Universal Communication

History tells us that Bahasa Melayu was once a lingua franca during the reign of Malacca Sultanate. Bahasa Melayu or Malay language was used widely among traders who sailed all the way to the stopover port in Malacca. Hence, the government has decided to acknowledge Bahasa Melayu as the national language of Malaysia. Nevertheless, the significant role as an international language is currently seemed to be taken over by English. Why? Language | Approximate number of speakers | 1. Chinese (Mandarin) | 1,213,000,000 | 2. Spanish | 329,000,000 | 3. English | 328,000,000 | 4. Arabic | 221,000,000 | 5. Hindi1 | 182,000,000 |
English is the third most common native language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish with some 380 million speakers. It is the most widely learned second language in countries such as Malaysia and the Republic of Singapore. Many students worldwide are required to learn this foreign language. Being the official language of the European Union, many Commonwealth countries and United Nations, as well as in numerous world organisations, English has gained the lingua franca status! How is this possible? Source: Ethnologue, 16th Edition.
“…Malaysians have an extremely important role of mastering English to acquire knowledge at a faster pace to ensure there is no ‘re-colonisation’ of the country.”
We know now that English has become a global language. The language has occupied a primary place in business communities and international academic. English is going beyond the limitation in suiting everyone for communication purposes. Malaysia’s former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad once said that Malaysians have an extremely important role of mastering English to acquire knowledge at a faster pace to ensure there is no 're-colonisation' of the country.
During the 17th four-day Islamic World Academic of Sciences (IAS) conference, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad further said that English is the language of the Knowledge Age. Countries which do not master English will not only be left behind but risk being colonised, either directly or indirectly. Without knowledge, countries will be oppressed and even invaded. I could not agree more with his views on English as a universal language.
Information and education are being delivered in English. Mastering English means mastering knowledge and skills. Supposing that we cannot read, write or speak English, how do we fulfil jobs requirements nowadays? Most of the employers are demanding for worker with fluency in English. As I mentioned earlier, English language is an important tool of communication in business communities. I am positively sure that companies – especially prestigious and high-class ones – would only hire people with outstanding communication skills to represent them peculiarly at the international stage.
The government itself showed concern on the nation’s human capital development towards achieving the standard of a developed country, as well as an early preparation to complete in the era of globalization by emphasizing the necessary of learning English through a programme called PPSMI (learning and teaching Science and Mathematics in English). The implementation of this new policy in the education system was carried out in 2003. Being one of the pioneers of PPSMI, I have been exposed to Science and Mathematics in English since I was in Year One. Hence, I was a bit worried when the Minister of Education, Muhyiddin Yassin drops the bombshell and made an announcement to stop the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English from 2012.
I think everyone agrees that the field of Science and Mathematics form the basis and play a crucial role in the progress and development of a country. Various innovations and discoveries happen through these two fields. As the language that is spoken internationally, English would allow easy access to information in these fields. Therefore, my personal point of view is that the policy decision to implement PPSMI was rationale because it was made to ensure students’ mastery in Science and Mathematics by referencing one of policy to change people in Malaysia.
In addition, English is simply a fun language. Let me share an interesting poem I found from the internet with you. We will begin with box and the plural is boxes. But the plural of ox should be oxen not oxes.
The one fowl is a goose and two are called geese. Yet the plural of mouse should never be meese.
You may found a lone mouse or a whole set of mice. Yet the plural of house is houses not hice.
If I speak of a foot and you show me your feet. And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet.
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth. Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that and three may be those. Yet hat in the plural wouldn't be hose. And the plural of cat is cats not cose.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him. But imagine the feminine she, shis and shim.
So English, I fancy you will all agree. Is the funniest language you ever did see.
Funny isn’t it? English is an enjoyable language anyone can possibly learn. With its wide vocabulary and varied grammars, getting ourselves improved in English is never boring. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig, English muffins were not invented in England or French fries in France. Living in Malaysia gives us a funnier experience listening to Manglish (Malaysian English).
Manglish refers to the informal spoken form of Malaysian English or the unofficial dialect of English. We often heard the suffix –lah in conversations on the streets in Malaysia. There are also words such as ‘gostan’ which is supposed to be reverse and ‘eksyen’ for showing off. Indeed, this is not encouraged in school but it proves the amusement in learning English.