Multilingualism and Language Policy in Singapore

Abstract

Over the past decades, the aim of language policies in Singapore has been to reduce language barriers and to promote better communication among the Chinese, Malay, and Indian communities as well as to prevent heritage erosion of these ethnic groups. This chapter examines the impact of these policies on the multilingual landscape of Singapore from the point of view of the individual, complemented by official statistical data. It argues that language policies had a deep impact on the linguistic texture of Singapore, with the city-state being in transition from a diverse multilingual society toward one characterized by individual bilingualism. Differences in home language use and observable language repertoires can be explained by factors such as ethnicity and social background. Colloquial Singapore English (CSE) (Singlish), a variety of English strongly characterized by influence from the local substrate languages, is gaining growing acceptance as a national solidarity code.

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