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BUILDING UNITY THROUGH LANGUAGE IN MALAYSIA: THE ROLE OF CHINESE SCHOOL

PAKNINRAT, Sirisaranya (2007)
Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis was to study about the implication of Mandarin language in creating unity among ethnic Chinese in Malaysia. The research was carried out by exploring the role of Chinese school in order to produce an analytical overview of language and unity in Malaysian Chinese context. The identity issue was also being analyzed to find out how Mandarin language helps to create Chinese identity. The result of research showed that as the disseminator of Mandarin language, Chinese school was being viewed as the custodian of Chinese cultural values and Chinese identity. Mandarin language communicated in school has contributed to the feeling of sharing a common language and has created the sense of unity as language marks group... (More)
The purpose of this thesis was to study about the implication of Mandarin language in creating unity among ethnic Chinese in Malaysia. The research was carried out by exploring the role of Chinese school in order to produce an analytical overview of language and unity in Malaysian Chinese context. The identity issue was also being analyzed to find out how Mandarin language helps to create Chinese identity. The result of research showed that as the disseminator of Mandarin language, Chinese school was being viewed as the custodian of Chinese cultural values and Chinese identity. Mandarin language communicated in school has contributed to the feeling of sharing a common language and has created the sense of unity as language marks group uniqueness. However, dialects still play an important role in the psychological aspect since it was a preferred medium to express inner feeling. Furthermore, research found that dialect backgrounds were being identified at Chinese social gatherings. This implied that Mandarin language affected inclusion and unity of the Malaysian Chinese at meta-ethnic level only. This put unity through Mandarin language of the Malaysian Chinese into a question of artificial creation in pursuit of ethnic interest. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
PAKNINRAT, Sirisaranya
supervisor
organization
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Malaysia, Mandarin language, mother tongue, dialects, identity, ethnicity, unity, division, inclusion, education, Chinese school, Chinese community
language
English
id
2157980
date added to LUP
2011-09-14 11:49:16
date last changed
2011-09-14 11:49:16
@misc{2157980,
  abstract     = {{The purpose of this thesis was to study about the implication of Mandarin language in creating unity among ethnic Chinese in Malaysia. The research was carried out by exploring the role of Chinese school in order to produce an analytical overview of language and unity in Malaysian Chinese context. The identity issue was also being analyzed to find out how Mandarin language helps to create Chinese identity. The result of research showed that as the disseminator of Mandarin language, Chinese school was being viewed as the custodian of Chinese cultural values and Chinese identity. Mandarin language communicated in school has contributed to the feeling of sharing a common language and has created the sense of unity as language marks group uniqueness. However, dialects still play an important role in the psychological aspect since it was a preferred medium to express inner feeling. Furthermore, research found that dialect backgrounds were being identified at Chinese social gatherings. This implied that Mandarin language affected inclusion and unity of the Malaysian Chinese at meta-ethnic level only. This put unity through Mandarin language of the Malaysian Chinese into a question of artificial creation in pursuit of ethnic interest.}},
  author       = {{PAKNINRAT, Sirisaranya}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{BUILDING UNITY THROUGH LANGUAGE IN MALAYSIA: THE ROLE OF CHINESE SCHOOL}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}