Avoidance Strategies by BIPA Students in Bahasa Indonesia Production as L3

Background/purpose. This study aims to fill this gap by analyzing the forms of language avoidance strategies employed by BIPA students. The results are expected to contribute to the development of language avoidance theory in language learning within a multilingual context.

Methods. This study uses a qualitative approach to examine the avoidance strategies employed by BIPA students in BI production as an L3. The research participants consisted of six BIPA students from Universitas Negeri Surabaya. Data collection was conducted using elicitation techniques. Eliciting was conducted through casual conversation to elicit natural utterances. Data analysis was conducted in three stages: identification, classification, and interpretation.

Results. Based on the research results, there are forms of language avoidance strategies in BI production as L3 in BIPA students, namely topic avoidance, message abandonment, and meaning replacement. These strategies are not entirely passive in the face of linguistic constraints. The use of language fillers has been identified as having a dual role: as a marker of linguistic unpreparedness and as a tool for regulating the conversational rhythm.

Conclusion. Based on the results, BIPA students employ three main avoidance strategies in BI production as L3: topic avoidance, message abandonment, and meaning replacement, as a means of adapting to linguistic and non-linguistic limitations. These findings underscore the importance of explicitly teaching compensatory communication strategies in BIPA learning, including training in the effective use of language fillers, so that learners can manage linguistic limitations strategically, adaptively, and communicatively.

Keywords: L3 production, avoidance strategies, BIPA students, third language acquisition

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