Indonesian JELT
Vol 11, No 1 (2016): Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching vol 11 no.1 May 2016

"Maybe English first and then Balinese and Bahasa Indonesia": A case of language shift, attrition, and preference

Siana Linda Bonafix (Lembaga Pengembangan Profesi, Universitas Taruma Negara, Jakarta)
Christine Manara (Program Pasca Sarjana, Linguistik Terapan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya, Jakarta)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 May 2016

Abstract

This small-scale qualitative study aims to explore the participants’ view of languages acquired, learned, and used in their family in an Indonesian context. The two participants were Indonesians who came from multilingual and mixed-cultural family background. The study explores three research questions: 1) What are the languages acquired (by the participants’ family members), co-existed, and/or shift in the family of the two speakers? 2) What factors affect the dynamicity of these languages? 3) How do the participants perceive their self-identity? The qualitative data were collected using semi-structured and in-depth interviews. The interviews were audio-taped and transcribed to be analyzed using thematic analysis. The study detects local language shift to Indonesian from one generation to the next in the participants’ family. The data also shows several factors for valorizing particular languages than the others. These factors include socioeconomic factor, education, frequency of contact, areas of upbringing (rural or urban) and attitude towards the language. The study also reveals that both participants identify their self-identity based on the place where they were born and grew up instead of their linguistic identity.

Copyrights © 2016






Journal Info

Abbrev

JELT

Publisher

Subject

Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media

Description

Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching (IJELT) (pISSN: 0216-1281) is a peer-reviewed journal in which submitted articles will go through a blind review process. IJELT is published twice a year in May and in October every ...