UNS — Delivering material on the National Seminar of Linguistic and Literature (Semantiks) 2021, Dr. Ganjar Harimansyah Wijaya, M.Hum., states that the development prospect for linguistic and career potential for linguists. The material is in line with the Semantiks 2021 theme entitled the ‘Prospects of Linguistics and Policy Development in the New Normal Era.’ Ganjar considers that, based on critical discourse, the term ‘prospect’ has a significant implication to consider. Further, history has proved that dynamic knowledge has the potential to keep developing; this includes linguistic. The development of linguistic study is inseparable from the efforts of linguists in developing linguistics.
“Linguistic will keep developing with a general prospect, including career potential for the linguists,” Ganjar reveals in Semantik 2021, Saturday (5/6/2021). Additionally, quoting a piece of advice from Prof. Mien Achmad Rifai, Ganjar states that one of the methods to know the development of knowledge is through the quantity and quality of published research articles.
In linguistics, applied linguistic has become a trend globally. This trend includes the Asian region and Indonesia. Regionally, in Indonesia, the applied linguistics journal published by the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) is ranked first. This scientific journal trend shows that the subject and object of linguistics study are developing.
The Development of Contemporary Linguistics
Currently, the development of linguistic is gaining attention, especially part that intersects with other studies such as psychology, philosophy, anthropology, neurology, and sociology. This part of linguistic is known as applied linguistic. The development of this section examines how language is stored in the human mind or brain. Moreover, this condition leads to new studies on how Language is an inseparable part of human behavior in everyday life. Even during this new normal era, the object of applied linguistic study keeps growing.
“Applied linguistic becomes the highest trend in contemporary linguistic studies. This trend also applies to the linguistic field related to computers. Thus, it is undeniable that during the 2000s, computational linguistics was very developed,” Ganjar reveals.
Other applied linguistic studies include neurolinguistics, which collaborates with neurologists who treat stroke, Alzheimer’s, and other congenital diseases caused by brain damage. The next branch of study from applied linguistics is language variation and change, machine translation, psycholinguistics, language and gender, and language documentation.
The Expanding Career Potential for Linguists
The development of linguistic also opens an expanse career potential for linguists. A linguist has an opportunity to work as a speech pathologist, artificial intelligence development expert, cryptanalyst, forensic linguist, and content creator. Moreover, as a country with a rich regional language, with 718 local languages and 778 sub-dialect, Indonesia needs linguist experts to protect the existence of the local language. This is a great career opportunity for linguists.
Ganjar also encourages the academic member of Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta to study the vitality of language. According to him, language vitality is crucial because it can examine the ability of a language to strive and grow in the community. Moreover, the vitalization of language also examines the implications of language in its preservation. Such study is important due to the issue of the extinction of a number of languages.
“Before a specific language is handled, both for conservation and revitalization effort or just being documented, a preliminary regulation is needed to examine the Language vitality,” Ganjar explains. Humas UNS
Reporter: Alinda Hardiantoro
Editor: Dwi Hastuti