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 such as law, finance, education, and business. The popularity of English in the country has also posed problems for the regional and traditional languages within the country. Indian languages, such as Hindi, are known and associated with tradition and are regarded as un-modern. At the national level, Hindi has the status of official language in India, and English is recognized as another official language for government work. Teaching English as a second or foreign language Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) refers to teaching the English language to students with different first languages. TEFL can occur either within the