BILINGUALISM IN SINGAPORE : A STUDY OF ATTITUDES AND USAGE PATTERNS

Abstract

This study looked at one segment of Singapore's English-Mandarin bilingual population -- students from the Arts faculty of the NUS -- and aimed to investigate their attitudes and usage patterns. Two methodological approaches were employed: (1) A questionnaire was constructed to elicit information regarding the respondents' language proficiency, preference, usage patterns and attitudes towards bilingualism. One hundred respondents were surveyed; (2) A matched guise experiment was conducted. A tape containing the voices of two speakers each speaking in an English and a Mandarin guise was played to twenty one respondents. They were required to use a five point scale to rate the speakers on a set of sixteen traits. The aim was to discover the subconscious attitudes of the respondents towards English and Mandarin, thereby supplementing the questionnaire's findings; In discussing the findings from (1) and (2), reference was often made to Singapore's bilingual policy because attitudes and usage patterns have to be understood in relation to the sociocultural context within which they develop. Results indicate that while the respondents held favourable attitudes towards English-Mandarin bilingualism, the two languages were valued for different functions. English was valued mainly for instrumental and expressive functions, while Mandarin was valued for integrative and aesthetic functions. The matched guise experiment also revealed that English and Mandarin were generally viewed equally favourably by the respondents. An analysis of the respondents' usage patterns further revealed that English was the predominant medium employed in many domains. It was also the language that most respondents preferred and were most proficient in.