Are we ready for IFL teaching?<\/p>\n
By A. Chaedar Alwasilah<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The number of foreigners learning Bahasa
\nIndonesia as a foreign language (IFL) has increased significantly
\nover the years. As it is also widely taught in other countries,
\nlike Australia, many teachers are delighted about the creation of
\na lucrative profession -- teaching IFL overseas.<\/p>\n
Few major universities in Indonesia, however, have developed
\nintensive Indonesian courses for international students who come
\nto campuses individually or in groups organized by their
\nuniversities.<\/p>\n
Some Indonesian universities have signed memorandums of
\nunderstanding with their overseas counterparts to exercise
\nfaculty and student exchanges and admit international students to
\nlearn Indonesian periodically.<\/p>\n
Major universities have anticipated professional teaching of
\nIFL and they, therefore, have held international seminars on it.
\nAlso, the Bandung Teachers Training Institute, West Java, is to
\norganize a third International Conference on Teaching Indonesian
\nas a Foreign Language in 1999, during which a professional
\nassociation of IFL instructors is expected to be established.<\/p>\n
But a question rises as to whether Indonesia is ready to
\nprovide professional teaching of IFL, which will need, at least,
\nfive requirements.<\/p>\n
First, professional IFL instructors by definition should
\npossess a specialized knowledge about IFL. Being a scholar on
\nIndonesian does not guarantee that one is capable of teaching
\nIFL.<\/p>\n
No Indonesian institutions are currently capable of providing
\nstudents with expertise in IFL teaching. For comparison, American
\nuniversities offer MA and PhD degrees in Teaching English as a
\nForeign Language (TEFL) for both native speakers and foreigners.
\nThis is evidence that the Ministry of Education and Culture has
\nno vision on IFL. It is, therefore, high time that quality
\nIndonesian universities open programs to offer master and
\ndoctoral degrees in IFL.<\/p>\n
Second, professionalism presupposes mastery of specialized
\nknowledge based and developed on scientific discoveries, which
\nare published in journals. The absence of IFL journals
\ndemonstrates that IFL is not professionally established.<\/p>\n
Most presenters (54.28 percent) at the first conference (1994)
\nheld at Satyawacana Christian University, Salatiga, and the
\nsecond (1996) at Padang Teachers Training Institute, West
\nSumatra, offered theoretical analyses on various aspects of IFL
\n-- something that can be done by people even without IFL teaching
\nexperience nor research backgrounds. Only two of the papers were
\nresearch-based.<\/p>\n
A big problem will arise when IFL teachers have to develop
\nlanguage policies, teaching materials, testing instruments and
\nIFL handbooks, all of which must be based on research findings.<\/p>\n
IFL learners' experience is another aspect that tends to be
\ntaken for granted. There were only two papers that specifically
\nself-reported strategies of IFL learning. This strongly signifies
\nlack of awareness in IFL circles here of understanding
\npsychological as well as sociological aspects of foreign language
\nlearning. Actually, a significant number of Indonesians have
\nexperience in teaching IFL overseas or in Indonesia. However, due
\nto their lack of writing skills, their precious teaching
\nexperiences have gone unreported.<\/p>\n
Third, any occupation aspiring to the title of profession will
\nclaim a basis of competence. In other words, there is a minimum
\nset of criteria of the profession to be acquired. Roughly, there
\nare two kinds of knowledge development -- received knowledge and
\nexperiential knowledge -- both of which are relevant to IFL
\nteaching professionalism. A suggested list of training courses
\nwill include methods of teaching IFL, material development,
\nIndonesian arts and culture in general, sociopolitical
\nlinguistics of Indonesian, English proficiency and cross-cultural
\nunderstanding. After long and rigorous academic study and
\nteaching experiences, all these criteria will be manifested in a
\ndemonstrably competent manner.<\/p>\n
With all fairness, the existing curricula of Indonesian
\ndepartments in universities do not qualify students to teach IFL.
\nIn some cases, people with some background of English study have
\nhigher potentials to be IFL instructors, provided that they want
\nto brush up their knowledge of Indonesian grammar. The facts show
\nthat teaching elementary Indonesian both overseas and in
\nIndonesia needs absolutely sound proficiency in English to enable
\nthem to communicate until the foreign students demonstrate
\nreasonable fluency in Indonesian.<\/p>\n
Fourth, professionalism is developed, empowered and recognized
\nthrough a professional association. The birth of this association
\nis long awaited and is expected to play an important role in
\npromoting Indonesian, vis a vis Indonesian culture, overseas. As
\nthe world's fourth-most populated country, Indonesia has the
\npotential to make its language go international. Almost all
\nformer ministers of education and culture were optimistic about
\nIndonesian going international. Nevertheless, their optimism was
\nmore political and emotional rather than professional. Frankly,
\nno minister has been serious about it.<\/p>\n
Fifth, professionalism needs support from numerous
\ninstitutions, especially the government. Unfortunately, the
\npromotion of IFL is not handled professionally. Respondents to a
\nsurvey on IFL reported that the major obstacle faced in running
\nIFL programs was the uncooperative, complicated and inflexible
\nattitude of immigration officers toward international students.<\/p>\n
To promote Indonesian overseas, the respondents made the
\nfollowing suggestions.<\/p>\n
* Indonesian embassies and consulates should promote the language
\nvis a vis its culture. The cultural diplomacy spearheaded by
\nformer foreign minister Mochtar Kusuma-Atmadja in the 1980s seems
\nto have overlooked language promotion.<\/p>\n
* Universities should develop IFL curricula and supporting
\nfacilities so as to accommodate different groups of IFL students.<\/p>\n
* Universities should establish autonomous units that are
\nempowered to handle IFL programs. The existing departments of
\nBahasa Indonesian are not effective enough to manage them.<\/p>\n
* Teaching Indonesian as a foreign language should be perceived
\nas a manifestation of language planning and realization of
\nIndonesia's foreign policy. To be successful, it needs
\nunderstanding and commitment at all levels, from the national
\nauthority to the individual classroom.<\/p>\n
The writer is a lecturer at the Graduate School of the Bandung
\nTeachers Training Institute in West Java.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/are-we-ready-for-ifl-teaching-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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