Jumat, Maret 29, 2024

A scholar is a writer

Donny Syofyan
Donny Syofyan
Dosen Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Universitas Andalas

Every time I come across scholars on various international conferences, I have never fed up with expressing my admiration for their academic productivity. Along with their passion for writing, one of my Chinese scholars told me that financial support from university authorities, like internal agencies for research, publishing, and international conferences are very astonishing in China right now. As we all know it can be expensive. Thanks to this support, more and more young academics decide to develop their scientific career and become more productive in publishing.

Before long, another friend of mine and former coordinator of the private universities in Jakarta claimed that over 50 percent of the teaching staff of various universities in the capital have yet to write or publish a textbook or article in Bahasa (Indonesian language), let alone in English.

Perhaps, the situation is getting worse. Despite the increasing number of faculty at various universities, authorship of the teaching staff has not changed significantly. Many research reports have shown that most faculty members allocate most of their time to routine work that doesn’t contribute to intellectual creativity. Reading, teaching and guiding students does not necessarily result in intellectual productivity. Instead, they seem to be more concerned with development of their personal status and enhancing their social life.

Look at a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation and note the bibliography. It is certain that most of the major references are written by foreigners in English. You can easily conclude that a lot of professors, even from major universities in Indonesia, do not write. Get into an Indonesian professor’s house and look around. You may be fascinated by his research collection. However, don’t you dare ask him to show you a textbook or publication of his own! It’s too bad Indonesia’s professors and intellectuals are simply customers of foreign academic writing.

Many factors are behind this trend. In Indonesia, writing textbooks is not a profit-making business. Publishers and bookstores earn a lot of money, while authors rarely break even. It is not surprising that many potential authors are reluctant to write and tend to pin the blame on publishers for taking an unfair percentage of the book sales. On the contrary, publishers tend to blame the poor reading culture of the society which, in turn, bodes ill for the marketing of books.

Many believe this culture reflects years of a failed national education system. Others say intellectuals do not know how to write because their teachers failed to provide them with necessary writing skills. Both arguments are used to criticize Indonesian intellectuals in general and lecturers.

Intellectuals and university faculty members who do not write extensively on their subjects are incompetent scholars. (In the US, it is hard to get university tenure without extensive publication in relevant journals.) As native Indonesians, intellectuals and university faculty are certainly able to speak and read Indonesian. But as intellectuals, they should also use their competence, knowledge and skills to carry out their public role. However, there is no guarantee that native Indonesian speakers with numerous academic degrees are able to get their articles and books published.

Indonesian intellectuals excel in receptive skills — the ability to hear and read. But only a few develop productive skills — the ability to speak and write. Again, the education system must be held accountable for failing to equip students with adequate writing and communication skills. Universities are barely doing anything about this problem. Most university graduates are poor in creative writing and in their grasp of the English language. Therefore, it is time to re-examine the practice of writing lessons in schools and colleges. Good writing skills cannot be established overnight. It takes a long time to develop a course that prepares good writers who may one day become intellectuals.

Reflecting upon my student-teaching experience, better writing skills can be developed through more writing exercises at school or in college, a sense of humor and reading books and newspapers. The availability of reading materials such as textbooks, newspapers and magazines is inherently linked to improved reading habits and writing skills. The two serve to create a crop of critical and creative thinkers.

Donny Syofyan
Donny Syofyan
Dosen Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Universitas Andalas
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