UNS — Faculty of Teacher Training and Educational (FKIP) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta held an International Seminar and Indonesia Cultural Performance entitled Reflection on Indonesian Language Program for Foreign Speakers (BIPA) on Five Continents. This event was held virtually through Zoom Meeting on Saturday (28/5/2022). The event is part of activities series to enliven the 46th UNS Anniversary Celebration. Aside from the seminars and cultural performances, this event also included two books launching, “About Indonesia” by Yale University Students, USA, and a Javanese culture-based BIPA course book entitled “Jateng Gayeng.”
Representing the Rector of UNS, the UNS Vice-Rector for Academic and Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. Ir. Ahmad Yunus, M.S., welcomed the participants of this international seminar and performance. “This event will be our joint effort in internationalizing Bahasa Indonesia’s existence to be one of the ASEAN official languages. Thank you to the invited speakers and participants who attended today’s morning seminar. This is an excellent event because aside from the seminars, there will be cultural performances to promote Indonesian culture globally,” explained Prof. Yunus.
Following Prof. Yunus’ remarks, the Dean of FKIP UNS, Dr. Mardiyana, M.Si, who at the same time opened this international seminar and cultural performance states that, “I hope this event can be an annual event as our effort to internationalize Bahasa Indonesia. For instance, establishing cooperation with various countries that share similar concerns about Bahasa Indonesia.
The Chair for the 46th UNS Anniversary, Prof. Dr. Reviono, dr., Sp.P(K), also expressed great appreciation for the organization of this event because it shows tangible evidence of UNS internationalization. He also hopes all participants can participate until the end of the event and receive abundant benefits from the knowledge gained through this seminar. After Prof. Reviono’s speech, the Chairman of the BIPA UNS Teaching and Research Committee, Dr. Kundharu Saddhono, SS, M.Hum., delivers a welcome speech.
Dr. Kundharu said that to support the internationalization of Bahasa Indonesia, the Indonesian Language and Literature Education Study Program (PBSI) FKIP has also hosted BIPA teaching practices abroad. “One of the current participants is a UNS student who was delegated to Yale University for a BIPA teaching internship program. Moreover, this event is part of UNS Key Performance Indicators (IKU) implementation through the BIPA program, hence, it will become UNS’ icon as a driver of BIPA in Indonesia,” said Dr. Kundharu.
Another welcome speech was delivered by the Head of Balai Bahasa Provinsi Jawa Tengah, Dr. Ganjar Harimansyah, who expressed his joy for this event’s implementation. He also hopes that he will be able to make Bahasa Indonesia even more successful after this event.
The event was also enlivened by the Cultural Stage delivered by BIPA Program Alumni from Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela. The event presented four invited speakers, namely, the Indonesian Language Teacher in Yale University, America, who also serves as BIPA Coordinator for Americas and Canada, Indriyo K. Sukmono; a Malay-Indonesian Language Expert from Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus, Tokyo, Japan, Prof. Yo Nonaka; a Senior Lecturer in Department of Philology of South-East Asia Countries, St. Petersburg State University, Russia, Banit Svetlana Viktorovna; and Function Implementer Staff for Social and Cultural Information (Pensosbud) Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia (KBRI) Rabat, Morocco, Mahmudin. Humas UNS
Reporter: Lina Khoirun Nisa
Editor: Dwi Hastuti