A professor in linguistics, Prof. Drs. Jumanto, M.Pd., was chosen to be the President of the Indonesian Pragmatics Association (INAPRA) for the 2022-2027 period. The long-term and short-term plans had been prepared by the professor from Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus).

 

The inauguration of the President of the Indonesian Pragmatics Association took place during the ‘National Online Discussion of Indonesian Pragmatics Discussion Forum,’ on Wednesday, July 13th, 2022. The event was broadcast live by TVKU and was attended by all members of INAPRA. Currently, the members of INAPRA consist of 270 lecturers from 200 different universities, four language centers, and the Indonesian Science Agency (LIPI). 

 

Prof. Jumanto responded that his role as the first President of INAPRA was a huge responsibility. Furthermore, he revealed that starting something new was not that easy. However, the hope and trust of the members of INAPRA make Prof. Jumanto sure about his responsibility to prepare various plans for the future both national and international.

 

“For the short-term plans, we aim to form the internal structure. Additionally, we will also take care of the formal legal requirements, staff councils, advisors, logo design, membership cards, and other infrastructures of INAPRA,” said the professor at the end of 2021.

 

There were also several long-term programs to be conducted, including hosting annual meetings and congress once every two years. Prof. Jumanto hoped for INAPRA to affiliate itself with other national and international associates. 

 

“In the long-term, we will also make our way to join the international pragmatic international in Belgium,” he added.

 

Prof. Jumanto, who was the author of ‘Pragmatics: The World of Linguistics is Not as Wide as Moringa Leaves,’ explained that INAPRA had the important goal of helping the public understand pragmatics during communication or social interaction in their daily lives. To be more specific, he explained that pragmatics was useful for understanding both verbal and non-verbal communication in the real world and social media, allowing harmony to be created within the public. 

 

The pragmatic community was formed in late 2019 and since the emergence of COVID-19 in early 2020, the community was forced to operate online by conducting online discussions once every month.

 

“The formation of INAPRA pushes us to collaborate and synergize the field of pragmatics. We hereby ask for prayers for this community to further inflict benefits to the public,” he uttered. 

 

In response to the inauguration, Prof. Dr. Ir. Edi Noersasongko, M.Kom., the Chancellor of Udinus, expressed his pride for Prof. Jumanto as the President of INAPRA. He further hoped for Prof. Jumanto to bear his responsibility to achieve the designed goals.

 

“With the trust given to Udinus, it shows that our campus has competent professors. Currently, Udinus has ten professors in various fields committing to improving the academic community in the country,” he concluded. (Humas Udinus. Foto: Dok. TVKU)