THE FILIPINO LANGUAGE IN THE MALAYSIAN LINGUISTIC SPACE

This paper deals with the Filipino language as it is seen in the Malaysian perspective. It aims to present the status of the Filipino language in the linguistic space of Malaysia. Filipino, often called Tagalog by the Malaysians, share some linguistic commonalities with the Malay language being sisters in the Austronesian language family. The Filipino language appears in the mass media and at the academia of Malaysia. This paper further deals with the teaching of Filipino in Malaysia. This presents also the issues, problems, and challenges in teaching the language among the Malaysian students particularly at the premier university of Malaysia - the University of Malaya.