Bilingualism and its effects on Malay language planning

Abstract

Singapore’s bilingual policy has been dubbed an English-knowing bilingual system, in which English is the main language followed by a choice of any one of the three mother tongue languages: Mandarin, Malay, or Tamil. Among the three mother tongue languages, there is a perception that the language policy is Mandarin-inspired, especially given the opening up of China and the growing economic importance of learning Mandarin.<br><br>There is also a worry among Malay speakers that in spite of its status as the national language and one of the four official languages, Malay has seen its role within Singapore diminish from that of a language of unity and wider communication to a language of cultural repository, which is largely symbolic in nature. This will in turn affect its stated role as a “cultural ballast” in Singapore’s bilingual framework.<br><br>Thus, there is a need for academic research that would detail these concerns, both perceived and real, among the Malay language community against a background of language shift and changing attitudes toward the language as a result of the bilingual policy and to analyze the impact of the English-knowing and Mandarin-led bilingual system. This research will list selected educational review reports and relate it to its impact on Malay language planning and offer a response in terms of pedagogical approaches required to address the changing demographics and language shift among Malay learners.