Transcript MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION CHANGE in HIGHER EDUCATION in

EMI IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN
MALAYSIA
The Dilemma of the State and Agents
of Implementation
Invitational Symposium 2006
Language Issues in English-medium Universities Across Asia
8-9 June 2006
University of Hong Kong
Saran Kaur Gill
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
This presentation is based on the following
forthcoming publication.
2006 Gill, Saran K. Medium of Instruction Change in Higher
Education in Malaysia: The Reality of Attitudes and Implementation.
In Advances in Language Studies. Edited by Giandomenico Sica.
Monza: Polimetrica Publisher. Forthcoming.
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
BACKGROUND OF USE OF
BAHASA MELAYU IN MALAYSIA
• Bahasa Melayu since 1957 has been the national
•
•
and official language
Since 1970, actively implemented in the domain
of education - at all levels from primary to
tertiary and for all fields
Used in domain of government administration
• Domain of business - ?
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
Sudden Change – Language of Instruction
• announced in the mass media on the 11th of May
2002.
(Mahathir Mohamad, New Straits Times, 11 May 2002:1)
• led to a reinstitution of English as the medium of
instruction for science and maths in the national
schools in a staggered fashion – beginning with
Primary One, Secondary One and Lower Six.
• took place within a period of six months from
the
timing
of
the
announcement
implementation in the school system.
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
to
Public institutions of higher learning
• have played a pivotal role in the development
and use of Bahasa Melayu as the language of
knowledge
• had to prepare themselves for 2005 (last year)
when the first cohort of students who would
have studied in the English medium for science
and maths subjects in the school system would
enter the public universities as undergraduates.
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
AIM OF PAPER
• To explicate the reasons for and attitudes
towards the change in language policy in higher
education in Malaysia
• Understanding
both
the
state’s
and
implementer’s positions are crucial dimensions
for the implementation of language policy
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
Two year govt. funded research project
2003-2005
• “Language Policy and Planning in Higher
Education in Malaysia: Responding to the
Needs of the Knowledge Economy”
(Gill, Saran Kaur, (head) Hazita Azman,
Norizan Razak and Fadhil Mansor)
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
Voices that constitute the data for this Research
• The former Prime Minister representing the voice of the
State - interview
• The members of academic management (DVC Acad.
Affairs, Deans of faculties of S&T, Engineering and
Computer Science) from all 9 public universities
(37 in all) - interviews
• The lecturers of the faculties of science and technology of
the 9 public universities (670 in all) - questionnaires
• The literature and documentation delineating the factors
that spurred the change
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
VIEWS ON CHANGE IN MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION
MEMBERS OF ACADEMIC MANAGEMENT
• the majority (87.2%) agreed with the
change in medium of instruction
• A minority (10.3%) disagreed with the
change
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
LECTURERS‘ VIEWS ON CHANGE IN MOI
(8 PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES)
Views on Change in Medium of Instruction
8 Public Universities
Disagree
29.8%
Agree
70.2%
AGREE
DISAGREE
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
LECTURERS‘ VIEWS ON CHANGE IN MOI
(UKM)
Views on Change in Medium of Instruction
UKM
Agree
29.5%
Disagree
70.5%
AGREE
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
DISAGREE
EXTERNAL FORCES INFLUENCING
LANGUAGE POLICY & PLANNING
• Influenced by:
“sociolinguistic settings, and the nature and scope of
the planning can only be understood in relation to the
settings.” (Ferguson, 1877: 9)
Settings comprise political, socio-cultural, economic
factors and the science and technology ideology
agenda
(Kaplan & Baldauf, 1997: 154; Martel, 2001: 35;
Tsui & Tollefson, 2004: 2)
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
CHANGE IN MOI FOR KNOWLEDGE ACCESS
Lecturers’ Responses
(9 public universities)
The change in MOI was necessary
to enable knowledge access
OVERALL
DISAGREE
34.1%
AGREE,
65.8%
AGREE
DISAGREE
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
Why do you think the government needed to change the
medium of instruction from Bahasa to English for the field of
science and technology?
(Interview conducted with a Deputy Vice-Chancellor on 3/8/04)
“We have to be advanced in S & T for us to be a developed
nation. Development is driven by S & T. Social science
will not create new businesses or economies. We are now
just swallowing S & T information available to us. We do
not have the capability to churn out ideas. In France,
Germany, Korea and Japan a lot of books are available in
their native language as their translation efforts are
tremendous but that is not the case in Malaysia as our
translation rate is comparatively slow. We are still not
producing or generating ideas.
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
• (Interview conducted with a Dean on the 6/8/04)
• “It is just a political statement. There is no change in
policy. The issue of (problems with) soft skills,
communication skills, its’ too biased towards English.
This is not true. Their ability to express ideas to
convince people I don’t know why they have problems
with these, maybe it is their upbringing, maybe our
school teachers destroy their confidence.”
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
(Interview conducted with a Dean on the 21/9/04)
“For us, we have been teaching in the Malay language for a
long time. We found it not impossible. There are problems
along the way but we have carried out teaching in Malay in
engineering for 20 years and we have managed.
I think when the government decided to change to English for
S & T subjects, they say that it is on the assumption that that
will improve the students’ ability to communicate in English.
That is the what we understand, the main reason and also they
are able to understand the technology or technology
literature easier , direct understanding. To be honest I’m not
sure whether this claim is something that has been proven.
I’ve also seen literature by people who claim otherwise.”
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
Tun Mahathir’s Viewpoint
• “ Education is for the purpose of acquiring knowledge. The most
important thing is the acquisition of knowledge. If you have to use a
language which makes the knowledge more easily accessible, you should
use that language. Historically, the Europeans learnt Arabic in order to
access the knowledge of the Arabs ….. but because of their work they also
learnt Greek in order to access the language and knowledge. … so if you
want knowledge you have to acquire the language in which the knowledge
is available.
• Our education system is like any other education system. It’s meant to
enable us to acquire knowledge. If we have the knowledge available in the
national language, by all means, go ahead but the fact is that in science the
research that is being done is moving at a very fast pace. Everyday literally
thousands of papers on new research are being published and practically
all of them are in English. To translate English into Bahasa, would require
a person with 3 skills. Skill in the 2 languages and skill in the subject that is
to be translated and we don’t have very many people who are qualified to
do that or who wish to do that. That is why it is easier if you learn English
and the students can have direct access to all the knowledge that is
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
available in English.”
Reasons for Change:
Documentation
• Gill, Saran K. Sept. 2005. “Language
Policy in Malaysia: Reversing Direction”
in Language Policy. Vol. 4 No. 3:
241-260.
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
CHANGE IN MOI TO DEVELOP KNOWLEDGEABLE
HUMAN RESOURCE
LECTURERS’ RESPONSES
The change in MOI was necessary to develop
knowledgeable and skilled human resource
OVERALL
DISAGREE
35.4%
AGREE,
64.5%
AGREE
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
DISAGREE
How does Malaysia hold up to the need to develop
knowledge workers needed for Vision 2020?
The P-economy demands a brawn-intensive, disciplined workforce.
The K-economy demands a brain-intensive, thinking, creative,
innovative and disciplined workforce. Malaysia today has a
world-class workforce for the P-economy. But we have a
poor workforce for the K-economy. Unfortunately, with the rise
of the K-economy, ….. there has been a fundamental structural shift
whereby economic value will increasingly come from knowledgeintensive work and increasingly less from physical production
(although this will remain important). The shift from a poor Keconomy workforce to a world-class K-economy workforce
has to be rapid and dramatic. There is little time to lose.
(A Report on the National Brains Trust on Education, 2002: 1)
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
HUMAN RESOURCE NEEDS OF THE NATION
• 2000 -
only 14% of the labour force in Malaysia
possessed tertiary education qualifications
and this will have to be significantly increased
in order to meet the needs of a knowledgebased economy.
• 2010 -
The Ministry of Education has targeted 40%
of the 17-23 age cohort in tertiary
education.
(8MP, Malaysia, 2001a: 23)
•
This means an additional 71,000 places a year need
to be found.
(Olsen A. 2002 cited in The Observatory, No.5 June 2002)
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
Impact of rapidly developing
private higher education industry
on public universities
“ The bifurcation
consequences.
has
serious
social
and
political
• First, private universities are more expensive than public
universities, which are heavily subsidized by the government.
This means that students enrolled in private universities are
usually from middle-class families, whereas those from
working-class families can only afford to enroll in public
universities.
• Second, the majority of the students in public universities are
Malays, whereas the majority of the students in private
universities are Chinese. As a result, undergraduates are
divided not only along socioeconomic lines but also along
ethnic lines.”
(Gill, 2004: 147)
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
• “ ….. the private sector became the main
employment choice for graduates, but here the
most important linguistic proficiency was in
English. …. Graduates from the private
universities were more sought after by the
companies in the private sector, largely because
of their competency in English. This situation
would have led to serious social and economic
problems for the nation.”
(See Gill, 2004 for
further discussion)
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
• “Medium-of-instruction policy determines
which social and linguistic groups have
access
to
political
and
economic
opportunities and which groups are
disenfranchised. It is therefore a key
means of power (re)distribution and social
(re)construction …. ”
(Tsui and Tollefson, 2004: 2)
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
Tun Dr. Mahathir’s Voice
• Bahasa, we still learn for the other subjects. We will still
be very fluent. For Bahasa to be really accepted as a
good language, it must be the language of a very
knowledgeable people, very successful people. If the
Bahasa is of a people who are very poor, backwards,
who have no knowledge, nothing at all, then the
development of Bahasa will be very stunted and people
would not want to learn Bahasa. Why should they learn
the language of a very backward people?
(Interview conducted by Gill, 16 June 2005)
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
Tun Dr. Mahathir’s Redefinition of Nationalism
• “ We need to move from the extreme form of
nationalism which concentrates on being a language
nationalist only, not a knowledge nationalist, not a
development oriented nationalist. I feel that we should
be a development oriented nationalist. We want our
people to succeed, to be able to stand tall, to be
respected by the rest of the world. Not to be people with
no knowledge of science and technology, very poor, very
backwards, working as servants to other people. If we
have no knowledge we will be servants to those with
knowledge.”
Saran Kaur Gill/UKM/HKU
(Interviewed
by Gill, 16 June 2005)