Language choice and use of Malaysian Tamil Christian Youths: a survey

Language choice and use, which refers to the selection of language(s) for diverse purposes in diverse contexts with different individuals or groups, are common but rather vital sociolinguistic phenomena in a multilingual setting. This study integrates Fishman’s (1972 domain analysis to determine the dominant language choice of Tamil Christian youths in Malaysia based on their patterns of language choice and use in the domains of family, friendship, and religion; and to examine the underlying factors that govern their language choice patterns in the selected domains. The data were collected through a questionnaire administered to 60 Tamil Christian youths at a church in Kuala Lumpur; together with 4 face-to-face interviews. SPSS was used to get percentage values and frequencies through descriptive statistics of data from the questionnaire. The findings of the study indicate that the respondents chose and used English, Tamil, and Bahasa Malaysia in the selected domains. The English language was found to be used predominantly in all three domains as a result of the influence of these particular domains; the speakers’ verbal repertoires and those of their addressees; their attitude towards a language and its speakers; motivation; and also their sense of solidarity and social identity

Communication Norms in NGOs Advocating Reproductive Health: A Comparative Study of Malaysian and Nigerian NGOs

Reproductive health is an emerging issue in developing countries. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reports that every minute, a woman in the developing world dies from treatable complications of either pregnancy or childbirth. Nigeria is a country where the state of reproductive health of its population is dismal. In 2012, UNFPA pointed out that Nigeria has one of the worst maternal mortality statistics in the world with a maternal mortality ratio of 545 per 100,000 live births. Several NGOs around the world deliver services at various levels to advocate the right of mothers to have safe births as well as address the shortage of skilled midwives. In this context, Malaysia has done much to control its infant and maternal mortality rates, through its community reproductive health initiatives. This study then aims to determine the communication norms in two NGOs, one in Malaysian and the other in Nigeria. The analysis was of projects undertaken by two NGOs, the Federation of Reproductive Health Association of Malaysia (FRHAM) and the Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH) of Nigeria. The communication norms and ways of getting the community involved in their projects were examined through progress reports, document review and web searches. Besides being interviewed, questionnaires were filled by the employees of the NGOs. The findings indicate that the Nigerian and Malaysian NGOs have different communication models and they can learn from each other’s best practices