浅析以英语为主要语言的新加坡华族双语成人如何发展双语能力 = A study on the development of bilingual abilities in English-Dominant bilingual Singaporean Chinese adults

• Main Author: 张芩蕾 Chang, Lynette
• Other Authors: Helena Gao Hong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: Chinese
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/69689
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Singapore’s bilingual education policy has been viewed by many as being Singapore’s greatest asset with the rapid rise of the globalized age. However, in recent years, there have been voices claiming that Singaporeans are starting to lose their bilingual ability in the pursuit of an English-dominant education in Singapore, and that this trend is especially prevalent in the Chinese community, specifically among English-dominant Singaporean Chinese. In response to such claims, this paper will look into the development of bilingual abilities in English-dominant bilingual Singaporean Chinese adults and attempt to explain any trends observed in such a development. A study was carried out in two parts over the course of five months. The first part involved the search for 30 English-dominant Singaporean Chinese, whose language dominance was tested with the aid of a questionnaire during this stage of the investigation. After ascertaining that English is their dominant language, these participants then attempted Gao (2016) ’s ‘Bilingual Proficiency and Social Identity Questionnaire’. The questionnaire consists of 72 questions, 36 in English and a corresponding 36 questions in Mandarin. Each pair the corresponding questions is the same in content and only differ in language. This stage of the investigation ended when all 30 participants had completed the research questionnaire. A comparison between the content of the responses to each pair of corresponding questions was carried out to identify any trends present in the participants’ use of English and Mandarin. An analysis of these responses yielded the following results: Firstly, English-dominant Singaporean Chinese are slightly more inclined to discuss their feelings in their dominant language, English, than in Mandarin. Secondly, English-dominant Singaporean Chinese show a slight inclination towards traditional Chinese values when using Mandarin as compared to English. Lastly, English-dominant Singaporean Chinese are more inclined to interpret polysemic Mandarin words differently than intended as compared to polysemic English words.