Linguistic Representations of Power in Online Political Discourse: Implications for Language Education

Abstrak

Language education increasingly requires learners to understand not only grammatical structures but also how linguistic choices construct authority, position audiences, and shape interpretations of social reality. This study examines linguistic forms, discursive strategies, and power relations in quotations from Indonesian political party officials published in online mass media and explores their implications for language education. A critical discourse analysis framework was combined with systematic content analysis to examine 261 verbatim quotations from five national online media outlets published between January and July 2024, producing 1,216 codings. The findings show that declaratives were substantially more frequent than imperatives and interrogatives, while modality, polarity, and person reference further shaped meanings of certainty, authority, inclusion, and responsibility. Linguistic strategies were also more frequent than overt ideological strategies, and interactional power predominated over structural and positional power. The findings indicate that apparently neutral linguistic forms can naturalize power through layers of grammatical choice and media mediation. These patterns provide a basis for developing critical language awareness by encouraging learners to move beyond identifying linguistic structures toward interpreting how language constructs authority and social meaning in authentic online discourse.