"Learning to speak another's language means taking one's place in the human community. It means reaching out to others across cultural and linguistic boundaries. Language is far more than a system to be explained. It is our most important link to the world around us. Language is culture in motion. It is people interacting with people."
Sandra Savignon Communicative Competence: Theory and Classroom Practice.
Reading, MA Addison Wesley, 1983, p. 187 .
English has been the most integral language to be acquired by the young generation if success is what they aim for their future. Unfortunately, this view is not shared by the nation’s intellectual society. They have been arguing, protesting or even worse, demanding for the national language to be preserved. The question is, does learning and acquiring other language, English, or even Mandarin for that matter, make you any less Malay?
When Malaysia declared that it would introduce ETeMS (English for Teaching Mathematics and Science) in 2003, the news received a whole kaleidoscope of emotions and perceptions. Some people embraced this really well but many thought it was the end of the national language. Without weighing the idea or even giving it a chance, these people outwardly thwarted the idea as something ludicrous and that we should uphold the national language instead, that we should look at countries like Japan, Korea, France, etc that survive the world without even acquiring the English Language. Well, one question can be asked to these people, why send their children to Chinese School, English School, International School or other schools that use English or other language as the main language for communication? Is it not because they want their children to be better equipped to compete in the employment market? It is a wonder if their thoughts are for the sake of the generation’s future or do they have a different set of rules for themselves. One more question that can be asked is, by comparing Malaysia to the industrial giants like Japan, Korea, etc, are we admitting that we are on par with them? Go figure.
I feel obliged to address this matter for I thought the students (mostly Malays) nowadays have been injected with so many propaganda against English Language that they do not feel the urge to improve themselves anymore. Now that ETeMS has been abolished, they have been fed with so many notions that they could survive monolingual. Apparently the intellectual society only have issue with the English Language and not other languages, for instance, Arabic, Mandarin – the languages offered in most schools nowadays. Why do we need to learn Arabic? Why do we need to learn Mandarin?
Malaysians are not unfamiliar with the concept of being bilingual. Most ethnics would at least know two languages. One being their mother tongue and the other, Bahasa Melayu. When they learn English then they would be trilingual. Now where does that leave the Malay students? They barely know their own language for they are so engrossed with their regional dialects. By not acquiring any extra language, how do they think they would fare in the job market? Compared to other ethnics, the Malays are likely to fall behind because they keep thinking that they could survive with mediocre Bahasa Melayu. Well, someone needs to knock some senses into their thick skulls. Arrogant notions like that should be addressed immediately for they are in the danger of losing their country. It is bad enough that they are pampered since young through so many privileges given by the government.
It is time we realise what benefit English could bring to our society. Language, or education for that matter should not be politicised. At least treat English as a language, just like Mandarin, French, or Japanese, that would enrich us as civilised people, if nothing else.
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