Early Language Exposure for Better Acquisition of English in Indonesia: A Narrative Study

Abstract

Being proficient in English is a necessity in this globalized era. However, people in many countries are still struggling hard to achieve adequate mastery of English, including Indonesia. While most Indonesian people have low proficiency in English, even those having majored in it at university, there are people who managed to master the language very well despite not having an English education background. This paper aims to uncover the strategies and life experiences of a competent English user with such a phenomenon. The data of this study were collected using phenomenological interviews with a purposedly selected participant. The data were then analyzed using the narrative qualitative data analysis as proposed by Miles et al. (2014). The findings indicate that acquisition of a foreign language can be optimized through early contextual and meaningful use of the language in one's familial contexts, ample and continuous exposure to English based on one's interests from an early age. These findings can be used as a basis for designing programs to improve and accelerate the acquisition of English at the family and institutional levels.