Language Politeness in Javanese and Sundanese Border Cultural Landscapes in Elementary School Student Learning

Siti Andini(1), Sudarto Sudarto(2), Ayatullah Ayatullah(3), Hamid Mohamad Farhan(4),


(1) Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Galuh Ciamis, Indonesia
(2) Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Galuh Ciamis, Indonesia
(3) STIT Palapa Nusantara, Indonesia
(4) Faculty of Human Sciences, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia

Abstract

Language politeness plays a crucial role in maintaining harmony and effectiveness of communication, especially for elementary school students in cultural border areas. This study aims to understand the application of language politeness in the elementary education environment in the Java-Sunda border area. This study uses a qualitative method with a descriptive phenomenological approach to describe the phenomenon of language politeness in learning in grade 5 of SD Negeri Waringinsari and SD Negeri Bener. Data were collected through observation and recording of oral speech between students and teachers during the learning process, which were then analyzed using interactive data analysis techniques. The results showed that the principles of language politeness, formulated by Geoffrey Leech, were well applied by teachers and students in classroom interactions. Applying the principles of proverbs, Wisdom, Generosity, Respect, Simplicity, Agreement, and Sympathy proved effective in creating an inclusive and harmonious learning environment. In addition, the use of mixed language between Indonesian and local languages in classroom communication reflects adaptation to the local cultural context, which helps strengthen the emotional connection between teachers and students. Language politeness is important to maintain effective communication, build positive social relationships, and prevent conflicts that may arise due to cultural differences.

Keywords

language politeness, elementary education, border cultural, multicultural communication, inclusive education

Full Text:

PDF

References

Al-Abbas, L. S. (2023). Politeness Strategies Used by Children in Requests in Relation to Age and Gender: A Case Study of Jordanian Elementary School Students. Frontiers in Education, 8.

Alfioda, T., & Manaf, N. A. (2023). Equation of Perceptions of Vocational High School Students Against Politeness of Speech Acts. AIP Conference Proceedings, 2805(1).

Andriyani, A. A. A. D., Ardiantari, I. A. P. G., Santika, I. D. A. D. M., & Nurita, W. (2022). Language Politeness Strategy in Japan-Bali Intermarriage Among Balinese Family. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(3), 134–141.

Birsyada, M. I., Saefudin, A., Wibowo, B. A., & Dzulkurnain, M. I. (2024). Fostering Historical Thinking and Reasoning Through Hybrid Dialogue: Integrating Javanese Philosophy into History Education. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 23(12), 192–215.

Campillo, P. S., Pilar Safont-Jordà, M., & Codina-Espurz, V. (2009). Refusal Strategies: A Proposal from a Sociopragmatic Approach. Revista Espanola de Linguistica Aplicada, 8, 139–150.

Chen, R. (2023). Why Impolite: Politeness, Impoliteness; Other Politeness, Self Politeness. East Asian Pragmatics, 8(1), 1–26.

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (2018). The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research. Sage Publications.

Dzikowska, A., Zar?ba, A., Krzemi?ska, A., & Paw?owski, K. (2023). The Cultural Landscape of Rural Cemeteries on the Polish–Czech Borderlands: Multi-Faceted Visual Analysis as an Element of Tourism Potential Assessment. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(18).

Fahruddin, F., & Saefudin, A. (2025). Primary Sources in Online History Learning: Enhancing Engagement and Retention. Cogent Education, 12(1).

Febriyatko, A., Ambarwati, A., Osman, Z. bin, & Rahmawati, C. D. (2023). Javanese and Sundanese Swear Words in the Film Yowis Ben 2: A Sociopragmatic Study. KEMBARA: Jurnal Keilmuan Bahasa, Sastra, dan Pengajarannya, 9(2), 650–667.

Foolen, A. (2011). Pragmatic Markers in a Sociopragmatic Perspective. In Pragmatics of Society. De Gruyter Mouton.

Giora, R., & Haugh, M. (2017). Doing Pragmatics Interculturally: Cognitive, Philosophical, and Sociopragmatic Perspectives. De Gruyter Mouton.

Hartini, N., Arbi, D. K. A., Tharbe, I. H. A., & Sumari, M. (2023). Written Language Politeness (of Short Messages on Social Media) and Emotional Intelligence: A Study in Indonesia and Malaysia. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 16, 1141–1147.

Haselow, A. (2024). Politeness, Speech Acts and Socio-Cultural Change: The Expression of Gratitude in the History of English. Journal of Historical Pragmatics.

Hieda, N., Jalaluddin, N. H., & Jaafar, M. F. (2022). Declining an Invitation in Social Networks from a Sociopragmatic Perspective. Kemanusiaan, 29(1), 71–96.

House, J., & Kádár, D. Z. (2023). A New Critique of the Binary First- and Second-Order Distinction in Politeness Research. Journal of Pragmatics, 213, 145–158.

Kittaneh, M. (2023). Cultural Landscapes of the Central Mountains of Palestine. GeoJournal, 88(6), 5795–5814.

Leech, G. (2014). Principles of Pragmatics (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Magliacane, A. (2019). Students, Family Members or Workers?: Insights into the Au Pair Experience from a Sociopragmatic Perspective. In Learning Second Language Pragmatics Beyond Traditional Contexts.

Matradewi, N. K. W., Judijanto, L., Anggreni, M. A., & Saefudin, A. (2025). Ethnolinguistic Dimensions of the Korolele Ceremony: Ritual Language for Character Education. Journal of Innovation in Educational and Cultural Research, 6(1), 25–32.

Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.

Mudiono, A. (2022). Teaching Language Politeness Through Social Media for the Elementary School Students. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(3), 32–44.

Mughal, M. A. Z. (2023). Landscape, Space, and Time: Navigating the Cultural Landscape Through Socio-Spatial and Socio-Temporal Organization in Rural Pakistan. GeoJournal, 88(6), 6175–6187.

Pan, M., Guo, H., Zhou, Q., & Xie, J. (2023). The Interactive Process of Cultural Landscape: Taking the Trails Around Zhengqi Pavilion as an Example. Frontiers of Architectural Research, 12(6), 1195–1211.

Putri, F. A., & Nugraheni, A. S. (2020). Sociolek Review on Speech Level Javanese Sundanese Language in Indonesia. International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research, 9(4), 3322–3326.

Putri, S. D. A., Ibrohim, M. O., & Budi, I. (2021). Abusive Language and Hate Speech Detection for Javanese and Sundanese Languages in Tweets: Dataset and Preliminary Study. 2021 11th International Workshop on Computer Science and Engineering, WCSE 2021, 461–465.

Rasna, I. W., Suandi, I. N., Putrayasa, I. B., & Paramarta, K. (2024). Directive Speech Act Politeness in a Pediksaan Ritual: A Sociopragmatic Study. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 15(2), 644–653.

Rivai, M., Yusri, Y., Rivai, A. T. O., & Anwar, M. (2021). Teachers' Language Politeness, Students' Academic Motivation and Self-Efficacy During School from Home. Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences, 16(5), 2161–2172.

Riyadi, S., Darwis, M., Judijanto, L., Nicolas, D. G., & Saefudin, A. (2023). Effective Promotion Strategy of Integrated Islamic Education Institutions in Modern Society. Qalamuna - Jurnal Pendidikan, Sosial, dan Agama, 15(1), 667–676.

Riyanto, S., Prayitno, H. J., Fauzan, Huda, M., & Yuniawan, T. (2023). The Application of Moderate Politeness into School Practices of an Urban Muhammadiyah Primary Students in the Era of Global Communication. International Journal of Language Education, 7(4), 729–747.

Saefudin, A. (2025). Shaping Future History Teachers: Evaluating Historical Thinking Skills and Learning Innovations. International Research Journal of Multidisciplinary Scope, 6(1), 663–674.

Saefudin, A., Santyaningtyas, A. C., Lubis, A. F., & Mokodenseho, S. (2023). History, Cultural Shifts, and Adaptation in Social Change: An Ethnographic Study in the Aboge Islamic Community. Journal of Innovation in Educational and Cultural Research, 4(2), 303–310.

Saefudin, A., Wasino, Susanto, & Musadad, A. A. (2023). "The Netherlands in Indonesia, 1945-49": An Analysis of Argument Narrative Structure in Indonesian History Textbook. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 13(7), 1721–1729.

Sulistianingsih., Putra, J. M., Yusron, A., Saefudin, A., Harini, H., & Saddhono, K. (2022). The Role of School Autonomy in Promoting Collaboration and Competition Among Schools. Qalamuna - Jurnal Pendidikan, Sosial, dan Agama, 14(2), 433–446.

Sultan, I., & Manaf, N. A. (2023). Perceptions Politeness of Speech Acts of Indonesian Language Directives in the Multiethnic Context of High School Students in the City of Padang. AIP Conference Proceedings, 2805(1).

Susandi, A., Zamzani, Prabowo, M., & Yulianto, B. (2024). Portrait of Students' Language Politeness in Elementary School. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education, 13(1), 141–150.

Taib, R., Wardana, M. K., Safhida, M., Nurrahmah, & Subhayni. (2024). Exploring the Intricacies of Politeness and Impoliteness in Acehnese Speech Variations. Studies in English Language and Education, 11(2), 1153–1170.

Utomo, S. S., Ande, A., & Saefudin, A. (2024). Preserving Local Cultural Heritage in the Era of Globalisation: Reflections of the Barkcloth Tradition. International Research Journal of Multidisciplinary Scope, 5(3), 504–513.

Vlasenko, O., & Maistruk, V. (2023). Linguistic Strategies for Professional Politeness Among Aspiring Managers: An Analysis of Organizational Psycholinguistics. East European Journal of Psycholinguistics, 10(1), 266–280.

Wagner, L. (2023). "Smelling" Diasporic: Bargaining Interactions and the Problem of Politeness. Applied Linguistics Review, 14(5), 1085–1107.

Wati, S. (2023). Analyzing Language Attitude of Javanese and Sundanese Urban Community on English Language Pedagogy, in Indonesia. Qubahan Academic Journal, 3(4), 298–305.

Wildan, M., Indrariani, E. A., Damayanti, W., Suparno, D., & Ilhamudin. (2024). Maxim of Politeness to Improve Language Principles: Case Study on Mata Najwa Trans 7 Talk Show Program. World Journal of English Language, 14(4), 114–121.

Yin, R. K. (2016). Qualitative Research from Start to Finish (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.

Yusri, Y., Mantasiah, R., & Anwar, M. (2024). Assessing Language Impoliteness of Primary School Teachers in Indonesia. Asian Education and Development Studies, 13(1), 1–13.

Zhang, P., & Li, S. (2024). Associative Cultural Landscape Approach to Interpreting Traditional Ecological Wisdom: A Case of Inuit Habitat. Frontiers of Architectural Research, 13(1), 79–96.

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


View My Stats