Language Use in Songs of Public All-Boys Schools and Desirable Masculine Ideology

การใช้ภาษาในบทเพลงโรงเรียนชายล้วนของรัฐ กับอุดมการณ์ชายอันพึงประสงค์

Abstract

        This study aims to investigate language use in songs of state all-boys schools and to explain the role of language in constructing desirable masculinity within the Thai educational context. The study adopts a qualitative approach, employing textual analysis and discourse-oriented perspectives as analytical frameworks. The data consist of six institutional songs from two state all-boys schools, namely Suankularb Wittayalai School and Debsirin School, selected based on their recurrent use in institutional ceremonies and activities. The analysis focuses on linguistic features at the lexical and phrasal levels, including collective reference and pronoun use, evaluative vocabulary, and modal expressions indicating appropriateness or obligation, in order to examine the relationship between linguistic form, meaning, and ideology.  The findings reveal that evaluative and moral expressions are more prominent than explicit directive forms. Such a hierarchical arrangement of linguistic prominence contributes to naturalizing institutional ideology and rendering it acceptable as a normative framework. Furthermore, language in these songs plays a crucial role in constructing desirable masculinity across multiple dimensions, including moral integrity, institutional loyalty, achievement within institutional norms, and the voluntary acceptance of institutional regulation. The study highlights the significance of linguistic organization in ideological transmission and contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationship between language and ideology in contemporary Thai educational contexts.