The changing tenor of English in multicultural postcolonial Malaysia

It is widely accepted that living languages change over time and space. By this measure it can be stated that the English used in environments different from its origin, would adjust and change to suit its new environments. In the context of Malaysia changes to the institutional role and status of t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ganakumaran Subramaniam
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM 2007
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1164/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1164/1/4_gana.pdf
_version_ 1848809437042573312
author Ganakumaran Subramaniam,
author_facet Ganakumaran Subramaniam,
author_sort Ganakumaran Subramaniam,
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description It is widely accepted that living languages change over time and space. By this measure it can be stated that the English used in environments different from its origin, would adjust and change to suit its new environments. In the context of Malaysia changes to the institutional role and status of the English language has waxed and waned to a point of near extinction only to re-emerge stronger in the 21st century. However the politics of language policies has not deterred its users from consciously and unconsciously reorienting the language system so that it remained relevant and meaningful to its users. This paper examines some of the challenges and concerns that confront the use and users of English in postcolonial contexts. More specifically the paper discusses some of the changes embodied in Malaysian English as a result of characteristics brought to it by the new language users, their relationships to each other, and their purposes. In discussing the tenor of postcolonial English, the paper argues that changes inscribed in these new varieties are products of real needs and realities in new language speaking contexts.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T23:14:35Z
format Article
id ukm-1164
institution Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T23:14:35Z
publishDate 2007
publisher Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling ukm-11642016-12-14T06:29:00Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1164/ The changing tenor of English in multicultural postcolonial Malaysia Ganakumaran Subramaniam, It is widely accepted that living languages change over time and space. By this measure it can be stated that the English used in environments different from its origin, would adjust and change to suit its new environments. In the context of Malaysia changes to the institutional role and status of the English language has waxed and waned to a point of near extinction only to re-emerge stronger in the 21st century. However the politics of language policies has not deterred its users from consciously and unconsciously reorienting the language system so that it remained relevant and meaningful to its users. This paper examines some of the challenges and concerns that confront the use and users of English in postcolonial contexts. More specifically the paper discusses some of the changes embodied in Malaysian English as a result of characteristics brought to it by the new language users, their relationships to each other, and their purposes. In discussing the tenor of postcolonial English, the paper argues that changes inscribed in these new varieties are products of real needs and realities in new language speaking contexts. Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM 2007 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1164/1/4_gana.pdf Ganakumaran Subramaniam, (2007) The changing tenor of English in multicultural postcolonial Malaysia. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 13 . pp. 53-75. ISSN 0128-5157 http://www.ukm.my/~ppbl/3L/3LHome.html
spellingShingle Ganakumaran Subramaniam,
The changing tenor of English in multicultural postcolonial Malaysia
title The changing tenor of English in multicultural postcolonial Malaysia
title_full The changing tenor of English in multicultural postcolonial Malaysia
title_fullStr The changing tenor of English in multicultural postcolonial Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed The changing tenor of English in multicultural postcolonial Malaysia
title_short The changing tenor of English in multicultural postcolonial Malaysia
title_sort changing tenor of english in multicultural postcolonial malaysia
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1164/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1164/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1164/1/4_gana.pdf