Language use and language shift among the Malays in Singapore (original) (raw)
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Asian Englishes, 2015
Fifty years on from independence, Singapore, who has long been a study for language policy and management, appears to be moving in a new direction. In this paper I offer an evaluation of the (re-)positioning of the various language varieties in Singapore’s multilingual ecology over the past five decades – including not only the official languages English and the three official ‘Mother Tongues’ Malay, Mandarin and Tamil, but also the other vernaculars, namely the Chinese ‘dialects’, the Non-Tamil Indian Languages (NTILs), and Singlish/ Singapore English. I first provide an overview of Singapore’s more well documented language policies and language management practices post-independence, highlighting how these policies led in the late 20th century to officially undesired outcomes and tensions. I go on to evaluate the apparent sea change that has occurred in the new millennium, leading up to and at the nation’s golden jubilee in 2015, whereby features of once-maligned vernaculars Singlish and the Chinese dialects are now styled as representing the Singapore identity. I end by discussing issues and challenges that need to be addressed in order for policy to remain relevant and effective in the future.
English as a ‘mother tongue’ in Singapore
World Englishes, 2014
This paper investigates the role of English and what it represents to speakers of the three major ethnic groups across three different age groups in Singapore. This paper reports a study conducted on 436 Singaporeans of different age and ethnic groups, looking at their language use and perceptions of English as a marker of their identity. The Singapore government has always been cautious about according the 'mother tongue' status to English. The latest 2010 census however reveals that over 30 per cent of Singaporeans report English to be the primary language used in the home, an increase from about 20 per cent in 2000. What remains unclear is the extent to which English has penetrated the psyche of the everyday Singaporean. The results in this study suggest that English in Singapore has to be reconceptualized as a new mother tongue, and to do so requires a reconfiguration of what it takes for a language to be a 'mother tongue.' This paper will take this on by adapting Skutnabb- and objections and definitions of the term, and propose a set of conditions that can be used to define the term mother tongue.
Studying the linguistic ecology of Singapore: A comparison of college and university students.
World Englishes, 2014
The focus of research on Singapore English has traditionally been on its structural features, while the relationship between English and other official languages of the Republic within the individual speaker has attracted much less interest, and comparatively little empirical data exist on the actual linguistic ecology of individual Singaporeans. The present study explores the results of detailed language background questionnaires eliciting the linguistic and sociological background of 300 Singaporean university and polytechnic students. The questionnaires assess not only how many languages a speaker is proficient in, but also when and how they acquired each language, and how often and in which contexts speakers make use of which language. In addition, the questionnaires elicit information on the attitudes that students hold towards their mother tongue, English, and Singlish.
An In-depth Study of the Role and Development of English in Singapore
盛岡大学紀要 第32 号 (The Journal of Morioka University, No. 32), 2015
This paper is about the usage of English in Singapore, a topic not familiar to those who do not know much about language use in Singapore. English is the main and first language in Singapore, and these terms will be more fully discussed in this paper. More than just the language used in Singapore, the first part of this paper explores the role English has in developing Singapore as a nation, and how it shapes the linguistic identity of the country. There will be a description of the brief history of the country, the development of English into a first language, and further on, how English evolved into Singapore English, a localized variety in its own right. The second part of this paper will discuss various terms and their differences, such as Singapore English and Singlish, and delve further into the development of the localized English variety in Singapore, arguments for and against it and its impact on society and the linguistic environment of Singapore.
Language shift, mother tongue, and identity in Singapore
International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2000
A review ofthe development of Singapore reveals that äs a result ofa host ofinteractingfactors, there has appeared an intricate pattern of Islands of people within the island-state, which are constantly realigning themselves. At a basic level, three major Islands, the Chinese, the Malays, and the Indians, wereformed based on ethnicity withfurther Islands formed within each based on the regional language spoken. Education further made the pattern of Islands even more intricate. In the early days of Singapore, education was offered in the regional languages, which reinforced the ethnolinguistic Islands. In addition to the regional language, the British colonial government introduced English-medium education, which resulted in the creation of a new, socially powerful island comprising those who had had English-medium education. With time, two major Islands stood out in clear Opposition, the English-educated forming the privileged group, and the Chinese-educated forming the disadvantaged group, resulting in political unrest. The Singapore government adopted the policy of unitary language-medium of education (English) to resolve Ms. However, with English becoming more popularly used, rather than being restricted to the privileged few, the language äs used by the mass took on a localflavoring, leading interestingly to yet further Islands in Singapore today. Those who can code-switch between the "uneducated" variety of English in Singapore (Singlish) and the educated or internationally accepted variety inhabit one island, while those whose repertoire is limited to only the uneducated variety inhabit yet another island.
Singaporean students' language repertoires and attitudes revisited.
World Englishes, 2018
Singapore has received a large amount of scholarly interest with regards to the structural and sociolinguistic properties of its local variety of English. In contrast, there is comparatively less empirical data on individual linguistic repertoires and usage patterns. Building on previous research into the linguistic and sociological background of young Singaporean adults, our study examines 450 students recruited from three distinct educational institutions: a university, polytechnics, and vocational training schools. A detailed language background questionnaire reveals the degree of multilingualism, patterns of language use, as well as language attitudes towards different languages. The data suggest that the notion of the typically multilingual Singaporean needs to be challenged: bilingualism and trilingualism are more widespread than more multilingual repertoires. Students also report generally positive attitudes towards both English and their mother tongue; attitudes towards the vernacular (Singlish) are also generally positive, as Singlish evidently continues to serve as an important marker of Singaporean identity. We find important differences between the three student cohorts examined here and are able to relate them to their social and ethnic backgrounds.
Ethnolinguistic vitality of the Malays of Singapore / Mohamed Pitchay Gani bin Mohamed Abdul Aziz
2014
This thesis describes the ethnolinguistic vitality of the indigenous Malays of Singapore forty-five years after Singapore’s separation from Malaysia. The study sets out to explore the vitality of the Malay language in Singapore and the factors that influence it. It also seeks to know whether the Malay language has really come to a deficit in Singapore, in terms of language use. The general literature on this subject shows that sociolinguistic researches in Singapore are more focused on socio-psychological framework, especially when dealing with the Malay language-use situation. Such approach lacks the sociological framework that together would provide a holistic look at the issue of language use. The need for sociological approach becomes more apparent with the Singapore government’s interventionist stance in language planning and demographic engineering, because sociological factors condition the individual’s socio-psychological and interactional climate, apart from playing decisiv...
Malaysia & Singapore: The Language Dilemma (A Synthesis of Malaysia and Singapore Language Policy)
Language planning influences how the language will be deliberately used, functioned and acquired by a local speech community where thoughtful consideration of the language image, learning opportunity, and social standing of the proposed language are required. The aim of this paper is to describe the language planning and language policies adopted by Malaysia and Singapore and what sociocultural factors had been taken into account in crafting the policies. The study provides an overview on the language planning process prior and after the independence of both countries, followed by the struggles to ensure the survival of the newly-embraced policy. In addition, the recent significant changes in the policies will also be discussed. The paper concludes that the language policy of Singapore was driven by the economic utility of the language, while Malaysia, at first, was based on the population identity preservation and cultivating nationalism among its citizens. However, Malaysia followed the footsteps of Singapore decades later.