Open AccessBreaking the Secrets behind the Polyglots: How Do They Acquire Many Languages?
Author(s) -
Alfian Alfian,
Zainal Rafli,
Nuruddin Nuruddin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the qualitative report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2160-3715
DOI - 10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3730
Subject(s) - foreign language , institution , language acquisition , indonesian , informal learning , psychology , formal learning , pedagogy , computer science , linguistics , mathematics education , sociology , social science , philosophy
In this study, participants acquired three types of language, those are regional, national and foreign ones. The purpose of this research was to explore how Indonesian polyglots acquire several different languages. We collected data through demographic questionnaires and semi-structured interviews obtained from nine participants. Four salient themes and sub-themes that emerged in this research were (a) mastering languages through instructed learning (learning in formal educational institution and learning in informal educational institution), (b) gaining extra amounts of languages input beyond the classroom (getting more access to a national language environment and getting more access to foreign languages environment), (c) learning languages autonomously (self-directed learning through printed resources and self-directed learning through media and technology), and (d) acculturating with a new language group in society. The findings indicated that the polyglots acquired several different languages through a natural process, a learning process, and a mixture of both naturalistic as well as instructed experiences.