Indonesian Grammar in Context

Introduction

The text, Indonesian Grammar in Context: Asyik Berbahasa Indonesia, provides the beginning and intermediate-level language learner with contextualized presentations of basic Indonesian grammatical structures followed by exercises. This text uses the communicative language teaching approach to gain proficiency in producing correct grammatical structures. Each lesson begins with a presentation section in which a contextualized example of a grammatical structure demonstrates how and when that structure is used. All of the readings in the presentation sections and the listening comprehension exercises are available to the student in audio format. The contextualized presentation sections are followed by activities supported by illustrations and photographs to stimulate the learner’s practice of the grammar structure that is being taught. Thus, this text first offers the student an opportunity to experience (hear and/or see) the grammar in use, then to extensively practice it, and finally to read an explanation in English of the grammatical rule.

The grammatical structures presented in this text are ordered in terms of difficulty with volume one aimed at the novice to intermediate-low learner, volume two at the intermediate-mid level learner, and volume three at the advanced level learner. Volumes one and two contain six chapters each with five lessons in each chapter. Volume three contains ten chapters, each composed of four lessons. The chapters in volumes one and two cohere around a set of characters and themes; this sociocultural contextualization allows the students to learn language patterns within a social framework. Volume three moves away from these characters, exploring topics of wider social interest.

Below is a list of the lesson elements, followed by a description of the main sections of each lesson.

■ In this lesson you will learn: A listing of the lesson objectives.

■ Persiapan: The pre-teaching of relevant vocabulary.

■ Cerita: Contextualized presentation of a grammar point.

■ Ingatlah!: Focused review of the grammar point.

■ Latihan: Grammar practice activities, both oral and written.

■ Latihan Tambahan: Additional activities.

■ Grammar notes: Explanation of the grammatical construction.

■ Kosakata: Vocabulary list of the main items in the lesson.

■ Language and culture notes: Some lessons have a set of explanations of cultural, sociolinguistic, or pragmatic constraints that affect language usage.

Cerita: Contextualized presentation of a grammar point

Each lesson begins with a presentation of a grammatical construction in a natural context, such as in a dialogue or a story. Only one function of the grammatical construction is presented at a time; thus, no attempt is made to present all the functions of baru at once. Some lessons will have more than one story to present the grammar point(s). A teacher may decide to teach the presentation

section of the lesson at the end of one class and on the following day do the exercises/activities; this allows the student to be exposed to the construction and then to study the grammar notes at home before being asked to produce the construction for the exercises the next day. Alternatively, a teacher may teach the whole lesson on one day.

After the presentation section, there are questions in a Pemahaman section that are designed to focus the learner’s attention on comprehension of the story. Thus, the learner first demonstrates a receptive understanding of the grammar without analyzing it. Then, the learner is asked to understand the underlying grammatical rule, usually using inductive reasoning. This inductive approach teaches the student that language learning involves the making and testing of hypotheses about how a language works.

Although the grammar points have been ordered to reflect degree of difficulty, it is natural that students will be exposed to grammatical constructions before they explicitly study them. In fact, often this prior exposure will help the learner to understand the new grammar point once it is explicitly presented and taught. The presentation of the grammar point provides the learner with an opportunity to focus on the construction and make hypotheses and generalizations about it before practicing it extensively for mastery.

Teachers will find this book useful for presenting new grammar points as well as for reviewing grammatical constructions previously taught in other parts of the curriculum. It is expected that language learners will need to return to a grammatical construction several times before they truly control it. Thus, this book is premised on the fact that the presentation and practice activities for a grammatical construction do not immediately produce control and mastery of that grammar point. Recycling and review are inherent in the process of language learning.

Ingatlah!: Focused review of the grammar point

This section of the lesson briefly focuses the learners’ attention on the grammar point so that during the grammar practice activities (Latihan) the learners pay attention to the grammar and try to use it accurately.

Latihan: Grammar practice activities, both oral and written

The grammar practice activities are designed to give the learner repetitive practice of the targeted construction in communicative contexts where the construction naturally occurs. So, although each activity is communicative in nature, a grammatical teaching point underlies each. This book replaces traditional rote activities—manipulating and transforming sentences without necessarily understanding them—with activities in which even the controlled exercises are contextualized and meaningful. The activities in each lesson move from more controlled to more open-ended and communicative ones; and the topics of the activities move from the familiar outward (i.e., from self,

to a familiar community such as family or campus life, and finally on to the wider social communities in our globalized world).

In the first three chapters, the instructional language is in English so that the student can focus on the lesson objectives and not be distracted by the instructional language. Beginning with chapter four, the instructions are in Indonesian; thus, it is important that the teacher demonstrate the exercises to ensure student comprehension. Since the activity types in the text are repetitive, it is hoped that by chapter four the students will be familiar with the types of exercises used.

■ Activity types: Three activity types are found in the Latihan section: oral tasks, written tables and charts, and writing exercises. (See the descriptions below.)

■Oral exercises are labeled Lisan, Wawancara, Diskusi, and Bermain Peran. These activities include oral exercises in which students ask each other questions; one student interviews one or more students; and students discuss topics in small groups. These exercises will usually involve the following three steps:

■ Preparation. The teacher preteaches any necessary vocabulary or concepts. The class will often brainstorm ideas for Wawancara and Diskusi. The teacher then illustrates the target grammar to be used in the activity.

■ Activity. The students work in pairs or groups or circulate in the classroom (as specified by Berpasangan, Berkelompok, or Siswa keliling kelas) to give as much practice time to each student as is possible.

■ Follow-up. The report phase, which wraps up an activity, gives students an opportunity to report on material discussed in small groups and to make class summaries. This phase allows the teacher to assess the success of the lesson and to decide whether further work is needed.

■Written tables and charts are labeled Tertulis. For these exercises, the students take out a pencil to write something down (e.g., jot something in a chart, fill in the blanks in a paragraph, write discrete sentences, or match items in columns). Exercises labeled Tertulis tend to be more controlled and thus are intended for classroom use. If, however, the class understands and controls the grammar point, the teacher may want to assign some of these activities for out-of-class reinforcement practice and use the class-time to focus on the oral activities.

■Writing exercises are labeled Menulis. In general, each lesson ends with an activity labeled Menulis, which is intended for homework. These assignments are more open-ended and are designed both to reinforce the grammar point and to provide an opportunity for the teacher to confirm that students are able to accurately use the grammatical construction taught in the lesson.

Latihan Tambahan: Additional activities

These additional activities are designed to either reinforce the grammar point of the lesson or challenge the student to enhance his/her mastery by offering exercises that pull together a number of different grammar points.

Grammar notes

Grammar notes offer an explanation of the grammatical construction in English and present a few examples of the construction. If there are exceptions to the rule being presented, they are noted here. The grammar notes are purposefully limited and kept simple. For students who want to read a reference grammar, the teacher may recommend, Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar by James N. Sneddon, published by Routledge in 1996.

Kosakata: List of the main vocabulary items in the lesson

Each lesson has a list of the main vocabulary items used in that lesson. These words include the first occurrences of words used in the stories as well as keywords necessary for completing the exercises. Some vocabulary sections have thematic vocabulary lists as well. Note that vocabulary items in the Kosakat sections of volume one do not appear in their root forms but in the form that

is used in the lesson. The glossary, on the other hand, presents an alphabetized list of the root forms of the vocabulary items. The definitions given in the lessons are appropriate to the context of the lesson, while the definitions in the glossary offer a more complete set of meanings.

Language and culture notes

Information about the Indonesian cultural context is presented in two places: in the introductory notes on the chapter-opener page and in notes at the end of the lesson. Each chapter is introduced by an introductory paragraph and a photograph that is related to the topic of the chapter; the photograph is not meant to present the characters that appear in the lesson. At the end of most lessons, there are language and culture notes that discuss how language use varies reflecting the different social and cultural contexts found within Indonesia. For example, there are notes on the use of different terms of address, ways of greeting, and changes in the verbal forms found in different registers.

The variety of Indonesian language used in the presentation sections is a relaxed, conversational style that is acceptable for interethnic conversation among educated, native speakers. Because Indonesian exhibits a great deal of regional variation, an attempt has been made to avoid borrowings from regional languages as much as possible. Although terms of address such as Bapak (Pak), Ibu (Bu), Kakak (Kak), and Adik (Dik) have been used, learners will need to be aware that address terms vary from region to region. Finally, in some of the beginning lessons, English cognates are used instead of more commonly used Indonesian terms in order to avoid translation. The objective here is to give the beginning language learner confidence in his/her ability to understand Indonesian without the aid of an English translation. The practice of using English loan words rapidly decreases as the learner gains control of more Indonesian vocabulary. The popular language varieties of Indonesian (bahasa gaul) that are widely used, especially in the cities, are not used in this text, although the authors believe that teaching such language varieties would be an excellent addition to the curriculum for the advanced learner.