Becoming Polyglots through Formal and Non-Formal Language Education

It is not surprising that there are Indonesian people who are able to communicate only in one language, i.e., their native Language (L1). Some Javanese people—the major ethnic group living in East and Central Java -are only able to communicate in Javanese; some Sundanese people—the second major ethnic group living in West Java -are able to communicate only in Sundanese; and some Banjarese—the people living in South Kalimantan province are only able to communicate in Banjarese. This is especially true for those who never experience formal education and live in villages and remote areas for almost of their lives. For those who have ever gone to and attended formal education, they are usually able to communicate at least in two different languages, i.e., their L1 and Indonesian language, their L2. Even, some Indonesian people are not only able to communicate in L1 and L2, but also are able to communicate in more languages. In relation to these phenomena, the following question is raised: “Why do some people be able to communicate only in one language while some others are able to communicate in more, different languages?”

The Problem of Ethnicity in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner

Ethnicity is a worldwide matter and is based on a cluster of personality originated from some ancestry and shares some common traits like language, culture, religion, rite and rituals of the society. Belonging to the same inherited status every member of the ethnic group share same dress -style and have similar physical appearance. "Ethnicity refers to a group of people who are of the same origin, history, values , attitude and behavior[1].In every nation throughout the world, there are some ethnic group. Afghanistan is such a country where there is a large number of ethnic group like - Pashtuns, Hazara, Tajik, Uzbek, Aimak, Turkman,and Beloch etc. Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner set in Afghanistan and U.S.A. depicts the two major ethnic group of Afghanistan-Pashtuns and Hazara along with their social, cultural and religious conflict. In "The Kite Runner "the Pashtuns the largest ethnic group of the nation, run the country and have the power in their hands whereas Hazara are small in group are slave to them.

The Significance of Rumah Terbuka during Eid Festivity in Promoting Visitor Attraction

Owing to the multi-ethnic backgrounds, Malaysians celebrate their annual festivals and all of the celebrations have become a cultural tradition. The major ethnic group festival celebrations include Hari Raya Aidilfitri (Malays), Deepavali (Indians) and Chinese New Year (Chinese), have been recognised by the Malaysian government to be a national celebration and yearly events. These events are popularly known as Rumah Terbuka. Even though the celebration of Rumah Terbuka festivals have started and celebrated widely many years ago, each celebration has managed to attract a huge crowd from different ethnicities and backgrounds. People are willing to spend time queuing which sometimes could stretch into long hours before they can be seated and enjoy the Rumah Terbuka festivals. Therefore, it raises a question on factors that influence visitors to attend the festivals. Hence, this study empirically examines the factors that influence visitors to attend the Rumah Terbuka Aidilfitri festival. Using this festival in Perak as 26 the contextual setting, the visitors were given questionnaires to be answered. Through a series of analyses, some useful insights or predictors on the issue of interest were obtained. Majority of the respondents demonstrated positive responses on the attributes of the festival. Improvement needs to be done by the government authorities or the organiser in planning and managing such festival in order to increase visitor satisfaction. The findings for this study could contribute to the body of new knowledge regarding the festival celebration. Keywords: eid festivity, rumah terbuka, Malaysia, Malays, festival, foods, visitor

Factors influencing the illegal harvest of wildlife by trapping and snaring among the Katu ethnic group in Vietnam

The harvest of wildlife through hunting, trapping and snaring is illegal in Vietnam but remains widespread and is understood to be the major threat to many species. Clandestine activities such as trapping and snaring, which are deeply embedded in the culture and economy, are difficult to investigate and this study is the first to carry out in-depth research into the illegal capture and sale of wildlife by a major ethnic group in Vietnam. The research focused on two villages of the Katu, a forest-dwelling people living close to the boundary of the newly created Saola Nature Reserve, and involved collecting data from a focus group, 30 semi-structured interviews with trappers, and a number of informal, unstructured interviews with local forest rangers, forest officers and village headmen. We find that trapping is widespread and motivated by financial gain and non-pecuniary benefits such as social esteem and enjoyment, rather than by poverty per se. Trappers’ awareness of wildlife protection law was low and animals were killed indiscriminately in traps and snares designed to catch a range of animal species. With demand for wildlife and wildlife products expected to increase we believe that new approaches will be required to protect threatened species in Vietnamese protected areas.

Spatial aspects of emigration out of Serbia: Three "Hot" emigration zones

The paper analyzed the dynamics of the emigration of the population of Serbia in the period of 1971 to 2011, primarily based on the results of the five latest population censuses. Special attention was paid to the spatial aspect of emigration, at the level of the lowest administrative units (municipalities). It was shown that the shares of persons working or living aboard were very uneven by municipality, and that the differences became increasingly pronounced over time. Very uneven shares of persons working or living abroad in the total population of Serbia by municipality, as well as the trend of increasing differences, also influenced the very heterogeneous spatial distribution of that emigration contingent. Based on the concentration of population abroad, as well as the percentage of persons abroad in the total population (in the country and abroad), the paper defines three "hot" zones of substantial emigration. Zone 1 (in the central-eastern Serbia) is traditionally a high emigration area, which, for all three observed points in time (1991, 2002 and 2011), had at least twice as high a share of population abroad as the average for Serbia. Zone 2 (in the south of Serbia) consists of the municipalities of Bujanovac and Presevo, where the majority of the population consists of ethnic Albanians. The shares of population abroad was already in 1981 and 1991 noticeably higher than the average for Serbia, but also significantly lower than in Zone 1. Between 1991 and 2002, the number of emigrants from that zone was more than tripled, and their share in the total population of emigration Zone 2 increased from 6.1% to 23.1% in 2011. Zone 3 (five municipalities from the Serbian part of the region of Sandzak) did not join the group of notably emigration areas until the 1990s. Between 1991 and 2002, the number of persons abroad increased by up to six times, and their share in the total population of those five Sandzak municipalities increased from 2.3% to 12.6%. In this paper, all three zones were analyzed, as well as the structures of emigrants based on the length of their stay abroad, the country of destination and ethnic composition. For all three zones, it is notable that the countries of destination do not differ significantly in terms of length of stay abroad, based on which the authors conclude that new emigrants primarily go to places that already have formed migrant networks. In all three zones, the share of ethnic Serbs in the total population of the country is greater than their share in the total number of emigrants. Additionally, census data indicated that members of the local major ethnic group in Zones 2 and 3 participated significantly more often in international migration than "local" ethnic Serbs. In connection to this, the authors stress the importance of the political aspect of this issue, especially in the period of crises and wars during the 1990s.