Question 1: Teaching In a Multiracial Society. What are the challenges?

Malaysian teachers face many situations as they are doing their duty for the country.
Teaching in a place where the people consist of multiracial society is quite a
challenging task. Taking the situation given, it gives a glimpse of what a teacher
face.

In the situation stated, Madam Catherine uses four languages which are
Malay, English, Iban and Melanau. These languages are used in different place and
situation. This is caused by the needs to use certain language to align to whom she
is speaking to. There two types of language used here. First one is vernacular. She
uses the Iban and Melanau language to converse with his family and husband’s
family in Daro, Sarawak. These languages are used only to communicate and not for
any formal use. That is not the case for English and Malay language. These two
languages are used by Madam Catherine to discuss about anything regarding her
work and other duty that she held. Therefore, there are two different uses that can be
seen on the languages that she uses that is for formal use and informal use

Speaking these number of languages can be quite difficult for Madam

Catherine. There are some challenges that she faces in order to communicate using
each of the languages that she converses in. The first one would be the difficulty to
use the language without code mixing. Code mixing is a term used by sociolinguist to
define an act of communicating by constructing the sentence using two different
language at the same time which known in Malaysia as ‘Bahasa Rojak’. This could
happen when she is talking with her husband’s family fully in Melanau language. To
overcome this, she would need to spend more time with her husband’s family to
have more time with them and gain the opportunity to communicate using the
Melanau language which will improve her ability to do so.

Other than that, Madam Catherine will also face the challenges of having the
duty to preserve her vernacular language, the Iban language. Most of her time would
be spent at her school, going to meetings, going to courses for her teaching, and
also having discussions with the officers of English Unit of the Sarawak State
Education Department. This situation involves using the Malay and English
languages only. She would not have that much time to use the Iban language. So,
the way she could avoid this would be to frequently have conversation in Iban with
anyone. As stated, she talks in Iban with her children which is perfect as her children
will master the language and be the next generation of able to speak in Iban the
correct way.

In conclusion, Madam Catherine uses four languages for different reason, the
two are vernacular language which are just for communicating with her family and
the other two are standard language. Using these many languages forced her to face
the challenges such are conserving the originality of her vernacular language and
the need to avoid code mixing which can cause confusion. Anyway, Madam
Catherine is a good example of what a true Malaysian is, that is being able to speak
many languages of races in Malaysian.
Question 2: Language as a tool of Unity among Malaysians. Do you agree, and
why?

Based on what being stated in the question, I agree to the use of Malaysian
Language as a tool to bring Malaysian together. Malaysia has diverse culture and
the same with the languages that are being spoken by the Malaysian. Therefore,
having one language to become the main language of communicating is one of the
best ways to unite the Malaysian people. There are several reasons on why I am
agreeing to this such as it makes easier communication among different ethnics and
setting an identity for the country.

Firstly, having one language, the Malaysian Language as the official language
in Malaysia would help in making the people of Malaysia to understand each other
better. They can start to converse without having any misunderstanding towards
each other. This would help on getting the multiracial society to learn more about
each other’s culture. Therefore, they would become close when they understand why
certain ethnic do as a tradition and not stereotyping them.

Secondly, one of the identities of a country can be seen through its language
spoken by the people living in it. As the official language of Malaysia, the Malaysian
language is a must for everyone in the nation to be able to communicate in. Being
able to speak using the language means that individual is a Malaysian. Wherever
someone might go, she or he should never lose their ability to speak in their own
nation’s language

There are some issues regarding about making the Malaysian language as
the tool of uniting the people of Malaysia. One of it is the abolishment of vernacular
school which has been talked about many times. This issue has been going around
for a while and still not being able to get into a certain conclusion. But anyway,
abolishing it should not be a problem if the subjects of that vernacular languages are
preserved and still can be taken by students in normal public school. Even though
the Malaysian language is seen as the most important language to be thought to
younger generation, so as the vernacular language which should be protected from
being extinct to keep the uniqueness of Malaysia.

Another issue involves the English language. Few years ago, the Malaysian
government announced that Malaysian Language should be used in all government
function and all medium of instructions. Turns out, it is somehow of a halt to the
nation as the people starting to not be able to take the opportunity to have an easy
business meeting especially involving people from another country which would
need the English language. Therefore, proving that English language is as much as
important as the Malaysian Language. Now, the government has started to change
the policy back to use English as the medium of instructions at all levels. This would
help the country to grow its economy as well as improving the nations younger
generation to master the international language.

To conclude, Malaysian language is very important to be stressed to the

people in Malaysia as it would help to build the nation’s unity through easing up the
understanding towards each other and making the language as our identity thus
strengthening their identity as Malaysian. For the issues, it is up for the leaders of the
country for choosing what is best for the country in the future.