-- Lukman Ajis Salendra
ONE of the factors that has eroded the pride of speaking Indonesian among some or even half of the Indonesian people, is due to and related to the government's own policies which in practice lack firmness. For example, the names of many national-scale banks and companies still use foreign languages, especially English, and are just allowed to flourish. If you look in the mirror to neighboring countries, Malaysia, for example, it is very different. In Malaysia, all forms of foreign language for a name or expression have been consistently changed to Malay spelling.
The erosion of the sense of pride in the Indonesian language is also a means of being 'contaminated' by the actions of our leaders who do not really use the Indonesian language properly and morally. Indonesian is only used as an image game tool in order to perpetuate power. The inclusion of English vocabulary in every state speech, for example, proves that there is an attitude that is not stable in language. Or, it was deliberately intended as a technique and strategy to steal Western sympathy.
We must be serious about preserving the Indonesian language which is actually the language of instruction in our national education. It should be appreciated that the Judicial Commission (KY) recently disbanded the RSBI (International Standard School) because the RSBI is contrary to our spirit of nationalism.
In fact learning Indonesian strengthens the mirror of the nation's cultural character. Indonesian is not enough to be seen as a unifying tool, but also a cultural language that should be grateful for as a separate blessing from Allah SWT. Through the souls of the nation's leaders who gave birth to the Youth Pledge. In fact, through the Youth Pledge, actually the Indonesian language has made us brothers in one language even though we have different races and religions.
On the other hand, the position of regional languages is also important for the existence of Indonesian as a national language, supporting or supporting culture. Sundanese or other regional languages are the 'elders' of the nation's landlords which strengthen the insights of local cultural wisdom. Meanwhile, English or foreign languages as 'friends' in the struggle for global wisdom, download all knowledge with a world perspective.
Localistic
A linguist once stated that language is arbitrary or arbitrary. Depending on the interests, intentions and preferences of the users of the language itself. Language, can not be forced. Indeed, the role of the mass media is very urgent in efforts to develop and preserve language. A small example, in the past P3B (Center for Development and Development of Language) which has now changed its name to Badan Bahasa, once promoted the standard words 'sangkil' and 'mangkus' which refer to the notions of 'effective' and 'efficient'. Unfortunately, the effort was in vain, the words that are selling well are still the words 'effective' and 'efficient' which have been used by many audiences.
The case is almost the same as learning Sundanese language and script which has recently been concerned about by Sundanese language teachers at schools in West Java, in particular. In terms of the practicality of language, the material for the script and Sundanese language seems to be redundant or just a purely localistic aesthetic language. This is different from Chinese characters and Japanese Kanji letters which are still used by the people who use them formally and informally because they involve the existence of a nation-state.
Facts on the ground, according to a survey in border areas with capital cities such as Depok, Bekasi and Bogor, the tendency to learn Sundanese is only 'complementary for sufferers'. In fact, it is possible that there are schools that only give grades in Sundanese language to student report cards without any Sundanese language learning activities in the classroom. And, teachers are only limited to dropping their obligations in teaching Sundanese. Learning Sundanese at school seems to be in vain. In addition, psychomotorically, many students experienced difficulties in acquiring Sundanese vocabulary amidst the thick Betawi dialect.
In fact, students also tend to choose English, a language that is considered important in the current context. The response to globalization in the field of knowledge and technology demands mastery of English as a necessity. As a simple example, for example, job vacancies in companies now require adequate English skills and proficiency. There are rarely job vacancies in companies that require proficiency in the local language.
Therefore, both Indonesian as the language of unity, Sundanese (regional) as the language of local wisdom and English (foreign) as the language of global insight need to get a firm and consistent portion and position in the context of educational policies and curricula. Our job is to think about it. n
Lukman Ajis Salendra , alumnus of Jurdiksastrasia at the Indonesian University of Education.
Source: Suara Karya , Saturday, 11 May 2013
source: lunik