National identity and minority languages.

• Author: Ghazali, Kamila

how far do we go in implementing language policies into the education system so as to integrate a nation's peoples? Nearly all nations identify and determine at least one language as the official language, and some include another as the national language. This is necessary for the obvious reason that a common language would create solidarity and instil a sense of national identity and pride. However, in the pursuit of attaining competence in the language of "commodity" and "enterprise," many minority languages and even cultures are sometimes sacrificed. Studies show that mothers, the primary supporters of education in most families, take pains to raise their children in the "school" language, rather than their own native tongue. This is to ensure that their children will have a head start as they enter primary or even pre-school.

Multi-ethnic Malaysia is renowned for its success in maintaining a harmonious balance among its people. Many know that the country consists of three main ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese, and Indians. Within each, there are several dialects or variations of the main language. In addition, there are dozens of minority languages spoken all over the country in the peninsula, as well as on the island of Borneo, where the two states of Sabah and Sarawak are located. These people belong to various indigenous communities which come under the Austronesian as well as the Austro-Asiatic languages.

The official and national language in Malaysia is Malay, or Bahasa Malaysia, and is "the basis for national integration." (1) However, the Government of Malaysia recognized the importance of English as an international language and added that "measures will be taken to ensure that English is taught as a strong second language."

In efforts to maintain the languages of the other two main ethnic groups, the government provides two different types of schools at the primary level: "national schools" where the medium of instruction is Malay, and "national-type" schools where the medium of instruction is either Chinese or Tamil. It would be naive to exclude the fact that this is a politically-driven move, given the fact that the ruling government is a coalition of the three major races. Still, it is a great effort to ensure the sustain-ability of these languages up to a certain point. Even within the three major ethnic groups, dialectal differences exist (Tamil to lesser extent). Malays, who speak no less than ten different dialects based...