Indonesian English? No way!

'Local English' anyone? by Dr. Simon Marcus Gower, published in The Jakarta Post on Aug. 4, 2001 is enlightening, in that it points to the need for an internationally recognized standard of English, rather than a regional, unusual and therefore marginalized form of the language.

The question is whether or not the so-called Indonesian English has the right to exist. To answer this question, we have to see how the different kinds of English have been given their regional or ethnic labels.

A language is a medium of communication and an instrument with which man realizes his existence and his surroundings. Our notion of our surroundings will be expressed in language. Language has its own rules and regulations. These rules and regulations are borne out of a common agreement among the language's users.

Grammar is only the formalization of these rules and regulations. It is safe to say that grammar follows what becomes habitual among language users. It is unlikely that a grammarian creates a particular linguistic regulation and then asks the language users to use it. The most he can do is to publicly introduce the concept and wait to see whether or not it will gain public acceptance. Once the concept is publicly accepted, it will be incorporated into the grammar of the language as a new grammar rule.

The question of whether Indonesian English exists or whether it has the right to exist at all relates to who uses this language. In Singapore, English is used by Singaporeans as a medium of communication. In India, it is also used by Indians as a medium of communication. The same goes for Philippines English, South African English or many other kinds of English on the globe.

While there is a set of standard rules for English, in the countries where English is used as a medium of communication -- for writing and speaking purposes -- certain changes peculiar to these places have been introduced and by general consent among the language users, these changes have become the unique feature of their varieties of English.

If this is the case, there is nothing wrong for Singaporeans to call their English Singaporean English or for Indians to call theirs Indian English. English has become part and parcel of their lives; it has become a medium with which they are aware of their surroundings.

Naturally, if there are changes -- and these changes are peculiar to these people -- the only thing to do is to accept these changes as part of the growth of the English used in these particular places as a medium of communication or as a lingua franca.

In the case of Indonesia, however, Indonesians must wait until English is used as a lingua franca. There will be no Indonesian English until then. What is urgently needed, however, is to ensure that our English teachers have the necessary qualifications, rather than campaigning for the establishment of so-called Indonesian English, a term which will be used only as an excuse for incompetence in English.

LIE HUA

Jakarta