Phenomenon of South
Jakarta Teenager's Language
South Jakarta teenager's language style is a language style that mixes
Indonesian with English in conversation. This Mixing languages
referred to as code mixing. Based on
linguistic definition, mixed code is the use of units of language from one
language to another to expand the style of language or variety of languages,
which includes the use of words, clauses, idioms, greetings and so on. The term
South Jakarta teenager's language itself is used to refer to the habits of
young teenager, who communicate in mixed languages namely Indonesian and
English. This phenomenon certainly raises the pros and cons among the people,
especially cultural experts, because the phenomenon of South Jakarta teenager's
language is considered to threaten the existence of Indonesia language.
Based on research conducted by the Swiftkey website in 2017, Indonesia is
the largest trilingual country in the world with 17.4% of the population
mastering more than three different languages. This condition is reasonable, due that Indonesia is a
country that is rich in language diversity, which is more than 300 languages
spoken. Therefore, mixing languages such as the phenomenon of the language
style of South Jakarta teenager is not a surprising thing. Because this
bilingualism has been going on for a long time, for
example between regional languages with
Dutch and Indonesian with regional languages. However, why is mixing such
languages identical in South Jakarta?
The term South Jakarta teenager's language is not a term intended for
young people in the South Jakarta region but rather a representative form of
the habits of young people who communicate code switching. But why should you
use the South Jakarta label? According to Bhima Yudistira, reported from
bbc.com said that the South Jakarta area is an area famous for the middle class
region, and prioritizes lifestyle, dress style and association, then the use of
mixed code language is a representation of intellectual and social quality
there. Although in fact, the phenomenon of language style does not only occur
in South Jakarta.
What causes this "nginggris" phenomenon to occur ?, reported by
linguistikid.com, stating that English is a lingua fraca world that is widely
presented in the world of education, entertainment, advertising, law, health,
and technology. Almost all fields are attached to English. The presence of
internet, social media, sites, and smartphones that are widely presented in
English either partially or completely will certainly affect the user's
vocabulary. So the phenomenon of this language is the risk of language contact.
In its development, this phenomenon tends to be caused by attitude. Ivan lanin,
a language observer, reported from tribunenews.com
said that the ability to use good
and correct language is based on the willingness of each individual.
Everyone adjusts their language style with their interlocutor. When we
communicate with lecturers, the language style that we use is certainly
different from the language style we usually use with friends. So in some
contexts, we do not merely use standard Indonesian, for example when we
interact with friends, of course the language we use is informal or slang to
make the conversation feel warmer and more intimate. From this explanation, it can
be concluded that the language style of South Jakarta teenager is not a big
problem, while it is used in a variety of informal contexts. in addition, this
"nginggris" language style will not be a factor that increases the
threat to regional languages as long as the regional language still has
written sources, there are speakers, and there is pride in the local language
itself. Linguistic expert Bernadette Kushartanti,
reported from bbc.com said, "What
needs to be worried is that the languages of the speakers are very few and
there is no written source".
So that it can be concluded that mixing languages is not a bad and
illicit phenomenon to do. The use of code transfer reflects the minds of
speakers with intellectual abilities and wide absorption, as long as it is used
in correct grammatical structures.
However, on the other side the Indonesian teacher’s teaching ability began from
the elementary school to the college needs of reform, so that Indonesian can be
as strong as the language spoken.
