1. MALAYSIA, BRUNEI AND SINGAPOREMALAYSIA, BRUNEI AND SINGAPORE
BILINGUALISM : POLICYVERSUS REALITYBILINGUALISM : POLICYVERSUS REALITY
By:By:
Angeline Chong Suet KeeAngeline Chong Suet Kee
Gurminderjeet KaurGurminderjeet Kaur
Lee Pui HarLee Pui Har

2. OverviewOverview
Linguistic situation
Bilingual education
Issues in bilingualism
Implications
Bilingualism – Pro & Con
Conclusion

3. INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION
 Language policy and planning decisions arise in response to
sociopolitical needs.
 Language planning decisions typically attempt to meet the
needs of the population by reducing linguistic diversity, as in
instances where a single language is declared a national
language in a multilingual country (such as Bahasa Indonesia in
Indonesia) or where a single variety of a language is declared
"standard" to promote linguistic unity in a country where
divergent dialects exist.
 For example, although many dialects of Chinese exist, the
promotion of a single variety as the national language
contributes to a sense of national unity.(Robinson, 1988)

4. MalaysiaMalaysia
Bahasa Malaysia is the language of
communication and fulfills the function of
trade
The impact of British rule and influence of
the English language in Malaysia began with
the acquisition of Penang Island in 1786
English is widely used in business sector
Bahasa Malaysia is the national and official
language and also the medium of instruction
in most public schools.

5. Linguistic Situation
English is the second most language (Asmah,
1982) and serves as a tool of getting
technological information .
It is a compulsory subject and taught as a
subject.
Chinese and Tamil schools use Mandarin and
Tamil as the mediums of instructions
respectively.

6. Bilingual EducationBilingual Education
Bilingualism is a language policy which is
implicitly sanctioned (Asmah, 1982).
Bilingual education is mirrored in the
Malaysian constitution which says that
Bahasa Malaysia is a national and official
language and no one is to prevent anybody
from speaking and teaching other languages.
The main emphasis in the Malaysian
education system is more on the acquisition
of Bahasa Malaysia and English as the
languages of education.

7. The acquisition of the mother tongue of the
people is more geared toward maintenance of
native languages and cultural heritage.
The mainstream schools (Malay medium)
provide language instruction in Bahasa
Malaysia.
English is a compulsory subject and is
introduced in the first grade.
It is also used as a medium of instruction in
the teaching of Maths and Science effective
January 2003.

8. As for students whose mother tongue is not Bahasa
Malaysia , they can opt to take Pupils’ Own Language,
Mandarin or Tamil.
In the Chinese and Tamil medium schools, the
language of instruction is either Mandarin or Tamil.
Bahasa Malaysia and English are the compulsory
subjects that students must learn and are introduced
in the third grade.
Students who attend Chinese and Tamil schools are at
the elementary level, before going to secondary
schools will have to attend a year of transition classes
which is specifically called ‘remove class’
Chinese and Tamil schools at secondary level are not
given attention to in Malaysia.

9. SingaporeSingapore
Singapore is a multilingual island nation
Has four official language. The languages are English,
Malay (national language), Chinese and Tamil. The
purposes of these languages is to serve pragmatic
roles (Pakir,1994)
English is the medium of all content-area
English – neutral language,to promote unity, lingua
franca,MOI
Bilingualism – started in 1956

10. Linguistic situationLinguistic situation
 Education in Singapore is built on the five pillars of literacy, numeracy, bilingualism,
physical education, and moral education (Parkir,1999).
 Standard English taught in school (Singapore Colloquial English, Standard Singapore
English) are used in larger society.
 Assumptions underlying Singapore’s policy (Dixon,2005):
◦ Beginning a second language early leads to higher proficiency
◦ Home language development is not academically helpful to development of English
language skills
◦ More time devoted to learning a language will result in greater proficiency in the
language
◦ Learning to read both an alphabetic and a logographic writing system is more
difficult than learning to read in two alphabetic languages
◦ Ability to learn more than one language is related to general education
achievement
◦ Maintaining the ethnic language will protect ethnic identity, a sense of “rootedness”
and cultural values

11. Bilingual EducationBilingual Education
 Reasons for bilingual education - English language would bring
Singapore the international trade,investment and access to
Western science and technology (Dixon, 2005)
 Tertiary institutions adapted English as MOI. New Education
system. Enable above average and average pupils to be
proficient in English and least literate in Malay, Chinese &
Tamil(1980)
 In 1987 , English-for-all-year. National stream of education
introduced. Primary One pupils taught in English as first
language and mother tongues as L2
 Emphasis on both English and Mandarin – Targeting a wider
market
 Pakir (1998) and Gopinathan (1980) point out that there had
been not only rising literacy rate in Singapore but biliteracy
among the major ethnicities with the trend more evident among

12. BruneiBrunei
An Islamic Sultanate on the northern coast of
Borneo
Relatively linguistically homogeneous, with the
majority of inhabitants having one form of Malay
as a mother tongue. However, the country has
long been ethnically plural (Brown 1971).
The standard form, Bahasa Melayu, has been the
official language of the country since 1959.
English was first introduced to Bruneian
sociolinguistic ecology during the British
Residency Period. It was once governed by the
British thus the existence of English Language is
passed down into the society

13. Linguistic situationLinguistic situation
 Brunei Malay, is one of five varieties of Malay in general use in Brunei.
 Apart from the Malay varieties, there are at least eight other Aus- ]
tronesian languages spoken in Brunei (Nothofer 1991).
 Of these, Tutong, Bêlait, Dusun, Bisaya, and Murut are considered to be
indigenous to the country
 Iban, Penan, and Mukah are regarded as immigrant languages. The five
indigenous groups, along with the two Malay-speaking groups,
 the Kedayan and Brunei, are, constitution- ally, classed as "indigenous
groups of the Malay race" (Government of Brunei 1961: 118-120),
referred to locally as the seven puakjati (indigenous groups) of Brunei.
 With the increase in mobility and the general movement of peoples away
from the interior to the coastal towns, the effects of intermarriage, and
the influence of the supraregional languages on the states that make up
Borneo, new patterns of com- munication are emerging and an increasing
number of indigenous languages are in danger of being lost.

14. Bilingual EducationBilingual Education
 Dwibahasa Education Policy was introduced in 1985
 Edwards (1985: 93) is of the opinion that most historical changes in
language use are due to economic factors such as social access and
material advancement, and that these are of central importance.
 English is greatly emphasised in the education system for those subjects
that can be pursued further in the core English-speaking countries.
 During the first three years of schooling, it is taught only as a subject.
After that, for the rest of the schooling years, it replaces Malay as the
language of instruction for Mathematics, Science and Geography.
However, Civics, Brunei History and Religious Knowledge (Islam)
continue to be taught in Malay.
 Perceives itself as part of the global economic and political system and
strives to diversify its economy.Learning and use of English essential for
modernization and internationalization.
 Both Malay and English are taught and employed as medium of instruction
in the country’s bilingual education system. Learning Arabic is also being
integrated into the education system.

15. Implications on MalaysiaImplications on Malaysia
 Linguistic perception – the perception of Malaysian
society towards the use of particular language
other than mother tongue is mixed
 Availability of teachers – shortage of language
teachers who can speak fluent English and Bahasa
Malaysia
 Availability of materials- shortage of materials in
the area of science and technology materials
 Availability of funds- allocation of funds are not
equal

16. Implications on SingaporeImplications on Singapore
 Over westernization
 Risk of losing set of core values and absorbing other
elements (de-asianization)
 Formation of Singlish result in shortcoming especially in
education, where Eng. skills are relevant for academic
achievement.
 Argument of policy-makers, no single ethnic group is
advantaged or disadvantaged in terms of access to an
economy that is largely based on English.
 Parliamentary business and government websites is
overwhelmingly carried out in English
 “The Speak Good English Movement”, being an ongoing
campaign, has not succeeded in replacing Singlish with good
English

17. Implications on BruneiImplications on Brunei
 The actual motivation to shift to the use of a different language
can, on the one hand, be due to economic or pragmatic factors
and, on the other, to social psychological factors such as attitudes
and identity. Edwards (1985: 93) is of the opinion that most
historical changes in language use are due to economic factors
such as social access and material advancement, and that these are
of central importance.
 With the increase in mobility and the general movement of
peoples away from the interior to the coastal towns, the effects
of intermarriage, and the influence of the supraregional languages
on the states that make up Borneo, new patterns of com-
munication are emerging and an increasing number of indigenous
languages are in danger of being lost.

18.  All 3 countries are trying to protect the identity of the nation while
injecting the use of English language in most of the important
education policies.
 All 3 countries are aware of the fact that English in education is a
crucial point in preparing the nation to face local and international
challenges.
 Speaking English for survival purposes result in the existence of
hybrid English.
 Lost status and identity of culture and mother language
 Gradual use of English from lower to higher level in education
result in positive improvement in the sense of education(enable
local students to further their studies) and economic(increase the
chances of being employed by local and international companies)
 The implementation of bilingualism/multilingualism enable the
nation to maintain and preserve their identity and at the same time
learning a language which enable them to target a wider market.
FINDINGSFINDINGS

19. ADVANTAGES
Mastered > 1 language
> facility in acquiring foreign language later.
Able to transfer knowledge of 1 language to another. Allows for
greater comprehension with grammatical structures & can also
serve enhance vocabulary
Able to code switch between 2 languages.
Have added advantages in education & careers by having an
international focus.
Make you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain,
improving cognitive skills not related to language and even
shielding against dementia in old age.
LEAP (n.d.); Bosemark (n.d.) Bhattacharjee (2012)
Bilingualism Pro + Con

20. DISADVANTAGES
Run the risk of not mastering either language.
Face speech barrier whether it is of a physical nature or
difficulties in the pronunciation of the language becomes
more difficult to remedy.
Tend to speak a little later than their peers.
Often slip back and forth between languages and mixing
up their words.
Face the risk of being isolated by the host society or of
being teased by their peers when speaking in the foreign
language.
LEAP (n.d.); Bosemark (n.d.) Bhattacharjee (2012)

21. Education reformation between countries,
(MY, SG, Brunei) may be different due to the
characteristics of the nation, political and
socio-economic establishment within one
state. However, any kind of proposals on
reforming the education policy has to be
justifiable within the national policy so that
the policy can be implement effectively and
efficiently.
CONCLUSIONCONCLUSION

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