Xenomania is a tendency towards something foreign or coming from a foreign country, especially culture, said Muh. Abdul Khak after giving a speech at an international conference entitled "Quality Improvement and Innovation in ELT" at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM), East Java, Tuesday.
"I am worried that this xenomania disease will cause Indonesian language to become foreign, even the Indonesian language identity will be lost in its own country, because of the invasion of foreign words that continue to be used without being sought," he said.
Mastering a foreign language, he continued, is not a problem, that`s good, but who is concerned about the level of preference of Indonesian people for things that smell foreign, especially language, actually raises xenomania disease.
In addition, he further added, many billboards (advertisements) in the country had used foreign words, so that foreigners who came to Indonesia did not see the peculiarities of Indonesia. "This condition is quite worrying for the Indonesian language," he said.
According to him, the participation of scholars, especially foreign language teachers is very large in maintaining Indonesian. For example, by looking for equivalent foreign words or foreign terms and words that can be Indonesianised.
"The role of a foreign language teacher or teacher is very important for Indonesian language and matching. This is one of our efforts to maintain Indonesian language, because now foreign terms, including in the economy, have flooded the country," he said.
Will the Indonesian people be silent and accept in full foreign terms that flood the country or be addressed by looking for equivalents, even if they are to Indonesianize these foreign terms.
"The participation and contribution of these scholars and teachers and linguists is highly expected," he said.
In addition to finding equivalent or foreign terms, Muh Abdul Khak said that the Ministry of Education and Culture also formed young shoots as ambassadors of the language, including in official events or forums, both at home and abroad must also prioritize Indonesian.
"We also hope that campuses in the country will continue to use Indonesian or two languages. Mastery of foreign languages is also important, but do not forget the language itself. Preserve regional languages, use Indonesian and master foreign languages," he explained.
Reporting by Endang Sukarelawati,Eliswan Azly
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Andi Abdussalam
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
