MALAYSIA’S NATIONAL LANGUAGE POLICY IN INTERNATIONAL THEORETICAL CONTEXT

This paper examines the motivations behind Malaysia’s national language policy in theoretical terms to allow the Malaysian narrative to be positioned in an international context. To do this, it applies Spolsky’s (2004) theory of what influences language policy making in contemporary nation-states, namely national ideology, the role of English in globalisation era, the nation’s sociolinguistic situation, and an interest in linguistic minority rights. The paper argues that all factors are relevant in the Malaysian context. However, the domestic sociolinguistic situation only influences policy in so far as Malaysia’s response to its ethnolinguistic minorities is limited to minimal linguistic rights in the education system. This limited acceptance of linguistic diversity continues a tradition of protecting what Malaysian law sees as the supremacy of Malay culture and language. The paper concludes with an invitation to apply this theory in the study of other nations in the region to foster a robust body of comparative data on national language policies in Southeast Asia. Keywords: Malaysia, national language policy, ethnocracy, national identity, language rightsCite as: Albury, N.J., & Aye, K.K. (2016).  Malaysia’s national language policy in international theoretical context. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 1(1), 71-84.  http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol1iss1pp71-8

Fearing the Known: English and the Linguistic Ramifications of Globalizing Iceland

Globalization has brought English language to all corners of the globe. English is the pervasive language of international connectivity and even penetrates borders to assume roles within other language communities. Iceland, like its European neighbors, feels this force. The community worries that the local prominence of English as a global force is detrimental to the health of Icelandic – their own small but ancient language. Even worse, fears are expressed that English may take over, inspiring a flurry of imperatives to stop English in its tracks. This paper assesses to what extent fears that Icelandic is at risk vis-à-vis English are indeed justified. It finds these fears are overstated because domestic communication remains firmly Icelandic, English is confined to international interests, and the globalization process – coupled with ideologies that link Icelandic identity to linguistic protectionism – has worked to strengthen Iceland's resolve to protect its language

National language policy theory: exploring Spolsky’s model in the case of Iceland

Language policies are born amidst the complex interplay of social, cultural, religious and political forces. With this in mind, Bernard Spolsky theorises that the language policy of any independent nation is driven, at its core, by four co-occurring conditions—national ideology, English in the globalisation process, a nation’s attendant sociolinguistic situation, and the internationally growing interest in the linguistic rights of minorities. He calls for this theory to be tested (Spolsky in Language policy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004). This paper accepts the invitation by firstly considering the contributions and limitations of Spolsky’s theory vis-à-vis other contemporary research approaches and then applies the theory to the case of Iceland. Iceland is a dynamic locus for this purpose, given its remarkable monodialectism, fervent linguistic purism and protectionism, and history of overwhelming homogeneity. The study finds that all Spolsky’s factors have in some way driven Icelandic language policy, except in issues of linguistic minority rights. Instead, Icelandic language policy discourse reveals a self-reflexive interest in minority rights whereby Icelandic is discursively positioned as needing protection in the global language ecology. Accordingly, the paper examines how Spolsky’s theory may be refined to account for non-rights-based approaches to national language policies. The final version of this research has been published in Language Policy. © 2015 Springer Verla

Holding them at arm’s length: A critical review of Norway’s policy on Sámi language maintenance

Norway’s policy on its indigenous Sámi minority is oftentimes heralded as best practice in fostering self-determination and home language maintenance. Norway’s policy rhetoric indeed promises that all Sámi have a right to develop their home language, and that all Norwegian children will become familiar with Sámi languages and culture. However, this paper takes a more critical perspective of Norway’s policy. It argues that rhetoric has not been operationalised to benefit all Sámi nor promote Norwegian familiarity with the languages. Instead, the state appears to juggle its legislative obligations to promote the Sámi languages with an ongoing ideology in the community that the Sámi languages cannot be seen as contributing to the contemporary Norwegian nation. To make this argument, the paper firstly reviews the state’s Sámi language policy to discuss fractures between rhetoric and policy. It then reports the findings of a case study whereby public online debates over the past five years about the Sámi languages in a national context were critically analysed. The case study indeed reveals a vigorous preference to hold the Sámi languages at arm’s length, for reasons such as that the languages endanger Norwegian identity, that the Sámi do not deserve an indigenous status, that the Sámi are foreign to Norway and, conversely, that the Sámi do not fulfil their responsibilities as Norwegian citizens. The paper concludes that a potent Norwegian ideology against the Sámi languages may explain the state’s reluctance to implement its high-level policy promises

Mother tongues and languaging in Malaysia: Critical linguistics under critical examination

This article brings the critical turn in linguistics—with its current scepticism towards essentialised languages and bias for languaging—under critical evaluation. It does so by bringing it face-to-face with the local-knowledge turn in sociolinguistics that investigates local knowledge and local epistemologies, held by language users themselves, to understand sociolinguistic phenomena. This article analyses whether and how the epistemologies inherent to language, mother tongue, and languaging hold relevance in local metalinguistic talk in Malaysia. Focus group discussions with ethnic Malay, Chinese, and Indian youth reveal that languaging through Bahasa Rojak is already firmly embedded in local epistemologies for communicating across ethnolinguistic divides and fostering interethnic inclusiveness. An essentialised view of language, however, remains vital to any holistic sociolinguistic research in Malaysia in culturally specific ways that do not conflict with languaging. The article therefore supports arguments that we ought not to disregard mother tongues in the interests of critical linguistics

Holding them at arm’s length: A critical review of Norway’s policy on Sámi language maintenance

Norway’s policy on its indigenous Sámi minority is oftentimes heralded as best practice in fostering self-determination and home language maintenance. Norway’s policy rhetoric indeed promises that all Sámi have a right to develop their home language, and that all Norwegian children will become familiar with Sámi languages and culture. However, this paper takes a more critical perspective of Norway’s policy. It argues that rhetoric has not been operationalised to benefit all Sámi nor promote Norwegian familiarity with the languages. Instead, the state appears to juggle its legislative obligations to promote the Sámi languages with an ongoing ideology in the community that the Sámi languages cannot be seen as contributing to the contemporary Norwegian nation. To make this argument, the paper firstly reviews the state’s Sámi language policy to discuss fractures between rhetoric and policy. It then reports the findings of a case study whereby public online debates over the past five years about the Sámi languages in a national context were critically analysed. The case study indeed reveals a vigorous preference to hold the Sámi languages at arm’s length, for reasons such as that the languages endanger Norwegian identity, that the Sámi do not deserve an indigenous status, that the Sámi are foreign to Norway and, conversely, that the Sámi do not fulfil their responsibilities as Norwegian citizens. The paper concludes that a potent Norwegian ideology against the Sámi languages may explain the state’s reluctance to implement its high-level policy promises

Defining Māori language revitalisation: A project in folk linguistics

The postmodern and critical movements in language policy, with their redefinition of governmentality and attention to power structures, call for localised perspectives on language arrangements. In this way, a polity, in its social and cultural context, can be understood as much as the policies it operates. In the case of Indigenous languages undergoing revitalisation, this allows us to define language revitalisation, and the vitality it should deliver, not through western scholarship but for local purposes with local ideas by examining local knowledge and preferences. To do this, a folk linguistic approach was applied to language policy research. A quantitative and qualitative survey investigated how around 1,300 Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in New Zealand define Māori language revitalisation from their own perspective and how they perceive the revitalisation processes and outcomes proposed in scholarship and local discourses. The paper shows that claimed linguistic knowledge not only exists parallel to language attitudes, but informs local policy ideas. The findings indicate that these youth define language revitalisation and vitality in terms contextualised by local ontology, knowledge, ideologies and values, therefore challenging the local applicability of universal theories. The final version of this research has been published in the Journal of Sociolinguistics. © 2016 Wile

Epistemology of language as a cause of language shift: Chinese heritage languages in Malaysia

Presentation in ITML17<br>http://latllab.canterbury.ac.nz/epistemology-language-cause-language-shift-chinese-heritage-languages-malaysia/<br><br>Nathan John Albury<br>Department of English<br>The Hong Kong Polytechnic University<br> <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a><p><strong><br></strong></p><p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p>The heritage languages of Malaysia’s Chinese community are many. Waves of migration from southern China, peaking in the late 1800s during British colonial rule, established a home for various varieties including Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew, Foochow and Hainanese. However, the Chinese community has adopted Mandarin as its lingua franca, albeit Mandarin is not a heritage language of Malaysia. This status creates pressureson families and communities to shift away from their own Chinese heritage language (Wang & Chong, 2011). However, rather than Mandarin only having a socioeconomic or political pull, this paper argues that a Chinese-Malaysian epistemology of language might also explain why Mandarin is valued and heritage language maintenance is jeopardised. Based on folk linguistic data from focus group discussions with Chinese-Malaysian tertiary students across Malaysia, the paper shows the unnegotiable connection between Mandarin and what is perceived as being authentically ethnic Chinese. Mandarin was explained to be the only bona fide mother tongue of the ethnic Chinese, regardless of actual language proficiency, and that other Chinese languages are in fact Mandarin dialects. This helps Chinese-Malaysians to construct a less heterogeneous Mandarin-led identity to legitimise their local Chinese identity (Albury, 2017).</p><p><br></p><p>Albury, N. J. (2017). Mother tongues and languaging in Malaysia: Critical linguistics under critical examination. <em>Language in Society, 46</em>(4), 567-589.</p><p>Wang, X., & Chong, S. L. (2011). A hierarchical model for language maintenance and language shift: focus on the Malaysian Chinese community. <em>Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 32</em>(6), 577-591.</p

The widening gap between Malaysia’s international tourism brand and domestic multicultural policy

Malaysia’s international image boasts harmonious multiculturalism amongst Malay, Chinese, Indian and Indigenous ethnolinguistic groups, alluring tourists and investors worldwide. Campaigns such as Malaysia, Truly Asia promise a rich and diverse cultural experience, and the government’s international investment arm describes Malaysians as Western-leaning. On the other hand, Malaysian laws, policies and subsequent scholarship show that Malaysian society is hierarchised by ethnicity and language. Through a lens of critical multiculturalism, this paper reflects on a mismatch between Malaysia’s international image and domestic policy. We argue that Malaysia’s international image has likely never been accurate and instead caters towards Western values. Rather than all ethnicities being equal, Malaysia is an ethnocratic state that has codified the supremacy of being Malay. We suggest that the gap between this international image and domestic multicultural experience may only be widening with a resurgence of Islamisation in Malaysian politics and society. The final version of this research has been published in the Journal of Plicy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events. © 2017 Taylor & Franci