Typical Malaysians' Issues of English Mastery

Apparently, 2014 was the last time I posted on my blog. It was incredibly 7 years ago, peeps! Well, the only excuse that I can think of right now is that I have been tied up at work. Nope, I am lying. I am such a lazy bum. Here are a number of controversial issues of the importance of English mastery brought up by typical Malaysians.

Issue 1: I am Malaysian who lives in Malaysia. What is the point of knowing English, then?

Education aims at preparing young Malaysians for a better tomorrow – not for the sake of exams! Pupils at school normally find their future unpredictable or else they will never have a hard time selecting elective subjects for upper secondary curriculum. Meanwhile, only if students at university ever knew what exactly they would do for a living in the next five years will they never grumble for taking the wrong course either.

Some jobs demand employees with a good command of the English language – no question! Thus, learning English at an early age is a must! Enrolling for an English course when they have grown up later is possible yet it is not always a good idea.

Issue 2: English is our colonial language!

Living in the twenty-first century, Malaysians should no longer have such a mentality. Think of English as a great opportunity to help boost the country's economic growth i.e. tourism. We play a 'small ambassador' role in our home country. Our small effort lending a helping hand whenever some holidaymaker asks for directions to some tourist destinations is considered such a big help to the country. Even better, we are able to share useful info regarding the cultural diversity, local cuisine as well as the preaching of Islam!

Issue 3: Most Malaysians speak Malay!

Do we really need a listener every time we speak? Think again. Actually, not necessarily. When having a bad day, we tend to whine, grumble or even curse and it need not have people around, correct? So why don't we do it in English instead? 

For instance, 'Ah, I'm knackered! Need a rest soon'. 

This might sound simple to you but when we keep it in practice, we shall definitely see the change after a while. What about saying several English phrases while conversing with somebody? For example;

Eg 1. 'Aku dah tolong ambil buku kau tadi.' 'Oh, thanks!'

Eg 2: 'Jom pergi shopping, nak?' 'Let's go!'

It is not a sin to do so, is it?

Issue 4: Some people can be so sarcastic sometimes when I speak in English to my children.

Honey, those children are yours. Screw them! Have faith! Your children will not have trouble learning English at school later – but please keep in mind that your children should speak Malay as well. Let them be bilingual, at least. Growing up in Malaysia, we shall not worry pretty much about their Malay mastery since the Malay-speaking environment certainly helps! So, take it easy.

Issue 5: A lot of Malaysians speak Manglish.

In my view, learning British or/and American English is best. The truth is Manglish is not the correct English, so why bother? For the record, British English is taught at Malaysian schools and that Malaysia was a British colony is the reason why. Even so, school seems to have already accepted both Englishes lately. Besides, who cares if we would rather speak American than British English anyway? Don't you think, in the end, to get the message across really counts?

Issue 6: Some Malaysians can be a brutal grammar nazi!

These things happen. Nevertheless, that does not mean we have to stop speaking in English. Grammar mastery helps us convey our message more precisely, be it spoken or written English. But we know it does not take 24 hours to master it. It can be months or even years. So, all we need to do is never ever give up our learning. 

These days, there are numerous learning resources to choose from. Examples are Youtube videos, educational websites, reference books – you name it. Everything is actually at our fingertips! Even better if you can afford an English course and I would say, 'go ahead!' Learning grammar does help us speak better English. Isn't that what we are after?

Issue 7: It is so hard to imitate British accents!

Oh well. Does it matter? For the most part, if Malay is your race, your accent most probably sounds Malayish while speaking. To me, the main focus should be on pronunciation. Learn to pronounce every word as accurately as possible. Use Google for help. Why is that? Because after all, our hope is to get the message across when we talk. Whilst mispronouncing too many words can only cause either misunderstanding or misinterpretation.

Hopefully, I have just left something for you to contemplate. Who knows? My views could be the answers that you have been searching for. Look on the bright side and stop being pessimistic! With that, all the best!

Love,

Mohd Khairul Anuar

B.Ed TESL (Hons), UIAM

The Colonial Language

None of the Malaysian citizens at present can deny the fact that English is a colonial language. Just ask the elderly who used to live over the era of British occupation for instance, of course they’ve long instilled the attitude of hating the colonizers. After Portuguese and Japanese, historically, British was also one of Malaya’s colonisers. Therefore, I guess it makes sense if the English language is categorised in the column of ‘Colonial Language’. 

In spite of the fact that it’s a colonial language, Malaysia is one of the countries in the world that puts high belief that English is significant. The ‘faith’ has led to a big consequence towards the country after independence in 1957 whereby English has been officially declared as the second language. It is evident that English has been long taught and is a compulsory subject to study at schools, be it primary or secondary schools.

Recently, the Ministry of Education has suggested that it be passed in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) exam or else students won’t be qualified to acquire a piece of the SPM exam certificate later. Is it the government’s urge in order to ensure students primarily the Malays will be concentrating on the colonial language in earnest? Or this action will only cause the Malay students fail to procure the SPM exam certificate and finally fail to get a job neither at the government nor private sector. Have a think!

A lot of educated parents have been aware of the importance of English nowadays. In addition, there are some parents who make English as their daily communication language at home. Consequently, their children whose nationality is Malay aren’t fluent and proficient in their mother tongue. This shouldn’t be happening! In the book ‘An Introduction to Sociolinguistics’ written by Janet Holmes, it is believed that the demand of a worker to use English much more is among the biggest contributor to language shift. Yet, speaking in a foreign language 100% and ignoring our own native language constitutes a foolish step which may lead to language loss.

Speaking about language loss, the habit of speaking in a foreign language is a main factor that contributes language death. Would you be happy when your own mother tongue dies? Of course, not!

Do you know that the group of immigrants often face this kind of problem? This includes immigrants to the United States, Japan, Australia and so forth. Mostly their children are bilingual for being able to speak more than one language. However, should the mother tongue be never spoken at all, the coming generations will turn to be monolingual and more disappointingly, these future generations only know English. Even worse, they’ll get confused with their own identity. What a shame!

Were I a parent, making Bahasa Melayu and English as the main languages in my family institution is really awesome. At least, my children wouldn’t undergo any difficulty in mastering both languages. Recalling a friend of mine who was born in the United Kingdom, her mother usually speaks Malay at home while his father speaks English. That has made him bilingual. Living in a foreign country like the United Kingdom, of course at school, he has no choice and has to study fully in English. This is because English is the language used when speaking to his classmates and teachers.

I feel amazed and impressed because their parents have strong identity as a Malay. They too speak Malay although their children study in English at school.

What makes me astonished and surprised is when some Malaysian parents who are too obsessive about the coloniser’s language by prioritizing the language at home. This sounds really risky for the children as they tend to lose their identity as a Malay and will probably be facing the problem of identity later. What’s the point of being a Malay if being unable to speak Malay fluently?

It isn’t wrong to converse with children in English. Plus, they should foster it. Anyhow, don’t forget the national language which is supposed to be proud of. Also, make sure that the mastery of both languages lies on a very satisfactory level.

Thus, parents are encouraged to speak English to their children but mother tongue can never be left behind. By using both languages, this will help children master both languages fluently and the problem of English mastery among Malaysians will no longer happen. So disadvantageous if there’re people who’re too fanatic toward Bahasa Melayu who totally ignore the significance of English in today’s world.