[lg policy] Indonesia: Revitalizing language policy

Thu Mar 21 15:28:48 UTC 2013

 Revitalizing language policy
Setiono Sugiharto, Contributor, Jakarta | Expose | Sun, March 10 2013, 3:56
PM
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Paper Edition | Page: 6

Since the demise of the noted Indonesian language experts Sutan Takdir
Alisjahbana and Anton M. Moeliono, not many Indonesian language scholars
have been passionate in devoting their profession to issues on the politics
of language and language planning. The absence of studies and published
research related to these central topics speaks volumes and many local
language pundits seem to be ignorant of the importance of bringing these
topics to the fore.

In most multilingual communities, language planning is deemed vital for
language maintenance, language reform, language standardization, language
revitalization, and language modernization. Although, admittedly, language
planning is hardly a novel topic of discussion within the field of
linguistics, its relevance to other separate, yet related disciplines such
as education, language teaching, sociology, and literacy cannot be
downplayed.

Alwasilah’s contribution through the publication of Pokoknya Rekayasa
Literasi (Nothing but Literacy Engineering) is very opportune indeed. This
is especially true, given that the policy of language education in
Indonesia has recently been in limbo.
The book reflects its author’s great concerns over the fate of national
education, which he observes has gone astray and been swept away by the
global current. Alwasilah fears that Indonesia’s wealth of local geniuses
as well as local wisdom will come to an end, unless they are made use of as
a solid foundation for the system of national education.

This fear is based on his observation that “national education […] fails to
nurture students with the knowledge and life skills necessary for a
meaningful and harmonious life in the context of multicultural Indonesia”.
Without nullifying the values of Western culture and educational products,
which have gradually seeped into local language, culture and education,
Alwasilah begs the reader to be tough-minded in dealing with new ideas, not
in just simply blindly adopting these products.

The thesis he proposes in this book is the important notion of
ethnopedagogy, which he defines as “a kind of education which is based on
local wisdom”. To keep abreast of the demands of the modern global world,
Alwasilah is cognizant of the fact that this may sound obsolete, saying
instead that this type of education needs continuous reinterpretation in
light of the challenges it may face in this modern changing world. What is
enlightening to the reader is the re-conceptualization of the term
literacy. Viewing the conventional term of literacy as simplistic,
Alwasilah redefines the term by delineating six fundamental principles of
literacy — principles which clearly extend the traditional scope of
literacy.

This reorientation of literacy is deliberately highlighted so that the
reader will be aware that being literate in their own language and culture
is a must because it can serve as a powerful tool for countering and
resisting the language hegemony and imperialism imposed by other languages
and cultures. Thus, the maintenance and then the empowerment of local
wisdom (i.e. the revitalization of local language and the promotion of
local culture among others) is seen as the best cultural strategy to strike
a balance against the dominance of other languages and cultures.

No less important is the insight of the author’s proposal of liberal
education. Seemingly discontent with the present system of national
education, Alwasilah tries to open the eyes of the reader to the urgency of
liberal education to be applied in the country. This book, it goes without
saying, offers a wealth of factual details regarding the problems of the
national education system in general and language education in particular.
Samples essays on the relevant topics discussed are provided in each
chapter, further enriching the readers’ insights into the topic.

What’s more, written by an author hailing from Sundanese ethnicity, this
book contains a genuine and critical voice of a scholar from the periphery,
and therefore deserves to be heard by either other periphery scholars or
scholars from the center. It is also an important reference for policy
makers and language pundits. Yet, readers, especially those from other
languages and cultures, may cast a suspicion that the book is too
Sundanese-centric, exclusively exposing cases of the Sundanese language and
culture and bringing varied perspectives from this language and culture. As
such, it behoves them to critically weigh pieces of evidence and examples
offered by the author and to question the assumptions proposed by virtue of
their culture, language, and literacy tradition.

*Pokoknya Rekayasa Literasi
(Nothing but Literacy Engineering)
A. Chaedar Alwasilah
Kiblat, 2012
280 pages*

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/03/10/revitalizing-language-policy.html

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