Coalitions and Language Politics: Policy Shifts in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Why is it that some governments recognize only one language while others espouse multilingualism? Related, why are some governments able to shift language policies, and if there is a shift, what explains the direction? In this article, the authors argue that these choices are theproduct of coalitional constraints facing the government during critical junctures in history. During times of political change in the state-building process, the effective threat of an alternate linguistic group determines the emergent language policy. If the threat is low, the government moves toward monolingual policies. As the threat increases, however, the government is forced to co-opt the alternate linguistic group by shifting the policy toward a greater degree of multilingualism. The authors test this argument by examining the language policies for government services and the education system in three Southeast Asian countries (Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand).

Nation Building, English as an International Language, Medium of Instruction, and Language Debate: Malaysia and Possible Ways Forward

“…Examples include the use of Bahasa Malaysia as the national and official language by the Malays -the dominant ethnic group -in the early days of independence to claim, legitimise and exert political power. They also include the continued use of English by the non-Malays in the business domain, particularly the Chinese, as a means to resist power as an ethnic minority (Gill, 2005(Gill, , 2006(Gill, , 2007Hashim, 2009;Puteh, 2010;Seah, 2000;Liu and Ricks, 2012).…”

Language Policy Planning as a Political Tool for Social Stratification: Analysing the Case of Paraguay

“…According to Liu and Ricks (2012), modern LPP is not a static establishment instead, it is a dynamic framework that may shift and shape over time regarding the coalitional composition of governments during state The previous characterisation of LPP resembles the reality of Paraguay since LPP has been the main concern for the government disregarding its political party tendency. However, drastic differences have been noted in how different governments have approached LPP framework in Paraguay.…”

“…In this situation, LPP was used as a strategy to legitimate a hegemony and lead to social inequality and injustice. As stated by Liu and Ricks (2012), the linguistic group that have access to government power include their political purposes to determine LPP in a state.…”

Diglossia and identity in Northeast Thailand: Linguistic, social, and political hierarchy

“…The Central Thai language has been promoted by its association with the Nation‐Religion‐King trinity (see Rappa and Wee for further discussion). Subsequently, systematic efforts have been made to maintain its status as a symbol of national identity (see also Liu and Ricks ).…”