TRANSLANGUAGING PRACTICES FOUND IN FACEBOOK POSTS AND INSTAGRAM CAPTIONS: “TALKING WITHOUT BOUNDARIES”

Abstract

In the digital communication age, social media sites have emerged as vibrant sites where linguistic boundaries are constantly being negotiated and reconfigured. Facebook posts and Instagram captions, for instance, show how individuals, through the deployment of different languages, are able to communicate their thoughts, emotions, and identities creatively. The study, “Translanguaging Practices Found in Facebook Posts and Instagram Captions: Talking Without Boundaries,” aims to explore the ways by which the concept of translanguaging naturally occurs as a humanistic form of communication. Instead of seeing languages as separate entities, the study seeks to understand the concept of translanguaging as a dynamic construct that mirrors the reality of the lives of multilingual speakers.

The primary objective of conducting this research is to identify the different types of translanguaging that occur in Facebook posts and Instagram captions, as well as the communicative purposes behind such translanguaging. More specifically, the research objectives of this study are to understand how users of social media sites combine languages to communicate personal identity, cultural affiliation, humor, intimacy, and connectivity, and how such language use challenges traditional notions of language boundaries and reflects the fluidity of communication in the digital age

This research used a qualitative netnography technique.In the collection of the data, the sources used included twenty selected Facebook posts and Instagram captions where there was an incidence of translanguaging. This was ensured by the use of a sampling technique that ensured the data was relevant to the research. In the analysis of the data, the technique used was qualitative coding, which provided an interpretation of the data and the significance of the social function of the posts and captions. This provided an interpretation of the significance of the function of translanguaging as a reflection of identity construction.Overall, the data demonstrate that translanguaging serves as a multifunctional communicative practice in Facebook posts and Instagram captions. The use of Indonesian --  Englis  and English – Javanese combinations enables users to express emotions, emphasize ideas, construct identity, and create a modern and engaging style. Therefore, translanguaging reflects not only linguistic flexibility but also the ways young people negotiate meaning, identity, and self-expression in digital communication.In this way, through method of focusing on the human study within the returned of virtual communication, this check contributes to a deeper data of multilingual practices in virtual settings and confirms that, within the virtual international, human beings certainly interact in “speak me without boundaries.”