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Drastic Change in the Medium of Instruction: From Bahasa Malaysia to English

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Language Policy Challenges in Multi-Ethnic Malaysia

Part of the book series: Multilingual Education ((MULT,volume 8))

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Abstract

This chapter discusses the sudden change in the medium of instruction for the important domains of Science & Mathematics from Bahasa Malaysia to English (PPSMI), instituted by the then Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, in 2002. This change was in line with his Vision 2020 when Malaysia was to achieve developed nation status. The factors impacting this drastic change in language policy such as the impact of globalization & the English language on the knowledge economy, human resource development & tertiary education, the access to science & technology, the declining standard of the English language etc. are examined. Since the change in language policy was a top-down government decision, there were various reactions from the dominant ethnic group and the two minority groups. The different responses by educationists from these three groups are also discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Professor of Language Planning and Policy & Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Industry and Community Partnerships), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (National University of Malaysia), Bangi, Malaysia

    Prof. Dr. Saran Kaur Gill

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  1. Prof. Dr. Saran Kaur Gill
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Correspondence to Saran Kaur Gill .

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Gill, S. (2014). Drastic Change in the Medium of Instruction: From Bahasa Malaysia to English. In: Language Policy Challenges in Multi-Ethnic Malaysia. Multilingual Education, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7966-2_4

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