Communicative Functions of Mobile Legends Quick Chat: A Pragmatic Study among Laboratory High School Students at Southern Leyte State University Tomas Oppus Campus

Abstract

Online multiplayer gaming platforms such as Mobile Legends serve as authentic digital ecosystems where language thrives dynamically through built-in communication features. Gap in literature: While growing attention surrounds digital discourse, prior research largely concentrates on general translation strategies or grammatical structures, overlooking the core pragmatic functions of quick chat expressions among secondary-school learners. Purpose of study: Addressing this gap, this research investigates the communicative functions embedded within Mobile Legends quick chat commands among Grade 10 students at Southern Leyte State University Tomas Oppus Campus. Method: Adopting a descriptive qualitative design, data were collected via non-participant observation and screen recordings, subsequently analyzed through Hallidayan interpersonal metafunctions, Jakobson's language functions, and Searle's Speech Act Theory. Main findings: The analysis indicates that these quick chat expressions fulfill multiple communicative roles such as expressing appreciation, issuing warnings, conveying sarcasm, and negotiating resources with emotive, referential, and conative functions predominating through expressive, representative, and directive speech acts. Conclusion: Ultimately, these predefined digital utterances function as flexible pragmatic instruments whose meanings are dynamically negotiated and deeply shaped by situational contexts and speaker intentions.