The Gorontalo Language in Professional Communication: its Maintenance and Native Speakers’ Attitudes

Abstract

This study aims to describe the maintenance of the Gorontalo language in the workplace by Gorontalo speakers. To carry out qualitative research we collected data through interviews, observations and field records, and then analysed it employing Spradley’s model (used in ethnography). The research reveals that: (1) the Gorontalo language is used in the work interactions between all employees, or between employees and customers who are fluent in the Gorontalo language; customers will start conversations using the Gorontalo language if they have close relationships with their interlocutors; (2) the attitudes of the speakers who actively use the Gorontalo Language in the workplace towards the language under discussion can be positive and negative depending on the backgrounds of the speakers; (3) the factors that affect Gorontalo language preservation can be classified into two groups: factors from the outside of the community, including changes in the composition of multi-ethnic society and the exposure to global information, and factors from within the community, such as the lack of public awareness of the urgency to maintain the Gorontalo Language as the local pride.