Language Policy In Singapore
   HOME
*





Language Policy In Singapore
In Singapore, language planning is associated with government planning. In this top-down approach, the government influences the acquisition of languages and their respective functions within the speech community through the education system.Kaplan B., Robert, and Richard B. Baldauf Jr. ''Language Planning from Practice to Theory.'' Clevedon: Multilingual Matters ltd., 1997 Language planning aims to facilitate effective communication within the speech community, which can result in a language shift or language assimilation.Cobarrubias, Juan. "Ethical Issues in Status Planning." ''Progress in Language Planning: International Perspectives''. Eds. Juan Cobarrubias and Joshua Fishman. New York: Mouton Publishers, 1983 The goals of language planning are very much dependent on the political and social forces present in Singapore during two distinct periods: Colonisation by the British and the Post-Independence period after 1965. Background Singapore is a linguistically and ethnical ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Language Planning
In sociolinguistics, language planning (also known as language engineering) is a deliberate effort to influence the function, structure or acquisition of languages or language varieties within a speech community.Kaplan B., Robert, and Richard B. Baldauf Jr. ''Language Planning from Practice to Theory.'' Clevedon: Multilingual Matters ltd., 1997 Robert L. Cooper (1989) defines language planning as "the activity of preparing a normative orthography, grammar, and dictionary for the guidance of writers and speakers in a non-homogeneous speech community" (p. 8). Along with language ideology and language practices, language planning is part of language policya typology drawn from Bernard Spolsky's theory of language policy. According to Spolsky, language management is a more precise term than language planning. Language management is defined as "the explicit and observable effort by someone or some group that has or claims authority over the participants in the domain to modify their ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Bilingual
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all Europeans claim to speak at least one language other than their mother tongue; but many read and write in one language. Multilingualism is advantageous for people wanting to participate in trade, globalization and cultural openness. Owing to the ease of access to information facilitated by the Internet, individuals' exposure to multiple languages has become increasingly possible. People who speak several languages are also called polyglots. Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the so-called first language (L1). The first language (sometimes also referred to as the mother tongue) is usually acquired without formal education, by mechanisms about which scholars disagree. Children acquirin ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Varieties Of Chinese
Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of mainland China. The varieties are typically classified into several groups: Mandarin, Wu, Min, Xiang, Gan, Hakka and Yue, though some varieties remain unclassified. These groups are neither clades nor individual languages defined by mutual intelligibility, but reflect common phonological developments from Middle Chinese. Chinese varieties differ most in their phonology, and to a lesser extent in vocabulary and syntax. Southern varieties tend to have fewer initial consonants than northern and central varieties, but more often preserve the Middle Chinese final consonants. All have phonemic tones, with northern varieties tending to have fewer distinctions than southern ones. Many have tone sandhi, with the most complex patterns in the coastal ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Chinese Singaporean
Chinese Singaporeans () are Singaporeans of Chinese descent. Chinese Singaporeans constitute 75.9% of the Singaporean citizen population according to the official census, making them the largest ethnic group among them. As early as the 10th century, there was evidence of Chinese people trading and settling in Singapore and there were also various Chinese records documenting trading activities and Chinese residents on the island from the 10th to the 14th century. Prior to the establishment of Singapore as a British trading port, there was a small population of 120 Malays who were the followers of Temenggong Abdul Rahman, and about 20–30 Chinese living on the island. After Singapore became a British colony, there was an influx of Chinese migrant workers, but these early Chinese migrants to Singapore were predominantly males, as they would usually return to their families in China after they have earned enough. There was only a significant number of Chinese residents permane ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Varieties Of Chinese
Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of mainland China. The varieties are typically classified into several groups: Mandarin, Wu, Min, Xiang, Gan, Hakka and Yue, though some varieties remain unclassified. These groups are neither clades nor individual languages defined by mutual intelligibility, but reflect common phonological developments from Middle Chinese. Chinese varieties differ most in their phonology, and to a lesser extent in vocabulary and syntax. Southern varieties tend to have fewer initial consonants than northern and central varieties, but more often preserve the Middle Chinese final consonants. All have phonemic tones, with northern varieties tending to have fewer distinctions than southern ones. Many have tone sandhi, with the most complex patterns in the coastal ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Media Development Authority
The Media Development Authority (abbreviation: MDA) was a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). History MDA was formed on 1 January 2003 by the merger of Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA), the Films and Publications Department (FPD) and the Singapore Film Commission (SFC), in response to a national call to develop a globally competitive media industry in Singapore. An industry blueprint called Media 21 was also drawn up and eventually endorsed by the 2002 Economic Review Committee (chaired by then Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong) – as part of the Creative Industries Development Strategy to propel the growth of Singapore’s creative economy. On 18 January 2016, Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) announced that the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and MDA will be restructured into two new entities: The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Government Tec ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online news coverage. The service maintains 50 foreign news bureaus with more than 250 correspondents around the world. Deborah Turness has been the CEO of news and current affairs since September 2022. In 2019, it was reported in an Ofcom report that the BBC spent £136m on news during the period April 2018 to March 2019. BBC News' domestic, global and online news divisions are housed within the largest live newsroom in Europe, in Broadcasting House in central London. Parliamentary coverage is produced and broadcast from studios in London. Through BBC English Regions, the BBC also has regional centres across England and national news c ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Speak Good English
The Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) is a Singapore Government campaign to "encourage Singaporeans to speak grammatically correct English that is universally understood". It was launched by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong on 29 April 2000. The purpose was to ensure that Singaporeans recognise the importance of speaking Standard English and to encourage its usage.Locals told to speak English, not Singlish
– NZ Herald, 10 September 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2010
It is seen as a measure to counter the usage of Singapore Colloquial English, known as Singlish.


Background

English was introduced in 1819 with
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong (; born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1990 and 2004, and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party between 1992 and 2004. He was the Parliament of Singapore, Member of Parliament (MP) for Marine Parade Single Member Constituency, Marine Parade SMC between 1976 and 1988, and Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency, Marine Parade GRC between 1988 and 2020. Prior to his appointment as prime minister, he was the country's Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, deputy prime minister, where he advocated for the Medisave, a scheme that allows Singaporeans to set aside part of their income into a Medisave account to meet future medical expenses. Goh also advocated for the Edusave Awards, a monetary reward for students who did well in school based on either their academic or character, to enshrine meritocracy. During his tenure as prime minister, political reforms like the introduction of Non-co ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party between 1954 and 1992. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tanjong Pagar from 1955 until his death in 2015. Lee is widely recognised as the nation's founding father. Lee was born in Colony of Singapore, Singapore during British colonial rule. After graduating from Raffles Institution, he won a scholarship to Raffles College (now the National University of Singapore). During the Japanese occupation of Singapore, Japanese occupation, Lee escaped being the victim of a Sook Ching, purge, subsequently starting his own businesses while working as an administration service officer for the Japanese propaganda office. After World War II ended, Lee briefly attended the London School of Economics before transferring t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong (; born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general who has been serving as Prime Minister of Singapore and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party since 2004. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Teck Ghee division of Ang Mo Kio GRC since 1991, and previously Teck Ghee SMC between 1984 and 1991. Born in Singapore during British colonial rule, Lee is the eldest son of Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew. He graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts with first class honours degree in mathematics and a diploma in computer science (now equivalent to a master's degree in computer science) with distinction. He also completed a Master of Public Administration degree at Harvard Kennedy School in 1980. He served in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) between 1971 and 1984, and attained the rank Brigadier-General before entering politics in 1984 where he was elected as ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


English-based Creole Language
An English-based creole language (often shortened to English creole) is a creole language for which English was the ''lexifier'', meaning that at the time of its formation the vocabulary of English served as the basis for the majority of the creole's lexicon. Most English creoles were formed in British colonies, following the great expansion of British naval military power and trade in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The main categories of English-based creoles are Atlantic (the Americas and Africa) and Pacific (Asia and Oceania). Over 76.5 million people estimated globally speak some form of English-based creole. Sierra Leone, Malaysia, Nigeria, Ghana, Jamaica, and Singapore have the largest concentrations of creole speakers. Origin It is disputed to what extent the various English-based creoles of the world share a common origin. The '' monogenesis hypothesis'' posits that a single language, commonly called ''proto–Pidgin English'', spoken along the West African coast in t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]