Indonesia: The language ecology perspective

[Harold Schiffman]

The language ecology perspective
Setiono Sugiharto ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 04/11/2009 1:43 PM  |

With the legislative election having just ended, it is perhaps no
exaggeration to say that our politicians (in particular) and our
people (in general) have practiced democracy in a relatively mature
manner. Contesting in both legislative and presidential elections,
political leaders and presidential aspirants representing different
political parties lived up to their pledge to hold what they called a
peaceful campaign.

What can we take away from this campaign? Unlike the previous
political campaign, most, if not all, political leaders seemed to have
been disenchanted with the traditional campaign strategies such as
street rallies and mass mobilization as a show of force, which are
prone to clashes among differing supporters. In fact, they have
learned from the past that such strategies are dated and result in
more harm than good. It is interesting to note that the climate of
political constellation in the country hitherto has been marked with
an "ideological battle" via the use of language among the contesting
political parties vying for legislative seats.

While legislative candidates had their pictures, along with written
promises, posted in banners, presidential candidates frequently
appeared on television ads, using a variety of mechanisms to woo their
prospective voters. This shift toward using language and image
mechanisms in political campaigns has demonstrated how they are
effective tools for selling ideologies, to manipulate, cajole,
propagate and to mask the truth. Persuasive and provocative words in
campaigns ads such as Sembako murah (cheap price of basic
commodities), Berjuang demi Rakyat (striving for people), and Awas!
Jangan bohongi rakyat lagi (Watch! Don't lie to the people again) are
perceived to be effective in invoking voters' emotions and feelings.

The use of language in public spaces alongside legislative candidates
can be explained by Elana Shohamy (2006), as "all language items that
are displayed in a variety of contexts in the environment". It is also
referred to as language ecology. The words displayed by legislative
candidates obviously communicate a message, which consciously or not
manipulate what Shohamy calls de facto language policy and practice.
Despite unofficially declared and legally unbinding, de facto language
policy could become a powerful mechanism in determining voter
behavior. If, for example, voters put their trust on the party's
promise and think that they are being reasonable, offering their votes
up, then the policy will have been a big success in shaping their
behaviors.

However, it is also interesting to see that ideological battles are
not limited merely to the use of persuasive, convincing, and
emotion-provoking words. Linguistic markers are severely restricted in
creating communicative effects. They are often redundant,
context-sensitive, and therefore insufficient to achieve their intent.
If you watch a presidential campaign ad, presidential candidates sell
their party ideology by going beyond mere words and other linguistic
markers. They employ what is known as para-language.

According to a theory of multi-modality, communicative meanings can be
deliberately and purposefully created using a variety of modes in
different contexts. That is, modes can be contextualized in order to
attain desired communicative effects. Using these devices to create
meaning manifest themselves in a variety of creative ways, such as
through music, clothes, gestures, imagery, food, tears and laughters,
among others. A party's political ideology, and other political
messages, can then be expressed by contextualizing them within a wider
performance.

We watch on TV, for example, a presidential candidate conveying his
political message by rolling up his sleeves, a sign of hard work.
Others can be seen embracing peasants and lending a hand to victims of
the Lapindo mudflow, a sign of empathy and compassion for the needy.
We also watch almost everyday campaign ads delivering parties
political messages through music, images, numbers, smiles, laughters,
and multiple other creative methods.

Compared with verbal means of expression, these image and language
based techniques are certainly more effective in delivering political
messages to lure voters. It is more real and evocative, touching all
levels of the grassroots nationwide. Despite one's education levels -
someone may be illiterate for example - the message is conveyed loud
and clear. A word of caution, nevertheless, is necessary here. Though
the campaign period has just ended, we still have to cast our votes in
the upcoming presidential election.

Prospective voters need to exercise their judgment by judiciously
weighing which presidential aspirants deserve a vote. Although a
political message may be anything from persuasive to subtle or overt,
they are by no means free from propaganda, myth and deceit.

The writer is chief-editor of the Indonesian Journal of English
Language Teaching and teaches English composition at Atma Jaya
Catholic University, Jakarta.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/04/11/the-language-ecology-perspective.html

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