ABSTRACT Naula Aulia, 2017. Attitude and Identity of Acehnese towards the Use of Their Language (An Investigation of Three Generations of Acehnese Families in Bireuen District). Thesis Graduate Program in English Language Education of Syiah Kuala University. Advisors: (1) Dr. Zulfadli A. Aziz, S.Pd., M.A. (2) Dr. Yunisrina Q. Yusuf, S.Pd., M.Ling. Key Words: Attitude, Identity, Acehnese This study is aimed at investigating how the Acehnese identify themselves as Acehnese and finding out their attitude towards their language. This study employed a descriptive qualitative method. The informants of this research were nine Acehnese women of three different generations in Bireuen District. The instrument for this research was interview guide. The data were collected by conducting interviews. Based on the interview result, the researcher found that there were many different responses which indicated their attitude towards the language and their identity as Acehnese. Most of the participants, from the first generation until the third generation, found that they claimed themselves as the Acehnese through their generation, language and residence. Furthermore, the researcher found that most of the participants still used Acehnese in conversation. Yet, it was also found that there were participants who preferred to speak Indonesian. The first generation participants would not shift their language except they met other people outside of the city. Similar to the first generation participants, the second generation participants also tended to speak Indonesian just because of the situation and the interlocutors. Only one of them showed negative attitude towards the language. So this generation was the generation that commenced a change in the use of their indigenous language and it indicated a decrease in the use of the language for the future generation. Further, the third generation participants preferred to speak Indonesian rather than Acehnese because they argued that nowadays people speak Indonesian either at home or outside the home. Based on the analysis, in general, they still claimed themselves as the Acehnese and used Acehnese as their primary language in conversation. Further, they were willing to maintain their language as long as they knew about Acehnese and learn more about Acehnese.