THE ATTITUDES OF INDONESIAN LEARNERS TOWARDS VARIETIES OF

ENGLISH SPEECH: ASPECTS OF THE LEVEL OF PREVIOUS EXPOSURE TO

VARIETIES OF ENGLISH IN INDONESIA
a Research Proposal

by
Agnes Arum Budiana
2003512065

ENGLISH EDUCATION
POST GRADUATE PROGRAM
SEMARANG STATE UNIVERSITY
2013

I.

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background
Kachru (1997) has provided an important and influential model of the worldwide spread
of English. The World Englishes model is comprised of three concentric models of
English usage: the inner circle; the outer circle; and the expanding circle (see Figure 1).
Each of the three circles represents different types of spread, patterns of acquisition and
functions of English in a diversity of cultural contexts. The inner circle consists of
countries where English is spoken as a native language (ENL) for a substantial (and often
monolingual) majority, such as the UK, the USA, Australia and Canada. The outer circle,
in contrast, consists of post-colonial countries, such as India, The Philippines, Nigeria
and Malaysia, where English is spoken as a second language (ESL) and is employed for a
range of educational and administrative purposes. The expanding circle comprises
countries where English is learned as a foreign language (EFL) and is used for
international communication, such as in business, diplomacy and tourism. Given the
prevalence of English language use throughout the world in the twenty-first century, the
expanding circle presumably comprises every nation not included in the inner circle or
the outer circle. According to Kachrus model, English in Indonesia is categorized within
the expanding circle, where the language does not have status of an official language,
does not function as a lingua franca and is not a relic of colonization. Although English
has a restricted range of functions in Indonesia it is taught extensively as a foreign
language in the education system and is increasingly employed in international trade,
overseas travel and in academic research. English, spoken and written, is also
increasingly prevalent in the media in Indonesia and is a major influence on both the
Indonesian language and Indonesian society.
Although the World English model has strongly influenced how academics describe the
configuration of English worldwide, it is not without its problems. The present context
does not warrant a detailed discussion of the relative merits of the models and
descriptions proposed for the global spread of English, but a number of fundamental
problems relating to the World English model are relevant here. The World English model
continues to provide a useful shorthand for classifying contexts of English world-wide

(Bruthiaux, 2003: 172). Hence, in the course of the present study and despite problems
with precise definitions, the terms native/non-native and inner/outer/expanding circle are
all employed in the description of the varieties of English speech recorded for the
purposes of evaluation. For the purposes of the present study, a native speaker of a
language is defined as an individual who acquired the language in question in early
childhood. Defined in this way, the native speakers of the language in question are in sole
historic possession of a particular habits, i.e., a set of dispositions acquired in early
childhood, which generate attitudes, habits and practices which are regular, despite
neither being co-ordinated nor governed by any explicit rule (Thomson, in editors
introduction, Bourdieu, 1991:
13). A non-native speaker can thus be defined as an individual who learns the language
after early childhood as a second or foreign language. Of course, in the context of the
present study, the reader should bear in mind that the use of such a system of
classification is not without its problems.
The provision of detailed social information of the sample is particularly important when
conducting sociolinguistic research in Indonesia as it is currently unknown which social
variables are significant within the population of the country. This has contributed to a
lack of sociolinguistic framework to describe the complex language situation in
contemporary Indonesia. In light of this, Starks and Paltridge (1996: 218) have suggested
that it would be profitable for researchers to provide detailed social features of the
informants, whenever possible, when conducting surveys involving the attitudes of nonnative speakers towards varieties of English.
Indeed, a limited number of previous studies, which have concentrated specifically on
social evaluations of varieties of English in Indonesia, have, in fact, examined whether,
and to what extent variables within the population, such as the respondents levels of
prior exposure to particular speech varieties of the informants (McKenzie, 2003, 2004)
can account for variations in their attitudes.
Hence, in order to determine the validity (or not) of the results obtained in this study,
background information regarding the level of previous exposure to varieties of English

of the informants is given in the present study. The study also attempts to measure
attitudes towards variation in L1 (i.e., perceptions of varieties of Indonesian). Such
information is given in the study because it is, at present, unknown whether the language
attitudes that Indonesian nationals hold to varieties of the Indonesian language influence
any attitudes they may hold to varieties of English (McKenzie, 2004: 19). The main
focus of this study is attitudes of Indonesian learners towards varieties of English speech.
And the main objective of this quantitative study is to measure the attitudes of Indonesian
learners towards varieties of English speech.
1.2. Statement of the Problem
1. Are Indonesian learners able to identify varieties of English speech?
2. Does the level of previous exposure to varieties of English determine the learners
attitudes towards the different varieties of English speech?
1.3. Significant of the Study
A thorough examination of the existing attitude studies, which have concentrated
specifically on social evaluations of varieties of English in Indonesia, has demonstrated the
potential theoretical and methodological value of conducting further in-depth research on the
attitudes of Indonesian learners towards varieties of English speech. In particular, there is a
clear justification for the investigation of attitudes towards non-standard as well as standard
varieties of inner circle English speech. In short, it is hoped that the study will help inform
educators and policy makers, in particular, with regard to the choice of linguistic model in
English language teaching both within and out with Indonesia and, more generally, to
contribute to the widening and deepening of sociolinguistic enquiry in Indonesia.

II.
II.1

Review of Related Literature

Attitudes

Attitudes have been and indeed continue to be the focus of a great deal of research
throughout the social sciences. In particular, attitude has been a central explanatory

variable in the field of social psychology more than in any other academic discipline.
Despite some fluctuations in its popularity, research on attitudes has been conducted by
social psychologists from the 1920s and this research has undergone extensive theoretical
and empirical developments since then. Indeed, Edwards (1999: 101), describes the
importance of perception (i.e., attitude) as the most pervasive theme in modern social
psychology.
Attitudes have been defined from different angles according to different theories, which
has resulted in semantic disagreements and differences about the generality and
specificity of the term. The working definition preferred for the purposes of this study, is
that an attitude is a summary evaluation of an object or thought (Bohner and Wanke,
2002: 5). In terms of this definition, an attitude is a hypothetical construct, that it to say, it
is not directly observable but can be inferred from observable responses. Furthermore,
attitudes are considered to be sufficiently stable to allow for identification and for
measurement. In the language of social psychology, entities which are evaluated are
known as attitudinal objects and encompass attitudes to things, individuals, institutions,
events and abstract ideas.
II.2

Language Attitudes

Attitudes towards global languages such as English are likely to be strong (as are
attitudes towards ethnic groups, celebrities or favourite products) and are characterized
by well-learned association between the language and the evaluation, which can be
activated automatically from memory (Perloff, 2003: 68). The term language attitudes,
however, is an umbrella term, which encompasses a broad range of possible empirical
studies, concerned with a number of specific attitudes. Perloff identifies the following
major areas:
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)

attitude to language variation, dialect and speech style

attitude to learning a new language
attitude to a specific minority language
attitude to language groups, communities and minorities
attitude to language lessons
attitude of parents to language lessons

vii)
viii)

attitude to the uses of a specific language

attitude to language preference

This study will attempt to measure attitudes to standard and non-standard varieties of English
speech amongst a sample of Indonesian nationals learning English as a foreign language. Any
conclusions drawn are likely to have implications for the second and seventh categories:
attitudes to learning a new language and attitudes to the uses of a specific language, i.e.,
English.
II.3

The importance of the study of language attitudes in sociolinguistics

Although the majority of research into language attitudes has been conducted in the field
of the social psychology of language, the issue of how individuals evaluate language and
language varieties has also become a central area in sociolinguistics. One reason for this
is that the study of language attitudes is thought to be a key dimension in the building of
sociolinguistic theory because explanations of sociolinguistic phenomena are most likely
to reside in sociopsychological processes. A further reason for the importance of the study
of language attitudes in explaining sociolinguistic phenomena, is that despite the
complexity of the relationship, as indicated previously, attitudes are considered to be a
major determinant of behaviour. As a result of the influence of language attitudes on
behaviour, language attitude research can provide a basis for the explanation of central
issues in sociolinguistics, such as language variation and change. This is particularly the
case where the language attitude research is longitudinal in nature or where follow-up
studies are conducted which employ the same research methodology and sample as the
original study, which would allow for speculation into whether attitude change has taken
place. It may also be argued that attitudes towards languages and language varieties are
likely to underpin a number of other short and long term behavioural outcomes
considered to be of importance in sociolinguistics, and which can have important
experiential consequences. Attitudes to language varieties, for instance, may affect the
extent to which certain groups (such as speakers of regional dialects or minority
languages) participate in higher education or influence employment opportunities.

Moreover, language attitudes may determine whether and to what extent languages or
dialects spread or decay. In the case of an international language such as English, positive
attitudes towards the language are certainly one important factor in and perhaps even the
major determinant of its worldwide spread. Indeed, in the case of language spread more
generally, it is thought that it can be measured not only through the extent of the use of
the language but also through the investigation of the attitudes of individuals towards its
use.
Although the majority of language attitude studies have focussed on native speaker
perceptions of languages and language varieties, the perceptions of non-native speakers
are also believed to be of importance in sociolinguistics. In particular, studies which
investigate the attitudes of L2 learners towards language acquisition contribute to
sociolinguistic theory because they raise awareness that language learners have to deal
with their own feelings, stereotypes, prejudices and expectations as well as the linguistic
features of the language (Friedrich, 2000: 222). Sociolinguistic studies of L2 learners
should therefore investigate not only what these learners know about the target language
and its varieties but also how this knowledge is categorized in the mind of the learner and
used to reflect and refine group preferences and priorities. The attitudes that language
learners hold towards varieties of English speech are also believed to be of value. Starks
and Paltridge (1996: 218) maintain that the choice of a model of English for teaching and
learning is influenced by students attitudes towards English and that it is important to
discover what variety of English second and foreign language learners want as an ideal
language goal. More generally, they also stress the need for language attitude studies
which involve non-native speakers as informants to divide the sample on the basis of
variables such as gender and age, which give an indication of attitude change amongst
different sections of the language learning population. Although, to date, there has been
an insufficient number of such studies conducted, research into attitude change is likely
to be valuable for sociolinguists interested in language spread and/or sociolinguists
involved in language planning and foreign language policy.

III.
III.1

Methodology

The Aim of the Study

A thorough examination of the existing attitude studies, which have concentrated

specifically on social evaluations of varieties of English in Indonesia, has demonstrated
the potential theoretical and methodological value of conducting further in-depth research
on the attitudes of Indonesian learners towards varieties of English speech. In particular,
there is a clear justification for the investigation of attitudes towards non-standard as well
as standard varieties of inner circle English speech. In short, it is hoped that the study will
help inform educators and policy makers, in particular, with regard to the choice of
linguistic model in English language teaching both within and out with Indonesia and,
more generally, to contribute to the widening and deepening of sociolinguistic enquiry in
Indonesia.
III.2

Research Instrument

This section provides a description and rationale for each of the research instruments
employed in the study. The construction of the research instruments involved a great deal
of consideration of the methodologies developed for the measurement of language
attitudes in previous studies. The research instrument employed in the present study
comprises four main parts.
III.2.1 Part one: the verbal-guise technique
The aim of this section of the research instrument is to investigate, by indirect means, the
language attitudes of the informants towards varieties of English speech. An indirect
approach to researching attitudes most often involves the aim of the study being
concealed from the informants, in order to penetrate below the level of conscious
awareness or behind the individuals social faade. As the other parts of the research
instrument directly question the informants on their perceptions of language varieties, it
was decided to position the indirect technique at the beginning of the data collection
process. Although the most frequently utilized indirect technique in the measurement of
language attitudes is the matched-guise technique, in this instance, it was decided to
employ the verbal-guise technique. This decision was taken for three reasons. First, it was

felt that the use of spontaneous speech was more authentic than a read pre-prepared text.
Secondly, the careful control of the speech event, through the employment of the maptask enabled the recording of suitable factually neutral stimulus speech. Thirdly, from a
practical point of view, it would prove impossible to find a single speaker who could
convincingly produce all six varieties of English speech selected for evaluation.
In accordance with previous attitude studies, a semantic-differential scale was utilized for
the purposes of the verbal-guise section of the research instrument. However, there is
evidence to indicate that different speech communities may react to any given adjective
in different ways; in other words, reactions of informants are likely to be highly culture
bound. Hence, language attitude researchers should not suppose that the same traits will
be salient for different populations. There is, therefore, a case for replacing adjectives
used in previous studies with items that take account of the specific cultural context of
the study (Garrett, 2003: 60). Therefore, for the purposes of the present study, a specific
semantic-differential scale was specially constructed. The bi-polar adjectives employed in
the seven-point semantic-differential scale in the present study were obtained during the
pilot study, where Indonesian students, considered comparable judges to the listenerjudges selected for the main study, were asked to provide descriptions of each of the six
speakers. In total, the eight most frequent descriptions (along with their bi-polar
opposites) were selected and subsequently positioned in a randomized order to form the
semantic-differential scale, i.e., the socially most desirable traits were positioned
sometimes on the left and sometimes on the right in order to avoid any left-right bias
amongst the informants. It was felt that the traits selected for the study reflect a range of
non-overlapping characteristics on principal dimensions of social attractiveness and
competence. The final version of the semantic-differential scale is given below.
Figure 1 The Semantic-Differential Scale Constructed for the Verbal-Guise Study
Pleasant
Confident
Unclear
Modest
Not funny
Intelligent
Not gentle

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

2
2
2
2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3
3
3
3

4
4
4
4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5
5
5
5

6
6
6
6
6
6
6

7
7
7
7
7
7
7

Not pleasant
Not confident
Clear
Not modest
Funny
Not intelligent
Gentle

Not fluent

Fluent

III.2.2 Part two: dialect recognition item

The objective of this section of the research instrument is to ascertain whether the
Indonesian informants can correctly identify the varieties of English speech chosen for
evaluation purposes. As detailed previously, the majority of previous language attitudes
studies have not required listener-judges to identify the regional provenance of the
speakers, i.e., indicate where they believe speakers are from (Garrett et al., 2003: 58).
There is, however, some doubt as to whether listener-judges are, in fact, always
evaluating the speech varieties that the speech recordings are intended to represent, i.e.,
whether the listener-judges achieve accurate cognitive mapping.
Hence, misidentification of speech varieties is likely to make the data collected in such
studies more difficult to interpret. For this reason, there have been recent calls to include
a dialect recognition item in language attitude studies (McKenzie, 2004: 24). In the
present study, a variety recognition question is included for a number of reasons. First, it
is hoped that the responses will provide information with regard to how accurately and
consistently the Indonesian students are able to identify the six varieties of English
speech included in the study. Secondly, as the study attempts to measure speech
evaluations of Indonesian learners who are likely to have less exposure to varieties of
English than native speakers, the inclusion of a variety recognition question is arguably
more important. Thirdly, as dialect identifications are frequently based on ethnic
associations of the listener, patterns of identification/misidentification may provide
information with regard to the cues which listeners base their identification upon, as well
as give an insight into their ideological framework. This is because listeners who are
unable to correctly identify a particular speech variety are likely to incorrectly identify
the stimulus speech as a language or language variety with which they are more familiar
and one which they associate with the misidentified variety of speech (Lindemann, 2003:
355-358). In short, a dialect recognition item was included in order to make the data
collected in the study more straightforward to interpret.

In order to ascertain identification (or not) of the six speech varieties chosen for
evaluation purposes, the informants were asked the following two questions:
i) Where do you think the speaker comes from?
ii) How did you make this decision?
It should be noted that, for the purposes of analysis, the identification was considered
successful if the informants correctly recognized the country of the speaker and hence,
the respondents were not required to identify the particular variety of English or region
where it is spoken.
III.2.3 Part three: perceptual dialectology
Part three of the research instrument attempts, by direct methods, to gather information
regarding the informants perceptions of varieties of Indonesian speech. The objective of
collecting such data is to investigate whether the language attitudes that Indonesian
learners of English hold towards varieties of the Indonesian language influence any
attitudes they may hold towards varieties of English. As there are a number of problems
with the utilisation of questionnaires and interviews as direct methods of language
attitude measurement, it was decided to employ data gathering techniques from the field
of perceptual dialectology. Thus, the informants were presented with a map of Indonesia,
marked only with the prefectural boundaries and the major cities. The informants were
then asked to perform the following tasks:
i)

On the map, circle the areas on the map of Indonesia where people speak varieties

ii)

of bahasa Indonesia different from standard bahasa Indonesia.

How would you describe the speakers of these varieties of bahasa Indonesia?

In this way, it was believed that it was possible to categorize the informants attitudes
towards non-standard varieties of bahasa Indonesia as either positive, neutral or
negative.
III.2.4 Part four: background information of participants
One aim of the study is to examine the significance of a number of social factors in
determining the informants attitudes towards different varieties of English speech. As
such, this section of the research instrument required the respondents to provide details of

level of previous exposure to varieties of English. In light of this, the sample appeared to
be composed solely of university students of Indonesian nationality, who spoke bahasa
Indonesia as a first language, were born in and, at the time of the data collection, lived
and studied in Indonesia. Hence, in terms of these social factors the sample was
considered relatively homogeneous.
III.3

Procedure: The Administration of the Research Instrument

The data will be collected in person by the researcher from Indonesian learners of English
at an Indonesian university. Visits will be made to some classes. Due to the nature of the
study and, hence, the composition of the research instrument, it is possible for a single
researcher to collect data from a relatively large number of people in a single location. It
was, therefore, possible to include the responses of a large number of informants in the
study. At each participating institution, all the data will be collected in the students
regular assigned classrooms. This period of time is sufficient for both the data collection
itself and for the subsequent debriefing.
In order to ensure uniformity of measurement (and hence, reliability), the procedures
involved in each class visit will be standardized. For example, prior to each class visit,
contact will be made, at least seven days in advance, with each of the regular class
teachers. In the course of this contact, the class teachers will be requested to inform their
students of the planned visit by the researcher. In this way, the students will be
forewarned and thus had a choice of declining to take part in the study. Moreover, during
the initial contact with the researcher, all the class teachers will be made aware that, due
to the indirect approach employed in section 1 of the study, it is imperative that the
participants are not informed about the objectives of the study (or the speech samples)
until after the data collection process is complete (each class teacher is again given a
reminder on the day of the data collection). Furthermore, the whole administration
procedure will be conducted in English, although if the informants came across unknown
English vocabulary when completing the research instrument. All four sections of the
research instrument will be also administered in the same order, one after the other,
without any substantial intervals in between. However, in the verbal-guise study, the

order in which the speech samples are played to the informants was randomized. This
decision is quite deliberate and undertaken in order to ensure that any potential ordering
effects in the presentation of the speech samples are minimized.
The instructions will be employed during each of the data collection sessions will be also
standardized. Invaluable information gains during the pilot stages will be utilized, prior to
the first session of data collection, to draw up a set of written instructions for the
administration of the four sections of the research instrument. It is felt that the written
instructions provide a high level of consistency and are subsequently employed in each of
the twenty-four sessions. The procedure for each section of the research instrument is
detailed below.
Section 1: The Verbal-Guise Instrument
i)

Allow participants opportunity to read task and adjectives. Explain/translate if

ii)

necessary.
Play each of the six speech samples (approximately one minute each) once
only, pause the CD between each sample for approximately one to two
minutes to allow informants to mark responses. Stress the importance of
completing responses for all speakers.

Section 2: Dialect Recognition Item

i)
ii)

Allow participants opportunity to read task. Explain/translate if necessary.

Again, play each of the six speech samples once only, pause CD between each
sample for approximately one to two minutes to allow informants to mark
responses. Encourage informants to complete both parts of the question.

Section 3: Perceptual Dialectology

This section aims to investigate whether broad perceptions of non-standard varieties of
Indonesian speech influence attitudes towards varieties of English. Hence, informants are
not required to complete the map in detail.
i)
ii)

Allow participants opportunity to read task. Explain/translate if necessary.

Participants should be encouraged to draw as many/as few circles as they feel
necessary.

iii)

Stress that informants should describe speakers of non-standard varieties (not

the speech). Informants are likely to provide a range of descriptions for
different (speakers of) varieties. This is not a problem. Encourage informants
to complete both parts of the question.

Section 4: Background Information

i)
ii)

Allow participants opportunity to read task. Explain/translate if necessary.

Encourage participants to complete all the questions (and not to be modest in
the assessment of their proficiency in English).

Following the completion of the data collection, due to the nature of the study, it is
necessary to debrief the participants on the purposes, procedures and scientific value of
the study immediately afterwards. Hence, in the final thirty to forty minutes of the
scheduled class, a short lecture on the methods employs in language attitude studies will
be given by the researcher, followed by a question and answer session between the
researcher, the informants and the class teacher.
This chapter describes in detail the research approach and the various data collection
procedures employed in the study in addition to an explanation for their selection.

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http://www-distance.syr.edu/quantproposal.html