CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents background
of the study, research problems, objective
of the study, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, and definition of the key terms.
I.I. Background of the Study Allah says: ―…then
verily, We have created you out of dust, then from Nutfah (mixed drops of male and female), then from a clot (a piece
of thick coagulated blood) then from a
little lump of flesh, some formed and some unformed (as in the case of miscarriage) that We may make it clear to you.
And We cause whom We will to remain in
the wombs for an appointed term, then We bring 5) This verse above means that God
has created human being as perfect as possible.
People are created better than other creatures. Nonetheless, in creating people God still gives sufficiency laxity in
every person, because there is no body perfect
in this world except God, Lord of this universe. There are still many people who have certain laxity that impair the
function of the body like hearing system.
It finally influences their communication skill; some of them find difficulty in processing language acquisition.
Language acquisition is one of the central
topics in cognitive science. It is the
process of language capability develops in a human. Processing a language is an essential human trait, which means all-
normal human speak, and no nonhuman
animal does (Chomsky, 1975). It means only human who can acquire language in all parts of their life.
Nonetheless, acquiring a first language is
something very difficult for some people
who have laxity. They have different ways to communicate and to acquire their language unlike other people.
Based on ‗Reduction of letters and art for teaching mute people to speak‘ in Madrid.
It is considered the first modern thesis
of Phonetics and Logopedia, setting out a method of oral education for the hard of hearing people by means of the use of
manual signs, in form of a manual alphabet
to improve the communication of the dumb or deaf people (someone who is hard to hear something) (Bonet, 1620).
The statement above is in line with what
linguistics theories hold that children
learn through their natural abilities to organize the laws of language but they cannot fully use this talent without the
existence of other humans. On the other
hand, they require formal teaching of any type. Chomsky claims in his book that children are born with a hard-wired
(LAD) in their brains. When the young
children are exposed to the language, the LAD makes it possible for them to set the language parameters and assume the
grammatical principles, because the
principles are natural (in Gleitman, et.al, 1989) Those
explanation about natural abilities had by children, shows that it is naturally happen for children who have laxity
like deafness to acquire their first language
through sign language as children who use oral language. Deaf children tend to use their own sign language in
communicating with their family even some
of them just keep silent when people talked. However, it is not an effective way since they have to work hard to understand
what people said by noticing their
mouth, guessing what they speak and they give feed back in a confusing language form. It is often misinterpretation.
Helmuth (2001) called the term for these
mini-languages home sign (sometimes home sign or kitchen sign).
In linguistic terms, sign languages are rich
and complex as any oral language. It is
proved by William Stokoe (2009) that sign language is a manual language or visual language which information
is expressed not with combinations of
sounds but with combinations of hand shapes, palm orientations, movements of the hands, arms and
body, location in relation to the body,
and facial expressions. While spoken languages are produced by the vocal cords only, and can thus be easily written in
linier patterns, sign language uses the
hand, head and body, with constanly changing movements and orientations.
This study therefore focuses on the language
of the main character in And Your Name
is Jonah movie because it deals with the study about the language acquisition produced by a deaf child told
through the story. This movie is chosen since
And Your Name is Jonah is one of the American movies which won Academy Award in 1987. On the other hand, in
acquiring his sign language, Jonah can
understand the signs easily and practice the sign language he got through his communication smoothly. In
acquiring his sign language as his first language, he has his own way unlike other deaf
child he can also represent sign language
well. He likes to use a real object for instance playing in garden, market, lake, etc. His sign languages also
show his abilities to express his mind and
to make the people whose he communicates become interest to communicate with him.
Like other children who use oral language in
communication he starts to introduce his
name through his fingers. For example in spelling his own name J O-N-A-H, the
letter ―J” by using Index, middle and ring fingers are folded down.
Thumb is folded across index middle and ring
fingers. Little finger is straight. The hand
is moved so that little finger draws a "J" shape. Motion is a curve
moving forward and then right. The hand
turns to the right. The letter “O” using all fingers are partially folded. Thumb is partially
folded and tip of thumb is touching tip
of index finger. Hand is turned slightly so viewer can see "O" shape
formed by thumb and index finger. ―N”
little and ring finger are folded. Thumb is folded across ring and little finger. Index finger and
middle finger are folded down over thumb.
“A” a closed fist, all finger folded against the palm, thumb is straight, alongside the index finger. “H” Ring and
little finger are folded down. Thumb is folded
over ring and little finger. Index finger and middle finger are straight and together. The hand is tilted over so that the
fingers are horizontal and pointing to the
left.
By using fluent sign language that he acquired
in his age with a certain gesture or
facial expression, for instance, he can invite people to communicate with him. This fact linguistically is
interesting to be studied by especially us as people who concern in linguistic area because
acquiring language differently, as exemplified
by Jonah, will give a wider horizon and understanding on how deaf children acquire their sign language.
The phenomenon above seems to be clear for us
that acquiring sign language are very
complex and various ways. As a research study conducted by Juan Pablo Bonet (1620) which is setting out a
method of oral education for the hard of
hearing people by means of the use of manual signs, in form of a manual alphabet to improve the communication of the
dumb or deaf people (someone who is hard
to hear something). A kind of sign language acquisition could be a form of Hand Forms for a child who is blind,
dumb, and deaf what ‗Aini (2008) found about
sign language used by Hellen Keller who is blind, dumb, and deaf child in ―The Miracle Worker‖ movie. These share a light that in acquiring language all children need natural abilities.
Based on the explanation above, this research
is descriptively analyzing the language acquisition of Jonah as a deaf child, which has an aim to give a psycholinguistic
knowledge about deaf children with their
language.
In a linguistic context, the researcher
believes that studying this language phenomenon
would bring many advantageous effects for anyone who has interested in psycholinguistic issues. This
study could be a good way of introducing
students with numerous facts of variations ways in acquiring sign language. It is also hoped that they have a
feel and an idea of these resources are used
across different context. Finally, it is a way to remain us that there are
still so many people who need to
communicate but they cannot do it using oral language like us.
I.2 Statements of the Problems As this study
explained in the background of the study about sign language used by Jonah in And Your Name is Jonah movie,
this study is designed to answer the
following questions: 1. What are the
kinds of sign language used by Jonah in And Your Name is Jonah movie? 2. How is sign language acquired by Jonah in And
Your Name is Jonah movie? I.3 Objectives of the Study Based on the problems
stated before, the purpose of this study is intended to describe briefly about: 1. The kinds of sign language used by Jonah in
And Your Name is Jonah movie 2. The sign language processes which occur in
And Your Name is Jonah and to analyze
the way Jonah as deaf child in the movie acquired his language.
I.4 Significance of the Study The findings of
this study are supposed to give both theoretical and practical contributions in psycholinguistics
especially in studying about sign language.
Theoretically, the findings of this study were expected to be one of sources in psycholinguistics research.
Moreover, this study is expected to be a beneficial reference for those who are going
to study the similar field since this study
analyzed about sign language acquisition in details using an appropriate movie which can represent a real condition of
deaf children in acquiring sign language.
Practically, it was expected to be more
practical. The students who study in
university are expected to be able to use sign language or at least understand how to use it so if one day they find someone
who has laxity they still can communicate
with them. Realizing that they are also human like us who need to communicate with others. This study could be a
good way of introducing students with
numerous facts of variations ways in acquiring sign language. To the lecturers, the result of this study is
expected as an additional material for psycholinguistics
course especially in topic of language acquisition. Also the result of this study is expected to be a
contribution to others who are interested in doing similar field of research as a previous
study. Finally, this study is expected to
be able to remain us that there are still so many people who need to communicate but they cannot do it using oral
language like us.
I.5 Scope and Limitation This study focuses on
the process of sign language acquisition in And Your Name is Jonah movie by using Chomsky‘s
language acquisition theory. This movie
is released in1979 when deaf culture be a main topic in western country.
Written sign language which is part of sign
language does not involved in this study
since the written sign language is rarely used by deaf children. Then, it might be still far from a perfection since
this study does not study the meaning of signs as what semiotics commonly concern with.
I.6 Operational Definitions of the Key Terms In
order to make the readers get easier in understanding this study, here the researcher will give the definition of some
key terms that important to be understood
as the following: 1. Sign language Sign
language is a language, which uses manual communication combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the
hands, arms or body, and facial expression
to express gracefully a speaker‘s thought.
2.
Jonah Jonah (Jeffrey Bravin) is a
lonely deaf child who has been misdiagnosed as retarded. He tries hardly to communicate with
other by using sign language.
3. And
Your Name is Jonah And Your Name is Jonah is one of the best movie about deaf
child which got some awards such as
Academy Award in 1987, Golden Globe in 1987, etc CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE RELATED
LITERATURE This chapter presents briefly several theories that are closely
related to this study. Language
acquisition theories, sign language, deafness and hearing impairment, language in exceptional
circumstances and synopsis of And Your Name
is Jonah movie. The detailed explanation is described in the following sections.
2.1. Language Acquisition Theory Language
acquisition is one of the central topics in cognitive science.
Nowadays, many
thoughts and considerable studies about language acquisition branched out rapidly. As a matter of fact, it
supposed to turn up some hypothesis or
theories of language acquisition. Kiparsky (in Nur‘aini, 2008) explained that language acquisition is the way human use
appropriately the series of assumptions that
are more complicated to their parents‘ utterances until they can choose the appropriate word based on their value which
one is better for them; in others (Chomsky,
1975) posessing a language is an essential human trait, which means all-normal human speak, and no nonhuman or
animal can does. These highlights the process of language capability developed
by human. Through their own abilities
human acquire their language.
A proccess of acquiring language is not a
simple thing as human can do in a short
time. Whorf argued that the categories and the relations which are used to understand the world come from a particular
language, so that the speakers of different
languages conceptualize the world in different ways. In addition language acquisition would be learning to
think, not just for learning to talk.
(Chaer, 2003: 53) There are some theories
about language acquisition which have an affect on language acquisition‘s thought. There are
behaviourism, innateness, and cognitive
theory.
1.
Behaviourism The behaviorist B. F. Skinner proposed this theory as an
explanation for language acquisition in
humans. In Verbal Behavior (1957), he stated: "The basic processes and
relations which give verbal behavior its special characteristics are now fairly well
understood. Much of the experimental work
responsible for this advance has been carried out on other species, but the results have proved to be surprisingly
free of species restrictions.
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