WEEK 9

 ● Pre-independence
 ● English Language during pre-independence
 ● Post-independence
 ● English Language during post-independence
 ● The functions of English Language
 Started when British took over Malaya
 British occupied Penang – leased by Sultan of

Kedah in 1786
 British began looking for new resources after

India
 Mainland opposite Penang was leased to the

British – known as Province of Wellesley

 British governor, Stamford Raffles, was
looking for an alternative base.
 In 1819, he acquired Singapore from the

Sultan of Johore
 In 1824, Dutch evacuated Malacca and British

took over
 By 1826, British controlled Penang, Malacca,

Singapore and Labuan

 British influence is later expanded after the

Pangkor Treaty in 1874

 Perak – the 1st state that allowed British
intervention in tin-mining quarrels
1) The introduction of Resident System in
1870’s
 - British officers were employed to head

departments involved in collection of

revenues, road construction and supervision
of mines.
 - some Malays who understood simple

everyday English were recruited

2) Expansion of commerce and trading
 - in town port cities of Singapore, Malacca

and Penang
 - affected the use of Malay as lingua franca in

16th century
 - rules and regulations pertaining to

commercial activities were drawn up in

English Language
3) Increase in educational facilities
 - by 1950’s many vernacular schools were

opened for the main races: Malay, Chinese

and Indians
 - part of British’s strategy of divide and rule

policy
 - English medium schools were also

introduced eg High Schools and Convents

 - textbooks and reference books were

imported from United Kingdom

 - the number who enrolled was very small –
most from the royal families, businessmen
and aristocrats
 - tuition fees were high and most schools

were located in towns

 In 1967: Bahasa Melayu declared as the
national language
 the 1969 riot resulted in the New Education

Policy
 - beginning 1970s: English-medium schools

phased out, converted into Malay-medium

national schools
 - between 1970-1983: implementation of

Bahasa Melayu as the national language

 Revamp of national language policy
 - abolishment of Lower Certificate of
Education (LCE) in 1978 & Malaysian
Certificate of Education (MCE) in 1980
 The policy was inadequate to prepare

students for globalisation and ICT era

 In 2003: Reintroduction of English Language

as the medium of instructions for Science and

Mathematics subjects
 Needs:
 -equip a generation with essential skills to

cope with challenges in globalisation and ICT

 -produce a generation that can bring

Malaysia up to the standards in achieveing

the status of a developed country
 -to ensure that Malaysians keep up with the

changes, maintaining national values and

heritage
 particularly related to the roles of mass media
 national radio and television network aired

both Malay and English programmes

 the flooding of English films was a crucial

factor to the spread (Platt and Weber, 1980)

 The present functions of English Language today can reflect
the relative importance of English Language
 The functions can be identified according several domains:
 i) the business domain
 ii) the employment domain
 iii) the education domain
 iv) the domain of tourism
 v) the domain of law
 vi) the media domain
 vii) the domain of translation
 viii) the domain of ICT
 What is the status of English Language in
Malaysia? Is it a second language (L2) or a
foreign language (FL)?
 What are the future implications on the use of

English Language in Malaysia?