Language Learning in Synergetic Concept: The Role of Mother Tongue, National, and Foreign Language

Language learning is one of the fundamental aspect to accelerate the development and advancement of our nation. In reference to the recent curriculum, there are three kinds of language considered as the essential part of educational reconstruction; they are mother tongue, national language, and foreign language.

The first fundamental language to consider is mother tongue. Since the mother tongue is the representative of the physical, social, cultural and spiritual diversity of our nation, the language education should offer a well-constructed mother tongue learning. Mother tongue needs to be taught as a tool to develop the learners’ mind, creativity, and imagination so that they are able to express their feeling, idea, opinion and aspiration well.

Furthermore, national language needs to be taken account as an important consideration of educational reconstruction. National language is regarded as an essential asset of national unity. After the learners have fundamentally acquired their mother tongue, they need to learn national language to get along, to communicate as well as to share ideas with their own nation. Through national language teaching, they need to think together as an entity to develop the national aspiration.

Beside mother tongue and national language, foreign language is very crucial to concern. Foreign language learning should be taught with the provision of identity and pride of the nation. This should be an integrative concept which ultimately promotes the excellence of the nation. Therefore, the process of foreign language learning is expected to contribute the improvement of students’ literacy which is necessary for their personal, social, and professional communication.

In conclusion, there are three languages that are important to be considered; they are mother tongue, national, and foreign language. Therefore, all of them can not be separated in recent educational development in Indonesia.

Reference:

Suherdi, Didi. (2012). Rekonstruksi Pendidikan Bahasa: Sebuah Keniscayaan bagi Keunggulan Bangsa. Bandung: Celtics Press.