Cultural Development through Language Styles and Expression of Teenage Girls Identity in Indonesian Teen lit Novel Me Versus High Heels by Maria Ardelia

Abstract

In Indonesian teen lit novels, the lifestyle of teenage girls can be interpreted from their way and style of communication, namely the way and style of using language. From the many means of self-disclosure as anevidence of the very distinctive existence of teenager is the language. For teenager, language is not just a communication tool serving to achieve understanding, but also as a symbol of identity: Education, social status, economic status, hobby, groups, communities, and social environment. In a teenage social environment, the language determines the process, type, and form of interaction-communication that affects the acceptability or social arbitrariness. As a result, each individual teenager strives to adjust his or her use of "gaul" (slang) language to achieve the acceptability.