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This article explores religious impact on language maintenance and language shift in two Hakka communities in Malaysia. While research has shown a trend towards language shift in these communities, whether religious institutions can play a role in heritage language maintenance remained unclear. The key findings are as follows: (i) language use patterns differ among various religious groups; (ii) this difference is due mainly to religious practices, that is, whether a heritage language is used as the ‘language of religion’; and (iii) most religious institutions, except Taoist temples and Basel churches, seem to fuel shifting. However, the tendency to move towards the ‘bi-language of religion’ threatens even the efforts of Basel churches. The study indicates interesting possibilities regarding religious impact but also shows, paradoxically, that the priority of Hakka-based religious institutions is to promote their religions, not to sustain the threatened heritage language. (Language maintenance, language shift, religious impact, Hakka Chinese community)*

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Language problems and language barriers are challenges facing not only immigrants but also minorities and people in rural/semirural areas. This study examines individuals’ bi- and multilingual repertoires, language practices and attitudes in a Hokkien-speaking community in Kangar, a semirural town of northern Malaysia bordering Thailand. Through questionnaire surveys and interviews, we investigate how these notions can be used as a means to understand/reflect bilingualism and multilingualism and, more importantly, the potential disparity between what people want to do/say and what people eventually manage to do/say. While there is a shift in language practice from a local- and ancestral origin-induced pattern towards a more “global” and “pan-Chinese” paradigm, the findings also reveal the linguistic “dislocations” of the Hokkien-speaking community across ALL generations regardless of ethnicity. The language issues in the community reflect—and are likely to be reflections of—society at large. The vast contrast between individual/societal linguistic aspirations and the actual linguistic repertoire/communicative competence among the locals indicates the need to redress an absence of major efforts to close urban-rural/city-town/dominant-dominated social divides across the (language) education landscape at the national level.

Aims and objectives: In the context of the complicated minority–majority language reality in Malaysia, this study seeks to address the issue of heritage language (HL) vitality among multilingual Hakka families in East Malaysia. It draws attention to powerful/dominant language(s) and to the idea that marginalization could be an important factor in language vitality. Design/methodology: The study was conducted through semistructured interviews with 52 Hakka families from 2 selected Hakka communities (Bau and Menggatal) in East Malaysia. Data and analysis: This study adopted the family language policy (FLP) approach and the frame analysis perspectives. Based on the data collected through interviews, three frames were developed, that is, the frames of choice/choiceless, security/insecurity, and power/powerless. Findings/conclusion: Families may not always have a ‘genuine choice’ or agency without ‘impositions’ in deciding the family language(s) and the language(s) that they wish to preserve and transmit due to their socioeconomic ‘needs’. Choiceless-, insecurity-, and powerlessness-focused frames reveal the deeper struggles and challenges that surface in the Hakkas’ attempts to comply with and negotiate in relation to dominant discourses in a wider multilingual context that, paradoxically, does not truly embrace small languages and multilingualism. Originality: By drawing attention to a very different perspective, that is, the role of marginalization in HL vitality, this study shows how and why the marginalization of HL matters in influencing FLPs and the maintenance or shift of HLs. Significance/implications: The theoretical development of language vitality or shift is worth reconsidering given that existing theories or models may not be well suited to lesser-known cultures and small languages. This study thus enriches the compatibility of existing theories with less-studied communities.

Educational practitioners in the higher education institutions of the UK have increasingly promoted the use of wikis. The technology enhanced learning experience of the UK was transferred to a local higher educational agency in Malaysia through a collaborative research project called WiLearn. By examining a student cohort enrolled in Chinese language studies, WiLearn explores the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and the Zone of Distal Development (ZDD) with regard to the use of wikis in peer reviewed group coursework. With the goal of informing higher education researchers and practitioners, the problematic use of wikis was discussed according to the following three dimensions: (a) the process of group work; (b) social presence; and (c) the outcome of group work. The findings reveal that more critical reflection is evident when retrieving peers' comments through WiLearn, but less critical discourse is evident among the participants. The difference between the ZPD and the ZDD lies not in the functional use of wikis but in the degree of openness and social presence of the students from Chinese language studies. A pedagogical change in critical peer review and discourse regarding the use of wikis is suggested. This paper concludes with constructive and disruptive lessons that were learned through a series of insights that provide a greater understanding of the challenges and opportunities with regard to learning and teaching with wikis for Chinese language studies.

Theoretical claims about the benefits of online feedback suggest it can facilitate language learning. However, despite the calls for new digital literacies on language education, attitudes of educators have not been encouraging. To delve further into this issue, the present study addresses the following research concerns: (1) learners' metaphoric perceptions of online feedback, (2) how metaphoric perceptions show the impact of online feedback on language learning, and (3) the messages educators can glean through these metaphoric perceptions. A subsequent question would be what new insights we can gain by asking students to reflect on online feedback via metaphors not unearthed by previous research using more traditional means. We argue that different methods should be used based on student differences and the contextual realities of the learning setting. Participants are introverted Chinese novice learners who are not accustomed to technology-enhanced teaching/learning and are restrained in the open expression of their feelings and thoughts. Given participants' backgrounds, the use of metaphors enables them to express their reflective thinking in a more profound manner. Therefore, the findings of the present study, i.e., learners' metaphoric thoughts, are considered timely and can be used in academic training to address the necessity of applying different approaches to different types of students. They can also showcase the impact of online feedback on introverted learners. Together, these findings can encourage educators to consider changing their attitudes regarding educational technology.