Dealing With Culture in the Indonesian Language Instruction By Amelia J.R. Liwe University of Wisconsin-Madison Presented at the COTSEAL Roundtable, AAS Annual Conference Boston, March 24, 2007

Introduction Culture as a challenge in the Indonesian language instruction: The understanding of “culture” The understanding of “culture” The very notion of “Indonesia” from a historical perspective The very notion of “Indonesia” from a historical perspective Culture in language teaching as a pedagogic question Culture in language teaching as a pedagogic question

Background Indonesian culture: an imagined identity and a perceived reality Indonesian culture: an imagined identity and a perceived reality Malay as the root of Bahasa Indonesia Malay as the root of Bahasa Indonesia The diversity of language and culture in Indonesia The diversity of language and culture in Indonesia

Integrating Culture into Indonesian Language Instruction: Pedagogic Principles and Some Practices Hyme’s factors: 1. Setting 2. Participants 3. Ends 4. Act sequence 5. Key 6. Instrumentalities 7. Norms of interactions and interpretation 8. Genre

Problems and paradoxes: 1. Multicultural classroom 2. Cognition and communication 3. Pedagogy of sociocultural competence 4. Teacher on the line 5. Cultural stereotype Integrating Culture into Indonesian Language Instruction: Pedagogic Principles and Some Practices

Some practices: Teacher represents the target culture Teacher represents the target culture Teacher teaches about the target culture Teacher teaches about the target culture Teacher integrates culture into language activities Teacher integrates culture into language activities Integrating Culture into Indonesian Language Instruction: Pedagogic Principles and Some Practices

Conclusion The debates: - Which segment of target culture to teach - Which skills or language strategies to teach so the students will be able to cope with the diversity and the complexity of Indonesian language and culture