The dear cost of disregarding English

The dear cost of disregarding English

By Raphael Lengesa Nombo

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Two recent articles on teaching English were
interesting -- those by Iwan Jazadi titled Rigid curriculum
complicates RI's English teaching and Complications in English
teaching: Ideological issues, which appeared in The Jakarta Post
on Nov. 10 and Nov. 11 respectively.

The articles led this writer to sympathize with intellectuals
such as Jazadi who have the important task of developing and
promoting the teaching of English in the Republic of Indonesia.
Their work must be difficult because of the historical and
sociocultural biases which must be overcome if the teaching of
English in Indonesia is to be a success.

Despite intriguing logic in the two articles as far as the
teaching of English teaching is concerned, in order to provide
readers a clearer understanding of his arguments Jazadi should
have defined whether he was focusing on English as a language or
as a subject in the curriculum of Indonesia's schools. There is a
great difference between the two, which Jazadi unfortunately
failed to indicate directly and clearly.

It is very important to draw a boundary between the two in
order to be able to precisely understand the focus of Indonesia's
English curriculum. What exactly are the objectives of the
curriculum? Is it to teach English as a subject or a language?
What kinds of teaching methods or strategies are to be employed?
What are the major reasons for the rigid curriculum in
Indonesia's teaching of English? These are important questions
which must be thoroughly answered and clearly understood.

To some extent, Jazadi was quite right in saying that in
Indonesia, as in many other developing countries, "English is
taught at formal educational institutions and also at private
English colleges in the community". However, the fact remains
that this is not clearly stated in the Indonesian educational
system, posing a challenge which scholars like Jazadi have to
accept and ultimately consider incorporating into future reforms
of the Indonesian educational system (the Post, Aug. 6).

By emphasizing reading in the English language curriculum
because English is seen more as a "foreign" rather than a
"second" language, it reminds one of an "underlying secret" of
the Indonesia educational system as far as teaching English is
concerned. One would expect Dutch or Japanese to be a second
language in Indonesia, because at different times Indonesia was
under Dutch and Japanese colonial rule. To the contrary, after
gaining independence in 1945, Indonesia completely did away with
all things related to the Dutch and Japanese.

It is at this point where major problems arise in drawing up a
clear curriculum for the teaching of English in the country,
because even from this perspective English is still viewed as a
"by-the-way" subject or language in Indonesia.

One major factor in Indonesia which complicates the teaching
and development of English is "ideological issues". From the
moment of its independence, Indonesia opted to make Bahasa
Indonesia its national language and medium of instruction. Thus,
the Indonesian language became both a tool of unification and
mobilization. This played a key role in paving the way toward a
monopoly of politics by the regimes of presidents Sukarno and
Soeharto.

It is quite likely that during much of this time the
challenges of globalization were somewhat limited, meaning
English was assumed to be largely unnecessary. Similarly, this
was also a time when "the attitude of Indonesians toward English"
was linked with intellectualism, and those who spoke English were
seen to be sombong (arrogant). This legacy continues to cost
Indonesia dearly. For example, in order to keep up with current
global challenges, Indonesia is forced to translate almost all
important works of English literature into Bahasa Indonesia for
educational and other purposes.

The fact is that the language of modern international
economics, politics, business, science and technology, advanced
education, travel and entertainment is English (the Post, June
19). Many foreign businesses require applicants to have an
understanding of the English language because using translators
is too slow and inefficient for the competitive marketplace. As
part of the future strategy for reforming the educational system
in Indonesia, one would suggest introducing English as a medium
of instruction at institutions of higher education, particularly
leading state universities such as Gadjah Mada University, the
University of Indonesia, the Bandung Institute of Technology and
the Bogor Institute of Agriculture.

If Indonesian policy makers truly wish to help Indonesia
achieve growth and development in the future, the teaching of
English should be vigorously implemented in the country's
educational system.

The writer is pursuing a postgraduate degree in Public
Administration at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. He is
also a civil servant at Tanzania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and International Cooperation. All views expressed in this
article are personal.