e-Journal of Linguistics


Available online at https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/eol/index

Vol. 17, No. 2, July 2023, pages: 220--229

Print ISSN: 2541-5514 Online ISSN: 2442-7586

https://doi.org/10.24843/e-jl.2023.v17.i02.p12

Language Style Used by James Corden in the Late Late Show

1Aileen Gracesela Sanjaya

Email: [email protected] Universitas Widya Kartika, Surabaya, Indonesia

2Endar Rachmawaty Linuwih

Email: [email protected] Universitas Widya Kartika, Surabaya, Indonsesias

Article info

Received Date: 14 Februari 2023

Accepted Date: 28 Februari 2023

Published Date: 31 July 2023

Keywords:*

language style, talk show, sociolinguistics


Abstract*

Language is one of the important things to communicate with others. People use language to show their emotions. There are five different language styles, frozen style, formal style, consultative style, casual style, and intimate style, which people can use to interact with others. People with different social cultures, ages, statuses, and gender might use different language styles. This study investigates James Cordon’s different language style while interviewing his guest stars, James Lee Curtis, Dwayne Johnson, and Ed Sheeran, on The Late Late Show. The study results show that James Corden used three different language styles: formal, casual, and consultative. As Jamie is older than James, he prefers to use formal language during the show. However, while interviewing Dwayne and Ed Sheeran, who are younger than James, he used different language styles, casual and consultative. The results of the study indicate that the age of the addressee considers the language style preference.

  • 1.    Introduction

People with different social cultures, ages, statuses, and gender might use different language styles. The same thing was also mentioned by Indra & Hamzah (2018), which based on the speakers' background, a speaker will speak differently accordingly to the situation and context they are facing, along with the choice of words, grammar, and the sentence structure itself. The language style is the choice among the other alternative in using language. Each individual has their own language style, so each language individual has their own style to distinguish their mode of representation (Mulyani et al., 2018) Language style can be used to characterize a person's personality, thinking, or state of being (Meyerhoff, 2007). Additionally, the utterances produced can reflect the speaker's personal characteristics (Rullyanti & Nurdianto, 2019). In any case, language style might represent the user's educational background and age (Silalahi et al., 2022). Thus, language style refers to the manner in which someone expresses their views through language (Aflahah, 2017). Additionally, language style is a subset of the language that is defined by its degree of formality (Joos, 1967). As a result, the degree of formality in language style is similarly affected by the degree of social variety (Achmad & Samidu, 2020).

Joos (1976) stated five language styles; frozen, formal, consultative, casual, and intimate to elaborate on language style. The frozen style is used in very formal settings, such as a speech of state ceremonies. In another formal setting, the formal style is usually used in an essential or serious conversation between the speakers, making scholars and lecturers use it daily. The consultative style is a style that is used in semi-formal communication situations, such as talking to a stranger. The words are chosen with care within this language style, but it is also the most open language style for giving and taking the everyday conversation. It is a semi-formal language style usually used in a business transaction or a doctor-patient interaction. Casual styles can be used in conversations between friends or someone we have known well. We can use this language style in a conversation where we do not need to plan it and improvise it along the time. It goes well with a relaxed or everyday situation, which is shown through the rapid and often

slurred words used within the conversation. In addition, the language style usually used between people who have a close relationship is called the intimate style. The speakers are free, and easy to participate in the conversation. As this language style was full of intimate language such as "Darling and "Honey", they were usually used among families, lovers, and the closest friends.

The language style is used within a given context and purpose, which means that the speaker needs to use the appropriate language style based on the topic they discussed. In their study, Putra and Rosa (2019) concluded that on the Ellen's Shows talk show, there are different language styles used within the interview process, but there is one dominant language style used: the casual style. A talk show is a type of discussion used to share various topics. Typically, a talk show program will feature a host and a guest speaker who will share their perspectives on various issues during their conversation (Abbas & Setiawan, 2020). Thus, the host of a talk show will invite a variety of guests to see a variety of different language styles. Setting can also influence one's speech style, demonstrating that language has a purpose other than communication (Putra & Rosa, 2019). In addition, Astika (2018)also mentioned in her research on Kick Andy's talk show that the host rarely used frozen style and intimate style to speak to his guest and instead used consultative and casual style.

In this current study, the researchers are interested in finding the data from The Late Late Show's talk show from both previous studies. This show has been aired since 1995. Now, the host of this show is James Corden, who is younger than the host of Ellen's Show or Kick Andy. This builds the curiosity of the researchers on which language style are used by the host, James Corden, on The Late Late Show to interact with his guests. Thus, based on the background of the study above, the problems of this research are formulated as follows:

  • 1.    What type of language styles are used by James Cordon in The Late Late Show talk show?

  • 2.    What type of language styles are dominantly used by James Cordon in The Late Late Show talk show?

  • 2.    Research Methods

This research employs a qualitative approach. Qualitative research is used to elicit information on the object's meaning, concept, definition, character, symbol, and description (Lune & Berg, 2017). The data of this research was collected from three different videos of James Cordon interviewing three different guests who come to his television program, "The Late Late Show". The researcher picked three guests of different ages, James Lee Curtis (44), Dwayne Johnson (50), Ed Sheeran (31). This research focuses on how the host, James Kimberly Corden (43), uses the language style while interviewing his guests.

In collecting the data, the researcher needs to have the transcript of each video in order to get the precise dialogue between the host and the guests. Therefore, the researcher used Microsoft Stream's help to create the transcript of each video. To begin the data analysis procedure, the researcher studied the object utterances in the talk show, led by language style theory; specifically, Joos's types of language style theory (1967). If the statement or discussion exhibits some of the features of one of the types, it will be classified as one of the types. The researchers coded the utterances according to Joos's (1967) classification of language styles, assigning a unique code to each kind. After labeling the data, the researcher classified it according to Joos's (1967) notion of language styles. Additionally, the researcher provided an interpretation of the meaning of utterances for each type of language style discovered

  • 3.    Discussions

    Language Style Used by James Corden in The Late Late Show

The researchers have collected the data from each video and found that James uses three main language styles: formal, casual, and consultative language style.

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Jamie Lee Curtis           Dwayne Johnson             Ed Sheeran

  • ■ Frozen Style Formal Style Consultative Style Casual Style Intimate Style

Figure 1. Different Language Style used by James Corden with his guests

Each video has a different total utterance, as shown in the figure above. Based on the figure, James Corden showed more language style while he was interviewing Jamie lee Curtis. Talking to someone older than him, James uses a formal style while giving questions or giving a response to her. Also, he showed a lot of consultative style language to show Jamie how he engaged with the topic that Jamie told him. Unlike Jamie, James shows a minimal consultative style, about 4-5 times only, while interviewing with Dwayne Johnson and Ed Sheeran.

Another difference in the video is that James talked more while with Dwayne Johnson. In the utterance, there is only 22 times utterance while talking with Dwayne, but each of his responses was a long response. While with Jamie and Ed Sheeran, James gives time more to listen to the guests’ stories. Unlike Dwayne and Ed, who are similar or younger than James by age, Jamie, who is older than James, is treated differently. James was more careful, and based on his conversation, and it can be seen that James has been prepared the comment for Jamie before the interview. While Jamie, as the older one, talks casually, almost too intimate, while talking to James.

Interview 1: Jamie Lee Curtis

The researcher has watched the interviews with Jamie Lee Curtis two times and collected the data. In this video, it can be seen that James Kimberley mostly used Casual and Consultative language styles to communicate with his guest which much older than him. The example can be seen in the table below.

  • Table 1.    First Dialogue with Jamie Lee Curtis

JC   : *Talking about the Venice award* Does it mean a lot to you?

JLC  : You know what's fun? What's fun is being alive. Life is for living like

it's fun. It makes you feel a little old that they're giving you a lifetime achievement award. I feel like I'm 14.

JC : Yeah.

Note: JC (James Corden), JLC (Jamie Lee Curtis)

Based on the conversation above, James did not give a long answer or give another question towards Jamie's answer. James merely gives a short answer, which can be understood as agreeing with Jamie's opinion that receiving an award could make her feel alive and younger. This language style needs the listener's feedback and is usually produced in a semi-formal situation. Jamie is older than James, making him respect her by listening to her story without interrupting. The short answer from James was one of his language styles of showing respect to an older guest on his show.

In the other conversation between Jamie Lee Curtis and James Corden, James also uses another language style to make her feel more comfortable in this interview, such as follow.

  • Table 2.    Second Dialogue with Jamie Lee Curtis

JLC : It really is unbelievable. Also, by the way, Alex Perry made this dress. I kind of like her shoulder.

JC : Yeah, we like her shoulder, but we're not completely. *Make a gesture of having nothing underneath the dress*

JLC : Mommy like the shoulder.

JC : I mean now… *Laugh*

JCL : *Raising eyebrows, confirming what Jamie thought*

Note: JC (James Corden), JLC (Jamie Lee Curtis)

Unlike the previous conversation, where James gives a short response, James shows more interest and even tries to tease Jamie with how she wears nothing under her dress. Even using the casual Language styles with Jamie in this conversation, Jamie still respects her by not repeating her previous sentence of not wearing anything beneath her dress. James changes it by showing some gestures with his hands over his body. Jamie also replies to this gesture by raising her eyebrow to show her agreement with James's thought.

From the video, there are 33 times utterances from the host. Within the 33 times, 51,51% or 17 times, the language style used by James Corden while talking to Jamie Lee Curtis is consultative. Similar to the dialogue in table 1, most of the time, James Corden actively gives a short response to Jamie's story rather than giving a long answer or even interfering while Jamie's was talking. A host needs to be a good listener, and to show that he is listening to Jamie, he participates continuously by giving a short response such as "Yeah", "Hmm", and "That’s right”.

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Jamie Lee Curtis



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■ Frozen Style ■ Formal Style ■ Consultative Style ■ Casual Style Intimate Style

Figure 2. James’ Language Style in the interview with Jamie Lee Curtis

Besides using the short answer while interviewing Jamie Lee Curtis, James brings in the topic of discussion using a casual style. From figure 1, it can be seen that there are 12 times or about 36,36% that James Corden use this language style more than the formal style, which is only four times out of the 33 times utterance. James preferred to listen more and use the consultative style to discuss with Jamie, who is older than him.

Interview 2: Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Johnson has similar in age to James Corden. Holmes (2013) mentioned that each language has a pattern and this pattern usually shifts based on the speaker's age besides the

ethnicity or other social background. The researchers then try observing based on the dialogue collected to look at the language style James Corden uses and if there is any shift of the language within it.

Dwayne re-appeared on the show a year ago in this episode. Look at the first dialogue (Table 3). Jamie used a casual style to open the interview with Dwayne Johnson. As Joos in Hutauruk (2019) defines, the casual style is a language style used between friends where the speaker does not need to prepare what to say beforehand.

  • Table 3.    First Dialogue with Dwayne Johnson

JC : It’s like I hope nobody from CBS is watching how good Bryan Cranston is.

DJ : I called the CBS that night and was like listen, Brian is actually better than

jail. I’m kidding.

JC    : *Show a sulking face*

DJ    : No, I did not say that. No, I did not. I’m sorry. Bad joke.

JC    : *Laugh at it*

Both  : *Laugh at it together*

Note: JC (James Corden), DJ (Dwayne Johnson)

Through this interview video between Dwayne Johnson and James Corden, it can be seen that out of five dialogues collected, James dominantly uses the casual style to talk to Dwayne. Most of the conversations going between Dwayne and James easily flowed. For another example, in Table 4, the relation between both of them as a friend could be seen on how Dwayne jokes about the feel of ripping a gate as something delicious. The language has swift into a slang word to show their excitement, using the word “delicious”.

  • Table 4.    Second Dialogue with Dwayne Johnson

JC : *Telling another way to rip the gate* Yeah, but different level of

foresight. Really. It’s different.

DJ : It’s different delicious. Level of deliciousness.

JC : *Laugh at it*

Note: JC (James Corden), DJ (Dwayne Johnson)

This is an interview with a guest that have similar age to James. In this interview, it is

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  • ■ Frozen Style ■ Formal Style ■ Consultative Style ■ Casual Style Intimate Style

interesting that James shows a very different response while talking to Dwayne. James talks more and gives almost no short response while listening to Dwayne’s story. James always talks using a casual style in this interview. This is in line with Hutauruk (2019) said that the casual style is used as an interaction between friends and shows the intimacy between the speaker and the listener. This language style utterance gives the listener the impression of formality. In figure 3, there are 17 times, or about 77,27% of the total conversation by the host, James Corden, was using the casual style. Then the rest, 22,72%, used the consultative style. This consultative style only appeared in a very long story told by Dwayne, which is about him ripping his gate and then uploading it on his Instagram feed. Other than the long story, it can be seen that James was not showing any short response, unlike while he was interviewing Jamie Lee Curtis. James also showed more interest and was more relaxed while doing his interview with Dwayne, who has similar age to him.

Image 3. James’ Language Style in the Interview with Dwayne Johnson

Interview 3: Ed Sheeran

The third guest is Ed Sheeran. Ed is a lot younger than James. In this video, the Late Late Show came up with a theme of “Ed Sheeran week” as a welcoming event for his return after hiatus of a couple of months. Similar to how James greeted Dwayne, James also welcomed Ed Sheeran using a casual language style (Table 5).

  • Table 5.    First dialogue with Ed Sheeran

JC : How are you well? Welcome to Ed Sheeran week.

ED : You know this is the first interview we’ve done on because I’ve only ever done carpool with you.

JC : That’s right. This is it, we’re very happy and we’re thrilled that you are here. If you weren’t here, Ed Sheeran week would be weird for us.

Note: JC (James Corden), ED (Ed Sheeran)

Meanwhile, to compare Ed Sheeran with Dwayne Johnson, James tends to use a consultative style more while speaking with Ed Sheeran which can be interpreted as a distance between them. As the researcher mentioned before, age makes the language shift, then the age between them makes it harder for James to speak easily with Ed Sheeran even when he was younger than him. The example can be seen on the table below.

  • Table 6.    Second Dialogue with Ed Sheeran

ES : That's really cool and then I was like, well, I wonder if I wonder if

Ipswich are in need of a sponsor. They were sponsored by a betting

company, and You know a lot of the fans weren't like too keen on it.

JC : Sure.

Note: JC (James Corden), ED (Ed Sheeran)

Similar to the interview between Dwayne and James Corden, the conversation between Ed Sheeran and James Corden used a casual style. However, a slightly different can be seen inside the video where James was not as relaxed as when interviewing Dwayne. Inside the conversation with Dwayne, James can easily cut in on the story that Dwayne told him. Meanwhile, with Ed Sheeran, he was not cutting in, and he also did not give short answers as a sign of him listening. There are 74,07% or about 20 times of James Corden's utterances using casual style and only 25,93% of the consultative style

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Ed Sheeran

■ Frozen Style ■ Formal Style ■ Consultative Style ■ Casual Style Intimate Style

Image 4. James’ Language Style in the Interview with Ed Sheeran

Additionally, it can be shown that, of all the language styles identified in the data, the casual style was the most frequently utilized by the talk show presenter. According to the researcher's analysis of the data, the style was prevalent in the video due to the easygoing nature of the environment. A host should be able to read the situation and create an atmosphere conducive to the success of the talk show. Each person interacts differently with others, most notably in terms of communication (Gunawan et al., 2019). Additionally, the usage of language types allows for determining the communication's goal (Sakti & Weda, 2020).

5. Conclusion

This research was conducted to determine which language style James Corden, as a host for the Late Late Show, would use while facing the different ages and gender of his guests. As a result, James Corden used three formal language styles: casual style and consultative style. The formal language style was only used while James interviewed Jamie, older than James. Frozen and intimate styles do not appear because they do not match a talk show’s condition.

Meanwhile, the language style, which shows the relationship and is usually used between friends, casual style, appears so often within the interview no matter which age it is. The Late Late Show was a talk show program. It needs to attract the viewers and need an interesting topic to talk to. Based on the result, James uses these two-language styles because it is easier to bring another new topic to the guest and attract the viewers to watch the interview, but they still use the casual language style more often than the consultative language style.

The researchers only did this to find the dominant language style of a famous host based on his guests’ age. For the next research, it could be better to compare a host with another host to see if the same dominant language style will be used or if another language style appears to be more dominant. This could be an exciting way to learn deeper about language style. Looking directly at how the community uses the language style helps differentiate the difference between each language style. Understanding the differences also helps people speak with proper language style based on who the addressee is and the situation while the conversation is going on.

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Biography of Authors


Aileen Gracesela Sanjaya is a student of English Department at Widya Kartika University, Surabaya. Indonesia

Email: [email protected]

Endar Rachmawaty Linuwih, S.Hum.,M.Pd. is a lecturer at Widya Kartika University, Faculty of Letters, Surabaya, Indonesia.

Email: [email protected]