The Comparison between Native Speakers of Indonesian and BIPA Learners in Producing Email Requests

Abstract

This study examined a comparison between Native Speakers (NS) of Indonesian and Indonesian language as a foreign language (Bahasa Indonesia untuk Penutur Asing - BIPA) learners in making email requests. In particular, this study analysed the different aspects of pragmatics of variations in structure and politeness in emails. This study involved nine NS of Indonesian who were studying master’s level programs at the University of Melbourne, and eighteen BIPA learners who took the subject Indonesian 4 in Semester 2, 2018 at the University of Melbourne. Participants wrote an email request based on a given scenario, which was requesting leave in the context of a workplace in Indonesia. The data were obtained by providing participants a description of the scenario, which prompted them to write an email request asking permission to take time off work. However, participants had freedom in terms of the style and structure of the email. In general, this study aimed to examine how their pragmatics varies, especially in terms of structure and politeness.

Web-Based Design of BIPA Placement Test Instrument for Foreign Speakers

“…In Indonesia, several studies have developed a BIPA test prototype, but no research has developed a BIPA placement test. Examples of BIPA tests that have been developed include the web-based UKBI test for foreigners, namely the test adapted from the UKBI test administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, Republic of Indonesia (Oktriono, 2019); prototype of an Indonesian reading test for foreign students ; reading comprehension test for foreign speakers (Prasetiyo, 2019); and a BIPA competency test based on a communicative approach (Rahmawati, 2019). Therein lies the novelty of this research.…”

“…Indonesia, on the other hand, has developed the UKBI tests for foreign-language speakers. The prototype of this test consisted of reading and comprehension tests that were developed by the Language Development and Fostering Agency based on the competency standards for BIPA graduates (Oktriono, 2019;Prasetiyo, 2019); Rahmawati, 2019a). The four prototypes of the test are not intended to be used as BIPA placement tests.…”