The Irony Of The 2021 Youth Pledge: Urban People Begin To Feel More Prestige Speaking English Than Indonesian

Illustration (Source: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The use of foreign languages such as English is starting to be considered more prestigious than Indonesian by some urban communities. Some facts, such as showing that Indonesian is starting to degrade. Does this mean that we are starting to forget the meaning of one of the contents of the oath in the Youth Pledge, to uphold the language of unity?

Professor Ariel Heryanto through his Twitter account expressed an observation that has been made for 20 years. The doctorate in anthropology, a graduate of Monash University Australia, said that most Indonesian children living in Australia are only fluent in English.

Meanwhile, Ariel said that Chinese immigrants still teach their children to speak Mandarin, their mother tongue, in everyday conversation. Likewise with Japanese and Arab immigrants.

"In Australia, Chinese immigrants teach their children to speak Mandarin in everyday life... The Japanese speak Japanese. The Arabs speak Arabic. But most Indonesian children are only fluent in English," wrote Ariel.

I'm often amazed in public places to see pre-school children look "Bule" (descended by their father) but are fluent in Mandarin, Japanese or Arabic (because their mother is from there) when chatting with their grandmothers (Asian or Middle Eastern) who take care of him.

— Ariel Heryanto (@ariel_heryanto) October 29, 2021

Indeed, this portrait can still be considered normal because they do live in a country that uses English as a daily basis. But what happens if Indonesian begins to feel less proud for the nation? And unfortunately the symptoms began to appear.

In this era of globalization, we cannot avoid being exposed to foreign languages, especially English. This phenomenon is like a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the ability to master English is important, but on the other hand we also need to maintain our identity as a nation.

The extent of the influence of English on the languages of the world is reflected in the development of the number of speakers. According to Alwasih's records in 1985, English speakers reached more than 315 million native speakers, 300 million second language speakers, and 100 million foreign speakers.

Whereas four centuries earlier only five to seven million native speakers. In addition to the number of speakers, another indicator that causes the large dominance of English over other languages in the world is the distribution of population, economy, culture and ideology.

English dominance

I Dewa Putu Wijana in the Journal of Humanities, Gadjah Mada University, shows that the number of foreign words, especially English in Indonesian slang, is much larger than regional terms in Indonesia. On the other hand, if we look at the number of Indonesian slang terms that are included in English slang or other foreign languages, "there may not be any, or they must be very small in number," he wrote.

According to Wijana, the longer the dominance of the use of foreign languages in Indonesia is getting bigger, and covers all aspects of Indonesian people's life. Especially those related to aspects of modern culture and lifestyle.

"Nowadays the names of people and products, as well as services that smell foreign are countless. Over time, this domination will continue to suppress the original names of Indonesia and the regions which are essentially cultural treasures of great value that must be protected and maintained," and passed on to the next generation," wrote Wijana.

In fact, according to Wijana, a situation like this is a reflection of the lower social, economic and political roles played by the Indonesian state. "It is a reflection of the low social, economic, and political role played by Indonesia and the countries that dominate it, such as Britain, America, France, Japan, China, etc."

Language is one of the most important cultural elements as well as the most consistent reflecting social changes that occur in the midst of society. The use of language can be used as an indication of how the dominance of certain cultures over other cultures in a society.

Illustration (Source: Unsplash)

English is more prestige

Still according to Wijana, in his writings he explains that language has a close relationship with the community of speakers. So that language is never neutral from the influence of the structure of society and the culture of its speakers.

"Regarding this linguistic sign, Voloshinov (1973) says that the use of linguistic forms is influenced by social conditions and the interaction of the members involved in it, so it is like a struggle between the social classes of the society concerned," wrote Wijana.

The relationship between various forms of language with social orientation is called the term "Heteroglossia". It was in this battle that the dominance of one community group with another community group appeared.

And groups of people with lower social, political, and economic statuses view positively the culture of people with stronger social, political, and economic status. "So it is very easy for the culture to be dominated by foreign cultures."

Wijana's argument is in line with Reza A Prayoga and Husnul Khatimah's research on "The Mindset of Using English in Urban Communities." Their research shows the use of English has become a social behavior in urban communities. This study covering Jabodetabek revealed "this causes English to be superior to Indonesian as the national language."

Prayoga and Khatimah said this reality was an early indication of the weakening of the Indonesian language in the public sphere. "Slowly but surely English has become the symbol of the prima donna language among urban communities in Jabodetabek," he wrote.

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