Language Maintenance and Shift Among the Syrian Community in Malaysia

This book investigates language choices in different domains among Syrian Arab Muslim families who came to Malaysia after war broke out in their country. It focuses on how Syrian Heritage Language (HL), Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), Classical Arabic (CA), and other languages that might be spoken by these families were maintained and/or shifted from the time these families came to Malaysia until the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most works on Syrian community in Malaysia are focused on social and humanitarian issues; none has explored how Syrians in Malaysia are managing their language use in connection with day-to-day communication and integration. As the Syrian community in Malaysia adapts by learning the host language, their mother language/s might experience a shift. The way the minority communities view their mother language by prioritizing or deprioritizing its use in the family milieu are factors that contribute to language maintenance and language shift (LMLS). As such, this book provides insights on how Syrian parents are managing their own and their children’s language/s, along with the language of the host country.