ADJES (Ahmad Dahlan Journal of English Studies)

AbstractNot only does love concern with different sexes of human beings but it also is about God, nature, brotherhood, friendship, and humanity itself. Love does not demand but gives and more it sacrifices for the sake of itself. Pathfinder thus offers a great value of love.Love, despite its universality and immense power embracing human life, might be bound by certain situation and condition as it occurred to Pathfinder. Through an objective approach, this paper tries to put forward how the main character, Pathfinder realized that his love was bound to nature, his nature. The problem emerging from the story concerns the kind of love within the personality of Pathfinder so that he can sincerely encounter, though painfully, his unsuccessful love based on his awareness of his nature.Through a hard effort of easing his own bleeding heart of dealing with the failure in gaining his love, Pathfinder comes to his solution that he has to change his love, from a love of a man towards a woman into a love of a father to his daughter. He has to realize that his nature is different from that of Mabels. His age, way of life, customs, neighborhood, and his identity show that he does not match Mabel and so hers to him. His nature calls him back and gives him enlightenment of who he really is. He is neither an Indian nor a white, but he is both an Indian and a white man. That is his accomplishment of his quest on his identity

Pramono, Edi

English

The Romantic Adventure of Pathfinder: Love Bound to Nature & A Quest of Identity As seen in Cooper's The Pathfinder or The Inland Sea

AbstractThe paper tries to offer some insights on English language studies in Indonesian universities. It seems that we need to reconsider the position of English studies in Indonesia. It is high time to respond to the need to prepare our students to realize there are many Englishes. For many decades, we have been focusing our attention to the West (British and American English) while the fact shows that English is no longer singular. Thus, focusing our attention to the West is not a wise choice. English departments in Indonesia should serve the interest of the students studying there

Nugroho, Ridwan Arif

Ahmad Dahlan Journal of English Studies (ADJES) 
Vol. 1, Issue 1-2, September 2014 
 
 
Some Insights on English Studies in Indonesia - Ridwan Arif Nugroho 
33 
 
 
 
Some Insights on English Studies in Indonesia 
Ridwan Arif Nugroho 
Sanata Dharma  University 
 
 
Abstract 
The paper tries to offer some insights on English language studies in Indonesian universities. It 
seems that we need to reconsider the position of English studies in Indonesia. It is high time to 
respond to the need to prepare our students to realize there are many Englishes. For many 
decades, we have been focusing our attention to the West (British and American English) while the 
fact shows that English is no longer singular. Thus, focusing our attention to the West is not a wise 
choice. English departments in Indonesia should serve the interest of the students studying there. 
Keyword : English studies, English literature 
 
1. Introduction 
In 1898 the English novelist, short story writer, and poet Rudyard Kipling published a famous poem 
titled The White Man’s Burden. His poem discussed the importance of the white people to rule over 
and encourage the cultural development of the colonized nations. Kipling is still remembered for his 
celebration of British imperialism. According to Kipling, the white people should be the model of the 
non-white/ the colonized nations. The era of colonialism is long gone but the effect is still 
ubiquitous. People around the world suffer from inferiority complex when they have to face the 
white. The inferiority complex can also be felt and seen in the field of English studies in Indonesia. 
English studies in Indonesia have never been able to show their own identity. English departments 
all over the country are not brave enough to detach themselves from the canons set by the 
White/west.  
Those studying and teaching in the English departments feel and think they are not capable of 
becoming good language learners/literature learners without the interference of the so called 
“native speakers” As a result, they feel that they need to hire “native speakers” in order to be able 
to master English or to learn English literature well. 
The situation is well-understood by many parties. Consequently, it is not difficult to find English 
lecturers without sufficient English background in universities all over the country. Many white 
lecturers suddenly become experts in English literature or English teaching when they come to 
Ahmad Dahlan Journal of English Studies (ADJES) 
Vol. 1, Issue 1-2, September 2014 
 
 
Some Insights on English Studies in Indonesia - Ridwan Arif Nugroho 
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Indonesia. People without sufficient knowledge claim to have the authority to be experts when 
they are in English Studies program in Indonesia. The time has come for us to revisit the position 
of English and English studies in our country. It is worth-doing to consider what scholars around 
the world have to say regarding the issue. Braj Kachru is a noted scholar whose opinion regarding 
English is worth-noticing. He coined a term “ World Englishes” which has been widely discussed. 
In 1985 Kachru categorizes the world of English in terms of three circles. In the inner circle he put 
the countries such as Australia,  the United States, Britain, Canada ,New Zealand etc where English 
is the main language. The outer circle consists of countries where English had become an official or 
widely-used second language. These countries are India, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Nigeria, 
Malaysia, etc. The last circle is called the expanding circle consisting of countries such as Indonesia, 
Japan, Korea, China, Egypt, etc. In these countries English is learnt as a foreign language. Thus, it 
is obvious that the position of English in Indonesia is as a foreign language. The categorization 
made by Kachru is supported by the fact Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch so that English has 
always been a foreign language. 
Tomlinson (2010:599) makes a very interesting comment regarding the fact that many learners of 
English are being tested on a variety of English they do not and never will speak. They are tested 
on British or American English not on the English they are going to deal with in their life. Much time 
has been wasted for nothing. The situation happens because the teachers or institutions consider 
English as a singular entity. While the fact shows that English is no longer a singular one.  
Holliday (2005:4) describes another division in terms of “native” and “non-native speakers”. One 
problem is that the use of “non” usually signifies a disadvantage or deficit. Braine (1999: citing 
Kramsch) suggests that “native speakers” themselves “do not speak the idealized, standardized 
version of their language”. The ideology of native-speakerism is based on the assumption that 
“native speakers” of English have a special claim to the language itself, that it is essentially their 
property. But as Graddol (1997) demonstrates, the majority of English users are now outside the 
English-speaking West. Widdowson(1998) makes the major point that: 
How English develops in the world is no business  whatever of native speakers in England, the 
United States or anywhere else….The very fact that English is an international Language means 
that no nation can have custody over it….But the point is that it is only international to the 
extent that it is not their language. It is not a possession which they lease out to others, while 
still retaining the freehold. Other people actually own it. (Widdowson 1998: 244-5) 
There has been much effort to introduce English as a Lingua Franca. For Jenkins (2000), the 
evidence of English as Lingua Franca suggests that we should change what we teach. Instead of 
conforming to a native such as British English, learners need to learn not a variety of English, but 
about Englishes, their similarities and differences, issues involved in intelligibility, the strong links 
between language and identity, and so on. 
Thus, the question is: is it worth-doing to spend much time to teach our students to speak like an 
American or British people? Isn’t it better to teach intelligible English? 
Ahmad Dahlan Journal of English Studies (ADJES) 
Vol. 1, Issue 1-2, September 2014 
 
 
Some Insights on English Studies in Indonesia - Ridwan Arif Nugroho 
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2. English Literature or Literature in English? 
Referring to the situation in TESOL world above, now we can question the position of English 
studies in Indonesia; what should be taught in an English Language Studies program ? Do the 
students have to study “English literature “or “literature in English? If one refers to the opinion of 
Widdowson above it is clear that with the emergence of English as an International language and 
English as a lingua franca, no nations can be considered as the custodian of it. The statement is 
supported by the fact that Indonesia has never been directly colonialized by the British. Thus, we 
have no emotional or historical attachment to the British as the Indians or the Australia do. I 
conclude that concentrating on English literature alone is a waste of time and energy. It does not 
mean that English literature should not be taught at the English Language Studies. 
English literature should be taught as one of the elements in Literature in English. Butler (1987; 
cited in Walder) started her essay by telling a story about a Cambridge historian named David 
Cannadine who was leaving Britain for the USA. Cannadine wrote about the pointless of studying 
British history as no one but the British were interested in it. It is weird that in one  English 
Department of a state university, there is a subject called” Pranata Sosial Masyarakat Inggris”. Both 
the teacher and the students, in my opinion, are wasting their time. Knowledge about it can be 
easily accessed from the internet. Both parties do not have first hand information regarding the 
subject. 
Butler also mentioned the trend in some countries such as Canada, Australia, Nigeria and others to 
start studying their own national literatures rather than studying that of England’s and America’s. 
Even in India, that has been a long-time supporter of English Literature, people start questioning 
the relevance of so much time and energy spent on studying literary works of a country located so 
far away from India. If those countries that once had strong emotional bonds with the British were 
critical to question the relevance of studying English literature, why would not we do the same 
thing? Indonesian learners of literature should be braver than those in the countries mentioned 
above. 
The paradigm shift from English literature to literature in English must have some impacts on the 
so called English literary classics. The world “English” can be replaced by “Indian, Chinese, 
Indonesian, and Malaysia” or remains “English”. The “new” literary classics are studied by means of 
English. Thus, English functions as a means of studying other literature. 
The positions of Shakespeare, Milton, Yeats, Austen, Locke, Ruskin, and others  can be replaced by 
Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Yasunari Kawabata, Mo Yan, Chinua Achebe, Tolstoy, Naipaul  and others. 
If not replaced, they should be given the same positions in the world literature; be it English 
literature or literature in English. By so doing, the learners of literatures will be more enlightened. 
Again, it does not mean that that English literatures should be neglected. English literature and 
literature in English must be given equal positions and none is above the other. 
3. Looking at the Ideal Literature Pedagogy  
Ahmad Dahlan Journal of English Studies (ADJES) 
Vol. 1, Issue 1-2, September 2014 
 
 
Some Insights on English Studies in Indonesia - Ridwan Arif Nugroho 
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Chambers and Gregory (2006) state that traditional pedagogy in literature classes has its roots in 
the pedagogy of classical language instruction. This was a pedagogy aimed mostly at “students’ 
ability to get the right answer”. They explain that the beginning stages of Latin and Greek do not 
provide occasions for student “interpretation”. These roots in the pedagogy of Greek and Latin 
partly explain, why, literature pedagogy of “top-down” kind has had so much momentum and why 
it has taken so long to alter or modify it. 
When Classics and Literature became separate subjects, and literature teaching was focused on 
students ‘language rather than difficult and dead” foreign” languages, the pedagogy of Literature 
changed. The issue in reading literature was no longer “the ability to get the right answer” but the 
students were encouraged to develop their own interpretive opinions. However, the right 
interpretations and meanings came not from the student thought, inquiry or questioning, but from 
the teacher or lecturer. 
Today, given the challenges the discipline of literature faces, there are even more reasons to jump 
outside the authoritarian frame that teachers and students may still have. Chambers and Gregory 
(2006) assert that good literature teaching demands two things. First, those students should be 
made aware of the central importance of the processes for their knowledge and understanding of 
Literature. Second, these processes should be taught explicitly, comprehensively and in ways that 
are intelligible, engaging and thought-provoking. 
4. The Position of Literary Theory 
It should be noted that there is no such things as “innocence” reading or theory-free readings in 
the study of Literature.  Eagleton (1983: cited in Walder) states clearly that literature is an ideology. 
It has the most intimate relations to questions of social power. Thus, the words used in a literary 
work are not transparent. In order to understand the hidden meaning of the words, the knowledge 
of literary theory is indeed very important.  Chambers & Gregory (2006) posit that academic study 
of literature should provide four intellectual and academic traditions—philology, classics, rhetoric, 
and belle-lettres. Thus, the four traditions should exist in an English language Studies program. 
Philology provides literary study with techniques for concentrating powerfully on all possible 
meanings and significance of individual words. It provides a model of methodology for interpreting 
individual words.  
Classics provide literary study with two things; literary works to be studied and the model of a 
pedagogy of for teaching literature. Classic should not always mean English classic. It can be 
African Classic, Indian classic, and so on. Pope (  2002) states that there is no need to limit the 
notion of classic. Significantly, the moment English Studies embraces the study of contemporary 
classics it tends to transform itself into Cultural Studies. 
 Rhetoric provides literary study with a large number of concepts, analytical categories and 
methodological strategies that are easily transferred from the analysis of speeches to the analysis 
of literary works of the writers. The last one is belle-lettres, includes not only literary works that are 
treasured and studied but also the fine writing about treasured texts produced by well-educated 
Ahmad Dahlan Journal of English Studies (ADJES) 
Vol. 1, Issue 1-2, September 2014 
 
 
Some Insights on English Studies in Indonesia - Ridwan Arif Nugroho 
37 
 
 
readers, whose own refinements of sensibility and literary talent often rivals the sensibility and 
talent of the writer. 
Based on the explanation above, it is important for the English Language Studies Program to found 
their interests and their methodologies deeply tinctured by the intellectual roots from which they 
drew. By so doing, it is expected that the program can have a clear path.  
5. Last Words about The Process 
In the last part of the essay, it is necessary to quote some principles that should be used in the 
teaching of Literature. Chambers & Gregory (2006) propose a list of principles. Of course, the list is 
not an exhaustive one. However, they can be used in order to provide a good atmosphere in the 
process of teaching and learning literature. 
The first one is called the principle of engagement. According to this principle, introduction to 
literature should not begin with the history of English literature, with the discussion of the major 
literary genre or literary critical movement. Rather, it should start by asking the students to reflect 
on what the students actually do and experience while doing. Thus, the principle connects the 
students with the material to be discussed. 
The second one is the principle of intelligibility. It assumes that if students are actively to engage 
in processes of textual analysis-interpretation-evaluation-to be active “makers of meaning”. This 
principle demands teachers to show and demonstrate rather than always explain matters . It 
demands teaching from example to explanation. Definitions come last, not first, because 
understanding them is a high-level ability. 
6. Conclusion 
There are some factors to be taken into consideration regarding the position of English Studies in 
Indonesia. The first one is the stakeholders of English Studies program should realize that there is 
a paradigm shift in the world of TESOL or ELT. Now, people assume that English language does 
not belong to a particular nation. It belongs to all users of the language. The concept of “standard 
English” is no longer relevant. Second, related to the situation, we, the stakeholders of English 
Studies in Indonesia have to choose whether we want to be engaged in English literature or 
Literature in English. Both should be given equal position. Third, after deciding our stance 
regarding English literature of Literature in English, ideal literature pedagogy should also be taken 
into account. Fourth, no matter what we choose; be it English literature or Literature in English, the 
position of literary theory must be maintained in the English Language Studies. There are no such 
things as theory-free reading in literature. Lastly, there are many principles offered by many 
scholars. The principles are not exhaustive one but they are worth-applying. 
 
 
 
Ahmad Dahlan Journal of English Studies (ADJES) 
Vol. 1, Issue 1-2, September 2014 
 
 
Some Insights on English Studies in Indonesia - Ridwan Arif Nugroho 
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Reference 
Braine,G.1999. Non-native Educators in English language Teaching. Mahwah NJ: Erlbaum. 
Canagarajah, A.S.2003.Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in English Teaching. Oxford: Oxford 
University Press. 
Chambers,E &Gregory,M. 2006. Teaching &Learning English Literature. New Delhi: SAGE. 
Graddol, D.1997. The Future of English? : The British Council. 
Holliday, A.2005. The Struggle to Teach English as an International Language. Oxford: Oxford 
University Press. 
Jenkin,J.2000.The Phonology of English as an International Language: New Models, New Norms, 
New Goals. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
Kachru,B.1985. Standard ,codification, and sociolinguistics realism; the English language in the 
outer circle. The British Council. 
Pope, R.2002. The English Studies Book: An Introduction to Language, literature, and 
culture.London and New York: Routledge. 
Tomlinson,B.2010. “Which test of which English and why?” in A.Kirkpatrick (eds) The Routledge 
Handbook of World Englishes.New York, pp.599-616. 
Walder, D. (ed) 1990. Literature In The Modern World:Critical Essays and Documents. New York: 
The Open University. 
Widdowson, H.G.1998. “The ownership of English” in V.Zamel and R.Spack(eds).Negotiating 
Academic Literacies.Mahwah,NJ: Erlbaum: 237-48. 
Young, Tory. (2008). Studying English Literature; A Practical Guide . Cambridge: Cambridge 
University Press. 
Biography 
Ridwan Arif Nugroho is a student at English Language Studies of Sanata Dharma University 
majoring in Literature. He can be contacted at ridwanarifnugroho@yahoo.com or 
ridwanarifnugroho@gmail.com 
 
 


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The Romantic Adventure of Pathfinder: Love Bound to Nature & A Quest of Identity As seen in Cooper's The Pathfinder or The Inland Sea

Some Insights on English Studies in Indonesia

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