This paper attempts to explain the status of English in Malaysia and the constructivism learning theory which is of interest to the researcher for educational research and practice. Vygotsky's Social Development Theory is one of the foundations for constructivism which promotes learning contexts in which students play an active role in learning. A teacher should collaborate with his students in order to help facilitate meaning construction in students. Therefore, learning becomes a reciprocal experience for the students and teachers.

This paper provides a brief description on the aspect of Malaysian English lexis. It starts off with the developmental cycles of new varieties of English based on three main models by three main scholars, namely, Kachru's three concentric circles of Englishes (1994), Moag's life-cycle model (1982), and Schneider's dynamic model (2007). It discusses the emergence and development of Malaysian English, the nonnative variety. It also explains Baskaran's three levels of the lectal continuum; acrolect, mesolect, and basilect. The nonnative features involved in the Malaysian English lexis are also discussed briefly; the acrolect: borrowing, the mesolect, and basilect mixing, with examples. Generally, it discusses the emergence of the new varieties, the indigenisation of English in Malaysia, and the current status of English in Malaysia.

This paper attempts to show the use of lexical borrowings in ten teaching materials used by the English as Second Language (ESL) teachers in the ESL classrooms in the National Secondary Schools in the Klang district in Selangor, Malaysia. It also discusses the general and pedagogical implications involved in using lexical borrowings. This paper reveals that teaching materials with local context are found to be appealing and interesting to students because of their familiarity and local flavour. Students can instantly recognise the cultural context and respond to the situations and settings. As such they are able to interact with teaching materials in a more meaningful way.

The main aims of this qualitative study are to identify and categorise the types of lexical borrowings from the three main Malaysian languages which are the Malay language, Chinese dialects and Indian languages used by 203 ESL teachers, to what extent these lexical borrowings are used and for what reasons. This study has identified a new category known as prefixation and collected 483 lexical items over a period of one year that is, from December 2011 to November 2012. The findings of this study show that the ESL teachers mainly use the lexical items from the Malay language more frequently as it is the official language and has a prestigious placing. Since unity in diversity is encouraged, 1Malaysia English will further unite the Malaysians and thus accept the 1Malaysia concept with a more open and positive mind.

Language purists have viewed Malaysian English as divergence from native speakers’ conventions due to lack of estimation of the language. Much need to be done before Malaysian English can be accurately described and codified. Hence, this qualitative study intends to show the range of usage of Standard Malaysian English lexis, that is the acrolectal variety, in the written and spoken discourse of 203 English as Second Language (ESL) teachers in 38 National Secondary Schools in the Klang district in Selangor. The main aims are to detect and categorise the types of lexical borrowings from three main languages in Malaysia namely Malay, Chinese and Indian languages used by the ESL teachers, to what extent these lexical borrowings are used and for what reasons. This study has identified and collected 483 lexical items over a period of one year that is, from December 2011 to November 2012, whereby qualitative data is interpreted quantitatively. The findings of this study show that the ESL teachers mainly use the lexical items from the Malay language more frequently as it is the official language and has a prestigious placing. Borrowings from the local languages show that the English language is still in contact with other languages to express new ideas and concepts and mostly to retain the culture and tradition of Malaysians regardless of ethnicity. It is prone to change according to the users’ needs and to express themselves with respect to their needs to enhance and enrich the language and culture