Multilingualism and

economic growth in
Malaysia.
Does knowing more than one language helps develops the economy?
Malaysia

 A multi-ethnic country comprised of Malays, Chinese, Indian, and Borneo

natives. (Borneo natives and Malays are ‘Bumiputeras’, which translate as
‘Sons of the Soil’.)
 Population : 32 million (Bumiputeras comprised a total of 68.8% of the total
population, Chinese 23.2% and Indians 7.0%)

 The official and national language of Malaysia is Malaysian, a standardised

form of the Malay language.
 However, the public education system heavily emphasize English, as it is used
in Science subjects.
 Secondary school students can choose to study Mandarin, Tamil, Japanese or
Arabic as a required subject.
Aims

 Does being multilinguals increase employability, and helps develops the economy?
 To study the employability of multilinguals, as well as its role in developing the
economy.
 Malaysia is a trading nation, and relied heavily on China, other Asian countries,
and European countries to help foster economic growth.
 China's clout is growing in South East Asia, becoming the region's top trading
partner. (China’s FDI inflows is 21% in 2017)
 English language, which has been labelled as the world’s language for business and
education. (Private firms tend to emphasize good English language skills. In a
multi-ethnic workplace environment, the workers are encouraged to use English as
it is politically neutral and makes it easier for everyone to communicate.)
 There are many Japanese companies as well, such as Mitsubishi and Toyota.
Methods.

 Through many journals that studies the relationship between multilingualism

and economic advantage, in Malaysia.
(e.g. https://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic-impact-
research/countries-2018/malaysia2018.pdf)

 Data from online job sites in Malaysia. (JobStreets, SkootJobs, e.g). A sample
size of certain amount of jobs and their language requirements.

 Government website for public sector job language requirements.

(e.g. SPA or JPA)

Results
 Most private firms prefer candidates with multilingual capabilities, with bare minimum Malay
and English.
 In private sector, having knowledge of Mandarin and Japanese would be advantageous. Most
firms require working knowledge of it so that communication can be carried effectively.
Especially companies that are from China or Japan (e.g. Honda or Bank of China)
 In public sector, fluent Malay is a must. Having a good English communication skills, while not
required for most jobs, is highly desirable.
 This is because of Malaysia position as a trading nation, and due to the high FDI from China,
Japan and other European countries, which in turn favours locals that are capable of
communicating in certain language depending on the firms.
 Also in case of tourism, in which having knowledge of English or Mandarin will helps to
smoothen up customers experience, which in turn will stimulate economic growth. (3 million
Chinese tourist in 2018)
 Although, certain firms may then be impressed with the “multilingual” capacities in the
available labour supply in terms of the ability to provide service in 18 different languages,
but are less convinced of the supply of highly educated labour to support the highest end
operations in the knowledge economy.
*https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/01443330810881240?mobileUi=0&fullSc=1&m
bSc=1&fullSc=1&fullSc=1&fullSc=1
Conclusions

 Being multilinguals would definitely increase employability. However, there

are certain languages that are more in-demand compared to others. Most
firms demanded at least Malay and English, and extra Mandarin and some
firms, Japanese.
 Depending on the sector, certain languages are definitely desirable. Private
firms usually emphasized Mandarin, while public sector emphasized fluent
Malay.
 Despite the multilingual capabilities of most Malaysians, the lack of skilled
labour has somewhat stunted other developed countries from investing into
it. While multilingualism does helps economic growth, lack of skilled labour
does inhibit the economy from growing to its full potential.