INTRODUCTION

The world today is divided into various nation states, most whose citizens are

linguistically diverse. There are more than 20 states with more than one official language,

such as India, who has 19, but most nation states tend to use only one official language,

mainly for legal and governmental purposes but also for unifying its people (UNESCO,

2003). Language planning and policy for these countries are essential, and the best way for its

implementation starts at schools.

Multilingual education involves the teaching of school subjects in more than two

languages. Typically, it involves schooling in the child’s mother tongue, and then transits to

additional languages (Wikipedia). Multilingual education brings forward more complexities

compared to bilingual education as it deals with more advanced cognitive issues in learning.

It also intimately plays with the political, economical and social issues of a country.

This paper is divided into two parts. The first part examines the factors that contribute

to the use of multiple languages in education. These factors as to why a country would

choose to adopt this educational approach will be supported by relevant examples by looking

at the current education systems of countries that are concerned. The second part then deals

with language policies between two countries. The languages used in these countries and the

reasons for their usage will also be explained using current and relevant examples.

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The factors that contribute towards the use of multiple languages in education

The factors that contribute to the use of multiple languages as means of instruction of

subjects in schools, or multilingual education, touch on a multitude of aspects regarding

social, political and economical reasons. However, for ease of explanation, only three main

factors that can contribute to multilingual education will be explained; preservation of

indigenous languages, strong historical ties with a former coloniser, and cultural assimilation

between different ethnic communities. Subsequently, a brief explanation on how Second

Language Acquisition (SLA) theory, or in this context, more appropriately termed as

Acquisition of Additional Languages (AAL), can affect policy-makers’ decision regarding on

their respective countries policy on the use of what language(s) as the medium of instruction

in schools.

Based on the 2009 online publication of Ethnologue: Languages of the World, which

is a web and print publication of SIL International, there are currently 6909 identified living

languages (SIL International, 2009). Due to this highly diverse situation, one of the reasons

for multilingual education is to preserve linguistic diversity.

However, most countries award the official status to only a sole language, either for

purposes of unity, government or legal. As a result, many languages, especially those

indigenous to a nation and belonging to a minority group in terms of number of speakers or a

politically lesser powerful group, face the danger of extinction.

Fortunately, linguistic death is being prevented by some countries through the sharing

of the official status of a primary language with its own indigenous languages. Such is the

case with Spain. Catalan, Galician, Basque and Aranese are co-official languages of Spain

alongside the official language, Castilian Spanish. Thus, all regional schools are fully

bilingual in their regional languages alongside Castilian at both the elementary and secondary

level of education. In universities, students are also provided medium of instruction in either

one of these four languages.

Academic linguists also play a role in preserving indigenous languages through

multilingual education. In Canada, many programmes are introduced in the late 1980s and

early 1990s by academic linguists who fear the death of indigenous languages in the First

Nations and Inuit Reservations. These educational programmes are conducted in a regional

language-Inuktitut, Cree, Blackfoot- English and/or French.

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The choice of what language or languages to use as the medium of instruction in

schools is also heavily influenced by historical ties, usually forged through colonialisation.

Former British colonies are grouped under the Commonwealth of Nations and include

India and 54 other countries (Wikipedia). As Britain speak English as their mother tongue,

they brought with them their language as they settled into their new colonies and imposed the

language to the natives intensively through its use in administration, education and social as

well as cultural domains.

India has two official federal languages, namely Hindi and English. However, official

status is given to these many regional languages; Assamese, Bengali, Dogri, Gujarati to name

a few. As a result of nearly 400 years of British colonial rule and enhanced by its

international prestige, English holds precedence in Indian state universities. Nevertheless,

education in India is held trilingually in the regional language, Hindi and English, although

monolingual instruction in English is still prevalent.

The use of multiple languages as the medium of instruction in schools can also be a

way to promote cultural assimilation and understanding between different ethnic

communities. The International Conference on Education (ICE) (n.d, as cited in UNESCO,

2003) have emphasised the importance of “foreign language learning as part of an

intercultural education aiming at the promotion of understanding between communities and

between nations.”

The Neve Shalom peace village in Israel was jointly founded by Israeli Arabs and

Jews to demonstrate that peaceful co-existence between these two communities is possible,

even after years of bloody political and religious disputes. Here, various social works to

promote peace and understanding between these peoples are actively conducted and together

with Hand in Hand: Centre for Jewish Arab Education in Israel, classes are conducted in both

Hebrew and Arabic, as well as English.

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The aim of multilingual education should have in it the element of being ‘additive’

rather than ‘subtractive.’ (Cenoz & Genesee, 1998) Policy makers and educators should then

look at in what environment or setting multilingualism works best in, and how it is effectively

implemented in schools to promote successful learning. Multilingual Education (MLE) have

three general goals (Malone, 2006):

Language: students will develop fluency and confidence using their first language

(L1) and the official language (L2) for communication and for learning in school.

Academic: students will achieve grade-level academic competency in each subject

and will be prepared to move successfully into and through the mainstream education

system, which may be all or mostly in the dominant language.

Socio-cultural: students will maintain their love and respect for their heritage,

language and culture and be prepared to contribute to the development of their own

community and the nation

Acquisition of Additional Languages (AAL) theory can give insight into issues

dealing with multilingualism and multilingual education. (Cenoz, n.d)

In the study of early multilingualism, policy makers will be able to pinpoint the

suitable age or level to first implement multilingual education, as there is a general perception

that children go through the language learning process better than their adolescent and adult

counterparts.

Effect of bilingualism on third language acquisition compares how bilingual

learners acquire additional language than monolingual learners. Some researches done by

academics such as Cenoz and Valencia in 1994, as stated in the Psycholinguistic Perspectives

on Multilingualism and Multilingual Education by Jasone Cenoz and Fred Genesee, find that

bilingualism supports the acquisition of third languages. However, there are studies that

report the contrary. Referring to the same publication, Jaspaert and Lemmens (1990) and

Zobl (1993) reported that there are no significant differences between bilinguals and

monolinguals acquiring additional languages.

Cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition will give guidelines to

policy makers on which additional languages that should be used as the medium of

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instruction in schools; one that is typologically closer to the learner’s L1 or one that may have

further typological distance, but is spoken by a considerably sized minority in the country.

Under the age and third language acquisition theory, the hours in class designated

for the use of the target language as well as its continued or discontinued exposure outside the

classroom also plays vital roles in ensuring successful learning of knowledge and language.

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Language policies of Malaysia and the Philippines: What are the languages used and

why are they being used?

In this section, I will highlight the language policies used in both Malaysia and the

Philippines. These two countries are not only located in the same Asian region (South-East

Asia) and may share similar cultural roots; both had also been under foreign rule-the British

for Malaysia, the Spanish and later Americans for the Philippines. Therefore, it is an

interesting case to see how two different colonial powers along with the cultural diversity of

each countries’ inhabitants, have influenced the making of the Malaysian and Philippines’

national language policies, and thus, what languages are used and the reasons for the use of

the languages.

Language Policy: Malaysia

Language Policy and Language Planning (LPLP) have always been a complex issue

in Malaysia as it mainly deals with the issues presented in the standardisation of Bahasa

Malaysia, the use of English as a result from British colonialisation and as a language for

globalisation, as well as the preservation of the country’s many vernacular languages.

Since the nation gained its independence in 1957, there was an upsurge in

nationalism. This nationalistic mindset soon spread and gained footing in areas such as

education, where Bahasa Malaysia gradually displaced English as the medium of instruction

in schools. In 1959, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), a government body responsible for

the management and use of Bahasa Malaysia in the country was formed. Nationalistic ideals

also took great concerns on issues of unity, and for mainly this reason, Bahasa Malaysia was

made the official language under the Constitution of Malaysia.

Based on the Constitution of Malaysia, Article 152(1), the national language of

Malaysia is Bahasa Malaysia. However, the Constitution safeguards the freedom of learning

and using of other languages. It is to be noted that official purposes means any purpose made

by and under the Government, whether Federal or State, as well as purposes of public

authorities.

Although Bahasa Malaysia is the official language, English still holds certain

precedence. Referring to the National Language Acts 1963/1967, Secrion 4 highlights that the

continued use of English may be permitted. It explains that, “The Yang di-Pertuan Agong

may permit the continued use of the English language for such official purposes as may be

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deemed fit.” This fact is further enhanced in the next section, Section 5 that states the use of

English language may be permitted in Parliament and Legislative Assembly.

It is to be noted however, that English may be used instead of Bahasa Malaysia in

official contexts, especially in the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. Under the 20-

point Memorandum, a list of demands which is written by North Borneo (now Sabah) during

the negotiations prior to the formation of Malaysia on September 16th 1963, Point 2 discusses

language, and it states three situations regarding the use of Bahasa Malaysia and English in

Sabah:

(a). Malay (Bahasa Malaysia) should be the national language of the Federation

(Peninsula Malaysia).

(b). English should continue to be used for a period of 10 years after Malaysia Day.

(c). English should be an official language of North Borneo for all purposes, State or

Federal, without limitation of time.

However, the actual language use in Sabah now may not reflect what is stated in this

agreement, due to mainly political agendas and pressure from the Federal Peninsula

government to enforce Bahasa Malaysia as the sole national and official language.

Throughout history, the relationship between Bahasa Malaysia and English has

sparked interests among linguists, activists, and politicians alike. One recent issue is in the

future discontinued use of English as the medium of instruction for the subjects Science and

Mathematics in schools. In 2002, the Government announced that the teaching of Science and

Mathematics will be in English as of 2003. This move, called Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran

Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI) was a move to set Malaysia in the path

of globalisation. However, many Malay linguists and activists feel that by doing so, the

national language may be jeopardised. Their constant criticisms, heightening in a mass rally

in Kuala Lumpur on 7 March 2009, supported by the less-than-satisfactory results in both

subjects shown by majority of students during the course of its implementation (although this

fact can be a result of many other factors, such as inadequate English language skills of

teachers in those subjects), the Government announced that the policy will be reversed in

2012.

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Language Policy: Philippines

Similar to Malaysia, the Philippines is made up of a hugely multilingual community

with over 100 languages spoken. Language policy in this country was never really taken

seriously during its colonial eras. During the Spanish colonisation era between the years

1521-1898, the colonisers never actively spread the Spanish language, preferring instead to

learn the people’s own local languages, mainly when it came to converting the local people to

Christianity. When the Spanish era ended in 1898, the Americans took over, and again,

language was never their main concern as much as in their interests in taking power from the

hands of the Spanish.

A shift in language consciousness started in 1935. However, as there was no explicit

mention of a common language in the country’s Constitution, English and Spanish were

maintained as official languages. In 1943, Tagalog, one of the major local languages, was

beginning to be developed, initially by implementing it as a subject in secondary curriculum.

However, when the sixties came, a period of National Language Wars began. Growing Anti-

Western sentiment and the dissatisfaction with English medium instruction as well as

nationalistic ideals lead to student unrest. Consequently, a law called Martial Law was

approved in 1972 as a way to silence most of the propagators of these riots. Yet, the National

Language Wars did make the government realise the need to further inspect the country’s

language phenomena.

In 1973, under the rule of President Ferdinand Marcos the Constitution of the

Republic of Phillipines had adapted a national language, called Filipino-actually Tagalog, a

language native to Manila- that is a result of several Philippine local languages. Similar to

Bahasa Malaysia, Filipino was seen as a tool that can unite the Philippines’ linguistically

diverse communities. However, as the public, mostly non-Tagalogs such as the Cebuano

Bisayans, still had not warmed to the idea of a national language, English and Filipino were

made the official languages. In 1974 the Department of Education, Culture and Sports

ordered a bilingual education scheme to be set up under Article XIV Sections 6-9 in the

Constitution, to make English the medium of instruction for subjects Science and

Mathematics. Filipino or Tagalog, would be the language of instruction in all other subjects

taught in the elementary and secondary level. Although this scheme received mixed feelings

among the general public, it still prospered, and until today, it is still being implemented in

schools, unlike the situation in Malaysia, in which the policy will be reverted in 2012.

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The 1986 EDSA Revolution ended President Marcos’ reign, and the Philippines were

under the leadership of its first female president, Corazon Aquino. She reinforced the roles of

English and Filipino as languages of instruction in the 1987 Constitution:

Sec. 7. For purposes of communication and instruction, the official languages of the

Philippines are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English.

Today, this language policy is still being used in the modern Philippines’ nation state.

It helped Filipino flourish as a lingua franca among the nation’s multilingual speakers and

maintained English as the medium of communication for government and international

business.

Languages used and reasons for their usage: Malaysia

Malaysia is a country whose citizens are multiracial, and thus, multilingual. To

include all languages and the reasons for their usage in this paper would be an overwhelming

task, so I would concentrate on Bahasa Malaysia, English, and the main vernacular

languages.

Bahasa Malaysia is chosen as the official language not only because it is spoken as a

mother tongue by the largest ethnic group in Malaysia-the Malays- but it is also seen as way

to create unity among its multiracial people. It is not only the lingua franca of the Malays,

spoken among Malays themselves, but also as a medium of communication among Malays

speaking with other Non-Malays. This fact is proven by a study conducted by Lim Chin Chye

on a group of Malaysian school boys in an elite secondary mission school. The results show

that Malay is widely employed as a lingua franca for in-group and inter-ethnic interactions.

(David, 2007)

English is known as Malaysia’s second language. It is widely used in areas

concerning international transactions and interactions. English is very intimately linked to the

notions of globalisation and advancement. This is the main reason why the language is still

being continuously used. Many local varieties of English exist, mainly through its localisation

with Malaysian culture. These varieties are generally grouped under the terms ‘educated sub-

variety’ and ‘colloquial sub-variety,’ or ‘Manglish’. The importance of English in preparing

for a globalised Malaysia was seen in 2003, when the government made English the language

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of instruction in both Science and Mathematics in schools at the elementary and secondary

levels. However, this policy is to be reverted in 2012, as a result of immense pressure from

Malay linguists and activists. English is also used as a lingua franca in interactions among

Non-Malays, especially in the case of Chinese and Indians. The results of Lim Chin Chye’s

research show that Chinese youths use English (although it is commonly the colloquial

version, known as ‘Manglish’) when they interacted with their Indian peers, and vice versa.

The vernacular languages in Malaysia consist of many languages, namely Mandarin

and Tamil. Both languages are spoken by the second and third largest ethnic community in

Malaysia, the Chinese and Indians respectively. These two languages along with other

languages spoken by the ethnics in East Malaysia are usually used at home for intra-group

interactions between members of the same race. Although Bahasa Malaysia is the national

language of Malaysia, the usage of these vernacular languages is still encouraged as to retain

the respective ethnic groups’ cultural and linguistic identity. In the field of education,

vernacular languages are used as mediums of instruction in vernacular schools. Such Chinese

schools are known by the abbreviation SJK(C) (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina) while its

Indian counterparts are known as SJK(T) (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil).

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Languages used and reasons for their usage: Philippines

According to McFarland (as cited in Gonzalez, 1998) out of the hundreds of

languages spoken in the country, 10 are considered major (having more than one million

speakers); Tagalog (called commonly as Filipino), Cebuano Bisayan, Hiligaynon Bisayan,

Waray (Eastern Bisayan), Ilokano, Kapampangan, Bicol, Pangasinense, Maranao, and

Maguindanao. However, I will focus my explanation on Filipino, English and the vernacular

languages.

Filipino is the national language of the Philippines. Out of the 55 percent of the

population that speak the language, 25 percent are native speakers. Filipino is widely used as

it is a majority language spoken in MetroManila (National Capital Region). It is the urban

language learned and then used by outsiders from other parts of the country who have come

to live, work, or study in the capital city, alongside their own local language from their

hometowns. The use of Filipino is also boosted due to its thriving media and entertainment

industry. Nationally, 60 percent of programmes, such as live talk shows use Filipino and 16

daily newspapers, like the Limayway use the language. Internationally, the Philippines comes

second behind India in the production of movies each year, all of which in Filipino. The

success of its television dramas overseas also helps to maintain the popularity of the language

among its people, especially ones who call the capital home. The further development of

Filipino as a language of literature and academic is headed by the Commission of the Filipino

Language, founded in August 1991.

Similar to Malaysia, English came to the Philippines through colonialisation.

However, different from Malaysia, whose English-speaking ruler came from Britain, the

Philippines had the Americans as their colonisers. Through centuries of use, the American

English has become localised, and is now known as Philippine-American English. It can be

divided into two varieties; the first is the educated variety which involves code-switching

from English to Filipino or a local language. Code-switching is used to display competence

both in English and a local Philippine language. The second variety is used commonly among

yayas(caregivers) and barmaids working in military bases. This variety is often called a

pidgin or a genuine language mixture. The usage of English in the country is propelled due to

its importance in a globalised era. It is often the preferred language of use, especially for

international business deals. The emergence of a generation of youths eager to be employed

in various international fields such as diplomacy is also helping the spread of English among

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the younger generation. This group is called the Oversea Filipino Worker (OFW), and they

are employed in fields such as seamanship, health sciences, as well as technology and

management. English is also still being used as the language of instruction in the subjects of

Science and Mathematics in schools. Different from Malaysia, this policy is still hugely

supported by many and does not seem to fall into disuse anytime soon. In areas of media and

entertainment, most programs that are English in language are cable television programs,

taken from overseas. There are also 21 newspapers that use English as their main medium.

Similar to Malaysia, the vernacular languages of the Philippines are mainly used as

home languages. That is, they are used at home or in informal contexts, among family

members and friends who share the same native tongue. The use of local vernacular

languages is apparent mostly in areas of religion. Ever since the time of Spanish

colonialisation, Spanish Christian missionaries did not preach to the local people using

Spanish, but instead they took the effort to learn the people’s local languages. Even to this

day, churches prefer to conduct sermons and religious rituals in the local language. However,

English and Filipino are sometimes used; the use of the former usually depending on the

worshippers’ preference, while the use of the latter depends on whether there is animosity

towards the language among the local community. In printed media, the most common

newspapers in two local languages are Bisaya for the Cebuano Bisayans and Bannawag for

the Ilokanos. The Commission of the Filipino Language also helps to promote the

preservation and development of these local languages.

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CONCLUSION

To conclude, it can be said that the preservation of indigenous languages,

colonialisation and cultural assimilation are three of the main factors that contribute to the use

of multiple languages in education. Whereas in terms of language policy, a country designs

its policy based on colonial implications and the need to globalise the nation, but at the same

time maintain and preserve its own indigenous or vernacular languages.

Issues concerning language and education should not be taken lightly by any

government. James E. Jacob and William R. Beer (n.d), state that, “language is a repository

and a vehicle of culture. Not only does language convey ideas between people, but it has a

fundamental role in shaping what those ideas are.” It is here we can see that not only do

people express themselves through language, but language in turn helps to shape who they

are. And as language is inseparable from culture and ethnicity, a country should be sensitive

towards the needs of its entire people when designing its language policy. Once a language

policy has been set, then its implementation in the education system must benefit all parties

involved in all sectors whether political, economical and social.

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