ABSTRACT
Millions of Indonesian migrant workers have sought employment in Malaysia during the last three decades. Many of them are skilled and unskilled laborers, and their incorporation into the host society's labor market has the potential to improve their own quality of life while also contributing significantly to the country's economy. However, Indonesian migrant workers encounter numerous problems in their professional and personal lives. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the intercultural communicative competence (ICC) factors as one of the Indonesian migrant workers' strategies. This is qualitative exploratory research on the factors of ICC in the integration of Indonesian migrant workers into the Malaysian labor market. Focus groups were used to obtain data from 16 Indonesian migrant workers who had already successfully integrated into the Malaysian workforce as well as newcomers who were in the process of integrating into the local culture. In addition, interviews have been conducted with the 13 employers to complement the data from the migrant workers. The data was analyzed using rounds of deductive and inductive coding and analysis based on the five components of Byram's model. The findings suggest that practicing intercultural communication skills can help migrant employees overcome cultural difficulties in the Malaysian labor market. The Indonesian migrant workers and their employers also indicated that they have an advantage in cultural integration due to the cultural similarities. The paper discusses the implications of the findings in terms of ICC training offered to migrant workers themselves (culture and language) and to professionals who work with them, with the goal of facilitating and promoting Indonesian migrant workers' labor market integration.
ABSTRACT
The personal name of the Malaysian Javanese Diaspora (MJD) grows and develops along with the history of dynamic life, thought, social, and cultural developments. This research specifically aims to reveal and explain the process of anthroponymy evolution of the Javanese-Malaysia diaspora personal name system from historical, social, cultural, and linguistic characteristics aspects and the meaning of personal names that developed due to the cultural shifts and changes. This research utilizes data sources from lists of names of Javanese diaspora communities and efforts to extract names from MJD people who are in the locations of the states of Johor, Selangor, and Melaka in Peninsular Malaysia. Data were collected using content analysis techniques and in-depth interviews through discussions and Focus Group Discussions (FGD) as well as informal meetings directly at the research location. The results of the study show that the forms of names that appear in MJD society are strongly influenced by historical, social, and cultural phenomena that developed in the era before and after Malaysia's independence. This phenomenon affects the characteristics of personal names so that it can be seen that there are phases of MJD people's names, namely the initial arrival phase, the transition phase, the modern phase, and the latest phase. The results of this study can be used to find out the development of thought, spirit of life, and cultural traditions of a large MJD collective in Peninsular Malaysia.
