International students' linguistic awareness of Malaysian English and its impact on intercultural communication

International mobility has become the hallmark of the 21st century due to globalization. Along with this trend of globalization, a growing number of international students have crossed national boundaries in pursuit of educational experiences in other countries including Malaysia. Malaysia is one of the most attractive destinations for many international students such as Iranians, Arabs, Iraqis, Nigerians and Pakistanis. Many of these students face difficulties in coping with the different socio-cultural and linguistic contexts they are encountering. In particular, their perception of the language used as the main medium of communication in the host country affects the quality of their intercultural communication with the local community. Thus, the sociolinguistic awareness of linguistic diversity can be an important step in modifying discriminatory attitudes affecting intercultural accounts between speakers of different varieties. The present study seeks to investigate how Malaysian English is perceived by international students and the role it plays in their intercultural encounters with the locals. In addition it seeks to explore the impact Malaysian English (ME) has on intercultural communication between locals and international students. The preliminary data was obtained from two focus group discussions, which were then developed into a questionnaire survey that was answered by 372 international students studying at 2 public universities and 1 private university in Malaysia. Other methods of data collection included 19 autobiographies and 3 supplementary focus groups which were used to complement and triangulate the quantitative findings. The findings of the study reveal that the participants in this study have a moderate level of linguistic awareness of Malaysian English and a moderate level of communication effectiveness with Malaysians. The correlational analysis results demonstrates that there is a significant correlation between linguistic awareness and intercultural communication effectiveness, in which the respondents’ fields of study and length of stay in Malaysia were not identified as determining factors in this relationship. Moreover, the attitudinal test findings revealed that the respondents show the most positive attitudes towards Indian Malaysian speakers of English in terms of both English language proficiency and social attractiveness as opposed to Chinese Malaysian speakers of English, who received the most negative attitude for both features. The findings of the focus group discussions and autobiographies show that the respondents have the most difficulty understanding English spoken by Chinese Malaysians while Indian Malaysians are the easiest to understand. Therefore, the findings imply that the intelligibility of a language variety plays a crucial role in developing attitude towards both that particular variety and the speaker of the respective variety. The findings of the study can be used to design English programs with a focus on communication,intelligibility, mutual comprehensibility, and introduction to English language varieties for international students who leave their home countries where English is spoken as the second or foreign language in its own particular form.

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