developing and using indish
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Developing and Using Indish: Challenges and Responses
(In the Shadow of the First Proclamation)
Dr. Tri Budhi Sastrio, M.Si – Dr. Soetomo University - Surabaya
e-mail: tribudhis@yahoo.com – HP. (031) 70344260
Abstract: American English, British English, Canadian English, and evenSingaporean and Malaysian English, and so on are common terms recognized by all
students who learn English. All of them are the most established genres of English so
the issues do not become the issues any more. But Indonesian English is quite new
and even controversial. The question such as ‘Is it possible to develop this kind of
English without creating more problems in learning English as a foreign language?’ is
the main question always asked when this idea proposed. This paper tries to explore
any possibilities to answer this question.
Key terms: Indonesian English, characteristics and issues
Aristotle grants that the relation between the written word and the spoken word and the relation between
the spoken word and the psychological state the word signifies
is determined by social practice.(Deborah K. W. Modrak, 2001: 19)
Introduction
American English, British English, Canadian English, Australian English,
Singaporean English, Malaysian English and so on are varieties (?) of English which
are familiar and well known around the world. But Indish or Indonesian English?
What is it? What is INDISH – Indonesian English? Is it a kind of January’s Mop? No,
it is not a mop. It is a proclamation that Indonesian English or INDISH – as I call it in
this paper – is already here. It does exist and it is used by me, and now, on this
international seminar, I proclaim to start developing and promoting this kind of
English in Indonesia.
For Indonesian, English is a foreign language because it is taught as a subject
in schools but not used as a medium instruction in general education nor as a language
of communication within the country. So it is quite logical if there is a strong opinion
that there is no such Indonesian English or INDISH in Indonesia because English is
not a general medium for general communication among the Indonesian. I do
challenge to this opinion. The condition is probably right but the conclusion is not.
English is indeed not a medium instruction in general education nor as a language of communication in Indonesia, but INDISH does exist and is used, at least by one
Indonesian.
The case is different in Singapore or Malaysia. In these two countries, English
is a second language, i.e. it is widely used within the country, e.g. as a language of
instruction at school, as a language of business and government, and every day
communication by some people. English is not a foreign language in Malaysia and
Singapore. It is a second language, so it is natural if in these two countries
Singaporean English and Malaysian English do exist and are used by the people.
Indish, even though it is still in the early stage but because it does already exist
and is used, has a right to be introduced and proclaimed to the international and
national community. This paper can be also considered as the formal proclamation for it. .
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American and British English
In his classic text book entitled Mastering American English, Taylor (1956: i)
states that language mastery is achieved through (1) awareness and understanding of
the common sentence patterns of the language, and (2) constant and thorough practice
with these patterns. This statement is based on the premise that awareness andunderstanding come naturally through practice; and the premise itself can also be
interpreted as a certain condition in which repetition is extremely valuable and
important in building automatic control over sentence structure. Then, in his text
book, Taylor presents the full scale of exercises in the shadow of repetition paradigm.
From the perspective of English Teaching and Learning at that time, in the
1950’s of course, there is nothing wrong with this point of view. Repetition is the best
way to master a foreign language. By repeating something more than three times –
either by writing, speaking or memorizing -, there is a big hope that ‘the something’
will be mastered by someone.
Since Taylor doesn’t say anything about American English – the English
language as spoken in US - and British English – the English language as spoken inBritain -, he only discusses something relate to Mastering American English, it is
quite logical if his premise and assumption can also be applied not only to American
English but also to British English.1
Azar (1989) gives some examples about the differences of American and
British English. The followings are those examples: (1) The use of ‘shall’ with I or we
to express future time is possible but uncommon in American English; ‘shall’ is used
much more frequently in British than in American English (Azar, 1989: 44); (2) ‘I’m
accustomed to sleeping with the window open’ is an American English because ‘to’ is
a preposition, not part of an infinitive form, so a gerund follows; but it is also possible
in British English: ‘I’m accustomed to sleep with the window open’ (Azar, 1989:
151); (3) When the collective noun refers to a collection of individuals, the verb may
be either singular or plural: ‘My family is or are loving and supportive’; a singular
verb is generally preferred in American English; a plural verb is used more frequently
in British English, especially with the words ‘government’ and ‘public’ (Azar, 1989:
227); (4) The subjunctive is more common in American English than British English;
in British English ‘should + simple form’ is more usual than the subjunctive 2 (Azar,
1989: 282); (5) In American English, ‘whomever’ is rare and very formal; in British
English, ‘whoever’ (not ‘whomever’) is used as the object form (Azar, 1989: 284); (6)
In British English, a period is called a full stop (Azar, 1989: 294); Periods are used
with ‘e.g.’ in American English; periods are generally not used with ‘eg’ in British
English (Azar, 1989: 342); and (7) A form of ‘do’ is usually used in question whenthe main verb is ‘have’(especially in American English but also commonly in British
English; using ‘have’ without a form of ‘do’ is also possible but less common;
especially in British English but also in American English; the idiom ‘have got’ is
used to indicate possession instead of ‘have’ alone (Azar, 1989: A12).
Canadian English
In 1995 the Board of Education for the City of North York published the
Language for Learning Policy (Goldstein, 2002: 288). The excerpts of the core
assumptions about this policy are as follows: (1) Language, culture, and identity are
1 We can compare this statement to what George Bernard Shaw states in Reader’s Digest – England
and America are two countries separated by the same language. (Merriam-Webster, 1995: 235)2 Subjunctive is the form (or MOOD) of a verb that expresses wishes, possibility or uncertainty.
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closely linked; (2) First language-literacy is important for second-language learning;
(3) For many children, the teacher is the most important model of language; (4) All
languages and varieties of languages are equally valid forms of thought and
communication; and (5) Student’s first languages play an important role in the
classroom, in the school program as a whole, and in communication with the home.
Edith Lam, a math teacher, helps Veronica Hsueh and Tara Goldstein toobserve, talk, record and talk to her students to find out how native Cantonese-
speaking high school students chose to communicate with each other in a classroom
where the language of instruction is English. The students are all bilingual to some
extent. It is also a fact that Mrs Lam not only encourages her students to use
languages other than English in her classroom, she herself sometimes uses Cantonese
and Mandarin when she teaches. And the results of these multilingual teaching
practices accommodate the Cantonese and Mandarin Speaking students’ linguistic and
cultural learning practices and add to the likelihood of the students’ succeeding
(Goldstein, 2002: 294-295).
It seems that al least three roles are played by this math teacher, as a teacher,
as a helper, and as counselor. But this role causes a concern for the Canadian studentswho do not speak Cantonese and who may alienated or angered by the use of
language other than English in the classroom. Nevertheless, this condition influences
the on-going process of Canadian English for Cantonese people who were obviously
not Canadian but stay and live in Canada.
Singaporean and Malaysian English
The Wikipedia reports that the Singaporean government currently discourages
the use of Singlish or Singaporean English in favour of Singapore Standard English as
it believes in the need for Singaporeans to be able to effectively communicate with the
other English users in the world. The government runs the Speak Good English
Movement to emphasise the point.
It is also reported that Singlish shares substantial linguistic similarities with
Malaysian English (Manglish) in Malaysia, although many distinctions can be made,
particularly in vocabulary. Manglish generally now receives more Malay influence
and Singlish more Chinese (Mandarin, Hokkien etc.) influence.
Theoretically, English as spoken in Malaysia and Singapore is based on
British English and later they are called as Malaysian English and Singaporean
English. British spelling is generally followed. However, the influence of American
English modes of expression and slang is strong, particularly among Malaysian and
Singaporean youths.Wikipedia also notes that since 1968, Malay, or Bahasa Melayu, has been the
official language in Malaysia. While English is widely used in this country, many
Malay words have become part of common usage in Manglish. An example is
suffixing sentences with lah, as in, "Don't be so worried-lah", which is usually used to
present a sentence as rather light-going and not so serious. The suffix itself has no
specific meaning. However, Chinese dialects also make abundant use of the suffix lahand there is some disagreement as to which language it was originally borrowed from.
There is also a strong influence from Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, and Tamil,
which are other major dialects and languages spoken in Malaysia. Manglish also uses
some archaic British terms from the era of British colonisation.
From the above facts a tentative assumption can be taken. Both governmentsrealize that Singlish and Manglish are used by the people but they continously
encourage the Singaporean and Malaysian to study and to use Standard English. So do
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for the Indonesians. Studying and using Standard English are the must, but those
activities can be done and executed in the Indonesian Way.
Indonesian English
Indonesian English is English spoken by an Indonesian – by me to be precisely – either in Indonesia or outside of Indonesia. Since this attempt is still in the
pre-early stage, the grammar and the vocabulary are not the focus to be developed.
The focus will be given to the how to pronounce and utter the English words in the
Indonesian way.
There are 24 consonants and 23 vowels and diphthongs3 used in British and
American English and in other varieties English in the world. Only 4 consonants
cannot be found in Indonesian phonetic and phonemic systems. All vowels are used in
Indonesian pronunciation; it means that there is no problem at all for Indonesian to
use and to pronounce those vowels. If an Indonesian has to learn to pronounce the
English words in an Indonesian way, he has only to learn to pronounce 4 (four)
consonants. No more no less.Those 4 consonants are (1) ‘tʃ ’’ as in ‘chain’ /tʃ ein/; (2) ‘dʒ’ as in
‘jam’ /dʒæm/; (3) ‘θ’ as in’thin’ / θin/; and (4) ‘ð’ as in ‘this’ /ðis/. Even though
these consonants – even the symbols of them – are not available in Indonesian
phonetic and phonemic4 system, but at glance there is no problem at all for
Indonesians to pronounce them.
The phonemic transcription of /tʃ ’/ can be pronounced easily by all
Indonesians by using the Indonesian phonemic transcription /c/ or /tj/ as in the
pronunciation of syllables5 of many Indonesian words as in the words ‘camar’
(seagull), ‘banci’ (gay), ‘cumi-cumi’ (squid), ‘cepat’ (fast), ‘bocor’ (leak), etc. There
is no single normal Indonesians cannot pronounce these syllables easily. Why?
Because they pronounce those syllables in daily basis.
The phonemic transcription of /dʒ/ can be pronounced byIndonesians in the way they pronounce /j/ as in ‘jamur’ (mushroom),‘jinak’ (tame), ‘jurang’ (canyon), ‘jelas’ (clear), ‘jongos’ (servant),etc. This pronunciation causes no problems for Indonesians.
The phonemic transcription of /θ/ can be pronounced by Indonesians in the
way they pronounce /t/ as in ‘taman’ (park), ‘tinju’ (boxing), ‘tuna’ (tuna), ‘teman’
(friend), ‘tombol’ (button), etc.
The phonemic transcription of /ð/ can be pronounced by Indonesians in the
way they pronounce /t/ as in ‘tinta’ (ink), ‘tidur’ (sleep), ‘tulus’ (sincere), ‘tepat’
(precise), ‘tikus’ (mouse), etcAfter these four (4) consonants have been practiced for a couple minutes, for
the rest of his life an Indonesian can’t forget them. This simple conclusion gives us
another simple conclusion: From the perspective of pronunciation there is no problem
at all for Indonesians to pronounce all English words correctly and easily. In other
words by only pronouncing Indonesian words (or syllables) correctly, we also
pronounce the English words correctly.
3 See Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (6th edition, 2000), edited by Sally Wehmeier 4 Phonemic is the study or description of the distinctive sound units (phonemes) of a language and their
relationship to one another. (Richards, et. al., 1985: 215)5 Syllable is a unit in speech which is often longer than one sound and smaller than a whole word. The
syllable can be divided into three parts: (a) the beginning, called the onset; (b) the central part, called
the nucleus or peak; and (c) the end, called the coda. (Richards, et. al., 1985: 282-283)
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We pronounce so many Indonesian words since our childhood. Indonesian
words are similar to English words. So, unconsciously we have practiced to
pronounce all English words since our childhood. Is there any reasons that we will fail
to pronounce English words correctly? No reasons at all!
Based on this opinion I dare to proclaim:
The First Proclamation
I, a humble Indonesian scholar, proclaim that pronouncing
English words is easy because it is similar to that pronouncing
Indonesian words; therefore any difficulties faced by Indonesians to
pronounce English words have to be removed immediately, and any
consequences of it will be handled properly as soon as possible.
Surabaya, January 2009
On behalf of Indonesians,
Tri Budhi Sastrio.
If Indonesian English Grammar and Indonesian English Vocabulary are also
possible to be developed later, the second and the third proclamations probably are
possible to be proclaimed. In the case of vocabulary for example, there are still many
words in Indonesia, especially if the origins of them are from local languages, have no
terms in English. This fact gives an opportunity to ‘insert’ those Indonesian words
into the body of English words. The history of English words is full of this possibility.
Durian /duəriən/ - a large tropical fruit with a strong unpleasantsmell but a sweet flavor, orang-utan /ə’ræŋu:tæn/ - a large monkeywith no tail, with long arms and reddish hair, that lives in Borneo and Sumatra,
sampan /sæmpæn/ - a small boat with a flat bottom used along the coast and rivers of
China, are the examples how Indonesian words (or Malay words) enter the English
canon.
Tiffany and Carrell (1987: 23) also notes that a large number of French words
came into English during a period of some 350 years after the beginning of Norman
Conquest in 1066. Large numbers or words were also borrowed from Latin by
scholars of the Middle English Period, and later on many of these imports became a
part of the common language.
Conclusion
From the pronunciation point of view it is no doubt that INDISH – Indonesian
English – does exist and is used in Indonesia. There are almost no challenges or
obstacles to be overcome by Indonesians. Only four consonants are not available in
Indonesian phonemic system, and for these four phonemes every single Indonesian
can practice and master them easily.
From the grammar and vocabulary point of view there are still so many
challenges and obstacles to be overcome in the future. Introducing a new word, which
has no parallel meaning in English, to the English world is not easy at all. The role of
Indonesian scholars for introducing this and the vast publications for these ideas are
the key either this idea can be a reality or not in the future.
References
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Azar, Betty Schrampfer, 1989. Understanding and Using English Grammar. New
Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents
Goldstein, Tara, 2002. ‘Teaching and Learning in Cantonese and English:
Multilingual Classroom Practices and Equity in Education.’ In Collin Barron,
Nigel Bruce, and David Nunan (Eds.). Knowledge and Discourse: Toward an Ecology of Language. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, pp. 284-299.
Merriam-Webster, 1995. Webster’s Dictionary of Quotations. New York:
SMITHMARK Publishers.
Modrak, Deborah, K.W. 2001. Aristotle’s Theory of Language and Meaning.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Richards, Jack., John Platt, and Heidi Weber. 1985. Longman Dictionary of Applied
Linguistics. Essex: Longman
Taylor, Grant. 1956. Mastering American English. New York: McGraw Hill Book
Co.
Tiffany, Wiiliam R and James Carrell. 1987. Phonetics: Theory and Application. New
York: McGraw-Hill Book Company
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