Government has tried to boost Indonesian language to be an international language. Ways to achieve this are by sending Indonesian language teachers to countries around the world.
“In 2018 we sent 220 teachers to 30 countries while in 2017 we sent 226 teachers to 30 countries,” said Head of Language Development in Ministry of Education and Culture, Dadang Sunendar, giving remarks at the International Conference on Indonesian Language Teaching to Foreign Speakers (KIPBIPA) X, on Wednesday (7/8) at Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM.
Dadang mentioned the programme of sending teachers to other countries was aimed at internationalising the Indonesian language. They also recruited Indonesians abroad and local teachers to teach.
Chairperson of APPBIPA (Afiliasi Pengajar dan Pegiat BIPA), Liliana Muliastuti, mentioned the importance of standardisation in teaching Indonesian Language to Foreign Speakers. “To achieve this goal, all teaching components ought to have standards that have been agreed nationally,” she said.
Standardisation covers input, process, and output. Input components include matters related to learners of Indonesian Language for Foreign Speakers. Teaching process is related to curriculum, methodology, materials, and evaluation. Output covers graduate profiles and impacts of teaching.
Meanwhile, event chairman, Sudibyo, said the conference was joined by hundreds of participants from 20 countries. It focused on the standardisation of teaching, namely teaching competence and materials, learning process and evaluation, training, and teachers.
“This conference is expected to produce an embryo of standardisation to promote the Indonesian language as an international language gradually, systematically, and sustainably,” he said.