Language Norms In A Multiethnic Society: Singapore

As in other multiethnic states the languages spoken in the home can vary depending on the ethnicity of the citizen. There are many different languages spoken in the home but it varies from household to household. According to the author, \"English has had th

For a typical child living in Singapore today, their family would use either the mother tongue spoken by the family or sometimes English. Most of the younger children growing up today use English in the home, this is primarily due to the fact that these children are using English more frequently at school and with their friends. However most children that grew up in the late 1970\'s used their mother tongue at home and English in the school and with their playmates(Foley 221).

Overall a multiethnic, multilingual nation such as Singapore seems to have much success with practicing their government, educating their children and conducting religion in many languages. However English has become the dominant language in school and government there is still a large majority of people who do speak many other languages. I feel that one main reason that government is in English and there are more English teaching schools is the fact that Singapore and its people have realized that without accepting English, joining the world in international trade and relations would be virtually impossible. Singapore is a nation unlike others that can be multiethnic, multilingual and prosper without losing a language or losing certain ethnicities.

It is also the language of banking, work in government offices, public transportation, hotels and tourism and much nonfood shopping. However this seems strange for a nation where less than 2% of the population take English as their mother tongue. Most of this will change with the fact that there are more and more English medium schools and more people are attending them. At the national level, English was chosen to meet the government's larger economic objectives.

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