SEARCHING FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE ADVOCACY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MALAYSIAN EDUCATION BLUEPRINT
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55197/qjssh.v7si3.1450Keywords:
foreign language, education, Malaysian education, blueprintAbstract
Despite the high-profile 2025 government mandates to integrate new ASEAN languages such as Thai, Vietnamese, and Khmer into the national curriculum, the newly released Malaysian Education Blueprint (MEB) 2026-2035 presents a striking omission; foreign languages are virtually absent from the strategic framework. This research critically investigates the policy-practice gap that has emerged between political rhetoric and documented educational priorities. While 2025 was marked by significant hype regarding regional linguistic integration, the MEB 2026-2035 reveals a lack of concrete consideration for the institutional capacity required to sustain such expansion. Using a Critical Policy Analysis (CPA) approach and comparative analysis, this study examines the positioning of existing foreign languages such as Japanese, German, and French which have long struggled for structural support within the MEB 2013-2025 and MEB 2026-2035, tracing the trajectory of foreign language advocacy over two decades of reform. Preliminary findings suggest that the national system is already grappling with a "bilingual duopoly" (Bahasa Melayu and English) that crowds out other languages, leaving them without measurable proficiency goals, standardized output, or sufficient teacher training. The study argues that introducing new foreign languages without addressing the issues of current foreign language programs is a performative rather than a pedagogical move. By mapping the silences in the Malaysian Education Blueprint, this paper calls for a shift from symbolic announcements to actual policy advocacy.
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