Jurnal Riset Guru Indonesia
Vol 5 No 2 (2026): April 2026 -Juli 2026

STUDENTS’ LANGUAGE ATTITUDES TOWARD INDONESIAN, ENGLISH, AND LOCAL LANGUAGES ON CAMPUS: LANGUAGE CHOICE, PRESTIGE, AND MAINTENANCE IN A MULTILINGUAL UNIVERSITY CONTEXT

Ika Sastrawati (Universitas Muhammadiyah makassar,Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 Jul 2026

Abstract

Indonesia’s multilingual higher education context requires students to navigate Indonesian, English, and local languages across diverse communicative domains. Yet, positive attitudes toward multilingualism may not translate into sustained language practices. This study investigates undergraduate students’ attitudes toward these languages, focusing on language identity, choice, perceived prestige, and local language maintenance. A descriptive mixed-methods design involved ten students in the English Education Study Program at Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar. Data were collected through a 20-item five-point Likert-scale questionnaire and five open-ended questions, analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Findings reveal positive attitudes across all dimensions, with language identity receiving the highest mean (4.44), followed by maintenance (4.06), choice (3.84), and prestige (3.36). Indonesian dominated cross-regional interaction, English served academic and professional purposes, while local languages were largely confined to same-region peers. The study reveals an attitude–practice gap and contributes evidence for multilingual policies that create meaningful domains for sustained language use.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

jrgi

Publisher

Subject

Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Mathematics Social Sciences Other

Description

Jurnal Riset Guru Indonesia (JRGI) adalah jurnal nasional, akses terbuka, multidisiplin, double-blind peer-review yang diterbitkan secara online tiga kali dalam setahun (Maret, Juli, November). Fokus dan ruang lingkup jurnal adalah untuk: 1) Menyediakan jurnal yang melaporkan penelitian tentang ...