Singapore's language policy and its globalised concept of Bi(tri)lingualism

Abstract

This paper examines Singapore's bilingual policy, i.e. English and one other designated Mother Tongue,1 In the Singaporean context, English is used as the nation's first language. Its primary roles are to bridge the gaps between the diverse ethnic groups in Singapore and to tap into the world's commerce, technology and science. English is the language of instruction in all government schools. Singapore's students also learn a second language called their ‘Mother Tongue’ where they are taught an additional language – either Mandarin Chinese, Malay or Tamil. These ‘mother tongues’ are learned based on the belief that they will impart Asian cultures and values which are missing from the English language. The students will be assigned to a Mother Tongue primarily based on race. For example, all Chinese Singaporeans are taught Mandarin Chinese. its second language acquisition policy (i.e. Mother Tongue), and its ‘Speak Mandarin Campaign’. The bilingual policy has successfully transformed Singapore into an English-knowing country, and its ‘Speak Mandarin Campaign’ has effectively replaced the Chinese dialects with Mandarin (or English) at least among the younger members of the Chinese community in Singapore. Thus, language policy and planning in Singapore have played an important role in the country's education and in its socio-linguistic makeup, but more importantly, in its nation-building process. Although English was the country's colonial language, it was chosen as its lingua franca because of its importance as a communicative tool in world trade. While the government's deliberate interventions have succeeded, as evidenced in its high literacy rate, they have also created unplanned side effects, such as a decrease in the desire to learn the Mother Tongue languages. With globalisation, the rise of the economic importance of India and China and the freer movement of skilled individuals, the traditional concepts of individual bilingualism and societal multilingualism have had to change to include learning other languages and re-learning Mandarin. Thus, the government and the Ministry of Education have taken a prestige planning approach to the ‘Speak Mandarin Campaign’ and have introduced a series of changes to the educational second-language policy in an attempt to encourage Singaporeans to move beyond mother tongue bilingualism and to become trilingual instead.

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