Azirah Hashim

Mathematics is the Method: Exploring the Macro-Organizational Structure of Research Articles in Mathematics

This article reports the macro-organizational structure of research articles (RAs) in mathematics, based on an analysis of 30 published pure and applied mathematics articles. Math RAs eschew the Introduction-Methods-Results-Discussion (IMRD) structure for an Introduction-Results model that enables researchers to present new knowledge as clearly and succinctly as possible. Notable omissions from the mathematics RA structure are Method and Discussion sections, which mathematicians do not need because of the well-established methodology used in the field (based on deduction and induction) and the relative absence of extended discussion required to interpret research findings. We contextualize the macrostructure of RAs in mathematics within the discourse conventions and disciplinary assumptions about knowledge in the field to suggest the value of such a strategy to teachers and students of academic writing.

Communicating with Asia : the future of English as a global language

Communicating with Asia: introduction Gerhard Leitner, Azirah Hashim and Hans-Georg Wolf Part I. English in Selected Regional and National Habitats with a Glance at the Role of Outward-Bound Communication Needs: 1. The development of English in Pakistan Tariq Rahman 2. English for Japan: in the cultural context of the East-Asian expanding circle Nobuyuki Hino 3. Convergence and divergence of English in Malaysia and Singapore Ee-Ling Low and Rachel Tan Siew Kuang 4. Indian English prosody Pramod Pandey 5. Charting the endonormative stabilization of Singapore English Tan Siew Imm 6. Arabic in contact with English and Malay in Malaysia Azirah Hashim and Gerhard Leitner 7. Preposition stranding and pied-piping in Philippine English: a corpus-based study Danilo T. Dayag 8. The Americanization of the phonology of Asian Englishes: evidence from Singapore Ying-Ying Tan 9. Postcolonial and learner Englishes in Southeast Asia: implications for international communication Michael Percillier Part II. Major Other Languages in Asia, their International Status and Impact on Education: 10. Multilingualism, Hindi-Urdu and Indian English: intra-national and international diaspora Tej K. Bhatia and William C. Ritchie 11. Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Melayu: convergence and divergence of the official languages in contemporary Southeast Asia Lim Beng Soon and Gloria Poedjosoedarmo R. 12. Putonghua and Cantonese in the Chinese territories Chan Shui-Duen 13. The Chinese language in the Asian diaspora: a Malaysian experience Wang Xiaomei 14. Russian in Far East Asia: linguistic policies on the periphery of empire Roxana Doncu 15. Russian and Turkic languages in Central Asia Zoya Proshina Part III. Wider Perspectives: 16. Understanding Asia by means of cognitive sociolinguistics and cultural linguistics - the example of ghosts in Hong Kong English Hans-Georg Wolf and Thomas Chan 17. Understanding Asia through English literature Gerhard Stilz 18. English as a lingua franca and educational impact in Asia Andy Kirkpatrick 19. The Australian Asia project Joseph Lo Bianco and Yvette Slaughter.

The Use of Malaysian English in Creative Writing

Abstract Currently, Malaysian English as a variety of Asian Englishes and World Englishes is of immense interest to scholars in the field. English has permeated many areas in Malaysian society and enjoys the recognition of being the second most important language after Malay. It is now noticeably present in creative writing where linguistic features of nativisation are used as a marker of national identity. This local variety which has borrowed from and assimilated local languages and dialects has gained acceptance in the community, in tandem with shifts taking place around the world, from the expansion of recognition of only American and British English to world Englishes and new Englishes. The Malaysian variety that was first written about three decades ago (Tongue 1974) has transformed into a vibrant variety of English which continues to diversify and develop making investigation into this variety fascinating. This paper highlights the features of Malaysian English used in short stories written by Malaysians to provide insights into the new cultural and linguistic dimensions that influence the writings and illustrate the creative and innovative efforts found in the production of these texts.

Language of the legal process: An analysis of interactions in the Syariah court

Abstract This study examines interactions from trials in the Syariah court in Malaysia. It focuses on the types of questioning, the choice of language and the linguistic resources employed in this particular context. In the discourse of law, questioning has been a prominent concern particularly in cross-examination and can be considered one of the key communicative practices in legal encounters. Usually based on expectations and assumptions about what the responses are likely to be, an extended question and answer dialogue can allocate or remove blame and make a party appear trustworthy or unreliable. Questions which are supportive of witnesses can simply ask for confirmation, leading witnesses through straightforward narratives and information-seeking questions. On the other hand, questions during cross-examination create a negative evaluation of witnesses and defendants, destroying their credibility and casting doubts on defence statements. Data are collected from a Syariah court in the country and examined for the strategic lexical choices, specific linguistic resources, including code-switching, through which utterances are constructed as questions and how questions are sequenced in this particular context.

Stylistic creativity in Thai English fiction

‘Thai English literature’ has not been widely recognized because of the controversial notion of ‘Thai English’. This paper thus investigates features of stylistic creativity in English short stories and novels written by Thai authors in order to identify indicators for a Thai variety of English. The features are interpreted using the approaches of World Englishes by Kachru and Strevens. It was found that the selected Thai writers highlight their English fiction with strategies of stylistic and textual innovations similar to those used by writers of other New Englishes but with uniquely indicative features for a developing non-native variety of English in the Expanding Circle: contextual and rhetorical nativization, thought patterns in Thai writing styles, Thai identity construction, multilingual code repertoire, transcultural creativity, localization of English literary forms, and Thai cultural loading of the English language. These characteristics can be found in a canon of Thai English literary discourse.

English in Thailand: development of English in a non-postcolonial context

English is not a colonial language in Thailand and has developed more slowly than varieties of English in post-British-colonial countries, which are sometimes called non-native varieties of English. The history of colonial and postcolonial English that these other countries in the region have is absent in Thailand. This paper aims to examine the evolution of English in Thai society using Schneider’s Dynamic Model (2007) to determine whether it meets the criteria that would allow us to consider it ‘Thai English’. Analysis indicates that English in Thailand has arrived at the Phase II level, ‘Exonormative Stabilization’ with Thais prioritizing British/American English rather than what we might call Thai English.

Lexical Creativity in Thai English Fiction

Unlike some varieties of English in Southeast Asia, the notion that there is a ‘Thai English’ is debatable. This paper examines distinctive non-native features of a lexicon found in contemporary Thai writing in English to ascertain if English in this Expanding Circle country is developing its own linguistic norms. An analysis of features of lexical creativity in five short stories and novels is carried out to determine whether the characteristics found indicate that a Thai English vocabulary exists. An ‘integrated framework’ which combines concepts in World Englishes by Braj B, Kachru, Peter Strevens, and Edgar W. Schneider is adopted in this study. It appears that certain categories of lexical creativity in the fiction examined represent five indicators of Thai English - contextualization, innovation, nativization, transcultural creativity, and localization - and reveals a developing non-native variety of English.

Dialogue on ‘1 Malaysia’: The uses of metadiscourse in ethnopolitical accounting

A small group of ethnically and religiously diverse Malaysians were assembled to discuss the recent call for ‘1 Malaysia’. Dialogue is widely recognized as a worthwhile communication activity to deal with the differences and issues between peoples. But how does dialogue actually work in practice? In this study, metadiscourse – talk about talk – is used as a resource to get at how participants understand their own discussion, for example, ‘we should have dialogues like this’ or ‘as long as we continue talking and trying to find solutions we have a hope of finding a solution if we don’t talk there won’t be any chance for a solution’. However, there are few instances of such metadiscourse in the over 2-hour discussion. More common are uses of metadiscourse to characterize prior problematic situations or what is needed in the future. Participants use metadiscourse as part of a narrative to give voice to self or other in making an argument about the situation in Malaysia. Participants’ narratives show how ethnicity and religion have become politicized into an ethnopolitical conflict. Most of all of the narratives are of problematic ethnopolitical relations between the Malays and non-Malays. Yet giving voice to these sensitive issues in a mixed group also points to possible solutions and a way forward.

Accounts of religio-cultural identity in Singapore and Malaysia

Abstract Singapore and Malaysia shared a similar history until 1965. They continue to share a similar spread of religions, ethnicities and languages. Even though Chinese are much the largest community in Singapore, and Malays the majority group in Malaysia, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism are widely practised in both, while Malay, English, Tamil and several forms of Chinese are widely spoken – and frequently mixed with each other. To identify the range of perceptions of culture and identity in each society, discussion was observed among an ethnically-diverse focus group of Singaporeans and compared with similar discussion among a group of Malaysians. Discursive analysis was used to examine the construction of religious and ethnic identity emerging from the spoken data. The research focus was not only on the content of the discussions itself but also on the speech strategies employed by the participants. Findings suggest the existence of competing perceptions of what a multicultural society is or should be, not only across different ethnic and religious groups but also between the two countries.

A Malaysian Response to “The Traffic in Meaning” by Claire Kramsch

1. Monolingualism is a handicap, but so is the assumption that one language 1⁄4 one culture 1⁄4 adherence to one cultural community. 2. Heritage language speakers are a resource, but the meanings their language conveys are not necessarily those conveyed in their country of origin. 3. Advanced language competence is a must, but “advanced language” understood not as “language for specific purposes” or as domain-specific; rather, as the advanced ability to translate, transpose and critically reflect on social, cultural and historical meanings conveyed by the grammar and lexicon. 4. We need linguistic pipelines, and especially a general effort to raise the level of critical language awareness in all subjects taught in schools, including foreign languages.