Download the beneficial effect of bilingualism in visual media

4th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
October 2015
THE BENEFICIAL EFFECT OF
BILINGUALISM IN VISUAL MEDIA
Aliva Rosdiana
Islamic University of Nahdlatul Ulama‘ Jepara
[email protected]
Abstract
Bilingualism is a phenomenon that affects people throughout the world. People use
bilingualism in particular situations in society such as in education, job, mass media, etc.
People who speak bilingualism means that they get second language learning. Radio,
televison, and YouTube are important vehicles of mass communication. Mass
communication differs from the studies of other forms of communication, such as
interpersonal communication, in that it focuses on a single source transmitting
information to a large group of receivers. The study of bilingualism in visual media is
chiefly concerned with how the content of visual media persuades or otherwise affects
either behavior, attitude, opinion, or emotion of the person or people receiving the
information. The beneficial effect is the development of bilingualism. Watching video
affects children‘s acquisition of their native language and hasten language shift to the
majority language. By watching the video, it also enrich our knowledge to particular
vocabularies based on particular topics. The Internet makes it possible to have
conversations across countries and continents. Individuals have multiple identities and
belong to other speakers of their heritage language. So, the linguistic competence will
develop as a by-product of the interest. In addition, it brings people closer.
Keywords: bilingualism, mass communication, visual media, Internet, multiple identities.
Introduction
More than half people in the world are bilingual even multilingual. Moreover in European
Union people become bilingual more than 50 percents of population by year. Definitely it
would be increasing year-by-year. Bilingualism is simply about two languages (Baker, 2001
:2). What does it mean to ―speak‖ two languages? People can say Hello in about 5 or more.
People are native in their
languages
as their mother tongue. But they speak another
languages, Spanish for instance, at a pretty fluent level, and they also take other courses of
other language, Japanese for example. Are they bilingual or trilingual? People who speak
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more than one language are called bilingual or trilingual or polyglot. The point is, bilingual is
hard to define because language is hard to define. In www.Huffingtonpost.com it was stated,
―In Miami, for example, one of the questions is what‘s the student‘s first language. But as
Coral Way‘s principal, Josephine Otero, pointed out, that doesn‘t necessarily mean a child
isn‘t fluent in his or her second language.‖
But that same article states that 2/3 of the nations, 4.7 million elementary school English
learners (people who‘s first language/dominant language was not English) were actually born
within the United States. It is indicated that immigrants are holding on to their minority
languages at least for one generation. While these kids should be taught the fundamentals of
English, and it does put strain on education system. Trend of using bilingual or multilingual
than monolingual occupy big percentage in many population of the world today. It also
affects cognitive abilities. How many people are bilingual in Asian countries? European
countries? In India, for example, children consistently grow up with two or three languages.
This is very normal. Singapore is another country where this practice is completely common;
English generally being one of the languages. It seems that other countries do quite a bit more
to promote bilingual education while raising bilingual children than the United States does.
Fig. 1.: Percentage of Bilingual Speakers in the world
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VOA is a network since 1942 broadcasts on radio, television, and the internet outside of the
US in English and some foreign languages. It is an effective way for people not only children
but also adult to study English especially certain vocabularies used in particular situation, or
social behavior of people and American‘s lifestyle. Therefore, this study focused on two
questions below:
1. How YouTube gives beneficial effect to the development of bilingualism?
2. What visual media used to develop English by language learners?
3. What particular code called register find in youtube as a learning method to learn
English?
In those questions, people were asked on a certain extent determined by and accountable to a
whole network of groups and individuals, both in the public at large and in the educational
system. It is on who were concerned with bilingualism in visual media gives benefit to
English language learners, and visual media used to develop English by language Learners.
Based on explanations above, the writer is interested in conducting a Descriptive study related
to the beneficial effect of bilingualism in visual media of VOA via YouTube. The purpose of
this study is to find how YouTube can give beneficial effect to the development of
bilingualism and particular codes used found in YouTube.
Review of Related Theories
1. Communication and Mass Media
Communication is a process of transmitting information, ideas, emotions, skills, and
knowledge by using symbols, words, gestures, and visuals. Communication theory
concentrates its attention on the receiving end of a communication channel. It pays attention
to the analysis of a message only in order to measure the efficiency of the communication
channel in terms of how much of the message get through to the receiving end (Carroll,
1953:203). By the analysis of a message, efficiency must be evaluated by seeing how much
information gets through from the source to the destination. The word information used has a
special sense that involves symbols of a message. The symbols has a function as a code to
convey large amount information to receiver.
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Communication has a big influence in social life where people exist in community. In
business, school, entertainment, market, job, etc, people do communication with different
language that they use in a particular context. Every situation or context must have different
code. The communication model below gives description of the process of communication.
SOURCE  ENCODER  CHANNEL  DECODER  DESTINATION
Fig. 2: The Process of Communication
The process of communication starts from the ―source‖ as a mental process gives rise to a
message to be transmitted. Then the message is encoded into a signal. Channel transmits the
signal to be decoded and identified by receiver. In the end of destination, the message is
received and understood by the hearer or the reader.
Communication theory concentrates on the receiving end of a communication model. That is
the communication is concerned with th eselection of messages at the sending end of
communication channel. Choosing a particular words, people must have a communicative
competence. Besides, people also must have a skill on listening. A communication model
below describes how speakers and hearers can communicate well is because the work of
neuron in the brain, the produce of vocal tract, and the ear to be transmitted to the brain.
SPEAKER
SOURCE
HEARER
ENCODER
CHANNEL
DECODER
Motor Nerves
brain

vocal tract
DESTINATION
Sensory Nerves
 Sound waves

Ear

Brain
Sensory nerves
Feedback
1) Motor nerves: the motor nerves transmit nerve pulses that produce movements of muscles.
2) Sensory nerves: the sensory nerves transmit preceived stimuli.
3) Feedback: information about the signal and information about articulatory movements are
sent back to the source.
4) Vocal tract: the pharynx and the nasal and oral cavities.
Fig. 3: A Communication Model High Speech (Hammarstorm & Jernudd, 1972:15)
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Communication and communicative competence are two theories that is intertwined. Both
speakers and hearers must have communicative competence in order that communication runs
well. Competence alone refers to the implicit knowledge of language and performance which
is affected by psychological and social factors. Meanwhile, communicative competence
covers four main aspects, they are grammatical competence which is dealing with syntax;
sociolinguistic competence which is dealing with social appropriateness of communication;
discourse competence which is dealing with cohesive and coherence in discourse; and
strategic competence which is focusing on pragmatic function of communication. The model
of communicative competence below shows that communication cannot be run well unless
both speakers and interlocutors have four aspects of competence. Below is the model of
communicative competence that speakers and interlocutors must have when they
communicate each other.
Communicative Competence
Language
Competence
Strategic
Competence
Organizarional Competence
Discourse
Competence
Psychophysiologic
al mechanism
Pragmatic Competence
Fig. 4: Adapted from a model of Communicative Competence by Badib A., (2007) (see also
in O‘ Grady et al, 508).
Internet is one of mass media today used by people in the world. By online learning, many
people not only children but also adult as well can use this media to learn English. University,
native speakers of English, teachers, can upload teaching record with many majors via
YouTube. Learning English via YouTube is an effective way to see how native English
speakers speak, the style and attitude, and the culture as well. The things they talk about
however may be different from one language to another. This shows that there is much more
to learn a language than just the vocabulary and the grammar of the language, but also learn
the social behavior of people who speak it.
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3. YouTube as a Visual Media Used to Develop English
Visual media used to develop bilingualism here is VOA via YouTube. The reason of using
YouTube as the media are:
-
YouTube lets anyone upload videos for private or public viewing. Founded in 2005 by
Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, it was acquired by Google in 2006 for
USD $1.65 billion.
-
YouTube is a free video-hosting website that allows members to store and serve video
content.
-
Videos are streamed to users from the YouTube site (www.youtube.com) and videos
can be streamed from blogs and web sites with YouTube-embedded code.
-
VOA (Voice of America) is the official external broadcast Institution of the United
States Federal government.
-
The VOA affiliate and contract agreements with radio and television stations and
cable network worldwide.
The Voice of America (VOA) is the official external broadcast institution of the United States
Federal government. VOA radio and television broadcasts are distributed by satellite, cable
and on FM, AM, and shortwave radio frequencies. They are streamed on individual language
service websites, social media sites and mobile platforms. The VOA has affiliate and contract
agreements
with
radio
and
television
stations
and
cable
networks
worldwide
(www.wikipedia.com). One program of VOA broadcasted in Indonesia via Metro television is
―VOA Dunia Kita‖. This program has an aim to introduce Indonesian people by journalists
who work in America to know American lifestyle, American language, and American culture.
Their journey would be recorded, documented, and broadcasted. Every week they broadcast
different theme as the materials.
According to Retno, ―Dunia Kita‖ comes from two resources. The first is Central News. The
news is using English. Then Indonesian Service adapts it into Indonesian and voice dubbing
or voice over (vo). Therefore, languages used in ―Dunia Kita‖ is English-Indonesian, and
sometimes another language such as Javanese in ―Heboh Belanja di Amerika‖ part 1. The
second is origination. It is how getting ideas, making research, and reporting.
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4. Bilingualism: Code-Switching and Code-Mixing
Bilingualism is the ability to use and to speak two languages. People who use two or more
language is called bilingual person. Most of us consider bilingualism as something good that
has an advantage. One of the advantages of a bilingual child and adult is having two or more
worlds of experience. With two languages goes a wider cultural experience, and, very
possibly, greater tolerance of cultural difference and less racism (Baker, 2000:4).For one
thing, knowledge of another language enables people to communicate with members of other
cultures in their knowledge. Bilingualism and multilingualism can be examined as the
possession of the individual (Baker, 2001:2). In addition, Mackey (in Spolsky, 1976:166)
believes that ―bilingualism is the property of the individual.‖ Alternatively, human get
language acquisition in his/her family until they know two or more langauges when they
study.
Borrowing other language in code-switching is commonly used especially in job community.
A language user makes use of a code or codes when speaking, listening, etc to make sense of
the communicative contributions to interact with another people. Listeners use their own code
to make sense of the communicative contributions of those they interact with. Listeners may
need to shift their expectations to come to useful understanding of speaker‘s intentions.
Similarly, speakers may switch their form of contributions in order to signal a change in
situation, shifting relevance of social roles, or alternate ways of understanding a
conversational contribution. In other words, switching code is a means by which language
users may contextualize communication.
Sometimes people mix their language and another language in one utterance or in the same
oral/written text. It is common phenomenon in societies in which two or more languages are
used. Poplack (WWW) refers code-switching to the mixing, by bilinguals (or multilinguals),
of two or more languages in discourse, often with no change of interlocutor or topic. Listeners
must have an ability to interpret particular code used in certain topic to get the idea of
meaning based on vocabularies they hear from speakers.
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5. YouTube gives beneficial effect to the development of bilingualism.
Youtube is a free video-hosting website connecting network of the world. Especially ―VOA
Dunia Kita‖ which is not only in YouTube but it is also broadcasted in Metro TV. Hence,
non-native English people can study English via YouTube and the culture of English speaking
countries as well. That is how YouTube, especially video ―VOA Dunia Kita‖, gives beneficial
effects to the development of bilingualism as follows:
-
The sounds of the first language can influence how people learn and use a second
language. It is easier to learn sounds and words when the languages people are
learning are similar. Besides, it can enrich people vocabularies.
-
It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to
language and even shielding against dementia in old age.
-
It contributes the creation of the global village –to the worldwide diffusion of
important and immediate news, sport and culture.
-
It enables viewers to cross cultures. Thus, it can contributes to multiculturalism, and to
an empathy and insight into other cultures, languages and lifestyles.
Discussion
Finding and Analysis
Many registers found in VOA by the topic of Heboh Belanja di Amerika. There is data
analysis defined for answering question no. 3.
Topics of VOA taken:
Heboh Belanja di Amerika (broadcasted on 16 Dec 2013).
Hosts: Supriyono (Cak Supri) and Nadia Madjid (Ning Nadia).
Code-Mixing: Javanese-Indonesian-English.
Location: Mal Pentagon City, Arlington, VA.
Analysis: Cak Supri and Ning Nadia as hosts invites audience of Warung VOA to observe
shopping theraphy and Black Friday shopping as the US holiday shopping season in the end
of year. This episode use three languages, they are Indonesian, Javanese, and English, and it
was also broadcasted on Pojok Kampung JTV Surabaya. It is started by inviting English
shoppers to greet audience. Then, the hosts switch the language into Javanese-Indonesian.
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Some registers or particular words are found such as Black Friday, Thanksgiving, retail, retail
therapy, and Cyber Monday.
1. Finding
No.
Utterances
Indonesian
Javanese
English
1.
2.
S:‖Dulur, taun ini memang heboh juga ya masa belanja
yang biasanya terjadi pas akhir taun. Nah diawali
dengan namanya Black Friday.‖
N: Opo kuwi?
S: Keranjang hitam.
N: Jumat ini.
S: Bukan hitam yang negatif. Malah positif
...tapi katanya neraca retail. Sebelum Black Friday iki.
Iku merah, cak. Karena rugi. Pas black Friday,
semuanya podo blonjo. Pas thanksgiving kuwi. Jadinya
untung. Dadine hitam tintanya.
N: ―Nah itu ada istilahnya, cak. Retail therapy, terapi
belanja‖
Musim belanja liburan dimulai sehari setelah
thanksgiving. Dijuluki sebagai Black Friday karena
inilah hari dimana para pengecer meraup keuntungan.
Beberapa toko berupaya memulai Black Friday dengan
membuka toko-toko mereka sebelum kalkun menjadi
dingin dengan menjual semua barang dari Go-Cart
hingga televisi layar lebar. Beberapa konsumen
berkemah selama berhari-hari di depan toko hanya untuk
mendapatkan diskon terbaik. Tetapi bagi mereka yang
tidak suka menunggu, pakar belanja Trae Bodge
mengatakan Anda bisa belajar lewat online atau yang
disebut sebagai Cyber Monday bahkan sebelum libur
akhir pekan dimulai
N: ―...taun iki peretail iku gak seuntung dulu-dulu...‖
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
3.
4.
5.
2. Analysis: Particular Code called register find in youtube as a learning method to learn
English.
From the video the speakers used bilingualism into three languages Javanese-Indonesian and
English words, which are called register. The explanation of the terms used is as follows:
a. Black Friday: the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States (the fourth
Thursday of November).
b. Thanksgiving: a national holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada
as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year.
c. Retail: is the process of selling consumer goods and/or services to customers through
multiple channels of distribution to earn a profit.
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d. Retail therapy: shopping with the primary purpose of improving the buyer's mood or
disposition.
e. Cyber Monday: is a marketing term for the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday in
the United States. The term "Cyber Monday" was created by marketing companies to
persuade people to shop online.
Conclusion and Suggestion
Conclusion
By learning bilingualism of VOA via YouTube, it can be captured that people have
three things:
1. Vocabularies used in particular topic -holiday shopping season.
2. English spoken by native speakers when they explain and describe the situation happened
in the shopping holiday.
3. It enables viewers to cross cultures. Thus, it can contributes to multiculturalism, and to an
empathy and insight into other cultures, languages and lifestyles.
Suggestion
Knowing another language is also important within countries where there is more than one
prevalent or official language, as in Switzerland, which has four official languages: German,
French, Italian, and Romansh. Moreover, Education in Indonesia recently use English as an
immersion programs in classroom. Thus, students are claimed to learn English as a second
language besides their first language. How important learning two or more languages so that
bilingualism can be called Vehicular Bilingualism, where one language is used for limited or
personal uses. Then there is Comprehensive or Cultural Bilingualism where the language is
used as a means of entry in the full culture (Spolsky, 1976:167).
References
Badib, Abbas A. 2007. Model of Communicative Competence. Surabaya: Surabaya State
University
Baker, C.(2000). A parents‘ and teachers‘ guide to bilingualism. second edition. Clevedon:
Multilingual Matters.
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_______. (2001). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (3rd ed.). Clevedon ;
Buffalo: Multilingual Matters.
Carrol, John B. 1953. The Study of Language. USA: Harvard University Press.
Hammarstrom, Goran & Bjorn Jernudd. 1972. Outline of Linguistics. Australia: Monash
University.
Patrick, Peter L. The Speech Community. UK: University of Essex.
Spolsky, Bernard. 1998. Sociolinguistics. England: Oxford University Press.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/14/us-bilingual-education_n_3079950.html
Accessed on 18th of October 2015.
http://myyearatvoa.tumblr.com/post/25436814512/dunia_kita_behind_the_scene
Accessed on 3rd of November 2015.
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ISBN 978-602-73769-1-5
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