Build International Language Road Map

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

The billboard contains an invitation to prioritize the use of Indonesian on the edge of Jalan Poros Palopo - Makassar, Parepare, South Sulawesi, Thursday (28/12/2017).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The Indonesian language has the potential to become a primary language in Southeast Asia, even an international language. The number of Indonesian speakers is quite significant, and they are spread out across several countries and regions. A road map to promote Indonesian as a language for international communication should be developed.

E. Aminudin Aziz, head of the Language Cultivation and Development Agency at the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry, said on Wednesday (27/4/2022) that the Indonesian language had great potential to be spoken internationally because of the high interest among foreign nationals in learning Indonesian. There were some 143,000 Indonesian-speaking foreigners (BIPA) who were active learners in 49 countries, including Spain, the United States, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Japan.

Indonesia has an estimated 269 million native speakers, while 5.2 million people speak Indonesian across Southeast Asia. According to data from ASEAN UP, a website that broadcasts, publishes and provides resources, the Indonesian population accounts for 40.89 percent of the projected regional population for 2016-2026, the largest among ASEAN member states.

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> Language and Indonesian Nationality

> Respecting the Indonesian Language

The US and Europe have an estimated 2 million Indonesian speakers, while the Asia Pacific and Africa have an estimated 2.4 million Indonesian speakers.

Aminudin said Indonesian was stipulated as the national language in the 1945 Constitution, Law No. 24/2009, Government Regulation No. 57/2014, and Presidential Regulation No. 63/2019. "All regulate how Indonesian is a means of upholding the nation’s dignity in the world," he told "The internationalization of Indonesian Language" seminar, which coincided with the launch of Bahasa Indonesia Sebagai Bahasa ASEAN (Indonesian as an ASEAN language).

According to Abdul Fikri Faqih, deputy chairman of House of Representatives (DPR) Commission X, the legislature and the government were in agreement over promoting Indonesian as an international language. He also encouraged the optimal use of Indonesian as an instructional language in educational activities.

KOMPAS/ANTONY LEE

A number of students from various backgrounds who took the Indonesian language program at the University of Washington in Seattle, United States, Friday (4/11/2016) evening local time, browsed Indonesian newspapers in the Suzallo library at the University of Washington. Reading newspapers is one of their ways to improve Indonesian language.

Cultivate love

Faizin, who teaches Indonesian at Muhammadiyah University of Malang, underlined that there was a need to develop a road map to promote Indonesian to global speakers and to more clearly define the role of stakeholders. At the same time, people should be encouraged to nurture a love for speaking Indonesian.

Writer Muhammad Rois Rinaldi agreed with the need for a road map, saying that it was necessary to as a guide for literacy development. He said writers could be effective agents in promoting the language on the international stage.

During his visit to Indonesia early April 2022, Malaysian Prime Minister dato' Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob proposed Malay to be the primary language of ASEAN, which Indonesia opposed.

The Indonesian language, which has its roots in the Malay language, has developed rapidly with its lexicon enriched by local and foreign vernaculars.

This article was translated by Musthofid.