Malaysian English or Grammatical Errors?

Researchers have claimed that the English language in Malaysia has deeply progressed into a phase of Independent/Liberation and Expansion (Gill 1999) or Nativisation (Schneider, 2003b). In this phase, English in use acquires significant structural changes. In fact, many syntactic variants that can be attributed to this phase have been identified by Malaysian English ME scholars and researchers since the 1970s. The findings of earlier research (Tongue 1974, Platt & Weber, 1980) reveal that some usages have been nativised in the Malaysian linguistic repertoire, but those findings are mostly based on spoken data. In terms of the written language, the extent of nativisation has yet to be extensively researched. This study seeks to explore Malaysian teachers’ perception of certain syntactic variants of English and their acceptance in written English. Teachers, especially English teachers, are regarded as gatekeepers when it comes to the use of English in Malaysia. With the perceived decline of the national standard of English in the country, it is crucial to investigate if the use of these syntactic variants by English teachers is a matter of choice or a manifestation of language proficiency. In this study, 150 English teachers from Malaysian secondary schools were recruited to respond to a questionnaire, exploring their perception of selected syntactic usages. The findings corroborate much that has been documented over decades about Malaysian English, showing essentially that changes in what is known as acceptable English usage is ongoing. However, the findings also indicate that the acceptance of these variants among a number of young Malaysian English teachers is not a matter of choice but a reflection of their language proficiency. The findings will have some pedagogical impacts on English language teaching (ELT) in Malaysia.