EARLY LITERACY VALUE ON KAKAWIHAN
Abstract
Indonesian people are well-known as a plural society with the cultural diversity.One of the cultural diversity is reflected in the ways of childcaring or parenting in every region. In West Java, especially in Sundanese society culture, it is known a childcare way using kakawihan. Since the children was in infant phase or babies, the parents has invited their children to play by using kakawihan for singing. For instance, when the babies are put to sleep or "dipepende", the parents usually sing kakawihan entitled Ayun Ambing. When the babies are able to play, the parents usually invite their children to play Ucang Angge with singing a kawih. Whether we relize it or not, kakawihans which are sung by the parents when cradling their child, is the process of early literacy introduction, especially related to literacy in scope of Sundanese language and culture. Along with the current development, the flow of globalization that infiltrates every part of the life of Indonesian society, slowly erods the culture of every ethnicity, including the culture of the Sundanese people, one of which was the kakawihan utilized to care children. Therefore, it is necesarry to put an effort to preserve and protect the culture. In this case, the researcher conduct a study which is aimed at obtaining comprehensive description of early literacy value in kakawihan used to nurture children. Furthermore, this research will use literature studies and internal test by expert judgements and be strenghtened by interviews with several informants who are considered knowing and understanding various types of kakawihan which are used in childcare or parenting.