English and Malay language policy and planning in Malaysia

Abstract

The Malay-English relationship in Malaysia has witnessed a pendulum shift and ignited critical debates. The Malay nationalist discourse on language policy is evident. Nonetheless, the concurrent significance of English in the era of globalisation is undeniable. This article highlights English (and Malay) language policy and planning (LPP) in Malaysia in relation to other languages together with their societal and educational impact by synthesising research studies and published documents by the Malaysian government and their agencies. The article, firstly, includes the ethnic, linguistic, and religious profile of Malaysia. Secondly, the role of Malay and English in pre-independence Malaysia, the post-independence LPP of Malay and English with reference to the corpus and status planning of multi-ethnic-lingual-cultural Malaysia. Lastly, the shifting status of English in LPP of Malaysia to address globalisation in the 21st century and the economic interest of the nation have been discussed. The recent change in LPP to uphold Malay and emphasising English learning has also been discussed together with the language acquisition planning status. The study reveals that policymakers have tried to maintain the dominance of Malays in Malaysia, uplifting the status of Malay through status and corpus planning. Although such planning negatively impacted the acquisition of English, the prestige of English in Malaysia was never lost, especially in education and other important domains.