Impact of Language Planning on Language Attitudes: A Case Study in Sarawak

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of language planning on language attitudes in the Malaysian state of Sarawak where there was strong resistance to replacing English with the national language (Bahasa Malaysia) as the official language. A case study was conducted in a multi-ethnic organisation to find out the language attitudes of participants four decades later. A language attitudes questionnaire adapted from Baker (1992) was used to elicit the participants' beliefs regarding the importance of English in their daily lives, and their attitudes towards the use of English and Bahasa Malaysia. A total of 142 returned the questionnaires. Interviews and observations were also carried out at the research site to co-triangulate the data. The findings of this study show that the participants were keen to be proficient in both English and Bahasa Malaysia, and they also favoured the sharing of language functions for these two languages. The findings suggest that the prevailing language attitudes were in tandem with the goals of the national language policy but the full impact of language planning has not been realised.