首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
As English Spreads, Indonesians Fear for Their Language Paulina Sugiarto’s three children played together at a mall here the
As English Spreads, Indonesians Fear for Their Language Paulina Sugiarto’s three children played together at a mall here the
admin
2012-05-17
26
问题
As English Spreads, Indonesians Fear for Their Language
Paulina Sugiarto’s three children played together at a mall here the other day, chattering not in Indonesia’s national language, but English. Their fluency often draws admiring questions from other Indonesian parents Ms. Sugiarto encounters in this city’s upscale malls.
But the children’s ability in English obscured the fact that, though born and raised in Indonesia, they were struggling with the Indonesian language, known as Bahasa Indonesia. Their parents, who grew up speaking the Indonesian language but went to college in the United States and Australia, talk to their children in English. And the children attend a private school where English is the main language of instruction.
"They know they’re Indonesian," Ms. Sugiarto, 34, said. "They love Indonesia. They just can’t speak Bahasa Indonesia. It’s tragic."
Indonesia’s linguistic legacy is increasingly under threat as growing numbers of wealthy and upper-middle-class families shun (避开) public schools where Indonesian remains the main language but English is often taught poorly. They are turning, instead, to private schools that focus on English and devote little time, if any, to Indonesian.
For some Indonesians, as mastery of English has become increasingly tied to social standing, Indonesian has been relegated to second-class status. In extreme cases, people take pride in speaking Indonesian poorly.
The global spread of English, with its sometimes corrosive (逐渐破坏的) effects on local languages, has caused much hand-wringing (焦虑) in many non-English-speaking corners of the world. But the implications may be more far-reaching in Indonesia, where generations of political leaders promoted Indonesian to unite the nation and forge a national identity out of countless ethnic groups, ancient cultures and disparate dialects.
The government recently announced that it would require all private schools to teach the nation’s official language to its Indonesian students by 2013. Details remain sketchy, though.
"These schools operate here, but don’t offer Bahasa to our citizens," said Suyanto, who oversees primary and secondary education at the Education Ministry.
"If we don’t regulate them, in the long run this could be dangerous for the continuity of our language," said Mr. Suyanto, who like many Indonesians uses one name. "If this big country doesn’t have a strong language to unite it, it could be dangerous."
The seemingly reflexive preference for English has begun to attract criticism in the popular culture. Last year, a woman, whose father is Indonesian and her mother American, was crowned Miss Indonesia despite her poor command of Indonesian. The judges were later condemned in the news media and in the blogs for being impressed by her English fluency and for disregarding the fact that, despite growing up here, she needed interpreters to translate the judges’ questions.
In 1928, nationalists seeking independence from Dutch rule chose Indonesian, a form of Malay, as the language of civic unity. While a small percentage of educated Indonesians spoke Dutch, Indonesian became the preferred language of intellectuals.
Each language had a social rank, said Arief Rachman, an education expert. "If you spoke Javanese, you were below," he said, referring to the main language on the island of Java. "If you spoke Indonesian, you were a bit above. If you spoke Dutch, you were at the top."
Leaders, especially Suharto, the general who ruled Indonesia until 1998, enforced teaching of Indonesian and curbed use of English.
"During the Suharto era, Bahasa Indonesia was the only language that we could see or read. English was at the bottom of the rank," said Aimee Dawis, who teaches communications at Universitas Indonesia. "It was used to create a national identity, and it worked, because all of us spoke Bahasa Indonesia. Now the dilution (淡化) of Bahasa Indonesia is not the result of a deliberate government policy. It’s just occurring naturally."
With Indonesia’s democratization (民主化) in the past decade, experts say, English became the new Dutch. Regulations were loosened, allowing Indonesian children to attend private schools that did not follow the national curriculum, but offered English. The more expensive ones, with tuition costing several thousand dollars a year, usually employ native speakers of English, said Elena Racho, vice chairwoman of the Association of National Plus Schools, an umbrella organization for private schools.
But with the popularity of private schools booming, hundreds have opened in recent years, Ms. Racho said. The less expensive ones, unable to hire foreigners, are often staffed with Indonesians teaching all subjects in English, if often imperfect English, she added.
Many children attending those schools end up speaking Indonesian poorly, experts said. Uchu Riza — who owns a private school that teaches both languages — said some Indonesians were willing to sacrifice Indonesian for a language with perceived higher status.
"Sometimes they look down on people who don’t speak English," she said.
She added: "In some families, the grandchildren cannot speak with the grandmother because they don’t speak Bahasa Indonesia. That’s sad."
Anna Surti Ariani, a psychologist who provides counseling at private schools and in her own practice, said some parents even displayed "a negative pride" that their children spoke poor Indonesian. Schools typically advise the parents to speak to their children in English at home even though the parents may be far from fluent in the language.
"Sometimes the parents even ask the baby sitters not to speak in Indonesian but in English," Ms. Ariani said.
It is a sight often seen in this city’s malls on weekends: Indonesian parents addressing their children in sometimes halting English, followed by nannies using what English words they know.
But Delia Raymena Jovanka, 30, a mother of two preschoolers, has developed misgivings (担 忧). Her son Fathiy, 4, attended an English play group and was enrolled in a kindergarten focusing on English; Ms. Jovanka allowed him to watch only English TV programs.
The result was that her son responded to his parents only in English and had difficulties with Indonesian. Ms. Jovanka was considering sending her son to a regular public school next year. But friends and relatives were pressing her to choose a private school so that her son could become fluent in English.
Asked whether she would rather have her son become fluent in English or Indonesian, Ms. Jovanka said, "To be honest, English. But this can become a big problem in his socialization. He’s Indonesian. He lives in Indonesia. If he can’t communicate with people, it’ll be a big problem."
Parents are advised by private schools to use English at home even if their English is not______
选项
答案
fluent
解析
空前的主语和系动词表明,本空应填一表示英语掌握程度的形容词(短语)。题干中的Parents are advised…to use English at home与该句提到的Schools…advise the parents to speak…in English at home对应, even if与even though对应,is not与may be far from对应,由此可知,far from后的fluent即为本题答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/cVf7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteacompositiononthetopiconaHarmoniousDormitoryLife.Youshouldwritea
A、Givingalecture.B、Discussingphysicsproblems.C、Waitingforafriend.D、Readingtwentieth-centuryliterature.B
A、She’simpressedwiththeticketsellers.B、She’spleasedabouttheman’spurchase.C、She’suncertainaboutthechangeinplans
StandardEnglishisthevarietyofEnglishwhichisusuallyusedinprintandwhichisnormallytaughtinschoolsandtonon-nat
A、BecauseheisfromGermany.B、BecausethecompanywasestablishedbyaGerman.C、BecauseGermanwillbeneededintheirbusine
A、Shewantsthejobbecausesheisbankrupt.B、Shecanspeakthreelanguages.C、Sheis25yearsoldwhensheisattendingthein
A、Shethinksit’stoolateanyway.B、Shethinksheshouldn’twaitaminute.C、Shethinksheshoulddothingsearlier.D、Shethi
A、Bytheintroductionofherfriend.B、Byaphonebook.C、Bya"TutorWanted"notice.D、ByanadvertisementontheInternet.C
A、Thoseinthebrochures.B、ThoseontheInternet.C、Thoseinnewspapers.D、Thoseinspecialistmagazines.D此题考查听细节的能力。此题要求考生听懂
随机试题
危大工程实行分包并由分包单位编制专项施工方案的,专项施工方案实施前应经()签字确认。
一女性患者,25岁,已婚,发现“子宫肌瘤”2年,现停经3个月,尿妊娠试验(+)。当妊娠合并子宫肌瘤时,最可能发生的变性是下列哪一种()
常用保存尿液有形成分的防腐剂是
患儿,6岁。因发热2天,伴呕吐、头痛来诊。查体:体温39.2℃,脉搏130次/分,呼吸40次/分,血压95/55mmHg,心、肺、腹未见异常,布鲁津斯基征阳性,凯尔尼格征阳性,初步诊断为病毒性脑炎。最常见的病毒是
我国宪法规定的公民的基本权利包括()。
低倍数泡沫灭火系统可以分为()灭火系统。
今天我国女性在高科技领域的状况是:女科技人员有800万以上,占科技队伍的1/3,在医学界则占50%以上。大学工科女毕业生占27%,女专业工程师占19%,女性正副教授占10%,女学部委员占4.8%。这些比例虽还有差距,却已大大高出一些发达国家,由此可推知(
下列部件中属于控制部件的是()。Ⅰ.指令寄存器Ⅱ.操作控制器Ⅲ.程序计数器Ⅳ.状态条件寄存器
CorporationsAcorporationisafirmownedbyoneormoreindividualswhoownsharesofstockthatdefineownershipandrigh
Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteashortessayentitledDueAttentionShouldBeGiventoHandwriting.Youshou
最新回复
(
0
)