The second area of language planning is about the teaching of Chinese language，and both types of schools have implemented certain policies. In NTCSS， the Chinese subject is compulsory for all students. If the students cannot cope with the class， they have to transfer to other schools， which is not negotiable. In addition， NTCSS arrange more periods for Chinese than what is required by MOE. According to the survey conducted by the Council of SMJK Principles Malaysia in 2010， NTCSSs in Penang offer the most periods of Chinese class in Malaysia， which is between 6 and 7 periods per week （UCSTAM， 2010）. In Chung Ling SMJK， there are 7 periods for Chinese per week while Jit Sin SMJK offers 6 periods. As a matter of fact， MOE allocates teachers for the Chinese subject based on 3 periods per week only. The headmaster of Chung Ling SMJK gave the following explanation.
We are the only school which offers 7 periods of Chinese language in Malaysia. The Chinese teachers have to sacrifice a lot. They never complain. Theyre willing to sacrifice themselves for the Chinese education. They are really great! If we dont do anything to promote our Mandarin， our language will die. In our school， we put a lot of efforts into Mandarin. （Interview with the headmaster of Chung Ling SMJK）
The Chinese class in NTCSS is arranged in school hours as compared to national schools Many Chinese students enroll in national schools where Malay is the medium of instruction and Chinese is not a compulsory subject.. In national schools， Chinese will be offered when at least 15 students make their request and it will be put in afterschool hours. In NTCSS， in addition to Chinese lessons， many activities are organized by Chinese teachers to improve students language level and cultivate Chinese culture， such as Chinese composition competition， public speaking， debate， poem recitation， Chinese calligraphy， and so on. In the interview with the Chinese teacher （labeled as NTCSS T1 The label indicates that the interviewee is from the National type Chinese secondary school， Teacher 1.） in Chung Ling SMJK， mentioned the importance of Chinese teachers in NTCSS.
I think Chinese teachers play an important role in NTCSS， a different role from other teachers. If the students have any problems or want to discuss about something， they will look for Chinese teachers. （Interview with a teacher NTCSS T1）
The NTCSS in Penang has a strong language policy towards Mandarin in terms of taking public exams. All students must take the Chinese subject for their SPM exam （the Malaysian Certificate of Education for Form 5 students）. If the student refuses to take this subject for SPM， he or she has to transfer to other schools. This is in contrast with the situation in national secondary schools where the number of students taking the Chinese subject for SPM has dropped drastically （Tan & Santhiram， 2014）. It is estimated that more than 40% of Chinese primary school graduates choose not to take the Chinese subject at the secondary school level Oriental Daily， http:\/\/www.orientaldaily.com.my\/s\/128355， 25th Feb 2016. Retrieved on 1 Feb 2019. .
As for ICSS， the Chinese subject is also compulsory for all students and for the Unified Examination organized by Dongzong. In both Han Chiang High School and Jit Sin Independent High School， 6 periods of Chinese class are offered per week. In terms of teaching， ICSSs make use of Eclass to facilitate the learning of Chinese. For instance， in Han Chiang High School， Chinese teachers prepare complementary materials using multimedia and share them with students on the Eplatform. As private schools， ICSSs are more flexible in teachers recruitment. They may recruit teachers from China and other countries whereas NTCSSs can only rely on MOE in teachers recruitment. As explained by the headmistress of Han Chiang High School， ICSSs in Malaysia set their goals not locally but internationally， “Their （students） future aim for colleges is very big. They will go to the top international universities.” （interview with the headmistress of Han Chiang High School） With this vision， ICSSs also take in international students. In Han Chiang High School， there are about 200 students from China. Having teachers and students from China is an indirect language planning as the local students are exposed to a different Chinese variety and aware of the difference between Putonghua Putonghua refers to the standard Chinese language in mainland China. In Malaysia， the term Huayu is preferred to address the standard form of Chinese language. and Malaysian Mandarin.
5.2The management of Chinese identity
The Malaysian Chinese community is a unique minority group in terms of its population proportion and maintenance of identity and culture. According to the latest demographic statistics in 2017， Chinese represent 232% of the total population in Malaysia， which is about 6.65 million （Department of Statistics Malaysia， 2017）. With this large population and a strong system of Chinese education， Chinese Malaysians have maintained a solid Chinese identity. As reported by Wong and Tan （2017）， speaking Chinese is crucial for being Chinese in Malaysia. Language is truly an essential component for the Chinese identity. Adopting Marboobs （2015） framework on the management of language identity， both institutionalized and localized efforts to shape or direct Chinese identity will be discussed in this section. The institutionalized efforts in this context refer to the measures or attitudes by the schools to promote Chinese language or foster Chinese identity of the Chinese students. The individual sociocultural positioning is manifested in the perception of languages and identity by both teachers and students.
Both NTCSS and ICSS promote Mandarin as the symbol of Chinese identity and culture. As pointed out by the headmaster of Chung Ling SMJK， Mandarin is part of Chinese tradition and the transmission of language and culture to the next generation is very important for the group identity. In his view， the language policy for Mandarin in NTCSS is to safeguard the use of Mandarin among the students. During the interview， the headmaster mentioned that other groups will not help the Chinese. In the Malaysian context， “others” refer to other ethnic groups such as Malays and Indians. As a matter of fact， Chinese Malaysians are very conscious about the status of Chinese and concerned about their future. Myanmar and Indonesia are used as negative examples， where Chinese language has almost disappeared from mainstream education.
This （Mandarin） is our Chinese tradition. We， the Chinese schools， therefore， should maintain this tradition. We must encourage our students to use Mandarin， especially inside schools because we can only rely on ourselves. Others will not help us， only ourselves can. So we must encourage them （students）. For instance， we force them to take Chinese for exams. If you dont force them， I think many of them wont take it. By doing so， its for the sake of next generation. Otherwise， we will become Myanmar and Indonesia. （Interview with the headmaster of Chung Ling SMJK）
In the public discourse within the Chinese community， Mandarin is regarded as the mother tongue of ethnic Chinese in Malaysia， which is a different concept from the first language. For many Chinese Malaysians， Cantonese， Hokkien， Hakka or other Chinese dialects are still spoken as first languages. Mandarin is regarded as a lingua franca within the Chinese community and a symbol for ethnic identity. Their subethnic identities as Cantonese， Hokkien or Hakka have been gradually replaced by a Chinese identity （Tan， 1997）. ICSS carries the mission of transmission of mother tongue education. As advocated by the headmistress of Han Chiang High School， Mandarin is the root through which Chinese culture and value can be transmitted to the next generation. This view is also supported by teachers （cf. Interview with a Chinese teacher ICSS T1）. Chinese education， to a great extent， is not only an issue of individual schools， but also a fundamental issue for the whole Chinese community.
I think， as a Chinese and an educator， Mandarin is our mother tongue. We should master it and improve our Mandarin. We should not forget our root. Through Mandarin， we learn our culture， life， virtue and moral. （Interview with the headmistress of Han Chiang High School）
It （Mandarin） is our socalled mothertongue. As a Chinese， we need to learn it because it is a tool for us to transmit culture and thoughts. If we dont learn it， it will influence our offspring. So I think it is an important matter from the perspective of ethnic group. （Interview with ICSS T1）
At individual level， the students from both NTCSS and ICSS manifest a strong Chinese identity. In their perception， competency in Mandarin is essential for the Chinese identity. Without competence in Mandarin， a person is not a “pure” Chinese in the Malaysian context. This finding is supported by Wong and Tans （2017） survey， in which Chinese Malaysians gave the highest ratings to the perceived importance of Mandarin to being Chinese among Chinese Malaysians， Chinese Singaporeans， and mainland Chinese. If a person does not speak Mandarin， he or she will probably be marginalized by other Chinesespeaking peers （Lee， 2003）. That person， in the students views， does not respect tradition and “it is abnormal if a Chinese does not speak Mandarin” （interview with a student ICSS S1）. Furthermore， the students regard Mandarin as a tool for unification for the Chinese community. During the interviews， many students responded to the importance of Mandarin in a direct way， “We should pass on Mandarin to the next generation because we are Chinese”. This shows that the Chinese students regard the maintenance and transmission of Mandarin as their social responsibility. A new development in the identity with Mandarin is that the instrumental value of Mandarin is highlighted with the economic rise of China in recent years. As pointed out by one of the students under interview， speaking Mandarin means more choices and opportunities for the students as China has become a positive and strong factor. In other words， learning and speaking Mandarin has extra value in addition to its role as an identity marker.
We， the Chinese descendants （炎黃子孫）， must learn Mandarin. This is because it is a root for unification， the root for us Chinese. If a Chinese cant speak his mother tongue， can we call him Chinese？ Its like that the roots are cut off （斷了根）. （Interview with a student NTCSS S2）
In fact， because China is rising， speaking Mandarin will bring us more choices and more opportunities. （Interview with a student ICSS S1）
5.3The comparison between NTCSS and ICSS in terms of language and identity management
NTCSS and ICSS share some commonalities in the promotion of Mandarin on the school compound. Both types of schools put forward some positive measures to encourage the use and learning of Mandarin such as arranging more periods for this subject， organizing many students activities related to Chinese and Chinese culture， and making Chinese a compulsory subject for exams. It can be seen that both NTCSS and ICSS are determined to promote Chinese values， culture and philosophy （Siah et al., 2015）. During the interviews， we found that administrative staff， teachers， and students from both types of schools all hold a similar perception towards the importance and value of Mandarin to their Chinese identity. They all agree that speaking Mandarin is essential for being Chinese. In the Malaysian context， Chinese schools are regarded as the bastion for upholding mother tongue education and Chinese educationalists are the defenders of Chinese identity （Collins， 2006）. A common view of the relationship between language， identity and education in Malaysian Chinese community is that Mandarin is the core of Chinese identity and Chinese schools transmit Mandarin and Chinese culture; therefore， Chinese schools are essential for the maintenance of Mandarin and Chinese identity.
The differences between the two types of schools in terms of language and identity management result from their different status in the education system. NTCSS is part of the national education system. Therefore， NTCSS has to obey national education regulations and follow the guidelines given by MOE. The most salient feature of NTCSS is that Malay is the main MOI， which a symbol of national identity. Regulated by MOE， all minutes of administrative meetings in NTCSS must be recorded in Malay. The subject of Malay language must be a pass for SPM. With regards to Chinese language， NTCSS cannot recruit teachers on their own. All teaching staff is assigned by MOE. The most NTCSS can do is to increase the teaching hours of Chinese language. However， the MOE does not supply extra manpower for the exceeding hours. This means the Chinese teachers have to teach more hours than prescribed and they are willing to do so. In contrast， ICSS is not part of national system and not funded by the government. Therefore， they have certain extent of freedom in teacher recruitment and textbook compilation. For instance， ICSS may hire foreign teachers from China or Britain to teach Chinese or English subjects. They also have international students such as Chinese， Koreans， Indonesians， and Japanese. To some extent， ICSS is more international compared to NTCSS. As mentioned in the previous section， a great number of ICSS graduates further their studies abroad. All ICSSs are administered by Dongzong， which is a strong supporter and defender of Chinese language and identity. The students of ICSS are exposed to the history of Chinese education and stories of Chinese educationalists during their school days. During our interviews with the students， all of them are proud of being Chinese and being able to speak Mandarin.
6. Discussion
The results of the current study show that there is a strong association between Mandarin and Chinese identity in both NTCSS and ICSS， which is consistent with previous studies. These Chinese schools have implemented various language planning measures towards Mandarin as a way to strengthen the students Chinese identity. In Marboobs （2015） framework of identity management， the groups identity can be either conforming or contesting the social norms. In the Malaysian context， the management of Chinese identity in Chinese schools actually reflects the norms within the Chinese community， which is unity in diversity Diversity in the Malaysian context is manifested at both community level and national level. Within the Chinese community， there are various Chinese dialect groups such as Cantonese， Hokkien， and Hakka with different dialect background. At the national level， several language varieties are spoken by different ethnic groups such as Malay， Chinese， and Tamil. . First of all， Chinese Malaysians manifest a strong Chinese identity with Mandarin as its symbol. Many interviewees in this study regard Mandarin as a unifying tool for the Chinese community. As one teacher told us， “I think it is an important subject from the perspective of ethnic group”. The language matter in Malaysia is never a personal issue but a social or political issue. Under certain circumstances， it can be very sensitive as it is closely associated with education and the maintenance of Chinese education is crucial for Chinese Malaysians. In fact， ICSS has been the output of resisting the conversion policy by the government in the 1960s in order to safeguard the Chinese education. The Chinese educationalists even proposed to establish a Chinese university in Malaysia in the 1970s （Tan & Santhiram， 2014）. More recently， Chinese schools declined the policy of teaching math and science in English （20032012） advocated by the government and made a compromise that both Chinese and English should be used for these two subjects before it was terminated （Gill， 2005; Wang & Soon， 2014）. This is out of the consideration that the nature of Chinese schools might be changed if the MOI is changed. To some extent， the maintenance of Mandarin is for the sake of the whole Chinese community. Based on the studies on the linguistic situation of Chinese community， Mandarin has actually become the lingua franca across various dialect groups （Wang， 2010）. Chinese Malaysians identify with Mandarin as a tool for wider communication and ethnic identity. Therefore， the management of Chinese identity through the planning of Mandarin in Chinese schools has actually conformed to the real situation within the Chinese community， which is the microlevel of identity management in Marboobs （2015） framework.
Secondly， the multilingual reality in Chinese schools is not fully conforming to the monolingual policy advocated by the government at the macrolevel of identity management （Marboob, 2015）. Unique to both ICSS and NTCSS， they find ways of promoting three languages （Chinese， English and Malay） with a certain degree of tolerance from the government and support from the Chinese community. After the Language Act was passed in 1967， Malay became the sole official and national language in Malaysia. A Malaycentered language policy was implemented in various social sectors since then. As mentioned above， many nonMalay schools were converted to Malaymedium schools in order to receive subsidies from the government. ICSS survived by accepting donations and support from the Chinese community. NTCSS accepted the offer under the condition that the subject of Chinese must be allocated more teaching hours in the school syllabus. Currently， ICSS emphasizes the teaching of Chinese and English as they target international universities. Many ICSSs set up English centers to improve the teaching of English. They even recruit English nativespeakers as teachers from abroad. In NTCSS， they also highlight the teaching of English by continuing to use English to teach math and science subjects. Some schools provide extra English curricula such as Cambridge English. The difference between NTCSS and ICSS is that the former has a solid foundation for the Malay language as many subjects are taught in Malay. In other words， Chinese schools， whether ICSS or NTCSS， cater for the needs of Chinese Malaysians: Chinese as an ethnic identity marker， English for instrumental use， and Malay for national identity The rise of China means the opportunities for Chinese Malaysians? http:\/\/www.orientaldaily.com.my\/s\/60059. 6th January， 2015. Retrieved on 1 Feb 2019..
As Tan （1997） pointed out， all Malaysians are expected to have a clearcut ethnic identity， either as a Malay， or an Indian， or a Chinese. A Malaysian may identify with their Malaysian identity. At the same time， they need to be associated with an ethnic identity as Malaysia is a society with strong ethnic identification （Tan， 1997）. The other characteristics of Chinese Malaysians is that Chinese identity is not bounded by territories but transnational. The Chinese identity or the generalized panChinese identity regardless of dialect groups （Tan， 1997） is extensively accepted by Chinese Malaysians， which is realized through the use of Mandarin. Chinese Malaysians may associate with other Chinese nationals with their unbounded Chinese identity. In a similar vein， the management of Chinese identity through Mandarin in Chinese schools is to connect with the rest of the Chinese world. The internationalization of Mandarin or the spread of Mandarin worldwide has facilitated the teaching and learning of Mandarin in Malaysia， which has strengthened the motivation of learning Mandarin for its instrumental value in addition to its affective value. The rise of China seems to not only provide more economic opportunities to Chinese Malaysians but also bring more confidence in learning Mandarin and maintaining Chinese schools.
In the light of language management， the results of this study indicate that there is a high degree of consistency among the three components of the framework—language practice， language management and language beliefs in Mandarin for both ICSS and NTCSS （Spolsky， 2009）. Although the main teaching medium in these two types of schools is different， Malay for NTCSS and Mandarin for ICSS， there is no difference in their beliefs about Mandarin and Chinese culture by administrative personnel， teachers and students. As Spolsky （2009） points out， language belief will further impact on language practices and language management in the society. The education domain is no exception to such connection between language beliefs and language practices. As we reported elsewhere （Wang， Soon & Thock， 2015）， the NTCSS in Penang advocate a stronger language policy on Mandarin compared to other places in Malaysia due to historical reasons. As for ICSS， the situation in Penang is almost the same as elsewhere in Malaysia， aiming at maintaining Mandarin as the main medium of instruction and the root of Chinese culture.
7. Conclusion
This paper has discussed the management of Chinese identity through the use of Mandarin in two types of Chinese schools in Malaysia based on the interviews with different groups of stakeholders. It can be concluded that the Chinese identity is strengthened through various measures of language planning in these schools. School management team， teachers and students share similar views and perception towards the value and status of Mandarin as the core component of Chinese identity locally and internationally. The difference between the two types of schools in terms of language management results from their different status in the educational system.
The emphasis of Chinese identity in Chinese schools is echoing the situation of the Chinese community. Among the multiple identities of Chinese Malaysians， the Chinese identity is most salient as ethnic identity in Malaysia is very sensitive and strong. The multilingual policy in Chinese schools reflects the linguistic performance and needs of Chinese Malaysians. However， to some extent， as the national language policy is not promoting multilingualism actively， Chinese schools have to depend on themselves to solve manpower problems and even financial issues. Nevertheless， Chinese Malaysians still manifest a strong national identity in addition to their Chinese identity.
The Chinese schools in Malaysia provide a useful perspective for the analysis of the relationship between language， identity， and education. Whether part of the national education system or not， these Chinese schools play a similar role in maintaining Chinese language and identity. NTCSS， financially supported by the Malaysian government， make use of their Chinese tradition and special status as nationaltype schools and find a balance between maintaining the Chinese characteristics and conforming to the national ideology. Unfortunately， the number of NTCSS in Malaysia is only 78 nationwide which cannot be increased and the places in these schools are limited （Tan & Santhiram， 2010）. Otherwise， it is an ideal model for Chinese Malaysians to integrate into the national education system while retaining Chinese language and identity. ICSS， as selffinanced Chinese schools， are determined to develop students Chinese language and culture. Although there is no evidence to show that students in ICSS have stronger Chinese identity than their counterpart in NTCSS， they do receive more exposure to Mandarin and Chinese culture in their school life. The number of ICSS （N=61） in Malaysia is even smaller than NTCSS and it is not allowed to build new ICSS. Although ICSS and NTCSS are not the mainstream schools in Malaysia， they are significantly important in maintaining Chinese language and culture and fostering students Chinese identity， which are for sure a valuable asset for Malaysia.
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