English in multicultural Malaysia: motivating learners towards nation-building

Abstract

There is a general belief that Asian students are primarily motivated by a desire to succeed at university and obtain a well-paid career upon graduation. Kembar et al. (1999) discovered in a series of interviews with Hong Kong students that many statements about career preparation and career relevance showed that they expected the courses to provide both intrinsic and career motivation. Kembar (2000) proposed that these students have internalised a value for a high-status well-paid careers and suggested that these findings are applicable to other Asian contexts.

This paper discusses the applicability of the above findings to the Malaysian context in the learning of English as a Second language. While Hong Kong is arguably a homogenous society, what are the dynamics involved when searching for status and successful careers in multicultural Malaysia? In terms of motivation, is it possible to encourage students to excel in their studies and careers not only for personal gain, but also in order to improve Malaysian society as a whole? This research will refer to the findings of a PhD project, which explored distance, and on-campus learners' conceptions of their approaches to studying, and their perceptions of the English Proficiency courses offered by a public university in Malaysia. A mixed approach comprising questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data for the research. Suggestions for motivating learners to move from personal gain to greater social responsibility will be discussed at the end of the presentation.