Introduction

The Southeast Asian region has been multilingual for many centuries, and consequently, plurilingualism and multilingualism has been the norm for Southeast Asians for centuries. More recently, Tickoo (2006: 168) has described language educational matters within the South Asian region as “shortsighted”, as they show “disregard for the sociocultural contexts of the languages in use and also for the forces that contributed to language maintenance and shift”. At the same time, the presence of English and its varieties and functions in Southeast Asia has become a widely researched topic of scholars (Kachru & Nelson 2006).

In present-day Malaysia, linguistic diversity can be described as a “5- C-situation”: contact, competition, cooperation, conflict and coexistence between languages. In fact, Bateson (1972) describes Malaysia`s sociolinguistic situation as schismogenic, as the relationship between languages is perceived to be more competing than complementing. Bahasa Malaysia has been designated a unifying language for Malaysians, who in essence comprise heterogeneous ethnic and religious groups. English was displaced in governmental and educational domains after Malaysia gained independence in 1957. Hence, today a dramatic decline in the standard of English can be observed. Apart from English, which is deemed the second most important language, other languages such as French, Arabic and German have been introduced in educational settings. The languages of the other communities – e.g. Mandarin and Tamil – have also been given emphasis in Malaysia (David 2003 and 2008b). However, as David states, “the emphasis on Malay, the National language, and also English as an international language, are seen as more important than time spent on learning the mother tongue […]” (David 2008b: 79). The complexity of this ethno-linguistic vitality and sociocultural heterogeneity raises a number of questions with respect to language policy and language planning and have created paradoxical situations in educational scenes.

Background

The position of English, Bahasa Malaysia, indigenous languages and foreign languages is situated in a dichotomous sociopolitical situation, as Malaysia aims to prepare its citizens to be competitive for the global market and advocates in parallel the importance of nation-building. The complex relationships of personal, cultural and social identity, the demands of the society, political twists and turns, and the role and status of diverse languages have caused ambivalent attitudes towards language learning and language use among the diverse Malaysian ethnic groups.