Mother Tongue And Bilingualism In Singapore

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Introduction
When Singapore achieved independence from Britain in 1959, she chose to become an officially multilingual state. Four languages were being selected as the official language of Singapore, namely English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. While English was being promoted as the working language of Singapore, the rest of the official language are considered as the Mother Tongues of the major racial groups in Singapore.

The term ‘Bilingualism’ is of no stranger to all Singaporeans. Almost all the Singaporeans are bilingual due to the bilingual policies that the government has implemented. Through the policies, Singapore had been transformed into an English knowing society. It was emphasized that besides being the bridging language among the different races in Singapore, English is also significant to the nation building process and the economic development. However, what about our Mother Tongue? Why do we need to learn our Mother Tongue and how will it be beneficial to us? Is it just for that two points off during GCE Ordinary Level Examinations? …show more content…

Quantitative and qualitative secondary data relevant to the study will be examined. The data gathered will be used to analyze the economic benefit of being proficient in Chinese. Although bilingualism is a widespread phenomenon that has been covered extensively by linguists and sociologists, limited research had been done on its economic effects. Thus, this paper will cover the economic impact of Mother Tongue, specifically

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