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Article published In:
Developments in Diglossic Settings in the Asian Pacific Region
Edited by Marinus van den Berg
[Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 30:1/2] 2020
► pp. 90–114
Special issue articles

Singapore bilingual education

One policy, many interpretations

| National University of Singapore
| National University of Singapore

Bilingualism has always been emphasized in Singapore’s education system. Since 1959, Singapore government leaders have repeatedly stressed that bilingualism is the cornerstone of Singapore’s language policy. Scholars researching language policy and planning in Singapore have also assumed that Singapore has always maintained a consistent stand on bilingualism. This paper cites the case of Chinese language (Mandarin) education as evidence to show how “bilingual” education has undergone significant changes in Singapore by tracing the historical changes and examining how bilingual education has evolved since its implementation. The findings show that the once-compulsory bilingual requirements gave way to differentiated ones in the history of Singapore’s bilingual policy. This finding will help researchers have a better understanding of Singapore’s “bilingual education” today and its position compared to other bilingual education systems in the world.

Keywords: Singapore, bilingualism, Mandarin, Chinese language, education
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Bilingualism in Singapore: 1959 to 1979
  • Integrated schools, 1959
  • Compulsory second language, 1960-1966
  • Language Exposure Time (LET) and Double Weightage, 1972-1973
  • High failure rate, 1974
  • Bilingual Policy after The Goh Report
  • Streaming to Bi-/ Mono-lingual Tracks, 1979
  • Lower Mandarin for higher English proficiency
  • Exposure to two languages reduced
  • Speak Mandarin campaign and language shift
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 30 June 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.00046.lee
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Lee, Cher Leng & Chiew Pheng Phua
2021. Singapore Teochew as a heritage language. Nordic Journal of Linguistics 44:2 ► pp. 155 ff. DOI logo
Lee, Cher Leng & Chiew Pheng Phua
2022. Salvaging Mandarin education in Singapore through community. Current Issues in Language Planning ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

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