PETALING JAYA: A linguistics expert has advised the government to take a more proactive step if it was serious in internationalising the Malay language.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia lecturer Prof James Collins said Malaysia should send more Bahasa teachers overseas as well as bring in foreign students to learn the language in the country.
The previous method of sending Malay textbooks overseas was not a strategic way to spread the language, he said.
Books which had been sent to the United States and the Netherlands are either no longer being used, have been sent back or have been drowned in a bigger collection of books.
“Thousands of books have been given to the Ohio University library but who knows who is using these books, because the university has never taught the Malay language,” he said, according to Berita Harian.
“All the Malay language books given to libraries in Leiden, Netherlands, have been returned and there is no longer a Malay section nor Malaysia’s profile there.
“If the government is serious about internationalising the language, then having a big symposium every year or giving books that will drown in bigger collections of books is not the way.”
He said it was more important to create a programme to encourage outsiders to learn the language.
“We need to have many Malay language teachers and focus on teaching the language overseas,” he said.
He said the US government had made efforts to open a Malay language programme in Northern Illinois University in 2008, and sponsored students who wanted to continue their studies in Malaysia for two months.
The university also received US government funds to produce online English-Bahasa dictionaries,” he said. “Malaysia should be the one pumping out funds to provide scholarships to foreign students who want to learn the Malay language.” - FMT
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