Multilingualism among Indonesians

Fildza Nabila 17202241023

Faculty of Languages and Arts
Yogyakarta State University
2019

Abstract

This article looks at the definitions and scope of multilingualism. Contrast to what is believed,
multilingualism is a very common phenomenon that happens in the world, one of them being in
Indonesia. In this article, the phenomenon of multilingualism in Indonesia and the various layers
of it are discussed. The factors, divided into two categories which are geographical factor and
social factor, that contribute to the phenomenon are fully considered in this article. The last
section of the article gives examples of multilingualism among Indonesians and compares the
use between Indonesian to other languages spoken in Indonesia.

Keywords: Multilingualism, Indonesian, Ethnic Language, Geographical Factor, Social Factor

1. Introduction

Multilingualism is known as the ability of someone to speak more than one language.
There are, however, some different opinions on how to classify language speakers into the
monolingual category or the bilingual and multilingual category. Some researchers favor a
narrow definition of bilingualism and argue that only those individuals who are very close to two
monolinguals in one should be considered bilingual. Some others believe in a broad definition
that views bilingualism as a common human condition that makes it possible for an individual to
function, at some level, in more than one language. Vivian Cook (1992) argues that most
multilingual speakers fall somewhere between minimal and maximal definitions. Cook calls
these people multi-competent.

2. Multilingualism in Indonesia

There is an old saying that someone who speaks four languages is called quadrilingual,
a speaker of three languages is called trilingual, someone with the ability to speak two
languages is bilingual, and someone who knows only one language is an American, or British.
There is certainly some truth in this. When monolingualism, the ability to use only one language,
is really common in the Western part of the world, Indonesians are known to be mostly bilingual
or even multilingual. In fact, an Indonesian would be questioned if they only speak one language
as they’re seen as a misfit in the society. In so many regions of Indonesia, people should be
able to talk in their regional language when speaking to the elders as a sign of politeness. As
stated in an article by Valdés:

Contrary to what is often believed, most of the world's population is

bilingual or multilingual. Monolingualism is characteristic only of a
minority of the world's peoples. According to figures cited in
Stavenhagen (1990) for example, five to eight thousand different ethnic
groups reside in approximately 160 nation states. Moreover, scholars
estimate that there are over 5000 distinct languages spoken in that
same small number of nation states. What is evident from these figures
is that few nations are either monolingual or mono-ethnic. Each of the
world's nations has groups of individuals living within its borders who use
 other languages in addition to the national language to function in their
everyday lives.

This phenomenon is a result of how various the languages that exist in Indonesia are. A
number of 707 languages makes Indonesia placed 2nd in the list of countries with the most
language spoken according to World Economy Forum, just above Nigeria with 526 languages
and under Papua New Guinea with 839 languages spoken. According to Ethnologue, the most
spoken language being Javanese with 84 million speakers spread mostly in Java and followed
by Sundanese that has 34 million speakers. However, they agreed on making Indonesian
language as the national language on the monumental Sumpah Pemuda day, that as of 2018
has 260 million speakers.

However, the citizens of the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta, do not have their original
ethnic language. Jakartans are consisted of various ethnic groups nationwide. Only a few of
them could actually speak their ancestral language as their parents decide not to teach their
children the language. Also being the most multi-cultural city in Indonesia, they use Indonesian
as a language to communicate in order for the interlocutors to understand. Back to the
agreement: Indonesian as the national language. In this context, it can be called as lingua
franca.

But not only ethnic languages that Indonesians usually speak, English and other foreign
languages come at last making them be considered as multilinguals by then. The ability to
speak English and other foreign languages such as Japanese, German, and Korean are not
really common to the point it can be said that most of Indonesians do. English being the most
familiar than the other three does not guarantee the individuals’ fluency. Even though English is
a required subject in every formal education, every so often only the high educated people can
speak the language fluently. It is a completely different situation than what happens in other
multi-cultural countries in South East Asia such as Singapore or Malaysia.

3. Factors of Multilingualism in Indonesia

This phenomenon, of course, has some factors that contribute to it. It is the same as
what happens to any multilingual society created, which are geographical and social factors that
divided into cultural, economy factor. Different factors affect how a language is spoken
within a country. All these factors are interconnected. Down below is some explanation to
it.

a. Geographical Factor
Indonesia is made up of thousands of islands. Therefore, it is a home to
hundreds of ethnic groups speaking many different languages. Almost every
single island in Indonesia has its own ethnic language with sufficient amount of
speakers. All those languages make up for about 700 languages spread all over
the country, and even more. Therefore, it is common for Indonesians to speak an
ethnic language such as Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, and Dayak beside
their national language, Indonesian or usually called Bahasa Indonesia. This
ethnic language automatically be considered as their mother tongue.
Often times, Indonesians are moving across the country for education or
jobs. The urbanization that is not rare happening in this country is causing
transmissions of their ethnic languages among the citizens, not to mention the
multi ethnical marriage that also always happens. In the Introduction to
Sociolinguistics by Wardhaugh is given an example of multilingualism that is
caused by multi ethnical marriage that happens between the Tukano of the
 northwest Amazon—in which they can’t marry a person from the same tribe—
which relates to what happens in Indonesia:
Consequently, in any village several languages are used: the language
of the men; the various languages spoken by women who originate from
different neighboring tribes; and a widespread regional ‘trade’ language.
Children are born into this multilingual environment: the child’s father
speaks one language, the child’s mother another, and other women with
whom the child has daily contact perhaps still others. However,
everyone in the community is interested in language learning so most
people can speak most of the languages.

This definitely can be related to what happen in Indonesia, minus the fact that
they can’t marry a person from the same tribe. One and two factors are
contributing to the multilingual society created among Indonesians.

b. Social Factor:
1) Economical Factor
People who are classified into the upper class in society have the
tendency to be more educated compared to those who are classified into
the middle to lower classes, for them to actually able to afford much more
than the 9 year of required education (Wajib Belajar 9 Tahun). This
affects directly for the amount of English and/or other foreign languages
speakers in Indonesia, contributing to the multilingual phenomenon in this
country.
Moreover, the phenomenon is an effect of a constant escalating
number of Indonesian students who study abroad as well. According to
IIE, the number has increased for 6,6% by the year 2016 from a year
before, making up Indonesia as the top 19 origin countries of international
students in the USA. These students will most likely go back to their
home country after finishing their studies, bringing their English skills after
living in the native country.
Another evidence is that some places in Indonesia are considered
as popular travel destinations. One of the most popular, Bali, an island
located right beside Java. According to Bank of Indonesia, Bali is
predicted to increase a number of 6,10%-6,50% in terms of the economy.
In these tourist destinations, the local people are mostly fluent in some
foreign languages where tourists usually come from. The touristy that
adds a lot to the growth of their economy will automatically make the
locals to learn the language. That explains how Balinese are fluent to
communicate in a lot of different foreign languages and how multilingual
signs can easily found in places.

2) Cultural Factor
The teaching of an ethnic language by Indonesian parents to their
children is already a culture that sticks to Indonesian. Hence why in most
cases, an ethnic language whether being Javanese, Sundanese, Dayak,
etc according to their ethnic group, will be their mother tongue instead of
Indonesian. Even so, the national language, Indonesian, will always
taught to the children as well, considering that it is the language used in
any formal or educational activities. Indonesian children are most likely
born into a multilingual culture.
 When the children grow up, they will be exposed to the
multilingual society they live in. In so many regions, the elderly do still
speak their ethnic language on a daily basis. In this situation, the younger
people are expected to speak the same, using the same language and
the strict system that the language often has. An example of this is
Javanese. Javanese has a language system that differs depending on
what is the situation of the communication. There are 3 classes, krama
(the highest language), krama inggil (the middle language), and ngaka
(the lowest language). All three classes have widely different lexical items
from one another and every Javanese speaker is expected to master all
three in order to fluently communicate in Javanese, especially in every
situation. Krama is the one used when a young Javanese communicate
with the elders or even his parents. Krama is the kind of polite and soft-
spoken language that should be used by the younger speakers. If not, the
person will be considered impolite or even not educated.
In another case, two people that have a close relationship tend to
switch to their ethnic language when communicating. Communicating in
Indonesian will start to sound formal and distant to them, while ethnic
language brings people closer together. This caused a code-switching
and code-mixing activity really common and even taken for granted
amongst them.

4. Conclusion
Indonesia agreed on having Indonesian or Bahasa Indonesia as their national language.
However, Indonesia being a country with so many islands scattered all over the nation
makes hundreds of ethnic languages easier to develop among the people, some of them are
Javanese developed in Java, Sundanese in West Java, Balinese in Bali, and Dayak in
Kalimantan. One child being born into an ethnic group will automatically have one particular
ethnic language as his mother tongue as his/her parents will teach them that in the earliest
stage of his life. Later on in his life, Indonesian will be the language used in their educational
and other formal activities. Moreover, he will have a big possibility to also be fluent in other
ethnic language or even foreign language, considering English, for example, is a required
subject in every school. This phenomenon has a lot of factors that contributes to it. First is
the geographical factor; how Indonesia is made of so many islands with different cultures
and languages, also the common urbanization that happens in the country. The other
factors are economical factor; how the upper classes can have better education and thus
better opportunity to learn other foreign languages and the last being cultural factor; how
Indonesian basically born into a multilingual society and how common is the culture of
speaking ethnic language in their daily life. In conclusion, it is safe to say that Indonesians
are mostly bilinguals or multilinguals.

References

Cook, Vivian. 2006. Evidence for Multicompetence.

Wardhaugh, Ronald. 1986. Introduction to Sociolinguistics.