LANGUAGE ATTITUDE TOWARDS FOOD: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDY

BETWEEN URBAN AND SUBURBAN SOCIETY IN LUBUKLINGGAU

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL BY

SANDY WAHYU WIJAYA

Student’s Registration Number 2114050

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

LANGUAGE AND ART EDUCATION DEPATMENT
INSTITUTE TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
TEACHER ASSOCIATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
(STKIP-PGRI) LUBUKLINGGAU
2018
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Human has basic needs; among the basic human needs is food. Food is more

than a nutrient. We experience food through all five senses, smell, touch, hearing, taste,

and sight (Szatrowski, 2014, P. 5). They need food to provides nutrients, whoever they

are, from where its origin, in good health, illness, old and young. Therefore, food is a

basic need that must be fulfilled. (Kittler, Sucher, and Nelms 2012) coined the term

food habits (also known as food culture or food ways) to describe the manner in which

humans use food, including everything from how it is chosen, acquired, and distributed

to who prepares, serves, and eats it. Food refers to an exploration of culture through

food. What humans consume, how obtain it, who prepares it, who is at the table, and

who eats first is a form of communication that is rich with meaning. Beyond merely

nourishing the body, what humans eat and with whom humans eat can inspire and

strengthen the bonds between individuals, communities, origins and even countries.

There is no closer relationship than the one with the family, and food plays an important

role in defining family traditions, rules and roles. It helps people to discover attitudes,

practices, and rituals surrounding food, it sheds light on people most basic beliefs about

themselves and others. Food becomes the determinant of human live and cannot be

separated because food is one of cultural works of society.

The subject of food has been widely studied within the fields of anthropology,

sociology and also cultural studies. Food studies is an emerging interdisciplinary field
of study that examines the complex relationships among food, culture, and society from

numerous disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences (Almerico, 2014).

It has not, however, been much addressed in communication studies. When someone

thinks of or mentions food, the first thing that usually comes to mind is: where does it

come from, who does make it, how does it taste, and what is the story behind it? Giving

the answers to these questions, people usually refer to the cultural context. The term

culture refers to the set of values, knowledge, language, rituals, habits, lifestyles,

attitudes, beliefs, folklore, rules and customs that identify a particular group of people at

a specific point in time.

According to Chang (2008), people who have the same cultural identity share

the same food habit, while people of different culture share different assemblages of

food variable. For instance, in many Javanese dishes raw vegetables are still widely

used, for example urap, lalapan and karedok. On the other hand, the typical of culinary

of Sumatra, the cuisine of vegetables are not many in number. Even if there is, the uses

of vegetables do not vary. Many of the culinary of Sumatera is made from meat. It

means different cultures have different food variables and food choice. Moreover,

different culture has different names for their food which involves the use of languages.

The relationship between language, culture and food is a complex and intimate one.

Language, the food which human eat and culture have a great significance in the human

society. The society is divided into two groups of regions namely urban and suburban.

Generally, Urban society is a society that is typical of modern industrial

civilization and heterogeneous in cultural tradition, the emphasizes secular values and

that is individualized rather than integrated-contrasted with folk society. Urban society
has glamour and luxury lifestyle. They are very luxuriously in living, clothing, things

and also food. Society of urban likes fast food or instant food because of their activity

and there is no time to cook. Unlike suburban society who living in the suburb, but they

make living in big city areas. Suburban society is simpler than urban society in living,

clothing, things and food.

Nowadays, Lubuklinggau has many place to eat like, cafe, restaurant which

provides of padang, javanese, west, arabic, modern and traditional food. There are many

kinds of a place to eat from low to the high class in lubuklinggau. Ussualy, the high

class of place to eat, they use other languages like English, Arabic, Korea or combine

Indonesian language and foreign languages. On the other hand, the low class of a place

to eat, they usually use a unique name for the food for example, ceker jontor, bakso

molotov and others. Urban and suburban society have its own distinct and diverse

attitude toward the entry of foreign culture and language.

Referring to the attitude of language in bilingual or multilingual society in

Lubuklinggau. There are negative impact for the development of regional language, in

fact the regional language has been abandoned by the young native speaker. “Col” as

native language of Lubuklinggau will also be abandoned by young native speaker

because there is no official document about the “Col” language. Moreover, Indonesian

language and foreign language more often used in society.

The study of language attitudes is important for sociolinguistics because it can

predict a given linguistic behavior members of a given social group in terms of their use

linguistic varieties in bilingual and dialectal situations: the choice of particular language
in multilingual communities, language loyalty, language prestige. The basis of attitudes

measurement is that are underlying dimensions along which individual attitudes can be

ranged. (Romaine at Melander, 2003: 2)

Based on the description above, the writer will conduct the research in society

about the phenomenon of the language, especially language attitude towards food in

lubuklinggau. “Language Attitude towards Food: a Sociolinguistic Study between

Urban and Suburban Society in Lubuklinggau”.

B. Formulation of the Problem

Based on the background above, the writer formulated the problem by making

the research questions below:

1. How are the attitudes of urban society towards food in Lubuklinggau?

2. How are the attitudes of suburban society towards food in Lubuklinggau?

3. How are difference attitude towards the food between urban and suburban area of

Lubuklinggau society?

C. Objectives of the Study

Related of the problem, the objective of the study follows:

1. To identify the attitude of urban society towards food in Lubuklinggau.

2. To identify the attitude of suburban society towards food in Lubuklinggau.

3. To describe the difference attitude towards the food between urban and suburb area

of Lubuklinggau society.
D. Scope of the Study

The writer focus in analyzing the attitude towards food based on the background

of the residence, especially urban and suburban society in Lubuklinggau.

E. Significances of the Study

1. For the Students

The study can help the students in sociolinguistics class especially in analyzing

language attitude in society.

2. For the Lecturer

The study will give information and provide additional knowledge about

language attitude which can be used by the lecturers in teaching language attitude in

sociolinguistics class.

3. For the Writer

The study is very significant and useful. It will give some valuable experiences

and it can be used for the preparation of the writer as a candidate of teacher.

4. For the Other Researchers

This study provides reference and contribution for other researchers who are

interest in doing further research in this area.

F. Operational Definitions

For more understand of this study, it is provided several definition key term.
1. Language

Language is the key of human life in this world, because of language people can

interact with each other and language plays important role in social life. People can

understand the purposes of other people by language.

2. Language Attitude

Language attitude is the behavior or action undertaken based on view as a

reaction to the existence of the phenomenon against the use of language by speaker the

language.

3. Food

Food is basic human need that is needed at all times. It requires a good and

proper management to be beneficial to the human body. Food provides nutrients that

human need, whoever they are, from where its origin, in good health, illness, old and

young. Therefore, food is a basic need that must be fullfiled.

4. Sociolinguistics

Sociolinguistics is linguistic interdisciplinary study that engages language as

object of its study with the social fabric of society. Because the nature of the language

is unique and varied, each region has its own language and diverse. In social

environment, individuals and community have their own characteristics in conveying

their language.

5. Urban Society
 Urban society is the society who living in urban area that metropolise

characterized by modern civilization with information technology as central mechanism

for business, mobilization and communication.

6. Suburban Society

Suburban society is people who own home and live in the suburbs but they make

a living in urban area.

7. Lubuklinggau

Lubuklinggau is a city located in South of Sumatera. It covers 8 districts and 74

urban villages. In Lubuklinggau consists of many language, religions, tribes, cultures,

customs and others.

 CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW

A. Language and Attitude

Language is the primary means of human communication. It is a powerful social

force that does more than convey intended referential information. It also indicates both

personal and social characteristics of the speaker. Depending on the particular listener, a

speaker’s accent, speech patterns, vocabulary, intonation etc. can serve as market for

evaluating that speaker’s appearance, personality, social status and character, among

other things. Obiols defines attitudes as a “mental disposition towards something”, it

acts as a bridge between opinion and behavior (Milnder, 2013: 2).

Drawing from the previous chapter, a definition of language attitudes is

offered in the next one. Further, language attitudes literature is reviewed in two

sections with different approaches. The first part attempts to identify the main research

paradigms and then use them to organize various language attitudes studies. The second

part presents the studies conducted in the multilingual context of Spain and

Catalonia, focusing on the significantly influential variables examined in these

studies.

1. Language Attitudes

People pondered on the role and meaning of language since the beginnings

of civilizations (Huguet & Madariaga, 2005). Language permeates all aspects of our

lives and, thus, a definition of language is always, implicitly or explicitly, a

definition of human beings in the world (Williams at Lanos, 2014: 127).

 Language represents primarily a method of communicating ideas, emotions and

desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. However, language transmits

more than just the intended information; it also carries social meanings and it

contains social markers of identity, group, and social class membership (Garrett,

2010).

Language is a powerful social force (Cargile at Lanos 2014: 27), and,

consequently, language attitudes have repercussions at societal, institutional,

interpersonal and individual levels, influencing perception and decision-making (Giles

& Billings, 2004). Garrett (2010) defined language attitudes based on the general

attitude definition provided by Sarnoff (1970), who stated that an attitude is a

disposition to react favorably or unfavorably to a class of objects. He concluded that an

attitude is an evaluative orientation to a social object of some sort, whether it is a

language, or a new government policy, etc. (Garrett, 2010: 20). In other words,

language attitudes are distinguished from other attitudes through their object (Fasold,

1984). Therefore, language can be considered an object being seen as favorable or

unfavorable‖ (Baker, 1992: 11). Subsequently, language attitudes reflect tendencies to

evaluate languages favorably or unfavorably.

Due to the strong association between language and community

membership, the conceptualization of language attitudes is often extended to

include attitudes toward speakers (Lasagabaster, 2003). Baker (1992) underlined that

the term language attitude has been used as an umbrella concept‖ that has stood for:

a. Attitude toward language;

b. Attitude toward language variety or dialect;

 c. Attitude toward speakers of a specific language or variety;

d. Attitude toward language learning;

e. Attitude toward the learning situation;

f. Attitude toward language related behaviors, such as language use, language

maintenance, planning behaviors, etc.

Therefore, different language related objects were explored as representatives of

language attitudes. However, there could be various possible relations among the

attitudes toward these diverse objects. These attitudes might be identical, strongly

correlated, might overlap to a certain extent or might not even be associated. There

could be cases when a favorable attitude toward a language coexists with an

unfavorable attitude toward its speakers or vice-versa. One can positively value a

language, but hold a negative attitude toward learning it, or, on the contrary, one

may hold a negative attitude toward a language, but consider that learning that

language is important.

Presuming that the attitudes toward different language objects represent

facets of the same construct could lead to loss of data. By equating attitudes toward

different objects, the image of attitudinal patterns in a certain context results

poorer in details and diminished in quality. Instead of obtaining a high-resolution

picture of the possible intricate interrelations among attitudes toward various language

related objects, as well as in relation with other variables, the result ends up being only

a black and white schema of language attitudes.

 To argument this position and to support the relevance of the differences

between language attitude objects we would like to remind the reader about the

distinction between attitude toward a target and attitude toward behavior, significant

especially with regard to the attitude-behavior relationship (Crano et al., 2010).

Accordingly, language related objects can be grouped in targets, which include

languages, language varieties, speakers, and learning situations, for example, and

behaviors, which comprise language learning, use, and maintenance.

Language attitudes can vary along this dimension of specificity from more

general attitudes (e.g., attitudes toward foreign languages, attitudes toward English,

attitudes toward Catalan) to specific attitudes (e.g., attitudes toward learning

English, attitudes toward the class of Catalan, attitudes toward the teacher of

French). When examining attitudes‘ role in the language learning process,

relatively specific attitudes toward behavior, as attitudes toward learning a

particular language (e.g., attitudes toward learning English), will probably have a

different predictive power and will relate in a different manner than more general

attitudes toward a target, such as attitudes toward a specific language in general (e.g.,

attitudes toward English).

Taking into account that language attitudes are another type of attitudes

distinguished by their objects (Garrett, 2010) and that the differences between these

objects are important to understand more complex processes, as language

acquisition or social integration, we consider language attitudes to be a supra-

ordinate category that encompasses all language related attitudes. Furthermore,

language attitudes are hypothetical constructs of evaluative nature that are learnt
through experience. They have a certain degree of stability, which allows their

identification, but can also change.

2. Language Attitudes Change

One of the main assumptions about attitudes regards their ability to

change, which is reflected by the fact that one of the most active areas of research is

the one dedicated to attitude change. The interest for attitude change is likely explained

by the role it can play in altering behavior. Being intrinsically connected with language

decay, maintenance, or restoration, language attitude change has often been implied

implicitly or explicitly by language policies. Examples of language attitude change

at societal level can be found in Wales and in Catalonia (Lanos, 2014: 131), as in

both cases the attitudes toward the minority languages as languages of instrumental

value and teaching mediums have successfully improved.

At individual level, language attitudes can change as a result of individual

needs and motives and social situations. Drawing from social psychological

attitude theory, language attitude change can be influenced by motivation, values,

ideologies, identities, and behaviors. Significant events, such as violence, mass

protests, guerrilla activity, government imposed policies, can also lead to attitude

change (Baker, 1992). Further, attitude properties, such as strength and

accessibility, moderate attitude change and its magnitude. In situations of language

contact, where different speech communities coexist, the relationships between

social groups play a vital role in language attitude change. Baker (1992) described

several conditions that may foster language attitude change. First, community
integration may promote attitude change, especially for those who plan to settle in

the respective community.

Second, contact between communities, accomplished through common goals,

cultural activities, sports, religion, hobbies and interests, also enhances the chances

of language attitude change. This change is more likely the closer the

relationships between groups are.

Additionally, a marketing of the language, encouraging individuals outside

the speech community to use the language, instead of guarding it as special

attribute of the group may be useful in promoting attitude change, encouraging

individuals outside the speech community to use.

Further, a supportive political, cultural, economic environment that provides

the necessary conditions for contact and intimacy between groups to occur may

also help change language attitudes.

Finally yet importantly, change is more likely to occur when felt to be

voluntary, achieved through informing and consulting.

B. Language and Food Communities

Food communities are the nodes of the international Terra Madre network. The

term “food community” refers to a group of people who carry out an active role in their

local food system. Food communities share the problems generated by an intensive

agriculture that harms natural resources and a food industry and a distribution model

that aim at standardizing tastes and threaten the existence of small-scale production.

They represent a valid alternative to these flawed systems.

 Communities can be made up of farmers, fishers, herders, animal breeders,

bakers, butchers, cooks, educators, teachers, students, journalists, experts, co-producers,

local retailers, etc. The community might be producing food on a small scale, following

artisanal methods and criteria inspired by the good, clean and fair principles, or it might

be working to construct more sustainable models for food production, distribution and

consumption.

C. Urban and Suburban

Communities are alike and different in many ways. Communities are made up of

neighborhoods, or places where people live and work together. Some communities have

different neighborhoods crowded into small areas. Each community uses land

differently and creates neighborhoods for the people living there. There are three types

of communities. They are urban and suburban (Scott, 2010: 5). Urban communities

have a city. A city is a very large community with many different neighborhoods close

together. Urban neighborhoods are crowded and have many buildings. Some urban

neighborhoods have their own identity, such as Chinatown or Little Italy. Other urban

neighborhoods have many businesses. People usually live in apartment buildings in

urban neighborhoods According to Faus (2013: 7) urban communities bring many

different types of cultures together. In urban communities, neighborhoods are very

crowded and busy. There are many stores and restaurants in urban neighborhoods.

People shop near their apartments and can sometimes walk to the market to buy food.

Urban communities also have many cultural centers and parks. People can visit

museums and libraries. In urban communities (Thomas, 2008: 14), people move quickly

from place to place. Many people use public transportation. People take buses or
subways to travel to places in the city. In urban neighborhoods many people walk and

may not drive a car. Their neighborhoods are too crowded for parking spaces. Driving

in the city can be slow because there is a lot of traffic.

Suburbs are communities near cities. They have houses for families to live in.

Many people who work in the city live in the suburbs. A suburb is sometimes called a

town. A suburb usually has a town center with places to shop. There may be many

neighborhoods around the town center. In suburban communities (Scott, 2010: 7),

people live in neighborhoods with many houses near each other. They can walk to their

neighbor’s house for a visit. Their houses usually have trees and yards around them.

Some families plant flowers or vegetable gardens. There is land to grow all kinds of

things. According to Thomas (2013: 17) in suburban communities the town center may

be a meeting place for people. People usually walk or drive a short distance to the town

center. People go to town to shop. There may be a market, small shops, and a few

restaurants.

Families and friends meet to spend time together. There are also shopping malls

near the suburbs. The shopping malls have many types of stores. People go to shopping

malls to buy things they cannot find in town. In suburban communities many people use

cars for transportation. Streets in suburban communities have less traffic than city

streets, so it is easier to drive from place to place. Other people ride bicycles or walk.

There are also buses in suburban communities, but there are usually fewer buses than in

urban communities. Suburbs have many buses in the morning and late afternoon. People

use these buses to get to work and school. Many people in suburbs live far from where
they work. Many people work in a city near their town. Many towns have train stations.

People take the trains to the city.

Communities are the same in many ways. Some have neighborhoods with

people and families. People live, work, and travel in communities. People are often

connected to one another in their communities. Communities are different in many

ways. Communities use land differently for neighborhoods. Some communities have

neighborhoods with many people. Some communities have neighborhoods with people

living near each other and working in other communities.

D. Lubuklinggau

Lubuklinggau is a city located in the western most part of the province or South

Sumatera. Lubuk Linggau is located between 102◦ 40’ 00” - 103◦ 0’00” East Longitude

(B) and 3◦ 4’10” - 3◦ 22’ 30” Latitude South (LS). Lubuklinggau in expansion city of

Musirawas regency which was inaugurated on 17 August 2001 through rule no 7 of

2001. Lubuklinggau is one of the most western district-level towns in the province of

South Sumatra. Lubuklinggau is located between 102◦ 40’ 00” - 103◦ 0’00” East

Longitude (B) and 3◦ 4’10” - 3◦ 22’ 30” Latitude South (LS). Based on Law no. 7 of

2001 C is 401, 50 km2 or 40, 150 ha and is at an altitude of 129 meters above sea level.

The region consist eight sub-district (lubuklinggaukota.go.id). the population in 2014

reached 216,270 people (lubuklinggaukota.bps.go.id)

Lubuklinggau as a city with a main route as a road passing traffic from west to

east as well as opposite consists of people with diverse ethnic, cultural and linguistic.

The original language of Lubuklinggau is Col language (Shak, 2016). While the use of

Col language itself has weakened with the occurrence of cultural acculturation as well
as the influence of outside culture that comes from the media such as internet and

television (hariansilampari.co.id). But the government’s wise efforts to maintain Col

language. One of the way is make Col as subject at school

(Palembang.tribunnews.com).
 References

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identity. Journal of International Bussiness and Cultural studies, 8, 1-7.

Badan Pusat Stastika Kota Lubuklinggau (n.d.). Retieved from

https://lubuklinggaukota.bps.go.id

Kittler, P.G., Sucher, K.P., & Nel, M.N. (2012). Food and culture (6th ed.). Belmont,

CA: Wadsworth.

Pemkot Lubuklinggau (n.d.). Retieved from www.lubuklinggaukota.go.id

Szatrowski, P.E. (2014). Language and Food: verbal and non-verbal experience.

Philladelphia: John Benjamin Publishing Company.