LOCAL LANGUAGE MAINTAINCE: CASE STUDY IN A. HADIWIDJAJA FAMILY

Abstract

Language is tool of humanity. It is suggested that learning language should begin from the very beginning in our lives because the ability to learn a language is restricted to the years before puberty. The tendency to use more prestigious and modern languages will make the condition of life of local language which is regarded as low relative prestige and less valuable in economic field will be threatened with extinction. When there are various languages in the life condition, the languages will influence one another and the most prestigious one will dominate the others. In Indonesia besides Local language (vernacular) we have several languages, Indonesian, English, and also Japanese and Chinese. Indonesian is the official language for instruction in our school in Indonesia, so all the teachers and pupils have to use Indonesian language during school hours. In this condition, children are faced the condition to have become accustomed to have very limited knowledge of the local language because they have never had the chance to use local language in their school. If parents and teachers don’t actively encourage maintenance of the local language, the children are in danger of losing it. Unfortunately a lot of them never have the chance to use the local language at home; and this will make the children never be able to use the language. The language ability isn’t as the same as a skill like swimming or biking. So if all Indonesian families don’t want to keep the language skill sharp and exposure to it the extinction of the local language is definitely will happen. The strategy to maintain the local language to the generation responsible for continuing is certainly concentrated to the increasing of using local language by the local language speaker. The language which is inherited for generations will live longer and it is in keeping with the objective to maintain the local language. The research to one family shows that by using vernacular as interaction medium to their children from the very beginning, give a good results. Their children are able to hear and speak their vernacular until they are grown up although they always use Indonesian language during their school hours and for academic purposes.