Lusia Neti Harwati
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the phenomenon of English popularity in Indonesia. In the age of globalization, mastering English as an international language (EIL) seems to be an advantage for everyone as it is a medium of communication and interaction between people of different cultural backgrounds. It leads English to be studied around the world. In Indonesia, for instance, learning English now becomes more popular among young generation. Some people, however, believe that this phenomenon has the potential to put the Indonesian language (Bahasa Indonesia) in danger of being considered as a second-class language. This opinion is based on the reason that there has been a rapid growth of schools that use English as the main language of instruction and devote little time to Bahasa Indonesia. Consequently, communicating in English has become a part of the Indonesians' daily lives especially for those who have a great access to a worldwide social network. In addition, there is a fear that the Indonesians will lose their national identity because of the possibility of western-dominated international culture. The primary methods used in this paper are literature investigation and data analysis. From the discussion, there are two proposed strategies that may enable the government to deal with such complex problems. Indonesian decision makers, such as a ministry of education and a state board of education are expected to be able to decide which languages should be used as the language of education and issue a strict regulation requiring all schools to position Bahasa Indonesia at the same rank with English. © 2012 Asian E F L Journal Press. All rights reserved.
Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Brawijaya University of Malang, Indonesia
