Indonesians discouraged from speaking English in public

Indonesians discouraged from speaking English in public

JAKARTA (JP): An English language expert lamented recently
that the use of English was often shunned by the public who
consider local English speakers arrogant.

"They will be called arrogant and this discourages English
usage around us," said Gloria C. Kismadi of the Language
Development Institute.

While English usage was increasing, many still avoided its use
in public. Cultural inhibitions limited the English proficiency
of many Indonesians.

The ability of many Indonesian English language teachers and
students was also restricted because they lacked the opportunity
to exercise their knowledge.

There was also a mistaken belief here that if Indonesian
people spoke English, they would lose Indonesian values.

"It is not true, speaking in English will destroy Indonesian
values," she said. "Indonesians should be able to use English to
articulate Indonesian values, that is very important," Gloria
told The Jakarta Post here on Monday.

She said that in the age of telecommunications and global
interaction, the role of English language teachers has become
increasingly important.

Gloria said that without the language people could not
effectively negotiate, do business, or participate in political
or economic activities.

The role of English language teachers is important in
empowering people with these skills to face the demanding and
competitive era, she said.

Gloria was speaking here yesterday at the opening of a three-
day seminar on language teacher development. The seminar was
organized by language institute LIA.

Gloria said the English language teaching process should be
more student centered, giving more freedom to students to be
responsible for their own learning.

She said teachers should also be more sensitive to the
difficulties encountered by students in learning English. One way
to do this is for teachers themselves to learn another foreign
language.

By knowing the difficulties firsthand, teachers can provide
more suitable and effective teaching methods.

Gloria stressed the importance of the teacher-student
relationship.

"There must be mutual trust between the teachers and the
students and this is something we have to build and develop," she
said.

Students should be encouraged to be more open and teachers
should be more approachable, she added. (10)