Language shift among Javanese youth and their perception of local and national identities
It is not uncommon for language to play an important role in identity issues in multilingual countries. Declaring one of the important community languages as the official language in such a country can pose a threat to the survival of the other languages. Bahasa Indonesia is an example of this ph...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2019
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14092/1/30990-108022-1-PB.pdf http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14092/ http://ejournal.ukm.my/gema/issue/view/1212 |
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| Summary: | It is not uncommon for language to play an important role in identity issues in multilingual
countries. Declaring one of the important community languages as the official language in
such a country can pose a threat to the survival of the other languages. Bahasa Indonesia is an
example of this phenomenon. Its successful establishment as the national language has
altered the local language situation throughout the country. Relevant to this study, it has had
an important effect on young people’s use of Javanese, the dominant local language of
Yogyakarta. This study analyses the extent of language shift among the young multilinguals
in the city and investigates the youth’s search for authentic local and national identities. A
questionnaire was used to elicit the youth’s mother tongue as well as their attitudes and
perceptions towards Javanese and Bahasa Indonesia and local and national identities. Their
real use of languages was obtained through non-participative observations. A sample group
of 1,039 students from 10 junior and senior high schools was surveyed. The findings reveal
the current status of Javanese and Bahasa Indonesia as mother tongues and the identitylanguage
choice links. Most young people with Javanese parents claimed that Bahasa
Indonesia is their first language. This signals a weakened intergenerational transmission of
Javanese. With regard to identity, the youth’s sense of national identity is stronger than their
sense of local identity. To elevate the vitality of Javanese and strengthen the local identity,
intergenerational transmission and intensive use of Javanese at school is imperative. |
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