Purpose: This article examines the use of English medium instruction (EMI) for teaching Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) by non-native speakers with a focus on multilingual classrooms. It also explores teachers' positive and negative beliefs about using EMI in classroom settings for JFL instruction. Methods and procedure: 274 non-native…

This paper focuses on the linguistic evolution of the Tianjin speech community in Sabah, Malaysia. From the perspective of restructuring of speech community, the paper integrates both micro and macro levels of language change into the analysis. Several methods were adopted in this study. Interviews were conducted with community leaders and various…

Purpose: Internationalization of education has made it important to have not only a command of English as a global language, but also of Languages Other Than English (LOTEs), which can be a second, national or heritage language. This narrative inquiry explored LOTE teachers' perspectives on their use of English and other pedagogical practices for…

The preliminary study examined teacher and students' translanguaging practices in a preschool in Sarawak, Malaysia. Analysis of audio-recorded interactions of 15 students with their teachers in two preschool classrooms (1 English, 1 Malay) found 291 instances of teacher talk functions (English, 87; Malay, 204) and 222 instances of student talk…

In Malaysia, English as a second language is used as a medium of instruction in most institutions of higher learning. Although it is compulsory to use English as a medium of instruction for all academic programmes, code-switching is still prevalent in the classroom for instance during an oral presentation. This phenomenon is also common among the…

Translanguaging offers a new perspective on language learning by affirming and leveraging the diverse language practices that make up learners' unitary language repertoire as resources for their learning. Despite the potential pedagogical benefits of translanguaging, English-only policies are still prevalent in many language classrooms. Even when…

Language problems and language barriers are challenges facing not only immigrants but also minorities and people in rural/semirural areas. This study examines individuals' bi- and multilingual repertoires, language practices and attitudes in a Hokkien-speaking community in Kangar, a semirural town of northern Malaysia bordering Thailand. Through…

The language shift phenomenon in the Bajau Sama Kota Belud in Sabah is definite. The researchers surveyed the phenomenon in Kampung Taun Gusi 1, Kota Belud, Sabah. Based on the age cross-sectional method, 300 participants of 20-29 years (G20s), 30-39 years (G30s), 40-49 years (G40s), and 50-59 years (G50s) respectively were selected by stratified…

In spite of English being regarded as the second most important language in Malaysia, it is still treated as a foreign language inevitably. The recently introduced Dual Language Progamme (henceforth DLP) which uses English as the medium of instruction in teaching Mathematics and Science is alleged to be a reflection of the less successful English…

This research is to discover whether lecturers' beliefs coincide with their practices in their daily teaching. The focus will be on the belief in the use of code-switching in the classroom. At the same time, it is also worthwhile to indicate whether there are differences in the beliefs between the lecturers and the students. For that purpose three…

Globalization causes educational institutions to encounter various challenges and demand, in which they need to play their roles in improving competitiveness and world-class quality education. Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) as a university that integrates "Naqli" and "Aqli" knowledge has taken the globalization…

It is a norm for people from a multilingual and multicultural country such as Malaysia to speak at least two or more languages. Thus, the Malaysian multilingual situation resulted in speakers having to make decisions about which languages are to be used for different purposes in different domains. In order to explain the phenomenon of language…

Many nations have attempted to create different language-in-education policies that would cater not only to the needs of learners but also to the demands of preserving a country's native languages. The emergence of multilingual education has led to a proliferation of research that shows the benefits of using a learner's first language. These…

Personal, social, cultural, economic, and political factors influence the language/s used by family members in the home domain. This study examines how family language policies are planned and developed in Filipino-Malaysian families in Malaysia. The language used at home in such mixed or exogamous marriages is also influenced by the ethnicity of…

The language situation in the Malaysian Chinese community has undergone great changes in the past century. This paper aims to account for such changes in the framework of sociolinguistic realignment, which is both descriptive and predictive. The triglossic situation in the colonial period (1859-1957) is described; with the support of a language…