Abstract:
The status of lndonesian as the official, standard and national language has limited the use of
Javanese. Yet, most Javanese people continue to speak their indigenous language, Javanese,
and lndonesian, the national language of Indonesia. The present study investigates language
use in the Javanese community in Surabaya, East Java. The aim of this study is to establish
who speaks what language to whom and when, in the Javanese community. It focuses on
language shift seen from three family types.
A questionnaire was distributed to sixty families, and a total of two hundred and forty
respondents. This study records the respondents' profiles, reported language proficiency,
language use, domains of language use and language atlitudes towards Javanese and
Indonesian.
The findings of this study indicate that language shjft towards Indonesian is gradually
occurring in the Javanese community. Proficiency in Javanese is lower than proficiency in
lndonesian. The use of Javanese is dominant only in the home, place of worship and in school
among friends. Javanese is often used to communicate with in-group members and the older
generation. The shift is clearly seen when four factors are considered: family type, gender,
generation and gender by generation. This study reveals that the groups contributing most to
language shift in the Javanese community are mixed marriage families and the younger
generation. This study also reveals that Javanese is no longer considered an effective language
for written communication.
Although the evidence indicates that language shift is gradually in progress, this study shows
that Javanese people's attitudes towards their native language remains positive. Javanese
people believe that their native language is the symbol of their identity. However, support
from both the Javanese people and government are needed to maintain the language.