Languages and Learning amongst Orang Asli Students in Malaysia

Abstract

This thesis reports a research project conducted with and for the Orang Asli (OA) of Malaysia by an OA researcher. The OA (literally means original people) are the Indigenous peoples of Peninsular Malaysia. Among many other struggles faced by the OA of Malaysia, two educational issues that have constantly been highlighted in the literature are the high dropout rates and the low educational attainment amongst OA students. Across the subjects, English language is one of the weakest areas of learning for the students despite the language being a key requirement to maximize employability in the local and global workforce. This highlights the complex multilingual challenge that many OA students a..