication on social media: pragmatic meanings and functions approach. Jurnal Arbitrer, 11(1), 49-59.
Rodrigues dos Santos, A. A. (2024). Unveiling the vibrant tapestry: brazilian female voices in visual poetry on Instagram. Journal of Digital Sociohumanities, 1(1), 32–42. https://doi.org/10.25077/jds.1.1.32-42.2024
Rosdiana, R., Budiana, S., & Mahajani, T. (2023). Unraveling the language and ideology : A critical discourse analysis of Permendikbudristek No . 30 Year 2021 in Republika Newspaper. Journal of Pragmatics and Discourse Research, 03(02), 176–188.
Rowsell, J. (2013). Working with multimodality: Rethinking literacy in a digital age. In Working with Multimodality: Rethinking Literacy in a Digital Age. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203071953
Satriyo, A. M. (2023). Multimodality and the construction of fear in Tatsuki Fujimoto ’ s Chainsaw Man. Journal of Pragmatics and Discourse Research, 03(02), 189–202.
Shieber, S. M. (1985). Evidence against the context-freeness of natural language. Linguistics and Philosophy. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00630917
Shubhra, S., & Krishna, D. (2024). An analysis of Whatsapp interactions among youth: a case of language attrition. Journal of Digital Sociohumanities, 1(2), 63–74. https://doi.org/10.25077/jds.1.2.63-74.2024
Streeck, J. (1984). Embodied contexts, transcontextuals, and the timing of speech acts. Journal of Pragmatics. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(84)90067-5
Vedantam, R., Bengio, S., Murphy, K., Parikh, D., & Chechik, G. (2017). Context-aware captions from context-agnostic supervision. Proceedings - 30th IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, CVPR 2017. https://doi.org/10.1109/CVPR.2017.120
Widdowson, H. G. (2006). Context, community, and authentic language. TESOL Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.2307/3588001
Wodak, R. (1995). Critical linguistics and critical discourse analysis. In Handbook of Pragmatics.
Yus, F. (2011). Cyberpragmatics, Internet-mediated communication in context (A. Fetzer, Ed.; 1st ed.). John Benjamin Publishing Company. https://benjamins.com
Beeching, K. H. W. (2015). Researching sociopragmatic variability: Perspectives from variational, interlanguage and contrastive pragmatics (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
Bezemer, J., & Kress, G. (2016). Multimodality, learning and communication: A social semiotic frame. In Multimodality, Learning and Communication: A Social Semiotic Frame. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315687537
Chen, Y., & Wang, W. (2016). Relating visual images to subtitle translation in Finding Nemo: A multi-semiotic interplay. Translation and Interpreting, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.12807/ti.108201.2016.a05
Faisol, Y., Hadi, S., Refrinaldi, & Rahmat, W. (2021). Cyberactivism in Palestinian conflict news comments on Al-Jezeera Youtube channel: A cyberpragmatic study (Aktivisme siber dalam komentar berita konflik palestina di kanal Youtube Al-Jazeera: Kajian siberpragmatik). Jurnal Gramatika: Jurnal Penelitian PendidikanBahasa Dan Sastra Indonesia, 7(2), 267–286. https://doi.org/10.22202/jg.2021.v7i2.4954
Gall, M. D., Gall, J. P., & Borg, W. R. (2006). Identifying a research problem, question and searching. Educational Research: An Introduction.
Guo, E. (2017). Introducing multimodality. Social Semiotics, 27(5). https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2017.1278916
Handoko, H., Kaur, S., & Kia, L. S. (2024). Cultivating sustainability: A cultural linguistic study of Minangkabau environmental proverbs. Jurnal Arbitrer, 11(1), 72-84. https://doi.org/10.25077/ar.11.1.72-84.2024
Harwath, D., Torralba, A., & Glass, J. R. (2016). Unsupervised learning of spoken language with visual context. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems.
Hermawan, B. (2013). Multimodality: interpreting verbal, reading images, and understanding text. Journal of Language and Literature Education, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.17509/bs_jpbsp.v13i1.756
Higgins, S. (2014). Critical thinking for 21st-century education: A cyber-tooth curriculum? Prospects. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-014-9323-0
Kartika, D., Rahardi, R. K., Aziz, M., & Rahmat, W. (2023). Depicting reflections of power on illocutionary acts of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe ’ s speeches on Covid -19. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 13(2), 284–293. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v13i2.63078
Kunjana Rahardi, R., Handoko, H., Rahmat, W., & Setyaningsih, Y. (2024). Javanese silly gags on daily communication on social media: pragmatic meanings and functions approach. Jurnal Arbitrer, 11(1), 49–60. https://doi.org/10.25077/ar.11.1.49-59.2024
Kress, G. (2009). Multimodality: A social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. In Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203970034
Kress, G. (2015). Semiotic work: Applied Linguistics and a social semiotic account of Multimodality. AILA Review, 28.
Laaguid, B. A., & Khaloufi, A. (2023). Amazigh language use on social media: An exploratory study. Jurnal Arbitrer, 10(1), 24-34. https://doi.org/10.25077/ar.10.1.24-34.2023
Leech, G. (2007). Politeness: Is there an East-West divide? In Journal of Politeness Research. https://doi.org/10.1515/PR.2007.009
Leeuwen, van T. (2005). Introducing Social Semiotics (1st ed.). Routledge.
Mujiyanto, Y., & Fitriati, S. W. (2019). Multimodality in audio-verbo-visual translation. KnE Social Sciences. https://doi.org/10.18502/kss.v3i18.4765
Nugroho, S., Fadhlia, T. N., Rahmat, W., Napitupulu, L., & Arief, Y. (2024). Model of cyber victimization: Study on college students in Indonesia. The Open Psychology Journal, 14(1), 13-20. https://doi.org/10.2174/0118743501332789240906115511
Onwuegbuzie, A., & Leech, N. (2005). On becoming a pragmatic researcher: The importance of combining quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. In International Journal of Social Research Methodology: Theory and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645570500402447
Perumal, T., Sinayah, M., Govaichelvan, K. N., Shanmuganathan, T., & Gan, Y. C. (2024). Crisis communication through social media platforms by malaysian indian agencies. Jurnal Arbitrer, 11(4), 458-469. https://doi.org/10.25077/ar.11.4.458-469.2024
Pflaeging, J., Wildfeuer, J., & Bateman, J. A. (2021). Empirical multimodality research: Methods, evaluations, implications. In Empirical Multimodality Research: Methods, Evaluations, Implications. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110725001
Rahardi, R. K., Rahmat, W., & Kurniawan, Y. (2023). Pseudo-directive speech act in the Javanese language: Culture-specific pragmatic perspective. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 66(11), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_jslhr-23-00223
Rahardi, R. K., Rahmat, W., Tiawati, R. L., & Setyaningsih, Y. (2024). Unraveling the psychological impact of spatial cybertext environments on speech intent. AILA Review, June, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.23022.rah
Rahardi, K. (2017). Linguistic impoliteness in the sociopragmatic perspective. Jurnal Humaniora, 29(3). https://doi.org/10.22146/jh.24954
Rahardi, K. (2020). Variations of the meaning of the emotive word “Wela” in Javanese: A socioopragmatic perspective. Realm: Journal of Language Studies, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.26499/rnh.v9i2.2937
Rahardi, K. (2022). Virtual extralinguistic context landscape in cyber pragmatics. Indonesian Linguistics, 40(1). https://doi.org/10.26499/li.v40i1.287
Rahardi, R. K. (2023). Social–societal context element changes in cyberpragmatics perspective. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 13(11), 2771–2779. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1311.06
Rahardi, R. K. (2020a). Depicting pragmatic meanings of Covid-19 hoaxes in social media: Cyber-pragmatic perspective mendeskripsikan makna pragmatik hoaks Covid-19 dalam media sosial: Perspektif cyber-pragmatik. Word Journal: Research on Language and Literature, Volume 4, (7).
Rahardi, R. K. (2020b). Konteks eksternal virtual dalam pragmatik siber virtual external contexts in cyberpragmatics. Journal of Indonesian Language and Literature Education Metalingua, 15(2).
Rahardi, R. K. (2021). Lanskap konteks sosial-sosietal dalam pragmatik berbasis cybertexts vaksinasi Covid-19 (socio-social context landscape in cybertexts-based pragmatics Covid-19 vaccination). Indonesian Language Education and Literature, 6(2), 236. https://doi.org/10.24235/ileal.v6i2.8112
Rahardi, R. K., Handoko, H., Rahmat, W., & Setyaningsih, Y. (2024). Javanese silly gags on daily communication on social media: pragmatic meanings and functions approach. Jurnal Arbitrer, 11(1), 49-59.
Rodrigues dos Santos, A. A. (2024). Unveiling the vibrant tapestry: brazilian female voices in visual poetry on Instagram. Journal of Digital Sociohumanities, 1(1), 32–42. https://doi.org/10.25077/jds.1.1.32-42.2024
Rosdiana, R., Budiana, S., & Mahajani, T. (2023). Unraveling the language and ideology : A critical discourse analysis of Permendikbudristek No . 30 Year 2021 in Republika Newspaper. Journal of Pragmatics and Discourse Research, 03(02), 176–188.
Rowsell, J. (2013). Working with multimodality: Rethinking literacy in a digital age. In Working with Multimodality: Rethinking Literacy in a Digital Age. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203071953
Satriyo, A. M. (2023). Multimodality and the construction of fear in Tatsuki Fujimoto ’ s Chainsaw Man. Journal of Pragmatics and Discourse Research, 03(02), 189–202.
Shieber, S. M. (1985). Evidence against the context-freeness of natural language. Linguistics and Philosophy. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00630917
Shubhra, S., & Krishna, D. (2024). An analysis of Whatsapp interactions among youth: a case of language attrition. Journal of Digital Sociohumanities, 1(2), 63–74. https://doi.org/10.25077/jds.1.2.63-74.2024
Streeck, J. (1984). Embodied contexts, transcontextuals, and the timing of speech acts. Journal of Pragmatics. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(84)90067-5
Vedantam, R., Bengio, S., Murphy, K., Parikh, D., & Chechik, G. (2017). Context-aware captions from context-agnostic supervision. Proceedings - 30th IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, CVPR 2017. https://doi.org/10.1109/CVPR.2017.120
Widdowson, H. G. (2006). Context, community, and authentic language. TESOL Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.2307/3588001
Wodak, R. (1995). Critical linguistics and critical discourse analysis. In Handbook of Pragmatics.
Yus, F. (2011). Cyberpragmatics, Internet-mediated communication in context (A. Fetzer, Ed.; 1st ed.). John Benjamin Publishing Company. https://benjamins.com
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Mar 21, 2025
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Rahardi, R. K., Rahmat, W., Setyaningsih, Y., & Handoko, H. (2025). The Power of Visual Communication: Analyzing Visual Multimodal Cybertext Contexts in Indonesian Cyber Pragmatics. Jurnal Arbitrer, 12(1), 54–68. https://doi.org/10.25077/ar.12.1.54-68.2025
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Author Biography
R. Kunjana Rahardi, Sanata Dharma University
HEAD DEPARTMENT OF THE MASTER PROGRAM OF INDONESIAN LANGUAGE EDUCATION, SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY