Keeping Kadazandusun and Iban alive for the next generation

UPSI lecturers Julita Norjietta Taisin and Saripah Anak Banseng are helping keep their mother tongues alive through teaching, research and everyday use.

But many are at risk of fading, with an estimated 65% of Sabah’s Dusunic community no longer speaking their mother tongue.

It might be surprising to learn that efforts to keep some of these languages alive are taking place in peninsular Malaysia. In 2010, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) in Tanjong Malim, Perak, became the first higher education institution in the country to offer tertiary programmes in Kadazandusun and Iban.

Julita Norjietta Taisin joined UPSI that year to teach Kadazandusun, her area of expertise. At the time, Kadazandusun and Iban were offered only as minor programmes under the department of Malay language and literature.

In 2024, UPSI introduced Semai and expanded all three into majors under its Bachelor of Education programme.

Some students are also pursuing master’s and PhD degrees, helping to build a wider pool of teachers and specialists in these languages.

Iban was officially introduced in primary schools in 1968 and secondary schools in 1988, while Kadazandusun followed via pilot projects in primary schools in 1997 and secondary schools in 2006.

Yet a major challenge remains: there is a critical shortage of qualified teachers formally trained to teach these languages.

“I’ve noticed that more and more young people no longer use Kadazandusun in their daily conversations,” said Julita, who hails from Tuaran, Sabah.

“The biggest challenge is not simply that young people do not want to learn – they need to have the opportunities and reasons to use the language.”

She also highlighted the need for more learning materials, applications, and creative digital and social media content in Kadazandusun.

“As the number of native speakers dwindles, not only is the language itself threatened: expressions, folklore, proverbs, traditional knowledge and cultural values are also at risk of being lost.

“If we lose our language, we lose our identity,” she said.

Beyond the classroom, Julita said UPSI’s Sabah Native Student Association organises annual activities that give Malay, Chinese and Indian students the opportunity to learn Kadazandusun.

A similar effort is under way with Iban. Saripah Anak Banseng has been a lecturer at UPSI since 2020, specialising in the language. She initially pursued science before changing paths and eventually earning a PhD focusing on her mother tongue.

“I’m from Sri Aman, Sarawak, and I grew up in a longhouse community living the Iban way of life,” she told FMT Lifestyle.

“When I was young, we had no electricity, and we had to walk for more than an hour to school and travel by boat to reach the town.”

Saripah said all UPSI students currently taking the language programme are native speakers, but factors such as mixed marriages and living away from Sarawak mean Iban is not always part of their everyday lives.

Around 35 students are enrolled in UPSI’s Iban major programme, while an estimated 100 took the minor programme between 2024 and 2026. There are also 11 master’s and three PhD students.

“A language cannot simply be documented in a museum,” she said. “Even in my classes, I remind students that language does not exist only on paper – we need to use it outside the classroom.

“Perhaps one day, Iban may even become a medium of instruction in peninsular Malaysia.”

Although she grew up speaking Iban, Saripah said further study opened her eyes to the language’s intricacies, structure and uniqueness – aspects she had previously understood only instinctively.

“At first we may see language simply as a tool to communicate, but when we study it deeply, we understand the world better,” she added.

Speaking a week before Malaysia Day, Julita reflected on what the occasion means to her as a Sabahan living in peninsular Malaysia.

“Malaysia Day reminds me of Sabah’s role and position in the formation of Malaysia. I will continue to be proud to carry my Sabah identity and culture with me wherever I go,” she said.

For Saripah, Malaysia Day carries an equally important reminder: that Malaysia’s diversity must be understood and appreciated beyond a single day of celebration.

“We always talk about harmony, but harmony doesn’t only happen when we get together to celebrate one day. It is also about understanding one another’s way of life, language, history and culture.”