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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the writer discusses the background of the study, reasons for
choosing the topic, statements of the problem, objectives of the study, significances of the study, limitations of the study, and outlines of the study.
1.1 Background of The Study
Education is the important thing in our life. It takes important role in the development of a nation. A nation will be considered as a respectable one
because of its education. Education in the basis of local and global quality is education that knows
how to exploit local quality and the needs of global competitive ability in economic, culture, language, information and communication technology,
ecology, etc. that are useful for developing students’ competence. English as an international language needs to be taught for the
development of science and technology, culture and also the relationship
between countries in the world Depdikbud, 1995:1. Ramelan 1992:2 states that English as an international language plays an important role for specific
function like education, business trade, tourism, science, technology and other fields of life. Because of the importance of English, we have to give special
attention to the English teaching learning in our country. “English as an international language is used to communicate, to
strengthen and to fasten relationships among all countries in all fields, for example: in education, tourism, business, science, and technology, etc”
Ramelan 1992:2.
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In Indonesia, English has been chosen as the first-foreign language in school curriculum. It is because of a simple reason that English plays an
important role in the international world. Our government hopes that it can function as a means to acquire science and technology. Therefore, Indonesian
people will become intellectual and skillful ones who are ready to face both national and international development Ramelan, 1991:1-2.
In education, Indonesia is left behind in many fields of sciences if it be compared with Malaysia and Singapore, for example. It motivates the
government to equate education sector with international standard in this global era. In the regulations of national education system, DEPDIKNAS
2003:20 suggests a government or region government to run at least a unit of education in all education level. It will be developed to become a unit of
education that has international standard. “Pemerintah danatau pemerintah daerah menyelenggarakan sekurang-
kurangnya satu satuan pendidikan pada semua jenjang pendidikan untuk dikembangkan menjadi satuan pendidikan yang bertaraf internasional”
DEPDIKNAS, 2003:20. With strong motivation and desire, DEPDIKNAS makes a program of
international standard school Sekolah Bertaraf International. International standard school runs classes in bilingual education. Bilingual education
involves using two languages in instruction. There are two languages, Indonesian, as the first-language, and English as the second-language.
In multilingual country like Indonesia, the reality to switch or mix one language to another is accepted as quite normal. Wardhaugh 1986:86 states
that code-switching or code-mixing is a common phenomenon among
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bilingual or multilingual society. English as an international language is usually switched or mixed with Indonesian. People sometimes switches or
mixes without any plans, without hesitation, and often without extensive thought. Nababan 1980:209 says that Indonesia is a multilingual country.
Many languages are spoken within the country, and many people in the country use more than one language. We can find many Indonesian people
like switching or mixing from Indonesian to English or the contrary from English to Indonesian. Bilingualism and multilingualism are common in
Indonesia. The switching or mixing code is a popular phenomenon in our life. Many
people, especially students, teachers, executives change over words, phrases, clauses, or sentences of English and Indonesian in their utterances.
Wardhaugh 1986:86 states that a language or variety of a language is as a code. It can be said that people use language as a code to explain their ideas in
order to be more understandable. Code-switching is different from code-mixing. Marasigan 1983:7 states
that code-switching refers to the use of two languages in the same sentence or discourse. It means that the subtitution of words, phrases, or sentences from
one language with another words, phrases, or sentences in a single speech event. For example, a person who said, “I want to eat.” and “ Saya ingin
makan.” in a single utterance. Gumperz 1982:104 adds that code-mixing is the deliberate mixing of two languages without an associated topic change. It
means that the blending of two separate language in a language system. For
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example, a person who said, “Kita akan mem-prepare every thing bersama- sama”. Speakers of more than one language are known from their ability to
code switch or mix their languages during communication. This occurs when bilinguals substitute a word or phrase from one language with a word or
phrase from another language. Teaching in bilingual education is a challenging activity since bilingual
teachers have to make learners comprehend the lesson which is taught in bilingual. They do not only have to be able to teach in English very well, but
they also have to be able to make the lesson understood by the students because of his or her instructions. Moreover, they have to teach both hard
science mathematics, biology, physics, and chemistry and soft science. In this study, the writer assumes that teachers sometimes code-switch or
code-mix when they teach the students especially in bilingual education. Therefore, here, the writer wants to know the languages that teachers code
switch or code mix, even if they are bilingual teachers. He basically wants to know teachers’ explaining techniques in teaching the class using code-switch
and code-mix. He also wants to know the reasons.
1.2 Reasons for Choosing the Topic