On bilingual education<\/p>\n
With regards to Raden Dunbar's letter of response to my
\narticle Bilingual education remains a fantasy for Indonesian
\nschools, I would like to make a few simple observations.<\/p>\n
Clearly Dunbar exists in an exceptional condition. He reports
\nthat \"80 percent of his students come from an Indonesian family
\nbackground where at least one parent is a native English-speaker
\nor is fluent with English as a second language\". Is it not all
\ntoo obvious that this is an highly exceptional condition for
\nIndonesia? Does Dunbar really think that many schools in
\nIndonesia enjoy such a high degree of bilingualism? One would
\nhope not because such a thought truly is in the realms of
\nfantasy!<\/p>\n
The point that I was making in the article was that
\nbilingualism is a difficult goal to attain and for many it may
\nnot be realistic to make the attempt as it may only confuse and
\nso hinder rather than help education. I think it is reasonable to
\nconclude that Dunbar is fortunate to work with a Yayasan and
\nschool council that is bilingual but there are not many schools
\nin Indonesia that can claim such conditions. My intention in the
\noriginal article was merely to warn of the unnecessary
\ndifficulties that may be caused to students if bilingualism is
\nnot carefully and capably targeted.<\/p>\n
I congratulate Dunbar and his Yayasan and school council on
\ntheir bilingual educational efforts, and I hope that he and
\nthey recognize that I am not intending to negatively criticize
\nbut rather positively promote realism and professionalism
\nthroughout Indonesia's educational development.<\/p>\n
DR. SIMON MARCUS GOWER<\/p>\n
Tangerang, Banten<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/on-bilingual-education-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }