[lg policy] Brunei: Malay can be world language, says Brunei lecturer

[Harold Schiffman]

Malay can be world language,
says Brunei lecturer
Rabiatul Kamit, The Brunei Times/ANN, Bandar Seri Begawan | World | Tue,
January 14 2014, 10:30 AM
  World News

Malay has the potential to become a world language spoken alongside
English, Spanish and German, said a Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD)
lecturer yesterday.

According to Aini Hj Karim, Malay has expanded rapidly as a language spoken
by over 250 million people as a national language in Malaysia, Indonesia,
Brunei and Singapore as well as by minorities in places such as Sri Lanka
and Cocos Islands.

“Malay can be elevated to a higher status as a widely-spoken language in
Asean, comparable to other major languages,” she said in her paper
delivered at the Culture and Language Seminar on campus yesterday.

The lecturer believed that responsibility of advocating the Malay language
belongs to native speakers, urging them to promote Malay through language
planning.

She explained that if more native speakers use Malay, the language will
become more important in Asean and the world.

“The issue now is whether or not we are willing to advocate Malay. It is up
to us to promote the language,” said Aini.

Those involved in language and education system planning play a vital role
in advocating Malay, she added.

However, noted Aini, “the Malay language and education system policies in
Brunei differ to that of other Asean members whereby the Language and
Literature Bureau comes under the purview of the Ministry of Culture, Youth
and Sports, while the education system is handled by the Ministry of
Education.

“Thus, the language policy entrusted to the Language and Literature Bureau
is not in line with the education policy. The question is how do we
streamline this scenario? Therein lies the problem,” commented the lecturer.

Aini reiterated that the success of a country’s language policy is closely
related to its education policy, where it is the official language or used
as the main medium in schools.

“This is the challenge and reality that the Malay language in Brunei must
face. Perhaps many in Brunei’s own society do not realise this,” she said,
alluding to the growing popularity of English as a second language in the
nation.

The all-day seminar, themed “Strengthening Ties Via Culture and Language”,
took place at the Senate Room of the Chancellor Hall.

Conducted by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UBD, in collaboration
with the Faculty of Language and Arts, Universitas Negeri Jakarta,
Indonesia, the seminar served as a platform for members of both
institutions to exchange knowledge pertaining to development of social
sciences in the region.

A total of 20 papers were presented, covering various topics on language,
culture and arts as well as education.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/01/14/malay-can-be-world-language-says-brunei-lecturer.html



-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its
members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or
sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write
directly to the original sender of any offensive message.  A copy of this
may be forwarded to this list as well.  (H. Schiffman, Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20140114/44a997cc/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list