SPEECH SCRIPT

Title : The importance of English in Facing ASEAN Economic Community.

Opening ( 1 minute )
Assalamualaikum Wr Wb

Honorable Mr/ Mrs

Excellency Mr/Mrs

Ladies and Gentlemen dear brothers and sisters

Firstly, let’s thank unto Allah SWT who has been giving us some mercies and blessing, until we
can attend in this happy place without any troubles and obstacles.

Secondly, I wanna say thank u very much to the master / mistress of ceremony for having given
me time to speech in front of audience.

Ladies and gentlemen, in this good occasion I would like to give my speech under the title “ The
Importance of English in facing ASEAN Economic Community.

Content ( 3 minute )
ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) was established since 51 years ago in
Bangkok and Indonesia is one of the five founder countries at that time. And now it’s evolved
into an influential regional community that has 10 members. ASEAN is the gateway to get to the
global economy where industrial and business activities in the ASEAN region. ASEAN
Economic Community has been seen as a way to promote economic, political, social and cultural
cooperation across the region. The members of ASEAN have their own different official
languages; for example, the official language of Thailand is Thai; Myanmar is Burmese;
Vietnam is Vietnamese; and Indonesia is Indonesian language. Hence, ASEAN countries need an
official language to be a communicative tool among people in southeast Asia. That’s why
English has become increasingly important in ASEAN countries because English has always
been the only official and working language of the region.

Indonesia has joined many international organizations in the world such as; ASEAN, APEC,
WHO, UNICEF, UNESCO, UN, and so on. It’s not easy to join international organization
without mastering English. And English plays a dominant role in both intranational and
international communication.

Based on the survey Asia has the largest number of English speakers in the world who use
English as second and foreign languages. According to a survey from the English Proficiency
Index 2016, in the first place there is Singapore, followed by Malaysia, Phillipines, India, South
Korea, Hongkong, Vietnam and Indonesia in eighth place. Indonesia ranked eighth out of 19
countries in Asia. From the survey result, I can sum up that the interest and ability of Indonesian
people for mastering English is still lacking when compared to other countries in Asia.

In 2018 Indonesia has successfully held two of the biggest sporting events in Asia, namely Asian
Games and Asian Para Games. With the success of these two events, I am sure that Indonesia is
able to compete with other countries and also build an extensive network with other countries not
only in southeast asia region but also the entire continent of Asia and even to the world.

Being the host country for the second largest sporting event after the Olympic is not an easy
thing. Many things must be prepared especially from the ability of Indonesian human resources
of mastering English. By hosting two major events like this, Indonesia can also take many
advantages from various sectors start from tourism, economy, education and so on. This is the
true role of English for the advancement of Indonesia.

Conclusion ( 30 second )
Ladies and Gentlemen, English has an important role for all countries to compete in global trade
in the world. Joseph Stiglitz has said that, there is no single country is able to avoid themselves
from globalization. So, everybody must be able to master not only theory but also skill
professionally. Mastering English does not mean forgetting or discriminate against Indonesian
language, but in this case we have to make English as a medium to introduce Indonesian to
ASEAN countries and to the world. we are as a young generation and as a students. Let’s study
English start now and let’s prove to the world that we are able compete with other people and
other countries in this globalization era. Let’s contribute and do the best what we can do for our
beloved country now and forever.

Closing ( 30 second )
Ladies and gentlemen, that’s all my speech, thank you very much for your kindly nice attention,
forgive me if there any mistake that came out from my mouth intentionally or unintentionally
and the last I say Wassalamualaikum Wr Wb.

Notes: Pronounce ASEAN is ˈas-,ˈäsēˌän