Lesson objective: students will be able to identify and differentiate the social function, generic

structure and language feature of recount texts

The Battle of Ambarawa

The Battle of Ambarawa was a battle between the recently created Indonesian Army and the
British Army that occurred between 20 October and 15 December 1945 in Ambarawa,
Indonesia.

On 20 October 1945, Allied troops under the command of Brigadier Bethell landed in Semarang
to disarm Japanese troops. Initially, the troops were welcomed in the area, with Central Java’s
governor Wongsonegoro agreeing to provide them with food and other necessities in return for
the Allies’ promise to respect Indonesia’s sovereignty and independence.

However, when Allied and NICA troops began freeing and arming freed Dutch POWs in
Ambarawa and Magelang, many locals were angered. Indonesian troops under the command of
Lieutenant Colonel M. Sarbini began besieging Allied troops stationed in Magelang in reprisal
for their attempted disarmament.

On the morning of 23 November 1945, Indonesian troops began firing on Allied troops stationed
in Ambarawa. A counterattack by the Allies forced the Indonesian Army to retreat to the village
of Bedono.

On 11 December 1945, Soedirman held a meeting with various commanders of the Indonesian
Army. The next day at 4:30 AM, the Indonesian Army launched an assault on the Allies in
Ambarawa. Indonesian artillery pounded Allied positions, which were later overrun by infantry.
When the Semarang-Ambarawa highway was captured by Indonesian troops, Soedirman
immediately ordered his forces to cut off the supply routes of the remaining Allied troops by
using a pincer maneuver.

The battle ended four days later on 15 December 1945, when Indonesia succeeded in regaining
control over Ambarawa and the Allies retreated to Semarang.

Exercise 1
1. After reading the text above, identify the social function, generic structure and language
feature of the text.
2. Try to find other historical recount text from this link and differentiate the language features,
generic structures and the purposes

Exercise 2
1. What does the first paragraph talk about?
2. When did the battle occur?
3. Why the allies troops landed in Semarang?
4. What was the reason that the governor agreed to provide the allies troops with food and other
necessities?
5. Why Indonesia succeeded in regaining control over Ambarawa?
Exercise 1

1. The social function of the text above is to inform the readers about the story which
happen in the pass (in this case The Battle of Ambarawa). The generic structure
about the text are orientation which is paragraph 1, sequence of events which starts
from paragraph 2 until paragraph 5, and re-orientation which is paragraph 6. The
language feature of the text are past tense action verbs, adjectives, adverbial
phrases, and time connectives.

Exercise 2

1. The first paragraph talks about the general information about the main topic of the
text which is The Battle of Ambarawa, such as; what?, when?, and whom?.

2. The Battle of Ambarawa occured between 20 October and 15 December 1945.

3. The ally troops landed in Semarang because its their necessity to disarm Japanese
troops.

4. The governor agreed to provide the ally troops food and other necessities are in
return for the Allies’ promise to respect Indonesia’s sovereignity and independence.

5. Indonesia succeeded to regain control over Ambarawa is mainly because of the

quick wit of General Soedirman in planning and taking command of the Battle, for
instance right after the Indonesian troops captured the Semarang-Ambarawa
highway, he immediately ordered his forces to cut off the suplly routes of the
remaining Allied troops by using a pincer maneuver which play a big role for
Indonesia to success on taking control over Ambarawa.