Hokkien briefly emerged as a lingua franca among the Chinese, but by the late twentieth century it was eclipsed by Mandarin. The government promotes Mandarin among Singaporean Chinese, since it views Mandarin as a bridge between Singapore's diverse non-Mandarin speaking groups, and as a tool for forging a common Chinese cultural identity. China's economic rise in the 21st century has also encouraged a greater use of Mandarin. On the other hand, other Chinese varieties such as Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka, Hainanese and Cantonese have been classified by the government as dialects. Government language policies and changes in language attitudes based on such classifications have led to the subsequent decrease in the number of speakers of these varieties. Tamil is listed as the fourth national language of Singapore and represents the Indian community. However, in reality, other Indian languages are also frequently used.
Many Singaporeans are bilingual since Singapore's bilingual language education policy promotes a dual-language learning system from as early as primary school (see Language education in Singapore). English is used as the main medium of instruction. On top of this, every child learns one of the three official languages as a second language, according to the ethnic group of the child's father. The second language is seen as a means to preserve unique cultural values in the multicultural society and to allocate an ethnic identity to each child. However, the use of these ethnic languages is steadily decreasing in homes as English becomes predominant. (See Language attrition) The loss of the local varieties is even more prominent as they are rarely used in mass media, and the elder population forms the main group of speakers of non-standard varieties in Singapore.
Hokkien briefly emerged as a lingua franca among the Chinese, but by the late twentieth century it was eclipsed by Mandarin. The government promotes Mandarin among Singaporean Chinese, since it views Mandarin as a bridge between Singapore's diverse non-Mandarin speaking groups, and as a tool for forging a common Chinese cultural identity. China's economic rise in the 21st century has also encouraged a greater use of Mandarin. On the other hand, other Chinese varieties such as Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka, Hainanese and Cantonese have been classified by the government as dialects. Government language policies and changes in language attitudes based on such classifications have led to the subsequent decrease in the number of speakers of these varieties. Tamil is listed as the fourth national language of Singapore and represents the Indian community. However, in reality, other Indian languages are also frequently used. Many Singaporeans are bilingual since Singapore's bilingual language education policy promotes a dual-language learning system from as early as primary school (see Language education in Singapore). English is used as the main medium of instruction. On top of this, every child learns one of the three official languages as a second language, according to the ethnic group of the child's father. The second language is seen as a means to preserve unique cultural values in the multicultural society and to allocate an ethnic identity to each child. However, the use of these ethnic languages is steadily decreasing in homes as English becomes predominant. (See Language attrition) The loss of the local varieties is even more prominent as they are rarely used in mass media, and the elder population forms the main group of speakers of non-standard varieties in Singapore.
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