Indonesian as a National Language - Essay Example

How was the emergence of Indonesian as a national language been affected by colonialism and nationalism? How has the Indonesian language been consolidated as a language of national identity since the independence of the country in the 1940s? Introduction Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesians national language has been referred to as miraculous success and perhaps even the most spectacular linguistic phenomenon. Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation. It has an estimated population of nearly 250 million people. The country consists of over 13000 islands that stretch along the equator between South East Asia and Australia. Most people in Indonesia apart from speaking the official language they are also speakers of other languages used within the local community. The languages include Javanese, Sundanese, and Madurese. Javanese occupies the largest population in Indonesia since it has almost half of their population (Alisyahbana, 1962, Pp. 28). Analysis of the Indonesian language In Indonesia, the national language is referred to as Bahasa Indonesia, which simply means the language of Indonesia, Many factors led to the emergence of Indonesia as a national language. The language was viewed as an expression of unity. It gave Indonesians a sense of identity and pushing the people towards the building of a new nation. As a big country, the people saw the need to prevent the dangers of ethnic divisions and conflicts from occurring (Alisyahbana, 1962, Pp. 30). The language helped the people of Indonesia to express themselves openly, and the more they became aware of their ethnicities. The sense of unity led to the nurturing of the first two presidents of the country who were Soekarno and Suharto. The Indonesian language among its citizens, develops and upgrades Indonesian’s educational system and also the eradication of illiteracy. Since independence due to the Indonesian language, there has been a rapid increase in the urbanization of Indonesia. The increase has led to the vernacular languages being abandoned and hence the particular language has taken control of the wider communication in the urban communities (Berman, 1998, Pp. 44). The emergence of the Indonesian language has faced a lot of drawbacks such as higher education where some people are not familiar with the language. The country has been the first post-colonial nation that has been able to develop and implement a national language with the highest speed and registered the fastest degree of acceptance The declaration of Indonesian as a national language was made when the country attained its independence on August 17, 1945. Malay, a language that was developed to Indonesian was used as a primary language in business transactions, trade and also travel. Malay was also utilized by the Portuguese and Dutch missionaries attempting to convert the people of Indonesia to Christianity. The above factors created a basis or rather a foundation for the development of Indonesian language since Malay was well known to some degree by most of the population. A language planning program was put in place to make Indonesian a political language, as well as educational (Geertz, 1960, Pp. 33). As the language developed, the revolution began by starting the process of filling Indonesian with the emotionally resonant words that gave the other languages their cultural identity. The words included Rajat (People), Merdeka (Freedom) and many others. The language offers an attractive medium of expression more so to those who felt oppressed; it provided simplicity that allowed many writers to feel that they can mold it and create it according to their aspirations (Geertz, 1960, Pp. 35). It also clearly depicts that the goals contained in the Indonesian project are now permanently in the Indonesian society since the emergence of the national language. The development of this language has however been affected by some ways by both colonialism and also nationalism. During the colonial era a sense of nationalism grew, and Indonesians began looking to the future and end to the Dutch colonial rule. In this era, there were three languages that emerged as possible official languages of the new nation. The words that could pave the way for one to be the national language include Dutch (The colonial language). The language also constituted that of the largest ethnic group, Javanese; and the historic Lingua Franca of the Archipelago, Malay. The Malay language that developed to Indonesian was a mother tongue of less than 5% of the population at the time of independence. The Javanese had the largest number of population since it was the biggest ethnic group (Heryanto, 1995, Pp. 51). The Javanese population occupied almost 50% of the total population in the country. Although the Malay language had relatively few speakers, it served as a lingua Franca in much of the archipelago. The language had served as such for over a thousand year’s and more so for more than two thousand years. The best thing about Malay, it was considered as easy to learn. The language included the use of simpler syntax and use of simple words that could be easily understood. Following this advantage the name was picked up quickly by new speakers. As a result of the trade. The language also spread through historical empires in the western part of the archipelago. It also spread as a consequence of the propagation of the Islamic religion and to the extent that the Dutch navigator Huygens van Linschoten remarked in 1614 that Malay was so prestigious (Simpson, 2007, Pp.34). The Dutch navigator also viewed the language in a perspective that for an educated man to be unfamiliar with Malay was like for a Dutch man not knowing the French language. The strategic geographical location of the Malay homeland, on both sides of the Straits of Malacca, also made the language be a trade language and lingua Franca. In the Dutch colonial era, Malay played a significant role in communication. Initially, the word was only used for the propagation of Christianity and as the medium of instruction in Christian schools. As days went by, Malay language was now used as a language of colonial administration. The colonial Dutch men could address the Indonesian people, mostly by the use of the Malay language. In 1865, the language was now declared as the second official language of administration (Simpson, 2007, Pp.38). In the 19th century, a Malay-language press was formed and in 1918 most of the newspapers were now published in Malay language more development in Indonesia also increased the education. The school system uses Dutch as the most superior language of education. Due to the neglect of the Indonesian people by the colonial rulers the number of places in the Dutch language schools was extremely limited, and these places were filled with only the elite and the Dutch men. The majority of Indonesians who during this colonial era received any education at all were educated through Malay language, although it was only available at the primary level. Towards Nationalism, many organizations with nationalist aspirations began to form which most used the Dutch language in their operations, but later changed to Malay (Keeler, 1987, Pp. 33). Groups such as the Sarekat Islam (Islamic Association) also adopted Malay as their official language. The Malay speakers continued increasing until there was the formation of a Malay language publishing house that was referred to as BalaiPustaka.By this time, there was now need to hold the first Congress of Indonesian youth that took place in 1926 where the future leaders of independent Indonesia discussed the national language issue.In the first Congress of Indonesian youth, the participants made a case for Malay becoming the national language, but the questions discussed in the Congress were discussed in Dutch (Maier, 1993, Pp. 48). As the fight for independence continued, two years later a second congress for Indonesian youth was held. In the second Congress, not only the issues being discussed in Malay language but the participants developed a new name for the style that was Indonesian (Bahamas Indonesia). This Congress was formed when the language was declared as a national language without anyone debating about it. In this Congress also there was the proclaiming of the Youth Pledge, which gave way to the independence movement. The text of the youth pledge known as (Sumpah Pemuda) was as follows. We, the sons and daughters of Indonesia, Kami putradanputri Indonesia Declare that we belong to one nation mengakubertumpahdarah yang satu, Indonesia; tanahtumpahdarah Indonesia. We, the sons and daughters of Indonesia, Kami putradanputri Indonesia Declare that we belong to one people, mengakuberbangsa yang satu, The Indonesian people; bangsa Indonesia. We, the sons and daughters of Indonesia, Kami putradanputriIndonesi Vow to uphold the nation’s language of menjunjungtinggibahasapersatuan, Unity, Indonesian.Bahasa Indonesia. The youth pledge gave a new prestige and a sense of superiority to the Malay language that is now known as Indonesian, although the youth nationalist activists continued to use Dutch in their daily communication. The growing nationalism also scared the Dutch colonial administration. The Dutch, therefore, eliminated the use of Malay in education system thought Indonesia. However, the indigenous press strongly opposed the move, and the position of Indonesian in the nationalist movement solidified until the first language Congress in Indonesia was held. Many issues were discussed in the Congress in 1938, and it marked the start of the formal language planning activities for the introduction of the Indonesian language (Maier, 1993, Pp. 56). Later on the Japanese invaded and occupied Indonesia, and immediately the banned the use of the Dutch language for whatever reason in 1942.Their primary goal was to integrate Japanese language in administration and education. However, the process could not be possible in the short term. As a result, with immediate effect Indonesian became the sole language of education, administration and the mass media (Maier, 1993, Pp. 58). Following the Japanese occupation, all texts used in the high schools and the university studies were written in Dutch. The Dutch books were also immediately changed to Indonesian, and a new system of education was developed.Takdir who headed the language office under the Japanese was also a key Indonesian linguistic writer. When Indonesia attained its independence on August 17, 1945, after the surrender of the Japanese at the end of the World War 2, Indonesian was now declared as the sole national language of the new nation. The choice of Malay as the new domestic and official language was in many ways irresistible and could not be avoided (Sen and David, 2000, Pp. 47). The vernacular languages in the Indonesian society are also protected by the Indonesian constitution, which states that Indonesian is the national language and that the vernaculars are guaranteed their right to existence and development. At this point Indonesia was successful in implementing its national language policy that was facilitated by many factors; the choice of Malay as the national language carried with it certain advantages and also consequences. First is that as a language was used by a few people it was not viewed as a threat to the cultural identity of other ethnic groups. This allowed the new Indonesian language to be used as a medium for uniting the different groups of people in Indonesia and also giving them a sense of national identity. In other countries, for example, in Malaysia, the language chosen as the national language was seen as a threat by other groups in the society (Sen and David, 2000, Pp. 47). Conclusion In Malaysia, the Malay language was identified closely with the Malay people. In this regard, the Malay ethnic group had controlled the national political power. Also, the language also threatened the cultural and ethnic identity of Indians as well as the Chinese people. The language also threatened to divide the nation into two races that occupy nearly half of the country’s population. Additionally, in the Philippines Tagalog the national language was also the language of the largest ethnic group and was also the language of the ethnic group that was the most powerful in terms of politics and leadership. Due to the emergence of this language many of the Indonesians are unable to communicate with people from the outer world since they lack a global language. Unlike the Philippines’ and people from Malaysia who communicates through English. As a result, the colonialism of Indonesia by the Dutch had the largest effect towards the emergence of their national language. The integration of Indonesian language is regarded as active in promoting national unity. Also, the language also creates a strong national identity and also promoting education and literacy throughout the country. Indonesia also have improved foreign language education that enables many to communicate with people from the diaspora. References Alisyahbana, S. Takdir. 1962. Indonesian language and literature : two essays. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University, Southeast Asia Studies. UniM Baill Res 499.221 ALIS Berman, Laine. 1998. Speaking through the silence : narratives, social conventions, and power in Java. New York : Oxford University Press.UniM Baill Res 306.445982 BERM Geertz, Clifford. 1960. The religion of Java. New York : Free Press. CHAPTER 17 ‘The Background and General Dimensions of Prijaji Belief and Etiquette’. UniM Baill Res Q2173 TWO HOUR LOAN Heryanto, Ariel. 1995. Language of development and development of language : the case of Indonesia. Canberra : Australian National University, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Dept. of Linguistics.UniM Baill Res 499 PACI v.86 Keeler, Ward. 1987. Javanese shadow plays, Javanese selves. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press. UniM Baill Res 791.5 KEEL Maier, H. M. J. 1993. ‘From heteroglossia to polyglossia: The creation of Malay and Dutch in the Indies’,Indonesia 56:37-65. Sen, Krishna and David Hill. 2000. Media, culture and politics in Indonesia. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. UniM Baill Res 302.2309598 SEN Simpson, Andrew. (2007). Language and national identity in Asia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read More