ABSTRACT

This paper uses a study of the withdrawal of English as a medium of instruction in Indonesian schools to examine the role of language in nation-building using the sociological concept of imaginary signification. The main reason for the withdrawal is located in the tension between two main imaginary significations of the nation’s identity. The government saw Indonesia in terms of its economic ambitions. Indonesia was to enter the global knowledge economy, and the education system was to provide the human resources to do so. The teachers understood the use of Bahasa Indonesia in the education system as the means to reproduce children into the nation. We argue that the withdrawal of English as the medium of instruction policy was the result of the tension between these two different representations of national identity.

摘要

本文通过对印度尼西亚学校取消英语作为教学语言的研究，使用想象意义的社会学概念来检验语言在国家建设中的作用。退出的主要原因在于国家认同的两个主要想象意义之间的紧张关系。政府从经济雄心的角度看待印度尼西亚。印度尼西亚要进入全球知识经济，教育系统要为此提供人力资源。教师们理解在教育系统中使用印度尼西亚语作为将儿童繁衍到这个国家的手段。我们认为，取消英语作为教学语言的政策是这两种不同的国家认同表现之间紧张关系的结果。