Observers lament media's misuse of language

Observers lament media's misuse of language

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The overuse of acronyms, abundance of slang, inconsistent use of
prefixes and irregular sentence structure in most Indonesian mass
media are a hindrance for language instructors teaching foreign
students across the globe, says the national language office.

The Language Center at the Ministry of National Education said
on Wednesday that such factors may deter foreigners from learning
the language since print media from Indonesia was widely used as
teaching materials.

"It's quite common for teachers to use Indonesian mass media
as guidelines in language lessons," Language Center official
Mustakim said in a discussion on Bahasa Indonesia in the mass
media.

He said the condition was probably a result of many factors
such as target audience, media style and even the journalists.

"Journalists are really under pressure and are often faced
with tight deadlines, which may contribute to news stories being
structurally and grammatically incorrect. There is also the
chance that journalists lack knowledge of proper grammar," he
said.

He also cited the possibility that the overuse of acronyms,
such as SBY for former coordinating minister of political and
security affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and DBD for dengue
fever was caused by space limitations.

"However, it'd be better if the media explained the acronyms
again and again, especially if they're relatively new ones," he
said.

Mustakim added that different target audiences and the
distinctive styles of particular media played a major role in
determining the kind of language used.

"I admit that it will be difficult to standardize language use
in the mass media, but of course it doesn't mean that the mass
media can simply get away with bad language use. In the end, it's
the audience that selects their preferred media," he said.

The mass media should thus look into the matter deeply to come
up with quality outcomes in terms of language, keeping in mind
that many countries offered Indonesian language instruction.

"There are at least 36 countries where the language is taught
at universities, in courses and of course, at Indonesian
embassies," he said.

Mustakim's stance was shared by Horikawa Koichi of the Japan
Foundation, who suggested that media professionals prioritize the
proper use of the 5W-1H rule to help foreigners learn the
language faster.

Th 5W-1H rule aims for the key parts of a news article, the
what, who, where, when, why and how.

The Language Center, Mustakim said, had even considered giving
awards to mass media that used proper Indonesian language
structure and grammar.

In October last year, the center awarded six public figures
for their appropriate use of the Indonesian language.