Language awareness as a resource for multilingual individuals’ learning about culture: a case study in the Javanese context

ABSTRACT

Regular and sustained contact with speakers of other languages might offer members of multilingual societies opportunities to develop cultural awareness through interactions with diverse individuals. This study examines how the language awareness of individuals in a highly multilingual setting can act as a resource to support their learning about culture and development of cultural awareness. Participants were students, faculty, and alumni of an English teacher preparation program in Central Java, a community where Javanese, Indonesian, and English are used regularly. Data sources included class observations, interviews, and journal entries. The research participants appeared to be using their Javanese language awareness as a resource in two ways as they discussed and learned about culture: by using the Javanese language as a marker of cultural difference, and by connecting to structural and sociolinguistic aspects of Javanese, notably the use of indirect communication and the appropriate speech level. Educators working with students in both multilingual and monolingual settings could draw on these findings by purposefully building on students’ language awareness as a resource to help them develop cultural awareness.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural awareness
• intercultural communication
• language awareness
• multilingualism
• sociolinguistic awareness

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 A program called Transmigration encouraged Javanese people to move from Java to less populous areas of Indonesia, including to South Sumatra. We know this participant grew up in South Sumatra, but we are unaware whether her family may have identified as ethnically Javanese.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The International Research Foundation for English Language Education; TESOL International Association; American Institute for Indonesian Studies.

Notes on contributors

Tabitha Kidwell

Tabitha Kidwell is a faculty member in the TESOL program at American University. Her research focuses on language teacher education and the role of culture in language teaching. Her recent work has been published in TESOL Journal, Language and Intercultural Communication, and Language, Culture, and Curriculum. She has taught French, Spanish, and English to students ranging from preschoolers to adults, and has conducted professional development for language teachers around the world.

Hanung Triyoko

Hanung Triyoko is the head of the language development unit of the State Institute for Islamic Studies, (IAIN) Salatiga and a member of the Faculty of Education and Teacher Training. He is a member of the Australian Alumni Reference Group (ARG) and he has served as a counterpart for the RELO English Language Fellow of the US Embassy for four years. His research interests focus on multiculturalism and education. He is an editor of the journal Register of Language Teaching, and his work has been published in the Jakarta Post, the daily English newspaper in Indonesia.