MALAYSIAN ENGLISH Vs STANDARD EN GLISH

Communication is one of the most important aspects in our daily life. In fact, most of the

activities we do are directly or indirectly related to communication. People around the world

speak English and the rest sometimes seem to or are trying to. At the same time, English is

spoken in many different varieties and accent. The British introduced English to Malaysia more

than two centuries ago. It became the most important language as days passed and it is often

associated with power and prestige among these people. English was made the second language

in conjunction with the promotion of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language. Then,the

importance of English increased. Today, Malaysians speak Standard English and Malaysian

English. But some of us are confused with Standard English and Malaysia English. What is

actually meant by Standard English and Malaysian English and how exactly it differs?This

question should have strike on everyone mind. Standard English is also known as Standard

Written English or SWE, is the form of English most widely accepted as being clear and proper.

It is regarded as the most appropriate and most commonly used form of English around the

world. It is also acknowledged as the model of speech and writing of educated speakers. While

on the other hand, Manglish is a Malaysian speaking style, just like the Singaporean English,

Singlish. This is a distorted use of English that is mainly spoken between the locals and

sometimes is also referred to as a rojak language. So, how is Standard English differs from

Malaysian English?

In Malaysia, we regard Malaysian English as bahasa rojak. Rojak is a malay word, loosely

translated actually means ‘a mixture of’. Same goes to in Malaysian context. We regard our

English as rojak English. Malaysians, are very lucky to have many different races speaking many

different languages and still staying together peacefully under one nation. These local languages

mentioned being basically Malay, Chinese and Tamil. Using the English language with a mixture

of the Malay words, Chinese dialects and Tamil. For example, in an informal communication,

people more often than not used the word ‘lah’ , ‘aaah’ and ‘aiyoo’. ‘Lah' is used to emphasise,

‘Aaah' is usually followed by a question mark and ‘Aiyoo' is often accompanied by the

exclaimation mark. For example, ‘Aiyoo, why u so late?’ and ‘faster lah. This kind of Manglish

spoken sentences are only understood by Malaysians and not tourists. How is the possible for

tourist to understand if the English is spoken in this manner.The main point on how Malaysian

English differs from Standard English is the words spoken which are used in the speaking of

English language. In Standard English we use words which can be understood by everyone

whereby in Malaysian English, we mix all the languages into English whereby only Malaysians

can understand the whole meaning of the sentence.

Besides that, Standard English differs from Malaysian English in terms of pronunciations of

words. As I have explained in the above context, Malaysia is a well diverse country with their

different dialects. So, English is a second language in this country. If compared to the British, the

one main language spoken there is English. But here in Malaysia, the English spoken here is

mixed with many dialects spoken by the different ethnics in Malaysia. Thus, one thing we need

to bear in mind here that most of the pronunciation mistakes which relates to our mother tongue

interference. Malaysian pronounce words differently with different accent. For instance,

Malaysians pronounce Wednesday as wed-nes-day but it’s actually wenz-day, question as ques-

tion but it’s actually ques-chen, Malaysians pronounce procedure as prou-si-dear but suppose it

should be pronounce as pre-si-jer and many other words. At the same time, In Malaysian

English, the last syllable of a word is sometimes not pronounced with the strength that it would

be in British English. So, here we can see Malaysian English differs in terms of pronunciation of

words, whereby it is mostly affected by the interference of the different dialects in Malaysia.

Standard English also differs from Malaysian English in terms of grammar. There are many

Manglish grammatical structures taken from Chinese dialects and many claim that the structure

is taken from the malay language. For example, the phrase "Why you so like that one?” in

standard English it means "Why are you behaving in that way. For example "I haven't seen you

in a long time" in standard English becomes "Long time no see” in Malaysian English. Certain

extent the word used in Srandard English and Malaysian is different. With the variety of

influences Malaysian English is gradually forming its own vocabulary. Typically, these words

are based on other English words but most of the time the Malaysian speaker is unaware that

these words are not the words from the standard use of English or even from British or American

English. For example, one of the most used words in Malaysia is hand phone but it is actually a

mobile phone or a cell phone. Moreover, Malaysians use brinjal, but the right use of that

vegetable is eggplant or Aubergine, the standard word for MC is actually sick note and as

another example, gostan which is commanly used in Malaysia is actually reverse or backwards in

Standard English

In conclusion, we should minimize the usage and avoid speaking Malaysian English in formal

situation. On the other hand, Standard English should always be uphold and give more priority.

English is becoming the main communication language everywhere around the world. Thus, the

difference between Malaysian English and Standard English can be lessened if there is a

commitment from every individual to improve the standard of English in Malaysia.