Introduction: understanding language management and multilingualism in Malaysia

Abstract

AbstractThis article introduces multilingualism in Malaysia and examines how the language management of the multilingual society there is challenged by interactions among global, regional, national, and local language orders. These orders and their interactions give rise to various language ideologies, which are struggling to maintain a hierarchy of their respective choice. From this perspective, this introductory article reviews the seven contributions in this issue and analyzes the impact of conflicting language ideologies on language policies, use, maintenance and development in families and communities in Malaysia. The analysis suggests that in Malaysia global and regional language orders have significantly influenced the national and local language orders while the national order has a relatively weak impact on the local language order. Malaysia’s diverse and sometimes conflicting language ideologies reflect the existing language orders and support them. The combination of the existing language orders and ideologies seems to be a perfect fit for unity in diversity regarding nation-building, but it is not necessarily a fit for diversity in unity in Malaysia. The lesson from the Malaysian experience is that language management and nation-building have to take full consideration of the interaction among global, regional, and national language orders within the communities involved.