Minority Language Education in Malaysia: Four Ethnic Communities' Experiences Karla J

This article was downloaded by: [University of Waikato] On: 21 July 2015, At: 00:20 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG 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 Malaysia: Four Ethnic Communities' Experiences Karla J. Smith Published online: 26 Mar 2010. To cite this article: Karla J. Smith (2003) Minority Language Education in Malaysia: Four Ethnic Communities' Experiences, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 6:1, 52-65, DOI: 10.1080/13670050308667772 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13670050308667772 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and- conditions Downloaded by [University of Waikato] at 00:20 21 July 2015 Minority Language Education in Malaysia: Four Ethnic Communities’ Experiences Karla J. Smith Institut Linguistik SIL, Sabah, Malaysia Malaysiais a multilingual,multicultural society. The NationalLanguage Policy that establishedBahasa Malaysia as theofficial national language 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 Sarawak,and theSemai in peninsularMalaysia – and whatthey are doing toprovide beginning educationprogrammes for their children that use the children’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, multiculturalsociety, located on the mainlandof SoutheastAsia with two states on the islandof Borneo. On Peninsula Malaysia there area number of language 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 aboriginalaffairs under the Ministryof NationalUnity 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 anearly 1980s’ 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 Sabah andSarawak 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 of Peninsula Malaysia( orang asli)3 andthe Malays.In Malaysia,the Semai mentioned in thispaper arealwaysreferred toas orang asli, 1367-0050/03/01 0052-14 $20.00/0 ©2003 K.J. Smith International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism Vol. 6, No. 1, 2003 52 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 Sabah allhave books that have been published by the Sabah State Museum, somefrom as early as1979.According to the Bibliography of SIL Inter- national,4 alanguage development NGO,its Malaysian Branch has 59 items published by the Museum in the period 1978–2000. These haveincluded trilin- gual phrasebooks, picture dictionariesand traditional stories. Many of these 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 isa 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 Kuala Lumpur 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 of the largestethnic group in Sarawak,was the lingua franca 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 Iban language. Itwas also used overRadio Sarawak and he saysthat it was effective inincreasingthe awareness ofthe

Load more