DOES THE SPOKEN LANGUAGE HELP OR HINDER THE SPELLING IN THE SECOND LANGUAGE? A CASE OF INDONESIAN AND ACEHNESE LANGUAGE

The general purpose of this study was to examine the spelling of five phonemes that are similar in Acehnese and Indonesian but represented by different graphemes in the two languages. This study aimed to see whether the exposure to the spoken Acehnese the participants? received helps or hinders their spelling in the Acehnese words. The Indonesian language is the national language of Indonesia while the Acehnese language is a regional language spoken by the people in a province named Aceh which is located in the northwestern tip of Sumatra Island, Indonesia. In Aceh, the majority of the population is bilingual in Indonesian and Acehnese. In the school system, Indonesian is taught as the first language. Acehnese is taught as a second language in elementary and junior high schools. Meanwhile, some children in Aceh speak Acehnese at home while other children speak Indonesian at home. Therefore, this study hypothesized that the children who speak Acehnese at home spell better in Acehnese compared to the children who do not speak Indonesian at home. To test the hypothesis, this study analyzed the 50 Acehnese words that include five targeted Acehnese graphemes. The participants of this study were students in grade 4 who were enrolled in four elementary schools in Aceh, Indonesia. The results of this study indicate that the exposure to spoken Acehnese interferes with the participants? spellings in Acehnese words. On the other hand, exposure to the written Acehnese the students received in school influenced the students to spell better in Acehnese.