Social media platforms provide celebrities with strategic opportunities to construct and project identities, yet studies employing semiotic frameworks remain limited. This research investigates how Indonesian musician and public figure Ahmad Dhani constructs self-branding through a single Instagram post, analyzed using Roland Barthes’ semiotic theory. Employing a qualitative case study, the study examines how visual and textual elements interact to create layered meanings across denotation, connotation, and myth. The findings reveal that Dhani’s post—featuring orchestral imagery and the textual message “Sorry if I am different”—functions not as an apology but as an affirmation of uniqueness. At the denotative level, the tuxedo, conductor’s stance, and blurred audience emphasize authority, refinement, and public recognition. Connotatively, the warm color palette and self-referential caption highlight creativity and authenticity. At the mythic level, the post transforms perceived arrogance into a narrative of leadership, positioning Dhani as a visionary figure whose difference signifies intellectual depth and cultural capital. This analysis underscores how Instagram can serve as a site for myth-making, where visual and textual signs operate as strategic tools for personal branding and reputation management. While the study offers insights into the cultural work of celebrity self-representation, its scope is limited to a single post. Future research should extend this analysis to multiple figures and longitudinal datasets to capture the evolving dynamics of digital identity construction.

This study reviews the effect of incorporating WhatsApp to develop self-introduction writing skills of tenth graders. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether there is a positive effect on students’ writing skills. This research design used an embedded mixed method design the main research design is a nonrandomized control group, posttest-only design, and supported with descriptive qualitative. This study was implemented on twenty-four students of one public senior high school in Sidoarjo majoring in Science Program. Furthermore, the post-test was used to determine the learning outcome of the experimental and control groups. The test has already been validated. The technique of data analysis applied t-test by the prerequisite normality and homogeneity test. The result of this study shows that (1) there is a positive effect on students’ skill in self-introduction by incorporating WA. The Analysis of the t-test is 6.6751 at 0.05 level significance with 22 degrees of freedom is higher than which is 2.074. As the t-test value was higher than the t-table, HO was rejected, and the alternative hypothesis (Ha) was accepted. (2) The aspects of writing in the experimental group of four (content, organization, vocabulary, and language use) were “Excellent”. But the mechanic aspect obtained “Good”. And the aspects of writing in the control group of two (content and organization) were “Excellent”. Vocabulary, language use, and mechanics are “Good”.

The present study aimed to describe the implementation of content-based instruction in a microteaching course attended by 28 pre-service teachers of the Biology and Mathematics Education study program. The study regards the importance of ensuring the readiness of 21st-century teachers especially in a class where content-based instruction was implemented. The study, therefore, focuses on the pre-service teachers’ English proficiency in using the target language for teaching subjects (i.e. biology and mathematics) and their skill in operating technology. The data were gathered using a questionnaire that was distributed online. The study found that 1) most respondents are aware of the importance of mastering English for carrying out learning; 2) despite the positive view, none of the respondents are confident that they are lacking English proficiency. Furthermore, 3) the respondents mostly think that they have problems when writing the materials in English, but 4) it was found that they are ready to use English when delivering the materials in the classroom. 5) Most respondents find grammar difficult to deal with, followed by speaking. In regards to the skill in using technology, the study found that 6) most respondents identify themselves as skilled in using technology, and it is supported by the variety of technologies used for teaching and making media. The implication of this study is for policymakers to strengthen course learning outcomes for English subjects.

Reading is an important skill in learning English but sometimes students have some problems with the reading process because of their limited vocabulary knowledge, poor comprehension, and difficulty to recall information after reading. The teachers need to help the students to resolve these problems by creating learning media in teaching reading. Based on previous research, some researchers used story cubes and dice games as learning media by using the cube in pictures and cube in the shape of dice to improve various skills such as grammar, vocabulary, and writing skills, but there are no researchers discussed Question Cube by using questions in the cube as a learning media in teaching reading comprehension. Therefore, in this research, the researcher offered an alternative media which is a question cube media to teach students. The purpose of this research is to find out whether or not Question Cube is an effective medium to increase students' reading comprehension. In this research, the researcher used a literature review research method by collecting 30 articles taken from Google Scholar and ResearchGate. These articles were then sorted and analyzed to obtain data. From 30 articles that researchers have read, it showed that Question Cube media can bear positive change and improvement toward students' reading comprehension. In addition, it also played a considerable role in teaching vocabulary, boosting writing skills, and improving the learners’ grammar as well as other several benefits in EFL instructional process

This study delves into the users’ state of mind with regard to the use of online platforms for educational purposes, specifically in the context of higher education. The purpose of this study, which employs a survey method, is to investigate how students perceive online teaching and learning in higher education and contribute to the growing collaboration between higher education researchers studying 21st-century learning concepts and Indonesian universities, which are increasingly implementing online teaching and learning. This study analyses various significant problems, including the process of online teaching and learning at universities, the difficulties of its implementation, and the users’ perceptions and attitudes towards the implementation of online teaching and learning. Overall, it is found that both students and lecturers prefer offline, face-to-face interaction in class rather than the online system. It is possible to state that both the lecturers and the students who have been attached to the conventional method of instruction and learning process are not prepared for the shift from offline to online learning. Even though online learning has been implemented, there is still a lack of consensus on the best practices for an effective online classroom. In addition to this, the fact that the institution does impose any fixed regulation also plays an important role in this. Keywords: State of Mind, Online Teaching and Learning, Higher Education

Studying social relations embedded in the use of phatic expression plays an important role to detect the position of each participant in the communication events. This research was aimed at investigating how the lecturers of the English Department STKIP PGRI Jombang enacted phatic communication as part of a power and solidarity strategy in maintaining good social relations through dialogues with their students. It employed qualitative research by adopting the theory of critical classroom discourse analysis to investigate how the lecturer enacted phatic communication as power and solidarity strategies to the students in the classroom. It related the examination of phatic communication and social analysis to get true data analysis of the research. The findings showed the lecturers enacted phatic communication as a powerful strategy for their students by addressing the students in terms of the learning process and controlling the preparation of the group discussion. Furthermore, the lecturers also enacted phatic communication as a solidarity strategy with their students by exercising personal experiences and expressing sad feelings to the student whose father passed away. Thus, it could be concluded that when the lecturers exercised power over the students indicated that their social relations are unequal. On the contrary, the solidarity exposed by the lecturers to their students indicated that their social relations are equal.

This study aims at investigating a decision-making process based on Freudian Psychoanalytic theory in Gayle Forman’s If I Stay. This study specifically focuses on the main character, Mia Hall. Based on Freud’s, all human behaviour, including decision-making, is influenced by the interaction of three structures of personality: Id, Ego, and Superego. This study discussed the interrelation of those structures in affecting Mia’s decision-making process. Furthermore, this study also searched for the prominent domination explicated in Mia’s final decision. The writers applied Freudian Psychoanalysis to reveal the main focus of this study. The compelling utterances and narrations from the novel are considered the primary source of data. Then, the data are classified into Id, Ego, and Superego before looking for the interrelation and dominant structure. Besides Psychoanalytic, this study also applied character and characterization theory to help the writers analyse the utterances and behaviour of Mia. The result reveals that, though the Id, Ego, and Superego have their desire, these three structures can balance each other and eventually lead Mia to a decision. It is crucial to learn and investigate the dynamic of the decision-making process encountered by a human.

Refusal often ends in misunderstanding and even anger, so people organize and maintain their refusal to avoid face threats. The people of Surabaya use the native Surabaya language, which is known as an open and blunt language, so a rejection strategy is assumed similar to this characteristic. This thesis aims to analyze what types of refusal strategies of native Surabaya young people use and how they use them in English. It examines how respondents refused invitation, request, offer or suggestion in various situations. This is a qualitative study with 21 native Surabaya young people, the EFL learners completing a Written Discourse Completion Test or WDCT, which contains several scenarios based on power and social distance. Data were analyzed using SPSS and the results showed that although the respondents came from Surabaya, which is known for its outspoken speaking style, in fact only 12.6% respondents used the direct refusal strategy, conversely most respondents used indirect refusal strategy (79.7%) in expressing their rejection, while the least used strategy was Adjunct (7.7%). The respondents continued to use the indirect refusal strategies, even though they had more power and less closeness or have the equal power and closeness to the interlocutors.

This research is aimed to find out 18 charatcter education values on dialogue in english textbook entitled œBahasa Inggris Think Globally Act Locally ninth grade on semester one. Design of this research is descriptive qualitatif research. The instrument of this research is observation sheet. The data was collected from observation sheet to find out the 18 character education values in english textbook. The technique of data anlysis in this research is organizing and familiarizing, (2) coding and reducing or eliminating. The result of the research showed that all the 18 character values from the 2013 curriculum were already implemented in the book. It was found that there were 12 religiosity , 10 honesty, 3 tolerance, 2 hard work, only 1 creativity value, only 1 independent, only 1 value that was related with democracy, 7 examples that were related to the curiosity, only one nationalism and patriotism, were 27 appreciation values, 14 examples that were related to the friendship and communication, 15 sentences that were related with love of peace, 2 sentences that were related with fondness of reading, 3 sentences that were related with environmental awareness, 31 sentences that were related to the social care values, there were 3 sentences that were related with responsibility values.Key words : Textbook , 2013 curriculum, character education values

This paper reports on a research conducted to explore English major students view on becoming a translator as their future profession. The focus is divided into 3 main concerns 1) do the students consider translator as their profession after graduation? 2)do the students think they are equipped with enough knowledge on becoming a translator? 3)what elements should the English Department provide to support their career choice?. These concerns were presented in a perceptional questionnaire as the main data collection technique that aims to find out whether the students of English Literature as the University of Muhammadiyah Gorontalo would consider translator as their career. This is a qualitative research with total sampling as the technique of data collection. The subject of the research were 20 students of 6th semester majoring in English Literature at Muhammadiyah University of Gorontalo. The result of the study showed that the students have moderate consideration on choosing a career path of translation. There are several reason behind such thoughts, one of which is they do not think they qualified for becoming a professional translator or choosing the line of work as their future profession. Moreover, they think that the faculty can provide more classes on translation to build both their skills and their confidence on becoming future translators.