Malay Values in Intercultural Communication

Numerous studies on culture have long been conducted around the world. Yet, this area of research remains as an attraction to many scholars until today. This is true for a multicultural country like Malaysia. With its diverse ethnic groups, Malaysia provides a fertile ground for studies on various aspects of culture. This study examines the occurrence of Malay cultural values (referred henceforth as Malay values) in intercultural communication that was investigated in one public university in Malaysia. The respondents consisted five Malay candidates and two interviewers; one of them was an Indian while the other was a Malay. The data collection procedures involved observing five interview sessions which were conducted in English. These sessions were recorded on audio and video before the linguistic exchanges were transcribed. Referring to some cultural values highlighted in the literature of the Malays, the researchers identified the occurrences of these values in the observed interactions. The findings revealed that Malay values were not displayed exclusively by the Malays but were prevalent in the language use of the Indian interviewer. The paper ends with some discussions on the implications of the research findings.

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