IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MBMMBI POLICY AT A MALAYSIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITY

 

¹Muhammad Ilyas Mahmood, ²Hamidah Yamat

¹Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia

²Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia

 

 Abstract

Malaysia is a multiethnic and multilingual country comprising Malays as main race of the land being 69.6% of the whole population. While second and third main ethnicities are Chinese and Indians with 22.6% and 6.8% of ratios respectively. These ethnic groups use Bahasa Melayu (BM), English, Chinese and Tamil as main languages for their social and professional interactions. However, BM is the main language of communication among all the groups. This multilingual situation has always been a source of hot discussion on language in education policy of Malaysia. The current measure taken in this regard is the implementation of the Memartabatkan Bahasa Melayu, Memperkukuhkan Bahasa Inggeris (MBMMBI) by the Malaysian Ministry of Education (2009). The MBMMBI policy as translated in English means to Uphold the Malay Language and Strengthen the English Language policy. This policy has been introduced with high aspirations linked to see Malaysia as a developed country in the modern world. This policy seeks to ensure Malay-English bilingual proficiency of Malaysian students. This study aimed to explore the context of bilingualism at a Malaysian public sector university (PSU). It also sought to ascertain stakeholders’ (students, teachers, heads and language coordinators) insights regarding implementation of the MBMMBI policy at PSU. The study utilized semi-structured interviews for gaining first hand understanding of the researched phenomenon. It was explored that there is a need for a comprehensive understanding of the aspirations of the MBMMBI policy at PSU. PSU needs to develop and implement a bilingual education framework in the light of the MBMMBI policy.

Keywords: MBMMBI policy, Malaysia, implementation, higher education