Experiential Learning were to perform in a place they were familiar with. Furthermore, it was vital to note that in so doing participants would be getting supports from the
„background‟, be it the physical setting of a place or the atmosphere participants have been familiar with. That being done, participants would have taken a step closer to reality
while still getting support from a place they already knew, a place which was „safe and friendly‟.
Having reviewed several proposed definitions of Experiential Learning, its coverage, as well as a precaution for the concept to be efficiently applied, it was now for
the presentation of the goals that can be achieved by applying the concept. As wide as the concept of Experiential Learning, the goals it offered were as grand. A quote by a
German educator and politician, Kurt Hahn, served as a tell-tale pointer of Experiential Learning‟s ultimate goal. Hahn was certain that the application of the method would
eventually result in the promoted quality of life of the young. Hahn‟s focus on the young was based on his observation on the declining life quality of the young, summarizing the
declines in the areas of physical fitness, lack of initiative, memory and imagination, of craftsmanship skills, self-discipline, compassion, as well as passion to take active
involvement in various activities. P
utting Hahn‟s youth-centered into the pedagogical contexts saw the concept translated by Kolb who argued that the goals of Experiential Learning are many folds as
they cover a set of different features. However, although the goals are plural, Kolb followed
that statement up by arguing that the main goal is to extend a participant‟s, i.e. a learner, comfort zone, and to eventually achieve the ultimate goal, it was essential that
participants took active parts in improvement-centered activities that would polish them physically, emotionally, and intellectually 5. From what was proposed by Kolb, the
writer inferred that the application of Experiential Learning aimed at building participants as a whole, rather than merely partial, e.g. only physically or emotionally or
intellectually. Its expected results would be no different than a learner with a capability of developing himherself in the aforementioned dimensions after experiencing various
stages of development, which albeit hard, would pay off in the form of an extended comfort zone.
Having understood the basic concepts and goals of Experiential Learning has now enabled the writer a broader new horizon in which, when put in the context of English
Language Learning, Experiential Learning was clearly a more modern method of learning, because it invited participants to be at the heart of certain activities as active
doers. The „Interpretation and Discussion‟ chapter after this theoretical chapters would later serve as a means to prove that involvement in Stand-Up Comedy was an accurate
example of how Experiential Learning could provide enormous assistance to learners‟ attempt to level up their skills in the field of Public Speaking.
It was conceded that Experiential Learning was „a very wide subject with unclear boundaries‟ 3, however, to narrow down discussions about the subject, it has been a
common practice to break down Experiential Learning into two smaller types. They are Experiential Learning sponsored by an institution and the other type which was not
sponsored by any formal educational institution, rather by people themselves Brookfield in Smith 2005. This research paper, for the sake of a more focused discussion, was
directed to scrutinize how Experiential Learning was operated under the second type, this was because the subjects being observed by the writer were performing their Stand-Up
Comedy performances on their own initiatives instead of sponsored by any educational institution.
As the discussion of Experiential Learning was heading towards its end, the writer
would like to point out an integral element of Experiential Learning: reflection.
Reflection was given a respectable place whenever there were discussions on Experiential Learning. It was so important because reflection in Experiential Learning
functioned as the lynchpin that would keep the wheel of the method turning. Although reflection was done at the end of the circle, more often than not it remarked another
beginning in which learners were more prepared to experience a new circle, this time equipped with new insights. Herbert put forward the importance of reflection, stating that
experience was not the final aim of experiential learning, rather it was the means 11. From that statement the writer understood that it was important for learners to have their
first-hand experiences on an activity, i.e. by being directly involved in one. Later, to keep the circle unending, one would be expected to reflect how heshe has performed in order
to get himherself informed input for them to perform better in the future. Agreeing with Herbert was Martin, whose statement promoted the irreplaceable involvement, writing
that “the knowledge should be obtained gradually, starting from sensual cognition of concrete reality and only then moving on to abs
tract thinking” 4. That statement alone was enough to once again confirm the importance of post-activity reflection. That idea
being inferred, the writer found out how experiential learning also rewarded its participants a precious chance of knowing themselves better.
B. POLITICS OF LANGUAGE
A challenge occurred in the process of writing this thesis as the writer was faced by a question regarding his selection to discuss Stand-Up Comedy shows in two different
cultural settings: American and Indonesian. To be more specific, the challenge was in the use of language in those shows, which according to the writer was a part of a bigger plan.
What the writer meant by that was there must be specific goals comics wanted to achieve by selecting particular language use and speaking styles, in this case, Jakartan style.
However, despite using shows from two different cultural contexts, the writer would like to focus on the use of Indonesian in the local Stand-Up Comedy shows by Samuel and
Pandji. In doing so, the writer would argue that there were reasons for national comics to use Indonesian in the Jakartan style, instead of using Indonesian in its formal style which
was actually the national language in Indonesia. To begin with, it was necessary to go deeply into the nature of the Indonesian
language by presenting a comprehensive history of the language. In order to achieve that goal, the writer used one source deemed the most relevant one, Benedict Anderson‟s
„Language and Power: Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia‟, focusing on its fourth chapter,
„The Language of Indonesian Politics‟, where the history and development of the so-called Bahasa Indonesia were peeled to the very core.
The fourth chapter of the iconic book began with a claim by a Swiss historian and publicist, Herbert Luethy, who labeled Indonesian as a „synthetic‟ language due to its
inclination to borrowing words and technical terms from other languages at the expense of its users‟ confusion in their efforts to understand its real meaning and therefore, users
of the language could not really carry out a desired reaction from its „amazingly impressive‟ language Anderson 123. The writer kicked off the discussion about the
Indonesian language quoting not the best feature of the language as a clue of what was going to come next, when the writer discussed that there was a strong tendency of the
formal language not being used in the Stand-Up Comedy performances; it was mainly because of the language‟s nature of being a „grand‟ one which, at the same time, was
loaded with symbols difficult to translate into action by its audience. Looking at the initial stages of its development, however, the writer believed that
such „arrogance‟ could still be tolerated considering its early users, who were mainly men of high places whose genuine intention was to rediscover their lost identity having come
to condition they had never been in before, an independent nation. Anderson wrote that the language was given not only an enormous task, but rather gigantic multi tasks to
cover, they were as the rendezvous of nationalism and aspiration as well as a language spacious enough to contain the vast conceptions of Indonesian traditions and those of
international scopes, all in just single vocabulary 124. There was little wonder that, given those ambitions, the language would later develop into quite a peculiar one, full of
symbols, but severely lacking in communicativeness.
Having written all of the above, however, the writer never had the slightest intention to undervalue the national language. In reverse, the writer had also tried to
balance the discussion related to the national language and found that there was highly romantic about the language; it had its obvious romance since it was addressed by
Anderson as „the language which constantly tried to break free of colonial traces while looking to the future‟ 140. Therefore, since it was also fair to note that the Indonesian
language was one language full with projects to fulfill, dreams to achieve, as if wanting to forever flee its oppressive past under the Dutch colonialism Anderson 140.
One thing to note, however, no matter how grand the national language is, Anderson conceded that Indonesian was not a perfect language. It is mainly because the
majority of people who had little or no problem understanding Indonesia were the educated ones, who found little difficulties translating Indonesian words which are full of
signs and symbols into practice. Others had difference experiences when it came to really trying to grasp the meaning of the language. That being understood, the writer managed
to find a connection between the existence of formal Indonesian and the soon-to-be emerging contemporary Indonesian.
Anderson observed that fast forward to twenty years after the Revolution, Indonesian was spoken only by minority of Indonesians, despite its status as the national
language 141. Anderson‟s further investigation resulted in a finding that people in big cities used their regional languages, leaving only in Medan and Jakarta that Indonesian
was still treated as „the real urban language‟ 142. Although it might seem like a violation to the sacred national identity, the writer understood that this phenomenon was
without a doubt a result of people‟s creativity in their attempts to survive, especially in Jakarta as Indonesia‟s melting pot 142.
Different from the birth of the national language, the entry point of the so-called „contemporary Indonesian‟ or „Jakartan‟ was far from a grand impression because rather
than to bring together a new nation, Jakartan emerged as a mirror to reflect the peculiar characteristics of people living in Jakarta; driven by their brutal daily life, no wonder that
Jakartan was a language that altogether rough, low class, lacking of „high‟ moral, or status pretensions Anderson 142. Although the impression of Jakartan did not look
good from the above explanation, Anderson would later follow that statement up with heaps of more positive statements for the said language as he explained that there was no
other language like Jakartan that could offer very vivid expressions of danger, humor, and excitement, among other things when spoken. Furthermore, it was written that in
those senses, Jakartan earned the most appropriate comparison with „ngoko‟, the more informal of Javanese, for its fluidity and warmth. Indonesian, however, was said to share
common ground with „krama‟ for their sense of formality and class 142. Reaching this point, the writer has now provided the contrasts between the two
languages, Indonesian and Jakartan. Having learned the differences, the writer could now understand more clearly why national comics, in Samuel and Pandji, chose to allow more
Jakartan style and vocabulary in their shows. Although their bits were mostly about nationalism, the dominant use of Jakartan was not to be confused with putting blemishes
on the ever-impressive Indonesian, but both comics, prior to delivering their bits on the stage, had made informed decisions about what vocabulary and style to use to
communicate their ideas to their audience. The language of their shows was undoubtedly Indonesian, because it was vital that their messages could be understood by their
audience, hence the use of the national language. However, it was not the formal type of Indonesian but its variant, the Jakartan style, and the selection was not without reason,
because Jakartan was a more powerful way of communicating to their audience who attended their shows not for grandiose political speeches and promises full of ideological
intoxication, rather because they realized they audience came to watch an entertainment while listening to the comics‟ anxieties which were actually theirs. Thus the selection of
Jakartan is to promote the sense of togetherness, create warmth, an d the feeling of „we
are in this together‟.
