Impact of language planning on language choice in friendship and transaction domains in Sarawak, Malaysia.
This paper shows that language planning in government-controlled domains has a spillover effect in domains where language use is not regulated by language policies. Language planning in post-colonial Malaysia can be broadly divided into three phases: status planning whereby English was replaced b...
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Format: | E-Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Taylor&Francis
2010
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Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/1028/1/Impact%2Bof%2Blanguage%2Bplanning%2Bon%2Blanguage%2Bchoice%2Bin%2Bfriendship%2Band%2Btransaction%2Bdomains%2Bin%2BSarawak%252C%2BMalaysia.%252824%2529.pdf http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/1028/ |
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Summary: | This paper shows that language planning in government-controlled domains has a spillover
effect in domains where language use is not regulated by language policies.
Language planning in post-colonial Malaysia can be broadly divided into three
phases: status planning whereby English was replaced by Bahasa Malaysia as the
official language; remission in status planning whereby English was allowed
restricted status as the medium of instruction for science and mathematics; and
reinforced status planning for Bahasa Malaysia as a tool for unity. By ensuring that
Malaysians are proficient in Bahasa Malaysia, the government has engendered the
voluntary use of Bahasa Malaysia and its varieties for inter-ethnic communication in
the friendship and transaction domains. There is a gradation in language use from the
lower to the upper end of the transaction domain for inter-ethnic communication as
follows: Bazaar Malay in the market, Sarawak Malay in shops, and Bahasa Malaysia
in hotels. The role of English as a language for inter-ethnic communication is
gradually being supplanted by Bahasa Malaysia, leaving English to function in
domains such as law, the private sector, and higher education. The prominence of
these two languages in the national and international arena, respectively, reduces the
priority given to ethnic languages in friendship and transactional domains. |
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