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The Pulse of a Malaysian University discloses the research agendas of language scholars at a Southeast-Asian university, allowing western readers to gain deeper knowledge of an Asian perspective on language issues. In Part A, five authors address diverse ethnolinguistic/sociolinguistic issues such as the Minangkabau Pasambahan , media response to terrorism, negotiation discourse, bilingualism, and status of foreign languages. In Part B, four writers focus on the teaching of English in Malaysia with emphasis on grammar, reading, writing, and literature. Altogether, these essays feature important cultural and linguistic data revealing the range of insight and knowledge that Malaysian/Indonesian professionals possess on such issues.
List of contents
Contents: Kasih Media Sandra: The Oration of the Minangkabau Pasambahan : An Ethno-Linguistic Study - Tamam Ezhar: Responding to the Terrorism Threat: Coverage of the US-Led Anti-Terror Campaign in Pro-Government and Islamic-Based Opposition Newspapers in Malaysia - Shamala Paramasivam: Power and Politeness in Negotiation Discourse - Abdullah Ain Nadzimah: The Communicative Sensitivity of Bilingual Societies: Are Malaysia's Globalizing Tendencies Compatible with Her Multicultural Environment? - S. Abdullah Faiz: 'Foreign' Languages in the New Wor[l]d Order: Whither Linguistic Symbiosis? -Bee Eng Wong/Jan Choo Liu: The Acquisition of Gender, Number and Case in English Personal Pronouns -Talif Rosli/Abu Bakar Mohamed: Reading Attitude and University Students - A Pilot Study -Bee Hoon Tan: A Survey Study on Writing Needs and Writing Support at Universiti Putra Malaysia - Helen Tan/Swee Heng Chan: The Writing of Research Articles: How Do Native and Non-Native Writers Differ in the Use of Hedges? -Talif Rosli/Mohd. Jan Jariah: Gender in Literary Texts: How To Capture Its Symbolism.
Report
"This book provides an inside look at the intellectual fabric of an academic unit in a Malaysian university and in so doing makes a unique contribution to our understanding of higher education in the Asian context. The authors in this edited volume reflect the rich linguistic and ethnic diversity of the Malaysian nation and their intellectual diversity across a broad range of disciplines is particularly refreshing. I find this work highly enlightening...truly a magnificent contribution dedicated to those creating new paths in transnational higher education and research." (Robert D. Milk, Professor and Director, Division of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, The University of Texas at San Antonio)
"Rodolfo Jacobson's edited compilation of research conducted by Malaysian linguists at Universiti Putra, Malaysia brings little known but solid research to the attention of linguists in the west." (Maya Khemlani David, Professor of Sociolinguistics, University of Malaya)
