English Language Policy Changes in Malaysia: Demystifying the Diverse Demands of Nationalism and Modernisation

Abstract

This article examines the educational linguistic changes in the different phases of nation-building in Malaysia, ranging from the linguistic nationalism phase which is the post-independence phase, 1957–1969, to the age of Internationalisation and the knowledge economy, 1990 — 21st century. In the latest phase, one of the boldest moves in policy change has just occurred in 2003 with a drastic change in language policy. Malaysia has re-adopted the English language as the medium of instruction for science and mathematics after thirty years of using Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction. Language educators play a pivotal role in the implementation of this far-reaching policy decision and therefore the thrust of this article is to demystify the various changes in language policy over the years to enable them to understand and to explicate the macro-perspectives affecting this latest historic change in language policy.