Abstract
Gugon tuhon is a speech used by Javanese parents to give advice and teach good behaviors to their children. This paper deals with the children’s age factor which influences on their comprehension of gugon tuhons concerning eating etiquette. The data were collected through a questionnaire on children’s comprehension, belief, and obedience to gugon tuhons, which targeted children of 1st graders (7–8 years old), 3rd graders (9–10 years old), and 5th graders (11–12 years old) in Kediri city, East Java. Using a qualitative method, the data were analyzed and described based on Austin and Searle’s speech act theory. The results show that in today’s modern era, gugon tuhons concerning eating etiquette are still used as a means for character building in Javanese families, so as for parents to introduce social and cultural norms of eating etiquette to their children. It is found that there are different understandings of this kind of speech. Children’s different understanding of gugon tuhons provides an insight into the language phenomenon in modern society, particularly as to how children’s age influences their illocutionary speech acts in comprehending gugon tuhons.
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Introduction
Indonesia is well-known for its cultural richness. Teachings of values are passed down from generation to generation in the form of oral tradition. According to Ethnologue (2020), Indonesia has 704 indigenous languages, encoding local wisdom. These used to be spread orally, now they are documented (Misnah, 2019, p. 1; Sugiyono, 2019). According to Tol and Pudentia (1995, p. 12), customs are conveyed orally in the form of folklores, myths, and legends that contain teachings about local practice, directions, customary laws, and traditional medication, passed down and from generation to generation. Beside folklores, myths and legends, the form of oral tradition vary, such as proverbs, poems, propositions, rhymes, riddles, and songs (Dananjaya, 1991, pp. 21–22). These oral traditions differ across Indonesia. In the western part of Indonesia, like in Bintan (an island between Malaysia and Indonesia, Sumatera island respectively), the oral tradition comes from the Malay heritage and in a form of folklore that informs teachings of their life cyle values from birth to pass away, herbal medicine, occupation until social relationship (Leoni & Indrayatti, 2018).
Moreover, in Minangkabau, with population of 6,463,000 in 2011 according to ethnologue census, 4,240,000 people according to United Nation Statistics Division (UNSD) speak Minang language. Minang language have propositions as expressions of belief that consist of teachings in the form of an appeal for not conducting particular action (Andheska, 2018, pp. 24–26). Then in the Eastern part of Indonesia, ethnic Kaili of Sigi district in Central Sulawesi has motutura as a local wisdom that taught orally. Kaili people used motutura as a mean to transfer historical knowledge that contains good teaching values that can still be used nowadays (Misnah, 2019, pp. 3–4). However, in the heart of Indonesia, respectively in Java Island, there is Javanese ethnicity with a population of 95,200,000 according to 20,011 Ethnologue census. According to 2015 UNSD, 68,200,000 people speak Javanese language, thus it becomes the most speaking language in Indonesia. This puts Javanese language as one of prominent languages in Indonesia, beside Sundanese (34,000,000) and Madurese (13,600,000) in Sugiyono (2019).
Therefore, this research focus is on the oral tradition in Javanese as a part of Indonesia. Javanese has long history of oral traditions that comes in diverse forms. Saloka ‘fixed-structure parables about human,’ peribasan fixed-structured idioms,’ bebasan ‘fixed-structure parables about humans character,’ tembung entar ‘figure of speech,’ parikan ‘phrases like rhymes,’ wangsalan ‘riddles and answers in disguise,’ Gugon Tuhon ‘teachings of values that are believed to have certain effects,’ and many more are some of the forms (Rahyono, 2015, pp. 206–207). Furthermore, Gugon Tuhon is one of oral traditions in the forms of propositions which contains piwulang ‘knowledge’ of orders and prohibitions, as a guidance of good conduct, respectively (Nurjanah & Widhyasmaramurti, 2020, 127). Rahyono (2015, pp. 104–105) explained that a proposition is a cultural expression whose meaning is formed through cultural conventions that carried out by a deep process of interpretation. The interpretation is not only based on the semantic meaning but also pragmatics one as the meaning that wanted to be obtained by the proposition maker. The proposition in the end becomes the concept of the community's mind and is communicated as a cultural form by the speakers (Rahyono, 2015, pp. 105–106). Therefore, proposition is usually introduced and taught by mothers since early childhood.
A child’s experience of language acquisition starts from the day of birth (Ochs & Schieffelin, 2012, p. 8) when the parents speak to them. Through communicating with the child, parents inevitably pass down their values and beliefs. Among Javanese people, children are considered to be durung ngerti ‘not yet have the (required) understanding,’ especially in terms of moral and cultural expectations–what is allowed and what should not be done, and differentiating the good from the bad. In most cases, when they make mistakes, their parents will teach them the values by threatening them. According to Geertz (1961, p. 51), the threats that Javanese parents make reference outside forces, such as evil spirits, dogs, and strangers, all of which will harm the children if they fail to behave. Through these threats, the children become fearful and seek protection/security from their family.
Prohibitive rules conveyed by Javanese parents to their children are compiled in Gugon Tuhon, a set of maxims believed to have a certain influence or strength (Padmosoekotjo, 1958, p. 109). As for what is meant by influence or strength is namely in the form of a ban which was given by Javanese parents to children related to forces outside the family which will threaten children if they do not act well (Geetz, 1961, p. 151). Therefore, by using the prohibition as Gugon Tuhon, children are expected to be able to control themselves, be able to carry themselves politely, calmly, and in harmony. More specifically, Gugon Tuhon is considered as maxims that describe cultural values and etiquette of Javanese culture, which can be applied in everyday life (e.g., the etiquette of lungguh ‘sitting,’ turu ‘sleeping,’ and mangan ‘eating’).
We collected preliminary data from www.sastra.org in the form 148 Gugon Tuhon maxims. Of these, 18% are concerned with eating etiquette. It shows that in Javanese, eating does not merely fulfill basic daily needs, but is also viewed as a type of ceremony that is both social and religious. Therefore, when eating together, family members have time to mingle, in this case, the mother as a parent can pay more attention to the child's behavior, thus allowing the Gugon Tuhon which related to eating etiquette to be spoken by mothers to their children. If the child does an act that is not considered well, such as not finishing their food, then the mother will say a Gugon Tuhon: “Yen madhang aja sok nisa, mundhak pitike mati” ‘If you eat, don't leave any remains or the chickens will die.’ However, sometimes the child does not realize that the Gugon Tuhon spoken by the mother is actually as a teaching for not wasting the food. They only understand it as a prohibition from mothers not to waste food. The presence of this Gugon Gugon in the middle of Javanese community shows that the Gugon Tuhon is still productively taught to children by mothers. These eating narratives support Tannen, Hamilton, and Schiffrin's claim (2015, pp. 685–686) that children’s discourses can be seen from their participation in family routines such as dinner. Therefore, this study examines the extent to which children understand the etiquette. To find out, we interviewed primary school children on the topic of 10 Gugon Tuhon maxims on eating.
To Javanese people, eating ettiquete can be stated as unspoken rules that are used as guidelines, and if such rules are violated, the person in question is considered to be rude. Examples of Gugon Tuhon maxims about eating etiquette specify such things as: food that is and is not allowed to be consumed; procedures for starting and finishing a meal; and table manners. Overall, these maxims emphasize noble character values, usefulness, enjoyment, and healthy habits. Consider the previous Gugon Tuhon of children who are afraid to leave their food uneaten. This maxim is based on the notion that if the child leaves the food uneaten, then his/her chicken will die. Through this figure of speech, the child is expected to exercise control and not place too much food on his/her plate in the first place.
However, the Gugon Tuhon maxims are being increasingly abandoned by Javanese parents as they believe such maxims are either irrational or superstitious. According to Subalidinata (1968, p. 13), in general, those who have been warned about the bad consequences of not following the maxims are afraid to break them, whereas the purpose of the maxims is to prevent a person from taking an undesirable action in the first place. Conversely, parents do not adequately explain the meaning of such rules of conduct, because they assume that the children are passive recipients of local culture (Boas, as cited in Ochs & Schieffelin, 2012, p. 3). From the above problems, it is seen that there is an inequality in meaning in communication about the Gugon Tuhon spoken by parents as speakers to children as listeners. Remembering the children who are the listeners, so that it will be difficult to respond to the intentions of the speakers.
For this study, the researchers selected 64 primary school students to participate, since children at that age group start to build their cultural foundations and are expected to develop good eating habits. As stated by Papalia and Martorell (2000), children aged 7 and 8 are usually aware of feelings of shame and pride, and they begin to differentiate between wrong and right behaviors. Children between the ages of 7 and 12 begin to care about cultural rules and expect them to know emotional expressions acceptable in society. Based on these assumptions, we recruited three groups of primary school students: 1st grade (7–8 years old), 3rd grade (9–10 years old), and 5th grade (11–12 years old). The study was conducted in Kediri, East Java. According to Kodiran (in Koentjaraningrat, 1988, p. 329), before major changes occurred to Javanese cultural, Kediri was an area where Kejawen–a form of Javanese spiritualism–was strongly adhered to. In fact, most elderlies in Kediri still strongly abide by the traditions and beliefs passed down by their ancestors. In addition, people in Kediri mainly speak Javanese language in the home, therefore there is a great possibility that the Gugon Tuhon maxims are still being delivered verbally to the children there.
Theoretical Framework
This study is a pragmatic study of Javanese cultural maxims on eating. Levinson (1983, p. 5) provides a broad definition of pragmatics as a study of language use. He elaborates that “pragmatics is the study of those relations between language and context that are grammaticalized, or encoded in the structure of a language” (Levinson, 1983, p. 9). When language is used in a speech event and performed by native speakers, the meanings and messages that are produced are not only related to grammatical structures, but also to pragmatic meanings. One of the pragmatic domains that deals with this is speech act.
The term “speech act” was introduced by Austin (1975, pp. 94–108), that mention the three actions generated by a speech: locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts. A locutionary act is the basis of an action, which is related to the act of uttering the speech. An illocutionary act is an act of speech that pertains to the speaker’s intentions being realized through discourse. Searle (1979) divides illocution acts into five categories: (1) assertive (speaking about the truth of the expressed statements, e.g., reporting); (2) directive (speech acts performed by a speaker with the intention of influencing the listener(s) to complete an action, e.g., ordering); (3) expressive (speech acts performed so that the utterance is interpreted as an evaluation of the aspects mentioned in the utterance, e.g., criticizing); (4) commissive (binds the speaker’s commitment to do something, e.g., threatening or promising); and (5) declaration (speech acts conducted to change the status quo after it has been declared, e.g., deciding). Finally, a perlocutionary act is a speech act that relates to the consequences or effects of a particular action on the listener(s).
From the definitions above, it is clear that Gugon Tuhon is closely related to speech acts. At the locutionary level, Gugon Tuhon is expressed as an imperative or prohibition. However, at the illocutionary level, Gugon Tuhon serves as a directive as it is actually an advice from the speaker to the addressee (usually a child). By focusing on the illocutionary act, we asked whether the children in our study understand the maxims for eating. Meanwhile, at the perlocutionary level, Gugon Tuhon is expected to elicit some response or action from the interlocutor as a result of the speech act. This can be seen from the children's belief and obedience to Gugon Tuhon. Morever, Andari and Widhyasmaramurti (2019, p. 821) stated that the Gugon Tuhon is related to pragmatic because it has an effect to listeners. The application of speech act theory by Austin (1975) as pragmatic domains occur through locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts. For example, in Gugon Tuhon: “Yen madhang aja sok nisa, mundhak pitike mati” ‘If you eat, don't leave any remains or the chickens will die.’ The locutionary is in the form of the spoken Gugon Tuhon which was spoken by a mother to her child, and the child who heard the Gugon Tuhon understood it as illocutionary which is an order to finish his/her food. The perlocutionary that occurs is the child's action to finish his/her food because the child will be afraid for not finishing his/her food for his/her chicken will die. Therefore, what is meant by obedience here is, how the ladder or actions of children regarding the Gugon Tuhon. If the child gives a positive response (acceptance) then the child is obedient and does what is forbidden in Gugon Tuhon. Conversely, if a child responds negatively (rejection) then the child is disobedient and does not do what is prohibited in the Gugon Tuhon.
Method
This research employs a quantitative approach, because it includes survey research that uses questionnaires as research instruments. It aims to see to what extent children in Kediri comprehend and follow Gugon Tuhon, taking their ages into account. According to Piaget (in Hurlock, 1978, p. 80), children begin to judge my behavior on the basis of the underlying objectives at the age between 7 or 8 years and continue until the age of 12 years or more. At this stage, the rigid concept of the right and wrong and the actions learned from parents begin to change and there is a modification. These conditions make children begin to consider certain circumstances related to moral violations. Based on these assumptions, this study followed several steps as follows:
Preparing the Instrument
The making of research instruments begins with collecting reference sources for instruments containing the Gugon Tuhon. The written references that were used carefully in collecting the Gugon Tuhon were taken from Serat Gugon Tuhon Prawira Winarsa from www.sastra.org as primary reference and Ngengrengan Kasusastran Djawa I (Padmosoekotjo, 1958) as secondary reference. At the beginning, there were 198 Gugon Tuhon from both references. Then these 198 Gugon Tuhon were classified and sorted in by using keywords, namely “eating” and any relation to “eating activities.” Then the result is marked by the presence of the verb “to eat” (e.g., madhang, manganese, nedha), until it obtained 27 Gugon Tuhon. These 27 Gugon Tuhon is grouped again based on a keyword which is “eating habits.” Furthermore, these habits are still actively used by the people of Kediri City Then from this sorting process, 10 Gugon Tuhon were obtained.
The instrument for collecting the research data was in the form of a list of questions in the form of a survey questionnaire. The questions were formulated with the intention of knowing the differences in comprehension, belief, and obedience of elementary school children from different grades. The survey questionnaire contains closed questions (multi-choice question), in which the respondents were asked to select one of the answers provided by circling the appropriate answers for each question. Before distributing the questionnaires, the instrument was pre-tested in order to support the validity of the data.
The survey questionnaire used in this study consisted of two parts. The first part includes questions on the personal background of the participants. The participants’ personal data consist of name; gender; place of birth date or age; number of siblings; father's job; mother's job; mother tongue; questions about the language used at home and at school (in the form of “Yes” or “No” answer choices). Followed by the personal’s questions related to language used, such as whether Javanese, Indonesian, and/or foreign languages; questions at home with anyone, whether parents, grandparents, and/or siblings; questions have the habit of eating together or not; answer “Yes” followed by the question of eating together with whom, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, and/or siblings.
The second part, consists of a list of 10 Gugon Tuhon maxims associated with eating etiquette. For each narrative, some questions were asked regarding whether the children have heard it, believe it, and obey it, respectively. Furthermore, each Gugon Tuhon is accompanied by a list of questions related to whether the child has heard Gugon Tuhon or not; understand the meaning or not; believe it or not; when you have heard, heard from whom: father, mother, grandparent, teacher, other people, or all the answers. Moreover, there is a “to or do” question. Participants were asked in the form of “Yes” or “No” question. If the answer is “Yes,” then why do you do it, whether you are afraid of those who say it, afraid if it happens, and/or know that it's not good, or there are other reasons. In the selection of hearing Gugon Tuhon from whom and the reasons for doing a particular action suggested by thea meaning of the Gugon Tuhon, the participants can choose more than one. The language used in both parts are Indonesian, except for the Gugon Tuhon. This was done so that children could more easily understand the questions.
Researchers conducted a pretest twice. First, the pretest was conducted by researchers and teams who positioned themselves as participants. From this pretest the researcher corrected the list of inaccurate questions. Second, the pretest was conducted on three children in the study destination. It was intended to see how far the questionnaire made can be understood by participants. From these trials it is sufficient to be used as a benchmark for continuing data collection in the field. The questions were designed to take into account the influence of age on the children's comprehension of Gugon Tuhon. For this purpose, 10 Gugon Tuhon maxims associated with eating etiquette were presented to the students. The following are the 10 Gugon Tuhon maxims used in this study.
(1) | Aja sok mangan nyongga ajang, pincuk, takir, godhong, lan sejene, mundhak kemaga. |
‘Do not eat by holding up the bowls/plates, bowl-/plate-like container made of banana leaf, leaves, and the like, as you will be disappointed later.’ |
This maxim is intended to be used by parents to forbid children to carry plates with one hand. Not only is holding up a plate with one hand considered rude in Javanese culture, but it is also risky, as food may easily spill and be wasted. Some participants in our study mentioned that they have been told holding a plate with one hand is ora ilok ‘inappropriate.’
(2) | Aja sok mangan ana paturon, mundhak lara gudhigen. |
‘Don’t eat in bed, as you will get scabies.’ |
The function of this maxim is to discourage children from eating in bed. More specifically, if children bring food to bed, it makes the bed dirty and may invites insects, and therefore makes it uncomfortable for children to sleep on. Having a dirty bed is unhygienic, so the narrative mentions eating in bed can cause scabies, which is a disease caused by poor hygiene. In Javanese culture, lack of hygiene is understood as something to be shameful of, and some children were afraid of to violate the narrative based on this reason alone.
(3) | Nak madhang aja ngolah-ngalih panggonan, besuk mundhak kerep rabi. |
‘If you eat, don’t move around, as you will end up having to go through several marriages.’ |
Young children tend to run around, including during meal times, which causes distress for the parents who are trying to feed them. Aside from possible choking and upsetting the digestive process, moving around too often while eating indicates that the child is unsettled and is likened to a person who marries often or who frequently changes their life partners.
(4) | Aja mangan karo ngadeg, wetenge dadi dawa. |
‘Don’t eat while standing, or your stomach will grow long.’ |
A child who is standing and eating usually does so because he/she is in a hurry, but standing while eating is considered rude in Javanese culture. If a child eats too quickly, then it negatively affects the digestive process. Parents warn children that their stomach will grow “long” or distended to discourage them from doing so.
(5) | Aja memangan karo taturon, mundhak adoh malaekate. |
‘Do not eat while lying down, as it drives the angels away.’ |
It is believed that angels love good things that are clean and white. Aside from disrupting the digestive process and contaminating the bed, the message here is that angels do not come to dirty places and if they stay away, then the child will grow into an evil human being.
(6) | Yen madhang aja sok nisa, mundhak mati pitike. |
‘If you eat, don’t leave any remains or the chickens will die.’ |
Parents use this maxim to frighten their children and make them obey the rule for eating. Children usually love chickens, so the thought of them die scares them. This narrative is based on the reasoning that leftover food can be given to chickens, and too much leftover could make make them fat and eventually die. The real intention behind this maxim is to teach children about manners, i.e., to understand the size of a portion, and to appreciate their parents’ efforts in preparing the food.
(7) | Yen nengahi mamah, nanedha aja cecaturan, mundhak keselak. |
‘If you’re chewing food, don’t talk as you could choke.’ |
There is a logical reason behind this prohibition. Aside from being impolite, talking while eating can make someone choke.
(8) | Yen nengah-nengahi madhang aja sok ngombe, iku dibahasakake anggedhekake kamukten. |
‘If in the middle of eating, don’t drink often as it can be said to exaggerate the joy of life.’ |
Parents use this maxim to forbid children to drink too often during eating. Aside from being considered rude in Javanese culture and disrupting the digestive process, children who drink too often in the middle of a meal are likened to people who flaunt themselves in front of others.
(9) | Aja sok mangan pepanganan kang panas-panas, mundhak gelis ompong. |
‘Don’t eat hot [temperature] foods often, as you will soon be toothless.’ |
The meaning of this maxim is that parents forbid children to eat hot (temperature) foods, since it is believed that eating hot foods results in less chewing and therefore disrupts digestion. Hot food is also believed to be damaging to one’s teeth. In addition, people who eat food that is still hot are considered impatient (i.e., they cannot wait until the food cools down), which is rude in Javanese culture.
(10) | Aja sok ngokop kokohan, mundhak peteng atine. |
‘Do not drink the vegetable soup directly from the bowl, as it will darken the heart.’ |
Ngokop ‘gulping’ refers to an action of sticking the mouth directly into the bowl. During this action, a raised bowl can cover the face and block the eyes. Aside from being rude or inappropriate in Javanese culture, it is believed to resemble the darkness of a person’s heart.
Participants
This research used purposive sampling technique in selecting the participants. This means that the sample was taken because it was based on a specific objective, not strata, random, or regional. Researchers took samples at SD Negeri Blabak 4 by recruiting three groups of primary school students: 1st grade (7–8 years old), 3rd grade (9–10 years old), and 5th grade (11–12 years old). The purpose of selecting research subjects with intervals of two classes is to describe elementary school age children. The majority of children as sample were male, aged 11–12 years, and were dominated by single children. When viewed from the child's relationship with the family, most of the participants’ fathers work as laborers, while the average mother's job is as a housewife. Then most children live with their parents, although not a few also live with their parents and grandparents. In the family, children tend to eat together, especially eating with their mother.
However, when it is viewed from a language perspective, on average, children tend to prefer to use Javanese in their daily life because the majority of their mother tongue is Javanese. At home, the majority of children tend to use Javanese, but there are also some who use Indonesian interchangeably. However, different things were shown by the children when they were at school. At school, children tend to look at their speech partners or who the person is talking to. With their teachers, all children use Indonesian language as well as in the process of teaching and learning activities. The teacher is required to speak Indonesian, but there are also children who use Javanese and Indonesian in turn. When communicating with friends, children tend to choose to use Javanese even though their first language is Indonesian. Apart from peers, children in communicating with other people (traders, gardeners, etc.) at school also tend to prefer to use Javanese. So, the children who were participants of this study tended to be bilingual because they had already acquired two languages, namely Javanese and Indonesian.
The participants in this study were 71 students but only 64 children are considered qualified participants while 7 other participants are sorted out because they had filled the questionnaire incorrectly or they were not a local resident. The participants criteria are: first, students of SD Negeri Blabak 4 who are in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades; second, they are local residents of Blabak area; third, they are able to speak in both Indonesian and Javanese; and fourth, they are able to read questionnaire.
Data Collection Procedure
The data were collected within a period of three days in the children's classrooms. On the first day, the researchers distributed the questionnaires to each participant by stating the Gugon Tuhon to them individually and assisted them in completing the questionnaires in case they had questions. However, after the participants heard the stated Gugon Tuhon, the participants were asked to complete the questionnaires themselves.
On the second day, the researchers grouped the participants according to the proximity of their seats. This is necessary to effectively control the questionnaire completion by respondents that they answered independently. On the last day, an evaluation was performed after the submission of completed questionnaires by the participants, to check that all questions had been answered.
Considering that the respondents are still children, in order to make it easier to fill in the questionnaire, the researcher guides how to fill out the survey questionnaire and helps to provide the synonym of Gugon Tuhon that matches the dialect of Kediri. After the child finished filling in, the researcher checked the answers so that no questions were missed. Then the researcher gave a thank you to the child for willing to fill out the survey questionnaire. However, only 64 of 71 copies of the questionnaire are eligible to be used as data.
Sorting the Data
As previously described, among the 71 returned questionnaires, 7 were excluded due to children's errors in answer the questionnaires or the fact that they were not local residents. A total of 64 completed responses were used as data in this study. The following are the categories of the participants who completed the questionnaires, based on their grade.
Data Processing
The data were processed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program for the purposes of quantitative analysis. Frequency is calculated for children’s personal background, belief, comprehension, and obedience. Data processing was performed in several steps. Firstly, we created a data code to allow reading by SPSS matrix; secondly, we transferred the data to the computer, cleaning any errosr in entering the code, and finally, we presented the data quantitatively in the form of frequency tables and diagrams.
Data Analysis
The SPSS program was used to ensure an easier and more effective process rather than processing data manually. The actual data was processed by frequency analysis, while the Gugon Tuhon data was processed according to the class variable (interval = two classes): 1st grade (7–8 years old), 3rd grade (9–10 years old), and 5th grade (11–12 years old). The respondents’ answers were also tabulated and quantified in order to obtain some information about children’s comprehension of the Gugon Tuhon maxims according to age and grade level.
In order to determine the influence of age on children’s comprehension of the Gugon Tuhon maxims associated with eating etiquette, we applied Austin and Searle’s speech act theory on the data. The following is an example of our data analysis:
(1) | Yen madhang aja sok nisa, mundhak mati pitike. |
'If you eat, don’t leave any food or the chickens will die.' |
First, the maxim is intended to be performed as a locutionary act. The locutionary act in this maxim is the Gugon Tuhon (1). The form of this locutionary act is an imperative sentence of prohibition. The percentage differences for the three grade levels will then be presented in regard to whether they have heard of this maxim. Second, the illocutionary act in this maxim is a directive that is a piece of advice given by the speaker to the speech partner. The prohibition is supported by the word aja ‘don’t’. In order to determine the illocutionary act, the percentages for the children’s comprehension of this maxim will be presented. Finally, the perlocutionary act regarding the effects generated in the maxim can be obtained from the students’ responses.
Results and Discussion
In this section, we present the quantitative data analysis showing the degree of the children's comprehension, trust, and obedience toward Gugon Tuhon based on their age. In this study, the obedience indicator is the representation of the perlocutionary act. However, before such figures are presented,
Participants’ Background
This section presents the personal data of the respondents (64 students). As shown in Table 2, among the 64 respondents, there are more males (56%) than females (44%). Moreover, in the 1st and 5th grades, the majority of respondents were male (64% and 63%, respectively). In contrast, the majority of 3rd graders were female (60%).
In terms of the order of birth, youngest children constitute the majority of participants, with a percentage of 44%. By contrast, the first-born and middle children constitute the smallest number of participants (16%).
Table 4 presents the language(s) used by the participants in their daily life. Of the 64 respondents, 78% stated that Javanese was their mother tongue (first language). They still actively speak Javanese within the family, at school, and in other public contexts. By contrast, they speak Indonesian in a seemingly passive contexts, such as during classroom activities.
According to Table 5, the majority of participants lived with their parents (42%). However, from the perspective of grade levels, the majority of 3rd graders lived with their parents and grandparents (30%), while the majority of 1st and 5th graders lived with their parents (71% and 40%, respectively).
As shown in Table 6, the majority of participants had a routine of eating together as a family (78%). Of all participants, 79% of the 1st grades had the habit of eating together, while 80% of the 3rd graders, and 77% of the 5th graders followed this routine. Children who are able to eat with their families, particularly mothers, come from middle class families. Those who are grow up in low income families usually lack of quality time with their mothers since their mothers are usually working out of home in factories or rice fields. As working mothers do not spend their time accompanying their children while eating, they do not have chances in seeing their children behaviors when eating and reprimand them using Gugon Tuhon if their children not paying attention on their eating etiquette.
The Children’s Comprehension, Belief, and Obedience with Respect to Gugon Tuhon About Eating Etiquette
This section discusses the quantitative data that was used to observe the differences in the children’s comprehension, belief, and obedience to the Gugon Tuhon maxims based on grade level.
According to Table 7, maxims (6) and (9) are adhered to the most by the respondents (69%), whereas maxim (10) was adhered to the least (39%). However, based on grade level, 100% of the 1st graders adhered to maxim (6), while only 21% of them adhered to maxim (10). In the 3rd grade, maxim (6) was adhered to the most by the students (95%), whereas maxim (10) was adhered to the least (65%). Among the 5th graders, maxims (5) and (6) were adhered to the most (83%), whereas maxim (3) was adhered to the least (40%).
Overall, the results of the analysis indicate that the 3rd graders adhered to nine out of the 10 Gugon Tuhon maxims. It can be concluded, then, that the 3rd graders adhered to the maxims more than the other two grade levels.
According to Table 8 and Fig. 1, maxims (6) and (9) were understood the most by the students (69%), whereas maxim (10) was understood the least (39%). However, based on the grade level, in the 3rd grade, maxims (6) and (9) were understood the most among the students (70%), while maxim (10) was understood the least (40%). As for the 5th grader, maxims (5) and (6) were understood the most (70%), whereas maxim (1) was understood the least (40%).
The respondents’ comprehension of the Gugon Tuhon maxims based on grade level
Among all grade levels, the 3rd and 5th grades had the highest average percentage (54.5%). As for the 3rd grade, five out of the 10 Gugon Tuhon maxims had a high percentage. This means that the majority of the 3rd graders comprehended most of the Gugon Tuhon maxims. The five maxims in question were (1), (2), (3), (6), and (8). Furthermore, the 5th graders had a higher percentage in comprehending maxims (5), (6), (7), and (10). However, in comprehending maxim (6), the 3rd and 5th graders demonstrated the same percentage (70%). Finally, the 1st graders had the highest comprehension of maxims (4) and (9).
As shown in Table 9 and Fig. 2, maxim (7) was believed the most by the students (78%), whereas maxim (4) was believed the least (42%). However, based on the grade level, 79% of the 1st graders believed maxims (6) and (7), while only 36% of them believed maxim (3). In the 3rd grade, maxims (6) and (7) were believed the most (90%), whereas maxims (1) and (4) were believed the least among the students (70%).
The respondents’ belief in the Gugon Tuhon based on the grade level
The respondents’ obedience to the Gugon Tuhon narratives based on grade level
Among all grade levels, the 3rd grade had the highest percentage overall. This indicates that the majority of the 3rd graders believed in the Gugon Tuhon maxims.
Based on the overall data for the three groups of respondents, maxim (6) was the most obeyed (73%), where maxim (3) was the least obeyed (29%). However, based on the grade level, 79% of the 1st graders obeyed maxim (6), whereas maxim (10) was only obeyed by 14% of the students. In the 3rd grade, maxims (5) and (6) were the most obeyed (70%), while maxim (3) was the least obeyed (40%). The results for the 5th grade were basically the same, i.e., maxims (5) and (6) were the most obeyed (73%), whereas maxims (3), (4), and (9) were the least obeyed (20%).
Overall, these findings show that, among the 3rd grade, eight of the 10 Gugon Tuhon maxims had the highest percentage for all categories. This indicates that the 3rd graders obeyed the maxims the most. This finding supported by Desmita (2015, p. 156) in her article that the 3rd graders are in the time of maximizing their capacity as concrete operational thinker where they can think logically about something concrete that they encounter in their daily lives.
Conclusion
From the previous discussion, we can see that Indonesia has many oral teaching values that spread from the west to the east part of Indonesia and Gugon Tuhon is only one of them. The teaching values in Gugon Tuhon are mostly in the form of prohibition proposition that need to be understood, believed and obeyed, for example in (6) “Yen madhang aja sok nisa, mundhak mati pitike” is still actively used to teach children to eat properly. This is evident from the large number of children who understand, believe, and obey it.
Gugon Tuhon (3) “Nak madhang aja ngolah-ngalih panggonan, besuk mundhak kerep rabi” and (10) “Aja sok ngokop kokohan, mundhak peteng atine” appear to be the least understood. Gugon Tuhon (4) “Aja mangan karo ngadeg, wetenge dadi dawa” comes out as the least believed. Meanwhile, Gugon Tuhon (3) “Nak madhang aja ngolah-ngalih panggonan, besuk mundhak kerep rabi” is the least obeyed. This suggests there is a tendency that the level of understanding of a Gugon Tuhon highly influences whether or not it is followed. Moreover, children’s background relates to their socio-economic also takes part in the process of transmitting gugon tuhon from mothers to their children. Children from low socio-economic backgrounds generally do not know tuhon gugon as those who come from middle class families since they lack of time in eating together with their mothers.
This quantitative descriptive study examined the extent of the understanding, belief, and obedience among samples of primary school students, to 10 Gugon Tuhon maxims associated with eating etiquette. Overall, the findings show that age had an influence on a child’s comprehension of the maxims. Moreover, the results can be interpreted as follows. The tendency of the 1st graders (aged 7–8 years) was that they did not necessarily comprehend the maxims, but they believed them. Meanwhile, the 3rd graders (aged 9–10 years) believed and obeyed the maxims, but they did not necessarily understand the reasoning behind them. In addition, there were many 3rd graders who lived with their grandparents and as a result, the maxims were heard more frequently by these children. As for the 5th graders (aged 11–12 years), they generally understand the maxims, but they did not necessarily believe them. Consequently, they did not obey the maxims. However, maxim (7) was strongly believed and obeyed by the 5th graders, due its logicality. These findings indicate that the cognitive abilities of the 5th graders were more developed than those of the 1st and 3rd graders. Moreover, according to Bujuri (2018, 43–47), the 1st graders cognitive abilities are still in scope of remembering (C1) and beginning to understand (C2) based on Bloom’s taxonomy. However, the 3rd graders have cognitive abilities in the scope of applying (C3) while the 5th graders are in the scope of evaluating (C5) based on the Bloom's taxonomy. Thus, in this case, children have different results on their comprehension, belief, and obedience.
Based on the findings in this study, it can be concluded that Gugon Tuhon maxims are still being used as a means of character education in Javanese families. Unfortunately, Javanese children nowadays tend to believe the Gugon Tuhon maxims, although they do not necessarily comprehend them. As a result, they do not obey the maxims conveyed by their parents. Thus, it can be concluded that the use of such maxims as a means of character building is becoming increasingly less effective. However, based on the age factor of children interpretation of the Gugon Tuhon, children in the primary school age still have vocabulary limitation, and still in the social adjustment stage to wider community. Their comprehension, belief and obidience are still developing along with the increasement of their social intelligence. Therefore, in this regard, parents could perhaps focus on conveying the maxims that are more rational so that they can be comprehended and believed by their children and therefore increase the possibility that the messages will be passed down to subsequent generations.
Finally, it is important to note that the Gugon Tuhon maxims associated with eating etiquette also include pedagogical benefits because it can be used as a means of transferring the teachings of the values of food courtesy conveyed by parents in educating children, such as regulations regarding foods that are allowed and not allowed to be consumed, to the procedures for starting eating until after eating, not eating while standing, leaving no food, and so on. This means that parents and teachers can use the maxims as they eat together as a family or class, which, in turn, can strengthen the bond between the parents or teachers and children.
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Acknowledgment
This work was supported by Universitas Indonesia (Hibah Publikasi Terindeks Internasional Untuk Tugas Akhir Mahasiswa (PITTA) UI 2017, Grant Number 441/UN2.R3.1/HKP.05.00/2017)
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Erviana, I., Widhyasmaramurti, Puspitorini, D. (2024). Children and the Interpretation of the Gugon Tuhon: The Age Factor. In: Kushartanti, B., Djenar, D.N. (eds) Language Practices Among Children and Youth in Indonesia . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4775-1_11
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