By: Dr. Felicia N. Utorodewo
The Indonesian Constitution of 1945 states that the national language is the Indonesian language. The use of Indonesian language as the medium of instruction in education is set out in Article 33 of Law No. 20/2003 of the Education. The law states “Indonesian as the national language is the medium of instruction for national education. Regional languages can be used as an introductory language in the early stages of education as needed in the delivery of specific knowledge and / or skills. Foreign languages can be used as a medium of instruction in a particular educational unit to support learners’ foreign language ability.” The statement was reinforced by the enactment of the Republic of Indonesia Act 24 of 2009 on Flags, Languages, and National Symbols, as well as the National Anthem. This law states that, “Indonesian language must be used as the medium of instruction in national education”. The next question that arises is how schools prioritise the introduction and learning of Indonesian language among children in the presence of other languages (regional languages and foreign languages) in everyday life in the school, home, and general community.
In Indonesia, language users face the presence of Indonesian, regional, and foreign languages. Usually, the child will initially be exposed to their mother tongue. Mother tongue is the first language a child knows through her mother. In Indonesia, the mother tongue can be an indigenous language given that Indonesia has over six hundred regional languages, or it could be Indonesian. For children raised in big cities, their mother tongue is most likely Indonesian. For a child born abroad or one of his parents, especially his mother, is a foreigner, the child’s mother tongue is a foreign language, depending on the place of his birth or the language of one of his parents. So a child’s first language is the first language he or she knows.
The teaching of Indonesian language, so far, is teaching language like it is a first language. Children are considered to have basic language skills in Indonesian before starting school. Language teaching is given with the assumption that children already know how to pronounce words and understand the meaning of words in Indonesian. Intonation is also considered to have been mastered and ignores the fact that pronunciation and intonation of local languages are different from Indonesian. In reality, it’s not always that easy.
Foreign languages are the language of the rules, of which the characters and the concept is sometimes completely different from Indonesian language. That means, language is taught as a language that is not yet known by children. All are taught: pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, context, and even how to write using a different alphabet in certain languages, such as Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, and so on.
In Indonesia, children’s language abilities vary. A child can be called monolingual (master one language); bilingual (mastering two languages); or a polyglot (mastering more than two languages). A child raised in an urban area, coupled with highly educated parents, will be able to speak Indonesian language and possibly a foreign language, frequently English. A child raised in a suburban area, perhaps with highly educated parents, may or may not, be able to speak the local language and speak Indonesian. A child who is raised in a rural area and, perhaps, remote may only able to speak a regional language.

The situation shows that a child from an early age can be someone who is polyglot (mastering many languages at once). Of course, with certain consequences, for example children will be slow to talk. Slowness occurs because the child is busy remembering the word he heard; separating them into different language groups; and learn when and with whom a language is used. After the age of two years, children will start talking. At the age of six, children will choose the language to be developed. Language that is rarely used will be stored in his memory. Later, one day, the language will be easily remembered if he formally learns the language.
From this fact, the teaching of Indonesian language does not always have to be given as the first language, but rather as a second language, after the mother tongue. According to UNESCO research, the introduction of letters, numbers, and concepts of everyday or environment should be given in the mother tongue known to children. Preferably, in grades one through three, the mother tongue is used as the language of instruction. Indonesian can be used if there are concepts that are not found in the mother tongue. Then gradually, Indonesian can be introduced as a second language. Usually, it starts in grade 4 and so on. English, as a world language, was introduced as a foreign language and began to be taught at the junior high school level and beyond. Other foreign languages, such as Mandarin, Arabic, German, French, are taught from the high school level.
The diverse situation described above is a problem in Indonesian education. Many schools, especially schools labeled as ‘international schools’, who besides teaching foreign languages from an early age, also use foreign languages as instructional languages in their schools. Can foreign languages be taught from an early age? Sure, it is allowed. However, there are two conditions that must be met. First, teaching foreign languages and Indonesian language must be given with the same intensity. Second, foreign language instructors must master foreign languages fluently. There must be no grammatical error or pronunciation when teaching students. Once this error occurs, the child will continue to carry it into adulthood.
The biggest problem occurs because international schools teach foreign languages without teaching Indonesian language. Sometimes, schools provide fewer hours for Indonesian language than foreign languages. As a result, children actually cannot speak Indonesian language properly. The greater cultural consequence is that children become excluded from their own people. Children are more able to get along with foreigners so that they go to school abroad (indeed, their parents prepare for it) and of course are more happy to work and live abroad than in Indonesia. Of course, we didn’t expect that to happen, right?
References
Educational Sector Analytical and Capacity Development Partnership (ACDP). 2017. Support for Mother Language Based Multilingual Education (PMB-BBI) in Rural and Remote Schools in Papua. Jakarta: ACDP, Balitbang, Ministry of Education and Culture.
Kennison, Sheila M. 2014. Introduction to Language Development. California: Sage Publications.
Levey, Sandra and Polirstok, Susan. 2011. Language Development: Understanding Language Diversity in the Classroom. California: Sage Publications.
UNESCO. 2007. Improving the Quality of Mother Tongue-based Literacy and Learning: Case Studies from Asia, Africa, and South America. Bangkok: UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education.
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