by Anura Goonasekera

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprise six countries: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Of these countries, university-level teaching of communication/journalism existed, in 1989/90, in four countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. Singapore started a Department of Mass Communications at the National University of Singapore in 1990. But teaching will not commence until July 1991. Brunei does not have university-level communication/journalism programmes.

The ASEAN part of the project was coordinated by Asian Mass Communication Research and Information Centre (AMIC), in Singapore. The principal coordinator was Dr. Anura Goonasekera who was assisted by Ms. Lock Yut Kam.

While AMIC directed and coordinated the study from Singapore, the actual collection of data was done by country-researchers based in each of the three countries selected for the study. This was essential for several reasons. First, some of the books used for teaching in these countries were in local languages and a knowledge of these languages was essential if such books are to be included. Second, the in-country researchers, who are themselves communication teachers, bring a point of view based on their teaching experience which is particularly important in identifying future needs for textbook development in these countries. Finally it was also the most cost-effective way of collecting data.

Three limitations are noted here:

Although the research purports to be a survey of the ASEAN region, the empirical data relate to only three of the four countries that have communication/journalism teaching programmes at university-level, in this region. Thailand which has a number of university-level programmes was left out due to budgetary constraints. Even within the selected countries not all institutions offering communication teaching programmes were included. However, care was taken to select the most prominent and representative institutions. We believe that the conclusions are generally applicable to the teaching environment in the region.

The survey is limited to published books. This leaves out journal and newspaper articles, government and public commission reports, mimeographed material, and notes prepared by lecturers and 'dictated' to students. These are fundamental and basic resources for teaching in some schools.

Although the ten subject areas proposed by the Steering Committee for classification of textbooks are a useful way of organizing the data for purpose of comparison, these do not reflect the way syllabi are planned in some schools. Nor do the books fall into such neat classification. There is considerable overlap in the way the subjects are treated in most textbooks.

The country researcher for the Malaysian study was Dr. R. Karthigesu, Chairman, Film and TV Programme, Communication Programme, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Three institutions which are directly involved in teaching mass communication in Malaysia were selected for the survey. These were Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (Department of Communication), Universiti Sains Malaysia (Communication Programme), and Institut Teknologi MARA (School of Mass Communication). In point of fact, there are only two other institutions teaching communication in Malaysia. These are Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (Communication Department) and University Malaya (Department of Creative Writing). These were not included in the survey due to limitations of funds.

Dr. Karthigesu visited all three institutions to collect course outlines which included lists of textbooks and readings of all courses related to communication taught in the academic year 1989/90. Dr. Karthigesu also interviewed the Heads of the Departments in these three institutes to assess the most important needs based on their experience and needs in terms of textbooks and readings in communication courses.

Communication is a major subject within the undergraduate programme and has been taught in Malaysia since 1971. Today five institutions of higher learning offer specialization at undergraduate level in areas such as Journalism, Broadcasting, Development Communication, Agricultural Communication, Public Relations and Advertising. Most lecturers in these institutions have obtained their post-graduate degrees in the U.S. which is still the most favoured country for communication studies. Britain is the other most sought after Western country. Few lecturers have had their education in the Philippines or Indonesia.

The predominance of American trained lecturers is one reason for the dominance of American textbooks and reading materials in these courses (Adhikarya, 1981). Even the course outlines at Institut Technologi MARA were initially formulated by American scholars (Lent 1988).

In Malaysia all institutions of higher learning use Bahasa Malaysia (the Malay language). This situation has given rise to a dire need to produce textbooks in Bahasa Malaysia. The survey shows that only 12 % of the books are published in Malaysia and only 7 % are in Bahasa. (A country report with full details is separately available).

The Indonesian country researcher was Mr. Eduard Lukman, who is a teacher at the Department of Communication, University of Indonesia, Jawa Barat. The survey was carried out in three universities viz. the University of Indonesia, Jawa Barat; Hasanuddin University, Sulawesi Selatan; and Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. The data are based on course material which included lists of textbooks and readings for communication courses in the three institutions for 1989/90. The researcher also interviewed Heads of Departments and Lecturers to assess the needs for textbooks and other teaching materials.

The situation regarding textbooks is very similar to that of Malaysia - with a heavy emphasis on American books. Only 28 % of the books are in local languages and 20 % of the authors are from Indonesia and Malaysia. The heavy North American emphasis again is due to the predominance of teachers trained in Western countries, particularly the U.S. (See country report for full details).

The country researcher for the Philippines was Prof. Bridget R. Zuberi, of the College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines, Diliman. Five educational institutions, all located in Luzon island, were included in this survey. These were the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Ateneo de Manila University, St. Louis University and the University of Santo Tomas.

The oldest communication course in ASEAN was perhaps at the University of Philippines at Los Banos where an agricultural communication/extension programme was started in 1952 (Nora Quebral, 1988). The oldest mass communication programme, however, was started in 1965 at the College of Mass Communication, at the University of the Philippines.

The predominance of Western (mostly U.S.) textbooks, which was seen in the other two countries, is also quite pronounced in the Philippines. Of 966 books included in the survey only 11 or less than 2 % are in local languages and 25 % of the authors are from the region. 65 % of all books surveyed were published in North America, mainly the U.S. The predominance of U.S. books is again partly due to a carry-over of the training received by the communication teachers, most of whom have had post-graduate training in the U.S. The U.S. remains the most preferred country for graduate studies in Communication. Philippines has attempted to overcome this dependence on U.S. knowledge transfer by developing joint doctoral programmes with U.S. universities whereby a student can do either the course work or the thesis research in the Philippines (Valbuena). However the marketability and the prestige of U.S. university degrees remain a great attraction and incentive for scholars to seek degrees in the U.S. (See country report for details).

Table 1 shows the level of programmes and the strength of the staff and student population in the three countries surveyed.

All three countries provide undergraduate and masters level programmes in communication/journalism. Two of the countries, Philippines and Malaysia, also provide PhD programmes. The staff student ratios are as follows:

Table 2 is a classification of the textbooks used in the 11 institutions surveyed into 10 subject areas. The table attempts to identify the 'relevance' of these textbooks to communication teaching in the region by identifying the number of such books that have region-related subjects, that have authors from the region, and are in local languages.

Of a total of 2285 books identified, 390 or 17 % have region-related subject matter; 432 or 19 % are authored by persons from the region and 213 or 9 % are in local languages. However, the vast majority, 78 %, falls outside the definition of region relevance used here.

If we break down this data into subject areas we find that a high percentage of region-related books are in the areas of Media History and Media Laws. In Media History, out of a total of 36 books, 21 books or 58 % are by local authors and 17 books or 47 % are in local languages. Eight books or 22 % have region related subject matter. In the subject area of Media Laws, Ethics and Policies, out of 109 books identified 35 or 32 % have region-related subject matter, 25 or 23 % are in local languages. Yet the total number of books cited under the subject areas of Media History and Media Laws is low compared to some other subject areas such as Print Media, Electronic Media and Communication Theory and Research. Under Print Media for instance, 330 books are cited. Of these 68 books or 21 % are region-related, 75 books or 23 % are authored by persons in the region and 43 books or 13 % are in local languages. Of 336 books cited under the subject area of Electronic Media, only 21 books or 6 % are region-related. 20 books or 6 % are written by local/regional authors and 27 books or 8 % are in local languages. 394 books are cited under the subject of Communication Theory and Research. Of these 74 books or 19 % are region-related, 77 books or 20 % are written by persons in the region and 33 books or 8 % are in local languages.

Table 3 is a classification of the place of publication of the textbooks. Of the 2,315 books included in the survey, 558 books or 24 % are published in the ASEAN region. 24 books or 1 % are published in other developing countries. The vast majority of the books, 1339 or 58 %, are published in North America, predominantly in the U.S. A complete subjectwise frequency distribution is given in Table 3.

Table 4 shows the period of publication. 424 books or 18 % were published before 1970. 909 books or 39 % were published between 1970-79. 839 books or 36 % were published after 1980. Therefore the largest category of books is those published after 1980. A subjectwise breakdown is given in Table 4.

RECOMMENDATIONS

On the basis of their survey data and interviews, each of the country researchers have identified subject areas that need textbook development. Their conclusions are given below:

Bahasa Malaysia textbooks in all areas of communication will have to be urgently increased, as students are finding it increasingly difficult to read and understand textbooks in English. Although Bahasa Malaysia has become the medium of instruction in the past 6 or 7 years only a fraction of books has either been produced in or translated into that language. In the electronic media category, only 3 % are in Bahasa Malaysia and 2 % in translations. The highest percentage of Bahasa Malaysia books is in the communication for development category and even then they account only for 15 %.

The following subject areas have been identified as needing textbooks urgently:
- Communication Technology/Electronic Media
- Communication Theory and Research
- Media Management and Economics
- Advertising and Public Relations

Books and reading materials dealing with media history, media management and economics, media ethics and policies, advertising and public relations, and communication for development have been identified as being those urgently needed.

Taking these diverse needs into account, we propose the following strategy for textbook development in ASEAN. Books for Thailand are also included although Thailand was not included in the survey. Requirements for Thailand are based on our general impression of the teaching environment there.

It is also recommended that the following two books, published by AMIC, be translated into Bahasa Malaysia, Thai and Tagalog:

Rethinking Development Communication ed. by N. Jayaweera and
S. Amunugama

Communication Theory: The Asian Perspective ed. by Wimal Dissanayake

We also feel strongly that in addition to developing textbooks for classroom teaching, the publication of communication journals should be encouraged as it is one of the chief means of up-dating knowledge and exchanging findings among scholars. In this respect journals such as the Asian Journal of Communication, which is a joint production of AMIC and the Department of Mass Communication, National University of Singapore, should be given assistance to publish local language translations of its articles.