GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies

This chapter examines how autonomy as a teaching-learning concept can prevail in a predominantly teacher-centered learning environment at the tertiary level. To do so, a comprehensive collaborative paradigm is used to highlight the inter-relationships between the players, the language and the subject in an EAP context. This will demonstrate how instructors and learners can explore autonomy first separately then together. The observations and experiences gathered over a two-year period in a tertiary institution in Malaysia provide the body of data on which this chapter is based. The findings suggest that autonomy, in particular learner autonomy, cannot be “taught.” It needs to be developed by the teacher suppressing the desire to lead, and overcoming her phobia of uncertainty. Additionally, the language teacher must be prepared to collaborate with the subject lecturer to authenticate the learning goals. Biodata Ng Kwai Kuen was an associate professor in the English Language Department of the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Malaya. She had taught for many years both specialist courses and ESP courses. Currently, she is teaching in Taylor College. Her principal research interest addresses language teachers’ perceptions of their role in authentic subject teaching and learning. She is an advocate of the need for a learner-centered approach. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies Autonomous Learning and English for Specific Purpose Autonomy as used in this chapter supports the view that ‘(it) ... is not something achieved by the handing over of power or rational reflection. ... It is the struggle to become author of one’s own world, to be able to create one’s own meaning.” (Pennycook, 1997:39). As such, autonomy cannot be bestowed as a gift as Freire (1970) puts it. It has been pointed out that versions of autonomy still tend to deal with questions of power from a position of control and that autonomous learning in practice is often reduced to a set of skills. (Esch, 1997). The challenge of autonomous learning and teaching has been likened to ‘shooting arrows at the sun’ by Breen and Mann (1997) . These views suggest that learning and teaching the autonomous way poses tremendous challenges for both learners and practitioners. Second language learners of English possess relatively limited control over the language. In this sense, they are not independent of external support, for example, teacher input. Consequently what the teachers do and how they conduct their classes would necessarily impact on the prospect and practice of autonomous learning. As the issues and aspects of autonomous learning and teaching are wide and complex, this chapter will focus on one particular aspect, namely, how language teachers in an English for Specific Purpose (ESP) situation respond to the challenges of learner needs and autonmy. It has been pointed out that language learning cannot be isolated from the particular contexts (Pennycook, 1997). This is especially true of ESP courses. In the ensuing discussion, the ‘struggle to become author of one’s own world’ in relation to English language teachers will emerge. It is suggested that this would provide insights into how autonomous learning may be encouraged or undermined.


Introduction
In recent years, Indonesia has witnessed a significant change in its literary tradition.The era of a new generation has begun, with a writing tradition markedly different from that by earlier Indonesian literary writers.The new generation of women writers constitutes young people, many of whom are in their 30-s.They have been described as 'a group of new, young, female writers whose appearance on Indonesia's literary scene has coincided with the country's six-year experiment with democracy; women whose handbags and hairstyles are straight out of Vogue and Cosmopolitan.'(as Dhume puts it, in the Far Eastern Economic Review, July/August 2004 edition).
Young women writers such as Ayu Utami (Saman, Larung), Dewi Lestari (Supernova, Akar), Djenar Maesa Ayu (Jangan main-main dengan kelaminmu 'Don't play with your genitals'), Nova Riyanti Yusuf (Mahadewa Mahadewi 'God, Goddess') have been classified by critics as Sastra Wangi (lit.fagrant literature).The basic similarity in this genre, as one of the writers puts it, is that they talk about sex in a liberal way (Nova, in an interview with the BBC, Jakarta 10/09/2003).These writers, however, have rejected this categorization, arguing that such label has underestimated women's work, as though other works (ie male's) are more substantive.
Many critics consider that the writers' works 'push the boundary of what is acceptable' (Dhume, loc cit).Presumably, 'acceptability' in this case seems to be based on the fact that the writers explore themes that had been considered taboo in the past, such as sexuality, male homosexuality and lesbianism.In this context, some cultural observers see 'Sastra Wangi' as a form of rebellion against these taboos and established values (Media Indonesia, December 2004).
Such rebellion can be seen in the novel written by Ayu Utami, 'Saman'.In the discussion that follows, all quotations in Indonesian are accompanied with their English version (presented as endnotes).In any case, the translation should be seen as approximate, since it may not capture the aesthetics of the original, particularly when quotations from the novel are presented.

Ayu Utami and her novel Saman: a brief introduction
Whatever the genre is called, Ayu Utami has certainly started some changes in Indonesian literary tradition.In her novel Saman (1998) she has made and started new and radical innovations in terms of presentation of themes and taboos and in narrative style. 1)Saman was welcome with enthusiasm after winning the Sayembara Roman Dewan Kesenian Jakarta 98. Literary critics and reviewers wrote favourable and fantastic comments on the novel.The renowned Indonesian cultural analyst, Umar Kayam, for example, has said: 1) Layun Rampan in Angkatan 2000 dalam Sastra Indonesia sees her as '…novelis ini merupakan pemimpin literer fiksi novel Indonesia mutakhir' (Grasindo, 2000, p.lv).
"Semua keluar di situ.Terutama tentang keterikatan wanita terhadap tradisi, tentang hubungan seks, dan sebagainya itu.Yang menyenangkan bagi saya, dia ini anak muda.[…] Apa yang ditulisnya merupakan wakil dari anak muda yang kosmopolitan dengan bacaan banyak, pengalaman dan pengamatan yang tajam […]" (Kompas, 5 April, 1998).[see endnote 1 for its English version] -(underlining added) Thus, the writer's critical observation of tradition, of sexual relationship, etc is central to the novel.Her cosmopolitan experience is reflected not just in the themes of the novel, but also in the language used.In many cases the words used go beyond just words-they reflect particular discourse ideology and perspective as well as reflecting the writer's reaction towards aspects of culture that she challenges.For example, her frequent reference to the word keperawanan 'virginity' indicates her critical reaction towards the way the society values this notion.
2) The value is such that its loss (before marriage) is comparable to the person being considered as sampah 'garbage' (Saman, page 124).
Similar reactions towards other aspects of (cultural) tradition are also found in the novel, which are discussed further in Sections 3 & 4 below.
Indeed, the various flashbacks can interfere with ease in reading the novel.This is especially the case when readers are not equipped with sufficient background information, not just of the novel itself but also of the literary style that seems to be the 'orientation' of Ayu Utami's writing style.Thus a section of this paper will be devoted to discuss the narrative style further, as presented in Section 6 below.
Against the brief background presented above, the paper attempts to discuss two inter-related aspects: firstly, it will discuss the themes that become the writer's focus in the novel and how the themes are intertwined with her break from tradition; secondly, it will discuss the style that the writer uses in concocting the story line, the themes and the characters.

Sex, sexuality and gendered identities
When criticized for being too blunt and vulgar in presenting sex as a theme in her novel, Ayu Utami responded: firstly, that she just wants to be frank; secondly, that she does not depict sex as a story about sex but as a proposition that sex is a problem for women.For example, Yasmin and Saman, two of her characters, talk about sex with guilt.So, to the writer, sex has become a subject of discussion, not as an occurrence (see Intisari, September edition, 1998).
In fact, sex and sexuality have been used to challenge cultural beliefs and identities.For example, she questions why women should have hymen: "Sebab menurutku yang curang lagi-lagi Tuhan: dia menciptakan selaput dara, tapi tidak membikin selaput penis" (Saman, p. 149).[see endnote 3 for its English version] The cultural and religious contexts of this quotation are clear, ie that an intact selaput dara 'hymen' indicates virginity.Girls should only give up their virginity upon marriage, and if a girl is not virgin when she gets married, her husband and his family may consider this a basis for ending the marriage.There was a case in 1997 when a well-known singer (Farid Hardja) questioned his wife's virginity, which then became a public debate and was very much reported in the media.This notion of virginity becomes almost an obsession for the author, as shown through one of the characters in the novel, Laila, who wants to give up her virginity to Sihar, a married man.To emphasize the importance of virginity, the author uses the word 'Chinese porcelain' as a metaphor: "… ibuku membuka suatu rahasia besar: bahwa aku ini ternyata sebuah porselin cina.

(p.124) [see endnote 4 for its English version]
Here porselin cina '(a piece of) Chinese porcelain' is used as a metaphor for 'something priceless or valuable', ie hymen (and virginity) in this context, and the piece of porcelain should not crack (tak boleh retak), as people will throw it into the garbage bin to indicate worthlessness.The author seems to be cynical in her view of virginity, which can be seen through the phrase rahasia besar 'big secret', which, of course is not true in reality.Such message is common knowledge, particularly among Islamic people, thus it is not a 'secret' as ibu says.

English version]
The clause karena [engkau] diambil dari rusuk lelaki 'because you are taken [ie created] from man's rib' indicates that women's status is inferior to that of men's.Being a Christian, Ayu must be referring to the Bible on this notion of female creation.Furthermore, men are also depicted as the strong, the powerful, as represented in the first sentence lelaki itu telah mencambuk dada dan punggung perempuan itu.. 'The man had whipped the chest and back of the woman', since he is positioned as the actor of the whipping (mencambuk).
The last sentence in the above quotation dan dengan penisnya ia menembus 'And with his penis he penetrated [the hole]'also seems to be Ayu's response to the common cultural belief that men are initiators (of action), as shown by the verb menembus 'to penetrate', while the hole (ie the woman) is the recipient of action, the passive.In fact this (cultural) phenomenon is also encoded in the (Indonesian) language system.For example, while it is acceptable to say 'laki-laki melamar perempuan' (men make marriage proposal to women), it would be culturally anomalous to reverse the order by placing 'perempuan' as the subject, thus 'perempuan melamar laki-laki' is unacceptable, at least culturally speaking.With the exception of the matrilineal society of the Minangkabau in West Sumatra, it is not culturally acceptable in this context for women to take an active role.

GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies
Ayu Utami has elaborated further this inequality (between men and women) in relation to marriage, as shown in the quotation below: "Inilah wewejangnya: Pertama, Hanya lelaki yang boleh menghampiri perempuan.

English version] (underlining added)
There are basically two things that are challenged by the author here: inequality (between men and women) and marriage.The first notion, inequality, is obvious through the fact that men are providers (menghidupi), and women are provided for.Such notion, of course, is nothing new among the Islamic society, since a verse in the holy Qur'an clearly indicates this, ie that men are leaders for women (An Nisa, [4]:34).The first sentence is presented as a contrast, ie that men can go after women (hanya lelaki yang boleh menghampiri perempuan), but not the other way round.The use of the word sundal 'prostitute' indicates Ayu's strong criticism towards the belief that women should not take an active role vis-à-vis men, since being active in this case is comparable to an act by a prostitute.
The challenge on the notion of marriage is also very strong, ie that marriage is [just] a hypocritical prostitution.In some way this reflects the view of the radical feminists that challenge the institutionalization of marriage (see Phillips, 1987 on 'radical feminism'). 3)Interestingly, another writer of the same generation also questions the notion of marriage.She refers to marriage as institusi maha megah 'institution of great splendour', which sounds like a cynical view towards marriage (Dewi in Supernova, 2001).
Through this narration, Ayu tries to describe that ibu 'mother' has two parallel lives: the real and the 'unreal'.Ibu is depicted as having another life with a 'being' who loves her and whom she loves.Her separation from this being (when her husband was transferred to Jakarta) has caused sadness for ibu.The dramatic description of her sadness (wailing, as if lamenting the death of an only child, etc) indicates that ibu is not willing to be separated from her 'other life'.In some other parts of the novel, the author narrates other occurrences when Wis, the priest, hears the voices of a man and children, whom he cannot see and who he believes to be his younger siblings (see also Section 4 below).
The message that the author wants to deliver in this case seems to be that polyandrous marriage can happen or, rather, should be allowed to happen.Probably, Ayu wants to present this as an antithesis of Polygamy, a notion that is legally recognized in the Islamic world and in Indonesia.
Indeed, after the fall of the New Order regime in Indonesia, polygamy has emerged as a topic for public debate.This topic was 'prevented' from being a public debate during the New Order period, ie when polygamy was controlled through a legislation called PP10/1974.The main purpose was to control promiscuity among public servants, based on the assumption that polygamous marriage could lead to corruption, due to a man's having more than one wife to provide for.
Considering the novel was mainly written when the New Order regime was still in power, Ayu seems to 'rebel' against polygamous marriage by using the occurrence of polyandry as an antithesis to polygamy, although in a subtle way through ibu's two parallel lives.

Religious Dimensions and Magic Realism
As mentioned above, Ayu presents the character ibu as having another, unreal or magical, parallel life.This is much depicted in Part II of the novel, ie an episode on Saman (see especially attachment 2).In this episode the author critically presents Saman's life, and she depicts his life by way of magic realism.Umar Kayam sees this in reference to the work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez in One Hundred Years Solitude".This novel is known for its miraculous, bizarre and supernatural happenings (see Kompas, 5 April, 1998).
The being too blunt on this.Furthermore, the emphasis in this case is on the magical aspect of the occurrence, which she explores further, as in the quote below.

for its English version]
It may be that the episode is part of the subconscious mind of the writer.However, to a superstitious Javanese, it may be perceived as a 'real' experience.The many Javanese words used in the novel indicate that the writer has drawn from the life and animistic belief of a Javanese in depicting the life of Saman.
So, there are two ways of interpreting the magical phenomenon above: readers may see this episode in a metaphorical way and interpret it as the writer's subconscious mind, or readers may see it in the light of magic realism, ie depicting a reality in a particular community (in this case the Javanese).
In her subconscious mind, the writer may try to depict a situation, an impossible one in reality, where the character ibu can have another parallel life, with another family (see section 3 above).The clause 'cannot always be logically explained' in the quote of Section 3 seems to reflect an imagination in the writer's subconscious mind.
A closer interpretation would be to see it as part of the superstitious belief that becomes a special reality among a particular society (in this case the Javanese), which the writer observes.This is obvious from the character 'ibu' (mother) below: "Ibunya yang masih raden ayu adalah sosok yang tak selalu bisa dijelaskan oleh akal.
Ia sering nampak tidak berada di tempat ia ada, atau berada di tempat ia tak ada.So, being a pious Christian (beragama dengan ketat), his father does not worship the kris like his wife does.Ayu utami seems to reject the idea that piety does not go together with animism.
Interestingly, the magical realism depicted above is intertwined with the religious dimensions that the writer challenges.For example, there are times when Wis thinks God is not there when needed: "Ia merasa telah mati.The challenge is strong because, because the character who challenges God's existence is a priest (ie Wis).In this episode, Wis thinks that, instead of God, it was the voices (and their power) that help him (Wis): "Ia tahu ia mulai keracunan asap.Ia akan mati sebelum terbakar.In all this, Ayu Utami depicts syncretism in the Javanese belief system.Such system has been described in great details in the classic work of Geertz 'The Religion of Java ' (1964).In his anthropological research, Geertz found that certain Muslims, whom he calls the abangan, would worship both Allah as well as the kris (as having magical power).So, in this episode Ayu seems to support syncretism and explores it in her novel.

The Socio-political dimensions
In the same episode, particularly pp.81-114 of the novel, the socio-political dimension is most obvious.
Here Wis has been involved in an armed struggle between the villagers in the rubber plantation and the government-backed developers.Wis was arrested, imprisoned and tortured.
This dimension forms a large part of the novel.The theme of this episode is characteristic of the writers of the 2000 generation, ie rebellion against (political) establishment and corrupt regime.
Being part of this generation Ayu Utami makes the theme one of the concerns critically observed and narrated in her novel.There are certain key words, phrases and statements which are typical of this dimension and which represent the discourse ideology of the Indonesian New Order regime.The (p. 111) Ia juga dituduh mengacaukan stabilitas.
[see endnote 16 for its English version] The underlined words are typical jargons of the New Order (Orde Baru) era.The words/phrases such as membungkam 'to stifle', pemerkosaan-teror 'rape-terror', menjalankan tugas 'carrying out orders', penangkapan gelap 'illegal arrest', menggulingkan pemerintah yang sah 'to topple legitimate government' are all indicative of the New Order era and are found in use by many writers of that era, to challenge and criticize the government, overtly or covertly.Words such as pembangunan 'development', stabilitas 'stability', etc. are indicative of the New Order Governments's perspective and ideology (see especially the language of the GBHN 'the State Policy Guidelines'), particularly in the last 15 years of the regime.
Of the many writers included as Angkatan 2000, at least 15 have made this socio-political aspect an explicit theme in their writing (see Layun Rampan, loc cit).So, rebelling against an established and corrupt regime seems to be a common theme and phenomenon among this generation of young female writers, apart from foregrounding gendered identities (See section 2 on sexuality).The question is: where does Ayu Utami stand among this 2000 Generation of novelists?It lies in the fact that she manages to "collate" and interrelate characters and events in a different way (see Section 6 below on narrative style).She defies narrative tradition by almost ignoring a plot, and by depicting her characters and events in two main ways: through exposition and through a combination of it and poem.

The Narrative Style
The writer's defiance of linearity in plot is shown through the numerous flashbacks and changes in narrative voice and orientation (see attachments 1 and 2 for charts indicating story line and flashbacks).
The 'collating' technique is reflected in the narrative voice: from first-person to third-person orientation and to the narrator.An interesting fragment that Layun Rampan quotes is from page 105 of the novel (numbering added): (1) Ia terbangun dan merasa dirinya sebesar kepala.( 2 Traditionally, first person narration would take the form of a dialogue, for purposes of making the narration and depiction of characters more vivid.However, we can see in the quote that sentences (1) to ( 6) refers to ia/dia 'he', narrating a situation when the character feels that he does not exist in this world apart from just his head.Thus, third-person narration has been used.Then the narration changes in ( 7), ie into first-person narration with aku 'I'.This kind of shifts occurs in many parts of the novel, almost randomly.It seems that, once again, Ayu defies (grammatical) convention and tradition.
As stated at the beginning of this paper, this style can be confusing for readers, especially when the narration is of the same character.Changes of orientation (from first-person to third or vice versa) can usually be considered as a significant change in narration, scene, etc but that is not the case here.So, while it is true that Ayu Here, the poem (starting from 'Kuinginkan…' to '…menyisir arus') forms part of the occurrence.
Traditionally, the poem would be separated, as a poem (not in a linear form like an exposition), to distinguish it from the story line.However, the author seems to combine these two different forms on purpose, thus defying convention: a narration is a narration, and a poem is a poem, each of which are traditionally presented in different forms.On comparing this with a writer from the same generation, Dewi Lestari (in 'Supernova') retains these different forms.
So it seems that the narrative style that Ayu Utami employs is an expression of 'rebellion' against established (ie traditional) writing style.As it is, her 'rebellious' way can be seen as an assertion in her part that, ie of her existence and the emergence of a new and different generation of writers.

Concluding Remarks
The generation of young female writers has emerged in Indonesia.They write with a vengeance, challenging taboos and established traditions.Among these writers, Ayu Utami stands out, because of her break from tradition.Although many critics see this break as something that is not necessarily positive, one this is clear: she voices her opinion clearly and loudly.In this 'loud' voice, she talks about themes which had been taboo in the past, and due to this, she is said to be pushing 'the boundary of what is acceptable' (as quoted in the Introduction of this paper).Her defiance of and break from [8] Because he felt that there was a being that was so close to mother, so close, so united, [and] there was love between them.
.. when his father was transferred to Jakarta.Wis still remembered how mother was wailing, as if lamenting for the death of her only child.Mother cried silently, since she'd lost her voice [from crying], but she shivered, her jaws chattered.[…] At the time Wis was old enough to understand, intuitively, that the departure [from the place] had separated his mother from a being that she loved and that loved her. [9] The voices of man and small children ' Thank God it's not a robber or a thief.
[…] But that feeling became really strong.There was someone in the 'space', who enter it together with molecules, brought by the wind.Wis let himself swept by this sensation.From behind him he began to hear a woman's voice, sometimes man's, but more often a woman's.They talked in a language he does not understand, but he knew that the 'beings' greeted him.
Wis quickly turned his back, trying to 'catch' it/them with his eyes.He saw nothing. [11] His mother, who was an aristocrat, is complicated person, who was hard to understand.She was present and absent at the same time, or she was around without being physically present.At this time, it was hard to talk to her, because she did not listen to those around her.At times, after her muteness, she went to a space unknown [by anyone], maybe a space that is nowhere: a suwung.(a suwung= lit.an emptiness) [12] His father was no aristocrat dan had chosen the name Sudoyo when he grew up.He was from Muntilan and is a pious person, rather different from mother, who, although she went to church on Sundays, she also worshipped [the Javanese] kris and other sacred things.

"
Prabumulih 1993" -Laila & Sihar on the way to Hasyim's family's house (victim at the oil rig)-resting on the way; -will meet SAMAN at the house was a Catholic priest and his name was (Anasthasius) Wisanggeni or Wis; -Assigned to a Parish in Perabumulih (South Sumatra)-returning to his childhood place (when he experienced mysterious events in 1962; email to Yasmin from New York, in political asylum (Yasmin & Cok, Laila's chidlhood's friend helped Saman escape to New York) episode starts on page 40 of the novel, when Saman's original name was Anasthasius Wisanggeni (shortened to Wis).It was 1983, and Wis had just been ordained a new priest.Then, in 1984 he was assigned to a parish in Perabumulih (South Sumatra) at his request.He used to live there as a child in 1962 (pp.44-56), and had experienced an unexplainable mystical experience: Yang tak pernah ia lihat sosoknya.Apalagiwajahnya."(p.53).[seeendnote 9 for its English version]Here, again, Ayu depicts ibu's other life, while at the same time depicting Wis' acceptance of this happening terbiasa dengan anak-anak dan lelaki yang menjumpai ibunya'[Wis]has become used to the visit made by a man and children to his mother'.Ayu's proposition that a woman can have two parallel families (thus two husbands) is subtly presented here.This is rather different from the way she explores sexuality, which is more blunt.Maybe Ayu does not want to offend her Islamic readers by "Suara anak-anak balita serta lelaki di belakang tengkuknya, dekat sekali, alam yang nyata di balik wajahnya.Jika suara itu datang dari arah depan, maka itu berasal dari kamar yang ia tidak sedang di sana.Mereka kadang datang, siang atau malam, pagi atau sore.Lama-lama Wis terbiasa dengan anak-anak dan lelaki yang menjumpai ibunya tanpa sepengetahuan bapaknya.
Dan ia amat sedih karena Tuhan rupanya tidak ada.Kristus tak ada." (p.106).[seeendnote 14 for itsEnglish version] Utami introduces a new narrative style, it does not necessarily indicate a positive move, at least not in a narrative sense.
on his nape' are so close, a real world [behind him].When the voices come from the front direction, they are from another room.The voices are heard sometimes at day or nighttime, or morning or afternoon.Gradually Wis has become used to [the fact] that children and a man who visit his mother without his father's knowledge; whose figures he [can] never see, let (When the light was switched off, he felt something.No sound, no voice, but through his sixth sense he felt presence, close to him.He became anxious, and switched on the lights.But he did not see anyone.