The English Language And Its Impact On Identities Of MultilingualMalaysian Undergraduates

(Article Review)

Nurul Arina Bt Mohamad Fauzi

2012319365

Prepared ForDr Johan @ Eddy Luaran

OVERVIEW

The expanding quality of English as a world most widely used language, there

is little research on how the utilization of English influences the characters of

Malaysian speakers. Asmah Haji Omar watched that enthusiasm toward dialect and

character appeared to be restricted to studies on national character.

A doctoral study by Lee Su Kim of the character of Malaysian speakers of

English found that there was disdain in certain confined settings around the Malay

respondents in the study towards the utilization of English. Statements of hatred and

vacillation towards the utilization of the English dialect were likewise predominant

around the non-Malay respondents inside specific settings. This paper shows the

discoveries of a qualitative exploration study which sets out to explore the effect of

English on the characters of youthful Malaysian students in chose private and open

colleges in Malaysia.

METHODOLOGY

Utilizing qualitative systems, this exploration study basically takes off from

Lee Su Kim's doctoral examination study, and intends to investigate on a bigger scale

the part of English in the personality development of a more youthful Malaysian

companion from both open and private colleges. The discoveries introduced here are

from a couple chose careful investigations that give the qualitative information. The

exchange will concentrate on how distinctive multilingual Malaysian students respect

English opposite the other dialects in their collection and how it has influenced their

personality developments and regular transactions. Three prevailing subjects

emerging from the discoveries will be talked about, 1) Multilingualism with English

developing as the prevailing dialect, 2) English saw as a practical dialect and a dialect

of strengthening, and 3) Varying degrees of 'othering'.

The example for the qualitative exploration comprises of 20 Malaysian

students, extending from 20 to 24 years of age. Out of the 20 students, seven were

Malays, eight were Chinese, four were Indians and one was Singhalese. There were

four guys and sixteen females. Twelve students were from open colleges and eight

were from the private colleges. In selecting the subjects, the fundamental thought was

that the subjects might be standard clients of English although different dialects in

their collection and are familiar enough to have the capacity to give their perspectives

in the meetings. This recognition with English was an essential for us to investigate

how English use has affected the personality of the subjects. An extra thought was an

inclination towards the choice of more develop students from the second or last year

to get more adult reflections on the issue. A portion of the subjects were understudies

known by the scientists and recognized to fit into the profile, the rest were alluded by

these known learners and volunteered to take an interest.

The research questions that this study seeks to address are:

1. In what ways does English affect the identities of young adults in Malaysia as

bilingual/multilingual speakers?

2. How does English empower young Malaysians in this globalized world?

3. Is English viewed as a threat to their cultural identity? In what ways does

English affect or marginalize local languages and local identities?

Character development is not a cognizant process yet rather it is impacted by

oblivious mental techniques. It is an on-making a go at, developing and element

process which is pluralistic in nature. The idea of character development undertakes a

more extensive size particularly when individuals of distinctive societies meet up, as

in the connection of Malaysian culture. In such settings, Lin (2008) states that the

thought of character may turn into a twofold edged weapon with dangers and

reasonable to assume dangers. Character in such settings includes the framing of

bicultural characters, where the self characterized by neighborhood implications and

more customary practices is kept up close by a self characterized by worldwide

society (Arnett, 2002). Hermans furthermore Kempen (1998) notwithstanding,

proposed the thought of a mixture character, where these two societies are

coordinated in a different, alert and clashed relationship.

The idea of "othering" alludes to the practice of contrasting ourselves with

others and in the meantime removing ourselves from them (Palfreyman, 2005). The

markers of separation that shape the importance of "us' what's more "them" may be

dependent upon elements identified with race, topography, ethnicity, financial

gathering or philosophy. Despite the fact that this is a typical mental experience, the

procedure of othering may have particular suggestions when it is utilized as the

support of affirmation toward oneself at the cost of stigmatizing the other gathering.

EVALUATION

The author adequately establish the significance of the research questions

clearly stated in this study. In my opinion the methods that they were using were very

applicable as they really use the advantages of our multicultaral and backgorund in

Malaysia. This is because the students considering at open and private colleges

around the Selangor territory keeping in mind the dominant part of them experienced

childhood in Selangor, the main residences of the others included Perak in the north

of Peninsular Malaysia, Johor and Negeri Sembilan in the south, and Sarawak in East

Malaysia. Just two of the subjects reported having used a lot of time abroad – one of

the subjects existed her initial years, from one to eight years of age, in England, an

alternate subject experienced three years of auxiliary school in Beijing and has gone

in spots in Europe. The subjects are acknowledged to extend between normal or more

normal socioeconomically, with the private college people by and large being

wealthier than the learners from general society college.

According to the data collection given, the inference of the analysis given is

very reasonable and as they did the reliable and proven evidences. Nevertheless, being

brought up in multilingual foundations, sixteen out of twenty of the respondents

conceded English as a predominant dialect for them. Eventhough they were capable at

exchanging to different dialects, normally Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese or Tamil, in

suitable settings, these respondents confirm feeling the most open to utilizing English

in an extensive variety of spaces; English subsequently gets to be a dialect for

correspondence as well as capacities as a first dialect. From my first point of view,

there are no weaknesses in the study hence; English can be viewed as the predominant

dialect in all spaces. In most cases, English has engaged its clients as it has opened up

their reality and in a few cases has enhanced their respect toward oneself, enhanced

their economic wellbeing, and made them show up more proficient. But then we

should consider of doing a comparable study on the same topic could be completed in

different zones of Malaysia, especially East Malaysia for its rich and very exceptional

sociocultural structure. A study on the effect and parts of the English dialect in other

customarily 'non-local speaker' or 'external loop' nations might be useful in helping

the collection of learning towards understanding the significances of the spread of

English as the dialect of the world today.

DISCUSSION

After all, in today’s global world, the importance of English can’t be denied

and ignored since English is the most common language spoken everywhere. With the

help of developing technology, English has been playing a major role in many sectors

including medicine, engineering, and education, which, in my opinion, is the most

important arena where English is needed. Lastly, the education in universities should

be done with English for three reasons. First, students who know English are able to

find their favourite job related with their field. Second, they can communicate with

others internationally. Third, as a major language in universities, English makes

accessing information easy for students. In my opinion, internationally, people need

one common language. For many years, English has been the common wold-wide

language, and it will be in the future. For this reason, if you want to follow trends,

new gadgets and technology, modernization of the developing world, you have to

know English whatever age you are in.