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International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rbeb20 Minority Language Education in : Four Ethnic Communities' Experiences Karla J. Smith Published online: 26 Mar 2010.

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Karla J. Smith Institut Linguistik SIL, , Malaysia

Malaysiais a multilingual,multicultural society. The NationalLanguage Policy that establishedBahasa Malaysia as theofficial includes a provision for theuse of thenation’ s numerous otherlanguages, including thoseof theindigenous minorities,provided thatthe parents request it and thatthere are at least fifteen studentsto makeup amother-tongue class.For many years,Tamil and Mandarinwere theonly languagecommunities acting on thatprovision. However,in morerecent years,several indigenous peoplegroups, concernedabout whatthey perceiveas a declinein theuse of theirethnic language among theyounger generation,have begun languagedevelopment and/or mothertongue educationprogrammes. In thispaper the author looks atfour languageminority groups –theKadazandusun and theIranun in Sabah,the Iban in ,and theSemai in peninsularMalaysia – and whatthey are doing toprovide beginning educationprogrammes for their children that use the chil- dren’s own languages.Three of thesemother-tongue programmesare presentlyin the formaleducation system. These educational trends aim not only atdeveloping the studentscognitively in theirmother tongue and Malaythus achievingbetter results in school, but also at maintaining their unique cultural and linguistic heritage.

Background Malaysiais a multilingual,multicultural society, located on the mainlandof SoutheastAsia with two states on the islandof Borneo. On Peninsula Malaysia there area number oflanguage communities,each one speaking itsown language(s). The Malaysare in the majoritywith over 50% of the totalpopula- tion,then the Chinese withapproximately 32% and the Indians8%. Accordingto the 1995Statistics of JHEOA, 1 the departmentin chargeof aboriginal affairs under the Ministryof National Unity andSocial Development, there arealso 18 aboriginallanguage groupsin Peninsula Malaysia.Each aboriginal language group, alsocalled orang asli meaning originalpeople, speaksits own language. Together the aboriginalgroup members total92,523. The languagesof Sabah and Sarawak,states on the islandof Borneo,are more numerous. In anearly1980s’ language survey,54 indigenous languages(including dialects)have been identi- Downloaded by [University of Waikato] at 00:20 21 July 2015 fied in Sabah(Grimes, 2002). In Sarawak,the exactlanguage situationis not known but it is estimated to be as linguistically diverse as Sabah. TheEncyclopedia of Languageand Linguistics (Asher, 1994:2352) states that the indigenous languagesin Malaysiaare from two different stocks.Malay along withthe languagesin Sabahand Sarawak are from the Austronesianstock, whereasSemai andthe otheraboriginal languages found in Peninsula Malaysia are from the Austroasiatic stock. 2 The bumiputera or‘ sonsof the soil’are the indigenous peoples of Sabah, Sarawak,the aborigine ofPeninsula Malaysia( orang asli)3 andthe .In Malaysia,the Semai mentioned in thispaper arealwaysreferred toas orang asli,

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Minority Language Education in Malaysia Minority Language Education in Malaysia 53

whereasthat name is never used forgroups such as the Iban,Kadazan Dusun and Iranun. In speaking ofthe languagesof Sabah and Sarawak,Asher (1994:2352) states, ‘none hasa writingsystem of itsown’ . However,this is not correct. Not only does eachlanguage mentioned in thispaper havea writingsystem, but anumber of languagessuch as the Timugon Murut, Kimaragan,Tombonuwo, Ida’ an and othersin Sabahall have books that have been published by the SabahState Museum, somefrom as earlyas 1979.According to the Bibliography ofSIL Inter- national,4 alanguage development NGO,itsMalaysian Branch has 59 items published by the Museum in the period 1978–2000. These haveincluded trilin- gual phrasebooks, picture dictionariesand traditional stories. Many ofthese havebeen edited, co-authoredor compiled by members of SIL. Todate, SIL Malaysiahas produced morethan 200 titles, many in the categoriesof language surveys,descriptive grammars, linguistics and anthropology.These arelistedin the above-mentioned Bibliography thatis available on the worldwideweb. 5 Of the four language communitiespresented in thispaper, SIL hasonly hadsignifi- cant,ongoing involvementwith the Kadazandusunand Iranun. The Semai language project,which is a recent governmentinitiative, has had very limited SIL involvement to date. Accordingto Omar(1987: 58), ‘ Malayhas always been the lingua francain intergroup communication’in Malaysia.In the colonialdays, 6 Malaywas used in the marketplace andin dailylife between ethnic groups.Although during this timethe language ofthe governmentwas English, public noticesand important documentswere published in Malay,Chinese andTamil as well asin English. Thisreflected the three mainethnic groupsrecognised under English colonial rule forcommunication and education. These four languagesrepresented four types ofschools using four different curriculums.There havebeen Chinese primary schools since 1904 and Tamil Primary schools since 1913. On31 August 1957the Union Flag waslowered forthe lasttime in andBaker(1999: 260) saysthe ‘Britishleft behind aprosperouscountry withtremendous potential’ . He further statesin Chapter16 thatthere were some seriouseconomic inequalities in thismultilingual country.The leadersof this newly independent countrysaw national identity andunity astheir main priorities. Omar(1982) states that language planning in Malaysiabegan in 1956.The Downloaded by [University of Waikato] at 00:20 21 July 2015 Reportof the Education Committee wasconcerned witheducation in general and specifically the policies governing the usesof English,Malay, Tamil and Chinese. Accordingto Omar (1982: 33), it ‘ paved the wayfor the educationsystem of Malaysiato transforminto one thatwas national in nature’. She goeson (p. 34)to saythat, ‘ people speaking acommonlanguage acquirethrough this language a feeling of unity and a common identity’. After Malaysiabecame independent in 1957,the NationalLanguage Policy wasdrafted in Article152 of the Constitution.This policy establishedMalay as the only nationallanguage withthe purpose ofdeveloping nationalunity and identity.This policy alsowrote in aprovisionfor the mothertongues of the numerousother languages. It stated that the ‘pupil’s ownlanguage’ (POL) could be taughtin the schoolsif the parentsdesired andthere were atleast15 students 54 Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

tomakeup aclass.At first, only Tamiland Mandarin were taughtin the schools withIban, an indigenous language, alsotaught in schoolin the stateof Sarawak.

Iban Between 1948and 1963, while Sarawakwas still under Britishcolonial rule, Iban,the language ofthe largestethnic group in Sarawak,was the withother ethnic comunities.Unlike the otherindigenous languagesin this paper, itwas alsoused asthe language ofgovernment for official letters, rulings, announcementsand notices. Jimbun Tawai(1998), Vice Chairmanof the SarawakDayak Iban Association,states that Iban wasused in the courts,espe- ciallyif the personbeing triedunderstood the . Itwas also used overRadio Sarawak and he saysthat it was effective inincreasingthe awareness ofthe Iban communityto develop their language andculture. During thistime the Iban language wasoffered asanexaminationsubject in the SarawakJunior Certificateunder the name‘ Asianlanguage’ . Jimbun saysthat in early 1963the questionof education in the Iban language wasdebated forthe firsttime in the Dewan UndanganNegeri Sarawak ,7 andas a resultthe nameof the subject was changed to‘ Iban language’. Itwas taughtas asubject alongwith other subjects in the school system. Jimbun Tawai(1998: 105) calls the period 1948–1963, while stillunder British rule, the ‘Golden era’ of the Iban language. During this time, on the 15September 1958,the colonialgovernment agreed toofficiatethe forming ofthe BorneoLanguage Bureau (BLB)….The mainpurpose forthe forming ofthe BLBwasto collect the oralliterature of the variousethnic groupsof Borneoand topublish thismaterial in the originallanguage ofthese ethnic groups.This initiative was given full supportby the Iban societyof the time.In ashorttime, the BLBsucceeded inpublishing morethan 60 books in the Iban language. (1998: 105) Hegoeson tosay, however, ‘ since BLBwastaken over by the Dewan Bahasadan Pustaka,the publishing of booksin the nativelanguages of Borneo has been frozen’ (1998: 110). 8 In 1963,Sarawak became independent fromBritain and became apartof Malaysia.Although Iban wasoffered asanelective subject in ateacher’s training

Downloaded by [University of Waikato] at 00:20 21 July 2015 college in 1968–1969, Hamid (1999) states that it was not until 1988that the CentralCurriculum Committeeformalised it as part of the nationalcurriculum. Accordingto Hamid(1999), Iban isbeing taughtas a subject in 453primary and51secondaryschools in the stateof Sarawak.This represents 34,772students and570teachers in the primaryschools and 16,117 students and 155 teachers in the secondaryschools. One ofthe challenges thatIban facesas partof the national curriculum isthe lackof reading materials.Another challenge, resulting in weak implementationin the schools,is the lackof trainedpersonnel tosupervise teach- ing. Becauseof these constraintsIban isnot offered atthe upper secondarylevel. There isalso a lackof teachingstaff at the teachers’college level andso Iban isno longer being offered asanelective inthe college. In 1999,the Ministryof Educa- tionreported that efforts were underway totraintrainers utilising Iban teachers Minority Language Education in Malaysia 55

whowere retired oraboutto retire. This would open the wayfor Iban toagainbe offered as an elective subject at the teacher training college.

Kadazandusun There areapproximately 13 indigenous languagesidentified under the Dusunic 9 in the stateof Sabah. Two of the mainones are Kadazanand Dusun. Like the Iban in Sarawak,this language family makesup the largestethnic majorityin Sabah.After Malaywas made the nationallanguage andthe medium ofinstruction in the schools,Kadazan and Dusun parentsfelt they needed touse Malayin the homeas well. Accordingto Lasimbang et al. (2000:4– 5), Kadazandusun mother tongue speakersfelt the need touse the in the home toencourage easyassimilation into the fastgrowing Malaysian culture, alsoto safeguard social and economic status… A heavy use ofMalayand English coupled withthe need toexcel in the newly structuredMalaysian education system had put mother tongue use in question. Mixed marriagesand the massmedia were othercontributing factors. These factors all led to a decline in the use of the mother tongue. In the mid-1980sJohn andCarolyn Miller, SIL linguistswho were studying the KadazanTangaa’ language, co-authoreda KadazanLanguage Lessons book. Thiswas well received andhelped partof the communityto identify withthe growingproblem oflanguage loss,as the language wasbeing mixed withMalay andsome English. This growing awareness led toliterature production during a writingworkshop in 1985.A language survey wasdone during thattime and fromthe resultsit was clear that the communitywanted their language tobe taughtin the schools,although this had notbeen statedpublicly uptothattime. Accordingto Lasimbang et al.(2000:10), efforts were then madeby the Kadazan Cultural Association (KCA) to request the teaching of Kadazan. In the newspaper Sabah Times of19November 1988,the Ministerof Education madea statementthat ‘ the Ministryof Education may incorporate the studyof otherlanguages such as Iban andKadazan into the schoolsyllabus’ . Asympo- siumwas organised in January1989, ‘ Towardsthe Standardisationof the KadazanDialects’ , lookingat the issuesof standardisationwithin the Dusunic Downloaded by [University of Waikato] at 00:20 21 July 2015 language family andstrategies for introducing the Kadazanlanguage aspart of the schoolcurriculum in Sabah.The mainproblem the Kadazanand Dusun were facing atthattime was the issueof standardisingthe variousdialects. One objec- tive of the symposium was tocreate awareness among participants as tothe problems,challenges and prospectsin the preservationof existingKadazan dialects with the view of arrivingat aconsensuson the need tostandardisethe Kadazanlanguage, andto identify possibilitiesfor the productionof appropriateteaching materials in the Kadazan language. (Lasimbang et al., 2000: 11) Thiseffort atstandardisationwas notto ignore the richdiversity of the dialects or eliminate differences among them, but as Lasimbang (1998: 92) states, 56 Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

The definition of astandardlanguage isa clusterof closely related languagesstrongly identifying themselvesas one linguisticcommunity andsharing a standardwritten language while maintainingtheir own spoken variety. However,when itcame to choosing an identity forthe standardlanguage, there wasconflict between the twogroups as to whether the nameshould be Kadazanor Dusun. Thisdelayed the processuntil 1994when aMember ofParlia- ment,whose mother tongue wasKadazan, revived the campaignfor the language to be included as a subject in the formal academic curriculum. The Borneo Mail newspaper of 15June 1994reported that members ofthe Kadazandusuncommunity had again expressed their desire tohave their language taughtin the schools.However, there wasno provision for this to be done in the public schoolsat thattime so, in October1994, a privateclass was set upunder the KadazandusunLanguage Center (KLC) in responseto the felt need inthe communityfor mother-tongue classes.The firstclass included children aged 7–14 fourteen yearsold and a yearlater, 15 studentsgraduated. 10 The Borneo Mail of25September 1994published anarticletitled ‘ Making Kadazanschool subject: Privateclass may become alaunching pad’. The syllabusused in these classeswas laterused fordiscussions and a basein planning the curriculum and syllabus to be used in the state (or public) schools. In January1995, the KadazanCultural Association and the United Sabah Dusun Associationmet and came to aconsensus.‘ Kadazandusun’was declared asthe standardlanguage ofthe dialectswithin the Dusunic family.In thissame year,Parliament passed a new EducationBill. It allowed for the teachingof the Kadazandusunlanguage in schoolthroughout Sabah as the ‘Pupil’s Own Language’. The EducationMinistry gave the directiveto proceed withprepara- tionsto teach the Kadazandusunlanguage onatrialbasis. Bundu andLiwan were the twodialects chosen to be the reference dialectand renamed Bunduliwan. Thiswas the basedialect to be used in producing materialsfor classes in the schools. In 1995the SabahState Education Department (JPNS), alongwith the Center forCurriculum Development, began the workof developing curriculum materi- alsand teacher training and drew up anactionplan forimplementation at a trial level. Apanel ofKadazandusun Language Curriculum Writersunder JPNS,

Downloaded by [University of Waikato] at 00:20 21 July 2015 using the Kadazandusunlanguage syllabusproduced atthe Kadazandusun Language Center, workedon preparing acurriculum. 11 Teacherswere selected whohad a strongcommand of the language andhad also taken a language courseas anoptionat their particularteacher training colleges. The StateEduca- tion Department gave them centralised training. In January1996, the KadazandusunLanguage Foundation(KLF) began oper- atingwith Rita Lasimbang as the chief executive officer. Tomeet their three goals topreserve, develop andpromote the Kadazandusunlanguage, they haveset up aresourcecentre forthe community.They holdseminars on the linguistic aspectsof the language asseveral of their employees havelinguistic training. They notonly holdyearly teachertraining workshops for a community pre-school,but havealso provided consultant help tothe SabahState Education Minority Language Education in Malaysia 57

Department.They alsoassist in channelling funds tosupport teachers’ requests for in-house training. The initiativeof the KadazandusunLanguage Foundationto revive and develop materialsfor their language hasled themto havenumerous workshops foron-going literatureproduction. Members ofthe Kadazandusuncommunity haveparticipated in these writers’workshops where they havelearned princi- ples suchas the four levels ofliterature,how and what to write,translation prin- ciples andthe processof material production. KLF hasalso held Editor’s Workshopstraining the participantsto know if the subject matteris appropriate forthe intended audience, if the language used wasappropriate for the reading level, aswell asclear, natural and acceptable to the speakersof the language. They havesponsored writing competitions as another way ofencouraging more materialsproduction. There arealso radio broadcasts in Kadazandusunand three of the newspapers have a Kadazandusun section. The firstKadazandusun classes in the public schoolsystem were held in 1997 andwere taughtby 30teachers at 15 schools to 316 Year 4 primaryschool students.This was done outsideschool hours for 120 minutes per week. The schoolsselected were onesthat had a majorityof Kadazandusunstudents in their studentbodies as well aspotentialKadazandusun teachers. The followingyear, 1998,Kadazandusun teaching in Year4 wasimplemented throughoutthe state in additionto the pilotprogramme for Year 5 being startedin 15selected schools. Thisinvolved 147 schools with 171 teachers and 2940 students. In 1999they implemented the pilotprogramme for primary 6 in15selected schools.Along withthat was the implementationof primary4 and5 in schoolsthroughout the state,giving atotalof 231schools, 507 teachers and 8456 students involved. 12 In the year2000, Kadazandusun was starting its fourth year in the schoolsand the new Kadazandusun syllabus was completed. Lasimbang et al. (2000: 2) states, atpresent the Kadazandusunlanguage istaught to 19,731 children by 881 trainedteachers in 440primary schools in 21districtsthroughout the state of Sabah. The Ministryof Education (Hamid, 1999) sees afew challenges in continuing toimplement the Kadazandusunlanguage in the schools.Some ofthese arethe standardisationand compilation of vocabularylists for teaching and the continu- ationof compiling the lexiconto include the manydialects in the Kadazandusun Downloaded by [University of Waikato] at 00:20 21 July 2015 family.They, alongwith the Kadazandusunpeople, realisethe need tocontinue developing reading materials.They areworking on these frontstowards meet- ing their goals. Lasimbang et al. (2000: 20) state, Fromthe community’s standpoint,the ideafor a standardlanguage has comea long way,in that,the inclusionof the Kadazandusunlanguage in the schools has increased the assurance for mother tongue maintenance. However,they goon tosay thatthey hope the language will be fully ownedand publicly acknowledged by the Kadazandusuncommunity itself. This will only be known or verified when a study is done. 58 Bilingual Education and Bilingualism Semai The Semai in Peninsular Malaysiaon the mainlandof Asia, are the largest indigenous language communityin the region.Semai isa CentralAslian language.13 They, alongwith others such as Temiarand Jah Hut,form the Aslian branchof the Mon- family.The Semai number morethan 26,000 andarefound in atleastthree statesin forestedareas of the mainmountain range. They areone ofthe 18aboriginallanguage communitieswho are protected by the Departmentof AboriginalAffairs (JHEOA) formedin 1954as part of the Ministry ofHomeAffairs.The department’s powersand functions, defined by the Aborig- inalPeoples’ Ordinance and revised in 1974,provides for the aboriginalpeoples’ protectionas well asfor the promotionof their socioeconomicdevelopment. JHEOA dealwith matters such as health, education, housing, agriculture and forestpolicy. According to the Ministryof Education,under ‘JHEOA’s grouping plan’, the peninsula aboriginesare settledin villagesand given housing andland forcrops and animal husbandry. These cropsare rubber andoil palm and the animalsare cattle, goats and chickens. Handicrafts are also being promoted. JHEOA’s aimis to integratethe aboriginesand encourage themto settle while respecting their desire to maintain their own cultural traditions. In 1994,JHEOA wastransferred to the Ministryof NationalUnity andSocial Development andthe schools,which were formerly under them,were entrusted tothe Ministryof Educationin 1996.The EducationAct (1996), Act 550 Part1,2 d (ii) stated:‘ indigenous languagesshall be madeavailable if itis reasonable and practicableto doso and if the parentsof at leastfifteen pupils in the schoolso request’. Workon the introductionof Semai intothe nationalcurriculum began when the Ministry of Education took over the aboriginal schools. In January1997, the CentralCurriculum Committeeapproved the implemen- tationof the Semai Language in the schools.The Ministryof Education,Malay- sia,started a pilotprogramme with 15 primaryschools in three states.However, afterthe firstyear, two states were ‘dropped because ofthe dissimilaritiesin the lexiconof the Semai dialects…leading todifferences in understandingamong studentswith regard to the lexiconchosen for teaching’ . 14 In 1998,a pilot programmewas tried in sixschools in one statefor primary Years 3 and4. Then in1999,Years 3 and4 were implemented anda pilotprogramme tried for Years 5 and6.Thiswas done in sixschools with nine teachersand 165 studentsin the one

Downloaded by [University of Waikato] at 00:20 21 July 2015 state.In 2000,there wasfull implementationin the one statewith preparation for expansioninto another state that had been previously tried.This would lead to a trial programme in this state for year 3 and 4 in 2001. The Ministryof Education(MOE) facesseveral challenges in the implementa- tionof Semai in the schools.The presentationdone by the MOE’s representative atthe MERAseminarin 1999mentioned the ‘initiativeand drive lacking at ground level andimplementation has to be constantlymonitored by central authority’. In April 2000,asix-dayteacher training-session was held in Peninsula Malaysiafor people whohad been andwould be involvedin teachingSemai studentsin the schools.The authorhad the privilege ofattending the lastfew daysof thistraining session. During one ofthe staffplanning sessionsat the end andintalkingwith a few ofthe teachers,a frequently expressed need wasfora lot morematerials in the Semai language. Once againthe commentcame up about Minority Language Education in Malaysia 59

the differences in dialectsand maybe even in languages.Some people have tended tolump allthe orang asli oraboriginesin Peninsula Malaysiatogether, althoughthey havedifferent mothertongues. More researchneeds tobe done in the areas of language survey and linguistics. Language survey isneeded todetermine the degree oflanguage similarity anddifferences. One waycouldbe withlexicostatistics. This is usually used asan initialmethod for determining language anddialect boundaries and relies onthe comparisonof wordlistsof the languagesin question.Another method that can alsobe used isintelligibility testing.In thismethod people listento tapedstories in languagesrelated to their ownand then their comprehensionis tested. This worksbest when trying todetermine the degree ofsimilaritybetween twoor morelanguages. This is by nomeans a comprehensive overviewof language survey, but only an indication of how it could be done. More materialsneed tobe developed forthe Semai, especially reading books forthe students.A lexiconis currently being compiled under the supervisionof the MOEandthis will require morework. SIL wasinvited by the MOEtoorgan- ise aworkshopto teach their staffShoeBox, a programcreated by SIL tomanage a lexicaldatabase and make dictionaries At the end ofthe week in September 2000, there were more than 2000 Semai words entered and work continues.

Iranun The Iranun people ofSabah,Malaysia, mainly inhabit the westcoast, although Iranun isalso spoken in afew villagesin the LahadDatu area in southeastern Sabah.Iranun isa distinctmember ofthe Danaosub-family. Thissub-family consistsof Maranao,Maguindanaon, and Ilanon of IlayaBay in Mindanao,Phil- ippines, andthe Iranun ofSabah,Malaysia. The nameIranun, preferred by the SabahanIranun, means ‘ longing fora certainplace’ and conveys love for their homeland.Estimates indicate there aresome 12– 15,000 Iranun speakersin Sabah. Some ofthe Iranun leadersexpressed concernover the gradualloss of their culture andlanguage asthe communitiesare being influenced by the widersociety. Their history,oral literature and traditions have not been writtendown, so asthe oldergeneration die, their heritage isbeing lost.They see their ethnic language declining in use amongthe younger generationas they areschooled in the

Downloaded by [University of Waikato] at 00:20 21 July 2015 nationallanguage. Although their children aresupposedly bilingual, they donot demonstratefluent controlof either Iranun orofthe nationallanguage, Malay, but instead commonly code-switch. Code-switching,according to C. Baker(1996: 86), ‘ iswhen anindividual (moreor less deliberately) alternatesbetween twoormorelanguages. Such alter- nationcan range fromone wordmixing, to switchingin mid-sentence, toswitch- ing in largerspeech blocks’. In Iranun,this seems to happen asthe younger generationis speaking orwriting and cannot remember aword,or the Malay grammaticalphrase is simpler. The phrasesin the followingsentences illustrate code-switching. (1) Sarita’ aya ni mula , liumalakau aku sa raya (2) Sarita’ aya kiapu’ unan ian manaia , lumalakau akun sa raya. 60 Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

The firstIranun sentence hasthe Malayphrase underlined andthe second sentence showsthe samemeaning in Iranun afterbeing edited. Bothof these phraseswere takenfrom a storywritten and edited in aworkshopseries 1999–2000. Alawyerand minister in the government,an Iranun himself, alsofelt the concernsof hispeople. In 1995,he invited SIL toworkwith his people andhelp themdevelop andpreserve their language. Dr HowardMcKaughan, 15 a respected linguist andSIL consultant,started linguistic research in 1996.My husband andI were askedto begin workwith the Iranun in 1998.An advisory committeewas formed which included leadersfrom all the Iranun villages. Working committees,with an executive committeeto oversee them,were formedin eachof four geographic areas.We trainedthese workingcommittees to do various language development activities. The committeesstarted by taperecording some of their traditionalstories and historyand then transcribingthem. They found the transcriptiondifficult asan orthographywas not yet in place.At the sametime we startedcomputer training inthree ofthe four areas.While thiswas progressing, work was underway to devise anorthography.In November 1998,the firstorthography seminar was held, which resulted in aproposedpractical orthography 16 basedon linguistic analysis and preliminary phonological description done by Dr McKaughan. Witha proposedorthography in place,the Iranun people were readyto write moreof their literature.We facilitateda three-part writers’workshop, which began in 1999and was completed in2000.More than60 people attendedthese workshops.In addition,there wasalso an editing workshop,which helped to prepare allthe materialsfor publication. The computertrainees were able to input andprint the 67different bookletswritten during thattime, complete with picturesdrawn by localartists and authors. H. RussellBernard (1992) in apaper entitled ‘Preserving language diversity:Computers can be atoolfor making the survivalof languagespossible’ , tellsof acentre in Mexicothat was established to enable the topublish booksin their ownlanguagesusing comput- ers.He alsomentions the Kompeople in Cameroonusing computersto write in their language. Anumber ofthe Iranun participantsin the workshopsare now able todo this. The Iranun andSIL members held twomore workshops in 2001 and work continues in the language. Lambert(1975) distinguished between whathe labelled ‘additive’and Downloaded by [University of Waikato] at 00:20 21 July 2015 ‘subtractive’bilingualism. Iranun children areexperiencing subtractivebilin- gualism.Iranun students,like the Kadazandusunstudents, are expected to acquireMalay, the officialor schoollanguage andconsequently, their parents andothers around try to speak Malayto them, but itnot standard Malay. All aroundthem they heartheir oldersiblings, relatives and others in the commu- nity speaking Iranun.However, in school,Iranun isnot used asameansfor help- ing themlearn and this usually hasmeant that, as the learning requirements become morecomplex, the children tend todopoorly. This is especially evident incomparisonto the children whospeak the schoollanguage astheir mother tongue. In addition,the minority-language children graduallylose their ability tospeak andunderstand their mothertongue. Thisis by nomeans unique tothe Iranun.The sameprocess is occurring in the otherindigenous language groups in Malaysia and among other indigenous peoples around the world. Minority Language Education in Malaysia 61

The situationis exactly what the Kadazandusunwere facing afew years earlier.They ‘tackledit head on’ by activelypursuing the inclusionof their language in the public schoolcurriculum. The Iranun people wouldalso like to see their language in the schoolsystem in their geographicalareas. To thisend, they arecontinuing literatureproduction. Their visionis for their children to knowtheir heritage andtheir language. They wanttheir children toknowtheir history,their traditionalstories and culture. Atthe sametime they wanttheir children tospeak Malayfluently. Withthis in mind,they haveasked for help in producing materialsso they canconsiderstarting a programmeat the pre-school level. They hope thatin the future their language canalso be included asasubject in the public school curriculum.

Comments In personalcommunication with members ofthe Curriculum Department, when the Ministryof Education considers the variousethnic groupswho ask for their language tobe implemented in the schoolsunder the ‘pupil’s own language’(POL) clause,they haveto look at variousfactors including population sizeand what is practical and affordable. In this,as in anyother programme, it is naturalfor all leaders to be concerned aboutthe financialcost. If every language communitywere toask to have its language included in the curriculum,this couldpresent adilemmawhen one considersthe manylanguages there arein somecountries. Yet, one mustlook beyond the immediatecost and think ofthe future ofthe country.A number ofresearchers, including C.Baker(1996), have statedthat children perform better when they havebeen able todevelop cognitively in their mothertongue andare able totransfer that to the national language andother languages they need tolearn.According to Tucker (1998)and Dutcher (2001),research done invariousplaces throughout the worldindicates thatalthough there maybe additionalone-time start-upcosts, innovative programmescost about the sameas traditional programmes. The costbenefit calculationscan be thoughtof in termsof improvementsin the students’years of schoolingand then the enhanced earning potentialof graduates. It will be inter- esting tosee whathappens asthe Iranun,in the yearsto come,work on material development andpush fortheir language tobe included in the educationsystem. In 1980, the Reportof theCabinet Committee ontheImplementation ofthe National

Downloaded by [University of Waikato] at 00:20 21 July 2015 EducationPolicy recommended thatthe POLclassesbe opened toothers and not justto first-language speakers(Omar, 1987: 63). Interestingly enough, in Sabah, Kadazandusunis being offered toall. In factin one areaof Sabah, where the speakersbelong tothe Paitaniclanguage family,there areno POL classesin their language, but Kadazandusunis offered intheir schools.In anotherarea, there are someKadazandusun speakers, but the majorityare from two other non-Dusunic language groups.In personalconversation, a teacherin aschoolin thatarea statedthat all the studentswere being offered the optionof learning Kadazandusun. Hamid(Ministry ofEducation),at MERA 1999,states three reasonsfor the inclusionof the Indigenous languagesof Malaysia – Iban,Kadazandusun and Semai – in the school curriculum: Politicalwill ofthe ethnic minorities,the Government’s commitmentto 62 Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

preserving andpromoting ethnic culturesand heritage, and to integrate these minoritiesinto mainstream society and as part of Malaysia’s social engineering programto develop minority/disadvantagedgroups to be on parwith major ethnic/ economicallyadvantaged groups within Malaysia’ s multi-ethnic culture. The politicalwill isseen in the Iban andKadazandusun communities of Sarawak andSabah. On the otherhand, the Semai in Peninsular Malaysiaare part of Malaysia’s ‘social engineering program to develop disadvantaged groups’. One cannote the present trendin the waythe indigenous languagesare being implemented in the schoolsin Malaysia.In the caseof the Kadazandusun,the programmebegan in Grades4– 6 withplans to continue intothe secondary school.In the caseof the Semai,it was implemented in Grades3– 6. The reason given forthe startat Grade3 or4isbecause itis felt thatthe children need tolearn Malaywell before they areintroduced to anotherlanguage. When the students enter school,the curriculum andlanguage in which they learnto readis Malay, the nationallanguage. Then aftertwo or three years,they areable tohavea class intheir mothertongue. The feeling isthat they cannotbe burdened withmore thanone language andthe nationallanguage needs tobe taughtfrom the timethe studententers school. In manycases, one classin English isalready in the school systemfrom Year 1, sothe indigenous language needs towait to be introduced until Year 3 or 4. When lookingat the field ofmother-tongue andbilingual education,one can see agoodstart has been madein including the indigenous languagesin the Malaysianschool system. However, more considerations and deliberations will need tobe madefor the studentsto achieve better results.An additivebilingual educationprogramme as described by Lambert(1975) seems to be needed. In this model,students learn first in their mothertongue andcontinue todevelop cognitively in the mothertongue while learning asecondlanguage. The new learning wouldjust be the structureand vocabulary of the new language. Baker (1996:102) in commentingon additiveor subtractive bilingualism, statesthat a positiveself-concept relatesto additive bilingualism but when there is subtractivebilingualism, there maybe alowerself-concept andloss of cultural identity.Cummins (1980) states that the languagesa personknows have differ- ent surfacefeatures, but only one underlying centraloperating system in the

Downloaded by [University of Waikato] at 00:20 21 July 2015 brain and so the dual process is not educationally harmful. Accordingto the evidence presented byThomasand Collier (1997), additive bilingual educationprogrammes, especially thosethat continue touse the chil- dren’s mothertongue in the classroomthrough their primaryyears, increase minority-language students’ability to become successfullearners. In astudy encompassing 14 years, they found that only thosegroups of ‘ language minoritystudents’ who have received strongcognitive and academic development throughtheir firstlanguage formany years, at leastthrough Grade 5 or6, aswell asthroughthe second language aredoing well inschoolas they reachthe lastof the high school years. (1997: 14) The Thomasand Collier study demonstrates that minority-language Minority Language Education in Malaysia 63

students’ability to achieve long-term academicsuccess is greatly enhanced by the use oftheir mothertongue foras long aspossible.They found thatthe deeper astudent’s level ofcognitiveand academic development in the firstlanguage, the better he orshe will progressin the secondlanguage asthese skillstransfer readily.Similarly, indigenous language studentscould benefit frominstruction in both Malay and their mother tongue. Language canbe seen aspartof aperson’s identity.There arepeople in the worldwho will considerthemselves part of acertainethnic group, even if they donot speak the language, whereasthere areothers who will argue thatif people donot speak the language then they havelost their identity andtheir heritage. Adley-Santa Maria(1999: 18) says,‘ ourlanguages are us – they areavitalpart of our identities’.

Conclusion Accordingto Omar(1987: 66), ‘ The Malays,as arace,would rather die than losetheir language toa foreign one’. Some language communitiesaround the worldare emotionally attached to their language anddo notwant to loseit. A Semai teacherat the teacher-trainingsession in 2000spoke ofher group’s happi- nessat having their language nowbeing taughtin the schools.The Kadazandusundemonstrated this in their campaignfor their language tobe used in the schools.The Iranun aredemonstrating this in their questnot only to establisha writtenform of their language, but alsoto have it taught initially in pre-school with the hope it will continue into the primary school. The Malaypeople havea motto, BahasaJiwa Bangsa ,meaning language isthe soulof the nationor race. This, Omar (1987: 16) states, is deeply ingrained in them.She goeson to say it gives the feeling ofpride andthe communityis attachedto it. Other people groupsaccept Malay as the nationaland , but alsoare exhibiting the sametype offeeling abouttheir own language asthey seek todevelop it.This is seen in these four communitiesand, at the timeof writing (2001), the Bidayuh of Sarawakare working towards language standardisation,materials development andthe goalof their language alsobeing in the schoolsystem. For the Kadazandusunand Semai itis early days yet astheir programmehas just been implemented withinthe lastfive years.The Iranun hasnot yet reachedthat stage. For all these languages,materials are still

Downloaded by [University of Waikato] at 00:20 21 July 2015 being developed and plans continue to be made. Extensivestudies are lacking in the field ofindigenous educationin SEAsia andmore research needs tobe done.More timeand study is needed inthese languagesto see the resultsof their language development projects.More work needs tobe done in the areasof orthography testing and sociolinguistic surveys. There need tobestudiescomparing indigenous students’education results with the resultsof Malaymother-tongue speakers.In indigenous languageswhere POLclasseshave been implemented, longitudinalstudies are needed todeter- mine the effect ofthese classes.Studies like thiswould be very beneficial tothe localpeople andMinistry of Education, as well astoNGOsand other minority communities across the world, especially in . 64 Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

Correspondence Any correspondenceshould be directedto KarlaJ. Smith,Institut Linguistik SIL, WDT 26, 88900 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia ([email protected]).

Notes 1. Statistik 1995 JHEOA , Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli. 2.According tothe InternationalEncyclopedia of Linguistics (Bright, 1992:137), the primary split ofthe Austro-Asiatic language is between the Mon Khmer and Munda families. On page139 the editor goes on tosay thatthe ‘Aslian branchof interior Malaysiaclearly fitswithin Mon Khmer and may actuallyform asouthern division of the family’. He mentions anorth Aslian and south Aslian sub-branchand callsthe branch with the Semai, the Senoic sub-branch. 3. Orang asli,aborigine, aboriginal, aborigine language community are allused inter- changeably forthe Semaiand the other 17indigenous groups in Peninsula Malaysia. 4.SIL is aninternational non-government organisation with members from more than 35countries, working with minority-language communities in over 60countries. SIL has worked under aMemorandum ofUnderstanding (MOU)in Sabah,Malaysia, since 1979. 5.http:/ /www.ethnologue.com/show_country_bibl.asp?name=Malaysia 6.The British ruled Malaya,as it wasthen known, during the 19thand first halfon the 20th centuries. 7. Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak means Sarawak State Assembly. 8. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka means Language and Library Council. 9.The Dusunic language family is one ofthe language families in Sabah,Malaysia. There are alsoother language families such asMurutic,Paitanic and Sama-Bajau.These are listed in the SIL/MalaysiaBranch, RevisedList of Western and Dialectsin Sabah ,March1996: Kota Kinabalu. The International Encyclopedia of Linguistics onpages 667–668 lists these languages under the Austronesian family. The Malayo-Polynesian and Western Malayo-Polynesian are listed asbranches or subgroups. 10. KLF News (1999)Issue 1,p.10,produced bythe KadazandusunLanguage Foundation, Penampang, Sabah, Malaysia. 11. KLF News (1999)Issue 1,p.11,produced bythe KadazandusunLanguage Foundation, Penampang, Sabah, Malaysia. 12. Schedule of Implementation 1997–1999 , Ministry of Education, Malaysia. 13.The Temiar website quotes Wurm and Hattori (1983)and Benjamin (1986)as stating that the orang asli have been categorised linguistically into three Aslian groups. The Central Aslian group is comprised ofthe Temiar, Semai,Jah Hut, Jengjeng, Lanoh, Sabumand Semnam. Acomplete genetic classificationof the world’s languages is listed on the website –Ruhlen Classificationand List ofLanguages ofthe world. This is based onpp.301– 378 ofMerritt Ruhlen’s (1987)

Downloaded by [University of Waikato] at 00:20 21 July 2015 AGuideto theWorld’ s LanguagesVol. 1: Classification , Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA. 14.Hamid: Ministry ofEducation Malaysia1999 presentation atthe MERA/ERA Seminar. 15Dr Howard P.McKaughan,Professor Emeritus University Hawaii,has worked in Mexico,Thailand, the and Malaysia,besides spending 25years asa professor and dean atthe University ofHawaii. He specialises in analysing the gram- mar ofthe language and has co-authoreda dictionary ofthe Maranaoof the Philip- pines, a language related to Iranun. 16.After the phonemes ofthe language were identified, graphemes were assigned toeach one. Inthis casethe graphemes are from the Roman alphabetand the assignments were made tomatch the national language asclosely aspossible. This proposed orthography is ofatentative nature and will undergo several stages oftesting before attaining the status of standard orthography. Minority Language Education in Malaysia 65

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