Yesika Maya Ocktarani

Yesika Ocktarani is an applied linguist and lecturer at Universitas Muhammadiyah Semarang, Indonesia, and is currently studying for her PhD at the School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education, QUT. Her research interests incorporate child language, pragmatics, and how the child’s environment supports language acquisition.

In her PhD, she investigates how female community members become significant assets to support children at risk of communication challenges. Applying a participatory case study, she will initiate a community awareness program in the Javanese community in Indonesia. Her study aims to gain the perspectives of female community members and mothers from low socioeconomic backgrounds in Indonesia regarding their involvement in supporting young children’s communication skills. Additionally, after the study, she hopes the stigmatisation of children at risk of communication challenges will be shifted into rich linguistic exposure.