of redressing the discrimination of the past and building a non-racial nation in
South Africa. He contended that being multilingual should be a defining characteristic
of being South African (Chick & McKay, 2001).
While providing for choice from a range of language-in-education policy models,
the South African National Educational Policy identified additive bilingualism/
multilingualism as the normative orientation of the language-in-education
policy. This policy, however, contradicts the beliefs of many South African parents
that the best way to acquire English, the dominant ex-colonial language, is
to commence studying the language as early as possible; that maintenance of the
first language is unnecessary and perhaps undesirable; and that the best way for
speakers of other languages to acquire English is submersion, that is, a subtractive
approach. Given the strong desire on the part of many parents for their children
to learn English, English-medium education is currently the only option offered
by South Africa’s most sought-after schools. This situation exemplifies the manner
in which the stated language-in-education policy is often undermined by prevalent
social beliefs as to the value of particular languages.
National language policies can also influence language learning and teaching
by the setting of standards. For example, in Singapore today, there is a segment
of the population that speaks a localised dialect of English widely known as
Singlish or Singapore Colloquial English (SCE). Like many stigmatized varieties,
Singlish has begun to gain immense popularity among young professionals, who
increasingly use it in domains of friendship and solidarity. Its negative association
with the poorly educated and its accelerated usage among the general populace
in recent years alarmed the Singapore authorities sufficiently to warrant the
mounting of a Speak Good English Movement, a campaign that overtly promotes
the use of standard English, and whose implicit agenda is to stem the spread of
Singlish before it becomes an integral part of the cultural life of the present
generation of school-goers in Singapore. As in the case of Singapore, government
policies can influence not only which language is promoted but also which
variety of that language is preferred.