Identity Negotiation in a Multilingual Context: Language Preference Among Malaysian Tamil Speakers
Abstract
The current generation of Malaysian Indians prioritise both spoken and written proficiency in English and Malay languages, while considering spoken proficiency in their heritage language, Tamil, to be sufficient. Such linguistic behaviour can be understood not merely as habitual language practice but as a deliberate performance through which individuals make conscious linguistic choices while interacting with others. This paper aims to examine how Malaysian Tamil-speaking young adults negotiate their identities through their language preferences and practices. Data collected through an online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews revealed a strong preference for other languages, particularly English, Malaya and Mandarin, in comparison with Tamil. The findings further indicate that Malaysian Tamil-speaking young adults strategically select and mix languages to fulfil specific social and personal purposes, with these linguistic choices reflecting an awareness and negotiation of individual identity. Viewed through the lens of the Identity Negotiation Theory (INT), these patterns demonstrate how language use contributes to the dynamic negotiation of identity in response to relational goals, communicative contexts and social expectations.
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