Students’ Multiple Language Use in an EFL Class: A Case at an English Education Department

Abstract

This study investigates the languages, the status of languages, and the languages used for communication by EFL students. The participants of this study were fifty students in the fourth semester in the English Education Department of Universitas Muria Kudus (EED UMK). The data were collected using a questionnaire and analyzed qualitatively. The findings show that the students use nine languages, i.e., Javanese, Sundanese, Indonesian, English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Japanese, and Korean. Javanese, Sundanese, and Indonesian belong to their mother tongue, while Indonesian is their national language. Meanwhile, English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Japanese, and Korean are their foreign languages. English has been learned by the research participants since elementary school. At present, English is their major in the department. The students realize that their English intensity must be increased since English has become their major as EFL students. The students’ bilingualism belongs to an elite bilingual since the students learn and acquire the second language(s) through formal education or conscious learning. In the context of Javanese and Indonesian, simultaneous bilingualism is relevant. Related to English and Javanese or Indonesian, successive bilingualism is more relevant.