W

hen observing the Youth Pledge every Oct. 28, the nation celebrates its founding fathers’ commitment to Bahasa Indonesia as the language of unity.

History has told us that before the Youth Pledge some 83 years ago , the archipelago had no common language. Each of more than 300 ethnic groups spoke its own language. Thus, Bahasa Indonesia served as a lingua franca. Equally important, it was believed then that the language would intensify nationalist sentiment.

Since then, Bahasa Indonesia has developed remarkably. This is true even today when the world has become more globalized and national borders are eclipsed by global interests and many have highlighted the importance of mastering English as a global skill.

Borrowing the view of Norman Fairclough, language is an influential tool to exert power in the global scale culturally, politically and economically.

Language matters as it shows a nation’s identity — the language you speak demonstrates who you are, where you come from and what concerns you.

In a wider perspective, language cannot be conceived as a neutral medium of communication, but it should be understood with reference to the inequitable global world.

Why inequitable? One of the reasons is country categorization — developed and developing; First and Third World countries; and so on, such a pattern implies languages spoken by the leading countries have a claim as international languages.

If we take this position, then it is not enough for us to learn English and other international languages. We need to make others learn Bahasa Indonesia, too.

I was fortunate to be offered a chance to teach Bahasa Indonesia in universities and high schools during my postgraduate study in Australia. While teaching, I was concerned about the issue of the waning interest in learning Bahasa Indonesia in Australia.

In the secondary level, although Bahasa Indonesia is included in the LOTE (Language Other Than English) curriculum, recent statistics show that 99 percent of Australian students who begin studying Bahasa Indonesia in high school drop the subject.

In the tertiary level, it is unfortunately the case that Indonesian studies in several Australian universities have closed due to inadequate enrollment and funding. I hope this does not reflect Indonesian studies in other countries.

When I accomplished my study and returned to Indonesia, I was glad to find some outliers. The
student exchange program produced a rise in enrollment, thanks to the government’s efforts in promoting Bahasa Indonesia in that country.

The Directorate of Higher Education provides scholarships for students all over the world to learn Indonesian language and culture.

To illustrate, in Semarang State University, the participants of student exchange programs learn Bahasa Indonesia and culture-related subjects such as traditional dances, fine arts, traditional music and batik. Every year, the number of foreign students has increased.

Such interest reveals the possibility that Bahasa Indonesia has a promising place in global competition. This is a good start, but what next?

First, it is significant in building global awareness that learning Bahasa Indonesia is important and beneficial.

The exchange program is one example. Upon returning to their home countries, foreign students should be our ambassadors who promote Indonesia by their experience and word of mouth.

Second, more systematic steps to support Indonesian Studies overseas are urgently needed. For example, Indonesian universities which offer Bahasa Indonesia as a foreign language program should actively work together with the Indonesian Studies overseas and the Indonesian Studies consortium.

Last but not least, to uphold the growing interest in learning Bahasa Indonesia, national stability really counts. The Indonesian government needs to ensure that foreigners residing in the country are safe and sound and well-treated.

If it all works, it will make perfect sense for House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie to propose Bahasa Indonesia as the official language of ASEAN.

This optimism might also come from the fact that Bahasa Indonesia is the sixth-most spoken language in the world after Mandarin, English, Hindi, Spanish and Arabic.

With the current national and global setting, it is not enough to position Bahasa Indonesia as merely a unifying language.

We need to expand the reach of our national language up to the global edge. Bahasa Indonesia is not only a pathway to unity, but also our nation’s identity.

The writer, a lecturer at the Faculty of Languages and Arts, Semarang State University, is currently a research fellow for the Southeast Asian Minister of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Regional Centre for Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education Personnel in Language.