English as an additional language in Indonesia

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper examines the forms and functions of English as a ‘foreign language’ in Indonesia. A brief survey of the historical and current status of English in Indonesia reveals that English has few intranational functions as a dominant code of discourse. However, analysis of data from several sources demonstrates that English is nonetheless having a significant impact on language use in Indonesia, particularly through lexico‐semantic and pragmatic contributions to Bahasa Indonesia, the widely spoken national and official language. In complementary distribution with borrowings from other foreign languages, especially Sanskrit, English lexical items are officially or ‘spontaneously’ borrowed for use in specific domains. These borrowings are often semantically extended, restricted, or totally shifted to provide new registers for Bahasa Indonesia, to foreground a modern identity for educated urbanites and for those who aspire to be like them, and to express or neutralize new values and behavior patterns in Indonesia's rapidly modernizing society. This paper concludes that these functions of English in the linguistic repertoires of many Indonesians warrant its classification in Indonesia as an ‘additional’ rather than merely a ‘foreign’ language.