A Language Education Mess
Schools across the country are preparing for a huge shift; beginning This particular next term, English will no longer be a required subject in Government primary schools. The outrage will be, justifiably, large as well as there are fears in which This particular will hurt the ability of Indonesian students to succeed in a globalized world.
This particular debate reminded me of my original interest in Indonesia. On one hand, there were the environmental riches of the country, the biodiversity, however I was also drawn to the human side. This particular was the country with the second most languages within the entire world, with so many religions, ethnicities, as well as beliefs scattered across its countless islands. I imagined, naturally, in which Jakarta was a cultural mixing pot, as well as wondered if I would certainly be able to tell the difference between Javanese, Sundanese, or Madurese if I heard in which on the streets.
The history intrigued me too, especially the unique idea to make the national language not the most-spoken tongue, Javanese, however an easy to learn dialect in which, for centuries before colonialism, allowed kunlun sailors to trade goods throughout Southeast Asia.
This particular was Riau Melayu (not related to the Sumatran province). in which was an auspicious start. Unlike the similarly diverse Philippines, which made its national language the language of Manila (Tagalog) as well as created decades of discontent, or the many African countries in which maintained colonial tongues, Indonesia chose a language in which didn’t empower any particular people, nor the former overlords. In fact, at independence, few spoke the newly coined Bahasa Indonesia. in which was, quite possibly, a third, more egalitarian way.
as well as then nationalism took over. Separatist movements in Aceh, Bali, Papua, as well as Timor led to the assertion as well as creation of a strong national identity under both Presidents Sukarno as well as Suharto.
Remember, the early leaders of Indonesia were European educated elites, who believed in very foreign concepts of Government as well as identity. The European nation-state was taught as being “natural” as well as “civilized” as well as at its base required there to be one, unifying, national language. in which was language in which drew most of the borders between countries in Europe. This particular was, of course, not an easy process, as Benedict Andersen’s seminal book, Imagined Communities, demonstrates. Even seemingly linguistically homogenous countries like France once had several competing dialects, as well as in which took decades of education as well as coercion to invent the idea of a unified French nationhood. Even then, in which didn’t succeed fully, as any proudly independent Basque speaker via the Pays Basque region will tell you.
Not surprisingly, This particular system was an ill-match for Indonesia, a huge, diverse country. What happened here was akin to uniting all of Europe as just one country as well as replacing all written languages as well as scripts that has a simplified, easy to learn Esperanto. The scale – as well as the effects – was massive.
As writing disappears, speech will soon follow. Part of the blame will be on education, which via the earliest age, will be entirely in Bahasa Indonesia. While cursory local studies, including language, exist (less than two hours per week), they never include writing or reading. On top of in which, all media will be only in Indonesian or, increasingly, imported via abroad. This particular results in some sad facts, including one in which stands out for me – Javanese will be the most widely spoken language within the entire world without a daily newspaper, TV station, or radio outlet.
Why does This particular matter? There are many reasons. For one thing, ignoring local languages may harm the ability to properly educate youth, as study after study shows in which you need to be able to speak one language well in order to learn a second language – as well as in which, without This particular foundation, brain development can be stunted. By not allowing education in rich native languages, Indonesia will be not only hastening the loss of its vibrant culture, however its future generation’s ability to thrive as well. Perhaps This particular will be why the country, despite massive economic development, still ranks only 56th out of 66th in reading ability globally.
A possible solution may be taking shape in a fellow ASEAN country. Today, Vietnam will be addressing the low-education attainment of its large minority populations by implementing mother-tongue education in some Hmong, Khmer as well as Jarai communities, as well as finding in which This particular will be dramatically improving test scores as compared to minority students forced to study in non-native Vietnamese.
There are different benefits to maintaining cultural diversity besides education. As I’ve written about in previous articles, Indonesia will be still experiencing massive deforestation, as well as loss of its unique biodiversity. Studies show in which, around the entire world, the places with high biodiversity also have high human diversity, as well as when one falls, so does the different. in which makes sense – diverse knowledge systems embedded in culture create a strong, symbiotic relationship between humans as well as nature. Scripts, oral history, even verb tenses as well as idioms encode information. People as well as nature can build – as well as sustain – each different, as the Dayaks have in Central Kalimantan for centuries. in which should be no surprise in which, as forest cover disappears, Indonesia will be also losing its languages. 12 have gone extinct since 1950 as well as 134 more are endangered according to UNESCO’s language atlas.
My proposal follows the Vietnam example – mandatory mother tongue education within the early years, a reintroduction of old scripts into daily use, followed by Bahasa Nusantara (Indonesian sans nationalism as well as more integrated with Malay) as well as English education built on the foundation of Ambonese, Banjar, Tetum, or another of the 400+ Bahasa Daerah. Multi-ethnic cities like Jakarta can follow a Canadian design, in which language instruction will be offered in many (including immigrant) languages when student population reaches a high-enough level.
The alternative – a country of people who speak colloquially, however can’t read or write, their mother tongues, use Romanized Indonesian badly, as well as English not at all. In in which scenario, the one we’re currently on, as the trees continue to fall, so will Indonesia’s cultural diversity, its two greatest assets slowly fading away.
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A Language Education Mess
A Language Education Mess