The Indonesian government has created a lot of waves in recent days with their tough talk against foreigners on a number of fronts. There has been the hard-headed insistence that Indonesia needs to go ahead with executing drug mules from all over the globe as part of its ill-conceived ‘war on drugs’; there has been the threats to punish the Freeport mine, the biggest taxpayer in the country, if it doesn’t get a wiggle on with building a copper smelter for Indonesia, a country that is apparently unable to build one itself; and there has also been the bombshell that every expat will have to pass a Bahasa Indonesia fluency test before applying for a work visa in Indonesia.

It is the last issue which we aim to cover closely on this blog, as it is the one which has the potential to cause havoc for TEFL teachers wanting to live in Indonesia. In this post we have offered a sample passage, along with the questions and answers, which should give people some idea of what to expect from the proposed test. Manpower have said that University Indonesia are designing the program, and the questions offered here come from the UI Indonesian test which is currently in use. Therefore, this is the best guide we have at present as to what to expect.

As a reading test, it is very poor in my opinion. The questions are of the ‘scan the passage and find the matching words’ school of reading test, and they only test comprehension at the most superficial level. A lot of levels of understanding are not examined. There are no inferential questions, for example. Furthermore, there are no questions that require you to probe the writer’s attitude, bias or perspective. But that should be a cause of some relief to teachers who have to sit this. Yet even the simple, superficial questions offered here will be enough to put most potential teachers off. Why go to all the trouble to study Indonesian when you can head to Thailand, Vietnam or China instead? Anyway, here is one sample passage.

 

Uji Kemahiran Berbahasa Indonesia

Monolog kelima untuk soal nomor 21–25

Sunan Ampel adalah salah satu Wali Songo yang wafat pada tahun 1478. makam penyebar Islam di Tanah Jawa, yang bernama asli Raden Ahmad Rahmatulloh, terletak di Jalan Ampel, Surabaya Timur. Konon, Sunan Ampel memiliki kecakapan agama yang sangat tinggi. Tak heran, makamnya dijejali para peziarah yang datang dari berbagai pelosok Indonesia, terutama menjelang lebaran.

Melongok kompleks makam Sunan Ampel memang sangat menarik. Makam Sunan Ampel bersama istrinya, Siti Karimah, berada dalam lingkungan Masjid Ampel. Dan masjid itu berdiri di tengah-tengah perkampungan penduduk etnis Arab.

Makam Sunan Ampel berada di sebelah barat masjid. Untuk peziarah perempuan yang ingin memasuki area makam melalui pintu timur, sedangkan peziarah laki-laki melalui pintu barat. Untuk pengunjung dari luar kota dengan dana minim, tak perlu kawatir. Pengurus masjid menyediakan tempat istirahat sederhana, atau jika cukup budget, pengunjung dapat bermalam di hotel atau penginapan kelas melati yang tersebar di sekitar makam. Masalah perut pun tak perlu cemas, di sekitar makam ramai penjual makanan 24 jam. Selain itu, terdapat pula tempat berbelanja cinderamata sebagai kenang-kenangan.

21. Nama asli Sunan Ampel adalah ….
a. Raden Salim Amarulloh
b. Raden Rahmatullah
c. Raden Ahmad Rahmatulloh
d. Raden Salim Hidayatullah
e. Raden Rahmat Amarullah
Jawab: c
22. Banyak peziarah yang mendatangi makam Sunan Ampel, khususnya pada saat ….

a. lebaran
b. akan naik haji
c. tahun baru
d. tanggal 1 Muharam
e. Idul Adha

Jawab: a
23. Istri Sunan Ampel yang makamnya juga berada di lingkungan masjid yaitu ….

a. Siti Khadijah
b. Siti Aisyah
c. Siti Maimunah
d. Siti Mudiyah
e. Siti Karimah

Jawab: e
24. Fasilitas yang terdapat di sekitar makam, kecuali …

a. hotel
b. warung
c. pasar
d. penginapan
e. tempat berbelanja souvenir

Jawab: c
25. Sunan Ampel wafat pada tahun ….

a. 1477
b. 1487
c. 1468
d. 1478
e. 1467

Jawab: d