Essay: Regional Language in the Era of Globalization

Introduction

          This essay will address the regional language in the era of globalization to avoid losing and can parallel to national and international languages. Globalization has strengthen a foreign language such as English as the language of communication between nations. As seen in the fact, the use of regional languages began to decrease, especially among the younger generation. There are two points that are focused in this essay: mastery ethno-pedagogy on teachers and empowering the local wisdom.

Maintain of regional language

            Teacher as educators of regional language teaching in school must be qualified, have a multicultural educational background, as well as having mastery ethno-pedagogy which is an approach to education that relies on the values of local communities. To produce professional teacher, it needs an institution of education providers for candidate of teacher known as LPTK.  LPTK which is one of the central institutions as a strategic and important in the provision of teachers, need to consider in the future a group of practitioners ethno-pedagogy (Alwasilah 2012: 118). Government needs cooperate with LPTK in relation to teacher certification program by replacing the PLPG  program with PPG program, because PPG has a training program that longer time than PLPG who was one year. So, they are more focused on how to become a professional teacher, because the teacher must be able to provide motivation and inspiration to students so that they feel proud to use the regional language.

Preservation of regional language is one of empowerment of local wisdom. Education should introduce students to understand and practice the local wisdom before national and global wisdom (Alwasilah 2012: 84). The introduction of a number of local wisdom can be done by introducing some literary works of regional such as poetry and fiction Sunda in foreign language study programs, imposed a lectures curriculum writing based on the regional literature, and others. In this case, local wisdom plays a role in balancing global swift currents that are hitting our culture, especially in regional language retention. So in this era of globalization any local culture including regional languages will still exist.

Conclusion

            In the modern era of globalization today use regional language began to decrease, many people who underestimated the regional language because the regional language considers does not have potential as a tool of scientific thinking and just language in daily conversation. Ways in the preservation of local languages on the way down as a shield to prevent the extinction of regional languages began to decrease.

Reference

Alwasilah, A. Chaedar. (2012).Pokoknya Rekayasa Literasi. Bandung: PT Kiblat Buku Utama.