Strategies for a successful national language policy: the Indonesian case

Abstract

Among the Asian countries such as India, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, Indonesia is the most successful asfar as the national language development is concerned. While the extant lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago may have been contributive, the real reasonsfor the success lie in the sociopolitical factors: the language policies ofthe colonial countries, the responses by the early nationalists, the rivalry between the national language and either the vernaculars or the colonial language, especially English, and the nourishment of the national language after its adoption. These factors play a very significant role in the relative success of the national languages and steer the course of history in the social, economic, andpolitical development ofthese countries.