Indonesian Tour Guide's Bilingual Experiences in Malang: A Narrative Inquiry Study

Abstract

`The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of a bilingual Indonesian tour guide in guiding foreigners coming to Malang, Indonesia. More specifically, this study intended to explore the challenges and strategies in learning and applying two languages. Narrative inquiry is employed in this study to examine the participant’s experiences before and after learning and practicing two languages. This study used a qualitative research design in which the data is described in the form of a description. The research instrument was in the form of open-ended interviews. The participant of this research is a senior tour guide who lives in Malang. The findings of this narrative inquiry indicated that less practice could hinder the participant in applying the two languages and hinder the participant from communicating with foreigners. To cope with the challenges, the participant applied communication strategies by self-taught learning and practice. The study suggests it is crucial to always use and practice the languages, especially for native speakers, to master them.
 Keywords: bilingualism, learning strategies, narrative inquiry