A Study of Referring expression Used in The Jakarta Post and Jakarta Globe Online Newspapers (Semantic Approach)

The study was conducted to compare the use of referring expression in The Jakarta Post and Jakarta Globe digital newspaper. As semantics approach, the theory which writer used is the theory proposed by Kreidler (1998). The objectives of this study are (1) to explain the types of referring expressions used in The Jakarta Post and “Jakarta Globe” online newspaper and (2) to reveal whether The Jakarta Post and Jakarta Globe have the same sequential pattern in the use of referring expression.
This study belongs to qualitative study by using content analysis method. The source data is 10 sets of identical news releasing at the same time in which 5 news from The Jakarta Post and 5 news form Jakarta Globe.
The result shows that there are 103 data of referring expression which 54 data used in The Jakarta Post and 59 data appeared in Jakarta Globe. The sequential pattern in the use of referring expression in The Jakarta Post owns different pattern from Jakarta Globe. Data shows that The Jakarta Post uses around 41% of unique and non-unique referring expression, 26% of Anaphoric expression, Countable and Non-Countable 17 %, 15 % for Concrete and abstract, and cataphoric expression only 1 %. On other hands, Jakarta Globe uses referring expression about 45 % Unique and Non-unique referent which is also become the massive one as in The Jakarta Post editorial. It found that 24% of Anaphoric expression, Concrete and Abstract referent 17%, Countable and Non-Countable 9%, and the last sequent is Cataphoric expression approximately about 5%.

Keyword: Semantics, Referring expression, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Globe