By: Suparlan *)
- Human being is the highest level of all creatures created by God Almighty. Subhanallah. The human being is the highest creations in the universe, including Angels, Devils, Satan, animals and also plants.
- Why the humans are created as the highest rank from all creation in the world? Because the human awarded way of life of the Holy Book of Al-Quran. That’s why the Quran called a HUDALINNAS or the way of life for the humans. In the Al-Quran, God Almighty sent the first Commandment called IQRA. The meaning of IQRA is please do READ. But, so many humans refuse to implement the most important commandment of IQRA. Humans, such as in Indonesia and in many countries in the world, even more attention to the activities of terrorism, corruption, narcotics, etc.
- According to Nazaruddin Umar, IQRA has three levels of meaning: (1) just spelling, (2) understanding, and (3) implementing. According to Paulo Freire, the father of the national education of Brazil said that “reading is not walking the words, but reading is grasping the soul of them.”
- In connection with the competencies of language teaching and learning, there are four language competencies: (1) listening, (2) speaking, (3) reading, and (4) writing. These competencies are related to the human capability in performances of language in their life. The baby is born with the competencies in just listening capability. After that, the baby wants to learn speaking from their father and mother. When they enter the primary school, and they get learning speaking, and the last step is trying to learn writing.
- Back to the title of writing, what it’s the most important culture for the human? That is a culture of literacy, especially in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
- The culture of writing has the most important position for human life. We are now is in the era of history, not in the prehistory. The history needs competencies in writing. When you speak, your words echo will just across the room or just across the hall, but when your write your word echo will across the age. Writing is a tool of language learning. Language teaching and learning is one of the processes of education. Education should allow children to reach their fullest potential in terms of cognitive, emotional and creative capacities (UNESCO). In this case, UNESCO is trying to conduct o four pillars of learning: 1) learning to know, (2) learning to do, (3) learning to be, (4) learning to live to gather. Writing is the highest level of competences of human being. That’s why writing is highest level of competencies of language learning.
- As a human being, we have to act the commandment, and to implement the IQRA as one of the Commandment from God Almighty. As a human being we have to implement the highest level of human competencies. Writing competencies is the highest capabilities of human life.
Reflection/Evaluation:
- Four pillars of learning?
- What is the meaning of reading according to Paulo Freirie?
Jakarta, 8 Oktober 2016.