Is English in the Cross-Road in Indonesia?

 

Eugenius Sadtono

 

 

The fact that English is becoming more and more popular in Indonesia is undeniable, as a greater number of people can speak English in Indonesia due to people’s own awareness that being able to speak English is an asset when they are looking for better paying jobs. Consequently, the middle as well as the upper class families send their children to schools using English as a medium of instruction. On the other hand, Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian), one of the biggest stumbling blocks of English language teaching in Indonesia, poses a greater ‘threat’ to English as it is becoming more firmly established in all walks of life. Students can now graduate from a college/university without reading a single text of English. Popular international magazines as well as textbooks are now available in Indonesian. In other words, the primary as well as the secondary mental needs of Indonesians can now be easily met by knowing Indonesian only. If Indonesians can satisfy their mental needs in Indonesian, why should they take the trouble of learning a difficult foreign Language? This paper will discuss this seemingly contradictory phenomenon And its implications for future directions of ELT as well as the development of Indonesian.

 

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Sadtono, E. (2004). Is English in the cross-road in Indonesia? Proceedings of the CLaSIC 2004 Conference (pp. 640-660). Singapore: Centre for Language Studies.

 

 

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