Description

This major aims at developing students' ability to communicate in a culturally and socially appropriate manner in Indonesian—the national language of Australia's closest neighbour, and a language with 165 million speakers. The major emphasises the importance of cultural as well as linguistic fluency from the introductory level onwards and stresses the functional and situational use of the language in every day life. Not only will students be able to converse on topics of relevance and interest to themselves and to Indonesian speakers, but they will be able to read and write the language as it appears in the media and in literature.

Students in this major are encouraged to spend time studying at a tertiary institution in Indonesia. This can be done either through intensive in-country study in the summer or winter breaks, or through a year of study in the Year in Asia program. Competitive scholarships are available to qualified students. 

A student may not take a course if that course is a prerequisite for another course which they have already passed.

Students with prior knowledge of the language will be required to take a placement test and may be exempted from the compulsory course.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the Indonesian language major students should be able to:

1. express themselves well in a formal or informal register, appropriate to the situation and to the people to whom one is speaking.
2. read and understand newspapers and other texts in Indonesian
3. engage with authentic Indonesian language media
4. write in Indonesian in the appropriate style using the correct grammar and the vocabulary appropriate the genre, contents and audience
5. Write, perform and record presentations or interviews in Indonesian either individually or in cooperative groups, and answer questions based on those performances or interviews

Course Lists

The course lists in the "Requirements" section below is a definitive list and includes all courses that can be counted towards the major, whether or not they are offered in the current year. For a list of courses that will be offered in the current year, please see the Summary of Courses page.