Jakarta - Indonesian has been the country`s official language for 80 years, but it now faces marginalization as regions look to preserve their local dialects and the country strives to learn English to keep up with globalization.
Dendy Sugono, head of the National Education Ministry Language Center, said the public was concerned that the prevalence of the Indonesian language was threatening the existence of local dialects.
He said in Jakarta on Tuesday that at least nine local dialects in Papua and one in North Maluku were facing extinction.
"Young families living in cities tend to speak Indonesian among themselves. This is the main concern expressed during several local dialect congresses held earlier, including the Javanese congress, the Balinese congress, the Sundanese congress ...," Dendy told more than 1,000 people attending the opening of the Ninth Indonesian Language Congress, which will run for five days.
He also said Indonesian was facing threats from foreign languages, especially English, as a result of Indonesia`s struggle to compete on the global market.
"This situation shows how the positions and functions of the three languages in the communities are not yet well established. What we really need is to balance our mastery of local dialects, Indonesian and foreign languages," Dendy said.
The congress, themed "Indonesian Language Creates Smart and Competitive Indonesians on the Top of a National Civilization Foundation", gathers linguists and literary figures, policy makers, educators, students and a number of foreigners teaching Indonesian abroad.
Dendy said up to 67 countries had universities or other institutions that offered Indonesian language classes, and that every year about 500 foreign students were invited to learn Indonesian under a scholarship scheme funded by the ministry.
Education Minister Bambang Sudibyo said in his opening speech that Indonesian was engaged in a "dialogical interaction" with foreign languages, and that the community should not view the situation from a "pessimistic point of view".
He said the Indonesian language was in desperate need of expansion as it had absorbed many scientific and technological words from foreign languages.
M. Umar Muslim, an Indonesian language lecturer at the University of Indonesia (UI), said in order to balance the use of local dialects, Indonesian and foreign languages, there should be a definition of appropriate situations for each.
Local dialects, he said, should be extensively spoken at home, where parents should not be ashamed of speaking them.
Indonesian should be spoken between people from different regions and in formal situations, while English could be used when learning science and technology at universities, he said.
Tuesday`s event also saw the launch of the Indonesian Language Map, which displays the country`s 440 local dialects according to where they are spoken across the archipelago.
The Language Center also launched an Indonesian dictionary and thesaurus, which can be accessed for free at www.bse.depdiknas.go.id. Erwida Maulia
Source: http://old.thejakartapost.com (October 30, 2008)
