Fostering integration through Malay literature teaching among the Malaysian secondary school students

Abstract

In the context of a multi-ethnic and multicultural country such as Malaysia, national integration is the fundamental pillar of the country’s harmony and stability. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate the extent to which the Malay Literature education enhances the integration among the students. On the basis of Weiner’s theory, the study employed the questionnaire survey method. The respondents consisted of 310 secondary school form two students in Kuala Lumpur. The findings show that the Malay Literature textbooks do not reflect the multi-ethnic society in Malaysia. Furthermore, the teachers were struggling to stimulate the interests among the students, and the interest of the latter to learn Malay literature was low. Inferential analysis indicated significant differences in unity literature education based on the ethnicities [F (2.307) = 34.573; p < 0.05] and SES [F (3.306) = 5.109; p < 0.05]. In conclusion, Malay literature education plays its unique role to instil the sentiment of unity among the students in the school setting. Therefore, teachers should come up with interesting teaching methods to cultivate students’ interest in learning the unity-themed literature and grant them a better understanding of other ethics in the effort to boost national integration.

Keywords: Malay language, Malay literature, national integration, unity literature.