This paper discusses language education policies in Singapore from post-independence to the present and compares these with the shifts in the linguistic landscape of Singapore in the same period. English dominance leading to the endangerment and death of the nation’s indigenous languages is raised and the long-term socio-cultural consequences discussed.
The newly formed government when Singapore first gained independence in 1965 was deeply concerned about the issue of what language/languages were to be used by the multi-ethnic communities living in Singapore. The bilingual education policy in 1965 was an attempt to find a common language ethnically neutral (i.e. English) and to allow Singaporeans to learn their ascribed ethnic mother tongue so that they can remain culturally rooted i.e. Mandarin for the Chinese, Malay for the Malays and Tamil for the Indians. Inherent in this English-knowing bilingualism policy is the selection of just one standard language to represent the plethora of different indigenous languages spoken by the Chinese, Malays and Indians. The Speak Mandarin campaign in 1979 also clearly signalled Mandarin as the preferred standard language for both formal and informal purposes. Additionally, in 1987, English was designated as the medium of instruction (MoI) for all schools. English was selected as the path towards economic progress and educational access globally and deemed to be ethnically neutral against the backdrop of a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society. This paper compares the linguistic landscape of Singapore through the population census data from the earliest data available from 1957 to the present and discusses the shifts in the trends of most frequently spoken languages at home and the comparison of the use of English and other languages as the preferred home language in Singapore in an attempt to discuss the impact of the Language Education policies on Singapore's indigenous languages. It argues that there is a need a balance between English dominance and the ethnically ascribed mother tongues. The reality of the rising dominance of English leading to the endangerment and even death of languages not designated as one of the ethnically ascribed mother tongues is raised and the long-term socio-cultural consequences are discussed.
