Evaluating the logic of a policy-driven national language test in Indonesia: A critical discursive investigation of the Test of Indonesian Proficiency (UKBI)

This study examines the Test of Indonesian Proficiency ( Uji Kemahiran Berbahasa Indonesia [UKBI]), a national language test developed by the Indonesian government’s language planning agency, Badan Bahasa, and promoted for various uses across education, employment, and immigration domains. This is illustrative of broader trends; language tests, like UKBI, have become integral to policy agendas and can serve multiple social and political purposes, many extending well beyond test design intentions. Research is urgently needed to examine how government agencies and other test users rationalize the need for and the legitimacy of policy-based test uses, as a means of promoting public acceptance and support, particularly where an empirical basis for test uses is lacking. We address this by identifying claims made by Badan Bahasa about UKBI scores, uses and consequences across policy documents, media releases, and website materials. We then combine Van Leeuwen’s language of legitimation framework and Reisigl and Wodak’s discourse historical approach to critically examine the discursive strategies engaged by Badan Bahasa to promote the legitimacy of the UKBI and its uses. The study sheds light on the social values and ideologies underlying testing practices, providing new insights into how tests as policy instruments come to be imbued with meaning and authority