UWA Handbook 2025

Unit Overview

Description

This unit provides an introduction to contemporary spoken and written Indonesian. Students are introduced to all four skill areas (speaking, listening, writing and reading) in Indonesian, with an emphasis on oral skills. Students learn to communicate in Indonesian in everyday situations. Students develop a familiarity with Indonesian culture through their language acquisition, e.g. students learn to operate in an Indonesian classroom and university environment, to buy food in Indonesia and how to eat politely as a guest in an Indonesian home. It focuses on conversational Indonesian, and on developing students' ability to conduct simple conversations in Indonesian in everyday situations.

The main objectives are for students to be able to (1) satisfy their basic transactional needs in Indonesian through speaking and listening; (2) initiate and sustain simple conversations, to understand simple texts; and (3) write short essays related to their own survival needs or on very familiar topics. The unit also aims to familiarise students with some of the ways in which Indonesian culture and ways of living (e.g. eating, addressing people, using the bathroom) are different from those commonly found in Australia. A larger, intangible but very important objective is to kindle an interest in Indonesia, its people and their cultures. Students should develop 'minimum creative proficiency', or Level 1 as described in the International Second Language Proficiency Ratings (Elaine Wylie and D. E. Ingram, Griffith University, 1995) by the end of the semester.

Credit

6 points

Offering
(see Timetable)

Availability	Location	Mode
Semester 1	UWA (Perth)	Face to face

Details for undergraduate courses

• Level 1 core unit in the INDNB Indonesian Studies major sequence
• Level 1 elective

Outcomes

Students are able to (1) provide a spoken or written self description which includes information about their age and birth date, occupation, family and place of living; describe a basic daily routine indicating activities, times and days of the week; describe objects and people with simple (limited) descriptors such as colour, size, nationality and position; have a basic geographical knowledge of Indonesia. Speaking fluently in the above situations and understanding a native speaker's answers completely is not expected, but communicating the above needs and understanding simple answers if provided slowly, and demonstrating that they can write simple, grammatically and semantically correct sentences, with correct use of adjectives, negatives, appropriate request words, verb forms, prepositions and adverbs of time is expected. Students achieve "basic transactional proficiency" (level 1) as defined by the International Second Language Proficiency Ratings; (2) verbalise their inability to understand, ask for speech to be slowed down or repeated, and ask how to say and spell something in Indonesian; ask what something is (e.g. a strange fruit or vegetable), make basic transactions in shops and markets (including a basic level of bargaining), manipulate numbers to a limited extent; ask for, give and understand directions; buy and eat food in a warung (street stall) and in a restaurant, and use polite language at a table; (3) conduct culturally appropriate introductory conversations; appropriately greet and take their leave of someone; invite someone and react to an invitation; use an Indonesian bathroom; and (4) express basic likes and dislikes (e.g. favourite foods).

Assessment

Indicative assessments in this unit are as follows: (1) continuous assessment—attendance and participation, quizzes, tests and homework; (2) oral performance; and (3) final written test. Further information is available in the unit outline.

Student may be offered supplementary assessment in this unit if they meet the eligibility criteria.

Unit Coordinator(s)

Dr Jess Kruk

Unit rules

Incompatibility

INDO1101 Indonesian Beginners I

Contact hours

4 hours per week

Note

This unit is for students who have no previous knowledge or only a slight knowledge of Indonesian.