Malaysia to English in 2003 and the Reversal Back To BM In 2010



Malaysia to English in 2003 and the Reversal Back To BM In 2010

Introduction

Malaysia is a country that is made up of the Malay Peninsula south of Thailand, and the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is a former British colony, and is a multiethnic and multi-religious society. It has a population of 28 million, with its major ethnic groups being the Malays, 60 percent; the Chinese, 26 percent; and the Indians, 10 percent. Malay, or Bahasa Melayu, is the official language of the state. It is a relatively wealthy country within Southeast Asia, with major industries in computers, petroleum and chemicals, palm oil, rubber, and timber. Malaysia is a majority Muslim country in most of its states, but its economy is dominated by a powerful ethnic Chinese community (Ray, 1987).

Malaysia gives up the English language in teaching mathematics and science, bowing to demands of protesters who are demanding greater use of mother tongue in education. Malay language is restored in state-funded schools from 2013, because teaching in English has led to reduce the level of science. The decision was preceded by months of protests and demonstrations by politicians and linguists, especially from the ethnic Malay majority. They believe that the current six years teaching in English undermines efforts to modernize their mother tongue. English was the language of instruction in most schools in Malaysia, whose territory was part of the British colony until 1957. The transition to Malay was not until 20 years later and most of the items outside of the strict language are taught in Malay.

Discussion

With the constitution of 1957, English was retained as a co official language in addition to Malay, but the pronounced intention was to develop Malay into a national language and to remove this special status of English after a ten-year transition period. The official status of English ceased in peninsular Malaysia in 1967, in Sabah in 1973, and in Sarawak in 1985

The official language of Malaysia is Bahasa Malaysia, the standard form of the Malay language. Historically, English is the de facto language, administration; the Malay became the dominant race after the riots of 1969. English second language remains active and serves as the teaching of mathematics and science in all public schools. Malaysian English, also known as Malaysian Standard English, British English is derived from English. English Malaysia believes that the widespread use in business, along with Manglish, which is the colloquial form of English with a heavy Malay, Chinese, Tamil and influence. The government discourages the abuse of Malaysia and the fines established for public announcements are mixed Malay and English (Andaya, 2001).

In Malaysia, a number of factors have combined to make a language shift more or less likely. In general, the fewer people who speak a language, the greater the chances that its speakers will find it necessary to learn regional or global languages in order to get by in an interconnected society. On the other hand, if a ...