Based on quantitative data findings, the most probable and common situations that many taxi drivers might deal with their foreign guests in using English can be divided into 6 general situations: 1. Beginning phase, which is the conversations that usually happen between a taxi driver and a foreign guest before he/she enters into the car. This could be at the airport, hotel, public place, his/her address, or even along the street. The logical sequence of language use in this phase is: a. greetings or introducing oneself b. asking the guest if he/she needs a taxi c. asking the guest where to go d. informing the guest about the traffic situations e. informing the guest about the meter f. asking the guest if he/she is in hurry g. offering help with carrying the luggage h. asking the guest if the luggage goes into baggage i. reminding the guest to mind his/her head j. reminding the guest to wear a seatbelt k. asking the guest if the AC/music is ok 2. Highway phase, which is the conversations that usually happen from the time they are about to enter the entrance toll road to the time they are about to pay the highway fee at the exit toll road. This is the most possible time for a taxi driver to share information about Jakarta with the guest. The logical sequence of language use in this phase is: a. asking the guest if he/she wants to take the Highway b. offering the guest a magazine or newspaper to read c. asking about the guests originality d. informing the guest about tourism object e. informing the guest about shopping centers/CBD f. informing the guest about restaurants g. asking the guest to pay for the highway fee 3. Address Searching phase, which is the conversations that usually happen when they go into details about the destination finding process, from the moment a taxi driver asks about a specific route in an area to the moment of saying thanks to the guest at the destination. The logical sequence of language use in this phase is: a. asking the guest which route to go b. asking the guest if the address is correct c. asking permission from the guest to ask directions from a stranger in the street d. telling the guest that they have arrived e. reminding the guest who is leaving for a while that the meter keeps running while he/she is temporarily away f. asking the guest to pay based on the meter g. politely asking the guest to pay the exact amount h. saying thank you and good bye 4. External Emergency phase, which is the conversations that usually happen when unpredictable things occur outside the car, so that the have to stop for a while, until it gets back to normal. This includes accidents, flat tyres, engine failure, diverted routes, severe traffic jam, flooding, police stopping, etc. The logical sequence of language use in this phase is: a. telling the guest to wait for a moment inside b. asking the guest if he/she wants to keep waiting c. suggesting the guest to stop waiting, and use another taxi/mode of transport instead d. informing the guest about other alternative modes of public transports 5. Internal Emergency phase, which is the conversations that usually happen when unpredictable things occur to the guest, for example, sickness, distress, or confusion. The taxi driver might need to take him or her to the nearest hospital or drugstore, embassy, or police station. The logical sequence of language use in this phase is: a. asking the guest if he/she is ok b. asking the guest if he/she needs some medication/legal protection c. asking the guest to show his/her identity card d. asking for his/her friends or relatives contact numbers 6. Apologizing phase, which is the conversations that usually happen at any point of time when a taxi driver has to apologize for anything that makes the guest complain or even getting mad. This includes being late, non-performing AC, change of a cab with a different driver, etc. The logical sequence of language use in this phase is: a. apologizing to the guest b. suggesting the guest to contact customer service number Of course, there are many other situations which are beyond the range of situations listed above. However, generally speaking, those other specific situations could be categorized into similar situations of the above, or considered minor situations that might not happen as frequently as the above. Based on qualitative data findings, things to note are: 1. Most of the grammatical mistakes are in the area of basic grammar knowledge, for example: a. subject-verb agreement problems in the positive and interrogative statements in present tense (subject and their auxiliary verbs; do, does, am, are, is) b. Double-subject problems (especially, subject I and you), due to incomplete sentence and/or cultural background. c. verb form problems, due to limited knowledge of parallel structure and modal verbs d. sentence structure problems, (especially simple sentences in positive and interrogative) due to limited knowledge e. articles problems (a and the), due to absence knowledge f. prepositions problems (in, of, for, etc), due to local knowledge interference 2. Most of the diction mistakes happen because the participant had a very limited vocabulary databank. As a result, he tended to associate the intended word in English with the closest similarity or relatedness with other words in English that he knew, or even in Bahasa Indonesia when he could not find any in English, for example: a. word meanings problems, due to limited English vocabulary b. local terms interferences, by adopting or direct translations c. incorrect terms problems, due to incorrect spelling d. incomplete phrases problems, due to limited vocabulary 3. Mistakes made in pronunciation indicate that the participant was not sure or did not know how to pronounce the intended words exactly. To compensate for this drawback, he either tried to find the closest sound similarity with the similar words in Bahasa Indonesia, or tried to guess as closest as possible its English pronunciation that does not have any resemblance in Bahasa Indonesia, for example: a. Local similaries interferences, by using Indonesian sounding way b. Foreign words problems, by guessing the pronunciation

taxi phase, beginning phase, highway phase,

• Almodad Biduk Asmani, S.S., M.Ed.

• Dr. Ir. Derwin Suhartono, S.Kom., MTI

• Criscentia Jessica Setiadi, S.S., M.A.

• Chandra Kurniawan Wiharja, S.S., M.Hum.