Indonesia
abandoning tradition to create a new national standard1

islands maintain ethnolinguistic variation
More than half of Indonesia’s population live on Java, and the Javanese are the nation’slargest ethnic group, while the remainder of the population inhabit 6,000 other islands.
This separation ofpeople has createdand maintains
ethnolinguistic
diversity.
Its 700 languages
are not mutually
intelligible2

over 300 recognized ethnic groups3

old language families in West New Guinea
Over 200 languages are
spoken in the provincesof Papua and Western
Papua, includingTernate, Dani, Ekari,and Yali.
The Papuan peoples
are the descendants ofpeople who arrived
over 40,000 years ago.
4

Malayo-Polynesian language subgroups
Having arrived about 5,000 years ago,
all of the Malayo-Polynesian language
subgroups are represented in Indonesia:
Philippines
Borneo and Madagascar
Sunda-Sulawesi
Central Malayo-Polynesian(Bandanesian)South Halmahera-West New Guinea(South Halmahera-Geelvink Bay)
Oceanic
5

Austronesian expansion brought rice
Language is typically associated withother aspects of culture.
Along with their Malayo-Polynesianlanguages, neolithic migrants
brought Japonica rice tosoutheast Asia and Indonesia.
Taro cultivation is strongly associatedwith the much older
Papuanpopulation.
6

Malay, an old lingua franca
Most Indonesians speak a Malayo-Polynesian language at home, and the Malayic (red)language Malay has official status in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and Indonesia.
Malay has been a regional
lingua franca for hundredsof years.
Today, the most important
standard varieties of Malay
are called Bahasa Indonesia,Bahasa Malaysia, andBahasa Melayu.
7

Bahasa Indonesia BakuBahasa Indonesia Baku, “Standard Indonesian”, is the standard
language of Indonesia, and it is now taught in all schools.
Most Indonesians do not speak Standard Indonesianmost of the time. Most people speak their local
language most of the time. Even school children will
deviate from standard usage outside of the classroom.
Some local languages have very rich traditions, so it is quite
natural that Javanese, Sundanese,
Minangkabau, and otherlanguages continue to be used.
8Javanese
Today, Indonesia’s Malayo-Polynesianlanguage with the second greatest
number of speakers is Javanese.
Javanese is one of the world’s classicallanguages, with over a millennium ofliterary history.
Javanese script is currently taught inthe schools of three provinces where
Javanese is spoken: Central Java, East
Java, and D.I. Yogyakarta.
9

forgetting old scripts and literature
For five centuries, until about a century ago, the Javanesescript was routinely used by all sorts of Javanese people.
A similar but different script is traditionally used in Bali.
Despite their long tradition, use of the Javanese andBalinese scripts has declined due to the Indonesian
government’s promotion of Bahasa Indonesia writtenwith the Latin script.
The promotion of Latin script for Bahasa Indonesia waspolitically motivated as an easy-to-learn script andlanguage for unifying the country.
10Malay chosen as the national language
In 1945, Indonesia declared its independence, and it chose Malay as its national language. In 1945,
Malay was the native language of only 5% of the Indonesian people.
Dutch was the colonial language of Indonesia, but it was not widely spoken, so it was not chosen as
the national language. Also, the use of Dutch had been forbidden during the Japanese occupation.
Javanese, spoken by about 45% of the people, was a lingua academica with a respected history and awidely used script. The Javanese script was even used to write Malay. However, Javanese was notknown throughout the country.
Malay had long been a lingua franca known throughout Indonesia, and the number of secondlanguage (L2) speakers of Malay was nearly half of Indonesia’s population. Malay’s wide use andpolitical neutrality resulted in its being selected as the official Indonesian language.
Having selected Malay to be Bahasa Indonesia, the government began codifying and standardizing
Bahasa Indonesia, and it also began teaching Bahasa Indonesia throughout the country.
11

Rubin: language standardization steps
In Language Planning Processes, Joan Rubin described the developmental steps in thestandardization of a language such as Bahasa Indonesia:
1. A reference point or system is set up or comes into being, i.e., a norm is isolated.
2. Value is assigned to the reference point or system, i.e., a judgement is made by somesignificant group of people that the reference point or system is ‘good’ or ‘correct’ or‘preferred’ or ‘appropriate’.
3. Specification is made or comes into being regarding when and for what purpose thenorm is to be used.
4. Some agreement occurs with regard to points 1, 2, and 3 above.
5. Points 1, 2, and 3 serve as a basis for comparison.
6. There is some span of time during which 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 are in effect.

12neglect of English language education
The government’s effort to promote Bahasa Indonesia has helped unify the nation. All literatepeople now know it, and 20% of the people now speak Bahasa Indonesia even at home.
However, increased home use of Bahasa Indonesia is reducing the use of many local languages.
School emphasis on Bahasa Indonesia has also resulted in a neglect of English language
education. English study is not required in Indonesia’s public schools, and students have “low”
English proficiency according to EF Education First testing. In 2019, Indonesia ranked 61st in
English proficiency, much lower than Singapore (5th) and Malaysia (26th).
The lack of English skills nationwide is a problem because English skills are required for many
government and corporate jobs. Consequently, there is good English education at private
schools and in urban areas, and this is exacerbating income disparities between “global” and“local” Indonesian workers.
13

borrowing and blending into oneBahasa Indonesia has borrowed words from many foreign languages:
Dutch (42%), English (21%), Arabic (19%), Sanskrit/Hindi (9%), Chinese,
Portuguese, Tamil, Persian, etc.
Dutch loanwords are one of the differences between Bahasa Indonesia
and Bahasa Malaysia; for example, tinta ~ dakwat “ink”.
The many words borrowed from Javanese are not considered to beforeign words, but these also distinguish Indonesian from Malaysian.
Overall, Bahasa Indonesia serves, not only as a lingua franca for diverse
ethnolinguistic groups, but also as a symbol of national identity andeven pride, especially for Indonesians traveling in foreign countries.
14

15