"Language is a little bit like clothing;
it makes a statement about the person using it."
- Maeve Maddox
it makes a statement about the person using it."
- Maeve Maddox
“Excuse me, Mrs. Kameo, but can you tell me what this means in English?” a sweet first year student asked me, pointing to the words emblazoned across her black t-shirt in bold red letters.
I wasn’t surprised at her question since I, too, have sometimes wondered about the meaning of certain English sayings on t-shirts sold in local Indonesian department stores. English has become a status symbol of sorts here lately - prestigious to speak and cool to use on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. Some Indonesians are very fluent in English and write beautifully; many others are not fluent at all but seem to think they are. Just listen to flight attendants on local air carriers trying to sound fluent as they give garbled announcements in English that can hardly be understood!
English proficiency in Indonesia has indeed declined in recent years according to the EF English Proficiency Index (EPI) which ranks countries around the world in terms of adult proficiency in English. This is disturbing news for Indonesian leaders. After all, research shows that income level and quality of life are directly linked to English proficiency. The need for English proficiency is being felt even more keenly this year now that Indonesia has become a member of the ASEAN Economic Community. To help promote English proficiency, the government is preparing a compulsory bilingual curriculum in Bahasa Indonesia and English to be used in universities nationwide starting in 2016. This assumes, of course, that lecturers are truly bilingual and that students have enough English to understand them.
That Indonesia’s EPI ranking has dropped is not surprising when we see the kind of English modeled in school workbooks, advertising, and public announcements. It is hard for Indonesians to become proficient in the English language when they encounter mistakes like these on a daily basis:
From food labels in the supermarket:
Save for Diabetics
From hotel notices:
- National TV channels are available in the room were damaged tissue. Available only broadcast TV International
- At this very present moment, we proudly announce You that started from to day, the renovation will be effectively enforced.
From a newspaper advertisement:
Recently, our business activity is rapidly growing so that we need a staff who has professional mind, high qualified performance and honesty mind. Fluent in English both written and spoken and good skilled with Computer. If you mind throw down the callenges, Please let me know your resume with covering letter directly to …
From a letter to Internet customers:
That’s our information. We deeply apologize in this inconvinience. Thank you for your kind attention and cooperation. Let’s all customer may enjoy back your internet activities.
From a church bulletin, explaining the meaning of a Bible verse:
The sentence converse about advice to young people to use the time of their life wisely, that is by recognizing its Creator, so that he/she do not face a period of his old time as days full of accidents.
From an English studies program brochure:
Our crashed program courses include Speaking, Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension
Wherever Indonesians go, they see signs and posters like these:
I wasn’t surprised at her question since I, too, have sometimes wondered about the meaning of certain English sayings on t-shirts sold in local Indonesian department stores. English has become a status symbol of sorts here lately - prestigious to speak and cool to use on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. Some Indonesians are very fluent in English and write beautifully; many others are not fluent at all but seem to think they are. Just listen to flight attendants on local air carriers trying to sound fluent as they give garbled announcements in English that can hardly be understood!
English proficiency in Indonesia has indeed declined in recent years according to the EF English Proficiency Index (EPI) which ranks countries around the world in terms of adult proficiency in English. This is disturbing news for Indonesian leaders. After all, research shows that income level and quality of life are directly linked to English proficiency. The need for English proficiency is being felt even more keenly this year now that Indonesia has become a member of the ASEAN Economic Community. To help promote English proficiency, the government is preparing a compulsory bilingual curriculum in Bahasa Indonesia and English to be used in universities nationwide starting in 2016. This assumes, of course, that lecturers are truly bilingual and that students have enough English to understand them.
That Indonesia’s EPI ranking has dropped is not surprising when we see the kind of English modeled in school workbooks, advertising, and public announcements. It is hard for Indonesians to become proficient in the English language when they encounter mistakes like these on a daily basis:
From food labels in the supermarket:
Save for Diabetics
From hotel notices:
- National TV channels are available in the room were damaged tissue. Available only broadcast TV International
- At this very present moment, we proudly announce You that started from to day, the renovation will be effectively enforced.
From a newspaper advertisement:
Recently, our business activity is rapidly growing so that we need a staff who has professional mind, high qualified performance and honesty mind. Fluent in English both written and spoken and good skilled with Computer. If you mind throw down the callenges, Please let me know your resume with covering letter directly to …
From a letter to Internet customers:
That’s our information. We deeply apologize in this inconvinience. Thank you for your kind attention and cooperation. Let’s all customer may enjoy back your internet activities.
From a church bulletin, explaining the meaning of a Bible verse:
The sentence converse about advice to young people to use the time of their life wisely, that is by recognizing its Creator, so that he/she do not face a period of his old time as days full of accidents.
From an English studies program brochure:
Our crashed program courses include Speaking, Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension
Wherever Indonesians go, they see signs and posters like these:
As for billboards, when a university is advertising a graduate program in communications, it might be more reassuring to applicants if the sign used correct English:
Messages need not contain any spelling or grammatical errors to be confusing, of course - even for native speakers of English. Take this explanation from a visitor’s guide to a local museum. What in the world are they trying to say?
Many would say it doesn’t matter how we use or abuse the English language because it is no longer tied to any particular nation or culture but owned by us all. Aren’t we just being snobbish when we try to maintain and enhance our proficiency in English? Not at all! Once we assume that anything goes, we run the risk of hindering effective communication with people of other cultures – whether with tourists in our own country or members of the ASEAN community. More importantly, proficiency in formal international English is still a requirement for studying abroad, participating in international seminars and conferences, publishing academic papers, and conducting business overseas. It is vital that it be maintained.
As former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew once said, “We are learning English so that we can understand the world and the world can understand us.” Insisting upon internationally accepted standards of spelling and grammar will help us to participate on the global stage and prevent misunderstandings as we communicate with people of other cultures. If language makes a statement about the person using it, let’s not display our ignorance!
Turning back to my first year student and reading the English words emblazoned across her t-shirt, I offered yet another piece of advice. “Make sure the message is polite and culturally appropriate!” I admonished, shaking my head as I tried to explain the meaning of “PISS OFF!”
As former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew once said, “We are learning English so that we can understand the world and the world can understand us.” Insisting upon internationally accepted standards of spelling and grammar will help us to participate on the global stage and prevent misunderstandings as we communicate with people of other cultures. If language makes a statement about the person using it, let’s not display our ignorance!
Turning back to my first year student and reading the English words emblazoned across her t-shirt, I offered yet another piece of advice. “Make sure the message is polite and culturally appropriate!” I admonished, shaking my head as I tried to explain the meaning of “PISS OFF!”