HOW PARENTS FOSTER BILINGUALISM IN THE FAMILY: A CASE STUDY OF AN INDONESIAN STUDENT FAMILY IN PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
ABSTRACT: This study
investigated how Indonesian children in Australia as a foreign country
temporarily switch their Indonesian language with English, what parents’
attitudes toward the children’s language is, and how Indonesian parents
encourage the use of Bahasa Indonesia by their children at home (in Australia).
A case study method with qualitative approach was used. Participants of the
study were one family of Indonesian students comprising a 35-year-old mother
with 6 and 8-year-old sons. The mother was chosen because she was considered as
repositories of culture and responsible for the maintenance of tradition and
language. Data collected through observation and open-ended interview. The
study showed that the Indonesian children soon adopted English and gradually
lost their mother language because of their less frequent use and interaction
with the users. The Indonesian mother had to struggle to maintain her
children’s mother tongue, since she and her family planed to go back to
Indonesia. Parents had to make an effort to maintain their children’s
Indonesian language skills. Use of mother tongue as the home language
considered to be a good way to foster children’s Indonesian use. This could
help the children re-learning Indonesian they had a good understanding of it.
Author: Lilis Ummi Fa’iezah
Journal Code: jppendidikangg100008
