Language Planning in Multilingual Singapore : Concerns, Issues And Problems

Abstract

Language planning policy is often conceived as a political and administrative activity by a governmental authority (Jernudd and Gupta, 1971). According to Ager (2001), the ability to use many languages can represent a major economic resource and thus there is a need for the government to coordinate the planning of language as a resource for societal development. Singapore has frequently been cited as a successful case study of governmental intervention in language planning. The rational, centralized and top-down status planning by governmental authority has resulted in the adoption of English as a medium of communication in a multilinguistic society and a high level of communicative integration between different ethnic groups (Kaplan & Baldauf, 2003;Shepherd, 2003; Goh, 2004). However, beneath the success story of Singapore's language planning policy, there exist a number of problems, issues and concerns. This article will flesh out in greater detail the language ideology, rationale and effects of its language planning implementation. In particular, it will examine some current potentially fractious language planning issues in the official language planning policy