PerPres No 20 Tahun 2018 Penggunaan TKA

[Travellingchez]

They have be trialling the Indonesian test in Central Java for the last 2 years. It's nothing like the toefl style one . It's really easy. Like a listening gap fill, simple reading that you could probably get most if it right by looking for the key words in the question and then scanning the text for it. Also a naming of objects like a bike, chair etc. Really easy. I finished in 10mins for an exam they give you 1.30hr for.

You only have to take it when you renew your Kitas after the first year. Honestly I'd have been able to pass it after a year but would have just been a bit slower. Also I've known people go in with zero Indonesian skills and the assessors has 'helped' them.

 

[Mas Mana]

That does not sound like the test I know. Uji Kemahiran Berbahasa Indonesia (UKBI) is quite complex, I'd say. I have done it several times since 2007 for academic reasons. My scores are good enough for anything I might need by now, but they are still far from perfect.

UKBI is formally described in Permendikbud Nomor 70 Tahun 2016: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj3poHa5tDaAhWhF8AKHVg9A9gQFggnMAA&url=http://jdih.kemdikbud.go.id/new/public/produkhukum/1719/download&usg=AOvVaw1NIShtCfXXWXRB8gUGwHHU

The development of UKBI started in the late 1990s. A first version was formally launched by Badan Bahasa in 2006, the revised version in the Permendikbud above was created some time between 2012 and 2015.

UKBI consist of 3 mandatory sections (Listening / Grammar & Spelling / Reading) plus 2 optional sections ( Writing / Speaking).
Score range is 0-800, divided into 7 levels of proficiency. Technically 8 levels if you count results below the cut-off of 251 points as another level.

The Permen also contains the answer which levels are planned by Kemendikbud as requirement for foreigners, with Level 1 Istimewa being the highest level and Level 7 Terbatas the lowest:

• expat for "normal" work = Level 5 Semenjana (min. 405 of 800 points)
• expat work in the social sector, education or research = Level 4 Madya (min. 482 of 800 points)
• regular university studies in Indonesia = Level 5 Semenjana
• naturalization WNA to WNI = Level 3 Unggul (min. 578 of 800 points)

UKBI in general targets not only foreigners, but mostly Indonesians. Due to this, there were attempts at developing a special version for foreigners, usually called UKBIPA. From what I heard, it was supposed to be same structure and format as UKBI, but with an easier selection of items, thus giving slightly higher results for non-native speakers. I do not know if this is currently implemented.

Travellingchez, do you remember any official name for that test you did?

 

[Davita]

Clearly the President is being hounded by all sides, including ex President SBY, on this PerPres.....from Jakpost

"However, former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has questioned the rationale behind the issuance of the regulation. In his speech before hundreds of Cilegon residents in West Java, one of the country’s biggest industrial cities, over the weekend, Yudhoyono said the “invasion” of foreign workers could lead to social unrest."

what is unclear is how many foreign workers are in Indonesia....from the same report....

1. "Furthermore, foreign workers make up only a tiny proportion of the overall Indonesian workforce. Data from the BKPM shows, as of 2017, there were only 126,000 foreigners among the total of 121 million workers in the country."

2. from a previous report....

"At the end of 2017, there were 85,000 foreign workers in Indonesia, much fewer than the approximately nine million Indonesian migrant workers who worked abroad, said Hanif. Manpower Minister."

The ministry's data shows that 170,000 Indonesian migrant workers are in Hong Kong, 200,000 in Taiwan, and 20,000 in Macau. Meanwhile, only 36,000 Chinese workers were working in Indonesia.

 

[lifelongexpat]

The ministry's data shows that 170,000 Indonesian migrant workers are in Hong Kong, 200,000 in Taiwan, and 20,000 in Macau.

You could probably add another million working in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

 

[Mas Mana]

I have confirmation now for a connection between the language training requirement in the Perpres and the official language test UKBI developed by Kemendikbud. An old friend from their ranks contacted me. Knowing of my former research interest in UKBI, my friend reached out to inform me that she is now the person at Badan Bahasa organizing the language test project. Am I keeping up with current developments?

Told her that I had just been wondering if there is a connection between the new Perpres Penggunaan TKA and the language testing plans by Badan Bahasa. Of course there is. She immediately quoted Pasal 26 (1) huruf c in our chat, seemed to know it by heart.

So I asked if, according to the Kemendikbud view of the Perpres, would this mean required standards of language proficiency measured by implementing UKBI? She answered with referencing the Permendikbud 70/2016 above that contains the test and the mandatory standards proposed by Kemendikbud.

So Badan Bahasa is very much aware of recent developments concerning TKA and they see a connection to their language testing work and its regulations. My friend did not seem to be expecting a quick implementation, though.

 

[William King]

They Also I've known people go in with zero Indonesian skills and the assessors has 'helped' them.

Meaning back to the old (Actually never went away) Indonesia.

KKN or luck

 

[Davita]

An editorial in JP is revealing that Indonesian xenophobia is still alive and well...and has nothing to do with the policy of getting foreign help where locals cannot provide the expertise necessary....
http://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2018/04/26/editorial-we-welcome-foreign-workers.html

I tell visiting friends that Indonesians cannot accept foreigners advising when they are doing something the wrong way...they have to learn from their own mistakes.

 

[Fabius77]

I hope Jokowi hasn't jumped the shark with this decision. On the other hand, we know his adversaries are ready to exploit any misstep, or even to manufacture some where there is none, against him. There isn't much to do against those tactics except from adopting them yourself.

On a lighter not, I found online a sample of the UKBI test, for reference: https://nagasayekti.blogspot.co.id/2012/07/contoh-tes-ukbi.html

 

[Mas Mana]

Fabius, those UKBI items look very similar to the real thing, but they are not. The task description differs from the official one (in both versions of UKBI), and the multiple choice for listening comprehension in the real UKBI only contains 4 choices A-D per item, not 5 choices a-e as on that website.
Apart from that, imagine the monologues / dialogues written there to be presented as audio only, with 5 items A-D having to be answered while listening to the audio. That already comes very close to the format of Section I Mendengarkan of UKBI then.

I am not sure if this link shows a less-than-perfect simulation of the UKBI by a private person or if it maybe originates from a Japanese test for Indonesian which incidentally used the same acronym as a name several years before the Indonesian UKBI got its official name.

The Ministry of Education usually had example items of the real UKBI on their site for it, but it currently seems to be down for maintenance: http://ukbi.kemdikbud.go.id/

 

[Mas Mana]

Attached is an official example of the item format for Section II of UKBI, taken from a 2015 book by Badan Bahasa.
The task here is two-fold:

• out of 2 underlined passages, find the faulty one first
  
• out of 2 alternative choices for that passage, pick the correct one

Following these instructions, there should be only one correct answer for every item left.
That section got 25 items, which are usually ordered ascending to their difficulty. So picking items 16-21 as examples here is neither the easiest nor the hardest it gets in that section.

25 of these to be answered in 20 min means the time limit for this sample of 6 items would be 4 min 48 sec here.

EDIT: I only tried these sample items after posting them. Got 4 out of 6 right, less than I had expected. It still is not an easy test for me, it seems ;-)

 

[Fabius77]

Attached is an official example of the item format for Section II of UKBI, taken from a 2015 book by Badan Bahasa.
The task here is two-fold:

• out of 2 underlined passages, find the faulty one first
  
• out of 2 alternative choices for that passage, pick the correct one

Following these instructions, there should be only one correct answer for every item left.
That section got 25 items, which are usually ordered ascending to their difficulty. So picking items 16-21 as examples here is neither the easiest nor the hardest it gets in that section.

25 of these to be answered in 20 min means the time limit for this sample of 6 items would be 4 min 48 sec here.

EDIT: I only tried these sample items after posting them. Got 4 out of 6 right, less than I had expected. It still is not an easy test for me, it seems ;-)

Well, that's interesting. Even my wife wasn't so sure of the best answer for the last question...

 

[Mas Mana]

Well, that's interesting. Even my wife wasn't so sure of the best answer for the last question...

Yes, I got the last one wrong as well. It was the only item where I got that helpless feeling of "Hey, what do they want there, what are they asking for?"
With item 19, it was different: I perfectly knew what they were asking for, just did not know the rules for choosing the correct answer. So I just guessed with a chance of 50/50, got it wrong as well.

 

[mcpeacock]

hi all,

this was quite an actively discussed topic when the news just came out a few weeks back, but has since quieted down a little.
NewYorkTimes picked up on this matter as well - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/23/world/asia/indonesia-language-foreign-permits.html - and seems the relevant decrees and supporting docs are effective tomorrow (Tuesday June 26th)
Does anybody have any further insights/details on these?

Some quotes from the NYTimes:

...decree requires companies to arrange and pay for foreigners working in the country for longer than six months to take Indonesian language courses at local schools, and to provide attendance certificates...

-

...Some details, like how many class hours are required per week, are still being decided...

-

...It is necessary for companies to provide the facilities for training expatriates” in the language... But it is not mandatory to be able to speak the Indonesian language...

-
...wait, whut?

 

[snpark]

means you dont have to speak bahasa to get the job but they supposed to teach you it when you get here

 

[lifelongexpat]

...decree requires companies to arrange and pay for foreigners working in the country for longer than six months to take Indonesian language courses at local schools, and to provide attendance certificates...

So I guess you'll pass just by attending.

 

[Euc-]

means you dont have to speak bahasa to get the job but they supposed to teach you it when you get here

What if you already know the language? You still have to waste time attending classes?

What a brilliant way to attract investment, get your highly paid expats out of the office and into in a classroom for a few hours a week!

 

[snpark]

What if you already know the language? You still have to waste time attending classes?

What if you already know the language? You still have to waste time attending classes?

What a brilliant way to attract investment, get your highly paid expats out of the office and into in a classroom for a few hours a week!

well obviously you tell them that beforehand

 

[Euc-]

well obviously you tell them that beforehand

Doesn't the regulation say must attend, not must master.. You can tell them whatever you want but you'd still not be following the regulation.

 

[R Cameron]

Doesn't the regulation say must attend, not must master.. You can tell them whatever you want but you'd still not be following the regulation.

The PerPres only says that the employer must facilitate classes and practice:

"Setiap Pemberi Kerja TKA wajib memfasilitasi pendidikan dan pelatihan Bahasa Indonesia TKA."

Unofficial translation:
"Every employer of foreign workers shall facilitate the education and training of Indonesian language for the foreign worker."

"Faciliate/memfasilitasi" to me means closer to "offer" or "provide" which wouldn't technically require attendance or any level of achievement, but I fully expect the appropriate department to add more specific requirements, which I don't believe has happened yet, making much of that NYT article still speculation.

 

[Euc-]

To me facilitate would mean you have to attend, indeed with no specific level of achievement. Like always things are up to interpretation