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Introduction
Human beings can communicate with each other using language. We can share knowledge, beliefs, opinions, and feelings through the use of language. Language is a unique trait for human beings. Humans can acquire either monolingualism or bilingualism through learning, observation, and practice. In Brunei Darussalam, the people usually communicate by using their official language which is Brunei Malay, and sometimes, English. Ozog (1996; as cited in Noorazam, McLellan & Deterding) observed that, for Bruneians, English is the language of knowledge, but Malay is the language of the soul. It is very common for Bruneians to switch between English and Brunei Malay.
My Family
My family consists of only 3 members; my father, my mother, and I, the only child. My father works as an office helper at the ministry of Foreign Affairs and my mother works as a clerk at the Land Transport Department (JPD) under the ministry of Communication. My father comes from an Indian-Brunei family, where my grandfather is Indian and my grandmother is Bruneian. He has 5 siblings in total, whereas my mother comes from a Malaysian-Bruneian family, where my grandfather is Bruneian and my grandmother is Malaysian. She has 6 siblings in total.
Language Use by My Family
Diglossia is a concept created by Fergusson(1959) that can be applied to Brunei society as Brunei Malay is used in daily conversation and Standard Malay and English are used in dealing with the higher authorities such as the government and also in education.
Diglossia is a term where two languages or more are used alongside in a society and each has a sensible extent of limits (Deterding, 1998). My family is mostly bilingual as in our household; our use of language mainly circles standard Malay, Bruneian Malay, and English. My dad uses standard Malay and English in handling work-related jobs, including talking to the higher officer, workmates, authorities, and foreign clients daily. However, he usually speaks in Bruneian Malay when he communicates with his friends and family. The same goes for my mom, she also speaks using standard Malay and English while communicating with clients daily.
However, in my mother‟ ‘s family, whenever there is a gathering my Malaysian relatives from Miri usually come to visit, especially during raya, they speak in the Kedayan-Malaysian dialect. From what I observed, they tend to add „k‟ at the end of some words. For example, “emak muk di mana?” meaning, “Where is your mother?” and “baik juak kauk padah capat” meaning “Fortunately you told us earlier”. Other than that, they also tend to add Kedayan words in their conversation, for example, “handicap” [hən‟tæp] which emphasizes the meaning of “really”, for example; “Laju handicap ia began”, meaning “he walks fast” and also uses some Kedayan words to substitute some standard Malay words, such as “manuka” [mentʊ‟kə] which substitute the word “kereta” in Malay or “car” in English and “yank” [„æyənɪk] which substitutes the word “searing” in Malay or “right now” in English. There is a high level of similarity between Kedayan and Brunei Malay.
In addition to that, my cousins and I spoke a little bit of Korean and Mandarin. We usually watch Korean dramas and movies; hence, we can pick up a few words from it. Such as “kamsahamnida” [kæms ɑ ːhæmnɪdə] which means thank you, “pangapsumnida” [„pəngæpsumnɪdə] which means “nice to meet you” and “stencil chukahamnida” [seɪŋɪlchʊkæhəmnɪdə] which means “happy birthday to you”. We also spoke a little bit of Mandarin due to my cousin studying at Chung Hwa Middle School and
I am currently taking Mandarin classes. They taught me how to pronounce a few words in Malay and how to differentiate the tones, as the tone mark usually distinguishes the meaning of the words even though they have the same meaning. Other than that, we also spoke English among us as we talked about topics related to English drama series, books, movies, and sometimes politics. I observed that sometimes my family switches from Malay to English while speaking and back. For example “Kaka, can you simpan the file arah almari baba?” which translates to “Kaka, can you put the file in your father‟s cabinet?”.
Furthermore, it is also fascinating in my opinion how the word “bah” can have different meanings according to its context. For example, “bah” can mean “alright, I am going to go now” or it can also mean “I am already done”. It can also refer to the tide in some context.
My Attitudes Towards Language Use
According to Ozog (1996) the use of English is seen as a mixed blessing as some Bruneian parents take pride in their child‟ ‘s competence in using English however, this creates the assumption that their child is doing well in school. The use of English is also considered an alien culture in the very traditional culture of Brunei, as the use of language in the local market of Brunei is considered inappropriate. In school, although we are taught in both Malay and English, most of the academic discussions held in school use English to assess the topics, which is true based on the school works and discussions held at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). The debate held in class is usually done in English and it can be seen mostly among the Malay students.
Government businesses use mostly Malay, but 33.4% of the workers use English in the work-related industry. This indicates the high status of English in Brunei Darussalam. However, the use of English is usually seen more in private business than the government business, for example, in shops in Brunei such as Body Shop or Face Shop, they tend to greet their customers and communicate with them in English rather than Malay. Furthermore, it is said that greetings in Brunei Malay convey friendliness whereas the use of English causes a feeling of formality among the peers. For example, in meetings, people tend to start the meeting by using Arabic language to give „salaam‟ and continue with standard Malay, however, as the meeting goes on the use of language tends to change from standard Malay to Brunei Malay and English. Hence, dealing with domains of English in Brunei is not rigid, language shift is a normal phenomenon among the people. It is unlikely that English became the first language status in Brunei as it is a product of the bilingual educational system group. However, if the use of English by local people increases, there is a high chance that the domains will expand.
However, according to Jones (2007), the use of English in Brunei had brought along a high amount of criticism among the people before. As the use of English may cause the loss of identity as traditional culture may be replaced. The education issues from twenty years ago are still an issue today as some of the teachers in schools are lacking in training and are showing poor results in teaching. A bilingual system merely exacerbates the problem mostly due to the extra training involved. In addition to the above, attention was given to parental, cultural, and politico-ideological fears. An assumption that acquiring a second language is difficult was made by parents in Brunei, the reality is learning a second language in natural surroundings as a child is normal although trying to study a language at school might be difficult. Now, the fears have been replaced with the worry that their children may not be able to manage and keep up.
Twenty years ago, there was a fear of losing one‟s culture, especially given that many in the region had only recently regained national autonomy, especially differentiating between “Asian values” and “Western values”. However, the discussion has ceased and any that persists tend to be more pragmatic as nations and people realize they cannot exist in a nation that builds up barriers to prevent the use of English, rather than how one accommodates the language that matters. Several countries in Asia have a national ethos that people are encouraged to practice and in Brunei, it is Melayu Islam Beraja (MIB), in English it translates Malay, Islam, and Ruler. Hence, the use of Malay is encouraged among the people, and confusion arises as encouragement of using Malay while also being told to learn English. As a result, many proficient English language users report being abused and vilified when others hear them using English. English is associated with educational success and knowledge, and others who have neither advantage of hearing their peer using the language may experience jealousy and tension to arise.
However, most of the issues from twenty years ago no longer exist today. Nevertheless, problems misunderstandings, and some new issues have taken their place. The Minister of Education has addressed the poor rate of passing in the country‟ ‘s English O-level examination even though the use of English has increased, this shows that pupils may be using poor English rather than Malay. The key, however, is providing the right kind of support. There is a need to get the pedagogy right and to ensure that the education system will benefit the students.
Conclusion
Hence, in conclusion, language plays a vital part in our society in terms of communication. English may be developing its own identity as it is spoken fluently among the people of Brunei, but, the use of Brunei Malay and standard Malay will remain as the original language of Brunei no matter how the domain of English has expanded as Malay is one of the main national ethos that are still being practiced in school all over Brunei.
References
- Deterding, D. (1998). Approaches to diglossia in the classroom: The middle way, REACT, 2, 18-23.
- Ferguson, C. (1959). Diglossia. Word, 15, 325–340.
- Jones, G. M. (2007). 20 years of bilingual education: Then and now. In D. Prescott (Ed.), English in Southeast Asia: Varieties, literacies and literatures (pp. 246-258). Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
- Noorazam, H. O., McLellan, J. & Deterding, D. (2016). The Use and Status of Language in Brunei Darussalam: A Kingdom with Unexpected Language Diversity. Springer.
- Ozog, A. C. K. (1996). The unplanned use of English: The case of Brunei Darussalam. In
- P. W. Martin, C. Ozog & G. Poedjosoedarmo (Eds.), Language use & language change in Brunei Darussalam (pp. 156-172). Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies.
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