Attitude and language use pattern of multilingual Malaysians

• Main Authors: Azarisman Shah, Ameera, Abdul Latif @ Bapoo, Lilisuriani
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kulliyyah of Languages and Management, International Islamic University Malaysia 2021
• Subjects: PE English
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/94963/1/94963_Attitude%20and%20language%20use%20pattern.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/94963/; https://www.iium.edu.my/media/77669/IYSJL%20Vol%204%20%282%29%20December%202021%281%29.pdf
• Institution: Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia

Multilingualism is not a foreign phenomenon amongst Malaysians as Malaysia is known as a ‘de facto’ multilingual country with Malay, Tamil and Mandarin as the languages spoken by the majority population of Malaysians. However, there are not many studies done to observe this phenomenon in depth in Malaysia. The studies that are done to observe the attitude and use of different languages amongst general Malaysians itself are scarce while in truth, it is important for the country’s language planning. This study aims to identify the language attitude and language use pattern of multilingual Malaysians towards their first, second and third language; and find the correlation between the two variables. The study of language attitude could help understand the language status held by respondents. Fishman (1979) believes that multilinguals choose the languages they speak according to the domains that the conversation is taking place thus this study would observe the language use pattern of multilingual Malaysians in five domains: family, friendship, education, religion and media. A quantitative research method was utilized by distributing online questionnaires to 100 multilinguals around Malaysia through the messaging app, WhatsApp. Results of the study indicated that there is a significant correlation between language attitude and language use pattern towards all three languages spoken by the respondents. The findings of this study would be helpful for future research investigating the multilingual phenomenon amongst Malaysians. It could also benefit language policy makers in encouraging the use of different languages in Malaysia.