Malaysia’s Globalization, Educational Language Policy and Nation-Building 49
relationship bring about a stable diglossia that is underpinned by equal
emphasis given to both languages by Malaysian students? The most likely
scenario is that it may not lead to such an ideal diglossic relationship, more
so among the non-Malay students who are not known to acquire the Malay
language for its integrative value apart from the mere requirement to pass
public examinations, largely because of the limited role of the language
to serve as a tool for inter-ethnic interactions for the non-Malay students.
Among other things, this could be attributed to residential segregation and
mono-ethnic schooling (especially at the primary level where most non-
Malays attend the vernacular primary schools) that result in the role of the
Malay language as a language of inter-ethnic communication becoming
largely dysfunctional for the non-Malay students. As is always the case,
when a language is acquired for the purposes of examinations, this may
not bring about the desired outcome of language acquisition, primarily
because language acquisition needs a strong element of practical usage.
Above all, the eventual outcome of the diglossic relationship between
the Malay language and English will be strongly dictated by the status of
the two languages. It is generally recognized by scholars of bilingualism
that when a weaker language is pitted against a stronger language in a
diglossic relationship, the result will be subtractive rather than additive
bilingualism. In other words, the weaker language will be marginalized
or even displaced by the stronger language, more so when the stronger
language is deliberately promoted at the early stages of schooling (Lambert
1980; d’Anglejan 1982). Thus, as far as the MBMMBI policy is concerned,
there will be a strong tendency for Malaysian students to favour English
over Malay given the dominant status of English as the global lingua franca.
While both the Malay and non-Malay students will be affected by this
language learning orientation, the impact on the non-Malay students will
be greater, primarily because English has always been popular among
the non-Malays. This popularity could be seen from their adoption of
the language as a home language or as a supplementary home language
to their mother tongues. This is particularly true among the middle and
upper classes residing in major urban areas. This linguistic preference is
mainly driven by the immense instrumental value of English among the
non-Malays given their predominance in the private sector that relies on
English as a working language, though it could also be influenced by the
ethos of the upper and middle classes who generally regard English as a
superior language. All in all, the strengthening of English by the MBMMBI