Language and social capital in Singapore

Vaish, Viniti; Tan, Teck Kiang; Bokhorst–Heng, Wendy D.; Hogan, David; Kang, Trivina

doi:10.5790/hongkong/9789888028436.003.0007

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Some others touch on the issue, but not directly using the term mother tongue. Bokhorst-Heng et al (2010), for instance, look at English in Singapore in terms of linguistic ownership. To claim ownership of a language is to 'assert a specific relationship between the speaker of the language and the language itself' (Wee 2002: 283) to the degree that speakers 'project themselves as legitimate speakers with authority over the language' (Higgins: 2003: 615).…”

Section: 'Mother Tongues' In Singaporementioning

confidence: 99%

“…To claim ownership of a language is to 'assert a specific relationship between the speaker of the language and the language itself' (Wee 2002: 283) to the degree that speakers 'project themselves as legitimate speakers with authority over the language' (Higgins: 2003: 615). Using Higgins' (2003) model of linguistic ownership, which is based on grammatical and acceptability judgments, Bokhorst-Heng et al (2010) conclude that Singaporeans are legitimate owners of English as they can confidently make judgments on the correctness of grammatical sentences. What the authors have shown, in fact, is that Singaporeans have expertise in English, but say nothing about the speakers' identification to the language.…”

Section: 'Mother Tongues' In Singaporementioning

confidence: 99%

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English as a ‘mother tongue’ in Singapore

Tan

2014

World Englishes

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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‐Kangas and Phillipson's () and Rampton's () objections and definitions of the term, and propose a set of conditions that can be used to define the term mother tongue.

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Section: 'Mother Tongues' In Singaporementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: 'Mother Tongues' In Singaporementioning

confidence: 99%

English as a ‘mother tongue’ in Singapore

Tan

2014

World Englishes

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“…In view of that, private universities such as UniKL, the practical or instrumental nature of choosing English as the medium of instruction affirm that this choice of language is objective. These private universities firmly believe in the objective nature of this language in education policy and are convinced that mother tongue is not an appropriate medium of instruction (Gupta, 1997 in Vaish & Teck, 2008). Thus, bilingualism did not mean learning any two languages.…”

Section: Findings and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upholding the Malay Language and Strengthening the English Language Policy: An Education Reform

Yamat¹,

Umar²,

Mahmood³

2014

IES

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Today's global economy and dependency on technology has led to educational reforms in Malaysia, which includes language policies; namely the Upholding the Malay Language, and Strengthening the English Language (MBMMBI) policy. This policy underpins the project presented and discussed in this paper; on the development of a bilingual education and assessment framework for higher education providers (HEP). This paper discusses the analysis of documents on the language planning and its implementation policies at three HEPs; namely Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universtiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) and Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) as well as the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025. Findings of the comparative analysis indicate that each university interprets bilingual policy differently thus implement it differently which in return resulted in different language abilities among their graduates. This also implies the vital need for a clear framework on bilingual education as well as its assessment in order for the education reform to be successful in its aim to strengthen the English language competency and at the same time uphold the Malay language among its nation.

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“…The research question for SSS 2006 is: ‘Who speaks what language to whom in what context with what attitude with what level of fluency and to what end?’ Though the project has a quantitative and a qualitative phase, only the latter is described herein as this paper analyzes only qualitative results. The quantitative survey is described and its results analyzed in detail in Vaish (2007a; 2007b) and Vaish and Tan (2008).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the reviewers has rightly pointed out that in Singapore's Though the project has a quantitative and a qualitative phase, only the latter is described herein as this paper analyzes only qualitative results. The quantitative survey is described and its results analyzed in detail in Vaish (2007a;2007b) and Vaish and Tan (2008). Table 2 shows the specifics of the follow up studies in the qualitative phase of SSS 2006.…”

Section: The Singapore Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Crossing’ in Singapore

Vaish

Roslan²

2011

World Englishes

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This paper explores the way a group of pre-teens in Singapore use Malay, Chinese and English to perform identity. It is based on one case study of a Malay girl, Syafiqah, from a larger project called The Sociolinguistic Survey of Singapore 2006, and does not claim to be generalizable. The data are transcripts of recordings made on the speech patterns of Syafiqah in the domain of family and friends. Though Malay and Mandarin are out-group languages in the language ideology of Singapore, we find that among this group of friends, the Malay and Chinese pre-teens cross over into these languages to create solidarity between different ethnicities. They use Malay and Mandarin to perform and display identity. Patterns of exclusion in this group are based on personality and not ethnicity. Though a language of solidarity in Singapore's language ideology, these pre-teens perceive Standard English as an exclusionary language of status and accept Singlish as the language of solidarity.

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Language and social capital in Singapore

Cited by 16 publications

References 17 publications

English as a ‘mother tongue’ in Singapore

English as a ‘mother tongue’ in Singapore

Upholding the Malay Language and Strengthening the English Language Policy: An Education Reform

‘Crossing’ in Singapore

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