Malaysian language subject in primary and secondary schools. Article 152 of the Federation designates Malay as the official language. Between 1986 and 2007, the official term "Bahasa Malaysia" was replaced by ""Bahasa Melayu"". Today, to recognise that Malaysia is composed of many ethnic groups (and not only the ethnic Malays), the term "Bahasa Malaysia" has once again become the government's preferred designation for the ""Bahasa Kebangsaan"" (National Language) and the ""Bahasa Persatuan/Pemersatu"" (unifying language/lingua franca). The language is sometimes simply referred to as "BM" and often misnomered with the term "Bahasa". English continues, however, to be widely used in professional and commercial
Teaching English as a second or foreign language and ESL (English as a second language, a term typically used in English-speaking countries, and more often referring to the learning than the teaching). Teaching English as a second language (TESL) refers to teaching English to students whose first language is not English, usually offered in a region where English "is" the dominant language and natural English language immersion situations are apt to be "plentiful". The teaching profession has historically used different names for TEFL and TESL; however, the more generic term teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) is increasingly used to describe the profession. Both native speakers