:: members ::
Huang Shiping
Khoo Sze Lun, Edwin
Lee Bingyi
Lim Ailian
Lim Huishan
|
Importance of dialects
1. Source: English speaks to the head, dialect to the heart
The Straits Times, January 11, 1997
- dialects is still perceived as a language close to our heart that no other language we've learnt can replace
- speakers at opposition rallies used dialects to good effect
- dialects are more persuasive and effective as it appel more directly to the heart than mind (reduces formality)
- many speakers were better orators in dialects - the language of their youth
- dialects are still needed for politicians to convey their messages to their audience
- Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong used Hokkien liberally in his speeches at PAP rallies
- "if more speeches, or news items were aired in dialects, more Singaporeans, especially among the elderly, would be more informed of happenings around them"
- "dialects remain a central part of the life of the HDB heartland"
- "the pull of one's own tongue has a reasonance no borrowed language can match"
2. Source: Sars: Let's Talk
The Straits Times May 7 2003
- Channel U stars will speak in dialects again on Everybody's Talking, the talk-show platform used to spreadmessages about Sars to a wider community, including dialect-speaking groups
- with this programme, dialect in mass media is introduced again, this time, with a need to spread message and advice about Sars
-3.Source: Hospital staff Should Be Conversant in Dialects
Dialects remain our only medium of conversation with the elderly. With Singapore's ageing population, it is important that the young and old intermingle, like the case of hospital staff and elderly patients. Though the larger proportion of the hospital and clinic staff can speak the main languages and dialects, the majority of these staff are at least middle-aged who grow up speaking dialects. Young nurses nowadays barely speak dialects too.
Perhaps there would be no need for the nurses to be able to speak dialects because in the near future, there would simply be no one who speaks it. But that would lead to a monotonous and boring society without the diversity of dialects.
Profile of the Singapore Chinese Dialect Groups
by Edmond Lee Eu Fah, Social Statistics Section, Singapore Department of Statistics
- intro to chinese group in singapore: 'The Chinese in Singapore are a relatively heterogeneous population in terms of dialect origin. There are more than 20 dialect groups here... three main dialect groups (are) the Hokkiens, Teochews, and Cantonese
- evidence of declining usage of dialects: 'use of Chinese dialects as predominant home language is no longer a distinguishing feature of the Chinese dialect groups... number of dialect-speaking Chinese residents declined by 28 percent between 1990 and 2000. In contrast, those speaking Mandarin most frequently at home increased by 78 percent. .. Chinese dialects had been replaced by Mandarin as the most commonly used language at home' --- i.e. SMC has achieved its aim of making people speak more Mandarin, but at the expense of dialects
in 1990: english speaking at home: 19.3% out of 1884 pple
mandarin: 30.1%
chinese dialects: 50.3%
others: .3%
in 2000: english: 23.9
mandarin: 45.1%
chinese dialects: 30.7%
others: .4%
%chg: english: 46.9%
mandarin: 78.1%
chinese dialects: -27.7%
reason for drop in usage: prob due to SMC and Speak English Campaign where mandarin and english are promoted for usage at the expense of dialects
- age has a direct correlation with dialect usage: older pple use more dialects
teochew and proud of it
-dialects are reflective of our native culture. It is not made of merely words and sounds, but carries with it culture.
-increases our diversity, makes singapore more interesting, enhance our rich culture
It's High Stakes when dialects come into play may 7 2003
- use of dialects win over the hearts of pple: 'as recently as the 2001 election, Hokkien was almost a deciding factor in the contest fo Nee Soon East'
- Sars showed that dialects are still relevant in today's society for communication: 'more and more ministers and MPs are using dialects to tell their residents of the dangers associated with the disease and the do's and don'ts.'
- for 'connectivity'
- for 'sense of intimacy'
- for communication with the elderly: if dialects die out, then monolingual elderly will be disadvantaged as they will know less about policy changes and matters directly affecting their lives.
Article: A final embrace
even in Xiamen, the hometownm of Hokkien, the dialect is fast diminshing. The government's restrictions on usage of dialects are similar to that of Singapore:
-officials can only use them when it is absoulutely necessary in carrying out their duties
-dialects for use in broadcasting must be approved of by the State Council or provincial authorities
-dialects are permitted only for artistic pursuits like theatre and film productions
Singaporean lang expert Dr Goh Yeng Seng commented that in 10 to 20 yrs time English would replace Mandarin as the linking language among Chinese and Mandarin would become a foreign tongue only to be learnt in schools. Hence it is evident that dialects would have no place at all in the society
"the presence of different races, langauges and cultures has made the world so much more interesting and the languages and dialects of minority races do have their own small roles to play"-->dialects enrich our world, making it more interesting, as well as add diversity to our unique Singaporean culture
Own comments
We should not eschew dialects as they remain the only way we can communicate (heart-to-heart) with our elders,e.g. grandparents, old folks.
______________________________________________
Process of the Speak Mandarin Campaign
history and background of SMC
Source:Promote Mandarin Council, History and Background.-Singapore has a migrant population comprising of Chinese,Indians,Malays among others. As a rtesult, Singapore is culturally rich but also with many potential divisive lines. Hence, it can be inferred that in the process of preserving dialects, cultural diversity can be enriched but at the same time at the risk of causing division. The forefathers of the Chinese community originated from various parts of China, each speaking a different dialect. Being the dominant race in the population, it seemed crucial that there is a need to unify the various dialect groups through a common language, Mandarin.
The SMC was officially launched in 1979 by the then PM Mr Lee KY. It aims to simplify the langauge environment among Singaporean to promote understanding and harmony, improve communication and to create a Mandarin-speaking environment conducive to the successful implementation of the bilingual education programme.
1. Source: The Straits Times May 30 2002
- campaign began in the 1980s with the aim of getting more Chinese Singaporeans to speak Mandarin
- shifted focus to encouraging Singaporeans to speak better Mandarin in both 2001 and 2002
- For people to speak better Mandarin, said Prof Wee, they need a deeper understanding of Chinese culture. So this year's activities have been designed to pique interest in just that
-2.Source: It's high time dialects come into play (The Straits Times May 7 2003)-The Speak Mandarin Campaign was started in 1979 to enable students to have an easier time mastering English and Mandarin in school, "the reasoning being that most people have difficulty learning both while still speaking in dialect at home". The other advantage is that "Mandarin unified the diverse Chinese dialect groups and enabled people to converse with one another".
-3. Source: A Language for our Roots
(success of the campaign)
"For the past six years, the Siingapore government and the Chinese community as a whole have been most active in promoting the use of Mandarin at various levels of our society, with appreciable results. - The campaign is quite successful as we see an increase in the usage of Mandarin and decline in the speaking of dialects.Though the campaign started with the aim to target at and encourage the dialect-speaking Chinese to speak Mandarin, there is a slight change in focus, shifting to encourage the English-speaking Chinese to speak Mandarin.-Fundamental goal: the campaign is targeted at the Chinese community only and that "there is no need for the involvement of the other communities" and there is the hope that Chinese Singaporeans will speak Mandarin instead of the variety of dialects.
4.Mandarin: A Language of Psychic Force
Mr Lee Kuan Yew
- due to implementation of bilingual policy, dialects were thought to be too heavy a load for students as they have many other subjects to learn too
> 'studies also show that students from mandarin speaking families consistently do better in their examinations than those from dialect speaking homes'
5. Singapore Government Press Release: Speech by Mr Lee Yock Suan, Minister For Information & The Arts, at the launch of SMC 2001 on 8 Sept 2001 at 11.00 am, Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre Auditorium
- "According to the figures released by the Department of Statistics in May, only 31% of Chinese Singaporeans now converse in dialects as against half in 1990" -> a trend we hope to change in our proposal; use of Mandarin should not mean diminishing use of dialects; both Mandarin and dialects can be promoted at the same time
- "The Campaign also has to contend with the might of the Internet and the popular Western culture --> Younger generation exposed to popular Western culture and hence not interested in learning dialects and be linked to their cultural roots
6.Source: Speak Mandarin Campaign Launching Speeches (1979 - 1989)
Mandarin or Dialect( 7th Sept 1979)
- Average student unable to juggle with English, Mandarin and dialects simultaneously
- "Because English will be the common language between diff ethnic S'poreans, if we continue to use dialects, English will tend to become the common language b/w Chinese of diff ethnics grps", since dialects can only be spoken within the respective dialect grps
- Students' workload can be reduced by making them learn English and Mandarin instead of both the mentioned languages and dialects
Make Mandarin a Language of Everyday Life (5th October 1981)
-make Mandarin more widespread so that it becomes the common language of the dialect grps
-To promote usage of Mandarin in everyday life so as to "preserve the fine traditional culture, values and morals of the Chinese community, to break the language barrier among various Chinese dialect groups and to enable Chinese Singaporeans to have a common language"
Mandarin: A Language for Teamwork (8th Oct 1982)
-"Encourage Chinese workers to use Mandarin as their common language, as language barrier is often the cause of misunderstandings b/w people at places of work and social gatherings"
-"Mandarin is the Mother Tongue of the Chinese -->a knowledge of Mandarin is useful in the propagation of Confucianism to keep alive traditional values like benevolence and loyalty"
A Language for the Sake of our Children (5th Oct 1983)
- "A need for common language b/w diff ethnic Singaporeans or effective communication of thoughts"
-'Preserve cultural roots by learning written Chinese and speaking Mandarin, since culture is transmitted through written words"
Mandarin: A Home and School Language (8th Oct 1987)
-Evidence of success of SMC: two-third of the cohort of Chinese pupils entering Primary One in 1980 spoke dialects most frequently at home. Only a quarter spoke Mandarin. Sustained efforts in promoting Mandarin over the years have resulted in Mandarin overtaking dialects as a home language. In 1987, 68% of the 1987 P1 cohort of Chinese pupils come from homes where Mandarin is spoken as a matter of course. Only 12.5% communicate in dialect at home. SMC has contributed significantly to changing our Chinese pupils' home language" --> SMC caused an increase in no. of pupils speaking Mandarin and a decline the no. speaking dialects -->a direct relationship exists b/w SMC and usage of dialects
-SMC helps in implementation of MOE's bilingual policy as SMC brings abt a "linguistic envt which provides our children the opportunity to practise and use Mandarin at home and in social interaction"
-"A pupil will find it learning Chinese much easier when Mandarin, instead of dialects, is used at home"-->that's why need to put aside dialects to facilitate the learning of Chinese
Mandarin: A Language of Business and Heritage (3rd Oct 1988)
-Statistics: "today, more that 87% of Chinese can speak Mandarin, compared with only 76% in 1981. 82% of clan associations use Mandarin at their meetings, compared with only 22% before 1979.
-Knowing Mandarin and using it in deals with Chinese-speaking countries, esp China, may enable us to have the upper hand, and hence might indirectly boost economy with successful business dealings
-"Mandarin is a major factor in retaining our Chinese cultural heritage" in face of globalisation and influx of Western ideas and culture
-"Some Chinese want to retain dialect because they feel that their dialect group, even more than Mandarin, preserves their roots and sense of identity"
-Though it is true that a certain proportion of the younger generation cannot cope with learning both Mandarin and dialects, those who can should try speaking dialects too to retain their roots
Limitations of source: The speakers are generally biased and tend to emphasise on the advantages of speaking Mandarin without mentioning the importance of dialects.
7.A Decade of Mandarin (1979 - 1989)
-"SMC helps complement and and reinforce the implementation of our bilingual education policy"--> While encouraging the use of the Chinese language brings opportunities for social interaction, it also means the usage of dialects will diminish. Though the use of Mandarin helps to play a part in implementing our bilingual education, it is of not much use in allowing us to trace back to our roots
Benefits of Mandarin
-"Mandarin is a spoken language which has the direct backup of a written script. What is spoken in Mandarin can be written down word for word in the Chinese language"--> Although dialects cannot be written in words, but they do still remain viable for oral communication
-"Mandarin has a wider scope of application. It is the key to learning of Chinese, which is, in turn, the key to a rich and long-lasting cultural heritage"--> Our counterargument: dialects too are a key to our roots
-"Mandarin is easier to learn. It has only 4 tones while dialects have 8 to 9 tones"--> Counterargument: Not a strong reason to prevent people from learning dialects; the fact that dialects have more tones makes the learning of dialects more interesting
Programmes of SMC:
Telephone Mandarin Lessons:
-"From 1983 to 1985, Telecoms transmitted by phone the Dial for Mandarin lessons daily on a 24-hour basis"
-"In 1987, to encourage the use Mandarin at the Seventh Moon Festival (Zhongyuan Jie), Mandarin lessons were specially developed and transmitted by phone throughout the festival month. These lessons were subsequently re-packaged on cassette tapes and redistributed to the Zhongyuan Jie organisers"
Mass Media:
-"In early years of SMC, Mandarin lessons were telecast over the then Radio and Television Singapore (RTS). Mandarin lessons have also been since continued to be transmitted over SBC Radio and Rediffusion. The texts of the lessons in the present series are also published in the local newspapers such as Lianhe Zaobao and The Straits Times"
TV/Radio programmes
-"Dialect programmes over radio, TV and Rediffusion were phased out, except for some news broadcasts on radio and Rediffusion for those who do not understand Mandarin"--> Dialects are essential as a medium to communicate important information to people who can only understand dialects
Evidence of success of SMC
"% of Chinese S'poreans able to speak Mandarin increased from 76% in 1981 to b/w 85% to 87% in 1989"
8.Language, Society and Education in Singapore: Issues and Trends
-"Some Chinese were particularly offended by the suggestion that dialects transmit no worthwhile culture and that ignorance of Mandarin made Singapore Chinese rootless."
-"In 1990, there was further controversy over the campaign slogan for the year. "If you are Chinese, make a statement --- in Mandarin" which was felt to imply that only Mandarin speakers were to be considered Chinese."
-"The minority groups and those Chinese not yet proficient in Chinese also felt that the urgings of the campaign's promoters to get Chinese professionals to speak Mandarin at work would affect inter-ethnic harmony"
-->showed that dialects are still impt to a certain extent, eg dialects help to transmit their individual unique cultures, as some Chinese had felt during the early years of the SMC, makes us wonder if Mandarin or dialects represent our roots.
-"Opposition politicians who won wards were those who were effectively bilingual and who could use the appropriate dialcets to woo dialect-speaking voters. Thus the Senior Minister concluded that while Mandarin was useful at the public level, at the private level the sense of empathy one has with another person has an emotional aspect which is reinforced by culture. This is in essence a recognition of the significance of dialects" --> After the whole process of phasing out dialects, it seems that dialects are still essential. Perhaps we should let dialects enter our lives again.
______________________________________________
Relevance of the campaign
1. Source: Language Dilemma and Singapore
To: fhakka@asiawind.com
From: Sherman Cheung
- "I say diversity is good. Language have a right to live including our own dialects. I agree we must have a passive knowledge of Putonghua or Guoyu, but we must speak our dialect at home and with our Hakka brothers and sisters. I doubly hope that i could hear all dialects spoken in Singapore"
- "Does anyone know why Spore is trying to stuff Mandrin down the throats of Chinese people in Singapore?"
- "Why is Spore going on a campaign to make people speak Mandrin, when they already speak another dialect, when you have English to serve the job admirably, as the language of government and commerce"
- >> makes us wonder the feasibility and the need for the campaign
-2. Source: It's high time dialects come into play (The Straits Times May7 2003)
-"Although more Singaporeans are speaking English, there remains a large number who understand dialects better than anything else."- shows that the government needs to communicate policies with this significant group of people who know dialects as dialects is the language closest to their hearts.
"a total of 600,000 Singaporeans greet, argue and discuss the latest news with each other in dialect" ->these figures "imply that to communicate a policy more effectively to the Chinese population, dialect has to be used" and "policies that require the participation of older Chinese-speaking Singaporeans can be implemented successfully only when the latter know about them."-writer explains why the use of dialects have to be revived and how it is still relevant in today's society.
I'm Teochew - and proud of it June 10, 2001, ST Interactive
- times have changed and mandarin is already 'entrenched' in our society, so dialects, being less used, has lost its connotation of inferiority in youngsters' minds
- "linkage" languages such as Mandarin and English are fast replacing dialects in terms of usage whether at home or at work, therefore, perhaps it is time to turn back to our roots to preserve dialects instead?
- SMC had previously caused younger generations to grow up with the mindset that dialects is sthg out of fashion/undesirable
- 'it was a practical move' --- was practical in the past, but now, since most chinese youngsters are already conversant in mandarin, it is more important to preserve our dialects and our roots.
- 'Mandarin has been promoted at the expense of dialects. A whole generation of Chinese Singaporeans are clueless about their roots'
> esp since mandarin is essentially a Beijing dialect and thus, not our native dialect
> if dialects were to die out completely, we will not just be a nation with a short history, but also one with no knowledge of one's roots.
Mandarin: a language of psychic force
- emphasis on 'psychological value' of mandarin in the past: 'retain traditional Chinese values in filial piety, loyalty, benevolence and love. Through Mandarin, their children can emotionally identify themselves as part of an ancient civilisation whose continuity was because it was founded on a tried and tested value system'
- chinese was perceived to be able to unify the society better --- but nowadays lingua franca is english instead
mandarin: a language of courtesy
there is still subconscious habit to speak in dialcts, despite SMC's effort to phase out dialects, because it is part of our roots and culture, not easily diminished tho it is fading over time
How Mandarin drive will be judged From third world to first: LKY's memoirs
-aim for SMC: 'falling stds in Chinese will adversely affect the local Chinese media, which has to rely more on foreign graduates'
3.Singapore Government Press Release: Speech by Mr Lee Yock Suan, Minister For Information & The Arts, at the launch of SMC 2001 on 8 Sept 2001 at 11.00 am, Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre Auditorium - "I hope Chinese Singaporeans will learn to speak good Mandarin and use it to tap the rich vein of Chinese culture" --> Our argument: Why can't use dialects to achieve the same objective?
______________________________________________
Lessons students can learn
1. Source: Vanishing Languages -" Language is truly at the heart of a culture" and is "a matter of identity, of nationhood"-hence, to lose dialects would be "to lose a unique insight into the human condition" as each form of language is a perspective of this world that is shared by no other. "A loss of language means a loss of inherited knowledge that extends over hundreds or thousands of years".-language can reflect one's culture and the richness in the culture we live in would be loss if dialects were to be forgotten. Our dialects represent our very own roots and losing them means losing a special set of knowledge passed down from generations to generations.
2. Source: A Language for Our Roots
As Mandarin is used more and more widely among the younger Chinese Singaporeans, the generation gap between children and their elders (eg. grandparents) is widening.
______________________________________________
Usage of lessons
mandarin: a language of psychic force
- 'grandparents find learning Mandarin too difficult at their age' ---> precisely why we should bring back dialects in order not to marginalise the monolingual elderly
______________________________________________
Critical evaluation of impact on students
______________________________________________
Impact On Others
______________________________________________
Hey people!~ i'll split these into different entries tomorrow and find a nicer layout. Temporarily, the categories for the written report are as followed:
1. Origins of Speak Mandarin Campaign
2. The process of Speak Mandarin Campaign
3. Relevance of the campaign
4. Lessons students can learn
5. Usage of lessons
6. Critical evaluation of impact on students
7. Impact on others
LOVE, shiping :)
______________________________________________
|
|
