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HOW MALAYSIANS CULTURE
AFFECTS ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Introduction
 Culture is defined as the beliefs and
attitudes about something that people
in a particular group or organization
share.
 There are four main cultural aspects
that influence the development of
English language in Malaysia.
1. Multicultural society
2. Political and historical influence
3. Educational policies
4. Urban and rural setting

Multicultural Society
 Nowadays, many countries in the world
discern Malaysia as a role model because of
having harmonious and peaceful society
although the citizens consist of many races.

 English language is important among
Malaysians. It is an international language &
used as lingua franca in global trade.

 The English used by Malaysians might have
some difference in terms of pronunciation.
This is because some ethnic groups have
difficulties to say certain sounds in English

 Besides, Malaysians also tend to code-
mix English with their mother tongue and
this can be said as ‘bahasa rojak’.

 Malaysians are more likely to speak
‘bahasa rojak’ where the English word is
mixed with their mother tongue word in a
sentence.

 Because of them, it is easier to
understand the sentences rather than
using complicated English words.

Political and historical influence
 When a certain countries colonized by
another country, automatically the language
used for administrations is the colonist
language.

 This happened to Malaysia during the
colonial time.

 Malaysia used English as official language in
education, trade and administration matters.

 The effect was that Malaysians were able to
speak and understand English because they

 When the British left Malaysia after Malaysia got
its independence in 1957, automatically the
language of instruction used in all matters also
changed to Bahasa Melayu because of the new
language policy.

 When this happened, where English was not
used as official language anymore, Malaysians
rarely used English in their daily life.

 Consequently, the fluency of Malaysians in using
English became weaker from day to day
because they are not using it anymore.

Educational policies
 The educational policies implemented by the
government can affect the community in the
future.
 During the colonial era, the British
government had introduced an educational
system that allowed only elites to attend
English-medium school.
 The school had better facilities that
vernacular school.
 During that time, all subjects in English
School were taught in English.
 The poor Malays, Chinese, and Indians were
at a disadvantages because their school did

 Before Malaysia got its independence from
British, the education system was been revised
for many times.
 For example the Barnes Report (1950)
suggested that Bahasa Melayu and English
become as medium of instruction in primary
schools and English as medium of instruction in
secondary schools.
 The Rahman Talib Report (1960) and The
Education Act (1961) suggested that Bahasa
Melayu become the medium of instruction for all
subjects from primary school until university.

 However, in 2003 the government
implemented the policy that English be used
as medium of instruction for Mathematics
and Science in primary & secondary schools.
 When the government implemented the
policy, the fluency of Malaysians in using
English was better because Malaysians were
using it daily.

 When the government implemented the
policy not to use English as a medium of
instruction in school, the mastery of English
among Malaysians became weak.
 Malaysians should be able to compete in the
field of knowledge with other countries in the
world where English is the language of
knowledge.

Urban & Rural Setting
 In urban setting, the lifestyle of Malaysians is
more exposed to English.
 There are many facilities that can give the
people in urban setting exposed to English
language such as television and internet.
 This is different in rural settings where people
there are not exposed to English. They only use
their own language in their conversation.
 When people are exposed to English, if they are
unable to speak, at least they understand a bit
when they hear English.
 Unlike in rural settings, people just use their
language & are not exposed to English. Thus,

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Bi cultural n language

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