The role of languages at the University of Malaya

The Malaysian Education Policy accords the status of main medium of instruction to Malay and the status of  second most important language to English. While a formalized  bilingual policy is not yet in place, English is used as a medium of instruction for various academic disciplines at the tertiary...

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Main Authors: Kim Yok Choi, Jagdish Kaur
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universiti Malaya 2017-07-01
Series:Journal of Modern Languages
Online Access:http://jml.um.edu.my/index.php/JML/article/view/3756
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author Kim Yok Choi
Jagdish Kaur
author_facet Kim Yok Choi
Jagdish Kaur
author_sort Kim Yok Choi
collection DOAJ
description The Malaysian Education Policy accords the status of main medium of instruction to Malay and the status of  second most important language to English. While a formalized  bilingual policy is not yet in place, English is used as a medium of instruction for various academic disciplines at the tertiary level. At the University of Malaya, various courses at the undergraduate level at the Faculties of Medicine, Dentistry, Engineering and Law are taught in English. The use of English as a medium of instruction at the postgraduate level is widespread and dissertations at Masters and PhD levels are allowed to be written in Malay or English. This paper reports the outcome of a survey conducted on the use of languages (especially Malay and English) as  mediums of instruction across the 17 faculties, academies and centres of the University of Malaya. The role of these languages in research and administration is also discussed. Questionnaires and interviews with Deans and the teaching staff from the various institutions provided the necessary data to support the contention that bilingualism is practiced to a greater or lesser degree at the University of Malay. The paper also trace the background to the change in policy that now places greater emphasis on the use of English in Malaysian universities.
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spelling doaj-art-a3fe7e77b318464494ce2a68b95b6e4b2024-11-26T18:59:17ZengUniversiti MalayaJournal of Modern Languages1675-526X2462-19862017-07-01151The role of languages at the University of MalayaKim Yok Choi0Jagdish Kaur1University of Malaya, MalaysiaUniversity of Malaya, MalaysiaThe Malaysian Education Policy accords the status of main medium of instruction to Malay and the status of  second most important language to English. While a formalized  bilingual policy is not yet in place, English is used as a medium of instruction for various academic disciplines at the tertiary level. At the University of Malaya, various courses at the undergraduate level at the Faculties of Medicine, Dentistry, Engineering and Law are taught in English. The use of English as a medium of instruction at the postgraduate level is widespread and dissertations at Masters and PhD levels are allowed to be written in Malay or English. This paper reports the outcome of a survey conducted on the use of languages (especially Malay and English) as  mediums of instruction across the 17 faculties, academies and centres of the University of Malaya. The role of these languages in research and administration is also discussed. Questionnaires and interviews with Deans and the teaching staff from the various institutions provided the necessary data to support the contention that bilingualism is practiced to a greater or lesser degree at the University of Malay. The paper also trace the background to the change in policy that now places greater emphasis on the use of English in Malaysian universities.http://jml.um.edu.my/index.php/JML/article/view/3756
spellingShingle Kim Yok Choi
Jagdish Kaur
The role of languages at the University of Malaya
Journal of Modern Languages
title The role of languages at the University of Malaya
title_full The role of languages at the University of Malaya
title_fullStr The role of languages at the University of Malaya
title_full_unstemmed The role of languages at the University of Malaya
title_short The role of languages at the University of Malaya
title_sort role of languages at the university of malaya
url http://jml.um.edu.my/index.php/JML/article/view/3756
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