The role of language dominance in molding a Singaporean Tamil identity

• Main Author: A K, Vellie Nila
• Other Authors: Francesco Paolo Cavallaro
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/66169
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This paper aims to investigate the role of Tamil language dominance in creating a Singaporean Tamil identity. Tamil language in Singapore has been undergoing a visible language shift due with the dominance of English language. This study investigates the possibility of English language dominance as a factor contributing to language shift. This study focuses on the Singaporean Tamil youth, aged 18 to 25. The participants are English-educated bilinguals. According to the various case studies examined, a positive correlation between Tamil language and the Singaporean Tamil identity was expected. However, the results proved otherwise. Tamil dominant participants displayed a more positive attitude and a significantly higher level of identification with the language as compared to the English dominant participants who had also identified with the Tamil language. The results of this paper conclude that the Tamil language plays a minimal role in molding a Singaporean Tamil identity.