A Comparison Of Language Policies And Implications In Malaysia, Singapore, And Brunei Gurminderjeet Kaur a/p Kartar Singh, Lee Pui Har, Angeline Chong Suet Kee & Dr. Jauriah @ juriah binti long Education Faculty, UKM Abstract This paper will describe the language policies and the impact of the policies on language learning and teaching in three selected ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries— Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. As these three ASEAN countries are formed by multiracial and multilingual communities, therefore a range of factors such as complex linguistic and cultural factors are involve in language policies planning and implementation. The language policies towards minority languages in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei are examined and the renewal efforts of these countries are also discussed. Language implementation in these countries shows how the learning of minority languages can take place in three different communities that shared the same national language which is Malay. The findings indicate that many language policies that have been implemented in these country are mainly affected by the world development or the effect of globalization and reality still potray that there are numerous side effects followed by the changes of policy and syllabus. Keywords: language policies, language teaching, bilingualism, mother tongue, national language 1. INTRODUCTION In the setting of the South East Asia countries, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei are built up by a multilingual society, whereby a variety of languages are spoken in these countries. To quote from (Cavallaro 2005), when different languages come into contact and through social or political processes one or more language(s) will become dominant at the expense of the others. Due to that, the languages spoken by minority groups in these countries are believed to be constantly under pressure. To add on, their main competitors are not only the language of the majority group in the country and also the internationally popular or dominant languages, in this case, which is English. (David, Cavallaro & Coluzzi 2009) Due to the economic, politic and cultural diversity of these countries, bilingualism and multilingualism were introduced as English, the international language, has become very important in these few decades. __________________________ ________ *Corresponding author. Tel: +6016-5968604; +60169609177; +60169351276 Emailaddress: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] 158 In general, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei are among the South East Asia countries that have predominantly Malay-speaking populations. There are two types of language policy that exist in these countries, which are the official one-language policy and official multilingualism policy. 2. LANGUAGE POLICIES 2.1. Malaysia In the year of 1951, the Barnes Report proposed a single inter-racial type of school, the national school. It would provide 6 years of free bilingual (Malay and English) education for all 6-12 year-olds. The aim was to achieve elusive goal of educational unification based on Malay-English bilingualism. It suggested the transformation of all vernacular schools into national schools where English would be the medium of instruction and Malay language as the national language, while Mandarin and Tamil language were to be taught as subjects in Pupils Own Language (POL). English was suggested as a medium of instruction to develop skills and knowledgeable human resources for economic prosperity of the new nation. (Hazita 2003) However, the English and Malay language were the medium of instruction used in the education system during the first 10 years after Malaysia achieve its independence from Britain. The government only seriously began implementing the transition from English to Malay language at all levels of the educational system in the year of 1970. The policy met with some resistance and resentment among the non-Malay as well as Malay English educated group. However, public universities such as University Malaya continued teaching technology courses and some science courses in English as it was the most important and extensively used language (Anning et. al. 2011). The Education Act 1996 and Private Higher Education Act 1996 were introduced and approved the use of English Language in science and technology courses in PHEI and also with overseas institutions and offshore campuses. The Education Act 1996 pointed that Malay language is a compulsory subject in private institution if the medium of instruction was other than the national language (Anning et. al. 2011). The liberalization of higher education policy led to public universities with Malay language as the medium of instruction 159 except for science and technology courses and private universities with English as the medium of instruction. (Anning et. al. 2011) In the beginning of 2003, the government announced the implementation of teaching science and mathematics in English for all primary and secondary schools. This did not improve the PHEI’s graduates’ proficiency in English. (Anning et. al. 2011) However, a rally was held to protest against the use of English language for Science and Mathematics in primary and secondary education in 2009. MBMMBI (Memartabatkan Bahasa Malaysia dan Memperkukuhkan Penguasaan Bahasa Inggeris) was then introduced to replace PPSMI from 2012, after it was found that the policy failed to achieve its objective of raising students' proficiency in English, which have affected their performance in the science and mathematics subjects, especially among rural students. To minimise the effects of the change of policy, the government had introduced the "soft landing" approach, whereby the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics could be done in two languages, depending on the capability of the teachers and pupils." This means that the examination papers will be prepared in the two languages and it is up to the students to answer the questions in the language they can easily understand." (Anning et. al. 2011) 2.2. Singapore There have been three distinct periods in the Singapore’s education policy ; a survival-driven education system (1965-1978), an efficiency-driven education system (1979- 1991) and an ability-driven education system (since 1992). According to Dixon (2005), the rising status of English started in 1966 when the bilingual education was introduced. However, The Goh Report in 1979 highlighted the ineffective bilingualism as a problem related to language education (Man-Fat 2005). Less than 40% of the student population had the minimun competency level in two languages at the time. The report also stated low literacy rate as one of the problem related to language education in Singapore. The situation was more serious in the English stream and it contributed to a lot of wastage of resources in 160 the education system. As a result, students were given the opportunity to do the 'first' languages and possibly a 'third' language to solve this problem (Man-Fat 2005). Competent students were able to maximize their potential and less capable students could at least be proficient in one language (English). The New Education system (primary level) was introduced in 1980 where English was the medium of instruction for tertiary institutions. The system was to enable above average and average pupils to be proficient in English and least literate in Malay, Mandarin & Tamil. (Dixon 2005) Then, in 1981, the New Education system for secondary level was introduced. The system was to enable students to be proficient in English and other second languages. Finally, in 1987, English-for-all-year was implemented. The national stream of education was introduced whereby all Primary One pupils were taught in English as first language and mother tongues as second language. (Dixon 2005) In the year of 2004, the Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) was launched. The purpose for this movement was to encourage Singaporeans to have a better command of Standard English, which is key to Singapore’s economic success. English skills are relevant for academic achievement. (Kassim 2013) The SGEM was promoted by conducting language-related activities in schools, themed broadcasts in the media, readings organised by the National Library Board, an “Inspiring Teacher of English Award” and through websites. As a result, lists of “Commonly mispronounced words”, quizzes with Singlish sentences to be rendered in Standard English, and links to providers of adult language classes. (Leimgruber n.d.) 2.3. Brunei In 1984, a bilingual system of education was set up in Brunei. This single educational system was marked by a gradual introduction of English as a medium of instruction. At lower primary level, all subjects except English Language were taught in Malay while at upper primary, English is taught as a subject. In addition, Mathematics; History; Science and Geography were also taught through the medium of English while Malay Language; Islamic Religious Knowledge; Physical Education; Arts and Handicrafts; and Civics were all taught 161 in Malay. (Brunei Ministry of Education 2011) In Lower Secondary level, Malay; Islamic Religious Knowledge and History were taught in Malay, while other subjects were taught in English. In Upper Secondary level, only Malay Language was taught in Malay, though this depended to some extent on the stream that was chosen. Those concentrating on Malay language and/or Islamic religious studies would have a greater proportion of their subjects taught through