Background of the Study

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

In daily life, people use language to communicate what they want to say. Language is very important and only means of communication. Without language, the process of communication will not work. “people will not be able to get involved with their surroundings without using language and because of that language has become a vital thing in human life”. 1 There are various styles used by people in communication in their native language or foreign language, for example the Indonesian people. In communicating they may use Indonesian, English, Javanese, Sundanese, etc. In making relationship with others, people use language for communication, in their activity, people can express their mind, idea, thought, even what their opinion at the time. According to Darjowidjojo in his book entitled Psikolinguistik: Pengantar Pemahaman Bahasa Manusia, he says as follows, “Manusia menggunakan bahasa sebagai alat komunikasi untuk berinteraksi satu sama lain, sebagai alat untuk bertanya, memberi informasi ke B belowpada orang lain, dan mengungkapkan gagasan dan perasaan”. 2 people use language as a communication tool for making an interaction each other, either as an asking a question tool, giving an information to the other, and expressing their idea and mind. 1 Janet Holmes, An Introduction to linguistics, 2 nd edition England: Pearson Education Limited, 2001. p.11. 2 Soejono Darjowidjojo, Psikolinguistik: Pengantar Pemahaman Bahasa Manusia. 2 nd Edition Jakarta: Yayasan Obor Indonesia, 2005. p. 1. 1 2 From explanation above, language defines an arbitrary vocal symbol used by human being for communication and interaction each other, base on culture and situation get involved. Language utilized reveals human’s thought. People will not give their expression if they have not getting of their language overbearingly. For example, the actualization such as sculpture, landscaping, paint, poem, poetry, and the other art of literature. The painters pour their mind out through their potrayal and design. The mathematician pour their concept and idea out through create a new formula to solve the problems of numericals in term of mathematic’s cases. 3 In conversation, there are also many people who speak one language also called as monolingual that they have had since they was born, it is also called mother tongue. Now, many people all over the world speak more than one language this so called bilingual even multilingual. For example in Indonesia, which is the archipelagos country, bilingual or even multilingual have become culture and civilization. Because Indonesia is multiligual country. 4 Many coutries are also practicing bilingual or multilingual. It means that people who are living in these countries communicate using at least two different languages. English is used by 80 of the people in the woorld as their first or second language. The other top language such as Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Korean, italian, and Rusian also come afterward. 5 3 http:www.digilib.ui.ac.idopacthemeslibri2detail.jsp?id=81641 accessed on 12 th November 2009, 17:35 p.m. . 4 Abdul Chaer, Linguistik Umum Jakarta: Rineka Cipta, 1994. p. 65. 5 http:www.translate-to-success.cominternet-language-use.html accessed on 13th January 2010, 15:00 p.m. 3 There are many kinds of people according to their race in the world found in many place of countries. People who come from different backgrounds and countries may and often live in one community. It can happen if those people in that community are not isolated from the outsides world. They may speak in different codes as well. In this case, codes may refer to a language or language variety which can be used in a conversation of two or more people because they have a chance to meet people from other coutries. According to Hudson 1996, p. 22 as quoted by Wardhaugh, the explanation about a variety of language, as “a set of linguistics items with similar distribution”. 6 A definitionn that allow us to say that all of the following are varieties: English Indonesian, Javanese Indonesia, Sundanese Javanese, or Indonesian English, and so on. A variety can therefore be somthing greater than single language as well as something less, less even than something traditionally referred to as a dielect. Ferguson quoted by Wardhaugh has another definition of variety, he says, “Any body of human speech pattern which is sufficiently homogeneous to be analysed by available technique of synchronic description and which has a sufficiently large repertory of elements and their arrangements or processes with broad enough semanic scope to function in all formal contexts of communication”. 7 It means language is system of sounds, words, patterns which is used by human to communicate thoughts and feelings and can uniquely 6 Ronald Wardhaugh, An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, 4 th edition Massachusetts: Blackwell Publisher, 2002. p. 25. 7 Ronald Wardhaugh 2002. op. cit. p. 25. 4 associate becomes a code with some external factor even internal factor as participant, social, status, and topic of conversation. From the explanation before, where the place we live, there are many kinds of people according to their race in the world found. They come from different backgrounds and countries may and often live in one community, being bilingual or multilingual is needed. Beside that, it is interesting and beneficial, it gives benefit to the users since both of the speakers and listeners who come from different parts of the world will be able to communicate each other without the obstacles. In line with the globalization era, reason people can become bilingual or multilingual, since the need of communicating or interacting to run the business, increase the relationship with foreign people, enlarge the economical relationship from another part of the world which will go on for modern life and need. Wardhaugh explains in his book, when they speak to the other who come from different countries, they are always faced with the problem of code choice. 8 It means that people who want to speak, they must consider and select codes that are intelligibly spoken by both side. So, the speaker and listener know each other about the conversation that they use. The choice of code includes the choice of dialect, style, register, or variety depending on the situation context. Hoffmann explains that code switching can occur quite frequently in an informal conversation among people who are familiar and have a shared educational, ethnic, and socio-economic background. It is avoided in a formal 8 Ronald Wardhaugh 2002. op. cit. p. 36. 5 speech situation among people, especially to those who have little in common factors in term of social status, language loyalty, and formality. 9 Nowdays, code switching has become part of our daily conversation strategy, especially in multi-ethnic societies such a Jakarta, Bandung, or Tangerang, or any other metropolitan cities in the world. People may select a code and switch back and forth from one code to another code. Holmes says people switch codes when they interact with others in a situation. 10 Despite the fact that mixing and switching are often stigmatized in the communities in which they occur, they often serve such important functions as marking ethnic and group boundaries. Among minorities, the home language is used to signify in-group, informal, and personalized activities, while the other language is used to mark outgroup, more formal, and distant events. Speakers use a change of language to indicate their attitude to what is being said. 11 In communication with other, code switching, the altenative use of two languages, has becomes an increasingly topical important field of research. Code switching seems to serve important communicative and cognitive functions. Code switching also brings together contributions from a wide variety of sociolinguistic setting in which the phenomenon is observed. It addresses not only the structure and function but also the ideological values of such bilingual behaviour. This phenomenon occurs within a domain or social situation. There are some obvious changes in situation, such as the students talk with the teachers. It 9 http:www.infoskripsi.comArtikel-PenelitianArtikel-Skripsi-Code-Switching-and-Code- Mixing.html 10 Janet Holmes 2001. op. cit. p. 43. 11 http:www.encyclopedia.comdoc1O29-CODEMIXINGANDCODESWITCHNG.html 6 easy to explain to the switch. A speaker may similary switch to another language as a signal of group membership and shared ethnicity with an addressee. To help revealing the code switching strategy, the writer decided to conduct a research on one of MTV pograms. For the study, the writer chooses MTV Ampuh as the research. MTV Ampuh is one of the best teenage programs on MTV Indonesia and usually the VJ of this program mix Indonesian and English as their character and style when they speak each other. Therefore, the writer chooses the dialogues of MTV’s VJ on MTV Ampuh program as a unit analysis because the writer finds so many factors is influenced the code switching or mixing cases in their dialogues. Beside that, the writer wants to learn deeply about code switching.

B. Focus of the Study