TEACHING INDONESIAN AS A DIGLOSSIC LANGUAGE: THE IMPORTANCE OF COLLOQUIAL INDONESIAN FOR PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE

Abstract

The teaching of Indonesian at home and abroad for native and non-native speakers emphasizes the importance of formal Indonesian and tends to avoid teaching the colloquial one. However, most learners understand the discrepancies between the language they learn in class and that used for daily local conversations which tend to be colloquial. This paper attempts to argue that colloquial Indonesian is an important part of the diglossic nature of Indonesian, and that the teaching and learning of Indonesian must reflect this characteristic. Based on library research as well as collection of interviews, observations and recordings of the teaching of formal Indonesian as well as the learners and native speakers’ interaction, this paper will describe importance of the teaching of informal or colloquial Indonesian for enhancing pragmatic competence and its benefits for preserving endangered local languages. The data presented will show that colloquial Indonesian which absorbs various linguistic features from local languages constitutes a type of language with its rules systems that can be taught, learned, and maintained. Finally this paper will suggest ways of integrating the teaching of colloquial Indonesian in Indonesian language classes.