While previous research has addressed tourism communication, language attitudes, and local language maintenance in Bali, less attention has been given to how everyday multilingual practices intersect with unequal linguistic value across different local environments. Using a qualitative comparative sociolinguistic design, the study draws on semi-structured interviews with five participants from Denpasar and Karangasem, supported by focused ethnographic observations and linguistic landscape documentation. The data were analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis and interpreted through the concepts of translanguaging and linguistic capital. The findings show that Balinese remains central to local, familial, ritual, and community-based interaction, while Bahasa Indonesia functions as a language of education, intergroup communication, and wider social participation, also English is primarily associated with tourism, commercial interaction, and communication with international visitors. The findings also show that speakers deploy translanguaging practices to accommodate interlocutors, include non-Balinese participants, manage tourism-related encounters, and navigate digital communication. Finally, residents perceive the three languages as carrying different but overlapping forms of value: Balinese as symbolic and communal capital, Bahasa Indonesia as institutional and intergroup capital, and English as economic capital. These values are reflected in language maintenance practices and public linguistic environments. The study argues that language maintenance in Bali should be understood not only through language shift, but also through the situated value of linguistic resources across social domains.

Authors:
Adrian Rasyki, Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia
Dwi Rezki Hardianto Putra Rustan, Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia

About the Presenter(s)
Adrian Rasyki is an Assistant Professor in the English Education Program at Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia. His research interest includes, but not limited to, Applied Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Discourse Analysis.

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adrian-Rasyki?ev=hdr_xprf

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