THE CALA
The Annual Conference on Asian Linguistic Anthropology seeks to redefine the way we view Asian Language and Society. The CALA holds its annual conference in selected universities globally, and publishes its journal, the JALA, the Journal of Asian Linguistic Anthropology. The JALA is a quarterly, peer reviewed, free to publish, journal. The official partner for the CALA is Taylor and Francis Global Publishers, together with a global network of universities and academics.
CALA 2020 registrationAsmah Haji Omar
Professor Emeritus of the University of Malaya, where she has been Professor (Chair) of Malay Linguistics, Founder Dean of the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor. Instrumental in the implememtation of the National Language Policy at the UM, Asmah was responsible for the changeover to Malay as official and main language of the university.
ABOUT THIS SESSION
In this Part 1 CALA-only interview with the pioneer of modern Malaysian and modern Southeast Asian linguistic ideology, Asmah Haji Omar, she landscapes the beginnings of herself as the revolutionary scholar she was to become. Her early life included growing up in Malaysia as a British colony and as an independent state, and meeting resistance to her aspirations to become the pioneer of Southeast Asian language and society.