Role Of The English Language In Malaysia English Language Essay

Role Of The position Language In Malaysia side Language EssayAbstractThis research examines the utilisation of the side talking to in Malaysia, a former British colony in South East Asia from the 18th to the 20th century. My research question asks to what consequence stool incline be a consolidative quarrel in Malaysia? In order to approach the issue, the question has been narrowed down into ii split incline can be a integrate quarrel of Malaysia and incline can non be a unifying talking to of Malaysia. The influence of English in the lives of Malayans much(prenominal) as daily life, workplace and didactics has been examined.There is a dichotomy in views whether English can become a unifying language in Malaysia. unrivaled side believes that English has already become an pregnant part of Malaysian identity, particularly due to its colonial past and its current status of wholeness of the languages of instruction in primary, secondary and tertiary cultivation a nd also the status of business language. There is another view, mainly held by the Malay home(a)ists, opposed to such opinions due to the fact that thither is a huge gap in the English language proficiency between people from the urban and rural atomic number 18as. tether interviews have been conducted as part of the methods of investigation, but the most influential interviewee was Ram Mohann, an English teacher in a Malaysian secondary school. Books, news members and academic journals have been apply as well. The main sources for this research are written by Malaysian professors of linguistics, Azirah Hashim and Loga Baskaran.It is concluded that English can be a unifying language in Malaysia. The conclusion drawn is based on the fact that English plays an important component part in the lives of Malaysians, occult sectors and education in Malaysia. close to importantly, English is also regarded as a language that integrates all(a) Malaysians by the non-Malays. Word count 298IntroductionMalaya (now Malaysia) was a demesne that had been occupied by European superpowers such as the Portuguese, Dutch and the British since the 16th century. However, the ones that really made a linguistic influence on the land were the British. Even though they go forth and granted independence to Malaya in 1957, one legacy that they have left the country is their language, English.English had been the official language of the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States and the Unfederated Malay States since the 1800s during the occupation of Great Britain and also served as the official language of Malaysia for a decade after the nations independence in 1957. However, in order to promote national unity and increase the participation of Bumiputra (Malay-ethnic and indigenous people) in tertiary education, the Malaysian government removed English from its official role and promoted the use of Bahasa Malaysia (Malaysian or Malay language) in 1967.1Nevertheless, Eng lish remains a dominant second language in Malaysia. It is still widely used in private companies. For the last two decades, the status of English has been a much debated-upon and jostled- around issue.2In this essay, I forget investigate the role of English in Malaysia today. My research question is as follows to what goal can English be a unifying language in Malaysia? Unifying language moldiness be defined in order to conclude the question. In this case, unifying language refers to the language that joins the people of Malaysia as a whole. I allow for discuss how English is used in galore(postnominal) aspects of Malaysian lives in order to answer my research question. Moreover, the language of instruction in Malaysia go away also serve as a springboard to investigate the role of English in Malaysia.Even though English is no longer an official language in Malaysia and therefore almost baron present that Malaysia is not an Anglophone nation, the widespread usage of English in Malaysia is a fact that is beyond any question. English is a business language and a common language used among ordinary Malaysians, particularly in urban areas. Moreover, it is widely known that many another(prenominal) of the older generation in Malaysia speak English very well.3Some elites plain argue that English and Malay play an equally important role to help mix the people and crap a unique national consciousness.4English is used for a variety of functions in professional and social transactions not merely with the international community but also within the fiat.5In addition, even though all English-medium schools had been changed to Malay-medium schools in the 1980s, the instruction execution of PPSMI (teaching and learning learning and Math in English) form _or_ system of government in all Malaysian public schools since Primary One indicates that the government is not solitary(prenominal) concerning about the globalisation of the nation, but also with the im portance of the language in Malaysia herself.6Hence, the use of English as a local anesthetic language in Malaysia kind of than an international language is enough to make Malaysia an unofficial Anglophone country.English can be a unifying language in MalaysiaEnglish language is the global lingua franca, a language for diplomacy and international trade. Workforces with good command of English will put the country a huge advantage in the world. concord to Braj Kachrus three-circle type of World Englishes that categorises World Englishes into three concentric circles, which include Inner Circle representing the traditional base of English Outer Circle that representing countries where English is not an official language but plays an important role and Expanding Circle, including countries that employ it as a foreign language and for only limited purposes, Malaysia is listed low the Outer Circle.7This model indicates that there are a sizeable amount of people who use English as a f or the first time language. According to Azirah Hashim, a Professor of Linguistics in University of Malaya, English is used for a variety of functions in professional and social transactions not only with the international community but also within the society.8The quote tells us that Malaysians do not only use it as an international language, but some perceive English as a local language as well.Hashims view is not her own wishful thinking. It is evident everywhere in Malaysia, in both the Malaysian education and lives of Malaysia citizens. Broken English is very commonly used by taxi drivers, pedestrian pedlars, food hawkers, gardeners, garbologists, florists and food caterers.9For instance, phrases such as Buy 1 Free 1 or RM 5 for 2 are always visible in Malaysias local supermarkets, departmental stores and pasar malam, a Malay word for night market. It indicates that even for those who are not highly educated, they all have the enthusiasm to speak English because the degree of i nternational integration is solely moving in leaps and bounds and man-on-the-street has to survive.10Most importantly, it shows that English is gaining more currency within Malaysian society, especially in urban areas.11After the PPSMI policy was implemented in 2003, the decision was described by some journalists as revive the glory of the language and reclaim English in education, which seems to allude to recognition of English as not just a global or international language, not just a European language, but also as a Malaysian language.12Moreover, even though there arent any official statistics available, it is known that there are sizeable numbers of English private kindergartens in Malaysia, particularly in urban areas. For non-English medium privately-owned kindergartens, English is always taught as one of the subjects apart from their mother tongue. According to a Malaysian Indian who is only unbidden to be identified as Subramaniam, My children are all studying in English-m edium kindergarten because I know only a good command of English will lead them to success and I want them to build their foundation since they are young.13This comment reflects the fact that the Malaysian parents are aware of the importance of English in todays world as well as Malaysian society itself and they know that a good command of English will put their children in a better position in todays world. In addition, English is generally taught 280 minutes per week in public schools14, which is even more than the teaching time for the superior class in Xiamen International School, an English-medium and IB World school. It must be noted that in Malaysian education, all high school students in public schools are undeniable to learn English literature and English comprehension, rather than beginner English class. If the teaching time of English in a bilingual education is even more than an English-medium school, it indicates that English plays an equally important role for both M inistry of Education of Malaysia as well as an IB World school. However, it must also be noted that the level of English comprehension and/or literature might be lower than that of IB Diploma course, and and so the statistics do not indicate everything.According to a well-known Malaysian Indian journalist and politician, the late MGG Pillai, those who know English are better positioned for jobs than those without.15That was his comment regards the importance of English in his article written in 1994. His assessment was right spot on in todays world. In major companies in Malaysia, the only language used in a company meeting is English.16Meanwhile, some meetings in governmental departments are conducted in English as well, but mostly depending on the language preferred by the head of the department.17Reports such as annual reports or financial reports are either in English or in both English and Malay. For example, Malaysia Airlines, the national carrier of Malaysia, presents its fi nancial reports to their staff only in English18. Meanwhile, it is known that the language a flight attendant will use is English, even for home(prenominal) flights although the national language is Malay.19When a pilot or co-pilot announces the latest information about the flight, English is always preferred for both domestic and international flights. If private companies prefer English and English language is also widely used in governmental departments although Malay is supposed to be the language of instruction, it tells us that English does play an equally important role in todays Malaysia. Moreover, English is no longer seen as a competitive advantage but a staple fibre requirement for jobseekers.20In 2005, the Malaysian government conducted a survey of nearly 60,000 Malaysian graduates who were unemployed. It was also revealed in the survey that 81 per cent of the unemployed tended to(p) public universities where the medium of instruction in many courses is in Malay.21Mor eover, according to the senior consultant of Alpha Platform Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian full avail communication firm, Many of the graduates are rejected five minutes into an interview due to their atrocious command of English.22Those examples show that Malaysians with lack of proficiency in English will be at a serious disadvantage in Malaysian society. It also suggests that English is gradually replacing Malays prominence in Malaysia, especially in private sectors.In addition, English is also very common in the lives of ordinary people in Malaysia. For instance, no English language pastime import is ever dubbed and local television channels in Malaysia screen a wide variety of English cartoons, serials, dramas and films in original language with Malay subtitles only.23There are sizeable numbers of local English magazines and newspapers such as Flavours, Football Weekly, the Star, New Strait Times, Business Times, the Sun, Motor Trader, Golf Malaysia, BPL and many others. Moreover, ther e are many well-known foreign magazines such as Times, Readers Digest, PC Magazine, and Newsweek on sale all over Malaysia. The numbers of English newspapers all over Malaysia is exactly the same as that of Malay language.24Several foreign publishers even publish their own magazines in Malaysian version in English language such as FourFour Two and Top Gear from United Kingdom.25In addition, English books have dominated the two boastfullyst bookstore chains in Malaysia, mph Bookstore and Popular Bookstore. An English teacher, Ram Mohann, claimed that Popular bookstore has roughly 65% of English books while English books almost dominate MPH bookstores in Malaysia with around 90% by citing internal sources.26Those different statistics and information do indicate that there is a big market for English readers in Malaysia.27However, it must be stressed that Mohann is only a teacher, not a market profession and his internal sources might not be very bona fide either. Nevertheless, it i s always known by Malaysians the dominance of English books in that either of those two bookstores or other bookstores is a fact that is beyond any doubt.On 9th July 2009, the Ministry of Education announced that the PPSMI policy will be abandoned starting 2012 by citing the percentage of students who achieved A to C for science had fallen by around 4% in both urban and rural schools. Basically the overturn of the policy means that all science-based and maths subjects in Malaysian public schools will be reverting back to Malay for government schools, Chinese for Chinese schools and Tamil for Tamil schools. The reversal of the policy has caused as much debates as the ones when the policy was first implemented in 2003. For instance, Azimah Abdul Rahim, the chairman of Parents Action Group for Education (PAGE), questioned the reversal of the government on behalf of all parents by telling the reporter that there might be some schools which would want to continue teaching in English. I think there should be a choice. There are many Malaysians whose first language is English.28In addition, Lim Kit Siang, a prominent opposition leader in Malaysian politics, described the decision as a sensitive Deal leaving Malaysia stranded in the march towards global educational quality, excellence and competitiveness29. Moreover, Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia who was known for his Malay nationalism and the leader who, surprisingly, introduced the PPSMI policy under his administration, posted a poll regards the PPSMI abolishment and the result shows that 84 per cent want to retain English as the language medium for these subjects.30Mahathir also questions how the reversal of PPSMI is going to help integrate Malaysians,31which implies that English is not just a medium of instruction for science and math and business language in Malaysia, but at the same time a language that should help unify all Malaysians as a whole. However, it must be stres sed that his view might be subjective as Lim is a leader from opposition party and the fact he was educated under English medium. Moreover, as Mahathir mentions in his blog, the result of the poll might be somewhat subjective as well since it was conducted in the English language and English language speakers might be biased in favour of English.32Nevertheless, the views collected, which represent the parents and politicians, have emphasized the fact that a lot Malaysians believe that it will be hard for their children to survive in the future with lack of proficiency in English and also reflected the fact that English speakers and the language itself do play an important role in the today and future society of Malaysia.English cannot be a unifying language of MalaysiaWhile there is no doubt about the importance of English in private sectors in Malaysia, it must be stressed that Malay has been the sole official language of Malaysia since 1970 and the use of this language in various sectors is further under the National Language Act.33The Malay nationalists are particularly against the increasing prominence of English in Malaysia, especially in education. This square feeling had been shown by the Malay-ethnic people in a protest against the use of English in March 2009, which eventually caused the reversal of PPSMI policy.34Supporters of PPSMI always use Singapore, the neighbouring nation that once was part of Malaysia, as an example of how language skills can be a key to a connecting local workers and industries to global economy.35However, the reversal of PPSMI could eventually overthrow the role of English in Malaysia today and the future because the students will have less opportunity to use the language in class in the future. Therefore, for the beside generation, instead of English, there is a possibility that Malay might become the language that is going to be widely used among professionals. According to Muhyiddin Yassin, the minister of education M alaysia, , only 8% of teachers were using English exclusively in classes while the use of Malay language was still common, particularly in rural areas36Muhyiddins concern reveals several problems in Malaysian education today the gap between students from urban and rural areas and the lack of proficiency in English among Malaysian local teachers. According to Dr. Nor Hashimah Jalauddin, a professor in National University of Malaysias School of Language and Linguistics, students in urban areas adjusted better to the PPSMI compared with students in rural areas37and that English is considered a foreign language and third language for students in Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan, Terrengganu, Kedah and Perlis.38She is convinced that learning Math and Science in English is a burden for students due to their lack of proficiency in English. In fact, it is not only a burden for students, even the Malaysian teachers going mad teaching subjects in English39because most Math and Science teachers in se rvice were trained under the National Language Policy, which the language of instruction is Malay.40According to Dr Khalil Idham Lim Abdullah, while the teachers are still grappling with the language, they are required to teach their students as well.41This claim is supported by Mohann as well, there are 75% of Science and Math teachers were trained in Malay and that there is hardly a big improvement in English for teachers since 2003.42Even though the statistics given only refers to one particular school, it does suggest that there are a large number of teachers who cant use English fluently. If the teachers cant even speak fluent English, how can we expect the students to develop their language skill significantly and hence how is language going to become the unifying language?Even though English plays an important role in Malaysias society today, the amount of English speakers is rather limited. According to David Crystal, the total number of English as First Language speakers i n Malaysia was 1.88% by 1994 while the number fell by 0.16% nine eld later. Meanwhile, the total number of L1 and L2 speakers only rose from 31.9% to 33.2% within nine years and the rise is rather slight as well.4344The statistics indicate that there are very few fluent speakers Malaysia and thus English is definitely not a language that is understood by all Malaysians. Unifying language should be the language that unites the whole nation and if English is not generally understood by all Malaysia citizens, how can it be the unifying language of the country?The biggest problem that might threaten the status of English in Malaysia is the fact that English is a colonial legacy left by the British and it is evident that the Malays have been seek to wipe off the memory of colonialism. For instance, even though the Malaysian government only removed Englishs official role by 1967, ten years after independence, and removed all English-medium schools only by 1972, the Englishs elitist stat us in education and administration had been immediately downgraded in 1957.45They find it hard in accepting that English could be an ingredient in Malaysian national identity, in spite of its use in cultural situations in Malaysia at present.46Instead, they believe Malay is for national identity and English is for progress and for wider communication, which implies the Malays believe that English should be used for globalisation and internationalisation rather than a local language.47Thus, as Tan suggests, the fact that Malaysia is categorised under the Outer Circle means that it is more appropriate to talk about the role of English in Malaysia in individual communities or sections of society rather than the whole country.48ConclusionEnglish is an important language in both the past and current society of Malaysia. Competence in English as a compulsory condition for employees in most private sectors and some governmental departments has emphasized the increasing prominence of Englis h in the country. Moreover, the implementation of PPSMI policy in 2003 has significantly increased the usage of English among the new generation, especially those who are teenagers now and will become the future backbone of the country. While the implementation of PPSMI policy indicates that fact the government is concerned about the importance of English in the country, the debates among professionals and ordinary Malaysians regards the reversal of the policy also reveals how significant the language is for the people. In addition, the dominance of English books and magazines in bookstores of Malaysia indicates that there is a huge market for English books in Malaysia.However, some Malaysians, particularly the Malays, believe the only language that can unify all Malaysians is the Malay language. The lack of qualified teachers with fluent English is a reason why English is not a unifying language. Meanwhile, the difference of English proficiency between students from urban areas and rural areas proves that English is not commonly understood by all Malaysians and hence it will not create national unity. Besides the proficiency of the teachers and students, the rather low percentage of English speakers also reveals the same problem in making English the unifying language in Malaysia.All in all, even though this issue is still rather debatable, the conclusion drawn is that English can be a unifying language in Malaysia to some extent. English plays an important role in the lives of ordinary Malaysians, private sectors and education in Malaysia. However, the usage of Malay language is encouraged in public sectors. The overturn of PPSMI policy in July 2009 has put the status of English in the country into doubt. Moreover, Malays believe their language should be the tool to unite the whole nation49but the Indians and/or Chinese believe Malay language will create division among all Malaysians. They believe that we should emulate the model of Singapore since English i s a neutral language between all the different ethnicities as it does not identify any of the races in Malaysia and thus it will create an equal society.50Bibliography