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Language Policy Challenges in Multi-Ethnic Malaysia

Author : Saran Kaur Gill

Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media

Page : 134 pages

File Size : 41,24 MB

Release : 2013-12-09

Category : Education

ISBN : 9400779666

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Book Description

Set in Malaysia, this book encompasses language and cultural policy challenges that many other multi-ethnic nations currently have to address. The people of Malaysia constitute a diverse ethnic, linguistic and cultural population and one of the continuing challenges is the development and establishment of the Malaysian people’s ethnic, national and global cultural identities. This challenge is evident in the journey of language and cultural policy from the post-independence period to the 21st century; a period of over 50 years. The book highlights political, socio-cultural, economic and knowledge economy factors as they impact on decisions made by the government with regard to language policy in the various educational systems. It examines decisions made on the selection of the national language, the medium of instruction in educational systems, the varying changes in language policy for the field of science and technology and the maintenance and sustenance of minority languages.



Growing up Female in Multi-Ethnic Malaysia

Author : Cynthia Joseph

Publisher : Routledge

Page : 244 pages

File Size : 45,73 MB

Release : 2014-08-21

Category : Social Science

ISBN : 1317638107

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Book Description

This book provides a rich, detailed analysis of the experiences of young women growing up in post-colonial, rapidly modernizing Malaysia. It considers the impact of ethnicity, socio-economic status, and school experiences and achievement. It discusses the effects of Malaysia’s ethnic affirmative action programmes and of the country’s Islamisation. It sets out and compares the life trajectories of Malay, Indian and Chinese young women, making use of interview and questionnaire data gathered over a long period. It thereby depicts individuals’ transformations as they experience maturing into adulthood against a background of social and economic changes, and varying levels of inter-racial tension.



Educational Issues in Multiethnic Malaysia

Author : Tan Yao Sua

Publisher : Strategic Information and Research Development Centre

Page : 235 pages

File Size : 28,85 MB

Release :

Category : Education

ISBN : 6297575010

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Book Description

Education in multiethnic societies is a subject of considerable debates in almost all parts of the world. These debates have invoked strongly-felt positions between competing ethnic groups over a host of issues that have a profound impact on the nation building process. Apart from deep-seated issues arising from contrasting internal demands over educational rights and equality, emerging issues arising from external influences such as the global spread of English as a result of globalisation have also impacted the nation building process of multiethnic societies. It is against this context that educational issues in multiethnic societies merit our attention. In the case of Malaysia, discourses over these issues are particularly intense and hotly contested by the different ethnic groups. This is primarily because of the extreme difficulties in mediating these complicated issues which are impinged by competing socio-cultural, economic and political interests. This book explores the contested terrains of education in multiethnic Malaysia. It comprises seven chapters that cover three crucial areas of educational provisions and delivery, namely education of ethnic minorities, education and national integration, and educational language policy. These three crucial areas are often the prime concerns of policy makers in multiethnic societies who have to tread a thin line in resolving these issues which are underpinned by intense coterminous interests and inter-ethnic competition, and having the potential to generate conflicts, contestation and power struggle. As far as the Malaysian policy makers are concerned, their efforts in resolving these issues have not been overly successful. It is most unfortunate that their policy decisions are at times influenced by competing political and ethnic interests rather than guided by sound theoretical underpinnings that could put the educational development of the country on a stronger platform and a clearer trajectory.



Growing up Female in Multi-Ethnic Malaysia

Author : Cynthia Joseph

Publisher : Routledge

Page : 223 pages

File Size : 43,2 MB

Release : 2014-08-21

Category : Social Science

ISBN : 1317638115

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Book Description

This book provides a rich, detailed analysis of the experiences of young women growing up in post-colonial, rapidly modernizing Malaysia. It considers the impact of ethnicity, socio-economic status, and school experiences and achievement. It discusses the effects of Malaysia’s ethnic affirmative action programmes and of the country’s Islamisation. It sets out and compares the life trajectories of Malay, Indian and Chinese young women, making use of interview and questionnaire data gathered over a long period. It thereby depicts individuals’ transformations as they experience maturing into adulthood against a background of social and economic changes, and varying levels of inter-racial tension.



Ethnicity and Ethnic Relations in Multi-Ethnic Malaysia

Author : Hock-Tong Cheu

Publisher : Partridge Publishing Singapore

Page : 216 pages

File Size : 34,42 MB

Release : 2020-12-06

Category : Social Science

ISBN : 1543762123

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Book Description

Hock Tong Cheu received his Masters and Ph.D degrees from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., and had lectured in Anthropology and Sociology in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia from 1976 till mid-1995. From mid-1995 till 2000, he taught in the Malay Studies Department and the Southeast Asian Studies Center, National University of Singapore. He was a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore in 1984 and a Fulbright Visiting Scholar-in-Residence at the Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, from August 1987 to October 1988. He has made several in-depth studies of the Nine Emperor Gods Spirit-Medium Cults as well as the Chinese Locality Saints, the Nadugong, and the Malay Keramat in Southeast Asia. Dr Cheu, who is effectively trilingual in English, Chinese and Malay, wrote prolifically, and had contributed numerous articles in all three languages to professional and academic journals, magazines and newspapers. He had also presented numerous academic papers for discussion in local and international conferences.



The Emergence and Widening of Ethnic Divide in the Malaysian Educational system

Author : Tan Yao Sua

Publisher : Strategic Information and Research Development Centre

Page : 81 pages

File Size : 41,1 MB

Release :

Category : Social Science

ISBN : 6297575045

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Book Description

The existence of an ethnic divide is a common problem in multiethnic societies, more so when these societies are straddled with contradictions reflected in their socioeconomic and political composition and configuration. The existence of an ethnic divide in the educational sector is most unfortunate since one of the fundamental purposes of schooling in multiethnic societies is to achieve a common process of socialisation and enculturation among the different ethnic group to achieve a strong sense of social cohesion. While Malaysia has aspired to provide a common or uniform system of schooling for the different ethnic groups since Independence, such an aspiration was however compromised by the co-existence of alternative pathways of education that are divided along ethnic lines. There are four dimensions underpinning these ethnic divisions, namely linguistic, preferential, religious and class. This monograph explores the emergence and subsequent developments of these alternative pathways of education and their impact on Malaysia’s nation-building process.



English In Multicultural Malaysia: Pedagogy And Applied Research (UM Press)

Author : Zuraida Mohd Don

Publisher : The University of Malaya Press

Page : 241 pages

File Size : 13,79 MB

Release :

Category : Education

ISBN : 9831009827

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Book Description

Like several other Asian countries, Malaysia uses English for a variety of official, professional and everyday purposes. Many Malaysians use English alongside their first language, typically Malay, Chinese or Tamil, but have a particular need for English if they are to succeed in their careers. What is special about this book is that it looks under the surface of the use of English, and shows how the teaching of English is tailored to bring this language situation about, by applying recent developments in the study of English and of English Language Teaching. It deals with questions such as the use of corpora in language teaching, and investigates some of the obstacles young Malaysians face in acquiring the necessary command of English. Issues investigated include the link between lack of proficiency and lack of motivation, the effect of examinations and the ‘washback’ effect, and the problems of academic writing. Other chapters deal with English in the workplace, including doctor-patient communication, the communication challenges facing tour guides, and gender-based differences in the learning of computer skills. The book will be of great value to anyone professionally involved with global English, ‘glocalisation’ or language contact, including teachers, publishers and language planners, especially those concerned with the use of global English in Asia.



The Politics of Multiculturalism

Author : Robert W. Hefner

Publisher : University of Hawaii Press

Page : 337 pages

File Size : 23,87 MB

Release : 2001-08-31

Category : Social Science

ISBN : 0824864964

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Book Description

Few challenges to the modern dream of democratic citizenship appear greater than the presence of severe ethnic, religious, and linguistic divisions in society. With their diverse religions and ethnic communities, the Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia have grappled with this problem since achieving independence after World War II. Each country has on occasion been torn by violence over the proper terms for accommodating pluralism. Until the Asian economic crisis of 1997, however, these nations also enjoyed one of the most sustained economic expansions the non-Western world has ever seen. This timely volume brings together fifteen leading specialists of the region to consider the impact of two generations of nation-building and market-making on pluralism and citizenship in these deeply divided Asian societies. Examining the new face of pluralism from the perspective of markets, politics, gender, and religion, the studies show that each country has developed a strikingly different response to the challenges of citizenship and diversity. The contributors, most of whom come Southeast Asia, pay particular attention to the tension between state and societal approaches to citizenship. They suggest that the achievement of an effectively participatory public sphere in these countries will depend not only on the presence of an independent "civil society," but on a synergy of state and society that nurtures a public culture capable of mediating ethnic, religious, and gender divides. The Politics of Multiculturalism will be of special interest to students of Southeast Asian history and society, anthropologists grappling with questions of citizenship and culture, political scientists studying democracy across cultures, and all readers concerned with the prospects for civility and tolerance in a multicultural world.



Government Policies and Ethnic Relations in Asia and the Pacific

Author : Michael E. Brown

Publisher : MIT Press

Page : 628 pages

File Size : 12,77 MB

Release : 1997-10-20

Category : History

ISBN : 9780262522458

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Book Description

Efforts to contend with tensions inherent in multiethnic societies; case studies of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Federated States of Micronesia. Ethnic conflict, one of the most serious and widespread problems in the world today, can undermine efforts to promote political and economic development, as well as political, economic, and social justice. It can also lead to violence and open warfare, producing horrifying levels of death and destruction. Although government policies on ethnic issues often have profound effects on a country, the subject has been neglected by most scholars and analysts. This volume analyzes different policies governments have pursued in their efforts to contend with the tensions inherent in multiethnic societies. The book focuses on Asia and the Pacific, the most populous and economically vibrant part of the world. The heart of the book is a set of case studies of government policies in sixteen countries: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Federated States of Micronesia. The studies consider a wide range of political, economic, educational, linguistic, and cultural policies, and how these policies have evolved over time. Using a broad comparative perspective to assess the effectiveness of different governmental approaches, the authors offer policy recommendations that cut across individual countries and regions.



Thaipusam in Malaysia

Author : Carl Vadivella Belle

Publisher : Flipside Digital Content Company Inc.

Page : 432 pages

File Size : 30,97 MB

Release : 2018-02-14

Category : Social Science

ISBN : 9814786667

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Book Description

This book explores the festival of Thaipusam in terms of its own inner dynamics - the traditions and belief structures which ensure the festival's continuing relevance to Malaysian Hindus. It argues that Thaipusam reflects a growing sense of Hindu identity in Malaysia and an as yet inchoate unity. It contends that while the kavadi ritual provides profound meaning at the individual and group level, Thaipusam furnishes a public arena for and gives expression to a powerful Hindu resurgence, largely, though not exclusively, fuelled by Dravidian assertiveness. In situating the festival within the context of a Malaysia dominated by Malay and Islamic power brokers, a society in which both the Indian community and Hinduism are relegated to the margins, the book explores the festival of Thaipusam as a vehicle for mobilization of religious symbols and values which not only simultaneously articulate ethnicity and thus resist the forces which threaten cultural and religious integrity, but which also ultimately signal wider allegiances to the broader politico-cultural world of an imagined, immeasurably rich, and enduring Indo-Hindu civilization.