BUILDING UNITY THROUGH LANGUAGE IN MALAYSIA: THE ROLE OF CHINESE SCHOOL

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis was to study about the implication of Mandarin language in creating unity among ethnic Chinese in Malaysia. The research was carried out by exploring the role of Chinese school in order to produce an analytical overview of language and unity in Malaysian Chinese context. The identity issue was also being analyzed to find out how Mandarin language helps to create Chinese identity. The result of research showed that as the disseminator of Mandarin language, Chinese school was being viewed as the custodian of Chinese cultural values and Chinese identity. Mandarin language communicated in school has contributed to the feeling of sharing a common language and has created the sense of unity as language marks group uniqueness. However, dialects still play an important role in the psychological aspect since it was a preferred medium to express inner feeling. Furthermore, research found that dialect backgrounds were being identified at Chinese social gatherings. This implied that Mandarin language affected inclusion and unity of the Malaysian Chinese at meta-ethnic level only. This put unity through Mandarin language of the Malaysian Chinese into a question of artificial creation in pursuit of ethnic interest.