Volume 2, No. 6 June 2023 - (375-385)

p-ISSN 2980-4868 | e-ISSN 2980-4841

https://ajesh.ph/index.php/gp


 

THE USE OF INDIRECT LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES FOR THE FIRST LANGUAGE USERS AT LHOKSEUMAWE STATE POLYTECHNIC

 

Mustika Amri, M. Nazar, Nurdan, Muhammad Suip, Zainal Abidin

Lhokseumawe  State Polytechnic, Indonesia

IAIN Malikul Saleh,Lhokseumawe, Indonesia

Emails: mustika.amri@pnl.ac.id, muhammadnazar521@gmail.com, nurdan.ma61@gmail.com, muhammadsuip@pnl.ac.id, zainalmkom@gmail.com

 


 

ABSTRACT:    


This research has a purpose to the use of Indirect language learning strategies for the first language users  at Lhokseumawe State Polytechnic. The sample of this study were 100 students of Lokseumawe state polytechnic students .  The questioners were spread out to the sample  and asked them to answer  27 items related to indirect language learning strategies. This study  shows that the use of regional languages and national learning strategies at home have different learning strategies. This study found that  most of students chose 3 mean sub- dimension  of indirect language learning strategies, however metacognitive strategies were dominantly used by the first language use at home.  Respondents who use regional languages at home prefer  3 metacognitive  strategies  namely M5 with an average  score of 4.31, M6 with an average   score of 4.22 and M3 with an average   score of 4.04.  They use 2 dominant affective strategies namely A1 with a mean score of4.29 and A2 with a mean score of4.04.  however  regional language user  only choose 1 dominant  social strategies  S1  with a mean score While respondents who use the national language at home only choose 1 for Each sub dimensions, they 1 for  namely M5 with a mean score of 4.10, A1 with a mean score of 4.02 and S1 with a mean score of 4.22.  Therefore It can be concluded that regional language users use considerable indirect language learning strategies compared to the  national language users. 


                                                                       


Keywords: Indirect Strategies, Regional, National, language.

 

 

Article History                       

Received                     : 20 May 2023

Revised                        : 01 June 2023

Accepted                     : 04 June 2023

DOI                              : 10.xxxxx

           



INTRODUCTION

Language is a communication tool to convey information between individuals. Even animals are believed to have their own language even though their language is not as developed as human language (Corballis, 2019). Animals also emit various types of sounds to communicate. Bees that are looking for honey usually make different buzzing sounds to indicate the quantity of honey in the flower. However, for humans, language is not only intended for communication but also as a means of identity and a means of unifying the nation. Indonesia is an archipelagic country which stretching from Sabang to Merauke. Each island has many regional languages which are inseparable from  cultural features, tribes and customs (Mbete et al., 2023).

Indonesian society, especially the people of Aceh, is a heterogeneous society in terms of language and culture. Even though they are known as one unit of Acehnese society, the diversity still exists. The Acehnese language consists of 13 languages meanly Acehnese, Aneuk Jame, Alas, Gayo, Singkil, Tamiang, Kluet, Devayan, Sigulai, Pakpak, Nias, Haloban and lekon. These languages also consist of various dialects as well. The position of this language is as a regional language maintained by the state. This is very clearly written in the 1945 Constitution article 36 which states that regional languages are protected by the state. It is clear that the existence of this regional language is part of the Indonesian state which cannot be separated (Siregar, 2021).

The diversity of the Acehnese people which is influenced by language and culture is further expanded by the mixing of this society with marriage (Munirah et al., 2022). Therefore, it is common to find that Acehnese in the same family speak more than one regional  languages. These regional languages are usually used in informal situations, for example interactions at home, at the farm, at the  markets and so on. However, at the formal situations national language called National Language is more dominant, such as at schools, industries and offices. If we look through from the perspective of the sociology of language, this level of society position allows the formation of different ways of thinking. For example, people who live in urban areas prefer to use National Language as social interaction while those who are living in rural tend to use regional language.

Polytechnic students are a representation of the people in Aceh Province. They came from various districts and cities in Aceh Province. Each of them brings a different experience, culture, and language (Mahdi et al., 2020). For those who live far from the town, the use of the first language is more dominant then National Language. This is because they interact with rural communities. However, students who live in cities tend to use national language, especially female students, they prefer to use it when they interact with one another. Because they assume that the use of  national language  at home is respectable in a society. Those who speak National Language at home are assumed to be an educated and moderate social group. This group has a better tendency in terms of financial and superior in the field of education. The truth of this hypothesis needs further testing. Therefore, the author will try to raise this phenomenon into a serious study by digging deeper into the relationship between the use of language at home, both regional and Indonesian with indirect learning language strategies to the students of Lhokseumawe state  Polytechnic.

 

LITERATURE REVIEW

They are numerous  studies   have been carried out to prove  the relationship between language and culture.  Aceh, which is consisted 13 existed regional languages used as the first languages covered by culture, customs and tradition in society.
Therefore, the teacher of foreign or second language  needs to understand that there are many different regional languages ​​and dialects that allow for different mindsets when learning a second language. Ronald wardhaugh and Janet M.Fuller (2021) acknowledge that’ the close relationship between language and culture, that it is impossible to understand or appreciate language without knowledge of culture. Furthermore (Jiang, 2000) said that culture and language are inseparable. He conducted a survey for native speakers of Mandarin (NCS) in Chinese and for native speakers of English (NES) in English. The results concluded that the intimate relationship between language and culture is strikingly illustrated by the survey, which confirms the view that language and culture cannot exist without each other. Furthermore, he illustrated this relationship that language is swimming and culture is water. You can't swim without water. Likewise, language will be better if there is culture as a boundary for interacting with other people. Then it is believed that a person's regional language is more likely to be influenced by the culture from which the person comes from. For example, the prohibition in the form of taboos in a society that is thick with customs is felt to affect one's movements and behavior. Self-doubt and introvert really interfere with learning. Language is a tool for communication, it is impossible to learn properly by those who are reluctant to speak. 
               Research on culture influencing language has been carried out a lot, but the discussion is still general. Almost no scientist it associated with the students  learning strategies. A learning strategy is a method or trick used by someone in studying science in the form of applying the selected learning technique to achieve the desired results. Learning strategies between individuals vary due to experience, age, level of understanding of knowledge and available learning facilities also play an important role in selecting teaching and learning strategies (Oxford, 2016). In connection with previous research, many researchers say that in learning students tend to use strategies recommended by their teachers or other people. Some researchers have the same opinion that it is the characteristics of students that direct them to choose the language learning strategies they use (Nashruddin, 2019). A good teacher is a teacher and educator who not only transfers knowledge but is able to facilitate students to learn. Teachers who are always looking for solutions and ways for their students to understand what they are teaching. In addition to providing strategic recommendations in terms of increasing students' desire to learn. Learning strategies refer to behavior and thinking processes that are used to influence things that are learned, including memory and metacognitive processes (M.sobry sutikno, 2021) Student learning strategies differ from one student to another because they have different characters, desires and learning experiences, so this will make it difficult to handle them. Some students can only learn when accompanied by a teacher, while others only play a role as a facilitator, but their role is not so urgent in the classroom. Even students who are more independent (individual learning) often feel uncomfortable when the teacher constantly controls their movements in the class. In addition, the level of student learning success also differs from one another, for example boys have different cognitive abilities from girls (Mahmud & Nur, 2018) While other researchers revealed that the selection of student learning strategies is relatively the same, but what distinguishes is the 'characteristic' of individuals in carrying out the strategies they choose differ from one another (Amri, 2011).
In general, there are two language learning strategies, namely direct strategies and indirect strategies. Direct strategies come from the individual himself while indirect strategies come from individual interactions with their social environment, teaching, or the media they use (Oxford, 2016). in this study the authors limited the discussion on only examining indirect language learning strategies. These strategies include: Metacognitive Strategies, Affective Strategies and Social Strategies.
Metacognitive strategies are one of the language learning strategies used by foreign language learners which are related to planning and evaluation. Previous research related to Metacognitive Strategies, among others (Dolly et al., 2019) said that the use of metacognitive strategies helps learners to coordinate language learning, encourages learners to focus on certain language activities and skills, maximizes energy, and monitors mistakes and evaluates progress learn them. Furthermore,(Pan, 2013) examined the frequency of using meta-cognitive strategies in the process of learning English for non-English majors of Chinese students. He revealed that the frequency of using meta-cognitive strategies was correlated with students' English proficiency. the more often students use strategies, the more their independent learning abilities will increase and the more achievements they can get in exams. In general, students with high abilities tend to use more meta-cognitive strategies in the process of learning English. 
Another study that supports metacognitive language learning strategies is research conducted by Bouirane, 2015 concerning the relationship between metacognitive language learning strategies (MLLS) and gender and EFL student achievement. The researcher further confirms that metacognitive language learning strategies are very important for students of English as a foreign language to learn effectively. The theoretical issues address metacognitive language learning strategies in particular, and language learning strategies (LLS) in general. Practical research took place in the English department at Farhat Abbes University, Sétif, Algeria, with third-year students learning English as a first foreign language revealing significant use of metacognitive strategies among all students and significant differences between male and female students in the frequency of use of this strategy. In addition, the results of the second part reflect more significant differences in the use of metacognitive strategies at the levels of gender and learning achievement. He revealed that Metacognitive strategies are language learning strategies used to learn foreign languages. Its use reaches 88 percent of the sample using metacognitive strategies. He also revealed that affective strategies are less desirable because this strategy is difficult to implement and teach. 
With regard to this strategy, another researcher, Oxford, 2016, the results of his research revealed that motivation, positive attitudes and beliefs, and emotions that support learning are aspects of affective strategies. This strategy is important for learners in learning a new language. This strategy can also be applied to disadvantaged learners who have problems learning languages ​​especially in their own language. The implementation of these strategies can avoid negative factors such as low motivation to learn foreign languages, bad attitudes, language anxiety, anger, and frustration. The study of social learning strategies, Oxford states that social strategies such as asking questions to get verification, asking for clarification of confusing points, asking for help in carrying out language tasks, talking to native speakers' conversation partners, and exploring cultural and social norms that will help students work with others and understand the target culture and language. 
In addition, (Mehmet, 2016) mentions in his article that learning is an individual and social process. For this reason, it has been revealed that there is a growth in the social skills of students working together where in the classroom, where a foreign language is taught, the use of cooperative learning makes the dialogue between students more efficient.
Futhermore,  a study conducted by (Mehmet, 2016) he focused on individual differences in human social learning strategies. Individuals differ in their social learning strategies and they tend to use the same learning strategies regardless of the interaction context. These individual differences may be very important for cultural evolution. Another study on social language learning strategies was made by (Hurst et al., 2013) to determine students' perceptions of the value of social interactions that occur in the classroom. Their findings revealed that students in all three subjects felt that social interaction enhanced their learning by enhancing their literacy and teaching knowledge as well as their critical thinking and problem solving skills.

 

RESEARCH METHODS

This research uses a descriptive-quantitative research method; In particular, the type of descriptive method used in this research is a correlational research design using Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The choice of Lhokseumawe State Polytechnic as the object of study due to polytechnic students was considered to represent research respondents. First they have diverse characteristics. Second, students come from all districts/cities in Aceh Province who study at the Lhokseumawe State Polytechnic. Third, some students use regional languages ​​when communicating outside the campus and some others only use bahasa Indonesia. The research sample was 100 students of Lhokseumawe State Polytechnic that were selected by using Stratified random sampling recommended by Slovin. The respondents were asked to answer the questionnaire. These questionnaires contained of 54 indirect Language Learning strategies. They consisted of metacognitive, affective and social language learning strategies. Each strategy had 9 questions. While the option to answer the question by specifying 1 to 5 on a Likert scale as follows: 
 
Table 1. Likert scale

Options

Scale

Never or Almost true of me

1

Usually not true of me

2

Somewhat true of me

3

Usually true of me

4

Always or Almost always true of me

5

               
The questioners were also tested to see validity and reliability.  The questioners collected were considered valid if the test measures what it is intended to measure. The test has high validity if the results match the criteria, in the sense that it has parallels between the test and the criteria. For this we use the product moment correlation from Carl Pearson by correlating each question score with the total results taken from the answers given by respondents or students of Lhokseumawe state Polytechnic. While the questioners were considered reliable if the yields were consistent and were upper 0.6 as Cronbach's alpha recommended. 
Then to determine which learning strategies were chosen by users of the regional language and the national language (Indonesian), the findings were interpreted with the following scale:

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The validity and reliability of this questionnaire greatly determines whether this questionnaire is feasible to continue as a research instrument. the descriptive results show that it must meet the minimum requirements, namely r = 0.30. The following table results are the results of the validity test of the research questionnaire:
 
Based on the table above, it can be concluded that the independent variables, namely indirect language learning strategies and the first language variable used by students, get a score of r greater than 0.3. this value indicates that this questionnaire is valid and feasible to be continued as a research instrument.  While the results of the questionnaire reliability test are presented at the following Cronbach alpha values:
 


 
 
Based on the reliability test analysis to 27 items of indirect language learning strategies , the Cronbach Alpha of each metacognitive, affective, and social strategies was 0.869, 0.699, 0.684 respectively. the Cronbach alpha value is greater than 0.6, so it is said that the research questionnaire is reliable. 
This study is different from previous studies conducted by many other researchers. Many researchers focus on using language strategies use and linking them to language achievement, while this research emphasizes on the use of indirect language learning strategies by the first language user. This is based on the assumption that there is cultural influence on language or vice versa. There is a belief from researchers that the relationship between culture and language is very close. The choice of language learning strategy is influenced by one's position in culture. The use of regional languages ​​and Indonesian as the first language is considered to influence the choice of strategy for learning English on campus. This study shows that the choice of learning strategies by students who use their first language at home is different. It can be seen in the following table:
 

Tabel 5

The  Use of Metacognitive Strategy  by The First Language Users


Based on the table above, it can be seen that the dominant regional language users choose 3 metacognitive language learning strategies, namely the 5th metacognitive strategy (I pay attention when someone speaks English) is the first choice by those who use regional language and national  as the first language at home. It has a mean average   score of 4.31. The second, Metacognitive  6th (I find out from Google or You Tube how to speak English well). It has very high  average   score score  of 4.22.  The third, metacognitive 3rd (I am curios to find how to speak English well), It has  very high  average   score of 4.04. However those who use national language at home dominantly  prefer using metacognitive 5th at the first to learn foreign language.

 

 


Tabel 6

The  Use of  Affective Strategy  by The First Language Users

 

Language Use at Home

A1

A2

A3

A4

A5

A6

A7

A8

A9

Regional language

Mean

4.29

4.04

2.25

2.35

3.94

3.84

1.98

2.43

2.82

N

51

51

51

51

51

51

51

51

51

Std. Deviation

.923

.999

1.129

1.309

1.190

1.084

1.029

1.136

1.244

National language

Mean

4.02

3.94

2.20

2.73

3.78

3.82

1.92

2.49

2.71

N

49

49

49

49

49

49

49

49

49

Std. Deviation

.968

.988

1.118

1.469

1.212

1.236

.909

1.277

1.208

Total

Mean

4.16

3.99

2.23

2.54

3.86

3.83

1.95

2.46

2.77

N

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

Std. Deviation

.950

.990

1.118

1.396

1.198

1.155

.968

1.201

1.221


 
The table above shows that respondents chose 2 dominant affective strategies namely A1 (I try to be calm when I am afraid to speak English) with a mean score of4.29 and A2 (I motivate myself to use English even though I am actually afraid of being wrong) with a mean score of4.04. while respondents who use the national language at home only choose 1 affective strategy, namely A1 with a mean score of4.02. It indicates that there are more strategic affective users for regional languages ​​than national language users.



The table above shows that respondents from both regional and national language users only chose 1 social strategy, namely S1 (if I don't understand, I ask a friend to help me) with a mean score of4.14 for regional and 4.22 for users of the national language at home, this indicates that social strategies are less desirable than metacognitive and affective strategies.

 

CONCLUSION

Indirect language learning strategies are references to learning methods chosen by individuals to improve cognitive abilities to obtain the best results in learning. The learning strategies chosen usually depend on other variables as well. This study  shows that the use of regional languages and national learning strategies at home have different learning strategies. This study found that  most of students chose 3 mean sub- dimension  of indirect language learning strategies, however metacognitive strategies were dominantly used by the first language use at home.  This study also  shows that regional language users choose 6 Indirect learning strategies to learn English with a mean above 4.00 while national language users only choose 2 strategies with a mean 4.00.

 

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Copyright holder:

Mustika Amri, M.Nazar, Nurdan, Muhammad Suip, Zainal Abidin (2023)

 

First publication right:

Asian Journal of Engineering, Social and Health (AJESH)

 

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