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A Comparative Study of English and Indonesian:

The Personal Pronouns

Mansyur Bennu

A. Introduction

Everyone encounters difficulties in learning a foreign language. My personal

experience has shown the truth of this statement. In an upgrading course in

Makassar, a participant (mandarese) asked permission (from pak Jasman, another

facilitator ) to come a bit late the next day. I eavesdropped her saying, “ marakkea ri

pak Mansyur” (saya takut sama pak Mansyur). Overlapping, I said, “ andiang ki

marakke’ ” (jangan Anda takut).Pak Jasman corrected me by saying, “ da: marake’ “.

In this conversation, I made mistake because I only know that ‘andiang’ means

‘don’t’, and ‘marakke’ ‘ means ‘afraid’. In fact, in Mandarese, ‘andiang’ becomes ‘da:

’for this particular purpose.

Another tangible example is that when a language advisor of PKG, short for

Pemantapan Kerja Guru (Threngthening teachers’ work), tried to use Indonesian and

said, “ apa namamu?” instead of “siapa namamu?” because he learnt from a

bilingual dictionary that the equivalent of ‘what’ is ‘apa’.

The two problems faced by foreign language learners exemplified above are in

line with the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH). CAH claims that the principle

barrier to second language acquisition is the interference of the first language

system with the second language system, and that a scientific, structural analysis of

the two languages in question would yield a taxonomy of linguistic contrasts between

them which in turn would enable the linguist to predict the difficulties a learner would

encounter (Brown, 2000: 207-208). Furthermore, Lado (1957:59) confirms the CHA’s

claim when saying: “…, and since the learner tends to transfer the habits of his

native language structure to the foreign language, we have here the major source of

difficulty or ease in learning the structure of a foreign language. Those structures that

are similar will be easy to learn because they will be transferred and may function

satisfactorily in the foreign language. Those structures that are different will be

difficult because when transferred they will not function satisfactorily in the foreign

language and will therefore have to be changed.”

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No doubt therefore that learners of English, whose native language is Indonesian,

will face difficulties in their endeavors.

Being stimulated by this phenomenon, I would like to critically study the

similarities and differences between English and Indonesian personal pronouns,

based on which, I would predict the potential problems or difficulties that learners of

English will encounter.

B. Theoretical Review

Despite the criticism of the strong form of CAH ( Wardhaugh, 1970; Eckman,

1977; Oller and Ziahosseiny, 1970), in Brown (2000: 211-212), I believe that until

now CAH is a fruitful technique of uncovering the difficulties faced by foreign

language learners. A similar theory called ‘weak version of CAH’ under the label

‘cross-linguistic influence (CLI), suggests that we all recognize the significant role

that prior experience plays in any learning act, and that the influence of the native

language as prior experience must not be overlooked. According to this theory, the

difference between today’s emphasis on influence, rather than prediction, is an

important one (Wardhaugh, in Brown,2000). The problem with the weak version of

CAH is that not many teachers can do the analysis of today’s difficulties faced by

students.

Thus, in this section, definitions of pronoun and personal pronoun; procedures in

comparing two grammatical structures; and hierarchy of difficulty will be discussed.

1. Definitions of pronoun and personal pronoun

According to Kierzek & Gibson in their book entitled The Macmillan Handbook of

English (1959), a pronoun is usually defined as a word that takes the place of a

noun. However, they point out that certain pronouns, such as none, nobody,

anything and impersonal it, do not take the place of any noun but are words more or

less arbitrarily classified by grammarians and lexicographers as pronouns.

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Another definition of pronoun is: a pronoun is a word that is used to replace a

noun or a noun group that has already been mentioned or that will be mentioned

later (Sinclair, 1989: 1150).

Personal pronouns refer to the people who are involved in conversation (Sinclair,

1989: 1070).

A very simple definition of personal pronoun offered by Alwi et al. (1999):

pronominal persona adalah pronominal yang dipakai untuk mengacu pada orang.

From the above definitions, we can infer that a personal pronoun is a word that

replace a noun or noun group – person, or not person.

2. Procedures in comparing two grammatical structures

Lado in Robinett, B. W. & Schachter, J. (Ed.), (1996: 16-17) points out three stages

in comparing two languages.

• First step: Locate the best structural description of the languages involved.

Both descriptions should contain the form, meaning, and distribution of the

structures.

• Second step: Summarize in compact outline from all the structures. If English

is one of the languages involved, we would describe the sentence types in it

as questions, statements, requests.

• Third step: Actual comparison of the two language structures, pattern by

pattern.

Similarly, Whitman (1970) cited in Brown (1980) noted that contrastive involved

four different procedures. The first of these is description: the linguist or language

teacher, using the tools of formal grammar, explicitly describes the two languages in

question. Second, a selection is made of certain forms- linguistic items, rules,

structures- for contrast, since it is virtually impossible to contrast every possible facet

of two languages. The third procedure is the contrast itself, the mapping of one

linguistic system onto the other, and a specification of the relationship of one system

to the other which, like selection, rests on the validity of one’s reference points.

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Finally, one formulates a prediction of errors or of difficulty on the basis of the first

three procedures.

If we compare the two procedures of contrast analysis above, the only difference

is that the latter has a fourth step, that is prediction of errors or difficulty that learners

will encounter. For the purpose of comparing English and Indonesian personal

pronouns, the latter is preferable to the former, since the ultimate aim of the research

is to predict the difficulties that learners of English, whose native language is

Indonesian, will encounter.

3. Hierarchy of Difficulty

In order to remove some of the subjectivity involved, attempts have been made to

formalize the prediction stage of contrastive analysis. The best attempt, according to

Brown (1980), was made by Stockwell et.al. (1965), who proposed what they called

hierarchy of difficulty by which a teacher or linguist can make a prediction of the

relative difficulty of a given aspect of the second language. Stockwell and his

associates also constructed a hierarchy of difficulty for grammatical structures of two

languages in contrast, including 16 levels of difficulty. However, Clifford Prator

(1967) captured the essence of this grammatical hierarchy in six categories of

difficulty which are more easily explained. Moreover, Prator’s categories are

applicable to both grammatical and phonological features of language. The six

categories, in ascending order of difficulty are as follows.

• Level 0 – Transfer. No difference or contrast is present between the two

languages. The learner can simply transfer (positively) a sound, structure, or

lexical item from the native language to the target language.

• Level 1 – Coalescence. Two items in the native language become coalesced

into essentially one item in the target language. This requires that learners

overlook a distinction they have grown accustomed to.

• Level 2 – Underdifferentiation. An item in the native language is absent in

the target language. The learner must avoid that item.

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• Level 3 – Reinterpretation. An item that exists in the native language is

given a new shape or distribution. Example: an English speaker learning

French must learn a new distribution for nasalized vowels.

• Level 4 – Overdifferentiation. A new item entirely, bearing little if any

similarity to the native language item, must be learned.

• Level 5 – split. One item in the native language becomes two or more in the

target language, requiring the learner to make a new distinction.

In the next section, the six categories of difficulty above will be used to identify

and predict the difficulties that English language learner, whose native language is

Indonesian, will encounter.

C. Methodology

This research is qualitative in nature, comparing English and Indonesian personal

pronouns. It is a library research, the data of which are taken from two books: A

University Grammar of English (Quirck and Greenbaum, 1983) and Tata Bahasa

Baku Bahasa Indonesia (Alwi et al., 1999).

The techniques used for data analysis are Whitman’s (1970), Lado’s (1996)

contrastive analysis procedure and Prato’s six hierarchy of difficulty.

D. Findings

In order to predict the difficulties that Indonesian learners of English will

encounter, comparison of the English and Indonesian, personal pronouns in this

respect, is needed. To do this, the hierarchy of difficulty described by Prato (1967)

and the procedures for contrastive analysis described by Whitman (1970) and Lado

(1996) will be used. Let us look at the learning of English personal pronouns by

native speakers of Indonesian. The description and selection (summary in Lado’s

term) stage of contrastive analysis are fulfilled in the chart of English and Indonesian

personal pronouns below. The chart is based on two grammar books: A University

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Grammar of English (Quirk and Greenbaum, 1983) and Tata bahasa Baku Bahasa

Indonesia (Alwi dkk, 1999).

Personal Pronouns

Subjective case Objective case

English

1st person

Singular I me

Plural we us

2nd person

Singular you you

Plural you you

3rd person

Singular

masculine he him

feminine she her

non-pers. it it

Plural they them

Indonesian

1st person

Singular saya,aku,ku Saya,aku,ku

Plural kami(exclusive),

kita (inclusive)

kami(exclusive),

kita (inclusive)

2nd person

Singular engkau, kamu,

mu, Anda, kau

engkau, kamu,

mu, Anda, kau

plural

Kalian, kamu

sekalian, Anda

sekalian

kalian, kamu

sekalian, Anda

sekalian

3rd

person

singular

masculine Ia, dia, beliau,-

nya

dia, beliau,-nya

feminine Ia, dia, beliau,-

nya

dia, beliau,-nya

Non-pers. Ø -nya

Plural person mereka Mereka

non-person Ø Ø

Key: Ø = no personal pronoun for that position

The chart above shows us that there are so many differences between English

and Indonesian personal pronouns. On the other hand, the similarities are very few.

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In English, the singular first person is represented by I for subjective case and

me for objective case; the corresponding personal pronouns in Indonesian- saya,

aku, ku, are used both in subjective case and objective case.

The plural first person of English is represented by we for subject case and us

for objective case; in Indonesian, both cases use kami dan kita and are called

exclusive and inclusive respectively.

In English, you is the only symbol used to represent both singular and plural 2nd

person used for subjective case and objective case. In Indonesian, kalian, kamu,

mu, Anda, and kau represent singular 2nd person used for both subjective case and

objective case, whereas kalian, Kamu sekalian, and anda sekalian, represent plural

2nd person used for both subjective case and objective case.

In terms of singular 3rd person , both English and Indonesian have the so called

masculine, feminine and non-persons personal pronouns. English uses he, she, and

it for masculine, feminine, and non-person singular pronouns respectively, for

subjective case; and him, her, and it for masculine, feminine, and non person

singular pronouns respectively, for objective case. In terms of plural 3rd person ( no

differentiation among masculine, feminine, and non-person) , they and them are

used for subjective case and objective case respectively. In Indonesian, on the other

hand, ia, dia, beliau, and -nya are used as masculine or feminine for subjective

case; and dia, beliau, dan –nya for objective case. In short, Indonesian use the

same symbols for both masculine and feminine singular pronouns. There is no

symbol for non-person (singular or plural) pronouns . If needed, the speaker or

writer may repeat the noun used as subject. For example: “ Pak Ahmad baru saja

membeli rumah. Rumah itu cukup besar, cukup untuk keluarga besar seperti Pak

Ahmad.”Furthermore, Alwi et al. (1999: 258) assert this rule in the following

sentences.

a) Teman-teman akan datang. Mereka akan menbawa makanannya sendiri.

b) Pak Ramlan mempunyai tiga orang anak. Mereka semua belajar di Gajah

Mada.

c) Bu Mantik baru membeli empat buah buku. Mereka ada di meja sekarang.

d) Ide-ide yang dikemukakan Gus Dur sangat baik. Mereka terasa sangat segar.

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According to Alwi et al. (1991), sentences a) and b) are acceptable, but sentences c)

and d) are not. In sentences a) and b) the two pronouns refer to teman-teman and

tiga orang anak, both of which, are persons. In sentences c) and d), on the other

hand, the two pronouns refer to empat buah buku and ide-ide, both of which are not

persons. From the examples c) and d) we understand that the plural 3rd person

(personal pronoun) is represented by mereka for both subjective case and objective

case.

By subjecting the above constructive description to a hierarchy of difficulty, the

following predictions can be made:

0. Native speakers of Indonesian who learn English will not encounter difficulty

on singular 1st person (personal pronoun) – Indonesian saya, aku, and ku

correspond to English: I, used for subjective case. Prato (in Brown, 1980)

calls this category of difficulty “transfer”.

1. Coalescence occurs in Indonesian when kami and kita merge into we in

English used as plural 1st person (personal pronoun) occupying the position of

subjective case, and kami and kita merge into us used as plural 1st person

(personal pronoun) occupying the position of objective case. Coalescence

also occurs when engkau, kamu, mu, anda, and kau (singular 2nd person)

and kalian, kamu sekalian, and anda sekalian (plural 2nd person), in

Indonesian merge into you in English.

2. No instance of underdifferentiation, that is an item in the native language-

Indonesian is absent in the target language - English.

3. Reinterpretation does not happen to learners of English whose native

language is Indonesian.

4. Overdifferentiation is found in non-person of singular and plural form of 3rd

person occupying the position of subjective case. Indonesian do not have any

symbol for these kind of pronoun; whereas in English, it is used for singular

non-person and they for plural.

5. Indonesian singular 3rd person is represented by dia, ia, beliau, -nya for

masculine and feminine occupying the position of subjective case; whereas

In English, he is used for masculine and she for feminine. The same rule

applies to the objective case, namely dia, beliau, -nya in Indonesian become

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him for masculine and her for feminine. This category of difficulty is called

“split” by Prato ( in Brown, 1980).

Having applied The Contrastive Analysis Procedure to selected features of

the two languages (English and Indonesian), four levels of difficulty are predicted:

transfer (e.g. I corresponds to saya, aku, and ku); coalescence (e.g. kami and kita

merge into we); overdifferentiation (e.g. non-person of singular and plural 3rd

personal pronouns it and they respectively, especially that occupy the position of

subjective case, do not occur in Indonesian); and split (e.g. 3rd person singular he

and she refer to masculine and feminine respectively, whereas in Indonesian dia,

beliau, and –nya are used to refer to both masculine and feminine.

E. Conclusion and Suggestion

By comparing the features of personal pronoun of English and Indonesian,

conclusion can be drawn that learners of English, whose native language is

Indonesian, potentially encounter difficulties. Those difficulties, most of which, are

(borrowing Prato’s terms, in Brown,1980) coalescence, overdifferenciation and split.

Based on the critical analysis of the two languages – English and Indonesian,

especially on personal pronouns, it is suggested that teachers of English consider

the findings of this research in addition to other features of the two languages that

differ when designing or planning their lessons.--

References

Alwi, H. et al. 1999. Tata Bahasa Baku Bahasa Indonesia. Jakarta: Balai Pustaka.

Brown, D. 1980. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, Second Edition,

Engelwood, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Brown, D. 2000. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, Fourth Edition,

U.S.A.: Longman.

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Kierzek, J.M. & Gibson, W. 1959 . The Macmillan Handbook of English, Fifth Edition:

Macmillan.

Lado, R. 1957. Linguistics across Cultures. U.S.A. : The University of Michigan.

Quirk, R. and Greenbaum, S. 1983. A University Grammar of English, fourth ELBS

Impression. Hongkong: Commonwealth Printing Press Ltd.

Robinett, B. W. & Schachter, J. (Ed.). 1996. Second Language Learning: Contrastive

Analysis, Error Analysis, and Related Aspects. U.S.A.: The University of

Michigan Press.

Sinclair, J. (Editor in chief). 1989. Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary.

Birmingham: Collins Cobuild.