“Of course, the main goal of the revitalization is so that local languages can be preserved,” secretary of the agency Hafidz Muksin said here on Saturday.
He conveyed the statement at an event held to disseminate information on priority programs on language and literature here.
Muksin said that Indonesia has 718 local languages, but many of them are at risk of becoming extinct and in critical condition. The main reason local languages are becoming extinct is that native speakers are no longer speaking them and passing them on.
With the revitalization of local languages and literatures, young speakers can become active speakers of those languages and learn the languages using the media that they like, he added.
This can also help preserve local languages and literatures, create spaces for creativity and independence for local language speakers so that they can maintain their languages and find new functions and domains of local languages and literatures.
Meanwhile, head of the North Sumatra Language Agency, Hidayat Widiyanto, said that local language preservation needs to be supported by all stakeholders, starting from regional governments, academicians, customary and cultural leaders, religious leaders, artists, school supervisors, and children.
The local language revitalization that is being carried out in North Sumatra has been categorized as model B. Model B provinces are those that do not have a local language that is dominant in terms of speakers, but the speakers of local languages between regions in the province are relatively equal.
The languages are categorized as vulnerable even though the number of speakers is relatively high. The use of local languages is competitive between regions in the province.
To improve children’s interest in local languages, at least seven types of learning materials can be developed by children: reading and writing traditional scripts, writing short stories, reading and writing poetry, storytelling, speeches, singing or traditional songs, and stand-up comedy.
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Translator: Juraidi, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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