Singapore in Malaysia: An Examination of Argument Structures in a Malaysian History Textbook
Main Article Content
Abstract
The article explores how the Malaysian Form 3 history textbook portrays Singapore's merger and separation. The portrayal can influence the perception of Singapore among Malaysians. Singapore was part of Malaysia for about two years (1963–1965) and its brief union represents a crucial historical episode. The episode is analysed using Toulmin's argument structures. The analysis identifies the claims, grounds and warrants for the arguments, and it also examines the use of lexicogrammatical and intertextual features. Certain arguments articulate the benefits of the merger and it is endorsed by foreign and local leaders, and the general population. Subsequently, other arguments articulate the threats which Singapore posed and its separation is made to seem inevitable. The textbook portrays Singapore as an enthusiastic partner and later a distrusted partner of the Malaysian Federal Government. Its arguments validate the state-sanctioned version of history. The article also provides four proposals to improve history textbooks.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Abdul Razaq Ahmad, Mohd Mahzan Awang, Ahmad Ali Seman and Ramle Abdullah. 2013. The skills of using history textbooks in secondary school. Asian Social Science 9(12): 229–236.
Barnard, C. 2003. Pearl Harbor in Japanese high school history textbooks. In Re/reading the past: Critical and functional perspectives on time and value, eds. J. Martin and R. Wodak, 247–271. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.8.14bar.
Carr, E. 1962. What is history? New York: Alfred Knopf. Channel News Asia. 2015. Singapore-Malaysia relations never better: PM Najib Razak. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-malaysia/1827498.html (accessed 27 February 2017).
Coffin, C. 1997. Construction and giving value to the past: An investigation into secondary school history. In Genre and institutions, eds. F. Christie and J. Martin, 196–230. London: Cassell.
Fairclough, N. 1992. Discourse and social change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Haydn, T., A. Stephen, J. Arthur and M. Hunt. 2015. Learning to teach history in the secondary school: A companion to school experience. 4th ed. London: Routledge. Iskandar Regional Development Authority. 2014. FAQ. http://www.iskandarmalaysia.com.my/faq (accessed 27 February 2017).
Kua, K. S. 2011. Patriots and pretenders. Petaling Jaya: SUARAM. Malaysian Insider. 2015. Rakyat Malaysia sanggup ambil risiko demi pendapatan lumayan di Singapura. http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/bahasa/article/rakyat-malaysia-sanggup-ambil-risiko-demi-pendapatan-lumayan-di-singapura (18 February 2016).
Ministry of Education Malaysia. 2013. Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013–2025. Putrajaya: Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia.
Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). 2015. MITI report 2014. Petaling Jaya: Ministry of International Trade and Industry Malaysia.
Moss, G. 2010. Textbook language, ideology and citizenship. Functions of language 17(1): 71–93. https://doi.org/10.1075/fol.17.1.03mos.
Nathan, K. 2002. Malaysia-Singapore relations: Retrospect and prospect. Contemporary Southeast Asia 24(2): 385–410. https://doi.org/10.1355/CS24-2I.
Oteíza, T. 2003. How contemporary history is presented in Chilean middle school textbooks. Discourse & Society 14(5): 639–660. https://doi.org/10.1177/09579265030145005.
Oteíza, T. and T. Pinto. 2008. Agency, responsibility and silence in the construction of contemporary history in Chile and Spain. Discourse & Society 19(3): 333–358. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926508088964.
Rajandran, K. 2013. Us and them: The portrayal of Malaysians and British in Malaysian history textbooks. Journal of African and Asian Studies 48(3): 313–331. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909612455473.
Sopiee, M. 2005. From Malayan Union to Singapore Separation. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press.
Stockwell, A., ed. 2004. Malaysia: British documents on the end of Empire. https://ia600505.us.archive.org/33/items/205722212TheMakingOfTheFederationOfMalaysia/205722212-The-Making-of-The-Federation-of-Malaysia.pdf (accessed 27 February 2017).
Tan, M. J. 2011. Singapore's role in Indonesia's confrontation of Malaysia and the impact of confrontation on Singapore-Indonesia relations. Singapore: National University of Singapore.
Tann, K. 2010. Imagining communities: A multifunctional approach to identity management in texts. In New discourse on language, eds. M. Bedranek and J. Martin, 164–194. London: Continuum.
Toulmin, S. 2003. The uses of argument (Updated ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
van Dijk, T. 2008. Discourse and power. New York: Macmillan.
Williams, J. 2014. Foreword to the series. In (Re)Constructing memory: School textbooks and the imagination of the nation, ed. J. Williams, vii–x. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Wodak, R. 2006. The discourse-historical approach. In Methods of critical discourse analysis, eds. R. Wodak and M. Meyer, 63–94. London: Sage.
Yoong, D., H. K. Tan and C. M. Ng. 2013. 'This is not gambling but gaming': Methods of promoting a lottery gaming company in a Malaysian daily. Discourse & Society 24(2): 229–247. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926512469433.
Žagar, I. 2010. Topoi in critical discourse analysis. Lodz Papers in Pragmatics 6(1): 3–27. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10016-010-0002-1.