ASSIGNMENT

ELL322 LINGUISTICS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS

ASSIGNMENT
MAY 2014 SEMESTER
SUBJECT CODE : ELL 322
SUBJECT TITLE : LINGUISTICS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS
PROGRAMME : BACHELOR OF EDUCATION
STUDENTS NAME : ANNIE ANGGUN
MATRIC NO. : E30109120059
ACADEMIC
FACILITATOR
: MADAM DAYANG HURSIAH DATU ADIR
LEARNING CENTRE : AEU UDAT
ASSIGNMENT
ELL322 LINGUISTICS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS
Part A
The Role of Morphological Awareness in English as Second Language Acquisition by
Khalil El-Saghir.
a) What is morphological awareness?
Morphology is a field of linguistics focused on the study of the forms and formation
of words in a language. Words in a language consist of one element or elements of meaning
which are called morphemes. Morphemes are the fundamental building blocks of words
within both spoken and written language. Words that contain more than one morpheme can
be broken down into these smaller units pro!iding cues for meaning spelling and
pronunciation. "t is a part of linguistics which studies word structure and how words change
their forms when they change grammatical function thus in!ol!ing both synta# and semantic
e#pressed in a particular form. "t is the study of the formation of words either by inflection
deri!ation or composition.
Morphological awareness is awareness of and access to the meaning and structure of
morphemes in relation to words. Morphological awareness is a linguistic ability that focuses
on the awareness of the underlying structure of words at the le!el of meaning. Morphological
awareness is the ability to recogni$e reflect on and manipulate the sub le#ical structure of
words which is the roots prefi#es and suffi#es that make up the word. "t is the learner%s
e#plicit understanding of the smallest units of meaning in the language including free and
bound morphemes and inflectional and deri!ational morphemes.
Morphological awareness is also defined as children%s conscious awareness of the
morphemic structure of words and their ability to reflect on and manipulate that structure
&'arlisle ())* p. ()+) is uni,uely associated with children%s reading de!elopment in se!eral
languages such as English. "t is also related to measurement of morphological awareness is
the ,uestion of how linguistic manipulations within the task might affect performance on it.
Morphological awareness de!elops with e#posure to oral and written English. E!idence of
morphological awareness assessed with oral tasks has been found in children as young as
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ELL322 LINGUISTICS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS
four. -reschool children show implicit morphological awareness by demonstrating that they
understand the ways that morphemes can be combined to e#press meaning of the words.
b) .o learners use morphological knowledge to process English te#ts?
English words are made up of a sound or combinations of sounds to signal meaning and
are formed in a language through processes and patterns of word formation specific to the
language such as using inflection deri!ation or composition. English language users are
able to e#press ideas and concepts using sound or sound combinations to con!ey both word-
le!el units alone or in combination with grammatical morphemes to signal aspects of tense or
number and deri!ational morphemes to create new words and to e#press additional semantic
and syntactic information. Similarly English written is morphophonemic where it represents
language at both the le!el of sound and meaning.
/herefore it is important for any English student to use morphological knowledge to
process any English te#t. -honological information within printed words is con!eyed through
the phoneme correspondences whereas morphological information within a printed word is
con!eyed !ia the le#ical root as free morphemes and the grammatical inflections and
deri!ational relations as bound morphemes. /hus when reading students simultaneously
process the phonological structure of the word to pronounce the word and also process the
meaning and syntactic function con!eyed by the morphological structure of the word.
/here is compelling e!idence that morphological awareness of the underlying structure of
words contributes uni,ue !ariance to many aspects of literacy including word reading
!ocabulary de!elopment comprehension and spelling. /he influence of morphological
knowledge and awareness to literacy is a current focus of researchers because both sound and
meaning are con!eyed within English language. Skilled reading of morphologically comple#
words may in!ol!e other linguistic processes in addition to understanding word relationships
such as the ability to decompose words into constituent morphemes as well as to use the
direct le#ical route to access full le#ical representations. /he author Khalil El-Saghir mention
three steps in word recognition process by processing deri!ational English Morphology.
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ELL322 LINGUISTICS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS
/he first step is the students% ability to disassemble the word into component morphemes
for e#ample un-success-ful. /he three morphemes component in the word is 0un1 0success1
and 0ful1. Second step is the ability of the student to match those components in the first step
with phonological le#ical and semantic representation in their memory or word knowledge.
/he third and final step is the ability to reassemble the indi!idual word components back
together while attempting to construct a combinational meaning that may not represent the
sum of all the word pieces. /he three steps word recognition process will differentiate
students% morphological knowledge and their English language de!elopment. "t will also help
the students to identify words that are unfamiliar to them and increase their !ocabulary.
2nyway at any of the step students may find it troublesome or confusing if the words are
indeed segmentable it may turn out to be a different meaning all together. "t is important for
teachers to guide the students when they are doing the word recognition acti!ity especially
with unfamiliar words.
/herefore from the steps gi!en it is clear that morphological knowledge is important in
order for the student to decipher the meaning of the combined word in any te#t. "t shows the
contribution of morphological awareness to !ocabulary and reading comprehension. /his is
particularly important in English language where there is a lot of morphology in the English
language.
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ELL322 LINGUISTICS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS
c) What are some of the conclusions and recommendations by the author? 3 4 pages
/he author has concluded that morphological awareness and knowledge is
important in learning the English language. 5e also made some recommendation on how to
impro!e morphological awareness in English language students. Students that ha!e problems
with low !ocabulary knowledge should be e,uipped to utili$e e!ery word analysis strategies.
/he word analysis strategy is the three step word recognition acti!ity to impro!e students%
ability to look up morphological cues within a word to help them search for the meaning. 5e
belie!ed that students may benefit from direct instruction to learn how English words are
formed.
"t is also recommended that students build up a bigger storage of morphemes
rimes and syllables through direct instruction in the classroom and also through e#tensi!e
reading practice. /eachers must encourage their students to read books newspapers or
maga$ines in order to increase their !ocabulary. 6eading acti!ities may be done in classroom
or as outdoor acti!ities in the school compound. /eachers should also continuously instruct
and remind their students that English writing and te#ts are not only phonemic but also
morphemic where in some cases pronunciations of a certain words are different that what is
spelled for e#ample the silent 0K1 in the word 7knife1. 8esides that teachers must also reduce
the cogniti!e load in order for the students to understand the system practice the strategy and
generali$e the strategy for their reading acti!ities.

/he author resol!es his problem with students that ha!e di!erse linguistic
background. 5e started to conduct daily e#amination of cross-linguistic differences in his
classroom. /his is done to analyse the students% morphological awareness. /he result was an
eye opener to him where he found out that most of his students had no formal morphological
processing instruction in their nati!e language but they disco!er similarities and differences
between English and their first language. 8y ha!ing the cross-linguistic e#periment it has
shown the importance morphological awareness in word recognition and it also encouraged
his students to ha!e their own linguistic e#periments.
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ELL322 LINGUISTICS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS
8y continuously gi!ing cross-linguistic tests it has impro!ed students ability to
deri!e segmental nature of words and also introduce them to new and unfamiliar words. /his
has also helped them become more successful in analy$ing the words into morphemes and
correctly predicting their meaning spelling and pronunciation. /herefore it is pro!en through
classroom research and e#periment that morphological knowledge can be impro!ed among
the students with !alid test reading acti!ities and three step word recogni$ing acti!ities.
/he de!elopmental progression and learning e#pectations of grade-specific
morphological knowledge and awareness for school students and adolescents as well as the
information regarding e!idenced-based methods and guidelines for assessment and
inter!ention with at-risk students should pro!ide helpful information for clinical practice.
Student collaboration with classroom teachers to support students who may struggle with
ac,uiring morphological awareness is important including student with language literacy
needs and English learning students. /he author conclude that the e#plicit teaching of English
deri!ational and inflectional morphology may facilitate the continued de!elopment of
syntactic and morphological awareness in students thus enhancing word reading spelling
te#t comprehension and !ocabulary de!elopment in the student.
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ELL322 LINGUISTICS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS
Part B
!English Language Teachers Should Have a Deep
Understanding of Linguistics: Discuss
9inguistic is the study of language. 5owe!er within the field of linguistics are many
different subfields. /hese include the scientific study of language ac,uisition interpretation
translation the scholarly study of the relationships between different languages and between
different dialects within a language and security work. 9inguistics is a broad field that
attracts computer engineers as well as social academics and speech specialists. "t is the study
of how language is put together and how it functions in a sentence and how words are
combined. :9inguistics is concerned with human language as a uni!ersal and recogni$able
part of the human beha!iour and of the human faculties perhaps one of the most essential to
human life as we know it and one of the most far-reaching of human capabilities in relation
to the whole span of mankind%s achie!ements:&6obins ();)). /here are broadly three aspects
to the study which include language form language meaning and language in conte#t.
<arious building blocks of different types and si$es are combined to make up a language.
Sounds are brought together and sometimes when this happen they change their form and do
interesting things. Words are arranged in a certain order and sometimes the beginnings and
endings of the words are changed to ad=ust the meaning. /hen the meaning itself can be
affected by the arrangement of words and by the knowledge of the speaker about what the
hearer will understand. 9inguistics is the study of all of this.
9inguistic may ha!e some changes because of incremental changes within the
language such as in pronunciation or in the meaning of a word. >ther changes happen
because of contact with speakers of other languages. /he most well know e#ample of this is
:borrowing: but language contact can cause other types of change as well. "t can be
interesting to compare phonology synta# and word lists of similar or geographically
close languages to see how similar they are. Some linguists then use this information to figure
out the past of the languages such as when two languages split from each other. 'ombined
with other known facts about the speakers of the language it can lead to important
disco!eries about their history.
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ELL322 LINGUISTICS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS
/he work of linguists falls into two main areas which are language structure and language
use. 9inguistics is focused in language structure which consider the formal properties of
language including word structure &morphology) sentence structure &synta#) speech sounds
and the rules and patterns between them &phonetics and phonology) and meaning in language
&semantics and pragmatics). 9anguage teaching on the other hand is about pro!iding
students with the ability to communicate through speaking reading and writing in the specific
language.
9inguistics makes language learning more effecti!e and engaging. "t is important for
English 9anguage teachers to fully grasp linguistics in order to teach English effecti!ely.
9anguage teachers may not directly use the knowledge of linguistics in their day-to-day
lessons. "nstead they may practice speaking reading and writing which are fundamental to
communication in the language. 5owe!er each of these three areas is imbued with the
knowledge that linguistics pro!ides about the structure and meaning of language. So while
teachers do not use linguistics on a day-to-day basis the foundation of the knowledge is
fundamentally based on linguistics.
English teachers need to approach with a scientific perspecti!e and methods of
linguistics since it was used to be thought of as a purely cultural academic discipline in
language. 'ontrary to pre!ious belief linguistics is multidisciplinary. "t o!erlaps each of the
human sciences including psychology neurology anthropology and sociology. 2ccording to
the 'entre for 2pplied 9inguistics formal linguistics includes fi!e principal areas of study.
?irst is phonetics it is the study of language sounds and their physical properties for e#ample
how sounds are produced by the !ocal tract and how sounds are percei!ed by others. Second
is phonology it is the process of analy$ing how sounds function in a gi!en language or
dialect. /hird is morphology is the study of the structure of words. ?ourth is synta# it is the
study of the structure of sentences. 2nd lastly semantics is the study of meaning in language.
/herefore applying formal linguistics knowledge in their e!eryday teaching might in!ol!e
studying of how humans learn. /here are many social and psychological aspects to the study
and application of linguistics since languages naturally include cultural histories as well.
9inguistics can be a key component of language learning. 9inguistics is an ob=ecti!e
research dri!en field studying language. 6ather than focusing on communication linguistics
mostly concerns of the form and meaning of languages. 9anguage teachers can learn the
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research of linguistics to impro!e their capability to teach students and at the same time
impro!e their command in the language itself. 2nd so it is important that teachers ha!e a
deep understanding of linguistics. /eachers need to conduct formal studies and understanding
of sound structure grammar and meaning@ in!estigate the history of language families@ and
research language ac,uisition. "t is the responsibility of a teacher to make a language
accessible to students by teaching them its linguistic structure. /eachers must describe these
structures as clearly as possible so that students can generate the correct sounds forms and
sentences in of the English language as accurately and as comfortable as possible.
/eachers play a critical role in supporting language de!elopment especially in
teaching English as a second language. 8eyond teaching children to read and write in school
they need to help children learn and use aspects of language associated with the academic
discourse of the !arious school sub=ects for e#ample Mathematics and Science. /hey need to
help them become more aware of how language functions in !arious modes of
communication across the curriculum. /hey need to understand how language works well
enough to select materials that will help e#pand their studentsA linguistic hori$ons and to plan
instructional acti!ities that gi!e students opportunities to use the new forms and modes of
e#pression to which they are being e#posed.
9anguage can be understood as interplay of sound and meaning. /he discipline that
studies linguistic sound is termed as phonetics which is concerned with the actual properties
of speech sounds and non-speech sounds and how they are produced and percei!ed. /he
study of language meaning on the other hand is concerned with how languages employ logic
and real-world references to con!ey process and assign meaning as well as to manage and
resol!e ambiguity among students. /his in turn includes the study of semantics which is how
meaning is inferred from words and concepts and pragmatics which is how meaning is
inferred from conte#t. ?or instance when a 'hinese speaker =ust begins to speak English he
or she will at first use English at the le!el of a beginner languageB broken words lack of
grammatical form and structure and weak or negligible !ocabulary. >nce the 'hinese
speaker begins to learn English and use it to its full capacity the generations that follow and
learn the language will become a !ariety of English. 2lso taking a 'hinese student as an
e#ample most if not all ha!e difficulties in pronouncing the letter 061 in words and
sentences. "t is an English teachers% duty to guide them in the area of -honetic which is how
sounds are produced by the !ocal tract in order to help the students to properly pronounce
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certain words. /herefore a teacher that has a deep understanding in linguistics in particular
phonetics will know how and what to do to help these students.
Cowadays teachers are e#periencing multiracial and multicultural students in a
classroom. "t is known that the ma=ority of the world%s population speaks multiple languages
and linguistic will help in defining what it mean to be truly multilingual. 8ased on the simple
nature of linguistics educators will e#perience a !ariety of cultures and traditions when
teaching their students. Embracing di!ersity and the benefit that such di!ersity can pro!ide
will pro!e beneficial to not only the students of the class but to the teachers as well.
Embracing di!ersity allows a teacher to learn more about the customs beliefs and learning
styles of !arious cultures which in turn helps them to utili$e that knowledge when
instructing their class. /here are certain word that sounds the same but carries different
meaning. /his is what happens when cultures are e#posed to different languages and it is to
the benefit of an English teacher if he or she can detect and e#amine the natural use of
language e!eryday which is caused by cultural differences. >ne of the most important ways
that linguistics can be useful to language teachers is by instructing them how indi!iduals
actually best absorb a language. 9inguists in combination with other scientists study the brain
to consider which ways people best absorb languages. Some argue that it is purely through
language immersion. >thers argue that the basics of the language must be taught before
intense immersion. Either way linguists will be able to pro!ide important information to
teachers.
9anguage teachers also need to use the knowledge of linguistics to teach language
structure. /eachers are informed about the basic ways that sentences are formed pro!ide
meaning and incorporate different parts of speech. 'ontrasti!e linguistics in!ol!es the
comparison of different languages. /he 'entre for 9anguage 9inguistics and 2rea Studies
recommends that teachers of foreign languages study contrasti!e linguistics. /his is because
up to DE percent of student errors are due to interference between a studentAs mother tongue
and the second language. Some languages such as 'hinese ha!e no plurals while other
languages such as Spanish ha!e e#tensi!e ways to con=ugate !erbs. 9anguage teachers must
bring this knowledge to the table when instructing their students. ?or e#ample when a
'hinese student direct translate the sentence 0" don%t ha!e a bicycle1 the sentence will come
out 0" no ha!e bicycle1. /his particular problem is what English teachers face daily with
'hinese speaking students. 2s a language teacher if you are familiar with the grammatical
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ELL322 LINGUISTICS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS
structure of 'hinese you will understand why the student made this mistake and can work
toward correcting the error.
English teachers should implement daily training in linguistics and oral skills to build
awareness of speech sounds pronunciations and phonetics among their students. /here are
two key items needed in order to impro!e students English time and practice. /here is
nothing teachers can do to rush English ac,uisition but there are many ways to pro!ide
opportunities to practice English in the classroom. "f acti!ities are structured to support
student to student or group interaction teachers can use English to e#plain concepts and
instructions. /his can be used in Mathematics and science acti!ities. /eachers can also
informally assess for correct use of language structures semantics and academic !ocabulary.
2nd when students ha!e difficulty with phrases !ocabulary or pronunciations the teacher
will be able to offer guidance or further instruction to support language de!elopment. /his
gi!es teachers an opportunity to gauge and monitor what the student has learned and it
demonstrates student progress in English language de!elopment.
2s a conclusion it is important for English language teachers to fully understand the
relationship between linguistics and language teaching. "t is important for an English teacher
to fully understand English language linguistics in order to teach effecti!ely and correctly. "n
the same way it will be better if a language teacher has some knowledge about for instance
the characteristics of language in general and the specific language he or she is teaching in
particular. "n this relation teachers should know how language works and e#press meaning
and what structures are used in the particular language he or she is teaching. /he teacher
should be familiar for instance with the theory about the general mechanism of producing
speech sounds so that they will be able to tackle any pronunciation problem their students
may encounter. 8y studying and mastering linguistics teachers may ha!e deeper insights into
the nature of language and act accordingly in teaching the language. 2nd it will ser!e as
good e!idences to trace students% de!elopmental processes and impro!ements. /herefore
linguistics is an essential part of a teachers% competence and ha!ing a deep understanding in
linguistics will benefit both the teacher and the students.
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References
Fennifer Wagner Linguistics &())G 3 4E(+). 101: An Introduction to the Study of Language
6etrie!ed Fune 444E(+ from httpBHHielanguages.comHlinguist.html
Wong ?illmore 9. I Snow '. &4EEE). What teachers need to no! a"o#t $an%#a%e.
Washington .'B E6"' 'learinghouse on 9anguages and 9inguistics.
9adefoged -eter and "an Maddieson. ())J. The so#nds o& the !or$d's $an%#a%es. >#ford
KK and 'ambridge M2B 8lackwell.
9epschy Liulio '. ()G4. A s#r(e) o& str#ct#ra$ $*n%#*st*cs. 9ondonB ?aber and ?aber.
6obins 6. 5. ()G). A short h*stor) o& $*n%#*st*cs. 9ondonB 9ongman. 4nd edn.
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Part C
Malaysian English &or Man%$*sh) consists of words originating from English Malay
5okkien Mandarin 'antonese /amil and to a lesser e#tent from !arious other European
languages. /he Malaysian English speaker may be unaware that the word phrase or sentence
structure is not present in 8ritish or 2merican English.
a) Write an essay pro!iding e!idence of 7Manglish1 and the true English e,ui!alents.
Eidence of !Manglish" and the true English equialents
Malaysia has been influenced by many different cultures peoples and especially
different languages. "t is possible to see that one of the impacts of this influence is in the
language English remains as the most important language in terms of diplomacy technology
and business. "t is also present in the daily li!es in which there was not a complete switch to
English but an assimilation of languages. Malaysian community uses the English language
both in formal and informal situations as a conse,uence of being a multicultural society.
Manglish is a Malaysian is a short form of 0Malaysian English1 speaking style with
many similarities with the 0Singaporean English1 Singlish. "t is a distorted usage of English
that is mainly spoken between the locals. 9ocals rarely speak to a foreigners or tra!ellers
using Manglish. Manglish is usually spoken between local Malaysians. "t may seem a little
embarrassing and inappropriate for a local to speak to a foreigner in Manglish as it is not
proper usage of the English language. ?urthermore a foreigner may not understand and
frown upon Manglish usage. "t is noted that some e#patriates working and li!ing in Malaysia
has picked up on Manglish and seem to want to blend in with the locals by using Manglish.
/he result of reasoning behind this is that it gi!es off the sound of friendliness and closeness.
/his is also one of Malaysia signature attraction of tourists and !isitors. /he culture is such
that most Malaysians are easy to warm up and friendly e!en to foreigners.
Manglish is the result of an o!erlapping of English words with words from se!eral
languages and dialect that are a!ailable in Malaysia. /hese words are mostly from Malay
words 5okkien Mandarin 'antonese and /amil. /he multi-cultural background of this
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country further contributes to the strains of Manglish which is influenced by some factors
such as the users% mother tongue the socio-economic and geographical background of the
users. Word mi#ing in Manglish is more likely to occur in order for communication to be
successful among speakers of different social backgrounds. English in Malaysia is used at
different le!els with different degrees of proficiency by different people. "n general most
Malaysians are at least bilingual if not multilingual and in the urban areas of Malaysia there
are families who are bilingual or trilingual with for e#ample English and 8ahasa Malaysia
and their mother tongue. 'ollo,uial !ersion of the English language as spoken in Malaysia
and it is a combination of the word Malay and English. /he language shares substantial
linguistic similarities with Singlish in Singapore. "n real essence Manglish and Singlish are
one and the same although there are a few slang words that e#ist in one and not in another.
?or all practical and argument purposes Manglish and Singlish are subsets of the same
group.
/heoretically English as spoken in Malaysia is based on 8ritish English and called
Malaysian English. 8ritish spelling is generally followed. 5owe!er the influence of
2merican English modes of e#pression and slang is strong particularly among Malaysian
youth. 8ahasa Melayu has been the countryAs sole official language. While English is widely
used many Malay words ha!e become part of common usage in informal English or
Manglish. 2n e#ample is suffi#ing sentences with 0lah1 for e#ample :.onAt be so noisy-lah:
which is usually used to present a sentence as rather light-going and not so serious the suffi#
7lah1 has no specific meaning. "t is often used at the end of sentences used to affirm a
statement similar to 0of course1 and it is usually ends with an e#clamation mark. 2lthough
'hinese dialects also make abundant use of the suffi# 0lah1 and there is some disagreement
as to which language it was originally borrowed from. /he word :mah: is used at the end of
sentences used to affirm a sentence but not as strongly as :lah: for e#ample :SheAs like that
mah:.
/he word :nah: is deri!ed from the Malay e#pression :CahM: Ksed when gi!ing
something to another person for e#ample :Cah take thisM: /he word :meh: is used when
asking a ,uestion especially when one is sceptical or ,uestioning something for e#ample.
:/rue meh?: /he word :liao: from a 'hinese dialect means AalreadyA for e#ample :Co more
stock liao.: /he word :ah: is used at the end of sentences. Knlike the word 0meh1 the
,uestion is rhetorical for e#ample :Why is she like that ah?: "t can also be used to when
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asking a genuine ,uestion for e#ample :"s that true ah?: >ther than that some people use it
when referring to a sub=ect before making a comment and most of the time it is used to make
a negati!e comment for e#ample :My sister ah always disturb meM:.
?or further discussion on the word in English used as substitute in Manglish are as
follows. /he word :what: from the 8ritish word AwhatA is often used as an e#clamation mark
but in Manglish it is not =ust to ask a ,uestion. ?or e#ample :" did not do it what?: or 0WhatM
5ow could you do that?1 /he word :got: is used as a literal translation from the Malay word
AadaA. /he arrangements of words are often also literally translated. ?or e#ample :Nou got
money?: a direct translation from 8ahasa Malaysia :Kamu ada duit?: /his particular word is
widely abused in Manglish mainly because of the difficulty for the Manglish speaker of
comprehending the !arious correct uses of the English !erb Ato ha!eA. /herefore AgotA is
substituted for e!ery tense of the !erb for e#ample :" got my bag: or 0Lot like that one
meh?1. /he word 0got1 is also used to deny something for e#ample 0Where gotM1
/he word 0can1 is used e#tensi!ely as both a ,uestion particle and an answer particle.
0'an lah1 means Nes 0can lor1 means " think so 0can meh1 means 2re you certain? and 0can
can1 means confirm. /he negati!e is cannot means Co or Co way. /he word :terrer:
pronounced as the English terror refers to someone or something being awesomely ama$ing
for e#ample :/hat guy is terrerM: /he word 0chop1 does not mean cutting something in two
in Manglish it carries two meaning. /he first one is carries the meanings of 0stamp1 from the
Malay word of 0cop1 for e#ample 0-lease chop here1. 2nd the second one means stamp of
appro!al from an important document or person. 0Spoiled1 or 1spoilt1 is used to describe a
machine that is out of order and it is a direct translation of the Malay word 0rosak1.
"n some cases there are words that are combined together with English words. /he
usage of Manglish is so di!erse and sometimes carried more than a meaning in different
conte#t.
9et%s 'abut &English O Malay) P 9et%s ?lee
So 5umsup &English O 'antonese) P So -er!erted
-ay at the pondok & English O Malay) P -ay at the kiosk.
Nou are so kaypoh & English O 'antonese) P Nou are so nosey
'hin 'hai wear & 5okkien O English) P casual clothing or simple attire
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/ak ngam & Malay O 'antonese) P Cot correct or does not match
Kopi Money &Malay O English) P 8ribe or unlawful commission
/here are also words in 'antonese or Malay that are used directly in sentences. ?or
e#ample some direct translation from other languages like 0.ieM1 from the word 7sei% in
'antonese with similar meaning. Such shortened words to describe something are !ery
common in Manglish because Malaysians like to make e!erything simple and short. /here is
also a strong influence from Mandarin 'antonese 5okkien and /amil which are other
ma=or dialects and languages spoken in Malaysia. <erbs or ad=ecti!es from other languages
often ha!e English affi#es and con!ersely sentences may be constructed using English words
in another languageAs synta#. -eople tend to translate phrases directly from their first
languages into English for instance :on the light: instead of :turn on the light:. >r
sometimes :open the light: translated directly from 'hinese.
Manglish also uses some anachronistic 8ritish terms from the era of 8ritish
coloni$ation like :gostan: which means re!erse a !ehicle it is a word deri!ed apparently from
the nautical term :go astern: and :outstation: which means out of town. >ther words that are
used in Manglish are as follows and the true English e,ui!alent is gi!en respecti!ely.
5andphone is mainly used in Manglish and in 8ritish English it is called mobile phone.
8rin=al is used instead of 2ubergine K"< means Keep in <iew is used instead of keep on file.
Medical 'ertificate or M' is used instead of sick note. /he word -hotostat is preferred than
the word photocopy. /he word 0last time1 is preferred to the word pre!iously.
2nother confusing word is 0follow1 when a Malaysian say 0"%m dri!ing you follow
me1 it does not mean you follow him in your own car dri!ing behind him. "t means you are
accompanying him in his car it means you are going with him in his car. /he word Send in
Manglish means to gi!e someone a lift such as 0" send you home lah1.
/he word 0boss1 a common form of address mostly applied to male particularly in
eateries such as 0order drink boss1. Malaysian uses the word :sir: when we address our male
teacher directly. "t is the e,ui!alent of 0cikgu1 in Malay. 5owe!er when we refer to him in
con!ersation 0sir1 should be replaced with 0the teacher1 or 0Mr 'hong1 if his surname is
'hong. 2s for the word Stay Malaysians will say 0where do you stay?1 instead of 0where do
you li!e?1 /he word 0already1 is also mainly used in Manglish it is used rather than 0now1
for e#ample 0he is angry already1. 2nother word that is often used in Manglish especially in
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con!ersation between locals is the word 7>ne1. /he usage of 0one1 or 0wan1 is usually used
to emphasi$e things for e#ample 0why you so like that one?1 or 0Why your sister ne!er like
me one?1
When Malaysians says 02ction1 it means 0show off1 in daily con!ersation it may be
used like 0 Nou so action only1 meaning you are showing off. /he word 02ctually1 is used in
Manglish as a sentence starter it is also carry the meaning of 0to be perfectly honest1 or
0frankly speaking 1 >n a funny note when someone say 0gi!e chan lah1 it is a half serious
plea as in :Li!e us a chance will you?: or it could also mean :-lease do us a fa!our.: 2nd
the sentence 05ow can1 it is another elastic e#pression applicable in almost any situation for
e#ample :/hatAs not rightM: or :"mpossibleM: or :Nou donAt sayM: /he sentence 0My one1 is
actually a possessi!e pronoun meaning 0it belongs to me1 or 0it%s mine.1 2nd the word 0Ce
mine1 actually stands for 0Ce!er mind1. When a Malaysian say 0yes ah1 it shows a general
e#pression of interest usually inserted as a ,uestion during con!ersations as in :>h really?:
and if the con!ersation goes sour the other party may say 0 Nes lah1 it shows a non-committal
agreement liberally used when confronted with a stubborn person. 2 string of :yes
lah: issuing forth from the other party is a sure sign that he or she wishes to terminate
the con!ersation as soon as possible.
Conclusion
Manglish is considered as a combination and direct translation of different languages
in Malaysia. "t has long taken on an identity and life of its own. Noung Malaysians and
students of English nowadays learn to speak Manglish not because they are translating from
their mother tongues but because they hear and copy it from their parents and others around
them. "n other words Manglish has grown into a self-standing language or more accurately a
'reole which means a language fused from two or more languages. Manglish can be
classified as a pidgin or 'reole language because it is a simplified form of English mi#ed
with Malay and 'hinese which has become a separate language from Standard English. /he
main problem of Manglish is simply it can only be understood by Malaysian itself. 2
foreigner will ha!e difficulties to understand it since they are not e#posed to Malaysian
culture and other languages like 8ahasa Malaysia 'hinese and /amil.

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b) "n your opinion should 7Manglish% be encouraged in the ES9 classroom? Why?
E!ery nation has its national language and this must be the pride of the nation. /he
Malay language is the definiti!e language of the population and e!ery Malaysian has
acknowledged this fact. E!ery effort must be made for all Malaysians to be adept in the
Cational language but not at the e#pense of ignoring English. Malaysians should not be
depri!ed of learning other languages if they wish. "f there can be international schools where
English is used to teach there should not be any reason why there cannot be English-medium
schools in the country. "t%s only fair that those who cannot afford their children to be educated
in international schools could choose to send their children to the English-medium schools
pro!ided by the go!ernment or the pri!ate sector. With regards to socio cultural settings such
as the urban centres we are e#posed to people who are comfortable in their own English-
speaking en!ironment. English is not restricted to the home and school but can be used
among friends in social intercourse and also in transactions both official and non-official
among go!ernment bodies.
>ne of the most widely accepted ideas about the teaching of English is that learners
should adopt and speak like a nati!e English speaker. 8ut as English becomes more widely
used as a global language it will become e#pected that speakers will signal their nationality
and other aspects of their identity through English. /hat what has happen with Malaysian
Manglish. "t could not be a!oided since it came naturally to most Malaysian and children
heard it being used at home shops and also being spoken at school.
/he reason the Malaysian go!ernment encourages the use of English is to boost the
nation%s competiti!eness. 5owe!er Manglish has e#actly the opposite effect. ?or e#ample
call centres in 'yber=aya are shutting down and mo!ing to other countries because o!erseas
callers are fed up with hearing 7no-lah% and 7ya-lah% when they call up with a technical
problem. Meanwhile 'ountries like /hailand Korea and 'hina are succeeding in raising the
le!el of English in those countries.
/hese 7locali$ation% phenomena and the widespread of Manglish ha!e caused fear
among educators and professionals especially the nati!e speakers that English has turned into
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ELL322 LINGUISTICS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS
a corrupt language. /herefore the use and de!elopment of English is influenced by the
national language of Malaysia 8ahasa Melayu and its regional dialects that co-e#ists with
other languages like "ndian and 'hinese. /hese languages ha!e influenced the !erbal
repertoire of English language in Malaysia. /here has been an ongoing fear that the spread of
English will only lead to its disintegration and further grow into se!eral mutually
unintelligible languages. Cati!e speakers ha!e e#pressed their concern about the growing
acceptance of distinct non-nati!e !arieties of English language. /his would be in contrast
with the official standard practiced in the education sector for the use of English. /he present
situation in Malaysia is marked by increasing efforts to ele!ate the status and standard of
English instruction at the school le!el but this is not felt necessary for societal needs in the
home or in workplace.
2s the Malays 'hinese "ndians ha!e their own mother tongue language the need for
ac,uiring English !ary from the second language for the Malays and the third language for
the 'hinese and "ndians as 8ahasa Malaysia is the official language. 5ence Malaysian
English arises to be the lingua-franca to this multiracial society. ?or e#ample a Malay
speaker would speak Malaysian English with certain words phrases particles understood by
the 'hinese and "ndians. ?or instance instead of speaking proper English for 7"t should be
done like thatM% the Malaysian English !ersion would be 79ike that one%.
2 language becomes 7standard% if the spoken and written language is clearly
understood by its users. /he language becomes in comprehensible and later leads to ma=or
problems if the ac,uisition of new !arieties of English occurs in isolation from their cultural
conte#t. /herefore it is important to use the Malaysian English only in its own sociolinguistic
settings. "t is also important to note that the status of English in that particular country
depends in its importance as English is the second language as in Malaysia.
Manglish should not be encouraged in English classroom simple because it is not
English. /ake a student who only speaks Manglish and put him in a 8ritish or 2merican
'lassroom no one will understand what he is saying. With a 0lah1 in e!ery word with 0can
or cannot1 and mi#tures of 8ahasa Malaysia or 'hinese dialect in the sentences as well it will
be difficult for the other students to understand him. >nce a student get into the habit of
speaking broken English it is really difficult to speak proper English. "t%s better to learn
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ELL322 LINGUISTICS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS
correct English from scratch. "t is important for English teacher to speak and to encourage
students to speak Standard and proper English. Manglish or broken English should be banned
from being used in the classroom. 2mong the features of Manglish are the usage of particle
0lah1 the direct translations of 8ahasa Malaysia or 'hinese to English and the intonation
speech rhythm and pronunciation. "t will be difficult for Malaysian students to learn proper or
Standard English if they are encouraged to us Manglish in school. "t is not realistic to use
words like 7oledi% and 7liedat% in written English. "magine what the newspapers maga$ines
and book would be like if the whole country could only understand Manglish.
2s for English teachers why stick our heads in the sand if progress is what we aspire
for? /eaching and learning of English as a second language in the country has not been
effecti!e at some point. /he most the country could produce today are those who could speak
Manglish a mi#ed language of English words and mother tongue and students could write
nothing intelligible in the language after years of so-called education. 8illions of ringgit has
been wasted on plans to make Malaysian students proficient in the language but it has
achie!ed minimal results. Malaysians in general do not ha!e the resol!e to learn English
unlike the Europeans. /he flip-flop education policy has further e#acerbated the problem.
/he country%s education system has disappointed the people.
"n a similar point pronunciation is assumed to be an essential component of speech
and oral skills. -roper pronunciation of words and sentences in English is important for
students to be understood and to be taken seriously in the outside world. >ral skills will also
enable learners to con!ey their thoughts and ideas clearly in speech when they pronounce
words correctly and obser!e correct stress and intonation.
2 simple ac,uaintance with the language alone is not enough for new technologies to
be learnt. English is important to be learnt correctly and its deli!ery and implementation in
schools must be taken seriously by the go!ernment and education ministry. "t is unfortunate
perhaps for the language nationalists but that is the reality today. /he go!ernment should not
take the issue of future generations lightly by ob=ecting to the mastery and usage of the
English language. 9ack of self-confidence among graduates as well as their poor
communication skills has to be taken seriously and impro!ement should be made. /heir
communication skills are so poor that sometimes they cannot e!en relay what they want to
e#press in their own language. Knfortunately it applies to the large ma=ority of graduates in
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ELL322 LINGUISTICS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS
Malaysia irrespecti!e of whether they originate from local or foreign uni!ersities. E!en many
of the top students who are e#cellent in their technical skills are !ery poor in their language
and communication skills. Employers will often complain that they cannot understand the
emails from these graduates. 2ll this could be impro!ed by impro!ing English language
teaching approach in schools. Students must be taught basic proper and Standard English
from primary school until tertiary le!el.
/he poor communication skills are almost cultural. /he English language syllabus in
Malaysia does pro!ide an a!enue for pronunciation skills to be included in classroom
practices and this reflects the assumption that using good and proper pronunciation is
important to communicate and to be understood. Without ade,uate proper usage of English
and pronunciation skills a person%s communicati!e skills may be se!erely hampered and this
in turn may gi!e rise to speech that lacks intelligibility leading to glitches in con!ersation.
?urthermore the !ariety of accents originating from multi-ethnic and multi-lingual speakers
with different educational e#periences makes the choice of a particular accent and way of
speech is a challenging task in Malaysia. 2s an English teacher " strongly belie!e that
Manglish should not be encourage in Malaysian classroom. "t should be a!oided and students
must be encouraged to use proper Standard English in school.
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ELL322 LINGUISTICS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS
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