1. Introduction
Malaysian Education recently is confronting the issue of ongoing challenge either to use Malay language or English as a medium of instruction in education especially in Science and Mathematics. This assignment will consider the Language Policy in Malaysia that upsetting Education in Malaysia. The policy analysis will also review the Education in Malaysia, the language policy at stake, and on the same time justify the sense of Nationalism, Globalization and Socio-political factor as reaction in language policy reform that disguise importance of the issue.
2. Malaysia’s Language- in–education Policy
2.1 Colonial Era
Malaysian Education in history, during the British colonial era, there are variety types of established schools such as English schools, Malay schools and the vernacular schools of the Chinese and Indian. The pluralities of different races community in Malaysia highlighted these different types of schools. The English schools were run by the British and were located in the urbanized area.
According to Chan Swee Heng and Helen Tan (2006, p307), the English schools and the vernaculars schools were seen peacefully established, and there were no barrier for English language being used as the main medium of instruction. In the same time, Chan (2006) also stated that Chinese schools were implemented by the Chinese community based on mainland China curriculum; the Indian schools were based on Indian curriculum while the Malay schools were educating religion derived from the Al-Quran. On the other hand, Pandian (1997. p402) indicated that schools of the time were established into ethnic background from the structured Malay school, Chinese school, Tamil school and the urbanized privileged English Sch...
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...r Mohamad on the Vision 2020 development proposed for education. Furthermore the major concerns towards the acquisitions of English among the young generation had been an influence for the former Prime Minister made the decision. According to Dr Mahathir (cited in Brian Ridge, 2010. p417), the Malaysian should improve their mastery of English-language in favour of patriotism dedicated for the goodness of the nation.
The scheme was not just affected the national schools but also the national-type schools both Chinese schools and Tamil schools. However, there was a collective dismissal from the political representative of the Chinese community towards the alternative on advancing the use of English in Chinese schools as the Constitution had clearly enshrine the right to use respective mother-tongue as medium of instruction (Chan Swee Heng & Helen Tan, 2006. p311).
Prior to immigrating to America, Nicole attended a public school in China where all of her teachers were Chinese natives. At Nicole’s school in China, however, English is a required course of study taught mostly by emphasizing English vocabulary, completing short one-page writing assignments, and practicing spelling. Learning English pronunciations and engaging in realistic English conversation wasn’t the goal for educators in China. The goal in China was to prepare students to pass their post-high school exam, which was their ticket into attending a university. The exam is highly demanding for Chinese students because it requires knowledge of English reading, comprehension, spelling and writing. For Nicole, the most stressful part of this exam was that students taking it
...n system came at the expense of the language and identity of the Chinese community. Furthermore, the Chinese community was at a rather disadvantage with them facing the predicament of no employment opportunities, no avenue for furthering their studies between 1952 – 1956, unequal treatment as well as a lack of financial resources. However, the colonial government cannot be blamed entirely for the challenges faced by the Chinese community as the uniformity in the education system was targeted at shaping a common identity for the people. Furthermore, it was not indisposed to helping the Chinese community but rather could not allow them the upper hand in the education system. In 1959, education remained fragmented along languages; it is therefore not difficult to imagine why such systems of education using foreign teachers and text could not lead to a unified citizenry.
According to Steven A. Leibo, the history of Malaysia begins with Melaka, a state with ports for trading, and a gateway to trade throughout the world (182). In Colonialism: An International Social, Cultural, and Political Encyclopedia, Eric A. Jones explains that in 1511, the Portuguese were the first to conquer Melaka for control over the spice trade. Then came the Dutch, who took over in 1642, and finally, the British who colonized in 1795, gaining power over the sea trade as well as capital from exports and a docking port (364). In her book Malaysia, Barbara A. Poisson adds that under British rule, the colony expanded and was named Malaya. From then on, Malaya’s economy began to rapidly expand, and Britain achieved 162 years of successful ruling. It wasn’t until August 31, 1957 that Malaya gained independence from Britain.(p.14) Following World War II, the Japanese began to take over Malaya for power. Britain and U.S united against the Japanese, forcing them to leave. While this was happening, communists decided to go against the British and claim Malaya. This rebellion was called “The Emergency” and it lasted 12 years.(p.44) In 1953, Malaya gained the right to self- govern, and in 1957, Malaya gained independence. (p.46) Not only did imperialism in Malaysia affect its economy by changing resource use, but it also had a social and technological effects, by increasing diversity and modernizing transportation.
Bilingual education has been a politicized topic of debate for years. There are many whom support bilingual education being incorporated into students’ curriculums while others are adamant that it should not be a part of the classroom. Those that are opponents of bilingual education seem to fear the idea of students being exposed to a second language or becoming proficient in two languages. Bilingual education has many dimensions and definitions, which can cause some confusion, but the benefits of its inclusion into student’s curriculum are irrefutable.
Though the period of english in the early days was shorter but now day by day the language is moving up the chain, some even consider it as their 2nd language. The use of english increased with the establishment of universities, schools and other educational institutes. The government also stated that english is now in the process of acquiring the status of a compulsory ‘3rd
While some people strongly believe in the freedom of speaking whichever language one chooses, others believe that the use of any language other than English causes controversy. “Bilingual education has been practiced in many forms, in many countries, for years”. In today's society,
Malaysia and Thailand which shared mainland and sea borders. Malaysia had their Embassy in Bangkok and Thailand has their Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Thailand is larger than Malaysia and located at North of Malaysia. Both countries had similarity which Malay language used at Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat (South of Thailand) and they are also Muslim. Other than that the social culture activity of Malaysia in music instrument, singing, Siam skin puppet and dancing at the border much influence by Siamese culture. And also Siamese food, much of restaurant chef in Malaysia are from Thailand (Emy,
Malaysia was once a colonized land and known as Malaya back then. Malaysia is one of the Commonwealth countries, which means Malaysia was one of the British colonies.
...s Bilingual Education seem impressive on the surface, but in reality, there are many prevalent issues that policymakers have conveniently overlooked which affects other monolingual children who are ‘underrepresented’ and forced into a Bilingual Education. Jill critiqued that the current ‘drip-feed’ system; in which students are exposed to Mother Tongue for only two periods a day is clearly insufficient and students should be offered more languages that are of interest to them. As Jill sips her coffee, she contemplates the future of her children. Will they go through the same experience? Which Mother Tongue must she choose for them? Will this experience be a vicious cycle? Jill vowed to provide the best for her children but as for herself, her adamant refusal to acknowledge Malay as a second language has successfully reverted her back to be the striving monolingual.
The primary purpose of the schools was to these people in the Christian faith and teaching through repentance and to teach the children to read and write . Their approach was if the children could read and write , they could read the Bible and understand it better . This Christian- education they received was mostly in English, and it has enabled them to live in peace with each other and to live together with respect. It is generally brings a better way of life among these people .
The unprecedented global spread English has experienced in the last years has paved the way for changes in the sociolinguistic profile of the language. In addition to the fact that new varieties have emerged, the number of functional domains in which English plays a role has increased significantly (Sharma, 2008). Currently, English is not only a tool serving national purposes, but also a language institutionalised in several former British and American colonies, and a lingua franca used worldwide. This phenomenon has raised concern about the classification of World Englishes, as well as, about the need to adapt English Language Teaching (ELT) to the new reality. Assuming Kachru’s Concentric Circles Model, this paper will argue that pedagogies based on English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) would be more consistent with the functions of English in Expanding-circle countries than native-centered teaching methods. With this objective, this essay will first give an overview of Kachru’s model, secondly, it will consider the implications ELF methodologies have for classroom practices, and, finally, the advantages and drawbacks of such a pedagogy will be evaluated.
There are different types of legal rules in different countries. The Malaysian legal system is a set of the regulation for people to follow. Otherwise, they will face penalties and punishment. The sources of law in Malaysia refer to the legal rules that make up the law in Malaysia. Due to the historical development in Malaysia, the periods have introduced constitutional government and the common law in Malaysia. Lin (2015) stated, Malaysian sources have brought by the colonization of British in Malaya. According to Law Teacher (2013), Malaysian Law is derived from three sources which included written law, unwritten law and Islamic law.
The title of the article “Deficiencies of The System” is extracted from the book “An Education System Worthy of Malaysia”, written by M. Bakri Musa. The article discusses the poor education system in Malaysia that encompasses every aspect of schooling from pre-school to the university level. The author mixes personal experience, third-person experience and data evidence to address the poorly constructed system. The author works as a surgeon by day in Silicon Valley, California. He and his wife, Karen lives in Morgan Hill, California.
solidarity and stability (Macionis, 2011). Education serves as different functions. The first function is to equip citizens with different skills so that they can apply these learnt skills to function as gear of the society. In Hong Kong, students need to learn Chinese, English and Mathematics in primary school. These three subjects serve as basic tools in communication and arithmetic in daily life. When students mov...
Moreover, 86% pupils involved in this survey viewed English as a sign of modernism and class status, and only 3% disagreed with this view. They prefer 18% to speak both Urdu and English languages in public and more to speak English at professional and official levels.