TY - JOUR T1 - THE MALAYSIAN EFL LANGUAGE PLANNING AND POLICY AND THE IMPACT ON EFL READING PROFICIENCY: A REVIEW AU - Sidek, Harison M. PY - 2017 DA - December DO - 10.18768/ijaedu.401163 JF - IJAEDU- International E-Journal of Advances in Education JO - IJAEDU PB - OCERINT International Organization Center of Academic Research WT - DergiPark SN - 2411-1821 SP - 716 EP - 723 VL - 3 IS - 9 LA - en AB - Within the Malaysian setting, the Englishlanguage is a foreign language that is widely used and has gained its status asa prominent linguistic liaison not only in the political, economic and socialdomains, but also within the educational context. Hailed as a lingua franca,the English language maintains its significance at the global level and due tosuch status; it has been made a mandatory subject at the elementary, secondaryand tertiary educational institutions in Malaysia. The purpose of this paper isto present the review of English as a foreign language (EFL) in terms of itshistorical path and its connection to EFL literacy issues within the Malaysianeducational context. The historical review of the Malaysian education withregards to EFL reveals that the mandatory inclusion of the English language inthe school and higher institutions’ curriculum could be traced back as alinguistic culturalization effect of the British colonization. The review alsoindicates that the pattern of inclusion of the EFL in the Malaysian educationalsystem seems to be developmental in nature but with some patterns ofconsistency at the initial stage of its inclusion. As with regards to the EFLliteracy issues, the review shows that the shifting from the English medium tothe Malay medium in Malaysian public schools could be inferred as one of thecauses of the emergence of issues in the EFL literacy amongst Malaysianlearners. 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