Asia-Pacific Collaborative education Journal
103-112
English Language and Its Acquisition,
Culture and Role in Indonesian Context
Maya Puspitasari
Abstract
Learning a language is an interesting topic to be
discussed between linguists. Its existence as a means of
communication makes language play an important role in
people’s lives. Universal grammar, cultural context and
English as a global language are some of the topics that
have been researched. Universal grammar (UG) is a
principle of language applied in communication. Then,
there is a tendency that language shares similarities with
culture. It means that when people learn a language,
inevitably they also learn about its culture. How a person
expresses something to others is an example that shows
language is interrelated with culture. The existence of a
language also has a relationship to the power of ideology
that a language has. How much power a language has will
determine how many people use the language. As English
is a very powerful language, English is spoken in many
countries and there has been a need for people to
communicate with other nations.
Keywords: Language, Universal Grammar, Culture
103
Vol. 9, No. 2, 2013, pp.
Introduction
Language, a means of communication
among human, has been used since Adam was
created. Language is considered to be a
complicated term since it contains sounds,
meaning and other structures that only humans
use. There is no evidence that all communication
is equivalent to human language (Lust, 2007: 11).
Therefore, human language is a very unique
feature that exists in life. Sapir (1921) in Lust
(2007: 10) argued that the symbols in language
are auditory produced in organs of speech. It is
the organs of speech that create meaningful sound
used to communicate by humans to others.
Language distinguishes people all around the
world. Language relates to the identity of
communities everywhere throughout the world.
At least there are three languages considered to be
the oldest languages in the world; namely Greek,
Sanskrit, and Latin. And from those languages,
thousands of languages including English have
been developed and used by different people to
communicate to each other. In this paper, the
writer presents a description of the acquisition of
a language, the cultural context involved in
learning a language and the role of English as a
global language.
Asia-Pacific Collaborative education Journal
Universal Grammar and the Perspective of
Acquiring Grammar in Second Language
Acquisition
When language is suggested as a means to
express feeling, we can say that when humans are
born to this world and weep, the weeping
represents human’s language to communicate. In
an effortless attempt, a baby reflects clearly his
intention to communicate with someone else
(Lust, 2007: 11). In line with that, Meisel (2011:
13) conveyed that languages spoken by toddlers
can be called as a species-specific endowment of
humans. It means that even when a toddler is seen
babbling, his intention is to deliver a message that
is a language.
The language properties inherent in the
human mind make up “Universal Grammar” (UG),
which consists, not of particular rules or of a
particular grammar, but of a set of general
principles that apply to all grammars and that
leave certain parameters open; UG sets the limits
within which human languages can vary (Cook,
1983). UG is considered as the rule to limit the
use of language where people use it as their
communication tools.
In accordance to it, White (1998: 1) defined
UG as an innate biologically endowed language
faculty or what is known as a Language
Acquisition Device (LAD). The LAD planted in
the human brain has become the input storage for
children to absorb language including grammar. It
was Noam Chomsky who declared Universal
Grammar. He said that “children have an innate
faculty that guides them in their learning of
language” (Mitchell and Myles, 2011: 33). Thus,
a child has an ability to acquire language since he
has a device installed in his mind.
However, there has been a debate among the
104
linguists and researchers about the acquisition of
second language. A particular grammar amounts
to a specification of the ways in which it selects
from different possibilities inherent in Universal
Grammar. The second language learner possesses
a grammar of a first language incorporating the
principles of UG and specifying a particular set of
values for its parameters. The learner might have
access to UG either directly or indirectly through
the first language.
Lust (2007: 13) is concerned that parents
must pay attention to how children acquire
grammar mapped from meaning to sound.
Grammar as a part of language is claimed to be a
hard subject to learn. Since grammar contains of
so many terms and rules, Lust emphasized that
children are not able to grab it instantly. However,
Nowak et.al. (2001: 114) claimed that grammar
acquisition is learnt by children spontaneously
and without formal training. So the grammar in
language can be acquired by children through
unconscious learning. Furthermore, the discussion
about how English grammar in second language
learning is acquired is contentious. Since many
languages exist on this planet, the occurrence of
second language learning is inevitable. Krashen
(1981: 1) claimed that language acquisition in
second language is very similar to the process
children use in acquiring their first language. He
also assumed that second language acquisition
requires meaningful interaction in the target
language in which speakers are not concerned
with the form of their utterances but with the
messages they are conveying and understanding.
In line with that, some researchers implied
that it has a link with first language acquisition.
For example, Chomsky (1986: 55) in Thomas
(1991) indicated that language knowledge is
articulated and shared richly with others from the
 English Language and Its Acquisition, Culture and Role in Indonesian Context
same speech community. Meanwhile others
suggested that there is no relation at all between
first and second language acquisition. White
(2003: 124) admitted that “certain aspects of
language must be innately present in the first
language learner in the form of UG”. There is a
tendency that the second language share similar
structure with the first one in the operation of UG.
Zdorenko and Paradis (2006: 244) were sure
that for young second language learners, an entry
to Universal Grammar for the target input could
have shorter time than it is for older second
language learners who really depend on transfer
from their first language for a longer period of
time. But it does not mean that language teachers
should not teach grammar in the learning process.
Teachers may conduct formal grammar teaching
if the students have known the limits of conscious
grammatical knowledge (Krashen, 1992: 410).
The paradigm of correlation between first
and second language acquisition has been varied.
When Bardel and Falk (2007: 460) argued that
the acquisition of a non-native language is
qualitatively different from first language
acquisition, I have different opinion in the context
of Indonesian language. Unlike other languages
such as Indian or Chinese, English and Indonesian
languages share some similarities. The similarities
sometimes lead to errors made by students to
arrange sentences that are grammatically correct
in English.
Initially the effect of the first language
grammar comprises a base for the new developing
grammar constructed with the involvement of
Universal Grammar” (Bardel and Falk, 2007:
461). It has a tendency to happen in the
Indonesian context. In terms of syntax, the
structure of Indonesian sentences is similar to
English. Both structures have comparable parts of
105
speech. The order of subject, verb and then object
is also known in Indonesian. It is called subjek,
predikat dan objek (subject, verb and object).
The errors made by the learners are located
in the use of the verb. The different verbs based
on subject and time often create confusion. In the
Indonesian context, there is no change of verb
whenever the act happens. It also applies to the
subject. The verb will not be modified because the
subject is changed. Let’s see some examples
below:
Saya menulis sebuah buku kemarin.
S V O adv
I wrote a book yesterday.
Susan sedang menulis sebuah buku sekarang.
S V O adv
Susan is writing a book now.
Andy akan menulis sebuah buku nanti malam.
S V O adv
Andy will read a book tonight.
Saya telah menulis sebuah buku.
S V O
I have written a book.
From the examples above, we can see there
is no changing in the forms of verb in the
Indonesian context even if the subject and the
time have been replaced. However, the situation is
different with English. In English, especially in
writing, the verbs will be modified based on the
factors of subject and time. That is why the
learners’ errors occurred in grammar rules of
English. Since the rule of grammar in English is
quite similar with Indonesian particularly in
syntax, therefore the learners often compare their
Asia-Pacific Collaborative education Journal
second language (English) to their first language
acquisition.
Concurrently, White (2003: 127) claimed
that second language learners should not be able
to acquire the second language value of a
parameter where:
a. “The first and second languages have different
values for some parameter, and
b. The input undetermined the second language
grammar”.
Despite what White suggested, the
circumstances are rather different from first
language acquisition of Indonesian. Hawkins
(2001:349) stated that generally older second
language speakers only respond similarly to
native speakers if their first languages have
similar patterns as English. Zdorenko and Paradis
(2006: 228) also emphasized that movement of
first language seems to take a role in second
language learners’ acquisition of English. So the
reason why the errors occurred is because
Indonesian language shares similar pattern with
English. Whenever Indonesian students use
English, they will compare it to the Indonesian
pattern. The most common problem is that the
students find difficulties in changing verbs when
the tense and the subject are changed. For
example, the students often are not aware of the
addition of ‘s’ after the main verb when it deals
with the third person singular (he, she or it) in the
simple present tense. The teachers should work
hard to correct the errors since it happens all the
time in the classroom. They should make sure that
the students make the sentences carefully and
warn them about the rules in English grammar
several times. Sometimes giving so much practice
to write English sentences properly may reduce
106
the errors made by the students.
English Language and Culture
As one of the elements of language, culture
can be taught separately in learning a language.
Culture refers to “humanly acquired knowledge
that provides interpretive frames which allow us
to assign meaning to human activity” (Joseph,
2004: 379). Hoffman (1989: 118) mentioned that
language and culture are interdependent because
they are symbolically interpreted in defining the
systems of meaning. While we learn a language,
we are also supposed to acquire the social and
cultural context.
The relationship between language and
culture tends to be linear. Therefore, Hoffman
(1989: 120) defined that language is “tied of
ethnic cultural identity and relative isolation from
the host culture”. In accordance to Hoffman’s
statement, Byram (1989: 40) expressed that
language and the variety of language (sociolect or
idiolect) are one of cultural identities that people
encounter in their daily lives.
By learning a language, there are at least four
purposes that can be achieved in terms of culture;
namely gaining significant features in the
environment, rehearsing information to be learnt,
formulating a plan or articulating the steps to be
taken in solving a problem (Mitchell and Myles,
2004: 194). Moreover, Hoffman (1989: 119)
expounded that cultural adaptation, acculturation,
and cultural change must influence and are
supposed to be influenced by the ways in which
language is used by its language community
members.
Thus, Harumi (2002: 36) suggested that
when someone is learning a foreign language, the
teacher should be someone who has a close
 English Language and Its Acquisition, Culture and Role in Indonesian Context
relationship with the culture of the language. So, a
language course must be related to culture.
Besides learning the four skills, language learning
also helps learners to acquire cultural skills, such
as strategies for the systematic observation of
behavioural patterns (Corbet, 2003). Kramsch
(2011: 204) underlined the importance of learning
the culture of attitudes, mind-sets, lifestyles,
and interactional styles to have successful
communication in EFL.
There has been a concern shown in “the
international language teaching profession that the
social dimension and intercultural function of
language be restored” (Buttjes, 1991: 6).
Therefore, discussion about language and culture
will be broadened to exploring intercultural
communication since the need to learn a second
or foreign language is unavoidable. According to
Kramsch (2011: 201) intercultural or cross-
cultural communication is an interdisciplinary
study about how people understand other
nationalities, geographical areas, ethnic groups,
occupational groups, classes or genders. It
“includes the ability to understand the language
and behaviour of the target community, and
explain it to members of the ‘home’ community –
and vice versa” (Corbet, 2003: 2).
The term ‘intercultural communication’ was
first presented in the 1950s by Georgetown
University linguist Robert Lado and by
anthropologist and US Foreign Service Institute
(FSI) officer Edward T. Hall. Lado was the first
person to attempt to link language and culture in
an educationally relevant way (Kramsch, 2011:
201). He added that intercultural communication
was necessary because of Post-Second World War
American International diplomacy and business
interests and later was applied to interethnic
conflicts within the United States (Kramsch, 2011:
107
202). An intercultural speaker, it means is “a
person who has managed to settle for the in-
between, who knows and can perform in both his
or her native culture and in another one acquired
at some later date” (House, 2007: 19). The way
people deliver their message to others will be
determined by the culture and by the community
they are in.
There are some motives for learning
intercultural communication. Buttjes (1991: 8)
stated that providing culture in language courses
is aimed to prepare people for international
contact and communication. By gaining
intercultural competence, Corbet (2003: 32) also
claimed that there are two aims that might be
achieved, namely:
1) Culture refers to information exchange, and
2) Learners have the opportunity to reflect upon
how the information is exchanged, and the
cultural factors impinging upon the exchange.
The purpose of learning culture in language
is to enrich the acquisition of a wider world-view
by absorbing an access to the non-native cultural
capital. It means intercultural studies should try to
integrate culture and language in the foreign
language classroom to benefit transcultural
communication and interaction at once (Buttjes,
1991: 8). Moreover, Corbet (2003: 34) is
convinced through motivating the learners to
analyze and interpret culture, they are directed
to “independent intercultural analysis and
interpretation in a range of situations where they
might otherwise be at loss and where authoritative
guidance is unavailable”. However, it is important
to design intercultural study as independent
between the native language and culture and those
from the new one which they are trying to link,
Asia-Pacific Collaborative education Journal
mediate and reconciliate (House, 2007: 15).
Byram (1989: 39) mentioned that language
teaching can be placed into two categories:
1) Language use and language awareness; and
2) Cultural studies.
Corbet (2003: 34) also warned that “knowledge
about how community’s beliefs and values are
linguistically constructed and negotiated might
well be a higher priority for learners who are
likely to have direct contact with the L2 –
speaking community”. But, if the second
language is considered only as a school subject,
explicit cultural training might be treated poorly.
Nevertheless, as Kramsch (2011: 205) noted, “the
pedagogy of intercultural communication is
currently shifting from teaching accurate facts and
culturally appropriate behaviors to teaching the
social and historical contexts”. The contexts here
refer to those that have given present cultural
phenomena their meaning within larger cross-
cultural networks.
Languages and cultures of nations or tribes
seem to be lost every time. Buttjes (1991: 48)
urged that when “the cultural survival value of
national languages is emphasized” that “there is
also a growing awareness of dependency across
linguistic and political boundaries”. “Looking
back upon a national heritage in language
teaching may allow us to be more sensitive to
specific cultural restriction as well as to general
transcultural developments affecting the
continuing reform of foreign language teaching”
(Buttjes, 1991: 48).
The existence of language and culture in the
classroom is still debatable. As Byram (1989: 41)
found that all language teaching contains some
explicit reference to the cultural whole from
108
which the particular language is taken. However,
he also discovered that “a frequent metaphor of
language as the ‘key’ to a culture embodies this
link and at the same reveals an implicit
separation”. However, the absolute separation of
lexical items from their original reference is
extremely difficult. It also happened where “a
deliberate attempt to transfer its use to a different
culture is made, as in those countries where
English is taught from textbooks which refer only
to the native culture of the learners” (Byram, 1989:
42).
Admittedly, teaching intercultural
communication in a TESOL class might be one-
way learning. It is because the students in most
ESL classes are multilingual and multicultural.
This means that “any comparison between the
target English-speaking culture and one native
culture has seemed futile” (Kramsch, 2011: 205).
Then, second or foreign language teaching is
traditionally concerned with only one language
and culture. However, since a lot of immigrants
from the Third World are coming to western
countries, the scope of language learning will be
extended beyond the language spoken in the
developed countries in particular possibly
including those languages from the Third World
(Byram, 1991: 25).
As language and culture are interrelated, so it
means when learners are learning English
language somehow they are supposed to learn its
culture. The problems remain when it links to
assumption whether the culture should be taught
explicitly or implicitly. The other problem is the
question of which culture the teacher should refer
to when she uses English in the Indonesian
classroom.
The major solution for the last problem is
often to deal with Indonesian culture while
 English Language and Its Acquisition, Culture and Role in Indonesian Context
learning English language. But another problem
has emerged since English and Indonesian culture
are totally different. The difference lies in the
difference between the terms eastern and western
cultures. Even if there are formal and informal
expressions in English language, the formality in
Indonesian is more rigorous. It is impolite to call
a name of an older person directly if people talk
in Indonesian. Meanwhile, based on western
culture in this case English, calling an older
person by name does not matter.
Even though it will be impolite to call the
name of teachers at school, the learners call them
Miss, Mistress, or Mister followed by the family
name. However, in this case the names of family
in Indonesian culture do not exist much. So when
an English teacher, teaches at school, the students
will call them Miss, Mistress, or Mister followed
by first name. So the thing becomes complicated
when English and Indonesian cultures are mixed
up. Which culture should be reflected when
teacher is teaching English in the classroom?
English as a Global Language
In terms of sociopolitics, language and
ideology are interrelated. Philips (1992: 377) was
sure that “language is relevant to understanding
the role of ideology in the maintenance of
dominant-subordinate relations in human
societies”. Moreover, he assumed that “the nature
of ideology is understood to be shaped by power
relations between dominant and subordinate
sectional interests of structural positions”.
Tollefson (2000: 13) made the description clearer
as he urged that “language policy refers to a wide
range of governmental and non-governmental
actions designed to influence language acquisition
and language use”.
109
Since then, the government in one nation
plays an important role to decide about the issues
related to language and ideology in the learning
field. The government is in charge of the
languages that will be taught in schools. It also
means that the government is responsible to
decide the languages that will be used in the
courts, in government offices, in voting, and in
other public arenas (Tollefson, 2000: 13). Since
then, English has been “an official language of
major international trading, commerce,
broadcasting, communication, safety, traveling,
transportation, sport events, academic conferences,
and so on” (Harumi, 2002:37). In line with that,
Bruthiaux (2002: 129) emphasized that English
has become dominant as a language of wider
communication in the cluster of economic,
military, political, and technological factors.
Speaking about language and ideology,
English is a language that has been involved in
taking control a nation about language. Since the
end of World War II, English has been demanded
all over the world. It has a global impact as an
international language. In this view, Tollefson
(2000: 8) admitted that national languages play a
crucial role in unifying distinct nation states.
However, an international language such as
English plays a more important role in global
communication between governments, in business
and industry, in the sciences and technology, and
in education. Tollefson (2000: 9) also highlighted
that “the spread of English is closely linked with
the processes of economic globalization that
indirectly lead to the loss of local languages”.
The existence of many English-speakers
internationally inevitably becomes part of the
historical process. Therefore, Naysmith (1986: 4)
declared the necessity to take notice of the goals
of imperialism and the main reason for
Asia-Pacific Collaborative education Journal
introducing English-medium schooling systems to
schools. It leads to the perspective that “English
has even been deliberately used in the suppression
of other languages and dialects, supposedly in the
interests of political unity and stability”
(Naysmith, 1986: 8).
A power may emerge later in this century to
threaten American geo-political supremacy and
with it the dominance of English as a global
language (Bruthiaux, 2002: 131). The preeminent
position of English has contributed to the death of
indigenous languages. As English becomes a
global language, other languages slowly but
surely tend to become extinct. When English is
taught in Indonesian schools, the government has
changed the educational curriculum several times.
At first, English was only a school subject for
students in junior and senior high schools.
However, since English has become a dominant
international language, the English subject has
begun to be learned in elementary schools and
even in kindergarten.
English used as a global language is often
equated with Standard English / American
English with the assumption that native-speakers
of English are the model to be used. Even though
English is changing and being used in different
and new contexts, there is a strong tendency to
cling to the traditional native-speaker as the final
arbiter or authority about appropriate usage (Foley,
2007: 7). Almost every ‘native-speaker’ seems to
feel justified in having an opinion about what is
‘acceptable’ or not in relation to grammar (Foley,
2007: 10).
However, new varieties of English have
emerged and will continue to emerge. Language
changes with the people that use it. For the first
time in history, a language has reached truly
global dimensions and is being shaped in its
110
international uses, at least as much by its non-
native speakers as by its native-speakers (Foley,
2007: 13).
English has contributed in deciding what
adjustment of curriculum will be used at school.
Since the demand of mastering English to face the
era of globalization, applying a bilingual system
at school has started to be established. English is
not only used in the English classroom, but also in
other subjects such as math, biology, physics, and
even chemistry. However, this international
appeal seems not to be followed by the readiness
of schools, especially by teachers and students.
Besides teaching the subjects, the teachers are
supposed to teach them in English. This may lead
to a problem since the government implemented
this policy; the teachers do not know English well
enough. Their educational background does not
support them to teach the subjects in English.
Therefore, they ought to learn English
simultaneously.
Then, the students face the same problem.
Subjects such as math, biology, physics and
chemistry are difficult to learn. They will face
more difficulties since they should understand the
subjects presented in English. It is not an easy job.
They often complain about the words used in their
textbook since the words are specific to the field
of the subject. They find it difficult to learn
general English, and now they have to cope with
specific English that is more difficult than general
English.
Conclusions
As language plays an important role for
humans as a means of communication, learning it
is necessary. The LAD planted in humans’ mind
 English Language and Its Acquisition, Culture and Role in Indonesian Context
will influence the first language acquisition. The
debate between the similarity and the difference
of first and second language acquisition will still
remain. However, the ease to acquire the second
language depends on the ability of humans to
absorb the language.
Meanwhile, as part of language, culture
cannot be separated from learning a language.
Inevitably, when people learn about a language,
they also learn about its culture indirectly.
Introducing the different culture of the second
language will help the learners to learn the
language easily. Therefore, the teachers should
deliver the cultural context of the language
learned by the students as part of the language
itself.
English as a global language spoken by
many people plays an important role in relating
people to each other. The need to learn English
has been developed by the Indonesian
government to make the people ready to face this
era of globalization. However, the government
should consider maintaining the use of the
Indonesian language in people’s daily life.
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The Author
Maya Puspitasari received her Master Degree in
TESOL in the University of Edinburgh in 2012.
She is a lecturer of English Education in
Universitas Bale Bandung in Indonesia. Her
research interest is about English education and
education policy. Washback effect in the English
national exam in Indonesia would be her next
topic to be conducted.
Email: mayapuspitasari09@gmail.com
Received Date: April, 11, 2013
Revision received Date: July, 19, 2013
Accepted Date: October, 21, 2013