Examining NTU undergraduates’ views regarding the effectiveness and relevance of the Speak Mandarin Campaign in Singapore.

• Main Author: Tan, Jia Min.
• Other Authors: Francesco Paolo Cavallaro
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/54982
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

First launched in 1979, the Speak Mandarin Campaign (SMC) of Singapore has been successful in attaining its original aim of encouraging Chinese Singaporeans to replace their use of the Chinese vernaculars with Mandarin Chinese. Since 1991, the SMC has shifted its focus to encouraging the use of Mandarin amongst an increasingly English-speaking Chinese population. Two decades later, the success of the SMC in achieving this latter goal has yet to be evaluated. This study surveyed 100 Chinese Singaporean undergraduates from NTU and further interviewed six of the participants on their views regarding the effectiveness and relevance of the SMC. Results show that participants have found the SMC’s efforts in encouraging an increase in the use of Mandarin amongst English-speaking Chinese Singaporeans to be ineffective and unsuccessful. Yet, they remained convinced that the SMC continues to be relevant in present day Singapore, and have suggested numerous ways to improve the implementation of the campaign, in hopes of aiding the SMC to better achieve its aims.