Multilingualism and Intergroup Verbal Communication in Langensari: Communicative Rationality of Borders

Abstract

Multilingualism is a central element in the dynamics of verbal communication among groups in Langensari District, Banjar City. This research aims to explore the phenomenon of multilingualism and the variety of communication between its community groups. Through a qualitative phenomenological approach using the Basa Urang Project Interview Package (Cohn et al., 2013) complemented by structured questionnaire sets and field observation notes with 38 respondents selected via purposive sampling, representing local families, economic actors, and school members. This study reveals that the Langensari community is multilingual, comprising speakers of Sundanese, Javanese, and Indonesian. Data analysis was carried out through data reduction, thematic contextual interpretation of interview transcripts, and numerical tabulation to map language patterns. In this study, multilingual practices are defined as the dynamic integration, alternate use, and switching of linguistic units from two or more languages within an utterance. Results show that multilingualism in Langensari District remains established through communication among family members, which reinforces regional languages as the basis of identity. Meanwhile, interaction among economic actors, among school members, and in other public spaces is dominated by Indonesian as a formal lingua franca. The sociolinguistic flexibility of the community is further reflected through the trend of multilingual practices, specifically code-switching types such as JaSun, JaIna, and SunIna, to bridge ethnic diversity in daily interactions. The novelty of this study is the Communicative Rationality of Borders (CRB) framework, showing how trilingual speakers balance identity preservation with pragmatic accommodation to guide language policy. Future research should track dialect evolution in digital-native youth and test CRB in other borderlands.