Venanda Putri Utami – 181010650063 – 05SIGM001

Mother tongue and regional cultural development

As we know, there are more than 700 regional languages in Indonesia. Regional languages
can also be a home when we go abroad. Our meeting with the local community and then
talking in the local language will certainly add to the warmth of the meeting.

Culture is a set of rules or norms that are shared by members of the community, which, if
implemented by its members, produce behavior that is considered appropriate and acceptable
by all members of the community (Haviland, 1999: 333). Thus, culture consists of values,
beliefs, and abstract perceptions of the universe that lie behind, and which are reflected in
human behavior. These are the common property of the members of society, and if people act
accordingly, their behavior is considered acceptable in society.

The question is why culture should exist? People maintain culture to deal with problems and
problems encountered. To be sustainable, culture must be able to meet the basic needs of
people who live according to its rules, must maintain their own survival, and arrange for
members of society to live in an orderly manner. In this case, culture must find a balance
between the personal interests of each person and the needs of society as a whole. Therefore,
culture must have the ability to change in order to adapt to new conditions or change its
perception of existing conditions. The question is, how is the (regional) culture built through
the mother tongue? In other words, how does the mother tongue play a role in building
regional culture?

By using language, as defined by Edward Sapir (1949:8) as a purely human method of

conveying ideas, emotions, and desires using a voluntary system of symbols, humans can
pass on culture from one generation to another. In other words, culture is learned and
inherited through language, not biologically inherited.

The use of the mother tongue (regional) as the language of instruction at the initial level in
elementary school is related to the development and development of the language itself.
Mu‟adz (1998) mentions that by using the mother tongue (regional) as the language of
instruction, it is possible for the regional language to avoid extinction. Various vocabularies
related to concepts and terminology in foreign languages will be adopted into the regional
language and at the same time will enrich the vocabulary in the regional language itself.

The conclusion is that the preservation of the mother tongue is an effort to maintain the
language treasures in the archipelago. Mother tongue as one part of the wealth of the
Indonesian language must be maintained from an early age, especially at the elementary
school level. If elementary school children lose their native language, it will uproot their own
culture and character. Language impairment in children is clear evidence that maintaining the
mother tongue is very important. In addition to strengthening mother tongue in language
learning, it can also be done through cultural diversity, maintenance of ethnic identity, social
adaptability, increasing a sense of security for children and increasing linguistic sensitivity. In
addition, family support, language environment at school, language celebration and mass
media support are needed as a form of public language.
Venanda Putri Utami – 181010650063 – 05SIGM001

References :
Haviland, William A. 1999. Antropologi. Edisi Keempat, Jilid I. Jakarta: Penerbit Erlangga.
Sapir, Edward. 1949. Language. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Mu‟adz, M. Husni. 1998. “Bahasa Daerah sebagai Bahasa Pengantar dan sebagai Mata
Pelajaran dalam Sistem Pendidikan”. Makalah pada Kongres Bahasa Indonesia VII, tanggal
26-30 Oktober 1998, di Jakarta.