Is there such a thing as 'Indonesian English'?

Is there such a thing as 'Indonesian English'?

By A. Chaedar Alwasilah

JAKARTA (JP): Globalization has had a remarkable impact on
language policies and language education. People are now facing
global competition in all walks of life -- politics, economy, and
the service industries. To survive the competition, they have to
be able to communicate in English, the most widely used language
of global communication.

Non-native speakers of English have been estimated at over 300
million, outnumbering native speakers. Most international
communication takes place between non-native speakers with
different language and cultural backgrounds.

More people now realize that their first and national language
is far from sufficient for technological advancement,
international communication, and other areas. Many vernaculars
will eventually lose their vitality, and will only attract
researchers.

In Indonesia we anticipate the rapid demise of minor
vernaculars and only the eight major ones will survive: Javanese,
Sundanese, Maduranese, Minangkabaunese, Bugisnese, Bataknese,
Banjarnese, and Balinese. To anticipate this linguistic
competition, we must redefine our policies and education
regarding language.

It is not realistic at all to invest energy and money in
maintaining the minor vernaculars. It would be wiser to invest
them in developing the major vernaculars, Indonesian, and global
languages, especially English.

Global and intercultural communication intensifies as more
people get access to information technologies such as the
Internet, television, etc. People's nationality, language,
culture, and profession are major factors that shape the
character of a variety of global languages.

Such interactions definitely stimulate the creation of mixed
English. Thus imposing a "standard" defined by native speakers is
impractical. The shared "nativized Englishes" including
Indonesian English, "must be accepted from within, rather than be
felt as something imposed from outside," said the linguist Pride
in 1982.

Linguists say that foreign language learners develop a
language variety called "interlanguage" characterized by a number
of features such as systematicity, approximation, transitional
competence and idiosyncrasy. In discussing English as a global
and localized language we need to critically review this theory.

Language is no longer used merely for communication, but for
"fast" communication. People are invariably under pressure to
respond to various problems without delay. When e-mailing, they
do not have enough time to edit messages. Minor mistakes are
consciously left uncorrected. Obviously, proficiency is the first
and foremost, accuracy second.

Therefore Indonesian English has its own right to develop
internally and externally. Over the years this variety of
English will be established, not fossilized -- a systematized
variety of English specific to Indonesians.

From the sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic arguments for
recognizing Indonesian English, the following questions are: What
materials are to be taught? And how to teach them?

The current teaching of English in Indonesia from elementary
to college level is far from the ideal: obviously this is not a
problem of variety or genre of English, but more of learning and
teaching. Given the current educational policies and
circumstances, the teaching of any recommended variety of English
will end up with similar results.

Common problems include unskilled teachers, poor facilities,
and unfavorable learning environments, to mention just a few.

Recognizing the emerging Indonesian English does not
necessarily mean teaching it as a new school subject. Rather, it
would mean our anticipation and professional judgment of the
emerging variety of English, which slowly develops over a
relatively long period. An "Indonesian English" could be
established when the following conditions are fulfilled.

First, the existence of school graduates who are bilingual in
Indonesian and English, which presupposes "English as a foreign
language", where learning and teaching oral proficiency are
emphasized across the curriculum -- more or less similar to the
situation in Singapore.

Second, university graduates, especially college professors,
who are productive enough to publish in English. Yet to our
dismay, most do not know how to write even in their first
language!

Admittedly, Indonesian English would be a variety of the
"standard" English, based on the grammar of English -- which has
long been overemphasized in school.

Indonesian English as a by-product of bilingualism and its
establishment is thus a matter of consequence: no need to develop
a specific curriculum, methodology, and textbook, except for
experimental purposes.

Today's "English for specific purposes" program for
undergraduate non-English majors is a review of the high school
English grammar, plus reading and translation exercises based on
texts relevant to the field of study. This repetition is telling
evidence of the failure of English teaching at high school
levels. This ESP course does not seem to generate any type of
seemingly acclaimed academic Indonesian English.

A particular language variety, including the emerging
Indonesian English, will noticeably be recognized for certain
social functions, such as to indicate formality and informality.
One theory of communicative competence says that being
communicative implies one's ability to use a certain variety of
language.

Thus, students must be taught the sociolinguistic principles,
namely the who, what, when, why, and how of the emerging
Indonesian English. By way of comparison, Singaporeans would be
taught when they should not use the lah particle, though it adds
a colorful quality to the "low" variety of Singapore English.

Any nativized English allows deviation from the standard
English. Recognizing Indonesian English suggests allowing the use
of its own linguistic criteria accepted by its speakers.
Therefore, it would be a big mistake to judge Indonesian English
with reference to standard English.

In view of the resources at hand and the fact that not all
Indonesians need to master English for global competition, users
would be classified into two groups: the extraordinary and the
ordinary. Group 1 constitutes the cream of the cream who master
English, both oral and written. They could be graduate students
and professionals.

Group 2 would be the majority, including high school leavers
who might never use English for their career. A very good mastery
of Indonesian and basic English is adequate for this group.

Indonesian English is not yet as established as Singaporean or
Malaysian English. Attractive though it may sound in theory, we
do not yet have a very clear idea of just what it entails. It
will be some time before we could document findings of research
on its emerging patterns, variations, and use. These findings
are important for developing a sound language policy of English
vis-a-vis Indonesian and vernaculars.

History witnesses that we have tried different policies,
approaches, and curricula -- which have all seemed to fail.
Caution would be needed to improve the present teaching of EFL in
Indonesia, instead of jumping onto the latest bandwagon of any
particular suggested approach.

The writer is a lecturer at the Graduate School of Universitas
Pendidikan Indonesia in Bandung, West Java.