THE INFLUENCE OF DIGITAL MULTIMODAL TEXTS ON CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH SYNTAX AND PRAGMATICS

Abstrak:

This article investigates the influence of digital multimodal texts on the syntax and pragmatic functions of contemporary English. With the growing presence of computer-mediated communication platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, language use in digital spaces increasingly departs from conventional norms. The study examines how syntactic structures and pragmatic strategies adapt to the multimodal nature of digital texts, combining words, emojis, images, and audio-visual elements. By analyzing a corpus of 500 multimodal texts collected from various social media platforms, this research identifies emerging syntactic patterns such as ellipsis, fragmented clauses, and creative punctuation, alongside pragmatic innovations like the use of emojis and hashtags for speech acts and meaning enhancement. The findings suggest that digital multimodal texts are reshaping contemporary English by simplifying syntactic structures while enriching pragmatic functions. The paper discusses the implications for both the study of modern English and the teaching of syntax and pragmatics in EFL contexts.