Language Usage of Foreign Students in Teaching Indonesian to
Speakers of Other Languages (TISOL): Sociolinguistic Studies Based
on Local Culture in Indonesia
Kundharu Saddhono
Indonesian Language Education Departement, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education. Universitas Sebelas Maret,
Surakarta, Indonesia
kundharu_s @staff.uns.ac.id
Keywords: Language of Foreign Student, TISOL Learning, Sociology of Language, Local Culture.
Abstract: Indonesian language become popular in other country. Many TISOL held in the Indonesia and the other
country. In practice of TISOL learning process find many phenomenon of language usage from foreign
student in Indonesia. This research has aims to analysis the language usage of foreign student of TISOL
program in Indonesia. Method of this research is qualitative descriptive using language sociological approach.
Data collected using paid attention method also using deep interview. Analysis of sociological language
considered in social context of components said. Result of this research showed that Indonesian language
dominant using in conversation activity because the language which use in TISOL learning is Indonesian
language. English language using as language mediation between the lecture and student when there are find
quite difficult in learning process. The other language which find on learning process is local language because
it related with lingua franca in each city using local language. When giving material about Indonesian
language better also integrated the cultural aspect because in society there are formal and communication
language. Both formal and communication language must be understood by foreign student so that not
occurred miscommunication in language usage.
1 INTRODUCTION
Teaching Indonesian to Speakers of Other Languages
(TISOL) Program is massively being held both in
Indonesia and abroad. The number of foreigners
studying Indonesian and culture should be matched
with the implementation of more professional BIPA
programs. Foreign students learning Indonesian as the
second language in Indonesia should be able to
communicate well. By mastering Indonesian, foreign
students will be easier to communicate verbally or
write primarily used in the learning process.
Foreign students who follow the TISOL program
in a particular area in Indonesia will directly attach to
the language and culture of the area. For example,
students who follow the TISOL program in
Yogyakarta and Surakarta will be tagged by Javanese
culture. Thus, foreign students who follow the TISOL
program need to be trained on the local language to
facilitate communication with the learning
environment (Erler and Macaro, 2011). This also
occurs in the phenomenon of local language in
education in various countries (Hult and Källkvist,
2016; Phyak, 2013; Saddhono and Rohmadi, 2014).
In order to provide maximum TISOL learning to
the TISOL program, especially universities in Java,
for example, Central Java, East Java, and Yogyakarta
foreign students are also required to learn Javanese as
a regional language for communication. The
institution that houses students learning Javanese as a
second language at various universities is integrated
into TISOL institutions. The teaching materials used
in various teaching institutions of Java as the second
language mostly uses different teaching materials.
(Saddhono, 2016). It is not infrequent they make their
own teaching materials or modules, such as the
TISOL institutions found at the State University of
Yogyakarta and Sebelas Maret University.
The integration of local or Javanese culture into
TISOL learning can also be used to bridge the need
for cultural identification and improve
communication skills for foreign students in TISOL
programs at universities based on Javanese culture
and language (Saddhono, 2015). The systematic and
Saddhono, K.
Language Usage of Foreign Students in Teaching Indonesian to Speakers of Other Languages (TISOL): Sociolinguistic Studies Based on Local Culture in Indonesia.
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education (ICSE 2017) - Volume 2, pages 177-181
ISBN: 978-989-758-316-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
177
planned Javanese language learning makes foreign
students more readily available and able to accept the
lectures well. Instructional materials used in TISOL
learning accompanied by recording some Javanese
cultural events to provide early knowledge to foreign
students. In addition, in the learning process also
comes with handbooks for TISOL students and
handbooks for teachers.
The domination of Javanese culture and language
in foreign students either directly or indirectly will
affect everyday language behavior. By studying
Javanese culture, it is expected that it will enable
students to adapt and socialize with the community
easily. By studying Javanese culture then they will get
a new cultural orientation that is different from their
original culture. This new cultural orientation can
indirectly change the way they socialize because they
have been affected by their new cultural knowledge
(Rui and Wang, 2015). Each culture certainly has a
characteristic that forms the social pattern and
character of an individual. Moving places or
domiciles to places with different cultural
backgrounds make the process of cultural mixing. On
the other hand, the individual retains the old culture
that has shaped one personality and character
(Greenfield, 2016). However, on the other hand they
have to learn and follow new cultural patterns to
easily socialize in new environments. This will be the
focus of the study which is about the cultural and
social change of the use of TISOL language students
in Indonesian universities based on local culture in
the sociological perspective of language.
2 METHODS
The study involved the use of foreign language
students in a local culture-based TISOL program in
Indonesia including case studies for trying to find
scientific truths by examining the underlying study
object to obtain comprehensive results. This type of
research is descriptive qualitative with setting as it is.
Research was conducted in universities in Central
Java, East Java, and Yogyakarta. The universities
were Sebelas Maret University, Semarang State
University, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta
State University, Malang State University, and
Surabaya State University. Data was taken from the
use of foreign students in the naturally occurring
TISOL program that had specific characteristics in
accordance with the purpose. It naturally meant that
the use of language or language events took place
fairly in the classroom in TISOL learning activities.
Method of data collection used was listening and
speaking methods (Sudaryanto, 2015) which later
used the technique of listening speaking, recording
techniques, and writing technique. Data collection
also used to in-depth-interview techniques. This study
used selective sampling techniques by using
judgments based on the theoretical concepts used, the
personal curiosity of the authors, empirical
characteristics and others. Therefore, the sample used
in this study was more likely purposive sampling or
more accurately referred to as a sample with criterion-
based selection (Goetz and LeCompte in Sutopo,
1996).
This study included sociolinguistics research
which examined the relationship between the
language and the speakers'. Saddhono (2014) states
that sociolinguistics research is basically contextual
research. Contextual research is a study of the form
of speech (language) by paying attention to the social
context that accompanies the occurrence of a speech.
In the analysis of the data would be taken into account
the social texts in the form of speech components,
namely (1) speakers, (2) speech partners or
opponents, (3) speaking or speech occasion, (4)
speaking purposes, and (5) purpose of speaking
(Sudaryanto, 2016). The five components of the
speech were chosen with the consideration that the
five components of the speech were closely related to
the use of foreign students in TISOL learning in
Indonesia.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The result of this study showed that the choice of
language by foreign students in the TISOL program
in Indonesia varied widely. The most dominant
language was Indonesian (IN) because in TISOL
learning it was required to use Indonesian as the
medium of instruction. This was aligning with the
results of research in several TISOL programs in
Indonesia (Indrariani, 2016). However, the use of
English (IG) was also available. This was due to
inadequate skill of peaking in Indonesian. Most of the
foreign students in TISOL classes were first to come
and live in Indonesia. Generally, these foreign
students had mastered the IG although some had
mastered the passive level but were very helpful in
the learning process.
Language usage phenomenon in TISOL learning
at UNS shows the presence of code mix (CM), code
transfer (CT), interference, and integration that are
the things that exist in sociolinguistics. A speech
event that indicates it appears in the following data in
table 1.
ICSE 2017 - 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education
178
Table 1: illustrates CM and CT phenomena uttered by
foreign students.
Data in table 1, illustrates a very interesting
phenomenon in sociolinguistics, such as CM and CT.
At given event, foreign students were still
accustomed to using IG often, with CM and C. Many
speakers CT and CM in speech events in table 1
above. In table 1, there were a lot of CM and CT
phenomena uttered by foreign students coming from
several countries. As in point 2, 6, 8 and 10 speeches
were uttered by students of Polish origin. This student
did CT and CM in event, namely walking, right, how,
and I’m sorry. The CM and CT events were spoken
because the speaker did not know to express those
words in the IN. And it became a habit of students
using IG.
On the table 1 point 5, it is also seen by the
speakers (lecturer) to perform the CT that arouse
because to offset the spoken partner i.e. foreign
students who used IG in event. There was 'no' word.
Thus, it was clear that the use of the language spoken
by the lecturer to offset the spoken partner's speech,
foreign student, in order to make foreign students
more clear with what the lecturer displayed. The IG
spelling was then reinforced by the speaker with the
word "no".
The most interesting thing to do with the use of
Indonesian by foreign students in TISOL is the word
greeting. There were many greetings used by foreign
students. The use of the word greeting based on the
structure of the sentence was correct but it was wrong
when studied in relation to its meaning. Therefore,
sociolinguistic teaching is very important given to
foreign students so that the use of language in society
can go well and true. This is because the language and
society have a very close relationship. Body language
develops with the user community. So,
sociolinguistics places its focus on language and
society (Sunahrowi, 2007).
The phenomenon of pronoun use has also been
studied Saddhono (2006) which dealt with the usage
of Madura language in Surakarta. The use 'aku’ and
'saya' can be compared to the use of the 'kaula' in
Madura or Javanese language equivalent to the word
'saya'. In Javanese the word 'kaula' means people,
ordinary people, person, and opposes of 'gusti' which
means master. The Javanese and Madura people use
the word 'kaula' (Javanese is read ‘kaulo’ or ‘kulo’,
Madura language is read ‘kauleh’ or ‘kuleh’) to
indicate the lower status of its partners. This usage is
similar to the use of the word 'saya' in Malay whose
usage is different from the word 'aku'. Related to the
word 'aku' was also reviewed by Yustanto (2009)
The same circumstance is contented in data which
is the word 'kamu'. The word 'kamu' should also be
used for people whose social status is under the
speaker or equivalent. If a partner has a higher social
status, then the pronoun used is 'Anda'. The word
'kamu' was used by foreign students to lecturer
including mistakes for not paying attention to the
context in the event. This is because the foreign
students were not aware of the context and meaning
of each spoken vocabulary. This is where the
importance of sociolinguistic study is to analyze a
speech that occurs in society. When researchers asked
the difference between 'kamu' and 'anda' in everyday
language use, foreign students following TISOL in
Yogyakarta could not explain the difference.
The use of language of foreign language students
in TISOL was also influenced by Javanese as a local
language. This was due to everyday relationship they
interacted with students and communities in Central
Java, East Java, and Yogyakarta using Javanese in
communicating. Either directly or indirectly foreign
students were certainly affected by the language used
by local people and students living together in a
boarding house or home. Even the ability of
Indonesian of foreign students was influenced by
daily social interactions with students or local
communities. This situation caused Javanese to be
influential in the development of Indonesian of
foreign students. The Javanese phenomenon is
illustrated in the following table 2.
(1)
Lecturer
:
Anda tadi ke kampus naik apa?
(How did you come?)
(2)
Student 1
:
Saya is walking (I is walking)
(4)
Student 2
:
Saya juga jalan-jalan (Me too)
(5)
Lecturer
:
No. Bukan. Kamu harus
menggunakan bahasa
Indonesia ya.(No, You have to
use Indonesian)
(6)
Student 1
:
Oh ok saya jalan kaki ke
kampus. Right?(Oh ok I came by
walking to campus)
(7)
Lecturer
:
Baik. Jadi jalan kaki ya dan
bukan jalan-jalan. Ini berbeda
antara jalan dan jalan-jalan.
(Ok, by walking not strolling.
Those are different)
(8)
Student 1
:
Berbeda. How? (Different.
How?)
(9)
Lecturer
:
Ayo bahasa Indonesia (Come
on, use Indonesian)
(10)
Student 1
:
Oh im sorry eh maaf (Oh I’m
sorry)
Language Usage of Foreign Students in Teaching Indonesian to Speakers of Other Languages (TISOL): Sociolinguistic Studies Based on
Local Culture in Indonesia
179
Table 2: The Javanese Phenomenon.
On table 2 foreign students at UNS besides
studying IN also learned Java (JW). JW was learned
by foreign students from friends in their boarding
house or residence. Foreign students at UNS
generally lived with other Indonesian students around
the campus. In everyday life, they always heard
friends from Indonesia always use JW in
communicating so that they were directly or
indirectly affected. Therefore, sometimes they also
learned JW as a means of communicating in their
home environment. As with data in table 2 that
foreign students 1 from Australia greeted the lecturer
using JW 'Sugeng Sonten, Mas. That's right, sir'. On
this event, foreign students tried to greet the lecturer
with JW although the speaker seemed to be still in
doubt about saying the sentence. Therefore, the
speaker asked the lecturer whether the speech using
the JW was correct or not. Basically the greetings
given by the students were correct as a greeting in the
afternoon that is Sugeng sonten 'good afternoon’. The
language used was the JW variety of krama (polite)
and the speech was precisely because it was intended
for speech partners who were considered to have a
higher social status, namely lecturer as speech
partners and students as speakers. However, there was
an error in the word greeting used 'Mas'. The word
'Mas' is used as a call to older brothers or sisters, older
people calls, calls to respectable people regardless of
age, and calls with positive nuances for the newly
known Javanese. Obviously, in the speech event the
word 'Mas' was addressed inappropriate because the
speaking occasion was formal where at that time the
speech took place in class learning. The word 'Mas'
over the saying should be 'Pak'. The phenomenon of
using JW by foreign students is also contained in the
table 2 point 8 that is 'Kula saged bahasa Jawa.' which
means 'I can speak Javanese' in the form of krama.
There was a CM that occurred in the speech that was
the word 'bahasa’ which should be 'basa'. This CM
appeared to be related to the habit of speaker who
often used the term ‘bahasa' in their daily speech. The
choice of JW krama was also pronounced without
being based on the 'taste' of the speakers because the
student's intuition of JW is still lack. The
conversation arose because the student had learned
the matter with his friend and the information
obtained by foreign students that the speech was a
'smooth' speech delivered to a respected person
because JW had a level of speech.
Foreign students studying in Indonesia, especially
Central Java, Yogyakarta, and East Java generally
have a strong desire to study IN. But sometimes they
are confused by the IN they learn because there are
often differences between what is being learned in the
classroom and those in everyday conversation
(Widodo, 2013). This is what needs to be explained
to them that IN has a lot of variety, such as the raw
variety they are learning in the classroom and the
variety of non-standardized that they often encounter
in public speaking. This is where the role of
sociolinguistic science in explaining the phenomena
experienced by foreign students when studying IN.
The 'Javanese' nuance is also often found in
foreign language students daily in Central Java,
Yogyakarta, and East Java. This is because they
interact daily with people who use JW and Surakarta
and Yogyakarta are one of the centers of Javanese
culture in Indonesia. Therefore, the culture of Java
either directly or indirectly will affect the attitude of
foreign students in Indonesia. Most foreign students
want to study in Central Java, Yogyakarta, and East
Java located on Java Island as well because they have
Javanese culture that is unique and interesting from
various aspects, such as language, art, culinary, and
others. So, when foreign students studying IN is
expected to also know the context of the existing
speech so that the understanding they get is good and
true including the influence of Javanese culture in
Central Java, Yogyakarta, and East Java.
(1)
Lecturer
:
(2)
Student 1
:
(4)
Student 2
:
(5)
Lecturer
:
(6)
Student 2
:
(7)
Lecturer
:
(8)
Student 2
:
(9)
Student 3
:
(10)
Lecturer
:
(11)
Student 3
:
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4 CONCLUSIONS
Foreign students who follow the TISOL program in
Central Java, Yogyakarta, and East Java have
uniqueness in using language in communication. In
everyday conversation is still hugely influenced by IG
because of language mediation tools that are most
likely for foreign students and lecturers. But because
of the demands in order to use the IN they try to use
it although there are still many non-contextual
speeches although linguistically appropriate. Mother
tongues or native language foreign students
sometimes still influence in their speaking, especially
in phonological fields. Because Java, Yogyakarta,
and East Java are located in Java Island with JW
introductory language, many of the foreign students
are influenced by JW.
Based on the above study, it can be concluded that
sociolinguistics has a dominant role in learning
TISOL. Due to the wide variety of Indonesian
language, TISOL teachers should also teach
Indonesian language based on occasion and social
context in addition to the Indonesian standard. Thus,
foreign students will not have much trouble when
communicating in daily society. Preferably in the
teaching of Indonesian to foreigners is also adapted to
its social context rather than formal Indonesian
language.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Authors would like to thank to several parties who
had assisted in this research process, TISOL program
institutions at six colleges as research partners (UM,
UNESA, UNS, UNNES, UGM, and UNY).
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