Stories of Tamil Heritage Language Users As Multilingual Malaysians

Negotiating multiple identities in educational contexts: stories of Tamil Heritage Language Users as Multilingual Malaysians Thilegawathy Sithraputhran A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Victoria University of Wellington March 2017 Dedication To my father, Sithraputhran and my mother, Marimuthu, who have always spurred me on and believed in my academic ability. I am what I am today because of you both.You have inspired me to reach for greater heights. To all Heritage Language Users "The choice of language and the use of language are central to a people's definition of themselves in relation to the entire universe (Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, 1986). Let nothing stop you from using your heritage language. தமிழன் என்쟁 ச ொ쯍லடொ, தலல நிமி쏍ந்鏁 நி쯍லடொ ii Abstract Malaysia is a multilingual and multicultural society comprising of ethnic Malays (dominant group) followed by ethnic Chinese, Indians and other indigenous groups. The national language is Malay and English is the second language. Heritage languages such as Mandarin and Tamil are used as the language of instruction in some primary schools. This study explores how a group of Tamil Heritage Language Users from Tamil primary schools (THLU-Ts) at a private university recounted maneuvering through their multilingual world during their early lives at Tamil primary school, at state secondary school (Malay) and then at a private university (English). Nine first year undergraduate participants were selected from a private university in Malaysia where English is the medium of instruction. They were selected as THLU-Ts based on two criteria. Firstly, they were ethnic Tamils and secondly, they had completed six years of primary education at Tamil primary school. I used photovoice interviews to construct their narratives. The participants, prompted by photographs they brought as artefacts, described their language experiences in a multilingual setting. The participants’ voices were storied into narratives based on three narrative inquiry strategies of broadening, burrowing and restorying. Two in-depth interviews were conducted over a six month period and these were video-taped and transcribed. The interview transcript from each first interview contributed to a narrative summary or story. This was a general description of the participant and events (broadening stage). The second interview was held towards the end of the semester. During the second interview, participants were asked to reflect on their narrative summaries (which had been distributed earlier) and comment on them. I sought data to reexamine the existing data (burrowing stage) before rewriting a complete and coherent story (restorying) for each participant. This story was also individually reviewed by each participant. Data analysis was an iterative process that included storying and coding. I identified three broad themes and then examined them in the light of relevant literature. This analysis allowed me to understand how the THLU-Ts shaped their identities during social interactions with different linguistic communities in Malaysia, including THLU-Ms (ethnic Tamils from national primary schools) and non-Tamils (Malays and Chinese). Initially, THLU-Ts faced challenges as they transitioned to secondary school iii coming from a Tamil- medium primary school. At secondary school, they had to adjust to a Malay linguistic environment for the first time. As their proficiency in Malay grew, they felt they were accepted as authentic members of the academic community. When they entered the English-medium university, there was pressure to develop proficiency in English. They repositioned themselves once again and made deliberate language choices during social interaction with other linguistic communities. When the findings were viewed through Blommaert’s sociolinguistic scales, it was apparent that participants scaled languages depending on the value assigned to each one (Malay, English and Tamil). This reflected the way language was used in society. As powerful multilinguals who invested in a multilingual repertoire, participants displayed linguistic accommodation. These findings suggest a need for educators and policy makers to reassess the role and importance of HL education. Currently, the Malaysian education policy is silent on its commitment to HL education in Malaysia. Yet, this research supports the One Malaysia concept which stresses unity in diversity and encourages educational policies to take a pro-multilingual stance. iv Acknowledgements I thank The Lord for blessing me with wisdom and intellect and from whom I draw spiritual strength which has sustained me throughout my PhD journey. I am greatly indebted to two beautiful ladies- my supervisors, Dr. Margaret Gleeson and Dr. Carolyn Tait. I would like to thank you for spurring me on towards completion of my thesis when I had doubts regarding my capability. I am grateful to you both for guiding me with excellent supervisory skills throughout this research process. Working as a team your individual contribution towards this thesis complemented one another. Dr. Margaret Gleeson, your detailed, meticulous scrutiny of my work enhanced its quality and gave it an aesthetic touch and to Dr. Carolyn who continually challenged me to think and widen my perspectives through insightful but hard questions. Both your advices have been priceless and I could not have imagined having better supervisors for my PhD study. My gratitude goes to the nine participants who took time to share their stories with me. Thank you for trusting me. You have touched my life in many ways. I am also very grateful to have a group of fellow PhD students who provided the laughter and fun and made me aware that I was not the lone traveller in this academic journey. I enjoyed our camaraderie. A special thanks is owing to Sudatip Prapunta with whom I have shared many critical discussions, laughter, and frustrations. This project is supported by the PhD Submission Scholarship awarded by Victoria University of Wellington, and the research grant provided by the Faculty of Education. I also want to thank the staff at the Faculty of Education for their help and support in making this three year journey a pleasant one. A special thanks to Susan Kaiser for making time to edit this work, and for her meticulous attention to detail. Finally, I express my deepest appreciation to my loving husband, Joshua without whom I would not have coped. Thank you for being my sounding board and raising my critical thinking skills. I would not have crossed over each hurdle along the way without your arms continually around me. I am also grateful to my son, Aaron, for chauffering me to the many meetings with my supervisors willingly inspite of his busy work schedule. v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... v Glossary ......................................................................................................................... xiii Chapter One Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 Overview ........................................................................................................................... 1 Heritage language.............................................................................................................. 1 Linguistic scenario in Malaysia ........................................................................................ 3 The Malaysian education context...................................................................................... 4 The history and status of Tamil schools in Malaysia ........................................................ 6 THLU-Ts (from Tamil primary schools) in Malaysia ...................................................... 7 Rationale for the study ...................................................................................................... 9 Aims of the study ............................................................................................................ 10 The research questions .................................................................................................... 10 Significance of the study ................................................................................................. 10 Who am I? ....................................................................................................................... 11 Organisation of thesis chapters ....................................................................................... 13 Chapter Two Literature review .................................................................................. 15 Overview ......................................................................................................................... 15 Linguistic hegemony ....................................................................................................... 15 Linguistic hegemony and language choices ............................................................... 16 Linguistic hegemony and language boundaries among HLUs ................................... 17 Summary ........................................................................................................................

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