A Sociolinguistic Study of Tour Guides in Lombok in Cross-Cultural Communication

This study discusses the dynamics of multilingual communication carried out by tour guides in the context of cross-cultural tourism on the island of Lombok. Globalisation and the increasing number of foreign tourists require tour guides to develop adaptive and effective language skills. The purpose of this study is to identify forms of language interference, the use of multilingual registers, and code-mixing phenomena that arise in interactions between tour guides and tourists. This study employs a descriptive qualitative approach with data collection techniques including participant observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation. Informants consist of ten experienced tour guides actively serving tourists in Senggigi, Gili Trawangan, Sade Village, Ende Village, and tourist areas in Central Lombok and West Lombok. The results of the study indicate that there is lexical, phonological, and grammatical interference caused by the influence of the first language on the foreign language used. Tour guides are also able to adjust their language register according to the context and background of the tourists. In addition, the use of code-mixing serves as a communicative and cultural strategy to strengthen closeness with tourists and convey local cultural terms. These findings emphasise the importance of strengthening sociolinguistic competence for tour guides as intercultural mediators.