Set in Malaysia, this book encompasses language and cultural policy
challenges that many other multi-ethnic nations currently have to
address. The people of Malaysia constitute a diverse ethnic, linguistic
and cultural population and one of the continuing challenges is the
development and establishment of the Malaysian people's ethnic, national
and global cultural identities. This challenge is evident in the journey
of language and cultural policy from the post-independence period to the
21st century; a period of over 50 years. The book highlights political,
socio-cultural, economic and knowledge economy factors as they impact on
decisions made by the government with regard to language policy in the
various educational systems. It examines decisions made on the selection
of the national language, the medium of instruction in educational
systems, the varying changes in language policy for the field of science
and technology and the maintenance and sustenance of minority languages.