TEENAGERS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS ETHNICITY LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE: A CASE STUDY OF BATAK ANGKOLA LANGUAGE IN PADANGSIDIMPUAN.

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TEENAGERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS ETHNICITY LANGUAGE

MAINTENANCE: A CASE STUDY OF BATAK ANGKOLA

LANGUAGE IN PADANGSIDIMPUAN

A Thesis

Submitted to the English Applied Linguistics Study Program in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Magister Humaniora

By:

MASJULIATI HARAHAP

Rgistration Number: 81466111034

ENGLISH APPLIED LINGUISTICS STUDY PROGRAM

POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL

STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN

MEDAN

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ABSTRACT

Masjuliati Harahap, Teenagers’ Attitude towards Ethnicity Language Maintenance: A Case Study of Batak Angkola Language in Padangsidimpuan. Thesis: English Applied Linguistics Study Program. State University of Medan 2016.

This study was conducted to describe teenagers’ attitude towards their ethnicity language maintenance in Padangsidimpuan. The objectives of this study are to describe 1) the Angkolanese teenagers’ attitudes toward the Angkola language, 2) to describe realizations of the attitudes among the Angkola teenagers, and 3) to state the reasons for the attitudes of the Angkola teenagers. The data were obtained from teenagers’ attitude in Padangsidimpuan which the age average in 16 to 18 years old by using descriptive qualitative method. The data collected classified into the types of attitude of the teenagers in Padangsidimpuan towards their ethnicity language maintenance. The data was described in data analysis by knowing the types of the attitude of the teenagers, the condition of the language in the society and the reasons caused the language should be maintained. The result that was taken from the data analysis 1) there are two type of attitudes of the Angkola teenagers towards their ethnicity language namely positive attitude and negative attitude, 2) the Angkola teenagers prefer using Indonesian language than Batak Angkola language in their daily conversation, and 3) the teenagers wanted to keep their ethnicity language because they are conscious that their ethnicity language was symbolized them and the wealthy of their the ethnic. The attitudes of the teenagers classified based on the respect and the pride of the teenagers in using their ethnicity language in their daily conversation. The result showed that the male teenagers were more respectful and pride in using the ethnicity language than the female teenagers. The efforts are needed to make the teenagers in Padangsidimpuan maintained their ethnicity language that is Batak Angkola language.

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ABSTRAK

Masjuliati Harahap, Teenagers’ Attitude towards Ethnicity Language Maintenance: A Case Study of Batak Angkola Language in Padangsidimpuan. Tesis: Program Studi Linguistik Terapan Bahasa Inggris Universitas Negeri Medan 2016.

Penelitian ini dimaksudkan untuk menggambarkan sikap remaja terhadap pemertahana bahasa daerahnya di Padangsidimpuan. tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menggambarkan 1) sikap remaja suku Angkola dalam pemertahanan bahasanya, 2) realisasi dari sikap tersebut diantara remaja Angkola, 3) menyebutkan alasan atas sikap remaja Angkola. Data penelitian diambil dari sikap remaja di Padangsidimpuan yang terdiri dari usia 16 sampai 18 tahun dengan menggunakan metode deskriptif qualitative. Data menunjukkan 1) sikap dibedakan kedalam dua kelompok yakni sikap positif dan sikap negative, 2) realisasi dalam masyarakat remaja laki-laki lebih tinggi penghargaannya terhadap bahasa daerahnya dibandingkan remaja perempuan dan 3) pemertahanan bahasa daerah tetap diinginkan para remaja karena mereka sadar bahwa bahasa daerahnya merupakan ciri ataupun jati diri dan kekayaan sukunya. Data yang dikumpulkan dikelompokkan menjadi jenis-jenis sikap dari remaja di Padangsidimpuan dalam mempertahankan bahasa daerahnya. Data dijabarkan dalam analisis data dengan mengetahui jenis sikap dari remaja, kedudukan bahasa daerah dalam masyarakat dan alasan yang menyebabkan bahasa itu perlu dipertahankan. Sikap dari remaja didasarkan pada rasa hormat dan kebanggaan remaja dalam menggunakan daerah dalam percakapan sehari-hari. Hasil dari penelitian menunjukkan bahwa remaja lelaki lebih menghargai dan bangga terhadap bahasa daerahnya dibandingkan remaja perempuan. Untuk itu diperlukan masukan yang dapat membantu remaja dalam mempertahankan bahasa daerahnya, bahasa Batak Angkola.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, the writer would like to express his greatest gratitude to Allah SWT, the Almighty that has given him the ability, health, and safety to finish this thesis completely.

In completing this thesis, the writer would like to express his biggest debt is therefore to some persons. They are:

First, the writer would like to record his gratefully acknowledge to Dr. Rahmad Husein, M.Ed. as the Head of English Applied Linguistics in UNIMED the writer would like to record her gratefully acknowledgement to Prof. Dr. Busmin Gurning, M.Pd as the first advisor of the writer who has kindly assisted her in guiding, direction, revising and correcting the systematic or the concept of this thesis and also the writer would like to record her gratefully acknowledge to Prof. Amrin Saragih, Ph.D., M.A, as the second advisor of the writer who has also kindly assisted her in guiding, direction, revising and correcting the systematic or the concept of this thesis May Allah bless them.

Second, the writer also would like to express her gratitude expression to the riviewers and examiners in examinations; Prof. Dr. Sri Minda Murni, M.S, Dr. Zainuddin, M.Ed, Dr. Rahmad Husein, M.Ed. right from Proposal Seminar up to Green Table Examination. God bless them.

Third, the writer also would like to thank to all lecturers and tutors, classmates belonging to Regular class A INTAKE XVII for giving her the valuable knowledge during the study in English Applied Linguistics of Postgraduate School in the State University of Medan (UNIMED).

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Fourth, the writer also would like to express his thanks to the Government of Sadabuan district and to all of the teenagers in Jl. DR. KH. Zubeir Ahmad Sadabuan Padangsidimpuan for their helping and support and to provide the time and the chance during conducting this study.

Fifth, to her beloved parents; H. Bahari Efendi Harahap and, Hj. Naima Siregar, and her beloved brothers and sister; Muhammad Juhdi Harahap, Asrul Efendi Harahap, Ade Rahimudi Romaito Harahap and Rina Sukmawati Harahap, S.Pd. advices to her until she finished this thesis.

Next, to her beloved her big families, Asman Sarif Daulay, Tulang and Nantulang all of her cousins and friends in Medan and Padangsidimpuan for their atmosphere, patience and support to let him continue his study until he finished this thesis.

Finally, the writer has lost her wise words to pray to Allah SWT, to give them proper reward. Amin.

Medan, The Writer,

MASJULIATI HARAHAP

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TABLE OF CONTENT

Page

ABSTRACT……… i

ABSTRAK……….. ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………. iii

TABLE OF CONTENT………. v

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of Study……… 1

1.2 The Focus of Study………... 6

1.3 Research Problems……… 7

1.4 The Objectives of the Research………. 7

1.5 The Significances of the Research………. 7

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Language……… 9

2.2 Language Attitude……….. 10

2.3 Language Maintenance………... 18

2.4 Factors of Language Maintenance……….. 23

2.5 Batak Angkola Language……… 28

2.6 Teenager……….. 30

2.7 Relevant Studies……….. 31

2.8 Conceptual Framework………... 34

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research Design……….. 36

3.2 The Data Source……….. 36

3.3 Technique Data Collection……….. 38

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3.5 Trustworthiness of the Study……….. 41

CHAPTER IV DATA ANALYSIS, FINDING AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Data Analysis……….. 45

4.2 Findings………. 55

4.3 Discussion………. 58

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 5.1 Conclusion……… 62

5.2 Suggestion………. 63

References……… 65

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CHAPTER I

INTRORDUCTION

1.1Background of the Study

Attitude studies figure in many scientific fields, such as psychology, which first began to focus on it, followed by sociolinguistics, social psychology of language, cultural anthropology, ethnography, and education (e.g. bilingualism). Accordingly, attitudes may vary from ephemeral to enduring, which means that a number of attitudes have the ability to stay unchanged, while others are subject to change.

By agreeing with Fillmore’s standpoint that “speaker attitude” as a non -linguistic parameter of the social contexts is a very important topic in contrastive pragmatics. Here, as in contrastive sociolinguistics, comparisons of attitudes of speakers towards their languages may help to achieve an attitude change. People favor a particular language when they find that the language is a tool to achieve high status, economic advantage, basic security and survival and matters related to self-orientation. Integrative attitude, on the other hand, concerns someone’s attachment with a particular speech community. People show such attitude in order to be identified as a member of the desired community.

Field studies on social evaluation of language have been conducted among linguistically and socially different participants. The results can change, as traditionally ‘standard’ speech varieties may lose ground, and less mainstream varieties may be judged more positively. It is assumed that the general loosening

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of socio-structural norms may lead to new directions for attitude measurement. In a further effort, language attitudes should include attitudes towards language maintenance and planning. In fact, language attitudes affect a “continuum” constituted by language and society as its central notions. The same changing language attitude goes for the choice of a foreign language where the “niche” and the “needs” determine the language status.

Language attitudes, at least in the scientific field of sociolinguistics, have been researched for the last four decades, and have aided a better understanding of the concept of language attitudes and language behavior.

Many researches states that language maintenance is occurred in the minority ethnic in a society, like the thesis of Jung Duckyoung Korean immigrant in America as the minority has been shifted their heritage language so the parents’ guidance is needed to change their children attitude toward their heritage language. It is same with Hudyma’s thesis that investigated the Scandinavians people in Canada where the language has been shifted in the four or five generation caused by the generation followed the majority language in Canada.

The first language as known as the mother tongue is the language that we have accepted as the first time since we are born. In this case many Indonesian people has their first language as their ethnic languages, it means that Indonesian is their second language. Second language itself means the language that is used after the mother tongue. This is happened because in the beginning Indonesia is consisted of many kingdoms that have their own language that is used from the heritage to their generation till now. The unity language is made to handle the

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problem where many of the people in Indonesia cannot understand each other except they are come from the same ethnic. So the youngsters decide to make a unity language and the decision becomes Indonesian.

The effect is nowadays many Indonesian people do not use their ethnic language as their first language anymore especially for the persons who has moved from their native place. It is actually suitable with the Ideology of Indonesia that the people should use Indonesian language but the ethnic language is one of the heritages of Indonesia that makes Indonesia become a rich country with the various ethnicities.

Nowadays, there are so many young generation who do not want to use their first language as their daily language in their society. Even though there are many young generations who cannot able to speak their heritage language. This fact have been happened in many cities in Indonesia, one of the city that the writer can find the phenomena is in Padangsidimpuan which is one of the area in North Sumatera that the Angkolanese ethnic live there. The language that is used in this city is Angkola language but in this era the young generations especially teenagers do not use the local language anymore in their daily life. They often even always use Indonesian as the dominant language in their communication, it means that the local language has been shifted in Angkolanese teenagers’ speaker.

The phenomenon is elaborated in the conversation of the teenagers in Padangsidimpuan that is taken from the researcher’s observation:

1. Boy 1: ulang lupa dah naron jam 5 futsal. Boy 2: olo.

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(Boy1: don’t forget to play futsal at 5 p.m. Boy2: alright)

2. Girl 1: nanti jadikan kita nonton futsalnya? Girl 2: iya, jumpa dimana kita?

Girl 1: kujemput kerumahmu aja.

(girl1: we will watch the futsal match today, won’t we? girl2: of course. Where will we meet?

girl1:I’ll take you at your home.)

3. Boy: jangan lupa datang ya jd supporter. Girls: oke!

(boy: don’t forget to come to support our team, ya? girls: okey!)

It reveals that there are the differential languages that are used by the teenagers. On the first conversation the teenagers used Batak Angkola language as their medium in holding the conversation. Then on the second conversation the teenagers used Indonesian language and the third used Indonesian. The conversations are done by different gender of the teenagers, first conversation is done by male teenagers, the second is done by female teenagers and the last is done by both of the gender.

From the conversation the researcher conclude that there is a different attitude of the teenagers toward their ethnicity language where the male teenagers are more often used Batak Angkola in their daily conversation than female teenagers. But when the male join the female conversation they changed their

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language become Indonesian which the female used. So that this is needed to find out the reason why it is happened considering the region where the phenomenon is happened is on the majority community.

By comparing the theory that is taken from the thesis’s and the phenomenon that is happen in the field, the language maintenance was not only happened in the minority ethnic but now it is also happened in the majority ethnic especially bilingual ethnic such what is being happened in Padangsidimpuan which the society is dominantly Batak Angkolanese but the community especially the teenagers’ do not used their ethnicity language anymore as their communication language.

Thus, there is a connection between language attitudes and language maintenance, the study also involved language status that will explain the factors that influenced why a language can be shifted and should be maintain. By combining with the observation that has been held the researcher found that the phenomenon is happened on the teenagers in Padangsidimpuan which mostly do not use Angkola (the local language) anymore in their daily activity. This caused the teenagers in Padangsidimpuan have not understood many vocabularies, terms of Angkola language. Based on this phenomenon the researcher is interested to research why it is happened. Considering Padangsidimpuan is the region which most of the society is Batak Angkola ethnic if this is not handled perhaps the Angkola will be replaced by Indonesian and the teenagers dominantly have the positive attitude toward Indonesian than Angkola as their first language.

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1.2The Focus of the Study

Attitude has been a subject of research interest among the sociolinguists and social scientists over the years and they have done significant contributions. The findings of different attitude studies state that attitudes vary from favorably to unfavorably or vice-versa in language learning and acquisition, choice and use of language in different domains and thus, surveys of attitudes provide social indicators of changing beliefs about language and the chances of success in language policy implementation. Attitude has been studied from various perspectives with reference to a number of languages in a variety of settings such as attitude towards mother tongue; attitude towards a second or foreign language; attitude towards national language; attitude towards varieties of languages; attitude towards language in education policy; relationship between attitudes and motivation; the relationship between attitudes and learning strategies; the relationship between attitudes and level of achievement and so on.

The data that have taken from observation make the researcher decided that the research is focused on to the language attitudes toward language maintenance on Angkolanese teenagers’ speaker. In this research the researcher want to know why the teenagers in Padangsidimpuan prefer using Indonesian to Angkola language as their daily activity, considering Angkola language is their heritage language and Padangsdimpuan is one of the cities in North Sumatra that the most of the community is Angkolanese.

In this research the researcher also focused on to the factors that influence the teenagers’ attitude toward Indonesian and Angkola language. The researcher

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also discusses about the language attitudes and language maintenance as the based sources instead the problem that the researcher want to research is appeared.

1.3Research Problems

In relation to the background, the problems of the study are formulated as the following

1) What are the attitudes of the Angkolanese teenagers toward the Angkola language maintenance in Padangsidimpuan?

2) How are the attitudes realized among the Angkolanese teenagers?

3) Why are the attitudes maintained by the Angkola teenagers in the ways they are?

1.4The Objectives of the Research

Related to the research problems the objectives are

1) to describe the Angkolanese teenagers’ attitudes toward the Angkola language, 2) to describe realizations of the attitudes among the Angkola teenagers, and 3) to state the reasons for the attitudes of the Angkola teenagers.

1.5The Significances of the Research

It is expected that findings of the research are relevant and useful theoretically and practically. Theoretically, findings of the study are expected to enrich horizons in theories of sociolinguistics. In addition, the findings can be references for further studies. Practically, the findings are expected to be

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useful for all of the social community included children, parents, schools’ society, government, the figures of society, figures of culture because language is so generally indeed the scope of research influence so many aspect. This research is expected useful in understanding the importance of maintaining the mother tongue language and watch the development of the language in social community. The attitudes of someone to a language affect the development of a language that can cause a language become shift or loss. So the researcher sure this research is completely should be done.

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

5.1 Conclusions

After analyzing the data, conclusions are drawn as the following

(1) The findings showed that the Angkola teenagers prefer used Indonesian to Batak Angkola language. The teenagers felt more comfort in using Indonesian language than Batak Angkola language. It means that the pride of the Angkola teenagers on their ethnicity language has become less time to time.

(2) Teenagers in Padangsidimpuan seldom and even some of them never use Batak Angkola language anymore at their daily conversation. Male teenagers in Padangsidimpuan often use Batak Angkola language while female teenagers seldom use Batak Angkola language in their daily conversation.

(3) The findings also showed that the teenagers feel the ethnicity language should be maintained although some of the teenagers did not use Batak Angkola language but they still feel ethnicity language is the wealthy of the culture that should be maintained so that they did not want Batak Angkola language become lost. Therefore, the teenagers are expected from this study that the problems that encountered should be solved.

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5.2Suggestions

By looking the phenomenon that was happened in Padangsidimpuan the researcher made some suggestions that hoped these will help in handling the problem. The suggestions are:

(1) Teenagers should show their respect to keep their culture, so that the ethnicity language would not replaced. It is suggested to the teenagers to still used their ethnicity language when they were on the informal place like at canteen, when they were playing. They also needed to go to the cultural ceremony so that they can learn about the language deeper, and try to answer to the head of the culture about the culture that they did not understand,

(2) Children get their first language at home, the researcher suggested to the parents to teach the ethnicity language at home. Parents did not need to

worry about their children can’t make a communication with their friends

considering teenagers nowadays have used Indonesian. They can adapt their second language as their own way, they can learn fast their second language from their surrounding so it is better to parents to teach ethnicity language at home in order the ethnicity language can be maintained, (3) For the government, it is needed to insert the ethnicity or cultural subject

to the curriculum at school. By making this as one of the subject the respect of the teenagers to the culture and ethnicity will be increased. By looking the suggestions that the researcher have listed, it is hoped that the problem that is being happened in Padangsidimpuan can be handed. So the ethnicity language that is Batak Angkola language will not be shifted

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and can be maintained. The researcher also hoped that teenagers in Padangsidimpuan will have a better attitude towards their ethnicity language. Last researcher suggested the participation of all people is needed in order the maintaining the ethnicity especially for the teenagers as the young generation can be done.

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

5.1 Conclusions

After analyzing the data, conclusions are drawn as the following

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5.2Suggestions

By looking the phenomenon that was happened in Padangsidimpuan the researcher made some suggestions that hoped these will help in handling the problem. The suggestions are:

(2) Children get their first language at home, the researcher suggested to the parents to teach the ethnicity language at home. Parents did not need to worry about their children can’t make a communication with their friends considering teenagers nowadays have used Indonesian. They can adapt their second language as their own way, they can learn fast their second language from their surrounding so it is better to parents to teach ethnicity language at home in order the ethnicity language can be maintained, (3) For the government, it is needed to insert the ethnicity or cultural subject