Language Attitudes Among Indonesian University Students in an Archipelagic Learning Context
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61132/ijed.v3i3.490Keywords:
Archipelagic Learning, English Learning, Language Attitude, Multilingual Identity, Speaking AnxietyAbstract
Indonesia's multilingual and archipelagic setting places university students within overlapping local, national, and global language environments. This quantitative pilot study examined students' attitudes toward English and whether these attitudes differed according to regional and linguistic background. A cross-sectional questionnaire was completed by 45 undergraduates from two universities in Jakarta. The nine-item language-attitude scale demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.834). Students reported highly positive attitudes toward English (M = 4.24, SD = 0.56), particularly regarding academic success, future careers, international communication, personal development, and access to knowledge. However, only 53.3% felt confident using English in class, while 37.8% reported speaking anxiety. The regional-origin difference did not remain significant after Holm adjustment. A first-language difference remained statistically significant, but the local/other language subgroup included only four students and therefore cannot support a stable population inference. Most participants also believed that English could be learned without losing local-language identity. These findings identify a clear gap between valuing English and feeling confident when using it publicly, while emphasizing the need for larger and more linguistically balanced multi-island research.
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