Diction in Indonesian Students’ English Messages to Lecturers: A Language Error Analysis

Inappropriate use of diction in text messages can be very risky because it can lead to misunderstanding and somehow affect politeness in communication. This research aims to discover the diction errors in Indonesian students’ English messages to their lecturers and the factors behind them. 32 WhatsApp messages written in English sent by Indonesian students to the lecturers were analyzed to answer the research questions. The data were taken from students at three prestigious universities in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where most Indonesian youth study in this city of education. The result shows that the errors are divided into words, phrases, abbreviations, and titles/honorific categories. In addition, the error made by students is due to the use of direct translation from the student’s source language, Bahasa Indonesia, to the target language, English. The use of Google Translate without any assistance can also cause errors and many mistakes. The result also proves that non-English and English Department students make errors. Students are expected to be more aware of the dictions they use when sending text messages, especially to their lecturers.