Tourist perceptions toward language proficiency of the users of Balish at Ubud Tourism Area

Balinese English which is in this article called Balish has an important role in the world of tourism, namely as one of the most important capitals for workers in the field of tourism because they use Balish. This article discusses tourists’ perceptions toward Balish when they communicate using the English language with tourism workers in Ubud tourism areas. The data were taken from tourists who come to Bali on holiday and stay at Ubud. Quantitative data were collected by distributing questionnaires to the tourists. The quantitative results of the research show that the tourists are satisfied enough with their English ability in listening skill, and speaking skills. The theory that was used to analyze the data is the theory developed by Young and Fox (2020), i.e. theory of Oral Communication between Native and Non-Native Speakers Focuses on “Competency”. This theory gives perceptions related to non-native speakers of English. Qualitative results indicate that tourists have some perceptions of their ability to use English, especially Balish. Their Balish is understood communicatively, but their ability in speaking skills needs to be improved particularly those related to accents, pronunciation, accuracy, and lexical choices.