Englonesian, English Language Standards with Local Wisdom

UNJ Public Relations 05/03/2019 Dr. John O’Regan, Ph.D., the International Deputy Dean from University College of London became the first Postgraduate Program public lecturer of the 110th Semester with “English As a Global Language, Part II; or “Congratulation! You sudah jago speak in Englonesian” as its theme. The event was held on March 05 2019 at the Meeting Room in Bung Hatta Building, Postgraduate of Universitas Negeri Jakarta. It was attended by the Acting Director of the Postgraduate Program UNJ, Prof. Dr. Ilza Mayuni, M.A, Dean of the Faculty of Language and Arts, Dr. Liliana Muliastuti, M.Pd, Deputy Director of Postgraduate Program UNJ, Postgraduate Program Committee, GIP3 Staff of Postgraduate Program, GIPK of Postgraduate Program, Coordinator of Study Program and Lecturers of Postgraduate Study Programs, Undergraduate English Literature Study Program, and Undergraduate English Education Study Program.

The moderator, Eva Leiliyanti, Ph.D., started off the event by reading the guest speaker’s profile. After that, Dr. John O’Regan as the guest speaker proceeded to present his materials. He conveyed a brief history of the English language and how it became the lingua franca. He also explained about the use of English in several historical events in Indonesia, such as at the 1955 Bandung Conference. However, the English language began to experience translanguaging, superdiversity, and translingualism in several countries, creating various versions of the language in several countries such as Chinglish in China, Japlish in Japan, and Indonglish in Indonesia.

At the end of his lecture, Dr. John O’Regan understands that the creation of a new version of English in several countries is one of the natural things for young people in creating the identity of their generation. ”At the same time, we must recognize that the English language has become the dominant language for several reasons, and English is very much tied to capitalism, especially British and American. There is an English language version that has a stronger role than other English language versions, namely Standard English,” he added. Dr. John O’Regan also understands if various English versions are still used because he believes that English has its own local wisdom to be spoken in each country. However, Standard English will be easier to understand internationally, because the pronunciation method will also sound like an original English speaker. In the future, Dr. John O’Regan hopes that people will have the desire to learn a universal language and English culture in order to have a deeper understanding of English.

Translated by OJ