Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- Introduction: Language Policies at Variance with Language Use in Multilingual Malaysia
- 1 The Importance of Ethnic Identity when Language Shift Occurs: A Study of the Malaysian Iyers
- 2 Ethnic Identity in the Tamil Community of Kuching
- 3 Do Exogamous Marriages Result in Language Shift? Focus on the Sindhis of Kuching, Malaysia
- 4 Malaysian-Filipino Couples and Language Choice: Heritage Language or International Language?
- 5 I am not English but my First Language is English: English as a First Language among Portuguese Eurasians in Malaysia
- 6 Language and Identity: Children of Indian Bidayuh Mixed Marriages
- 7 The Impact of Language Policy on Language Shifts in Minority Communities: Focus on the Malayalee Community in Malaysia
- 8 My Son has to maintain his Language because that is his Culture: The Persistence and Adaptation of the Bengali Community in Malaysia
- 9 Intercultural Communication in Sarawak: Language Use of the Chinese-Speaking Communities
- 10 Malay Javanese Migrants in Malaysia: Contesting or Creating Identity?
- 11 Conclusions: Multilinguality in the Malaysian Context of Nation-Building and Globalisation
- Contributors
- Bibliography
- Index
- Publications Series
5 - I am not English but my First Language is English: English as a First Language among Portuguese Eurasians in Malaysia
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 January 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- Introduction: Language Policies at Variance with Language Use in Multilingual Malaysia
- 1 The Importance of Ethnic Identity when Language Shift Occurs: A Study of the Malaysian Iyers
- 2 Ethnic Identity in the Tamil Community of Kuching
- 3 Do Exogamous Marriages Result in Language Shift? Focus on the Sindhis of Kuching, Malaysia
- 4 Malaysian-Filipino Couples and Language Choice: Heritage Language or International Language?
- 5 I am not English but my First Language is English: English as a First Language among Portuguese Eurasians in Malaysia
- 6 Language and Identity: Children of Indian Bidayuh Mixed Marriages
- 7 The Impact of Language Policy on Language Shifts in Minority Communities: Focus on the Malayalee Community in Malaysia
- 8 My Son has to maintain his Language because that is his Culture: The Persistence and Adaptation of the Bengali Community in Malaysia
- 9 Intercultural Communication in Sarawak: Language Use of the Chinese-Speaking Communities
- 10 Malay Javanese Migrants in Malaysia: Contesting or Creating Identity?
- 11 Conclusions: Multilinguality in the Malaysian Context of Nation-Building and Globalisation
- Contributors
- Bibliography
- Index
- Publications Series
Summary
Introduction
The origins of Eurasians of Portuguese descent (henceforth to be referred to as Portuguese Eurasians) can be traced back to the 16th century when the Portuguese arrived and subsequently controlled Malacca until 1641 when the Dutch took over (Fernandis 2000; Sta Maria 1982). During their conquest of Malacca, Portuguese men were encouraged to marry local women. The hybrid population they produced (Baxter 2005; Sta Maria 1982) became the probable ancestors of Portuguese Eurasians (Guisan 1999; O’Neill 1995 reproduced in Marbeck 1999). Along with the people of Portuguese descent, a Portuguese creole commonly known as Kristang (Baxter 2005) has survived more than 500 years. However, mixed marriages, urbanisation, education and socioeconomic and geographical mobility have resulted in a decreasing number of mother tongue speakers of Kristang among the Portuguese Eurasians (David & Faridah 1999; Sudesh 2000). In most cases, English has taken over as the home language. Baxter (2005: 18) explains that the shift to English in the mid-1800s was for utilitarian purposes: “English was a prestige language, a key to employment, Kristang was not”. This sentiment is echoed by Marbeck (quoted in Yong 2004: 8):
“… we were not encouraged to speak Kristang. We were told that if you want to get on in this world you have to speak English.”
Similar attitudes placing English as the most important language have also been found in David and Faridah (1999) and Sudesh (2000). Thus, it is not surprising that studies conducted of the Portuguese settlement in Malacca indicate that even in an area of high concentration of Portuguese Eurasians, where Eurasian culture thrives, Kristang is being displaced. Baxter (2005) cites Nunes’ study (1996), which found that only 56% of the 225 residents surveyed indicated Kristang as their mother tongue, with the percentage predictably decreasing with age. However, a higher percentage of respondents in David and Faridah's study (1999) cited Kristang as their mother tongue, although the different results in the two studies could be attributed to the smaller sample size in the latter (62 respondents). What is interesting is that contrary to the high percentage of respondents (73%) who said that Kristang was their mother tongue, less than half of them claimed to be fluent in Kristang as opposed to 63% of them saying that they were fluent in English (David & Faridah 1999: 473).
- Type
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- Information
- National Language Planning and Language Shifts in Malaysian Minority CommunitiesSpeaking in Many Tongues, pp. 87 - 100Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2011