Cross-Linguistic Influence and Metalinguistic Awareness in the Acquisition of Bahasa Indonesia as a Third Language: The Case of a Multilingual Filipina Teacher

ORCID

0000-0001-9794-6529

Authors

• Eugenio L. Permejo Jr., University of the Philippines DilimanFollow
• Romylyn A. Metila, University of the Philippines DilimanFollow

Abstract

Many educators from different countries have joined the global workforce, relocating abroad to serve multilingual student populations. Despite this reality, much of second language acquisition research continues to focus on learners in formal classroom settings, with limited attention to teachers learning languages informally through immersion. This study fills this gap by examining how cross-linguistic transfer and metalinguistic awareness shape the acquisition of Bahasa Indonesia by a multilingual Filipina teacher working in Indonesia. Specifically, the study addresses the following questions: (1) How do the linguistic similarities and differences among the subject’s prior languages, that is, Waray, Filipino, and English, influence the acquisition of Bahasa Indonesia? and (2) how does she utilize her metalinguistic awareness in designing acquisition strategies for Bahasa Indonesia? Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analyzed thematically using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase framework. For Research Question (RQ) 1, findings show that cross-linguistic influence operates in a nonlinear and domain-specific manner. Although Filipino is typologically closer to Bahasa Indonesia, English emerged as the subject’s primary cognitive filter for structural planning due to its dominance as her professional language. Filipino and Waray, on the other hand, influenced acquisition mainly at the lexical and phonological levels, with both facilitative and interference effects. For RQ2, this study highlights the central role of metalinguistic awareness, shaped by the subject’s identity as a language teacher. Strategies such as pedagogical modeling, structured practice, proactive avoidance, social mitigation, and prioritization of vocabulary over grammatical complexity enabled the learner to manage accuracy, fluency, and social risk during interaction. The study forwards the idea that additional language acquisition among multilingual teachers is a strategic and socially situated process influenced by language dominance, professional experience, and communicative demands.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Permejo, Eugenio L. Jr. and Metila, Romylyn A. (2026) "Cross-Linguistic Influence and Metalinguistic Awareness in the Acquisition of Bahasa Indonesia as a Third Language: The Case of a Multilingual Filipina Teacher," Journal of English and Applied Linguistics: Vol. 5: Iss. 2, Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59588/2961-3094.1236
Available at: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/jeal/vol5/iss2/2