The English Language and its impact on identities of multilingual Malaysian undergraduates

Despite the increasing prominence of English as a world lingua franca, there is little research on how the use of English affects the identities of Malaysian speakers. Asmah Haji Omar observed that interest in language and identity seemed to be confined to studies on national identity. A doctoral...

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Main Authors:	Lee, Su Kim, Lee, King Siong, Wong, Fook Fei, Azizah Ya’acob
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Penerbit UKM 2010
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2324/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2324/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2324/1/page1_21.pdf

id	ukm-2324
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-23242016-12-14T06:31:17Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2324/ The English Language and its impact on identities of multilingual Malaysian undergraduates Lee, Su Kim, Lee, King Siong, Wong, Fook Fei, Azizah Ya’acob, Despite the increasing prominence of English as a world lingua franca, there is little research on how the use of English affects the identities of Malaysian speakers. Asmah Haji Omar observed that interest in language and identity seemed to be confined to studies on national identity. A doctoral study by Lee Su Kim of the identity of Malaysian speakers of English found that there was resentment in certain localized contexts amongst the Malay respondents in the study towards the use of English. Expressions of resentment and ambivalence towards the use of the English language were also prevalent amongst the non-Malay respondents within certain contexts. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative research study which sets out to investigate the impact of English on the identities of young Malaysian undergraduates in selected private and public universities in Malaysia. Using qualitative methods, this research study essentially takes off from Lee Su Kim’s doctoral research study, and aims to explore on a larger scale the role of English in the identity construction of a younger Malaysian cohort from both public and private universities. The findings presented here are from a few selected case studies that provide the qualitative data. The discussion will focus on how different multilingual Malaysian undergraduates regard English vis a vis the other languages in their repertoire and how it has affected their identity constructions and everyday negotiations. Three dominant themes arising from the findings will be discussed, 1) Multilingualism with English emerging as the dominant language, 2) English viewed as a pragmatic language and a language of empowerment, and 3) Varying degrees of ‘othering’. Penerbit UKM 2010 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2324/1/page1_21.pdf Lee, Su Kim, and Lee, King Siong, and Wong, Fook Fei, and Azizah Ya’acob, (2010) The English Language and its impact on identities of multilingual Malaysian undergraduates. GEMA: Online Journal of Language Studies, 10 (1). pp. 87-101. ISSN 1675-8021 http://www.ukm.my/ppbl/Gema/GEMA%202010/pp%2087_101.pdf
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	Despite the increasing prominence of English as a world lingua franca, there is little research on how the use of English affects the identities of Malaysian speakers. Asmah Haji Omar observed that interest in language and identity seemed to be confined to studies on national identity. A doctoral study by Lee Su Kim of the identity of Malaysian speakers of English found that there was resentment in certain localized contexts amongst the Malay respondents in the study towards the use of English. Expressions of resentment and ambivalence towards the use of the English language were also prevalent amongst the non-Malay respondents within certain contexts. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative research study which sets out to investigate the impact of English on the identities of young Malaysian undergraduates in selected private and public universities in Malaysia. Using qualitative methods, this research study essentially takes off from Lee Su Kim’s doctoral research study, and aims to explore on a larger scale the role of English in the identity construction of a younger Malaysian cohort from both public and private universities. The findings presented here are from a few selected case studies that provide the qualitative data. The discussion will focus on how different multilingual Malaysian undergraduates regard English vis a vis the other languages in their repertoire and how it has affected their identity constructions and everyday negotiations. Three dominant themes arising from the findings will be discussed, 1) Multilingualism with English emerging as the dominant language, 2) English viewed as a pragmatic language and a language of empowerment, and 3) Varying degrees of ‘othering’.
format	Article
author	Lee, Su Kim, Lee, King Siong, Wong, Fook Fei, Azizah Ya’acob,
spellingShingle	Lee, Su Kim, Lee, King Siong, Wong, Fook Fei, Azizah Ya’acob, The English Language and its impact on identities of multilingual Malaysian undergraduates
author_facet	Lee, Su Kim, Lee, King Siong, Wong, Fook Fei, Azizah Ya’acob,
author_sort	Lee, Su Kim,
title	The English Language and its impact on identities of multilingual Malaysian undergraduates
title_short	The English Language and its impact on identities of multilingual Malaysian undergraduates
title_full	The English Language and its impact on identities of multilingual Malaysian undergraduates
title_fullStr	The English Language and its impact on identities of multilingual Malaysian undergraduates
title_full_unstemmed	The English Language and its impact on identities of multilingual Malaysian undergraduates
title_sort	english language and its impact on identities of multilingual malaysian undergraduates
publisher	Penerbit UKM
publishDate	2010
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2324/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2324/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2324/1/page1_21.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:35:48Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:35:48Z
_version_	1777405262289698816

The English Language and its impact on identities of multilingual Malaysian undergraduates

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