Emalia Iragiliati
Sukarni
The
demand to be fluent bilinguals in English and Indonesian is the aim at the
elementary, junior and senior high schools.
At the university level, it becomes fluent multilinguals as you have to
know the local language as well. At the
elementary level, children are taught with contextual language teaching
approach, connected with the real world activities, such as participating in environmental
awareness and Indonesian’s diverse ethnic groups. The approach at the junior and senior high is
then connected with classroom based and task based approach by increasing the
competence skills with daily live activities as in writing a report, etc. At the academic level, students are trained
to improve their language skills, providing chances to use English in real
communication, and exposed to many topics and issues
related to the environment. At the sixth
semester, the Medical students are using EAP: medical texts and tests. The medical students at the internship
program have to deal with real sickness and how to cure them. The portfolio assessment in the form of
bedside teaching manner and morning report seminars are used to train them daily.
The communication includes not only Indonesian and local language but also the
politeness system of the society. The significance of this report is that
Indonesian students have to be trained as early as possible to have the
competence in English as bilinguals till high schools and multilingual at the
university levels to be known as professional multilingual.
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Sukarni, E. I. (2003,
October). The importance of pragmatics for the teaching of English.
Paper presented at the 51st TEFLIN International Conference,
Website: www.geocities.com/eltindonesia
Email: eltindonesia@yahoo.com