Introduction

Malaysia is a multi-ethnic, multilingual country with a population of 26.64 million (as of 2006) and at least a hundred languages. Of the total population of Malaysia, Bumiputras (Malays and other indigenous groups) comprise 65.1%, Chinese 26.0% and Indians 7.7% (Census Malaysia, 2002). While the Malays who form the majority of the population are indigenous, the non-Malays (i.e., the Chinese and the Indians) are considered immigrant communities since many of their ancestors were encouraged by the British colonial regime to move to Malaysia. Within each of the three main ethnic groups, a variety of languages and dialects are used. Furthermore, it is not unusual for speakers of a specific ethnic community to know and use another language better than they do their mother tongue (see David et al. 2003 on the Punjabi Sikh community). In fact, according to Omar (2003: 100), English is the first language learned by 1% of the Malaysian population.

In a country where so many languages and dialects abound, one of the issues that often arises is the choice of language not only in the public domain but also in the home domain. Should one use the national language (known over different time periods as Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Melayu), an international language (English) or one's ethnic language in the family domain – or for that matter a mixed discourse (see David et al. 2009) consisting of more than one language?

Decisions about language choice in the home are complex. Burhanuddin (2006) discusses the language choice of urban bilingual Malays in Kuala Lumpur and states that the use of the ethnic language is most dominant in conversations with grandparents, while English by itself or mixed with Malay is preferred most with siblings. Such a choice with grandparents indicates politeness and respect, she posits. The other two major ethnic groups, the Chinese and the Indians in urban Kuala Lumpur, face similar issues of language choice depending on the circumstances.

David (1996) describes language choice and use in a minority community: the Sindhi-Hindus who number about 700 in West Malaysia.