Tamil language in multicultural Singapore: key issues in teaching and maintaining a minority language
This chapter focuses on how Tamil, a minority language in Singapore, is being maintained by institutionalising it. As one of four official languages in Singapore, Tamil is taught from pre-primary to junior colleges as Mother Tongue, but its survival is threatened by the linguistic heterogeneity of t...
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| Format: | Book Chapter |
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Springer
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/27275 |
| _version_ | 1848752218433388544 |
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| author | Rajan, Rajeni |
| author2 | Dunworth, K. |
| author_facet | Dunworth, K. Rajan, Rajeni |
| author_sort | Rajan, Rajeni |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This chapter focuses on how Tamil, a minority language in Singapore, is being maintained by institutionalising it. As one of four official languages in Singapore, Tamil is taught from pre-primary to junior colleges as Mother Tongue, but its survival is threatened by the linguistic heterogeneity of the wider Indian community and a shift among Tamil-English bilinguals towards the link language or lingua franca of Singapore, English, even in the home domain. Tamil is now a household language to only about 37% of the Indian population. This emerging pattern of language use has been of concern to policy makers and curriculum planners, and has led to a review of pedagogical approaches that questions the functionality and relevance of the language variety being taught in schools/ To survive, the Tamil language has to live beyond the boundaries of the classroom and respond to the changing needs of a younger generation of Tamil bilinguals, and the continual demographic changes of twenty first century Singapore. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:05:08Z |
| format | Book Chapter |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-27275 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:05:08Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Springer |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-272752023-02-27T07:34:30Z Tamil language in multicultural Singapore: key issues in teaching and maintaining a minority language Rajan, Rajeni Dunworth, K. Zhang, G. Tamil language Tamil curriculum Minority language Language policy Bilingualism Language maintenance and shift This chapter focuses on how Tamil, a minority language in Singapore, is being maintained by institutionalising it. As one of four official languages in Singapore, Tamil is taught from pre-primary to junior colleges as Mother Tongue, but its survival is threatened by the linguistic heterogeneity of the wider Indian community and a shift among Tamil-English bilinguals towards the link language or lingua franca of Singapore, English, even in the home domain. Tamil is now a household language to only about 37% of the Indian population. This emerging pattern of language use has been of concern to policy makers and curriculum planners, and has led to a review of pedagogical approaches that questions the functionality and relevance of the language variety being taught in schools/ To survive, the Tamil language has to live beyond the boundaries of the classroom and respond to the changing needs of a younger generation of Tamil bilinguals, and the continual demographic changes of twenty first century Singapore. 2014 Book Chapter http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/27275 10.1007/978-3-319-06185-6_10 Springer restricted |
| spellingShingle | Tamil language Tamil curriculum Minority language Language policy Bilingualism Language maintenance and shift Rajan, Rajeni Tamil language in multicultural Singapore: key issues in teaching and maintaining a minority language |
| title | Tamil language in multicultural Singapore: key issues in teaching and maintaining a minority language |
| title_full | Tamil language in multicultural Singapore: key issues in teaching and maintaining a minority language |
| title_fullStr | Tamil language in multicultural Singapore: key issues in teaching and maintaining a minority language |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tamil language in multicultural Singapore: key issues in teaching and maintaining a minority language |
| title_short | Tamil language in multicultural Singapore: key issues in teaching and maintaining a minority language |
| title_sort | tamil language in multicultural singapore: key issues in teaching and maintaining a minority language |
| topic | Tamil language Tamil curriculum Minority language Language policy Bilingualism Language maintenance and shift |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/27275 |