Language awareness as a resource for multilingual individuals’ learning about culture: a case study in the Javanese context

Abstract

ABSTRACT Regular and sustained contact with speakers of other languages might offer members of multilingual societies opportunities to develop cultural awareness through interactions with diverse individuals. This study examines how the language awareness of individuals in a highly multilingual setting can act as a resource to support their learning about culture and development of cultural awareness. Participants were students, faculty, and alumni of an English teacher preparation program in Central Java, a community where Javanese, Indonesian, and English are used regularly. Data sources included class observations, interviews, and journal entries. The research participants appeared to be using their Javanese language awareness as a resource in two ways as they discussed and learned about culture: by using the Javanese language as a marker of cultural difference, and by connecting to structural and sociolinguistic aspects of Javanese, notably the use of indirect communication and the appropriate speech level. Educators working with students in both multilingual and monolingual settings could draw on these findings by purposefully building on students’ language awareness as a resource to help them develop cultural awareness.