Language policy and nationalist ideology: Statal narratives in Singapore

Abstract

In this paper, we aim to anticipate a potential challenge to Singapore's language policy, which privileges a distinction between Asian 'mother tongues' on the one hand and English on the other. The challenge to this policy will arise as Singapore embarks on a foreign talent policy, where the goal is to ultimately attract talented foreigners to take up Singaporean citizenship. This other policy, if successful, could drastically change the nation's demographics, making it difficult to maintain a language policy that dichotomizes Asian and Western languages. Because policies do not occur in isolation, but are legitimized by appeals to nationalist ideologies, we make use of a framework that treats such ideologies as institutional narratives. By paying attention to how the semiotic processes of iconization, recursiveness, and erasure are manifested in such narratives, we show how Singapore's language policy may have to change Ϫ and its accompanying narrative be modified Ϫ in the light of the foreign talent policy.

English as a ‘mother tongue’ in Singapore

“…Wee () for instance, suggests that the government needs to re‐evaluate its language policies to take into account its changing population profile, and the variety of linguistic experiences that the Singaporean population now has. Wee and Bokhorst‐Heng (: 176–177) suggest that the state can encourage Singaporeans to pick their designated mother tongues, but this has to be done ‘softly, via persuasion,’ though ultimately, Singaporeans should be able to ‘exercise their own choice in deciding what language they consider to be their mother tongue.’ I am not optimistic that the policies will change to accommodate the linguistic experiences of Singaporeans, let alone give autonomy and the freedom of choice to the people, even for something as personal as one's mother tongue. The history of language policy in Singapore does not inspire much confidence.…”

Between status and solidarity in Singapore

“…(1) Content analysis of the public treatment of the languages spoken. In Singapore, these have concentrated on government policies (Shepherd 2005; Schiffman 1995; Pennycook 1994; Bokhorst‐Heng 2005; Wee and Bokhorst‐Heng 2005; Wee 2005), the language used in the newspapers (Chng 2003; Bokhorst‐Heng 2002) and language debates in the newspapers (Rubdy 2001; Bokhorst‐Heng 2005). These studies generally harness public sentiments and evaluate them in the light of prevailing official educational policies.…”

Siblings' play and language shift to English in a Malay‐English bilingual family in Singapore

“…Since its independence in 1965, Singapore's language management has been enveloped by different narratives and ideologies (Wee & Bokhorst‐Heng, ). While the city‐state's English medium plus one mother tongue language policy has been praised for Singapore's successful racial harmonization, economic development and achieving a competitive edge in international markets (Bolton & Ng, ), the state's language management has been critiqued for the increasing use of English in the private spheres, such as within the family, and the concomitant language shift across all ethnic groups (Bokhorst‐Heng & Silver, ; Cavallaro & Ng, ; Low & Pakir, ; Tan, ).…”