Prosiding Seminar Nasional Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni 2016 Jurusan PBS, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Jambi Mendalo Darat, 5 Agustus 2016
BAHASA INDONESIA FOR FOREIGNERS: A SURVEY ON THE DIFFICULTIES THEY ENCOUNTER Tanjung Gita Hidayati (
[email protected]) Redika Cindra Reranta (
[email protected]) STBA Teknokrat Abstract: In the effort of introducing and teaching Bahasa Indonesia to foreigners, to know the difficulties they face is a very important issue. This paper is a result of research conducted in Bandar Lampung. The data were gathered and processed by directly interviewing foreigners in their effort to learn the language and analyzing their comments and opinions about it. Abundant data and examples of mistakes were also found. There are several difficulties they encounter when speaking and learning the language. In this paper, the researchers describe those difficulties and identify the causes of errors they made. Having analysed the data, the researchers classified and presented the findings from the most common difficulties to least ones. The findings cover various linguistic aspects. First finding is related to morphological difficulties. Some foreigners are confused about Indonesian affixation. Another finding is related to sociolinguistics. It is hard for them to differentiate Indonesian formal and informal languages. The third finding has something to do with phonology. Foreigners find it hard to pronounce certain Indonesian sounds. In addition, the finding also indicates other difficulties in using Bahasa as their foreign language. Keyword: Bahasa Indonesia, Foreign Language, Indonesian, Interlanguage Introduction Each language has its own structural system. Sometimes, it is difficult for people to understand another language because of the differences. Moreover, there are so many foreigners coming to Indonesia. Some of them came to study Bahasa Indonesia and others came for other reasons like working, studying other subjects, or traveling. However, most of them need to speak Bahasa Indonesia as the official language in the country. In reality, some foreigners encounter the difficulties in understanding the language. In this paper, the researchers explain some the difficulties faced by those foreigners when learning Bahasa Indonesia. Theory and Method The researchers collected the data by conducting interviews with five foreigners who live in Bandar Lampung. Those foreigners are from different countries. One of them is from the US, one from Japan, one from Thailand, and the rest are from Sri Lanka. This research employs qualitative research method in which the data were classified based on its type of mistakes. In the process of analyzing the data, the researchers used their perspectives to classify and explain the difficulties. The theory used is all about Indonesian principles and other related linguistic theories employed by the writers. Findings and Discussion The findings on the difficulties faced by foreigners toward Bahasa Indonesia are grouped here according to certain types occuring in the data found. The examples are given by the researchers based on the interpretation of the explanation made by the respondents during the interview. 27
Prosiding Seminar Nasional Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni 2016 Jurusan PBS, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Jambi Mendalo Darat, 5 Agustus 2016
1. Affixation Some of the foreigners we have interviewed explained that one of the difficulties they encounter in learning Bahasa Indonesia is related to the affixation. They find it hard to understand when and where to use certain prefixes and affixes. The prefixes me- and di-, for instance, are less difficult for them to identify as the first signifies an active verb while the other signifies a passive one. However, it is difficult for them when it comes to differ me- with the ber- as both of them are employed in active forms like in menyanyi and bernyanyi with the root nyanyi ‘sing’. Many of this kind of difficulty are found in Bahasa Indonesia. Menanya and bertanya ‘ask’, for example, are really confusing to them. This can be more difficult when it comes to memper- froms of the verbs. It will be harder to comprehend as the form also involves another affix such as the suffix -kan. Similar problems also arise when it comes to the use of the suffixes. Using the root tanya above, for instance, most of them are confused as when to use the suffixes -kan and -i with the root tanya. It is for sure that longer and deeper process of learning will overcome this difficulties but that is one of the problems found during the research. 2. Reduplication Reduplication is also difficult for the foreigners to understand. To Indonesian native speakers, this might seem so simple but that is not the case for foreigners. According to the explanation the respondents gave during the interview, it is difficult for them to use since most of them do not have repetition in their languages. Thus, it is quite difficult for them to use it. Some words in repetition will be explained bellow: Indonesian
English
rumah-rumah
houses
anak-anak
children
oleh-oleh
souvenirs, gifts
umang-umang
hermit crabs
beramai-ramai
together
perubahan-perubahan
changes
As seen in the data above, the researchers discovered: full reduplication, unreduplicated counterparts and affixation process in reduplication. Full reduplication involves repeating the entire word. The two parts of the word are separated by a hyphen in writing and the second is treated as the reduplicated part. The full reduplication is found in words such as rumahrumah, anak-anak, oleh-oleh, umang-umang. In addition, sometimes reduplicated forms have no unreduplicated counterparts to which they can be related. The word “oleh-oleh” does not have the same meaning with the Indonesian word oleh. The researchers also found affixation process from data. The affixation begins in the first part of reduplication process, for example the word beramai-ramai from the base ramai. The final r in the prefix ber- is lost due to the following base start with r (ramai). The researchers also found the circumfix process in the first and last word. The word perubahan-perubahan which is from the base ubah ‘chance’. All of these are difficult for foreigners in learning Bahasa Indonesia.
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Prosiding Seminar Nasional Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni 2016 Jurusan PBS, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Jambi Mendalo Darat, 5 Agustus 2016
3. Phatic Expressions and Slangs Another difficulty for foreigners in understanding Bahasa Indonesia found by the researchers is about phatic expressions. In fact, Indonesian usually employs many phatic expressions in daily conversation. Moreover, almost each tribe has its own phatics. For example, Lampungese has geh, ding and wah , Sundanese has mah and atuh, Serangese has njing, Javanese has dong and deh, and Bataknese has bah and kian. Those interviewed foreigners thought that those phatic expressions are words and have their own meanings like common words. In addition, those different phatics borrowed from the local languages make their confusion more complex. Indonesian slangs also add a list of difficulties in learning Bahasa Indonesia. It is quite interesting to discuss about this issue. Linguistically, a language always develops from time to time. New words are produced since the human mind and activities keep changing. As a result, new words are often informally formed in and by the society. Then, they become the slang language. In Indonesian for example, there are unyu-unyu ‘so cute’, anah kidah ‘gee’, and gi pain ‘what are you doing’. Those examples are not taught in Indonesian courses since some Indonesian courses just focus on the formal structures. In reality, most Indonesians speak informal language in their daily conversation. For foreigners, it is not an easy task to understand what the meanings of the words are. 4. Pronunciation (Accent and Dialect) From the interview conducted for the purpose of this research, the respondents admitted that Indonesian pronunciation is also difficult for them to make. This is because in Bahasa Indonesia, the words are pronounced exactly the same as their writings. In addition, the pronunciation also becomes difficult as the result of the foreigners’ linguistic backgrounds. In Bahasa Indonesia, for instance, there are sounds like those carried by the letter group ny and ng which are not easy for foreigners to produce. Sometimes, even if they succeed in pronouncing words correctly, they will encounter another problem related to how to speak like the native speakers of the language. It is hard for them to do it the Indonesian way. In the next level, they also face further problems when it comes to dialect. Indonesian local languages have contributed so much to this. Foreigners, as obtained from the interview, find it difficult to comprehend the mix of dialectal words both those resulting from local languages or those merely arising from regional ones. Conclusion It can be concluded thatforeigners find it hard to understand Indonesian affixation process. In addition, reduplication in the language also becomes a complex problem due to its process. Learning Bahasa Indonesia is also tough for them due to the informal language used by most people in Indonesia especially in Lampung. They learn the formal language but it is so common for them to be confused when interacting to Indonesian speakers speaking the informal language. In addition, the different accents existing in Indonesia also makes it hard for them to pronounce several Indonesian words. Indonesian speakers often mix their traditional dialects when speaking Bahasa Indonesia. This worsens the problems they encounter in learning the language. It can be concluded too that the difficulties faced by the foreigners vary from one level and aspect to another. The researchers really hope that the elaboration in this paper will be beneficial to both the foreigners themselves and the teachers of Indonesian in teaching the language to non natives. 29
Prosiding Seminar Nasional Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni 2016 Jurusan PBS, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Jambi Mendalo Darat, 5 Agustus 2016
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