SPEECH ACTS IN CREATIVE ENGLISH COMMUNICATION: PRAGMATICS ANALYSIS OF GENERATION Z’s CAPTIONS

Abstract

Social media has become an integral part of everyday life for many individuals, especially Generation Z, which is known as a group that grows up and is formed in the era of technology and the internet. This study explores the creative English language skills of Generation Z, focusing on speech acts within social media communication from a pragmatic perspective. This study aimed to identify the types of speech acts and their function of the language in Instagram captions made by Generation Z on Instagram. The data were obtained from Instagram captions written by students of Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University in Madiun Campus who were in the age of Generation Z, as the participants of this study. The study used a descriptive qualitative research design. The techniques for collecting data used were questionnaires and documentation. There are some types of speech acts found in Instagram captions, namely representative, directive, commissive, and expressive. The speech acts serve diverse functions: 1) to convey information, beliefs, or descriptions, 2) to influence the behavior of the reader, 3) to convey an emotional state, and 4) to indicate the commitment to a future action. This study contributes to the understanding of digital communication practices and the evolving use of language among younger generations.