Language Planning in Malang Da Malang Da is a multi-cultural country. Six major languages are using in this country among different groups. These languages are Akang, Dazakh, Pulao, Lua, Kaw, and French. In 2013, Malang Da receives its independence from France after many years of colonial governance. The government’s Language Planning Commission is seeking new national language and official language for Malang Da. Language Planning Commission should adopt Dazakh as the national language and French as its official language. In this paper, I will provide reasons and examples to prove why this should be the best plan for Malang Da. A national language is a language that has some connection with the people and their country. A national language instance represent the national identity of a country. National language also has some goals. First of all, it has the unifying function. It offers equal opportunities for civics in the same country. Secondly, national language has separatist function. This function affords the country its own identity, so that others know it is an independent country. Thirdly, it has the prestige function. By speaking the national language, civics feel provide and prestigious about their country and culture. Last but not least, national language has the function as a standard. It set rules for the written form, grammar, dictionary and other related matters to make the national language as a standard language. An official language has pragmatic or utilitarian role. It designed for use in certain areas of life. Official language domain restriction education, law, government and business. Malang Da should adopt Dazakh as its national language. The way I analysis this problem is that I use method of exclusion. Instead of proving which one is the best choice for the national language, I will explain why some languages are not qualified as the national language.
First of all, Language Planning Commission cannot set French as its national language because Malang Da was under France’s control for several decades. If adopted French as national language, it will lose the national language’s four functions. Malang Da wants to have their own identity and prestige as an independent country. It also wants to gain acceptance from other countries. However, French are mostly used in the daily life of Malang Da civics. Half of newspaper and broadcast media are in French. All ethnic groups’ local administrators and most city-dwellers speak some French. Therefore, French would be a good choice for official language.
Secondly, Kaw is not good choices for national language. Although a lot of highly educated population speak Kaw and it is widely used in medicine, business, industry and government in Malang Da, Kaw is close to Vietnamese no meter speaking or written form. If set Kaw as the national language, it will lose the function of separatist, and people may think Malang Da has some relationship with Vietnam. Another important factor we should avoid to use Kaw as national language is that Lua and Pulao speakers are highly suspicious that Kaw has the de facto control of the country. If we adopted Kaw, it may increase the anger of Lua and Pulao speakers.
Thirdly, Lua cannot be set as the national language. Lua speakers migrate from Hainan Island, and Lua is one form of the Min dialect of Chinese and written form is in Chinese characters. It has the same problem as Kaw that may lose separatist function. Another important factor that Lua cannot be a national language is because many bloody skirmishes have happened between Dazakh and Lua speakers. Both of Dazakh and Lua speakers take 12% of the whole population, but Akang which has 30% of all population that is closely-related to Dazakh. Therefore, if adopted Lua as the national language, 12% of the population will be dissatisfied definitely, and other 30% of population may have negative attitude for the action.
Fourthly, Pulao could be a good candidate because 35% of population speak this language, and Pulao is related to Austronesian. However, these speakers are identified as quick anger, stupid, uncultured, and have recognized as alien races with original groups in Malang Da. On the other hand, these speakers have lower education and do lower level job. Pulao does not have prestige function. If we forced other 65% of population to speak Pulao, they may feel disgrace and shame. Therefore, Pulao cannot be the national language for Malang Da.
Fifthly, Akang is also a good choice for national language because of the large number of speakers and it is the local language that has little cultural influence the country. However, the most of speakers are farmers and craftsmen whom identified as physical labors. Other civics may not respect Akang speakers as well as other people who have higher social level. Prestige function cannot be realized. People from the upper class may not speak this language if they do not have to. If the Akang is forced to speak by all civics, someone may deny.
Lastly but most importantly, we should set Dazakh as the national language. Dazakh region has an identity of independence among all civics. Dazakh speakers take 12% of all national population and 85% of them are elite army who defend the country on the northern western border where next to China. The elite army is a very important force to protect the country's sovereignty. This fits prestige function. Even though Lua speaker may not agree with this because the conflict between two groups, Lua speaker have to yield to the strong army. Force is not a good solution to all problems, but a country must have a strong measure for special issues. Furthermore, Dazakh is closely-related to Dazakh, so it will be easier for Akang speakers to learn Dazakh. Dazakh also has a written form and its poems are regarded as the literature of Malang Da, so it is easier than other language to achieve standard function. Dazakh is a local language and its culture influence the country a lot, so it has the identity of Malang Da.
By comparing these six languages, we can find that Dazakh is the best choice for Malang Da’s national language, and French would be a good official language since French is a lingua franca. Because of Dazakh is not known by majority of civics, or it is not mutually intelligible with other languages, it is very important to set French as the official language at the same time. In this way, French could unify the language using through the country in the short term. However, we also need to take measures to promote Dazakh, or French will take place of Dazakh in the long run. In generally, Language Planning Commission should prepare a codification for Dazakh. Dazakh has its written form, but is not standardized. In order to promote Dazakh, the first step is to set standard grammar, dictionaries and written script. It will help to develop a standard written norm. Lexical expansion is also very important. It develops vocabulary for use in all domains, such as law, education and so on.
Next step is to implementation spread the new national language. Language Planning Commission should propagandize Dazakh in the public through media and newspaper. Media should decrease the usage of French in newspapers and broadcast media, but increase using of Dazakh step by step. French is like a bridge for civics to accept and learn Dazakh. If media stop using French but Dazakh immediately, most of people will not understand it. It is also a good idea to have bilingual newspaper and media program for people to learn the new national language. Malang Da government should spread Dazakh throughout the population as much as possible. Government could offer financial or other rewards to employees to encourage them to use more national language at work place. Government could also find some prestigious people or super star to persuade people to speak Dazakh, so that people would feel prestigious when they speak Dazakh. On the other hand, government could also use negative method to prevent usage of other language. For example, government could introduce punishment for those who fail to use Dazakh in working place, schools and government office. Public education is also a very effective way to teach a national language to younger generation. When these young people become adults, they may continually use Dazakh.
The last step is to win acceptance. Government should encourage people to take pride in the new nation language and view it as prestigious. Government should depends on their real national situation and people’s attitude to choose from positive or negative strategies to promote Dazakh. For a succeed spread of a new national language, civics must be willing to accept and intend to speak it.
To sum it up, Malang Da should adopt Dazakh as the national language because it fits the most of pragmatic goal of a national language. At the same time, French should be used as the official language since most the population understand and use it. French is a very good transition for other people who do not know Dazakh. It helps people to learn and use Dazakh step by step. The government should base on the real national situation and condition to set spread and promotion strategies to make it succeed.