Abstract
Bahasa Malaysia is the national language in Malaysia, which acts as a national symbol that raise a sense of national unity, and maintains a sense of cultural value and identity. As the country is multicultural and multilingual, the use of Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin, and Tamil invite questions of comparative vitality, which is a strength evaluation of language relative to other languages that coexist in the linguistic sphere.The present study, via the indicators such as language use, dominance and preference, language attitude and motivation, and language proficiency, aims to examine the vitality of these languages and to obtain comparative information about their connections to national and ethnic identity. Vitality Questionnaire was distributed to Malaysian primary five students fromvernacular Tamil and Chinese schools. Findings indicate that Bahasa Malaysiaand English do not have high vitality . Yet, vernacular languages are rated as having high vitality. It is suggested that ethnic languages dominantly shape ethnic identity and that they play animportant role in the students’ lives at early age as compared to Bahasa Malaysia which has not gained a stronghold. Thus, the sense of national identity appears to have taken a back seat. National aspiration in this aspect of nation building is still far from being realized if it is to be nurtured and expected to be developed at this stage of growth. Within a multilingual milieu, establishing national identity appears a complex issue and language choice and use may have long term effects on the moulding of a Malaysian national identity.
Highlights
The Malaysian education system promotes bilingualism and multilingualism through the establishment of primary schools with three mediums of instruction
While Bahasa Malaysia does not serve as the medium of instruction (MI) in national-type primary school, the language is taught as a compulsory language subject alongside with the English language in these schools
The use of vernacular languages as MI can be regarded as a successful initiative to maintain ethnic identity
Summary
The Malaysian education system promotes bilingualism and multilingualism through the establishment of primary schools with three mediums of instruction. Bahasa Malaysia, the national language, is used as the medium of instruction (MI) in both primary and secondary national schools, while Mandarin and Tamil act as the medium in national-type (vernacular) primary Chinese and Tamil schools. English is learnt as another language subject that has economic significance. While Bahasa Malaysia does not serve as the MI in national-type primary school, the language is taught as a compulsory language subject alongside with the English language in these schools. This system for primary schools is an ISSN: 1675-8021. Despite some proposals to integrate the systems, vernacular schools have survived and thrived with apparent increasing enrolment in the current times
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