Reader Response Draft Four

In his article “Can English be a Singaporean mother tongue?”, Lu (2013) advocated the recognition of English as Singaporean mother tongue. He observed that there was an increasing proportion of Singaporean speaking mainly English at home and having English regarded as their core identity. As English had become a dominant language in Singapore, the government and communities had been struggling to revive the diminishing presence of mother tongue languages. Moreover, the conflicting “linguistic interests” by different groups of generation had caused a language divide in Singapore, and Lu claimed that this gap would shrink in oppression. Lu also highlighted in his article that “The notion “native speaker of English” is tied to particular nationalities and ethnicities — that is, Anglo-Saxons”. He argued that Singaporean students were not substantially recognized by international colleges for their proficiency in English, and therefore there was a need to acknowledge English as Singaporean mother tongue so as to gain acceptance from the world. English should not be recognized as Singaporean mother tongue because it would devalue the current mother tongues that promote culture awareness and intergeneration bonding. 

A Language divide has evolved in Singapore over the years due to the conflicting linguistic desires and beliefs between the pioneer generation and the younger generation. I would certainly disagree with Lu (2013)’s assumption that the conflict would diminish in “aggression and regularity”. It is important to understand that Singapore is a multi-ethnic nation and everyone has different potential and ability. It would be an infeasible approach if we were to forcefully insist one language to fit all. Furthermore, if we were to designate English as our mother tongue, I foresee that the younger generation would lose faith in learning their current mother tongues. This implication would consequently reduce the intergeneration interaction and weaken the “generationship”. Therefore, I feel that it is vital to acknowledge our own ethnic language as our mother tongue instead of English. In a sense, it reminds us of our unique culture and roots, as well as strengthens the bond between the youngsters and the elderlies.

Singapore has been a leading country in the world in many aspects and yet the nation has not attained substantial international recognition for proficiency in English. According to Lu (2013), Singaporean students had not been granted for exemption by the universities in international test in aptitude for English despite their seniors having achieved consistent and remarkable scores in that test. However, we should not be misled by this information and conclude that Singaporeans are overall good in English as it only reflects the performance of our fellow pre-university students. In his article, Lim (2014) stated that most Singaporeans were observed to have poor standard of English and they were accustomed to speak the localized form of English particularly known as ‘Singlish’ with negative connotations. Thus I think it is inappropriate for us to expect any global acceptance. We still have a lot more to do to refine our English before we can actually appeal for external recognition or even consider English as a mother tongue in our internal social dynamics.

English has long been the core language in our education, government administration, commerce and judiciary. Despite the dominance of English in our everyday lives, we must not deny the essentials of our mother tongues. In my opinion, transforming our mother tongues to English literally means converting our own race to "English". I hereby strongly oppose the idea of having English recognized as our mother tongue. We Singaporean must stand tall with our rich heritage and preserve our mother tongue to keep our unique and vibrant island culturally alive.

 

 Reference

Lu, L. (2013, July 15). Today Online. Retrieved from Today Online: http://www.todayonline.com/commentary/can-english-be-singaporean-mother-tongue?singlepage=true

Lim, P. (2014, May 28). Today Online. Retrieved from Today Online:

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/speak-good-english-movement-launches