摘要
双语政策长期以来是新加坡教育制度的基石。身为新加坡的开国元首,李光耀在新加坡语言政策的制定上扮演着关键性的角色,他在其回忆录和其他相关著作中的重要讲话,论述了新加坡华语政策与规划背后的硬道理。随着新加坡华族家庭常用语出现 “脱华入英” 的趋势,华语教学正面临巨大的挑战,但同时因中国崛起成为全球第二大经济体,华语教学也迎来新机遇。
Abstract
The bilingual language policy has been the cornerstone of the education system of Singapore over the past few decades. As the founding father of modern Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew played a pivotal role in shaping the language policy of Singapore. In his memoirs and books, he has further enunciated the hard truths underlying Chinese language policy and planning in Singapore. In view of the rapid emergence of English as a household language within the Chinese community of Singapore and the rise of China as the world’s second largest economy, this paper further explores the enormous challenges and new opportunities in relation to the teaching of Chinese.
About the authors
吴英成,国立台湾大学中国语言文学学士,伦敦大学亚非学院语言学博士,新加坡南洋理工大学国立教育学院教育研究院语言及语言教育教授,主要研究方向包括国际汉语教学、汉英语言政策与语言教育、全球汉语与汉语变体、华裔语言教育、科技在教育的应用。
Yeng Seng Goh is Professor of Linguistics and Language Education at the Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Chinese language and literature from National Taiwan University and a Doctor of Philosophy in linguistics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. His main research clusters include the teaching of Chinese as a(n) second/foreign/international language; Chinese-English language policies and language education; global Chinese and varieties of Chinese; Chinese heritage language education; technology for pedagogy.
黄志远,新加坡国立大学法学院法学学士,华东政法大学法学硕士,曾任新加坡南洋理工大学国立教育学院“双语并用汉语教学法:新加坡模式”研究计划行政助理,主要研究方向包括国际汉语教学、专门用途汉语、任务型语言教学、汉英语言政策与语言教育。
Chee Wan Ng received his Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the National University of Singapore and Master of Laws from the East China University of Political Science and Law. He has worked as a Project Administrative Assistant for the research project of “Bilingual Approach to the Teaching of Chinese: A Singapore Model” at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His main research clusters include the teaching of Chinese as a(n) second/foreign/international language; Chinese for specific purposes; task-based language teaching; Chinese-English language policies and language education.
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Note
本文初稿曾在马里兰大学举办 “全球化时代的语言、认同和民族国家建设:现代中国语言规划一百周年国际学术讨论会” (Language, Identity, Nation-State Building and Globalization: International Symposium on Modern China’s 100 Years of Language Planning) 上宣读。撰写期间承蒙周明朗、罗庆铭、邵洪亮、江静芳、林容婵、徐峰等惠赐意见,在此谨致谢意。
English synopsis (英文简介)
Hard Truths about Chinese Language Policy and Planning in Singapore
Any in-depth discussion of the current Chinese language policy of Singapore must inevitably include a review of the Singapore government’s bilingual policy which has become a cornerstone of the Singapore education system over the past few decades. For example, the 2010 Mother Tongue Languages Review Committee Report issued by the Singapore Ministry of Education reaffirmed the status of the bilingual policy and reviewed the mother tongue languages policy in light of the larger context of the bilingual policy in Singapore.
The bilingual policy has exerted a huge influence over the evolution of the Chinese language policy in Singapore - reshaping the learners’ profile, the teaching pedagogy, the learning environment and the relevant standards to be set. Indeed the widely acknowledged chief architect of Singapore’s language policy, Lee Kuan Yew, ex-Prime Minister of Singapore, frankly admitted in a 2009 interview that the most difficult policy for him was to teach bilingualism, especially English and Chinese - he did not know how difficult it was for a child from an English-speaking home to learn Chinese.
In terms of language policy, Singapore’s positioning of Chinese as a second language (CL2) also encompasses the following highly unique characteristics: English is the dominant or master language; the Chinese language policy is linked to race - a child with a parent who is of Chinese ethnicity must study Chinese as his or her second language; the study of CL2 is compulsory - students who fit the criteria must opt for Chinese and not any other languages as their mother tongue subject; Chinese ethnic students begin to study CL2 right from primary one.
What was the rationale for Singapore to choose English and not Chinese as its first language under its bilingual policy? Why did Singapore evolve such a highly unique Chinese language policy? To answer all these questions, we need to first take a look at Singapore’s education system prior to independence in 1965, before the bilingual policy has evolved to assume the current shape. Understanding Singapore’s pre-independence adoption of a mono-lingual language policy provides some of the pieces to help solve the puzzle of why Singapore switched to a bilingual policy later.
This paper draws widely on the views and comments of Singapore’s ex-Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, as set out in his memoirs and books. Widely known as the founding father of modern Singapore, he played a pivotal role in shaping the language policy of Singapore. Hence his comments and writings provide a most invaluable window for us to take a glimpse at language policy making at the highest level in Singapore.
This paper is divided into three sections: the first section provides an overview of the bilingual policy and sociolinguistic landscape of Singapore; the second section adopts a diachronic perspective in its analysis of the various stages of the language policy of Singapore, encompassing the language policy of Singapore during the colonial era; 1959 to 1965: a brief interlude of trilingualism; post-1965: the rise of the bilingual policy; 1990s till to date: the rise of English within the Chinese community of Singapore; the third section further explores the future challenges and emerging opportunities for the Chinese language in Singapore in relation to the themes of an internal shift from the Outer Circle to the Expanding Circle and an international Chinese language transit hub.
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