ORAL NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE PROFICIENCY IN BILINGUAL CHILDREN: A CASE STUDY OF JAVANESE-INDONESIAN CHILDREN

Katharina Endriati Sukamto; Bambang Kaswanti Purwo

doi:10.26499/li.v34i1.43

Authors

Katharina Endriati Sukamto Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya
Bambang Kaswanti Purwo Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26499/li.v34i1.43

Keywords:

narrative, descriptive, bilingual

Abstract

This qualitative preliminary study focuses on the linguistic proficiency of Javanese-Indonesian bilingual elementary school children in a village in Gunung Kidul, 65 km south of Yogyakarta in the island of Java, Indonesia, in producing oral narrative and descriptive stories in Javanese and Indonesian. Two kinds of instruments were used to elicit data in this study: a six-minute silent movie and a picture about some activities to commemorate the Indonesian Independence Day. The elicited data from the movie instrument shows that both the lower-grade and higher-grade students were more at ease with Javanese than with Indonesian. From the picture-triggered speech, the result is that the higher-grade students superseded the lower-grade students in their fluency in Indonesian as well as in their ability to construct longer utterances in the language. This study demonstrates that the childrenâ€™s proficiency in Javanese â€“ their first language â€“ remains at the basic level and it does not develop even though the children are in the higher grade. However, all children are more comfortable with Javanese when they have to do retelling. When the children were given a task that is related to academic requirements, such as describing something that is based on a picture, the higher-grade children perform better in Indonesian rather than in Javanese.

References

Arias, R. & Lakshmanan, U. (2005). Code switching in a Spanish-English bilingual child: A communication resource. ISB4: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism, ed. James Cohen, Kara T. McAlister, Kellie Rolstad, and Jeff MacSwan, 94-109. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.

Bernstein, B. (2003). Class, codes and control: Theoretical studies towards a sociology of language, Volume I. London: Routledge.

Bialystok, E., Peets, K.F., Moreno, S. (2014). Producing bilinguals through immersion education: Development of metalinguistic awareness. Appl. Psycholinguist. Jan 1; 35(1):177-191.

Cantone, K.F. (2005). Evidence against a third grammar: code switching in Italian-German bilingual children. ISB4: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism, ed. James Cohen, Kara T. McAlister, Kellie Rolstad, and Jeff MacSwan, 477-496. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.

Chafe, W.L. (Ed.). (1985). The Pear Stories. Cognitive, Cultural, and Linguistic Aspects of Narrative Production. Norwood: Ablex Publishing.

Cummins, J. (1981). The role of primary language development in promoting educational success for language minority students. Schooling and language minority students: A theoretical framework, 3-49. Los Angeles: California State University, Evaluation, Dissemination, and Assessment Center.

Cummins, J. (2001). Bilingual childrenâ€™s mother tongue: Why is it important for education? Sprogforum, 7(19), 15-20.

Cummins, J. (2008). BISC and CALP: Empirical and theoretical status of the distinction. Street, B. & Hornberger, N. H. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Language and Education, 2nd Edition, Volume 2: Literacy. (71-83). New York: Springer Science + Business Media LLC.

Darwis, M. 2011. Nasib bahasa daerah di era globalisasi: Peluang dan tantangan. Workshop Pelestarian Bahasa Daerah Bugis Makassar, Balitbang Agama Makassar, Hotel Pariwisata Parepare, 15 Oktober 2011.

Gunarwan, A. (2006). Kasus-kasus pergeseran bahasa daerah: Akibat persaingan dengan bahasa Indonesia? Linguistik Indonesia, 24(1), 95-113.

Kaswanti Purwo, B. (2012). Program PAUD: Ancaman bagi pemertahanan bahasa ibu? Seminar Bahasa Ibu dan Keberaksaraan dalam rangka memperingati Hari Internasional Bahasa Ibu, 21 Februari 2012, Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya.

Mattock K., Polka, L., Rvachew, S., Krehm, M. (2010). The first steps in word learning are easier when the shoes fit: Comparing monolingual and bilingual infants. Developmental Science, 13, 229-243.

Sandelowski, M. (1991). Telling stories: Narrative approaches in qualitative research. IMAGE: Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 23(3), Fall 1991, 161-166.

Sobarna, C. (2007). Bahasa Sunda sudah di ambang pintu kematiankah? Makara, Sosial Humaniora, 11(1), Juni 2007, 13-17.