LANGUAGE CHOICE IN EDUCATION IN A MULTILINGUAL SETTING: THE MALAYSIAN CONTEXT

A. R. M. Mostafizar  Rahman; Chan Swee  Heng; Ain Nadzimah  Abdullah

doi:10.53808/KUS.2010.10.1and2.0902-A

Authors

A. R. M. Mostafizar Rahman English Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh
Chan Swee Heng Department of English, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM, Malaysia
Ain Nadzimah Abdullah Department of English, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53808/KUS.2010.10.1and2.0902-A

Keywords:

Language choice, education domain, multilingualism, proficiency, ethnicity, gender

Abstract

A state of multilingualism allows people to grow up with access to two or more languages which results in exercising choice of languages for different purposes in different domains. Even within a single domain, education for example, the choice of language varies according to contexts, topics and participants. Since Malaysia is a multilingual country, it is not surprising that everyone in this country speaks at least two or more languages. What languages the Malaysians choose in the education domain constitutes the focus of this paper. It also investigates what influences the choice. The issues were investigated through a questionnaire survey administered to a sample of University Putra Malaysia undergraduates who are seen as representative of Malaysian undergraduates. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings revealed that language choice in education varies according to sub-domains. It was also found that language proficiency, ethnicity, and gender influence the choice of languages.

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