1. Indonesian Educational Language Policy: A Brief History
Indonesia is a linguistically complex country with most Indonesians being bilingual or multilingual, speaking Bahasa Indonesia - the national and official language – plus one or more of the 700 vernacular languages (ICBS, 2010), plus a language with external roots (such as Arabic or English). For example, I speak Bahasa Indonesia, two vernacular languages (Javanese and Madurese), and English, and I am not unusual in doing so.
Swiftkey (2015), the provider of the application to replace keyboard for IOS and Android phones and tables, through a survey about the combinations of languages Swiftkey users used around the world revealed that Indonesia is the country with the highest number
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During that period of time, nationalism was of a prominent importance for the Indonesian who just gained the independence in 1945. On the contrary, regionalism was considered imperilling the sense of nationalism and therefore had to be restricted. Mother tongue and vernacular languages which were parts of the regionalism was regarded a threat to the national language; meanwhile, Bahasa Indonesia was considered to play an important role to escalate students’ sense of nationalism (Rosidi, 2010). Everything regarding regionalism needed to be eliminated, because Indonesians desired a unified nation (ibid). In further development, in 1975, the government stipulated that the only language of instruction schools of all level and universities had to adopt was Bahasa Indonesia, and that vernacular languages can only be taught as a subject (ibid). Since then, Bahasa Indonesia was used as the language of instruction at the educational institutions for all …show more content…
However, this policy was then reverted in January 2013 after the Constitutional Court declared the ISS law to be unconstitutional. The ruling marked the end of the ISS/EMI era, and despite the major funding and effort (e.g. teacher education) expended during the ten-year life-span of the ISS/EMI innovation, public schools were no longer permitted to use English except in the English classes and had to revert to the use of Bahasa Indonesia as the language of instruction. More discussion about English-medium Instruction and its reversal is presented in section 3 of this
Bilingualism can be defined as the ability to speak and/or write in two languages. In Australia English is the main language although in 1996, statistics show that 15% (2.5 million people) of the Australian population communicate in a language other than English at home and 42% of the population is born overseas (Australian Bureau Statistics, 1996). Most recently there are around 22 million Australians that speak in approximately 400 different languages (Australian Bureau Statistics, 2009). These statistics highlight the fact that there is an increasing rate of people who communicate in more than one language hence language is increasingly changing throughout society (Arthur, 2001). This suggests the need for support and understanding of bilingualism within children, families and the community.
By the next decade, both the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and the U.S. Supreme Court declared it unlawful to keep students who couldn’t speak English from getting an education. Later, Congress passed the Equal Opportunity Act of 1974, which resulted in the implementation of more bilingual education programs in public schools.
Language is a means of communication and it varies from one community to another. Everyone has a mother tongue which depended on the family’s upbringing. A second language can be learned along the way. There are also instances where a person is born in a community that speaks two languages and therefore, had to learn both languages. The quality of the languages learned will be affected by how well the community speaks both languages. This can later develop into a new form of language. The essay describes the frustration of the author who felt rejected by different groups for speaking a different form of language. Her essay aims to gain sympathy from readers by seeing the issue from her point of view. Anzaldua attempts to achieve this in her essay by raising issues on identity and discrimination. She wanted to highlight that language is not determined by a country’s physical borders.
In the book Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism written by Benedict Anderson the effects colonization had on Indonesia are reviewed. Decolonization of countries was induced by revolutions and the spread of nationalism after the 18th century. Independence was followed by state building based on the origin, power and function of nationalism felt in Indonesia (Anderson). Liberalism and Mar...
The Korowai people speak the Papuan language belonging to the Awyu-Ndumut family. The Papuan language comes from the Awyu-Ndumut languages which are spoken in the Digul River Basin of Papua, Indonesia, in central and south New Guinea. The Awyu-Ndumut languages are divided into six languages, one of the six languages spoken is the Papua Language. Approximately 35,000 individuals of the Lowland area speak the Awyu-Ndumut languages. Only about hundreds to thousands of individuals speak the Papua language. The Papua language is rapidly on the verge of extinction by the influence of other languages.
Culturally, Aruba has strong ties to Holland; it’s colonial occupier and present-day partner in the Netherlands kingdom. The official language of the island is Dutch, seen on street signs, government documents, and several local newspapers. Most people in Aruba, particularly those in the tourism business, speak English. There are four languages spoken overall and they are Dutch, English, Spanish, and Papiamento. Papiamento is not a dialect, but a language that is evidence of the many influences of older languages and Aruba’s culture and traditions.
The Korowai people speak the Papuan language belonging to the Awyu-Ndumut family. The Papuan language comes from the Awyu-Ndumut languages which are spoken in the Digul River Basin of Papua, Indonesia, in central and south New Guinea. The Awyu-Ndumut languages are divided into six languages, one of the six languages spoken is the Papua Language. Approximately 35,000 individuals of the Lowland area speak the Awyu-Ndumut languages. Only about hundreds to thousands of individuals speak the Papua language. The Papua language is rapidly on the verge of extinction by the influence of other languages.
Indonesia is a country in south-east Asia. It has the world’s highest population of Muslims and is the world’s 4th most populous country. Its capital is Jakarta. Having its world rank at 18th by economy, 15th largest in purchasing parity respectively, thus becoming a slowly progressive country.
Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world that consists of 17,508 islands (International Religious Freedom Report). Indonesia has more than 300 ethnic groups that have different cultural backgrounds. Music is one of the important heritage cultural aspects that depict the uniqueness of Indonesia. Indonesian music is developed in all regions of the island and is a hereditary habit, which is still run by the local community. The music is spread almost throughout the country and each region has different unique characteristics.
Creole languages including Papiamento (a blend of African, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch languages) Patois( a mixture of African and English languages) and Kweyol (a blend of African and French) are becoming prominent. However each island is designated as either English speaking, French speaking, Spanish speaking or Dutch speaking (Beckford,2013, Unit 10) and modifications of these languages are often used.
Filipino, the national language, is the unifying factor of the Philippines. It allows citizens to communicate with one another in many remote areas that in turn, assimilates their native language to the national language and will be united. The pressure in English can cause a tendency to miseducate and misinform the Filipino people that English is the only language for international and academic purposes only. The animosity also increases when the masses and elite are not able to communicate well with one another. The importance of the national language is vital to our nation since we need it to communicate with different groups.
In Damorftis Rosario, where I grown up. Ilocano language is spreadly used in our barangay when I was still a child. Most of us living their- both yong and adults are native speakers of Ilocano. However, when I started to work as a teacher at the age of 25, that was the time when I had to move to other place because of my work. When suddenly I went home, I was shocked because most of the children from our neighbors donot understand me when I speak Ilocano to them. The old people told me that “Itagalog mu kasi tagalog sila”. It only imples that children of the 21st century generation in a certain community prefers to speak the national language morte than their enherited language or native language. I know that in a nation like Philippines with multi languages use, it is easier to communicate among ourselves when using the national language Filipino since it is the official one to use in different transactions among us Filipinos from different regions in Luzon, Visayas, and
Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia. Consists of more than 18,000 islands, Indonesia provides a beautiful views, cultures, and tourist resort. The capital of Indonesia and the largest city is Jakarta, located in Java Island. The Indonesian’s currency is rupiah. Indonesia is a republic country, and the government system is democracy Absolutely, Indonesia also have a lot of tribes with different languages and religion. Indonesia got the freedom from the Netherlands in 1942, and Japan in 1945.
Wee, L. (2010). ‘Burdens’ and ‘handicaps’ in Singapore’s language policy: on the limits of language management, Language Policy (9), 97-114
The role of language in the creation of a national identity is complex, controversial, but fundamentally powerful. National languages are not simply means of communication; rather they can also act as a symbolic representation of a national identity, providing insight into a nation’s perceived religious, ethnic and historical status. This essay will consider the role language plays in a national identity, questioning the power it holds and the implications it has on the notion of nationalism. Additionally, it will address whether or not the ability to plan language in relation to a national identity is really as powerful as it seems by probing into the process of language planning – what elements are considered, who is responsible for carrying out the process and what effect does it