Language Planning and Policy in Indonesia: Past Paths, Future Plans

English.Edu, Vol. 8, No. 2, July 2008, p. 111-122The unification of Indonesia under one national language was intended to bring together a diverse national population speaking a wealth of regional languages. The implementation of a singular national and official language that belonged to none of these regional populations was to bring all citizens together on equal footing, as bahasa Indonesia would be at once everyone’s national language, yet one that nobody spoke as a native language (Keane, 2003). While ideally such a plan for implementing a national language might seem attractive, statistics have shown that there remains a lack of access to the national language, which is the only language used in public school settings and in the majority of nationalized media (Heryanto & Hadiz, 2005). It is claimed here that without such access, it may be the case that not all citizens in Indonesia are receiving their Universal Human Right to education (United Nations, 1948). After a discussion of the history of bahasa Indonesia as the national and official language of Indonesia, the article moves on to discuss recent developments in language theories in hopes of offering an approach to improving national language policies, and thereby working toward ensuring access to education throughout Indonesia