Intercultural Communication Patterns for the 2021 MBKM PMM

(Independent Student Exchange): Participants at Lambung

Mangkurat University, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia

Harri Yanto and Danang Trijayanto

Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Jakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: Intercultural Communication, Language, Student Exchange

Abstract: Independent Student Exchange Program (PMM) is a place for students to study through different campuses

outside their area, with a credit transfer system of 20 credits. However, this is a challenge because it is

necessary to know that there are cultural differences that produce miss communication and information

barriers in it. This research aims to determine the Intercultural Communication Patterns of MBKM

participants in the 2021 Independent Student Exchange MBKM at Lambung Mangkurat University,

Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan. This research uses a qualitative method with the object of students taking

part in the PMM Program at the ULM Campus, South Kalimantan. The results showed that communication

between local Banjarmasin students and PMM students experienced communication barriers because of the

use of regional languages in daily activities in conversation or what is called Intercultural Communication.

The effort to overcome these problems is through the adaptation process.

1 INTRODUCTION

In order to improve the welfare of education in

Indonesia, the government has taken various ways

and created many programs, such as in 2021, the

Indonesian government created a program for

lectures known as the Merdeka Campus. The

programs provided are 9 programs such as the

Independent Student Exchange program, Certified

Internship, Indonesian International Student

Mobility, Certified Independent Studies,

Humanitarian Projects, Research or Research,

Village Building (Thematic Community Service

Program), Teaching Campus, and Entrepreneurship.

(Dikti.Kemdikbud.go.id) These 9 programs are

included in the Merdeka Campus program, the

Independent Campus is a program created by the

Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and

Technology (Kemendikbudristek) to provide

opportunities for students in Indonesia to hone their

skills. even better, especially in the world of work.

One of the programs that researchers want to

research is the Independent Student Exchange

Program (PMM) Batch-1, because this program

provides an opportunity for students and students on

the home campus to be able to experience learning

directly on the receiving campus or campus outside

their domicile area, such as university students. from

campus A in Java who were accepted to study at

campus B outside Java, for example, Kalimantan,

from this it could be found several new things that

would be accepted for these students, namely

experiencing first-hand learning on campuses in

other areas, then they will also learn the culture in

which they are placed, and of course, can build the

values of tolerance and unity.

However, it cannot be denied that there are

obstacles that will be experienced by some students

who take part in the program, namely barriers to

cultural differences such as communication, both in

the way they communicate, the language used, and

their communication behavior, for that it is

necessary to know the intercultural communication

patterns of each student This is because each student

has a different communication pattern because they

have different cultures, thoughts/ideas, and ideas,

especially those from various regions, brought

together in one campus which is also on different

islands and different cultures, both in terms of

learning, group and its environment.

Therefore, researchers are very interested in

knowing more about the intercultural

Yanto, H. and Trijayanto, D.

Intercultural Communication Patterns for the 2021 MBKM PMM (Independent Student Exchange): Participants at Lambung Mangkurat University, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia.

DOI: 10.5220/0011864500003582

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Seminar and Call for Paper (ISCP) UTA â

Z45 Jakarta (ISCP UTA’45 Jakarta 2022), pages 16-21

ISBN: 978-989-758-654-5; ISSN: 2828-853X

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

communication patterns of the students who are

selected to join the Independent Student Exchange

program who have different campus backgrounds,

different majors, and different cultures placed on

one campus outside their island. Intercultural

Communication is a communication process carried

out by two people or groups, who have different

cultural backgrounds. As stated by Samovar and

Porter (1976:4) they convey that this intercultural

communication occurs when the communicator and

the communicant have different cultural

backgrounds. Therefore, researchers are interested in

knowing the intercultural communication patterns of

the PMMM participants at Lambung Mangkurat

University, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan. What is

the Intercultural Communication Pattern for the

2021 MBKM PMM participants at Lambung

Mangkurat University, Banjarmasin, South

Kalimantan

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

There are previous studies that investigated the

existence of communication barriers between local

students and overseas students or those who came

from Eastern Indonesia to study there, the obstacles

found were differences in language, speech

intonation, different perspectives, and lifestyles.

Later in the study, he found a pattern of intercultural

communication between Eastern Indonesian students

and local students from the Pancasakti University of

Tegal, namely the pattern of cultural understanding,

in which to achieve this cultural understanding they

carried out various stages such as the first

impression stage, the introduction stage, the

friendship stage and finally at the first impression

stage. cultural understanding (Hesty. 2021) .

Subsequent research also found that there are

communication barriers between cultures such as

local students and immigrant students, where the

barrier is language, as experienced by the immigrant

student, he has difficulty understanding the local

language, because he has a different understanding

and most of the local students use more Slang, so the

newcomer must try to understand it. It was found

that the communication patterns of these students

were primary (direct) and secondary (indirect) /

through the media, and their way to avoid conflict

with these cultural differences was to communicate

with each other, respect each other, maintain kinship

ties, and most importantly, one must be open-

minded (Nadziya, 2021).

3 METHODS

Author uses qualitative research methods and the

research used in this research is descriptive. The

qualitative research method is a method that uses

more analysis of the process and meaning being

studied, according to Prof. Deddy Mulyana, M.A.,

Ph.D. in his book entitled "Qualitative Research

Methodology" 2013 stated that qualitative relies on

cues, social actions, and real or actual speech.

(Mulyana, 2013 page: 150).

3.1 Data Collection Technique

To obtain research data, the author uses data

collection techniques through in-depth interviews by

collecting interviews from several PMM Batch 1

participants who take courses at Universita

Lambung Mangkurat, Banjarmasin, South

Kalimantan. This interview activity is via Zoom,

considering the location of the sources outside

Jakarta. An in-depth Interview according to Prof.

Deddy Mulyana, M.A., Ph.D. is an unstructured

interview that is similar to an informal conversation,

of course, aiming to get certain forms of information

from the respondent, but the order and wording can

be adjusted to the characteristics of the respondents.

3.2 Object of Research

The object of this research is the participants who

take part in the 1st Class of 2021 Independent

Student Exchange program who conduct or take

lessons at the Lambung Mangkurat University

campus, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan.

The following are the participants:

Name : Yenti Santika

From: Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Banyuwangi

Domicile : Banyuwangi, Jawa timur.

Courses at ULM: Modul Nusantara

1. Name : Patricia Pavita Saputri

From : Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta

Domicile : Semarang

Courses at ULM: Komunikasi Antarpribadi, Lobi

dan negosiasi, Modul Nusantara dan Komunikasi

Bisnis

2. Name : Firli Juli Prayitno

From: Universitas Bina Insani, Kota Bekasi

Courses at ULM : Pengolahan Citra Digital,

Pengantar Web 1, Organisasi Komputer dan Modul

Nusantara

Domicile : Bekasi

3. Name : Nadia Nur Padila

From : Universitas Djuanda, Bogor

Intercultural Communication Patterns for the 2021 MBKM PMM (Independent Student Exchange): Participants at Lambung Mangkurat

University, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia

Courses at ULM : Modul Nusantara, dan Ekonomi

Kependudukan

Domicile : Cileungsi, Bogor

4. Name : Sahal Abdillah

From: Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya

Domicile : Pati, Jawa Tengah

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Verbal and Nonverbal

Communication

Verbal communication is communication that is

usually carried out orally and in writing, such as in

the presence of words, but nonverbal communication

is communication that uses signs, symbols, body

movements, and signs.

According to Nurudin (2016: 120) is a form of

communication that is conveyed by the messenger or

source to the recipient of the message whose

message content is carried out through words both

orally and in writing.

In carrying out learning activities at Lambung

Mangkurat University, PMM Batch 1 students

mostly use verbal communication to discuss either

through writing from WhatsApp or verbally via

zoom.

"Often discussing with friends directly

during zoom, and sometimes discussions

through groups without lecturers, but

sometimes they use their regional language,

so sometimes I get confused about that, but I

ask my local student friends what it means."

(Yenti Santika, 2022. Interview).

Student Yenti said that she often discusses with

her friends using verbal or verbal communication,

such as discussion time in Zoom. Not only through

zoom, but most of Yenti also conducts discussions

with her friends through groups without lecturers,

but because of discussions with local Banjarmasin

students, sometimes there is information or

discussions delivered in their language, so Yenti

finds it difficult. It is understood that local

Banjarmasin students also use verbal or written

communication via WhatsApp groups without

lecturers, to conduct discussions, and use written

language or text in their regional language.

"It's often spoken, yes, when interacting

with lecturers, I often interact verbally via

zoom, where the sharing is spoken, but to

other students, I use chat more often" (Sahal

Abdillah, 2022. Interview).

Sahal can conclude that he often uses verbal

communication to interact with his lecturers, and

with other students, even though he is more active

with students who use the chat.

"When interacting with lecturers, I often

interact verbally via zoom, where the

sharing is spoken, but to other students, I use

chat more often". (Sahal Abdillah, 2022.

Interview).

4.2 The Difference in the Use of

Language in Conversation Becomes

a Communication Barrier for

Newcomer Students

After the author conducted in-depth interviews with

5 PMM Batch 1 students who were the objects of

research, the authors found that there were

communication barriers resulting from the use of

local languages by local Banjarmasin students at

Lambung Mangkurat University, through WhatsApp

group discussions, as conveyed by the resource

person. that is:

"I've met, I often chat in WhatsApp groups,

so when I'm discussing them, local students

often use their local language, I don't

understand that myself, maybe they just see

me from outside, so they often use their

regional language, and that was enough to

prevent me from having a discussion.” (Firli

Juli Prayitno, 2022. Interview).

The communication barrier experienced by Firli

was that during discussions in the WhatsApp group,

most local Banjarmasin students often used their

local language, especially when conveying

information,

"When they are discussing, local students

often use their local language". (Firli Juli

Prayitno, 2022. Interview).

This made Firli not understand the information

conveyed because it hindered Firli from having

discussions with local Banjarmasin students in one

of the ULM courses. So that makes Firli unable to

understand it and finds it difficult to have

discussions with foreign students.

"Yes, at that time, for the first time, I

entered the class group from ULM, if for

example from each course there were

lecturers, some were not, well the first time

the lecturer gave me that information, but

the information was not clear, because they

used Banjar language, then I just thought,

what are we talking about, fortunately, I

have a friend from Kalimantan too, so I can

ISCP UTA’45 Jakarta 2022 - International Seminar and Call for Paper Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Jakarta

ask him”. (Patricia Pavita Saputri, 2022.

Interview).

The communication barrier that Patricia

experienced this time was when there was a lecturer

who used her regional language, namely

Banjarmasin,

"the first time the lecturer gave me that

information, but the information was not

clear, because he used Banjar language, then

I just thought, what are we talking about?"

(Patricia Pavita Saputri, 2022. Interview).

This obstacle can be found when Patricia says

the information is not clear because she uses the

regional language, namely Banjarmasin, so she asks

what it means.

"The lecturer gave me that kind of

information, but the information was not

clear, because I used the Banjar language, so

I just thought about what to talk about."

(Patricia Pavita Saputri, 2022. Interview).

“When going to group activities, group

zooming, I had difficulties, so there was

once a local student who said ulun-ulun,

right there ulun means me, well I thought

ulun was someone's name, finally I was at a

presentation, because failure to understand

their language, I finally tried to ask

Ms.Ulun, it turned out to be a laughing stock

for the people there”. (Sahal Abdillah, 2022.

Interview).

Sahal had difficulty having discussions with

local Banjarmasin students because, at the time of

the discussion, there were local Banjarmasin

students who said ulun-ulun, which Sahal thought

was the name of a person or individual, but ulun-

ulun is a subject word that means me.

"I was having a hard time, so there was once

a local student who said ulun-ulun, right

there ulun means me, well I thought ulun

was someone's name". (Sahal Abdillah,

2022. Interview).

Because he misinterpreted a regional word, Sahal

became a laughing stock, when Sahal wanted to ask

the presenter and he said “ask Ms ulun”. The Ulun

language is a Banjar language which means it refers

to the subject, namely me. (kata.web.id).

4.3 Language Usage

Every human being when carrying out

communication activities will certainly not be

separated from the use of language, because

language is a communication tool or tool for

thinking that allows humans to live in society and

give birth to their culture. (Sadarno, 1982:7).

Because language is a means of communication

or a tool for thinking and giving birth to their

culture, therefore the author finds that local students

and immigrant students both use Indonesian

although sometimes they use regional languages, as

conveyed by Firli, namely:

"I've met, I often chat in WhatsApp groups,

so when I'm discussing them, local students

often use their local language, I don't

understand that myself, maybe they just see

me from outside, so they often use their

regional language. , and that was enough to

prevent me from having a discussion.” (Firli

Juli Prayitno, 2022. Interview)

"Often discussing with friends directly

during zoom, and sometimes discussions

through groups without lecturers, but they

sometimes use their regional language, so

sometimes I get confused about that, but I

ask my local student friends what it means."

(Yenti Santika, 2022. Interview)

It can be found that they often use the regional

language from Banjarmasin to carry out daily

conversations, and the existence of this colloquial

language also has an impact on students from

outside the region who come to study temporarily at

Lambung Mangkurat University.

“When going to group activities, group

zooming, I had difficulties, so there was

once a local student who said ulun-ulun,

right there ulun means me, well I thought

ulun was someone's name, finally I was at a

presentation, because failure to understand

their language, I finally tried to ask Ms.

Ulun, it turned out to be a laughing stock for

the people there”. (Sahal Abdillah, 2022,

Interview).

For example, one of the research sources named

Sahal Abdillah, had the experience of being laughed

at because he misunderstood the local language,

namely the word from "Ulun", which means "I", but

Sahal misinterpreted it by thinking that ulun was a

person's name. Due to cultural differences in daily

conversations, the communication between students

from outside is affected.

The researcher also found a fact that was

experienced by one of the 1st PMM students,

namely Sahal Abdillah, with other PMM students

such as an individual who came from Madura,

according to him the way he discussed with the

lecturers might be for Sahal's area of origin, namely

Intercultural Communication Patterns for the 2021 MBKM PMM (Independent Student Exchange): Participants at Lambung Mangkurat

University, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia

Parit, Central Java. not polite, but in Madura, it is

normal or polite for them, because of that he was

surprised but tried to understand the language and

had to be tolerant with PMM students from Madura

and all.

"So there is a PMM student from Madura,

who speaks to the lecturer as being

disrespectful in my opinion, but according to

him maybe it is a polite thing because the

intonation and way of speaking are very

different from what I understand here".

(Sahal Abdillah, 2022. Interview)

4.4 Stereotypes of Students

According to the Big Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI),

a Stereotype or Stereotype is a conception of the

nature of a group based on subjective and inaccurate

prejudices.

The stereotype is a generalized impression of

someone who is seen from his psychological

character or individual personality. (Matsumoto,

Liliweri, 2005).

The author found a stereotype from one of the

1st PMM students interviewed, namely:

"I get stereotypes about Banjarmasin people,

it's a bit loud and a bit loud, but it turns out

that when I did an independent student

exchange in Banjarmasin, it wasn't all like

that." (Patricia Pavita Saputri, 2022.

Interview).

“The stereotype is that "Banjarmasin people

speak a little loudly, a bit loudly." (Patricia

Pavita Saputri, 2022. Interview).

So Patricia experienced stereotypes about

Banjarmasin people, but it turned out that after she

was directly involved in talking with Banjarmasin

people, it turned out that not everything was like

that.

Because he experienced these stereotypes, at first

he chose kind and polite words to communicate with

the Banjarmasin people, even though only through

WhatsApp chat and talking through group

discussion zoom. And that doesn't limit him from

communicating further with them

4.5 How They Deliver the Message

Stereotypes can also be taken from the description of

the way someone conveys a message such as:

"I get stereotypes about Banjarmasin people,

it's a bit loud and a bit loud, but it turns out

that when I did an independent student

exchange in Banjarmasin, it wasn't all like

that." (Patricia Pavita Saputri, 2022.

Interview).

Patricia catches the impression from people that

the Banjarmasin people's way of conveying is a bit

louder and taller. However, when Patricia felt and

interacted directly with the people of Banjarmasin, it

was not all like that.

The same thing was experienced by PMM

students when their class interacted with other PMM

students.

"So there is a PMM student from Madura,

who speaks to the lecturer as being

disrespectful in my opinion, but according to

him maybe it is a polite thing because the

intonation and way of speaking are very

different from what I understand here".

(Sahal Abdillah, 2022. Interview).

What is conveyed by Sahal is a stereotype in

which to get an idea of how the message of people

from the Madura tribe is conveyed. This is

reinforced by a journal that discusses the

communication culture of Madurese in which in his

research he found that Madurese more often convey

messages with a high accent, loudly, quickly, and

directly express their intentions (Mahfudlah, 2016).

4.6 Intercultural Communication

Communication between one party with another

party who has different behavior, attitudes, values,

and culture, is what can be called intercultural

communication. Intercultural communication is the

process of delivering information from

communicators of different cultures/backgrounds to

the communicant, thus requiring agreement and

understanding between each other for effective

communication to occur. This is supported by a

statement from Liliweri (2004:9).

The author finds the occurrence of intercultural

communication between immigrant and local

students and their efforts to adapt so that they both

understand each other, namely:

"After entering the study at ULM, they use

the Banjarese language, so I am interested in

learning the Banjarese language". (Patricia

Pavita Saputri. 2022. Interview).

Patricia at the time of studying at ULM,

experienced intercultural communication because of

the conversation using the Banjarese language

during lessons, while Patricia was a student from

outside Banjar who came to experience learning

directly at ULM. The same thing happened with

other 1st PMM students, such as:

ISCP UTA’45 Jakarta 2022 - International Seminar and Call for Paper Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Jakarta

"Often discussing with friends directly

during zoom, and sometimes discussions

through groups without lecturers, but

sometimes they use their regional language,

so sometimes I get confused about that, but I

ask my local student friends what it means."

(Yenti Santika, 2022. Interview).

Yenti is one of those who experience

intercultural communication, namely the existence

of conversations using different languages, but Yenti

tries to understand it by asking directly the meaning

of their delivery.

5 CONCLUSION

Based on the data that has been successfully

collected, the conclusions of the study are:

1. The first batch of PMM students who were

accepted at Lambung Mangkurat University

experienced Communication Barriers, due to socio-

cultural differences, namely intercultural

communication because immigrant students and

local students had a variety of different cultural

backgrounds.

2. Local Banjarmasin students often use their local

language for daily conversation through WhatsApp

groups, so that newcomers cannot understand

everything.

3. The efforts of PMM students to overcome this are

by adapting and communicating well with other

local students, understanding their culture and

language with a personal approach, and accept

differences in attitudes.

REFERENCES

Mulyana, Deddy. (2007). Ilmu Komunikasi Suatu

Pengantar. Bandung: PT Remaja Rosdakarya.

Nurudin. (2016). Ilmu Komunikasi Ilmiah Dan Populer.

Jakarta: PT. Rajagrafindo Persada.

Alo Liliweri. (2004). Dasar-Dasar Komunikasi

Antarbudaya, Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar.

Alwasilah, A. Chaedar. (1989). Sosiologi Bahasa.

Bandung: Angkasa.

A.Samovar, Larry dan E.Porter, Richard. (2010).

Komunikasi Lintas Budaya : Communication Between

Cultures. Jakarta : Salemba Humanika.

Badudu, J. S. (1987). Inilah Bahasa Indonesia yang Benar

II. Jakarta : PT Gramedia.

Nadziya, Farida. (2021). Pola Komunikasi Antarbudaya

dalam mencegah konflik pada mahasiswa lokal dan

pendatang. E-journal Indonesia Sosial Sains. Vol. 2

No. 10 oktober 2021.

Heryadi Hedi, Silvan. (2013). Komunikasi Antarbudaya

dalam masyarakat Multikultur, E-Journal Kajian

Komunikasi, Volume 1, No. 1, Juni 2013, hlm 95-108.

Prasanti Ditha, (2018). Hambatan komunikasi dalam

promosi Kesehatan program Keluarga Berencana

(KB) IUD Di Bandung, E-Journal Penelitian

komunikasi dan opini public Vol.22 No. 1, Juli 2018 :

52-63.

Komasari Hesty. (2021). Pola Komunikasi Antarbudaya

mahasiswa lokal dengan mahasiswa asal Indonesia

Timur di Universitas Pancasakti Tegal. Ilmu Sosial

dan Ilmu Politik Universitas Pancasakti Tegal.

Fajrie Mahfudlah, (2016). Budaya Komunikasi Warga

Madura (Kajian Komunitas Profesi Pangkas Rambut

Maduram di Kecamatan Tahunan Kabupaten Jepara).

E-Journal Wahana Akademika. Vol. 3 No. 1 april

2016

Nurul Silmi, (2021). Komunikasi: Pengertian Para Ahli,

Fungsi, Tujuan dan Jenisnya. Kompas.com.

https://www.kompas.com/skola/read/2021/08/05/1200

00469/komunikasi--pengertian-para-ahli-fungsi-

tujuan-dan-jenis-

jenisnya?page=all#:~:text=Pengertian%20komunikasi

%20menurut%20para%20ahli&text=C.,secara%20sen

gaja%20dan%20tidak%20sengaja.

Raihan Amalia Yasmin, (2020). Komunikasi Verbal Vs

Komunikasi Non Verbal. Binus.ac.id.

https://binus.ac.id/malang/2020/06/komunikasi-verbal-

vs-komunikasi-non-verbal/

Vanya Karunia, (2022). Hambatan Komunikasi:

Pengertian serta Bentuk Hambatannya. Kompas.com

https://www.kompas.com/skola/read/2022/01/28/1100

00869/hambatan-komunikasi--pengertian-serta-

bentuk-

hambatannya#:~:text=Hambatan%20komunikasi%20a

dalah%20segala%20bentuk,psikis%20dari%20individ

u%20yang%20terlibat.

Husnul Abdi, (2021). Stereotype adalah Penilaian tak

seimbang terhadap suatu kelompok masyarakat,

kenali jenisnya. Liputan6.com

https://hot.liputan6.com/read/4715076/stereotype-

adalah-penilaian-tak-seimbang-terhadap-suatu-

kelompok-masyarakat-kenali-jenisnya

Nikmah Suryandari, (2019).Komunikasi Lintas Budaya.

Surabaya. CV. Putra Media Nusantara.

http://komunikasi.trunojoyo.ac.id/wp-

content/uploads/2019/07/GABUNGAN-BUKU-BU-

NIKMAH-SURYANDARI.pdf

Intercultural Communication Patterns for the 2021 MBKM PMM (Independent Student Exchange): Participants at Lambung Mangkurat

University, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia