CONCLUSION
|
PREDICTIONS ON THE FUTURE OF CANTONESE While many people are of the opinion that Cantonese is in a better state than many other dialects due to the exposure to Cantonese TV dramas, movies and music originating from Hong Kong, this is misguided. This is due the fact that many of these TV dramas and movies are dubbed into Mandarin before they are shown in Singapore. In addition, many of them have subtitles in either English or Mandarin. Hence, the exposure to Cantonese is not significant. The possibility of Cantonese being on the rise again in Singapore will largely depend on the community taking steps to encourage the learning and speaking of Cantonese. Cantonese in Singapore is no longer a versatile language and it is considered irrelevant in the face of increasing globalization. The language policies adopted by the Singapore government evidently played a large part in the decline of Cantonese in Singapore. Ultimately, it seems that in "Practical Singapore", the priority is staying relevant not only to society but the world at large. Based on our findings, it seems highly likely that the trend of the diminishing use of dialects, specifically cantonese, will continue on its downward journey. Without the backing of the government, or educational system, coupled with the people's practical nature to abandon anything that would not benefit them or their children socially or economically, there seems to be little hope of re-vitalising the cantonese language. POSSIBLE MEANS OF BRINGING ABOUT A CANTONESE REVIVAL However, despite the gloomy report card that the Cantonese Language has received, we do believe that there are possible ways of bringing about a cantonese revival within the community in Singapore. Firstly, we can organize Cantonese enrichment programmes at primary and secondary school levels and perhaps even persuade the government and the education ministry to include Cantonese as an optional language in the curriculum. However, in trying to push for this, there must be careful dialogue with the government and education officials to bring about the fruition of such plans. Other means apart from education are also possible, so that the strain on the limited resources of the government and education sector will not be overtaxed.One possible way to promote the Cantonese Language is to create an awareness and curiousity about the language. In order to create more awareness of Cantonese, events such as a Cantonese Film Fest and Cantonese opera should also be organized on a regular basis. Another way would be to use the vast amount of resources available to the community to promote the cantonese language. One obvious way is to use the internet, just as this website has done, to promote and educate people about the language. Also, another possible idea is to use the very concept of this website, the Radio, the most commonly owned and used source of media. People are able to bring their walkmans and portable radios anywhere they go, they listen to them on the bus, when they travel to work. By tapping on this simple but popular source of entertainment, cantonese is able to promote itself extensively through radio programs. Lastly, the Cantonese community, on a whole, must also take a more pro-active stand in projecting a positive attitude towards Cantonese and must make an effort to promote its language in order to re-vitalise it. They have to own their language and not depend on government or educational policies to maintain Cantonese before visible results can be seen. Otherwise, the language will be lost forever. 1. Bokhorst-Heng, Wendy. “Singapore’s Speak Mandarin Campaign: Language ideological debates and the imagining of the nation” in Language Ideological Debates, edited by Blommaert, Jan, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1999. 2. Chua, Beng Huat. Communitarian Ideology and Democracy in Singapore. London and New York: Routledge, 1995. 3. Kuo, C.Y. Eddie, and Jernudd, H. Bjorn. “Balancing Macro- and Micro-Sociolinguistic Perspectives in Language Management: The Case of Singapore” in Language Problems and Language Planning, Vol 17, No. 1, 1993. 4. Kuo, C.Y. Eddie, and Jernudd, H. Bjorn. Language Planning in a Multi-Lingual State: The Case of Planning in Singapore. Working Papers, Dept of Sociology, National University of Singapore, 1988. 5. Kwok, Kian Woon. Language Planning in Education: Case Study of the ‘Speak Your School Language Campaign 1980’. Unpublished Academic Exercise, Dept of Sociology, National University of Singapore, 1980. 6 Crystal, D. The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 1987. 7. Au, Crystal. Learning Cantonese. Queensland, Australia (Source: Audio). 2000 8. Ong Choon Seng, Cantonese in Singapore: Attitudes and Domains of Use in the Chinese Community. National University of Singapore. Unpublished Honours Thesis. 2000/2001 9. Koo, E . The Sociolinguistic situation in Singapore: Unity in Diversity Singapore University Press: Singapore. 1980. Pgs 3-13. 10.Phoon Mun Kwong. A Synchronic Phonology of Modern Cantonese Dialect. Singapore: Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Graduate Studies, Nanyang University, 1976. 11.Gupta, A. and Siew, P. "Language Shift in a Singapore Family" in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 1995. Pgs 301 - 314. 12. Singapore Department of Statistics Homepage. 13. History of the Chinese Language Homepage 14. Chinese Cultural Studies Homepage
|