Spotting EFL Learners’ Disagreement Strategies Used in Online Social Media

Abstract

This study places the context on the current emerging media of communication that is computer mediated communication (CMC) in shaping how speech act is performed. In particular, a speech act of disagreement. The speech act of disagreement has received a little attention in the field of pragmatic study. Moreover, there are just few researches investigating disagreement in the context of English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners who perform it in online social media. Thus, by investigating 16 EFL from English Department of Satya Wacana Christian University when interacting on Facebook, this study focuses on analyzing the disagreement strategies used by them. The data are gathered by examining participants? disagreement in responding to six Facebook statuses. Each status is designed with different topics and social status. Then, in examining the data, this study adapts Fernandez?s (2013)framework of disagreement strategies. The strategy itself is divided into two categories, strong disagreement and mitigated disagreement. Along with that, the method used is qualitative supported by quantitative data. The finding reveals that the participants had tendency to use mitigated disagreement rather than strong disagreement. By looking at this study, it can give a better understanding for EFL learners in communicating their disagreement using proper strategy.