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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