LANGUAGES USE BY MALAYSIAN

There are many languages in the world. According to David and Robert (2017, Mei 9), “Language is a system of conventional spoken, manual, or written symbols by means of which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture, express themselves. The functions of language include communication, the expression of identity, play, imaginative expression, and emotional release”. So, we need the language to communicate, writing, express identity, imagination, and emotion with members of society. Meanwhile, according to Wikipedia (2017, Jun 12), “A society is a group of people involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations”. We cannot live alone. We need society and share more things with them like language, feeling, believe, politic, interest, attitude and culture. Society and language are related each other because we use the language as a medium for communication and others.

I agree with the statement which is we use the language depend on the society around us than our ethnic and cultural background. That is because the important function of language is a conversation. We can see an example in our country. Bangladeshis come here to work in the construction site. The majority of them cannot speak and understand the Malay language. So, they have faced communication problem with their supervisors and his colleagues. The language barrier will give several effects to them like to implement their tasks, to tell their wants and safety in the workplace. It supported by Ananthan (2014, January 1), “The language barrier consequently leads to other problems such as delay and safety matters. Hence, it should be overcome for better productivity in the construction industry in future”. So, they need to learn a local language. They have to attend a Malay language class. They need several times to learn and speak in the Malay Language slowly. In a long time, they can speak our language. Even though there are several mistakes in grammar but as long as we can understand them so, all the language barriers will settle. The language helps also them to do their personal activities, perform their tasks, co-operate with their officemates, live with local society and to be accepted by them.

Peninsular Malaysia originally inhabited by the Malays and the indigenous only. Then, British people brought in Chinese and India to do several jobs like work at the estate and mining area. They have used different languages and dialect.  Even though they still talk among them by using their languages but, they have to learn the Malay Language too. If they did not learn the Malay language, they will face several problems. They need others when they want to do anything likes eat, study and work. When they want to eat, they have to communicate to get raw materials. Usually, they got the raw materials from the Malay people because most of Malay was farmers and fish men. So, they have to use the language because Malay people do not understand their languages. Besides, their cultural, lifestyle, attitude, interest and habit have changed a little big because of the environment. For example, if we go to China, we can see the differences between the Chinese there and in Malaysia. The Chinese in Malaysia is more polite.

One of the important achievements that we got is independence from the British Government. We got the independence through the agreement between the three largest ethnics. They are Malay, Chinese and India. The agreement cannot achieve if the language barrier existed. This situation shows that the language that we use depend on the society we live.

      We can see another example in Kelantan. The majority of Kelantanese are Malay. They talk by using Kelantanese dialect. It is a special dialect in Malaysia and only certain people know how to communicate and use it. According to Zuraidah Mohd. Don (2003), “The Kelantanese regards their dialect as a symbol of regional identity, a social cultural symbol of their state and a common means of communication (lingua franca) among the Kelantanese”. However, we can see, if someone from other states comes here to work, they will learn Kelantanese dialect slowly. In a long time, they can talk expertly. This situation is same when someone married with Kelantanese. In a long time, we cannot recognize them because they talk the dialect fluently. Visitors from other states also try to speak the dialect to get a cheaper price when they want to buy something here. So, this situation supported the statement that the language we use depends more on the society we live. The situation can be proved by Chinese people who have been living here. Even though, they are from Chinese ethnic but, their attitude and lifestyle are quite same with Malay. They can speak Kelantanese dialect expertly. This situation happens because they always communicate each other. If we analyse the Chinese ethnic in all states in Malaysia, their attitudes, language and lifestyles are different because of the societies are influence them.

      Kelantanese likes to uses his dialect when he talks even though in formal or informal matters. However, when he goes to another state, he changes the way he talks. For example, when he goes to Kuala Lumpur for working, visiting or travelling, he uses Kuala Lumpur dialect. He cannot use Kelantanese dialect because people cannot understand the language. For example, if he talks to the owner restaurant, “Nok make selalu”, and the owner of the restaurant may understand that he want to eat frequently. Actually, he wants to eat now. So, this is one of the communication barriers. There are many words in Kelantanese dialect are hard for others to understand likes “nyor”, “debe”, “meceh”, “nise” and “rok”. Kelantanese only can use his dialect in Kelantan.  So, this situation proves that we use the language depend more on the society.     

I am an ESL (English as a second language) learner. I would like to use the English language as my second language. I would like to use it in daily conversation but I cannot practice it because of the environment in Kelantan. Kelantanese does not like to use English as their second language. When we use English to communicate, they like to sarcastic us. So, this situation makes us give up. The majority of Kelantanese cannot speak English fluently because of the environment. Even though they have learned English in a long time but still cannot speak confidently. The majority of them got a hard problem when they were at university because they have to understand the subjects and at the same time they have to understand the English language too because they have to learn in English. This situation is different when we live in other states like Penang and Kuala Lumpur. We can use English anywhere in the states. We can speak with officemates and public. They can speak English fluently even though they do not have a high level of education. This situation happens because they use the language in daily conversation. The two situations prove that even though we have a willingness to improve our English for education and career life but we cannot practice it in all parts of Malaysia because of its society. The society influences the language that we use.

      A doctor has to give treatments to all patients who have a different background, social class, gender, age and lifestyle. The doctor is someone who know and expert about the medical term. So, when he wants to talk with a patient, he has to see the patients’ background. If he is not from a medical background, he cannot use medical words likes leptospirosis, tuberculosis, antenatal, biodiversity, and organism. He has to use the words that the patient can understand and need to explain more. It is important to make sure the patient can take care himself and follow his advice. Misunderstanding among patients may give several effects to them. So, the doctor has to be careful with each word.

We can see a lecturer. One of his tasks is to give a talk. He has to give a talk not only for his students but also for the public. Sometimes, he has invitations to give a talk for old people, villagers, academics, and teenagers. Even though he is a professor and got Ph.D., but when he wants to give a talk, he has to use a language that suitable with the audience. If he gives a talk to villagers, he has to use a suitable language that suitable with them. He cannot use very high words like paradigm, optimistic, perspective, globalization and speculative. When he wants to give a talk to academics, he has to use a high level of language. If he uses a lower level of language, the audiences might bore. So, he has to know his audiences first and make suitable preparation before he gives a talk. The use of unsuitable language will give bad effects to audiences and give a bad reputation to his. It supported LaGuardia (n.d.), “There is a variety of different languages throughout the world. Most importantly, there are many ways in which people change the way they speak to fit daily life situations, although not everyone is conscious of the way they change their speaking”. So, we can evaluate ourselves too. When we talk with a kid, the language we use also like a kid too. The kid cannot understand us if we use a complicated word. When we want to talk with our parents, even though we have a high academic but, we have to respect them and use a polite language. When we want to talk with our officemate which is the same level with our position, usually we will be a real person. It means, we do not control the way we talk and be an honest person. It is supported by William (2015), “Speakers tend to speak each language in particular interactive contexts, depending on who they are talking to, the topic conversational and so on”.

      International Linguistics Community Online stated that The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is the theory that an individual's thoughts and actions are determined by the language or languages that individually speaks. The strong version of the hypothesis states that all human thoughts and actions are bound by the restraints of language, and is generally less accepted than the weaker version, which says that language only somewhat shapes our thinking and behaviour. The hypothesis has formulated by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf. It means that our view and behaviour depend on our language that we use. The theory contrasts with our assignment statement. The statement said that the language that we use depend on the society that we live.

            The article explains about an artificial intelligence tool. It used to help the computer to interpret languages. The function is quite same with a Google Translate which is used to interpret language too and it has improved dramatically. However, even though they are machines, but they are biased within the pattern language use and also in the latest research. Besides, it explains about a machine learning tools known as “word embedding”. It is changing the way computer interpret speech and text. This article does not support the statement because it only explains about the devices.

            In conclusion, the first language that we use depends on our parents because they are the first person who teaches us talking. When we grow up, we have to interact with other people. As a human, we cannot do everything alone. We need the society. When we want to interact with them, we have to use their language. For example, we live in London but, we have born in Malay family. So, we can use the Malay language in at home but we have to use the English language when we want to interact with the society. So, the society plays the main role in choosing the language that we have to use.