The use of English in everyday life is increasing in Indonesia. We can hear people speaking English in offices, banks, schools, tourist attractions and many other public places. In schools like this, all teachers use English in the classroom when communicating with their students. This program with the introduction of English is available starting from kindergarten right.
English as a second language
The first language, or also known as the mother tongue, is the language that the child first learns. For Indonesians, the first language may be Indonesian or the language of their ethnicity.
What do Indonesians call a second language? The answer is it depends. For people with strong Javanese culture and using Javanese for their daily conversations, their second language may be Indonesian. Meanwhile, for people who use Indonesian for daily interactions, their second language may be one of their ethnic languages or a foreign language.
The popularity of the use of English in Indonesian schools
Having the skills to communicate with other people with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds is one of the keys to success in today's global era. In this regard, the need to speak English as one of the most spoken languages in the world is considered important.
Bilingual myths and debunking them
Despite the fast growth of international schools in Indonesia, some parents are worried because they think this trend will turn children into bilingual.They fear that their children who can speak more than one language may reduce their ability to master a language. Another concern is based on the belief that bilingual children will always mix up languages.
Learn English: later or now?
Parents who participated in the research interview shared their views on the importance of equipping their child with sufficient English language skills to compete in the global market. However, the question of when should their child learn English, this person is divided into two camps.
They believe by learning their mother tongue well before learning a foreign language will help children to understand the culture of their first language. For this group, a good time for children to learn another language is after they are sufficiently exposed to Indonesian as their mother tongue. Parents agree that a child aged four years is the ideal age for children to learn a second language. However, on the other hand, they think that learning English can be done from the early years when children learn languages. They believe that children can acquire two or more languages at the same time from scratch.
Both perspectives show that children can acquire a second language, either simultaneously or sequentially. It is interesting to note that both camps are not worried that learning a second language at school will result in the loss of the first language.
