The Impact of Storyteller and Beauty Influencer Language Use in Communication Styles of ELESP Students

By: Alfiyya Natalie Anau; Supervised by: Muziatun, S.Pd., M.App. Ling, PhD

The existence of social media has changed communication patterns, shaping the way people interact with each other, especially among young people. Social media influencers such as storyteller and beauty have a significant influence on their followers, including English Language Education Study Program (ELESP) students. Beauty influencers like Sunny Dahye and Storyteller like Nessie Judge, with their huge online followings, communicate with their followers through Instagram and Tiktok, each with their own unique style of communication. For students in the English Language Education Study Program (ELESP), Sunny Dahye and Nessie Judge become unintentional language models, potentially influencing the way they communicate and develop their English skills. For example, ELESP student who follows a popular Indonesian beauty vlogger - through constant exposure to the vlogger's casual conversational English style, the student may start naturally picking up and mirroring the vlogger's expressions, slang, and speech patterns in their own English communication and writing. In order to understand the various facets of the influencers' communication styles, this study looks into how different social media influencers' language affects the communication style of ELESP students.

While the impact of authentic language exposure on language acquisition has been well documented (Gilmore, 2011), the specific impact of the diverse communication styles of social media influencers on ELESP students remains largely unexplored. As these students navigate the world of social media, they are exposed to a wide variety of language use, especially in everyday style. Understanding how this exposure shapes their own communication patterns can provide valuable insights to help them better understand today's language styles for language educators and curriculum designers.

Given the huge influence that social media influencers have on today's teenagers and students lives, it is important to further explore how their communication styles and language use can affect the development of students' communication skills, especially for English learners. 

Students at ELESP often connect with social media influencers on sites like Instagram and TikTok. They follow a variety of content creators from storytellers like Nessie Judge to specialists in beauty like Sunny Dahye. The exposure significantly alters the way they communicate. For example, student Ayu learnt a combination of English, Korean, and Indonesian from Sunny Dahye, while student Izhal learned from Nessie to modify his formality level according to the difficulty of the context. The students also pick up on the vocabulary, accents, and hashtag usage of the influencers. 

Some integration from lifestyle influencers is considered acceptable, however adopting very casual influencer vocabulary is not considered proper for academics. Ayu is shy in formal situations but feels comfortable using influencer language when interacting with friends. With friends who aren't ELESP and who understand the combination of language and slang, both students have employed influencer approaches. It's important to note that students who follow influencers are more aware of new linguistic patterns that non-followers can find unusual. Though there is a chance that they would overuse casual language excessively, overall, the students feel that influencers support them to maintain their English proficiency.

Social media influencers significantly impact the communication styles of English Language Education Study Program (ELESP) students. Students frequently consume influencer content, exposing them to diverse linguistic variations that they integrate into their own communication to stay current, like slang, language blending, and accents. However, adopting extremely casual influencer language in academic/professional contexts is inappropriate. Following influencers enhances students' awareness of contextually appropriate language compared to non-followers.