Based on cross-cultural pragmatic research perspectives, the present study aimed at comparing the attainment of speech acts of invitation between Indonesian and Yemeni EFL learners. The study participants were 30 undergraduate students from Airlangga University, Indonesia, and 30 undergraduate students from Sana’a University, Yemen. All of the participants were different in terms of their cultural background. The data were gathered by using Discourse Completion Task (DCT) and then analyzed on the bases of Bruder and Tillitt (1999), Al-Khatib (2006), and Suzuki (2009) compilations of invitation strategies. The findings of the study displayed some similarities and differences in terms of invitation making. Some invitation strategies seemed to be culturally specific to one culture and others are universal across the two cultures. In this regard, Indonesian EFL learners preferred to be indirect in the use of speech acts while invitation making with the high preference to use Yes/No questions, asking for willingness and Wh. questions strategies. They believe that the use of such strategies helps them to add some polite expressions that they use in their daily conversation while using their first language. In contrast, Yemeni EFL learners favored being direct in the use of the speech act of invitation, with the highest percentage of imperative strategy followed by Yes/ No questions strategy. This might show a portion of the effect of their first language on their answers. They also know that direct invitations are mostly accepted in their culture. Besides, the findings of the study revealed that Indonesian and Yemeni EFL learners translated the utterances in their mother tongue into the target language without considering the variations between the two languages in patterns of sentences and the order of words. Implications of the study are supplied too.

Instagram is now considered as a good media for politicians to brand themselves attractively with greater impact. Nevertheless, it is still assumed to be not easy for woman leader to compete with man leader at political arena since patriarchal ideology has made women often considered as the second sex in society. Besides, the prevailing religious system has also granted men the sacred duty of being a leader of the people. Thus, this study aimed to reveal how Khofifah Indar Parawansa, a candidate of East Java Governor, is branded in Instagram as a proper woman leader for East Java Province which has the greatest Islamic community organization in Indonesia. Data used were all posts with the top five comments and likes selected from some official Instagram accounts owned by Khofifah and her campaign success team using purposive sampling technique. The data selected then were analyzed by using multimodality theory by Theo Van Leuuwen. The results showed that as a candidate of East Java Governor, Khofifah Indar Parawansa is still branded as a woman leader with ideal female characters and roles for patriarchal society.

This study was aimed at introducing a model of media literacy education to identify and respond to hoaxes to avoid potential conflicts threatening the unity in diversity in Indonesia. The data were derived from middle and high school teachers at eLKISI Islamic Boarding School who have access to digital media in their teaching-learning process. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and survey questionnaire were employed to find the patterns of media consumption among these teachers and their awareness of hoaxes. This preliminary study was expected to map the patterns of media consumption and build an awareness of hoaxes among teachers, which eventually increase their level of media literacy. The final result of this study is projected at introducing a media literacy education model that helps to maintain Indonesia's unity in diversity as indicated by the teachers' ability to identify and respond properly to hoaxes in order to avoid disintegration.