Language Policy in a Multilingual Society-inquiries on English use in Malaysia

2003年，马来西亚引入英语作为各级科学和数学的教学媒介。本文提出的研究调查了这一最近的变化，并检查了由于这一变化，教师和学生目前面临的问题。2002年，前总理马哈蒂尔宣布了一项新的语言政策，呼吁改用英语，以提高国家在全球化世界中的竞争力。这个突然的自上而下的决定引发了语言规划者之间的各种争论，他们认为母语教育的重要性和马来语地位的侵蚀，以及它对国家统一和社会经济发展的潜在积极影响。这一政策变化反映了马来西亚多民族和多语言社会的复杂性。与亚洲国家在独立后引入的旧政策不同，选择官方语言作为国家建设的工具，2003年的政策变化是由过去几十年世界经济全球化和技术快速发展（如信息技术和生物化学工业的进步）的务实需求所强烈推动的。马来西亚正在发生的事情与日本、中国和韩国等其他亚洲邻国的情况相似。在这方面，今天的语言政策已经成为经济政策的一部分。在分析通过本研究收集的数据时，特别注意了与当地教师、管理人员和学生的访谈中表达的问题。此外，还检查了教育部为学生准备的cd - rom和为教师准备的培训材料，以确定在用英语教授科学和数学时真正需要的技能。

In 2003, English was introduced as the medium of instruction for Science and Mathematics at all levels in Malaysia. The research presented here investigated this recent change, and examined issues that teachers and students are currently facing due to this change. Former Prime Minister Mahathir announced a new language policy in 2002 calling for a switch to English in order to improve the nation's competitiveness in the globalized world. This sudden top-down decision triggered various arguments among language planners regarding the importance of education in native languages and the erosion of the status of Malay, as well as its potentially positive effect for the nation's unity and potential merits for social and economic advancement. The policy change reflected the complexity of Malaysia's multiethnic and multilingual society. Unlike old policies introduced among Asian nations upon their independence, selecting an official language(s) as a tool for nation building, the policy change in 2003 is strongly motivated by pragmatic needs as a result of globalization of the world economy over the past few decades and the rapid advancement of technology, such as information technology and advances in the biochemical industries. What is happening in Malaysia parallels what is happening in other neighboring countries in Asia, including Japan, China and Korea. Language policy today has become part of economic policy in this regard. In analyzing the data collected through this research, special attention was paid to the issues expressed in interviews with local teachers, administrators, and students. In addition, materials prepared by the Ministry of Education, including CD-ROMs for students and training materials for teachers, were examined to locate what skills are really required when teaching Science and Math in English.