NAVIGATING BETWEEN ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITY : HERITAGE LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE AMONG YOUNG AUSTRALIANS OF INDONESIAN ORIGIN

For ethnic minority groups, speaking a heritage language signifies belonging to their country of origin and enriches the dominant culture. The acculturation of major ethnic groups in Australia – Greek, Italian, Chinese, Indian and Vietnamese – has been frequently studied, but a minor one like Indonesian has not. Through semi-structured interviews at various places and observations at cultural events, the study explores the contextual use, meaning and perceived benefits of Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language) among Indonesian families and how this practice influences the young participants’ (18-26 years old) identification with Indonesia, the origin country of their parents, and Australia, their current culture of settlement. The findings suggest that Bahasa Indonesia serves as a marker of ethnic and religious identity glued in family socialization. Parents believe that not only does the language signify their Indonesian ethnic identity, but also provides a means for socializing family values, and is beneficial for educational purposes and future career opportunities. However, parents face a dilemma whether to focus on ethnic or religious identity in socializing the use of Bahasa Indonesia. Interestingly, most young participants demonstrate a more global worldview by embracing both Indonesian and Australian values. How religious identity relates to more global worldview should be addressed more comprehensively in future studies.

Concern for ethnic language maintenance is shared by many migrant families (Clyne, 2005;Willoughby, 2006;Guardado & Becker, 2014;Tam & Lee, 2010;Ndhlovu, 2010;Mu, 2014), including some 16,000 Indonesian people in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (Indonesian Consulate General, 2015).Parents are concerned with the maintenance of Bahasa Indonesia among their children and expect that the children will speak not only English but also maintain their heritage language.Parents' expectation is, however, not always in line with what their children believe important.Like parents of other ethnic minorities in Australia (Clyne, 2005), while the children may not acquire the literacy skills (reading and writing) of Bahasa Indonesia, as most of them were born in Australia, Indonesian parents expect that their children will, at least, speak the language.
In the Australian context, the acculturation of major ethnic groups such as Greek, Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Indian has frequently been studied, but not of a minor group such as Indonesians.Ghuman (2001) argued that Indian parents want to maintain their heritage culture in young people but face a tension with their children who are more open to the Anglo-Australian dominant culture.Howie and Tannenbaum (2002) found that Chinese young people in Sydney were more likely to use their parents' mother tongue when they perceived their family to be cohesive, low in hierarchy and with a secure attachment pattern, which is influenced by the dominant Australian family values.A similar case may be identified among Indonesian families who acknowledge the importance of their ethnic language, Bahasa Indonesia, to show cultural belonging and identification.
Compared to other major ethnic groups such as Greek, Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese and Sudanese, the number of Indonesian people in Australia, mostly voluntary migrants for economic purposes, is not large.While most parents prefer to hold noncitizen permanent residence, their young people choose to become Australian citizens (Mulyana, 1995).This different citizenship status may influence their identification with Indonesia.Underpinned by heritage language as the marker of ethnic and religious identity, this article explores the contextual use, meaning and benefits of Bahasa Indonesia among Indonesian families in Melbourne, and how this use influences the identification of the young people with Indonesia and Australia.contains a larger group of people of a different race or nationality or a group that has different national or cultural traditions from the majority of the population.In Australian context, ethnic minority refers to people having an ethnic or national background different from that of the majority Anglo-Australian population, which may include Indigenous Australians such as Aboriginal people and Torres Strait islanders.However, as Zelinka (1995) points out, in recognition of their unique status as first peoples in the country, the two groups are usually not categorized as ethnic minorities in the same fashion as immigrant groups from non-English speaking backgrounds.So, in this context, ethnic minority refers to non-Anglo Australians who are non-Indigenous such as Greek, German, Vietnamese and Indonesian.
Along with the issue of post-colonialism, ethnic minority groups in a multicultural society like Australia have the opportunity to maintain their cultural heritage, together with the dominant culture.Following Zelinka's (1995) definition of ethnic minority in the Australian context, heritage culture in this study is that other than Anglo and Indigenous Australian such as Greek, German, Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesian.This maintenance of heritage culture provides psychological comfort for members of ethnic minority groups (Safdar, Lay & Struthers, 2003).Balancing between heritage culture and that of the society of settlement also supports successful adaptation of minority young people to the dominant culture (Sam, 2000).
In addition, heritage culture maintenance is not only beneficial for members of ethnic minority groups but also strengthens the dominant culture.Smolicz (1989) argues that the resilience of Australian society depends on the continuous maintenance of its heritage culture by members of ethnic minorities while adjusting to the new input of dominant culture.Heritage culture maintenance enriches the dominant Anglo-Australian cultures (Clyne, 2005).Van Oudenhoven, Ward and Masgoret (2006) argue that nations which support maintenance of cultural heritage while at the same time promoting a superordinate national identity, such as Canada, show high levels of ethnic tolerance.In a different study, Van Oudenhoven (2006) concludes that the tendency for migrants to identify by national label is higher in Canada than in the United States or Australia.Similarly, stronger national or ethnic identity is also associated with more positive out-group attitudes (DeRoza & Ward, 2005).In this vein, Van Oudenhoven, Ward and Masgoret (2006) believe that 'it is the acceptance of multiculturalism and the evolution of a multifaceted, inclusive national identity that holds the promise for our future in an era of increasing globalization' (p.649).
To support multiculturalism, in 2008, the Australian government introduced the National Asian Languages and Studies at School Program (NALSPSP) in which the teaching of languages other than English at schools such as Mandarin, Japanese, Korean and Indonesian receive more support.In 2012, realizing its position in the Asian Century, the Australian government launched a white paper policy which necessitates the importance of learning five major Asian languages, including Bahasa Indonesia.The maintenance of heritage culture in the context of Australia is expected to strengthen multiculturalism and the resilience of inclusive national identity.

Heritage language shift and identity
In a multicultural world, language is considered the main aspect of culture, which is a potential dimension of how individuals may represent their identity (Hall, 1996).In multicultural countries like the United States and Australia, immigrant languages -Chinese, Vietnamese, Bengali, and Indonesianare considered heritage language (Fishman, 1997(Fishman, , 2001a;;Clyne, 1991) and their maintenance is considered the most important cultural identity marker of ethnic minority groups.This awareness is influenced by post-colonialism which attempts to shift the dominant worldviews by highlighting the absence of neutrality in intercultural communication, and questioning power relations, and of forms of domination (Young, 2003;p. 140).Post-colonialism proponents contend that nondominant groups such as ethnic minorities have the right to display their cultural identity, including speaking the heritage language.Therefore, for most young people of ethnic minority groups in Australia, speaking the heritage language is considered the most important aspect of identification with their ethnic groups (Willoughby, 2006;Lohm, 2012).Families of ethnic minority groups, such as Indonesians in Australia, may consider speaking Bahasa Indonesia to represent a sense of belonging to their country of origin and assist in maintenance of psychological wellbeing (Safdar, Lay & Struthers, 2003).
Heritage language maintenance among minority ethnic groups, together with English as the language of the dominant culture, leads to bilingualism.As a result, bilingual people can commonly be found in major migrant countries such as of (English-Urdu) in Canada and (English-Spanish) in the United States.Several ethnic minority groups in Australia also manage to maintain their heritage languages.Clyne (2005) points out that Greek has a success story of language maintenance.Australian-Germans speak both English and German (Luchtenberg, 2002).Other languages with exceptional histories of maintenance are Arabic, Macedonian, and Turkish.Of Asian languages, Chinese, Vietnamese, and languages from India are currently among the well-maintained heritage languages (Clyne, 2005).
Multilingualism is not a new phenomenon in Australia.While English is the main language in Australia, the population of the country is culturally and linguistically diverse (Clyne, 2005).People from different parts of the world migrated to Australia and brought their languages and cultures with them.Along with Aboriginal languages, the languages spoken in this country were brought by immigrants from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific.Based on the 2011 Census, there are more than 60 major ethnic languages used in Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics).More than 16 per cent of Australia's population speak languages other than English (LOTE) at home.In the Melbourne area, about 26.2 per cent of people speak LOTEs (Clyne, 2005).In terms of language learning, it is argued that learning a foreign language such as French, Mandarin or Indonesian, is essential if Australia is to relate socially, politically, and economically to the rest of the world, particularly among Asian countries (Hall, 2012).Among the various LOTEs spoken in Australia, Indonesian language is one of the top twenty community languages used (Clyne, 2005) and is one of four Asian languages taught nationwide at Australian schools besides Mandarin, Japanese and Korean.
However, in an English speaking-country like Australia, ethnic minority language is subject to loss and shift.Influenced by cultural distance, ethnolinguistic vitality, population concentration and community dynamics in the context of the sociopolitical situation, some ethnic languages in Australia are more resistant to shift than others (Clyne, 2005).It is, therefore, interesting to explore how Bahasa Indonesia is maintained among the participating families and how important it is for instilling ethnic identity values such as family respect, assistance and future support to the young people.
In addition to ethnic identity, language also serves as a marker of religious identity (Joseph, 2004).Some major religions are identified with certain languages such as Hebrew with Jewish and Arabic with Muslim.To a certain extent, speaking Arabic may be indistinguishable from learning Islam and speaking Hebrew may often be considered as being Jewish.So far, no studies have been identified which explore the possible relationship of learning Bahasa Indonesia to religious identity.Considering the instrumental role of religion in the life of Indonesian people (Nilan, 2008), it is possible that maintenance of Bahasa Indonesia can relate to the religious identity of Indonesian people: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and other religious affiliations.This is not because of a direct link between language and religion, such as there is between Arabic and Islam in that the Qur'an is in Arabic.In this context, the link between language and religion is a community link.Worship is part of membership of a Bahasa Indonesiaspeaking community.
Speaking more than one language is considered advantageous.Studies have proven that bilingualism has a myriad of benefits (Genesee & Crago, 2004;Grosjean, 2010), one of which is better schooling and career opportunity in the future.Being bilingual allows young people to be more flexible in accommodating the job requirements in the current global world.Multinational companies often require employees who are able to speak at least one foreign language other than English to better understand business matters in certain regions.When an Australian company wants to open a new branch office in Indonesia, for instance, it is very likely that employees who can speak both English and Bahasa Indonesia will be considered more favourably to fill the new positions.

Family as agency of ethnic and religious identity
Family has a significant role in instilling the ethnic identity at home.Parents are the first agents that introduce children to their heritage culture.Studies have shown that families provide an important context for heritage language maintenance (Phinney, 1990;Guardado & Becker, 2014) including among African and Asian families in Australia (Lee, 2002;Tam & Lee, 2010;Ndhlovu, 2010;Mu, 2014).Ethnic identity socialization practices by families include speaking the ethnic language and participating in cultural and religious festivals (Moua & Lamborn, 2010).In the case of the study participants, parents may speak Bahasa Indonesia to their children both inside and outside the home to instill their Indonesian identity.
Family can also introduce young people to other aspects of heritage culture such as food, dance, music, and religious traditions (Moua & Lamborn, 2010).Another family value considered important among collective-oriented ethnic minority groups is providing respect, assistance and future support for parents (Fuligni, Tseng & Lam, 1999).However, as the young people live in Australian culture which is more dominant than the heritage culture, it is likely that they may experience a tension with the parents in relation to the maintenance of heritage culture values.
While numerous studies have been conducted on the maintenance of heritage language in families of similar ancestries, language maintenance in intermarriage families has not been widely discussed.Ethnic minority children of a similar ancestry family may not find difficulty in maintaining the heritage language as parents speak the same language.There may, however, be some for children of intermarriage parents as are several young participants in the current study.
Therefore, this study explores how parents socialize the young people with Bahasa Indonesia, its benefits for the young people and relations to their ethnic and religious identity, as well as their identification with both Indonesia and Australia.It also investigates possible tensions between adults and the young people in relation to the maintenance of the language.

METHOD
Data for this article were taken from the results of interviews and observations of a doctoral study which explores the cultural identity negotiation of young Australians of Indonesian origin.This article focuses on the use of Bahasa Indonesia and its cultural meaning among the young participants.

Participants
Twelve adults (six males and six females) and twelve young people (six males and six females from twelve different families) who live permanently in Melbourne, Australia for more than 10 years participated as samples in this multiplecase study.They are purposively selected out of hundreds of families.Most parents (aged 40s to 50s) still hold Indonesian passports while the young people (aged 18 to 26) are Australian citizens.The majority of the young people were born in Australia or were brought to the country at an early age.Most of the participating adults are not the parents of the young people.Six parents are Indonesian-born couples and another six are Indonesian-Australian couples.The Australian parents in this study are Anglo-Australian, and therefore representative of the dominant culture.Six young people are children of Indonesian-born parents and six are children of intermarriage parents.

Instruments
Data for this study were generated from semistructured interviews and observations.Young people and parents were interviewed on the use of Bahasa Indonesia and its perceived benefits and meaning for their identification with Indonesia.Observations, conducted at several cultural and religious festivities held by the Indonesian community in Victoria, Australia, focused on the use of Bahasa Indonesia among the participants during the festivities.Interviews (in English for young people and Bahasa Indonesia for parents) were conducted over a period of 3-4 months whereas observations were conducted for a period of one year.
Data on participants' feelings are transcribed verbatim while others such as cultural experiences and the use of Bahasa Indonesia were thematically described and analysed by post-colonial theories such as Hall's (1996) language representation, ethnic identity socialization and belonging (Phinney, 1990;Barrett, 2005;Moua & Lambourn, 2010) and Joseph's (2004) language and religious identity.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results and analysis of the study is divided into two sections.The first part discusses the contextual use of Bahasa Indonesia, while the second explores the meanings and perceived benefits of speaking the language and how it influences the identification of the young people to both Indonesia and Australia.

Home as the context of Bahasa Indonesia use
Bahasa Indonesia is commonly used in the homes of Indonesian-Indonesian couples.Parents argue that, although they live in Australia, they need not speak English at home as they are Indonesians who can understand and speak Bahasa Indonesia very well.Parents find it easier to express themselves in this ethnic language than in English.They believe that most of their culture values reside in Bahasa Indonesia and are expressed in this language such as greetings, curses, advices, praises, wisdom and prayers (Fishman, 1997).Therefore, most parents emphasize that all family members speak Bahasa Indonesia at home.We always speak Bahasa Indonesia at home, even with our youngest daughter who was brought to Australia when she was eight years old.Although now she speaks English more fluently, she feels shy if she speaks English at home (Hesti, female).
Parents consider home an important context for maintaining the proficiency of Bahasa Indonesia among their children.They believe that this language maintenance should begin as early as possible so that the children can have higher Bahasa Indonesia proficiency.They may not only understand and speak, but also read and write in this ethnic language.I teach my daughters to speak Bahasa Indonesia since they were babies.Until now, although their father is Australian, they can speak and read Bahasa Indonesia very well (Nini, female).
To provide an early introduction to children, another female parent has started introducing Bahasa Indonesia to her three-year old granddaughter so that she can relate more easily to her cousins when members of her family are on holidays to Indonesia.She argues that, as the third generation, her granddaughter may not be able to speak Bahasa Indonesia if she does not introduce it to her as early as possible.
I always speak Bahasa Indonesia to my granddaughter who is still three years old now.Although she was born in Australia, I want her to be able to speak my language too.If not, she can't talk to her cousins in Indonesia (Hesti, female).
Parents of Indonesian-born couples have different rules regarding the use of Bahasa Indonesia with their children at home.Some parents apply a strict regulation in which they only accept Bahasa Indonesia responses from their children.If the children respond in English, they demand that the children switch to Bahasa Indonesia promptly.For example, Hendi said that, in the last three years, he and his wife have started to enforce speaking Bahasa Indonesia with their two teenage children, especially at home.When our younger daughter responded in English, my wife said, "No, you have to speak Bahasa Indonesia."We have to 'intimidate' our daughter to make her reply in Bahasa Indonesia.But this is only at home.Hendi believes that, sometimes, he and his wife have to 'intimidate' their children so that they want to speak Bahasa Indonesia.They 'force' their children to respond in Bahasa Indonesia when they speak to them.Considering the strong influence of English as the dominant language, several parents agree that this strict practice is appropriate in their efforts to maintain Bahasa Indonesia use among the young people.
Other parents are more flexible regarding the use of Bahasa Indonesia with their children at home.Although they prefer to hear responses in this ethnic language, they still accept their children's responses in English.Although the young people often respond in English, parents keep using Bahasa Indonesia to them.Parents consider their children's responding in English, not in Bahasa Indonesia, a consequence of living in a predominantly Englishspeaking country like Australia.Although they prefer that the young people speak Bahasa Indonesia, the fact that their children understand the language is still considered better than losing it all.Therefore, they continue to speak Bahasa Indonesia to their children so that they do not lose their language completely.
The use of Bahasa Indonesia at home is not dominated by Indonesian-born parents; intermarriage couples also use it.Most Anglo-Australian parents who marry Indonesians have open minds to cultural differences.One reason for their marrying Indonesians may be because they love the Indonesian culture and speak Bahasa Indonesia as a means of adjustment to the culture of their spouses.Some Australian parents first met their spouses when they were learning Bahasa Indonesia or visiting Indonesia.Their proficiency in the language is increased by visiting Indonesia during family holidays.One young female participant whose father is an Australian, for instance, points out that she often speaks Bahasa Indonesia to her Anglo-Australian father who has good proficiency in the language.
Most of the time, I speak Bahasa Indonesia to my father.He does not only understand the language but speaks it, although not very fluently like me and my sister.He basically likes learning to speak Bahasa Indonesia (Yara, female).
The emphasis of Bahasa Indonesia use among intermarriage families varies, depending on the gender of the Indonesian-born parents.The use of Bahasa Indonesia is more emphasized when the mother, not the father, is Indonesian, and not the other way around.Indonesian mothers seem to be more influential in emphasizing the use of On the other hand, the emphasis for using Bahasa Indonesia is less with Australian mother.One father said that he and his Australian wife always speak English to their children and rarely use Bahasa Indonesia.
I always speak English to my three children, because they were born here, in Australia.My three children rarely speak Bahasa Indonesia although I take them for holidays to Indonesia every other year (Putu, male).
Female participants seem to be more committed to heritage culture maintenance than male.Studies suggest that women are stronger ethnic identity carriers than man.For instance, women dress tends to be more traditionally ethnic than that of men.In the Australian context, religious celebrations such as Christmas and Easter are mostly prepared by female.Among Southeast Asian countries, Singaporean mothers are more concerned with socializing their family values to their children than the fathers (Tam & Lee, 2010).A similar phenomenon occurs among Indonesian mothers participating in this study.
In general, the use of Bahasa Indonesia among intermarriage families is less intensive than among Indonesian-born parents.As a consequence of intercultural marriage, these parents often speak a mix of Indonesian and English because the Australian parent may not speak Bahasa Indonesia fluently.The better the Indonesian language proficiency of the Australian parent (husband or wife), the more emphasized it is at home.Therefore, intermarriage parents adopt a more accommodative policy with Bahasa Indonesia use in the family as a consequence of intercultural or inter-linguistic marriage.Since either father or mother is not Indonesian, parents acknowledge that they have to accept switching between Bahasa Indonesia and English.One mother for instance points out that she speaks Bahasa Indonesia with her children but English with her Australian husband.
In addition, some intermarriage parents apply different language policies with their children.They have stronger emphasis on Bahasa Indonesia use with their Indonesian-born but a weaker enforcement with their Australian-born children.One Indonesian mother of intermarriage couple, for example, speaks Bahasa Indonesia and Sundanese (the local ethnic language of west Java island) with her Indonesian-born children but a mix of English and Bahasa Indonesia with her Melbourne-born children.
I speak Indonesian and Sundanese to my two elder children who were born in Indonesia.To my two younger children who were born here, I mostly speak English and only a little Bahasa Indonesia (Yarsi, female).So, the language use of a family at home is influenced by the conditions of the children.Indonesia-born children are more strictly regulated in the use of Bahasa Indonesia use whereas the rule is more flexible for Australian-born children.Supporting Norton's (2000) idea of language learning as part of identity, participating parents consider maintaining their ethnic language as a valuable investment.

Bahasa Indonesia outside of home
In addition to the use of Bahasa Indonesia at home, the study also identifies limited use of Bahasa Indonesia among the participating family members outside of home.As a response to their children's reluctance to talk in Bahasa Indonesia outside home, parents often switch to English.
There are some places where Bahasa Indonesia is used outside homes.The first site is the community centre.To maintain the use of Bahasa Indonesia out of home, parents encourage their young people to attend cultural and religious activities at the community centre which are mostly conducted in this language.Most gatherings at the Indonesian community centres are conducted on weekends, where the young people can practice speaking Bahasa Indonesia with their friends and other parents.
At the community centre, I speak Bahasa Indonesia to parents and other elderly people but English to my friends (Abdi, male).This place serves as a venue for practicing Bahasa Indonesia, especially the speaking skill.However, the use of Bahasa Indonesia at the community centre is not as intensive as at home.Unlike in Indonesia where people can gather at any time, members of the Indonesian community in Melbourne only meet during the weekend.Sometimes, as Abdi said, the young people speak English with their peers.
The second venue out of home where Bahasa Indonesia is used is at cultural festivities.Several annual cultural festivities include the Satay Festival, the Food and Trade Festival, and the Indonesian Festival.Observations at several cultural and religious festivities reveal that most parents are actively involved in various cultural events.These festivities do not only offer an opportunity for the Indonesian people to practice their Bahasa Indonesia but also introduce them, especially the young people, to the culture of Indonesia, which includes art, dance, food and drink.Some participating young people speak Bahasa Indonesia when chatting with Indonesian friends and parents, or when buying food or drink from the stalls.
Parents argue that the Indonesian cultural and religious events are important so that they always make an effort to attend the cultural festivities.They consider the events an opportunity to remember Indonesia and a way of socializing the heritage culture of Indonesia to their young people who were mostly born in Australia.One intermarriage mother said that she often asks her daughter to perform Indonesian traditional dances at various cultural events.Another father said, My family and I often attend this event.This event brings back our memory about Indonesia.We also want to introduce the Indonesian culture to our Australian-born children (Joko, male).Like parents, young people also attend the Indonesian cultural and religious events for various reasons such as to enjoy Indonesian food and drink and have a talk to their Indonesian friends, or because their parents asked them to come along.
Another reason for young people attending the cultural festivals is because they are interested in their ethnic language and culture.Yarra, a female young participant said that, as a child of intermarriage, she loves Indonesian culture such as dance, food, and drink.Born to an Indonesian mother, she speaks Bahasa Indonesia fluently and often performs Indonesian traditional dances at various cultural festivities around Melbourne.
However, not all young people have the opportunity to attend the cultural festivities regularly, due to tight work and study schedules.Some participating young people felt unfortunate and regret to have missed the Indonesian cultural events which are considered important festivities in their life as migrants in Australia.However, as the cultural events are annual, they can compensate the missed events in the coming year.
While speaking Bahasa Indonesia with their children out of home, as an adjustment to the dominant language of English in the Australian context, parents switch between Indonesian and English.This adjustment to current culture of settlement balances the maintenance of heritage language and participation in the current country of settlement (Sam, 2000).
As a conclusion, Bahasa Indonesia is used in various contexts such as home, community centres and cultural or religious festivities.Like many other ethnic minority groups in Australia (Clyne, 2005;Willoughby, 2006;Ndhlovu, 2010;Mu, 2014), the Indonesian community members also strive to instil their heritage language to the young people (Norton, 2000).However, as home provides a limited space, young people have limited contexts for Bahasa Indonesia use.Outside of home, the young people speak a mix of Indonesian and English with parents and Indonesian friends.As the result, they speak English more fluently than Bahasa Indonesia.

The meanings of Bahasa Indonesia use
The use of Bahasa Indonesia at both home and nonhome contexts has several meanings.First, it is a way of parents' instilling their ethnic identity to the young people.As previous studies found, (Phinney, 1990: Moua & Lamborn, 2010;Safdar, Lay & Struthers, 2003;Willoughby, 2006), speaking an ethnic language shows belonging to an ethnic group.With this practice, parents agree that their permanent life in Australia should not make them forget their home country of Indonesia, at least by speaking Bahasa Indonesia.
My children should remember that they have Indonesian blood in them.They should not forget their Indonesian side although they live in Australia (Susan).
For parents, speaking Bahasa Indonesia signifies a sense of belonging to Indonesia, their country of origin and helps the young people to feel that they are Indonesian.In other word, it is a way of maintaining their identity as Indonesians in Australia, which, at the same time, enriches the linguistic diversity of Australia (Clyne, 2005).
Similarly, as stimulated by their parents, the young people consider home the place for practicing and maintaining proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia.Most young participants understand Bahasa Indonesia but only a few who respond in the language.Having limited proficiency, they consider Bahasa Indonesia representative of their identity of being Indonesian in Australia (Phinney, 1990;Hall, 1996).As Willoughby (2006) suggests, like the young people of other ethnic minorities in Australia, young people of the study consider speaking Bahasa Indonesia as a minimum identification with Indonesia, as stated by Abdi (a male participant), while living permanently in Australia.
Second, parents believe that maintenance of Bahasa Indonesia among their children can preserve family values, which are generally influenced by the oriental collectivism.One Indonesian mother, for instance, teaches her children how to have meals while sitting cross-legged on the floor, as many families in Indonesia do, not on a dining table.This habit of communal eating may be influenced by the collectivistic belief that food should be shared among members of an extended family.
My mother does not only ask us to speak Bahasa Indonesia, but also emphasize Indonesian cultural values in the family.For instance, we sometimes eat on the floor like most Indonesian people usually do, not on a dining table.First, she asks me to sit down, crossing legs.My mother sometimes said the instruction in Javanese, "Yara, silo!", which means "Yara, cross your leg!" In addition, the age of children influences the maintenance of Bahasa Indonesia among family members.The younger the children, the more intensive the use of Bahasa Indonesia is in the family.At a very young age such as during kindergarten and primary school ages, children have more intensive contact with their parents and therefore more emphasized use of Bahasa Indonesia.When getting older, the children have less attachment with parents but more intensive contact with their peers, a condition which can reduce the use of Bahasa Indonesia.
My mother teaches me and my sister to speak Bahasa Indonesia from early on.That's why, we find it easy to speak the language, even we live in Melbourne.I may have lost my Bahasa Indonesia if my mother didn't ask us to speak the language from the very beginning (Yarra).
Later exposure hampers children's proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia.Consequently, children may respond their parents in English and gradually lose their Bahasa Indonesia skills.If parents do not insist on using the Bahasa Indonesia with their children, with a stronger influence of English, they may finally lose it.When children do not understand Bahasa Indonesia, parents find it hard to transfer their family values to the children.As Fulligni et al. (1999) point out, respect for and obedience to parents is an emphasized value, particularly among Eastern families.Parental advice is confidently delivered in Bahasa Indonesia, not English.Parents believe that the better the Bahasa Indonesia proficiency of the young people, the easier it is for them to understand parental advice.When these values are lost, tension may rise between parents and children.
The third advantage of Bahasa Indonesia maintenance is for educational purposes.The Australian government realizes the importance of mastering foreign languages among its citizens for better future international relationship, particularly with several major Asian countries -Japan, Indonesia, India, China and South Koreaas stated by the Australia in the Asian Century white paper policy 2012.For this reason, based on the National Asian Languages and Studies at School Program (NALSPSP) issued in 2008, learning a foreign language in the national curriculum received more support.In the state of Victoria, for instance, one of the subjects which students can select in the final year of secondary college, called the Victorian Certificate of Education, is a Language Other Than English (LOTE).LOTE subjects range from European languages such as French, German and Italian to Asian languages such as Mandarin, Japanese, including Bahasa Indonesia.One parent (Joko) said that his son felt confident when taking Bahasa Indonesia for his VCE subject because he always practices the language at home.
The fourth benefit is future career opportunity, which parents acknowledge very well.They believe that their children's proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia will be beneficial when they want to find jobs in the future, be it in Australia or Indonesia.
In the future, they may be working in Indonesia or anywhere.When they do so, their language skill will be beneficial for them (Susan).
The positive relationship between proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia and a prosperous future is shared by a participating mother who works as the teacher of Bahasa Indonesia at a secondary college in Western Melbourne.One Australian student in her Bahasa Indonesia class argues that his reason for studying the language is for future business plans.The student believes that his proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia will be advantageous for his future career.As Indonesia is the closest neighbouring country to Australia with a large population, the country will be a potential market for Australian companies.
This perceived benefit is also shared by the young people in this study.Fatha believes that her proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia will be beneficial in her work.In this global era, she argues, Australian multinational companies may want to expand their market to Asian countries, including Indonesia.As an Indonesian-born young person living in Australia, she understands that Indonesia is economically an important country to Australia.For instance, Indonesia is a potential market of Australian livestock business.If her current company plans to open a new branch office in Indonesia, the management must find the best person to fill the position.One requirement for this position must be proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia as most clients will be Indonesians.She believes that if such a case happens, with her proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia, she will have a good chance to fill the position.
With a stronger business relationship between Indonesia and Australia, multinational companies may want to expand their business to Indonesia.They will find professionals who can also speak Bahasa Indonesia for good business transaction.When I can speak both English and Bahasa Indonesia, I may have a big opportunity to fill the job (Fatha, female).
Another male participant who, by the time of the interview, was in year 12 argues that one reason for his choosing multimedia at secondary college is that he wants to work in the field of digital media.He believes that the skill of multimedia that he learns in Australia, together with his good proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia, may be needed if he works in Indonesia in the future.
Most scholars believe that bilingualism has a myriad of benefits (Genesee & Crago, 2004;Grosjean, 2010).The ability to speak more than one language can expand horizons.Most young people in this study argue that they feel equally Indonesian and Australian because they can speak both Bahasa Indonesia and English.I think I feel both Indonesian and Australian, equally.I look Caucasian, as my father is an Anglo-Australian, but I can also speak Bahasa Indonesia and perform Indonesian dances.So, I am just Indonesian-Australian (Yara).This ethnic identity maintenance may nurture tolerance to difference among the young people and promote the superordinate Australian national identity (Van Oudenhoven, Ward & Masgoret, 2006).
Finally, parents also argue that Bahasa Indonesia can serve as a marker of religious identity.Joseph (2004) points out that heritage language such as Arabic and Hebrew can be an ethnical religious identity.For Indonesian parents in this study, Bahasa Indonesia can also serve as a marker of religious identity.Since most religious sermons among Indonesian communities across religions (Islam, Christianity and Hindu) are delivered in Bahasa Indonesia, parents are convinced that when their children have good proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia, they will be more willing and enthusiastic to attend religious gatherings and therefore become more religious.
On the other hand, when the children's proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia is low, they may feel reluctant to attend religious sermons at the community centre because they do not understand the message of the speech.Parents acknowledge that their young people often feel reluctant to attend religious sermons due to a language barrier.One young participant argues that he feels reluctant to attend religious sermons in Bahasa Indonesia at the community centre because he has a very low proficiency in this language.I rarely attend religious sermons at the community centre because I don't understand it.If the sermon is in English, I may want to come (Bina, male).This suggests tension between parents and young people in the use of Bahasa Indonesia for religious identity.Regardless of their faith affiliations, most Indonesian parents want to maintain Bahasa Indonesia so that the young people can attend the religious sermons at the community centre.This effort of helping the young people identify with Indonesia and to better internalize the religious teachings may work well when the young people have good proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia.The use of Bahasa Indonesia for religious purposes is also preferred by most preachers (Christian, Muslim and Hindu) at the community centres who are more fluent in Bahasa Indonesia than in English.Confirming Joseph's (2004) language as religious identity, regardless of their religious affiliations, Bahasa Indonesia signifies religious identity for most Indonesians in Australia.

Possible challenges in the use of Bahasa Indonesia
Many studies suggest that the maintenance of heritage language is more the concern of parents than of the young people (Clyne, 2005;Guardado & Becker, 2014;Ghuman, 2001).In this study, parents have made a significant effort to maintain Bahasa Indonesia by speaking the language with their children, inside and outside of home.They believe that using this language signifies their youth's belonging to Indonesia and provides certain religious, educational and economic benefits.
However, the maintenance of Bahasa Indonesia in families is contested.Parents' efforts at maintaining Bahasa Indonesia do not always receive positive feedback from their children.For instance, influenced by English as the dominant language, children may prefer to respond their parents' use of Bahasa Indonesia with English.Outside of home, most young people speak English with their friends at school or university.One participant, Binda, does not feel it is necessary that he can speak Bahasa Indonesia.As the result of globalization, the existence of heritage languages such as Bahasa Indonesia is threatened and faces possible extinction (Fishman, 1997).At his secondary college, when most Indonesian young people select Bahasa Indonesia as a VCE subject, he selected business, instead.
I rarely speak Bahasa Indonesia.I was born in Australia and just visit Indonesia for a short time.I am not sure if I have to learn Bahasa Indonesia.I didn't take Bahasa Indonesia for VCE.I just took business.Business is more interesting for me than Bahasa Indonesia (Binda, male).In this issue, as the use of Bahasa Indonesia changes with the ages of children, parental socialization of this language should begin as early as possible.The older the children are, the less frequently they use Bahasa Indonesia.Some participating young people have lessened their skills in Bahasa Indonesia by the time they are at secondary college or university.They may be able to speak it but not read and write the language.Also, parents have to work hard to make the young people understand and realize the future benefits that they may gain from maintaining Bahasa Indonesia.Several parents said that their young people sometimes refuse to take Bahasa Indonesia as a VCE subject because they do not know if this choice is beneficial for their future schooling purposes.On the other hand, low proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia enables the young people to show stronger identification with Australia.They feel they are young Australians who are not really concerned with their parents' country of origin but have more positive attitude towards out of peers (DeRoza & Ward, 2005).
In addition, the use of Bahasa Indonesia for religious teaching by parents creates a dilemma.On one hand, having insufficient proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia, the young people feel reluctant to attend religious sermons as they do not really understand the message of the teachings.On the other hand, if parents still want to attract the young people to the religious teachings, the community centres should shift the language used in religious sermons from Bahasa Indonesia to English.This shift, however, may be considered as a threat to the maintenance of the language (Fishman, 1997(Fishman, , 2001a)).As such, parents' socialization of Bahasa Indonesia should also accommodate English.

CONCLUSION
This study concludes several points in relation to the use and meaning of Bahasa Indonesia among participating families.First, Bahasa Indonesia is mostly spoken at homes between parents and young people, more emphasized among parents of Indonesian-Indonesian than intermarriage couples.The context of Bahasa Indonesia use outside home is limited to community centres and cultural festivities.Second, along with the benefits of bilingualism, speaking this ethnic language is considered beneficial for current educational and future career opportunities of the young people.Parents consider speaking Bahasa Indonesia as a marker of ethnic identity for their children, signifying young people's sense of belonging to their heritage culture of Indonesia and religious identity.Finally, proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia, together with English, influences young people's identification with both Indonesia and Australia so that they show a sense of equal identification as Indonesian-Australian.
However, as the case with religious practices and educational opportunities, tension emerges in the maintenance of Bahasa Indonesia among parents and the young people, due to different perspectives on the benefits of the language for the future of the young people.Consequently, parents need to be more accommodative to English when socializing Bahasa Indonesia.
Finally, although this research is a multiplecase study, it may still represent the process of heritage language maintenance of Indonesian families in Australia as a part of identification to both Indonesia and Australia, and may also have some relevance for other similar minority groups.