UNS — February 21st is commemorated as International Mother’s Tongue Day, the first language acquired and used by someone in their family. This celebration was agreed in UNESCO General Conference 1999 to honor the language conservation movement initiated by Bangladeshi (then East Pakistan) in 1952 tinged with murder.
Regarding the mother’s tongue, Indonesia, with its ethnic diversity, most Indonesian people’s mother’s tongue is their local language. The increasing urbanization and globalization wave poses threats to these languages, and thus, the conservation of local languages demand special attention from Indonesian people. Zulfahmirda Matondang, an Alumnus of Indonesian Language and Literature Program Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, takes a role in the conservation efforts by acting as Words and Terms Analyst in the Center for Language (Balai Bahasa) in Aceh Province. Therefore, she has participated in conserving the local language in Aceh Province.
“My duty and role are performing analysis and enriching words and terms in both local languages in Aceh Province and Bahasa Indonesia,” Mirda – her short name, said on Monday (22/2/2021).
Through her current job, Mirda gets an opportunity to develop her knowledge further while conserving the local language and implementing her understanding. In studying language as a practitioner, Mirda experienced mixed challenges such as the demand to travel around Aceh to collect data on local language terms. She also needs to adjust herself to Aceh’s cuisines and cultures heavily infused with Islamic law. “From being raised in North Sumatera, studied in Surakarta, now learn to live as a migrant in Aceh,” she said.
To uns.ac.id, Mirda, who soon will complete her Master Program in Linguistics from UNS, stated that the use of local language as mother’s tongue in the family is vital because family is the first social agent that plays a significant role in one’s language acquisition. The young generation can apply the languages depends on the context. For example, Bahasa Indonesia is used in the formal national forum while international languages are used in the international forums. Local languages can be preserved through daily actions, such as the local language used by migrant workers to conversing with people from the same region.
Following the theme of International Mother’s Tongue Day 2021, “Membina Multibahasa untuk Inklusi dalam Pendidikan dan Masyarakat” (fostering multi-language for inclusion in education and society), aims to presents and promotes local people languages and cultural diversity in Indonesia.
UNS’ Role
Mirda starts assuming her role in April 2019 after passed the selection for public servant (CPNS) for students graduating with distinction (cum laude), which consists of administrative selection, basic computer skills, and field competency selection (SKB). Her success was supported by her education background in Indonesian Language and Literature and university and program accreditation which is required to apply students with cum laude selection program.
Both UNS and Indonesian Language and Literature Program are accredited with A from BAN-PT, which meet the requirement. Mirda also acquired knowledge and experience during her study by joining KMM in the Institute for Language Development (Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa) and student associations.
“The Faculty Members of Indonesian Language and Literature Program UNS also inspire me to work and perform my duty sincerely and wholeheartedly. My college friends and people in Surakarta also taught me the meaning of kindness,” Mirda revealed.
At the end of the interview, Mirda delivered her hopes for local language protection in Indonesia. She hopes that the society will develop an awareness to prioritize Bahasa Indonesia, preserve the local language, and master foreign language. Humas UNS
Reporter: Kaffa Hidayati
Editor: Dwi Hastuti
