THE MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION POLICY FOR EURASIANS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The mother tongue language critically constitutes the second element of state-mandated bilingual education as a form of cultural anchor, yet Singapore’s ethnicity-based definition and allocation of one produce a unique circumstance for local Eurasians—the ancestrally mixed and diverse, English-speaking minority is without a mother tongue. Commentaries on educational language policy issues in Singapore have underexplored and underincorporated the perceptions and experiences of Eurasians in this regard. To remedy this, this thesis examines how Eurasians interpret the “mother tongue” term and mother tongue education, the implications of the language policy on their identity and the influence of age through a mixed methods research design. 11 Eurasians, including two prominent members of the community, were interviewed and questionnaire responses from 47 others were collected. The research finds that there exists much variation in what Eurasians understand to be their mother tongue; their choice of one depends on the prominence of technical, political or cultural notions based on age. Eurasians associate the official mother tongues and mother tongue education policy with mostly social and practical importance, to integrate with wider Singaporean society and to be academically and economically competitive. At the same time, the cultural heritage significance of a mother tongue and mother tongue education is increasingly felt and sought among young Eurasians. In navigating the policy, Eurasians must accordingly balance the interplay between assimilating with the majority and consolidating a single, distinct ethnic identity it assumes; the latter process is inherently complicated by the community’s internal heterogeneity. The complexities and fluidity of perspectives observed suggest a need to reevaluate a simplistic and therefore, unstable concept of multiculturalism in education and larger society.