Youth's Understanding on Functions of Malay Language as an Official Language
Siti Norayu Mohd Basir1*, Fauziah Ismail1, Siti Balkis Mohamed Ibrahim1, Siti Nurul Jannah Fital1
1 Jabatan Bahasa & Pengajian Umum, Fakulti Perniagaan & Komunikasi, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Malaysia
*Corresponding Author: [email protected]
Received: 30 May 2023 | Accepted: 10 July 2023 | Published: 30 July 2023
DOI:https://doi.org/10.55057/ijares.2023.5.2.24 __________________________________________________________________________________________
Abstract: Malay Language was the lingua franca in the heyday of the Malacca Malay Sultanate. After independence, the functions of Malay language were dignified as the national language, under Article 152 of the Federal Constitution. It is simultaneously raised as the national ethos in guiding the country through the construction, strengthening and harmony phase of the country based on a multi-racial society. This study aims to measure the level of Malaysian youth's understanding on the functions of Malay language as an official language.
Through a quantitative study using the survey method, a total of 987 youths were randomly selected as respondents. Besides, survey method uses a questionnaire that is constructed independently to obtain data and later analyze the responses to obtain mean values and correlation values.
Keywords: malay, official language, youth, ethnicity
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1. Introduction
History proves that Malay language was once the lingua franca, which is used in domestic affairs, such as on daily basis, in economic and trade affairs during the heyday of the Malacca Malay Sultanate. The language was spoken by local communities and also foreign trades who visits Melaka for business trading activities. The glory of the Malay language faded during the colonial period under the British and Japanese colonization. Sadly, the influences of Western powers during the colonization were empowering English language even in elite schools. The struggle to restore the dignity of the Malay language took place after Malaya gained independence. Malay laguange became the official language in Malaysia only since in 1968 and was officially placed under Article 152 in the Federal Constitution. Thus far, Malay laguange is the most widely used language in Malaysia due to the majority of population in Malaysia is Malay people. Moreover, the openness and pressure on the importance of mastering English language for the survival of future in aspects of the economy, knowledge, technology and following the tide of globalization caused the role of Malay language as an official language to be undermined.
2. Literature Research
Today, the community's understanding on the function of Malay language as a language of unity and its function as an official language is rather less emphasized. This scenario is due to the occupation demographics of Malaysian society based on the diversity of races, tribes and ethnicities, the emphasis on the function of the Malay language is often seen in the context of a medium of unity alone (Siti Norayu, 2012). The selection of the Malay language as the official language is based on the historical factors of the Malay language as a lingua franca and intermediate language, Malay laguange as the language with the most speakers and elements of the Malay language as the native language. Moreover, Nor Haida (2016) states that due to historical and cultural factors, there is a difference in the use of the Malay language between Chinese and Indian ethnic groups.
An understanding of the function of a language in general and the Malay language in particular can be used in formulating a policy for the empowerment of the Malay language among the youth who are important inheritors of the nation's survival. The understanding of the Malay language as the official language of the country needs to be improved so that the government's efforts to dignify the Malay language can be realized among the citizens. In fact, the research findings of Irma Wani, Mohd Khairi and Mohd Sohaimi (2022) found that the use of English in public organizations is very widespread, while ignoring Malay language as the language that needs to be used in official affairs.
The youth's understanding in comprehension main concept of Malay as an official language can form a respect for the importance of the language itself (Noor Azmira Mohamed & Nor Azlili Hassan, 2019). Besides, the prominent of Malay language as an official language is protected under the laws of the country and needs to be understood. Through these efforts, it ensures the success to dignifying Malay language in nearest future.
Much research has been done on the importance of Malay language functions. Among the research, scholars perceive the function and uniqness of Malay language as a language of unity, language of road signs, language of to be used as an intermediate language in schools, and private colleges and also as an administrative language in public universities (Siti Norayu, 2012: Norul Haida ,2016; Indhumathy,2013; Noor Azmira Mohamed & Nor Azlili Hassan,2019; Fariza, Rohana, Mohd Najib, Azmah, et.al, 2018).
The statement of Article 152 under the Federal Constitution places the function of the Malay language as the official language used in Malaysia which indicates that all government-related affairs and documents must use the Malay language and its function cannot be disputed. The official language is the language used for all administration and government affairs (Fariza, Rohana, Mohd Najib, Azmah, et.al, 2018). The position of the Malay language as an official language was strengthened by the National Language Act 1968. Furthermore, government efforts to strengthen Malay as an official language began ten years after independence, requiring all correspondence, written reports and meeting minutes to be in Malay (Sharifah Damia, 2014).
In the context of the strong nationalism spirit before independence, the use of the Malay language can symbolize the identity of a strong Malay child. In a study by Fariza et.al., (2018)
as the official language while empowering and strengthening the spirit of Malay children. The Malay language is also used as a national element for the natives of Malaya (Irma Wani, Mohd Khairi, Mohd Sohaimi, 2022).
On average, the strengthening of the Malay laguange focus on the work of the Malay language as a laguange of solidarity. However, the issue of Malay as an official language has received less attention due to the openness of the government in practicing English in administrative matters and so on. The lack of understanding on functions of Malay language as an official language causes the community to pay less attention in practicing Malay language in affairs involving the government sector. In fact, it does not support the policy of empowering the Malay language in Malaysian society. In an effort to support Malay as an official language, it is crucial to see and measure the community's understanding of the concept of the official language itself.
3. Research Methodology
This research study uses quantitative research methods through questionnaire data collection as a research instrument. The research instrument was built to measure the level of youth's understanding on the functions of Malay language as an official language where the scale measurement uses a 5-point Likert scale. There are two parts divided in the questionnaire, namely;
Part A: Demographics- which requires respondents to answer about their self background which consists of gender, age, race, religion, occupation, country of birth, settlement area, level of education, parents’ level of education and occupation of parents.
Part B: Display Malay language as an official language- requires respondents to answer level of understanding on the functions of Malay language as an official language in Malaysia covering the language used in official government affairs, the coronation of Yang DiPertuan Agong and the use of the Malay language in court.
In order to obtain the validity of the instrument, a pilot study was conducted to see the Cronbach Alpha value for part B.
Table 1: Cronbach's Alpha Value of the Pilot Study
Part N Item Cronbach’s Alpha
B- Malay as the Official Language 30 5 .745
The findings of the pilot study analysis found that the reliability value referring to Cronbach's Alpha value is 0.745 for part B. Generally, Cronbach's Alpha value above 0.70 indicates a good level of item reliability as suggested by Hair et al., (2006). Next, the reliability analysis for the actual study was carried out to see the internal consistency and stability of the instrument with the concept being measured. This procedure was chosen considering that it is the most basic reliability expectation for a study (Churchill, 1979). In general, the quality of an instrument is said to be sufficient when the alpha coefficient value is between 0.70 and above, while a value of 0.60 to 0.69 indicates moderate quality. Table 2 indicates the improvement on constructs reliability in actual study context and able to proceed with further analyses.
Table 2: Cronbach's Alpha Value of the Pilot Study and the Actual Study
Part Item Pilot study S Actual study S
B- Malay as the
Official Language 5 .745 30 .725 968
In regards of the population and sampling procedure, researchers use a simple random sampling method in current study. Sampling is the process of selecting a number of subjects from a population to be used as research respondents. Simple random sampling can produce more open data and can avoid bias in addition to provides equal opportunities to each population to be involved in this research (Mohd Majid, 2012). The study sample consisted of youth in the age range between 15-40 years old in Malaysia. On the other hand, population and sampling test referred to Krejcie & Morgan (1970) formula where the sample size (s=968) is sufficient to represent a large population of 1 million (N=2,500,000). The collected data was then analyzed using the mean value to see the youth's understanding of the function of the Malay language as an official language and correlation analysis to see the relationship between the factors that influence the youth's understanding of the function of the Malay language as an official language.
Table 3: Determination of total population and sample Krejcie & Morgan (1970)
N: Population; S: Sampel
4. RESULT ANALYSIS Demographic summary
The summary of demographic background of responses is from a total of 968 respondents,
(17.0%), Indians (9.4%) and other ethnicities (2.5%). Because of this, Muslim respondents also showed a higher percentage compared to other religions (45.9%). As for the breakdown of religion, 73.0% of respondents are Muslim, Buddhist (16.5%), Hindu (7.9%), Christian (2.3%) and others (0.3%). As for the level of education, youth with a bachelor's degree recorded the largest number of 79%, followed by a diploma of 11.8%, a Malaysian Higher Education Certificate of 8.2% and a master's degree of 1%. In addition, there are respondents work in the government sector which is 3.4%, private sector as much as 2.9%, statutory body as much as 0.2%, not working as much as 91.6%.
Table 4: Demographic Summary for Gender, Age, Ethnicity, Religion, Level of Education and Occupation
Respondents that participated in this study were from 13 states in Malaysia and the breakdown by state of birth was Johor (7.1%), Kedah (22.5%), Kelantan (6.9%), Melaka (9%), Negeri Sembilan (4.1%), Penang (3.4%), Perak (18.7%), Perlis (2.1%), Selangor (13.4%), Terengganu (2.6%), Sabah (12.3%) and Sarawak (6%). The distribution of respondents from urban areas is 60.7% and rural areas is 39.3%.
Table 5: Demographic Distribution by State and Settlement Area
Variable Mean Score
Descriptive tests of research variables are conducted to determine the level of importance and views of respondents for each measurement or variable. For this purpose, researchers calculated the average answer score or value and used the middle point to divide the respondents' level of view into low, medium, and high.
Table 6: Score categories
Score Category
1.00 - 2.33 Low
2.34 - 3.66 Medium
3.67 - 5.00 High
The results of the descriptive test on the variable items of Malay as an official language are summarized in Table 7. The results of the analysis show a high level of agreement for the youth's understanding of the function of Malay as an official language (mean = 4.12, sd = 0.51) The results of the descriptive test for each item also described in Table 6 below.
Table 7: Mean Score of Part B Items
Items No. Min Sd
1. Article 152 in the Federal Constitution places Malay as
the national language. 4.48 .875
2. Malay is used in every official business in the
government sector 4.52 .846
3. Malay laguange is protected under Malaysian law 4.53 .805
4. Court hearings in Malaysia are conducted using Malay
language 4.43 .895
5. In matters of the coronation of the Yang diPertuan
Agong, the use of English may be used 2.57 1.02
Insight into the mean score data shows that item 2 "The Malay language is used in every official business in the government sector" has the highest mean score with a value of 4.52 while item 5 "In the coronation of the Yang diPertuan Agong, the use of English can be used" recorded the lowest mean value of 2.57"
5. Discussion and Recommendation
Based on the results of the scores obtained, it can be concluded that items 1, 2, 3 and 4 recorded high mean score values, while only item 2 recorded a moderate mean value. Generally, a high understanding om the functions of Malay as an official language among the youth can be seen from the role of formal and informal education. In Malaysian education system, Bahasa Melayu is the medium of instruction in primary and secondary schools, while English becomes more important at university and professional levels. Therefore, the youth's understanding of Article 152 can be built through their formal education at school, where they are exposed to Bahasa Melayu as the national language and the concept of the national language is high.
In addition, informal education involving family, society, and the media also plays a huge role in shaping the youth's understanding of Article 152. Malay as the national language can be fostered through the use of the language in daily life, including in family activities, friendships, and social activities. Local media also play an important role in strengthening national identity and understanding of Article 152 through exposure to the Malay language and local culture.
Besides, formal and informal education, youth are also educated and exposed to the cultural values that has been practiced in the concept of Malay language in local community which shown Malay as a symbol of unity and cultural diversity in Malaysia. For instance, the practices of meaningful values and words, kindness, politeness, greeting elders, good manners, and contains many words that refer to Islamic and Malay values.
Last but not least, the youth's understanding of Article 152 in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia is also influenced by cultural values that view Malay as the national and official language. By understanding the meaning and cultural values contained in the Malay language, youth can appreciate the importance and uniqueness of the national language as a drive that strengthens Malaysian identity and nationality.
6. Conclusion
Malay as the official language which has been enshrined under the 1957 Federal Constitution is the government's effort to dignify the Malay language which has been defiled by the arrival of colonialism once upon a time. Post-independence challenges in defending the Malay language as a native heritage or an element of tradition in Malaysia derives from various directions. Globalization and Industrial Revolution 4.0 have especially shown the universal nature of English and need to be mastered as a means of survival in the local and global arena.
Thus, today's youth are more likely to use English in managing daily affairs both in the area of work, and education even in daily conversation. However, from this study it can be concluded that despite various challenges to the continuation of the Malay language as an official language, the youth still have a high awareness and understanding of the importance of the Malay language in official affairs and ceremonies in Malaysia. The understanding of the function of the Malay language as a good official language among the youth to some extent gives the impression that the youth's identity value is still at a good level, and researchers believes it would improve by time to have high exposures of implementing Malay language in formal and informal activities.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to express appreciation and gratitude to the person who been involved directly or indirectly and for those who provide never ending support to complete this study.
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