Abstract
Although Singapore schools are English-medium, Mandarin is a compulsory subject for students of Chinese heritage. As young Singaporeans increasingly speak English at home, the required study of Mandarin has become a source of anxiety for families. Mandarin ‘enrichment centers’, which provide supplementary language classes, leverage this anxiety in various ways, from promising top exam results to highlighting non-traditional pedagogical approaches. This analysis draws on data from the websites of 14 such centers, focusing on how these programs position learners in relation to the notion of linguistic entrepreneurship (De Costa et al. 2016). We identify three broad classes of enrichment center: Traditional, Modern Traditional, and Anti-Traditional, each offering distinct imaginings of the learner as linguistic entrepreneur. Traditional centers highlight academic achievement, promising ‘exam-focused’ strategies to optimize school performance. Modern Traditional centers, in contrast, frame enrichment as an elite lifestyle choice, emphasizing exclusivity and luxury. Finally, Anti-Traditional centers distance themselves from conventional pedagogy, and invoke notions of holistic, experiential learning. Across these categories, we observe a common discourse of Mandarin learning as a character-building struggle, in which centers provide unique resources enabling learners to survive the Singapore education system and emerge as ideal neoliberal subjects who have maximized their potential.
References
Bernstein, Katie A., Emily A. Hellmich & Noah Katznelson. 2015. Introduction to special issue: Critical perspectives on neoliberalism in second / foreign language education. L2 Journal 7(3). 3–14. https://doi.org/10.5070/l27327672.Search in Google Scholar
Boh, Samantha. 2017. Mandarin lessons for tiny tots, some barely a year old. Singapore: The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/mandarin-lessons-for-tiny-tots-some-barely-a-year-old (accessed 27 April 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Bokhorst-Heng, Wendy. 1998. Language and imagining the nation in Singapore. Toronto: University of Toronto dissertation.Search in Google Scholar
Bray, Mark & Chad Robert Lykins. 2012. Shadow education: Private supplementary tutoring and its implications for policy makers in Asia. Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Asian Development Bank.Search in Google Scholar
Brown, Phillip. 1990. The ‘third wave’: Education and the ideology of parentocracy. British Journal of Sociology of Education 11(1). 65–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142569900110105.Search in Google Scholar
Chew, Phyllis Ghim-Lian. 2012. A sociolinguistic history of early identities in Singapore: From colonialism to nationalism. London: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9781137012340_1Search in Google Scholar
Davie, Sandra. 2015. 7 in 10 parents send their children for tuition. Singapore: The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/7-in-10-parents-send-their-children-for-tuition-st-poll (accessed 28 April 2019).Search in Google Scholar
De Costa, Peter, Joseph Sung-Yul & Lionel Wee. 2016. Language learning as linguistic entrepreneurship: Implications for language education. Asia-Pacific Education Research 25(5–6). 695–702. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-016-0302-5.Search in Google Scholar
De Costa, Peter, Joseph Sung-Yul & Lionel Wee. 2018. Linguistic entrepreneurship as affective regime: Organizations, audit culture, and second/foreign language education policy. Language Policy 18(3). 387–406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-018-9492-4.Search in Google Scholar
DeWiele, Corinne E. & Jason D. Edgerton. 2016. Parentocracy revisited: Still a relevant concept for understanding the middle class educational advantage? Interchange 47(2). 189–210.10.1007/s10780-015-9261-7Search in Google Scholar
Dixon, L. Quentin. 2005. Bilingual education policy in Singapore: An analysis of its sociohistorical roots and current academic outcomes. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 8(1). 25–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/jbeb.v8.i1.pg25.Search in Google Scholar
Gao, Shuang & Joseph Sung-Yul Park. 2015. Space and language learning under the neoliberal economy. L2 Journal 7(3). 78–96. https://doi.org/10.5070/l27323514.Search in Google Scholar
Gee, Christopher. 2012. The educational ‘arms race’: All for one, loss for all. IPS Working Papers 20. Singapore: Institute of Policy Studies. https://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/docs/default-source/ips/wp-20_the-educational-arms-race-all-for-one-loss-for-all.pdf (accessed 30 April 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Gray, John & David Block. 2012. The marketisation of language teacher education and neoliberalism: Characteristics, consequences and future prospects. In John Gray, David Block & Marnie Holborow (eds.) Neoliberalism and applied linguistics, 119–148. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780203128121-10Search in Google Scholar
Heng, Swee Keat. 2012. Keynote Speech by Minister for Education, Heng Swee Keat, at the CSIS Singapore Conference, 8 February, 2012. Singapore: National Archives of Singapore. http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/speeches/record-details/814b04e7-115d-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad (accessed 28 April 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Ho, Janice T. S., Joanne Loh & Irene Ng. 1998. A preliminary study of kiasu behaviour – is it unique to Singapore? Journal of Managerial Psychology 13(5–6). 359–370. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683949810220015.Search in Google Scholar
HSBC. 2017. The value of education: Higher and higher. HSBC holdings. https://www.hsbc.com/-/files/hsbc/media/media-release/2017/170628-the-value-of-education-higher-and-higher-global-report.pdf (accessed 28 April, 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Kong, Lily & Brenda Yeoh. 2003. Nation, ethnicity, and identity: Singapore and the dynamics and discourses of Chinese migration. In Laurence J.C. Ma & Carolyn L. Carter (eds.), The Chinese diaspora: Space, place, mobility, and identity, 193–219. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.Search in Google Scholar
Kubota, Ryuko. 2011. Questioning linguistic instrumentalism: English, neoliberalism, and language tests in Japan. Linguistics and Education 22. 248–260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2011.02.002.Search in Google Scholar
Kuo, Eddie C. Y. 1980. The sociolinguistic situation in Singapore: Unity in diversity. In Evangelos A. Afendras & Eddie C. Y. Kuo (eds.), Language and Society in Singapore, 39–62. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press.Search in Google Scholar
Lee, Cher Leng. 2012. Saving Chinese-language education in Singapore. Current Issues in Language Planning 13(4). 285–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2012.754327.Search in Google Scholar
Lim, Estelle. n.d. Best-rated Chinese enrichment centres in Singapore: Kidlander. https://sg.kidlander.com/highlights/best-rated-chinese-enrichment-centres-in-singapore/ (accessed 24 April, 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Ministry of Education. 2016. Changes to PSLE scoring and secondary one posting from 2021. https://www.moe.gov.sg/microsites/psle/PSLE%20Scoring/psle-scoring.html (accessed 19 July, 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Ministry of Education. 2019. General information on studying in Singapore. https://www.moe.gov.sg/admissions/returning-singaporeans/general-information-on-studying-in-singapore (accessed 27 April, 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Pakir, Anne. 1999. Bilingual education with English as an official language: Sociocultural implications. In James E. Alatis & Ai-Hui Tan (eds.), Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics (GURT) 1999: Language in Our Time, 341–349. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Pavlenko, Aneta. 2013. The affective turn in SLA: From ‘affective factors’ to ‘language desire’ and ‘commodification of affect’. In Danuta Gabryś-Barker & Joanna Bielska (eds.), The affective dimension in Second Language Acquisition, 3–28. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Search in Google Scholar
Price, Gareth. 2014. English for all? Neoliberalism, globalization, and language policy in Taiwan. Language in Society 43. 567–2589. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047404514000566.Search in Google Scholar
PuruShotam, Nirmala Srirekam. 1998. Negotiating language, constructing race: Disciplining difference in Singapore. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110804454Search in Google Scholar
Singapore Department of Statistics. 2015. General household survey 2015. http://www.singstat.gov.sg/publications/publications-and-papers/GHS/ghs2015content (accessed 28 April, 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board. 2019. Frequently asked questions. https://www.ifaq.gov.sg/seab/apps/fcd_faqmain.aspx (accessed 27 April, 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Starr, Rebecca, Andre Joseph Theng, Natalie Tong Jing Yi, Kevin Martens Wong, Nurul Afiqah Bte Ibrahim, Alicia Chua Mei Yin, Clarice Yong Hui Min, Frances Loke Wei, Helen Dominic, Keith Jayden Fernandez & Matthew Peh Tian Jing. 2017. Third culture kids in the Outer Circle: The development of sociolinguistic knowledge among local and expatriate children in Singapore. Language in Society 46(4). 507–546. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047404517000380.Search in Google Scholar
Starr, Rebecca Lurie. Forthcoming. Production and evaluation of sociolinguistic variation in Mandarin Chinese among children in Singapore. In Robert Bayley, Xiaoshi Li & Dennis Preston (eds.), Second Language Acquisition and Linguistic Variation 2e. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/silv.28.03staSearch in Google Scholar
Tan, Kenneth Paul. 2016. How Singapore is fixing its meritocracy. Washington, DC: The Washington Post. 16 April, 2016. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2016/04/16/how-singapore-is-fixing-its-meritocracy/ (accessed 29 April, 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Tan, Charlene. 2017. Private supplementary tutoring and parentocracy in Singapore. Interchange 48(4). 315–319. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-017-9303-4.Search in Google Scholar
Theng, Andre Joseph. 2016. The multilingual marketplace, proficiencies and employability in neoliberal Singapore - A sociolinguistic survey of NUS students. Singapore: National University of Singapore.Search in Google Scholar
Wang, Tianxiao. 2019. Family language policy and sibling variation among bilingual Chinese Singaporeans. Singapore: National University of Singapore.Search in Google Scholar
Wee, Lionel. 2003. Linguistic instrumentalism in Singapore. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 24(3). 211–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434630308666499.Search in Google Scholar
Yang, Calvin. 2015. Most seek helping hand for maths. Singapore: The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/most-seek-helping-hand-for-maths (accessed 27 April 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Yee, Anita. 2016. Mother Tongue exemption for PSLE: What parents should know: Young Parents. https://www.youngparents.com.sg/education/mother-tongue-exemption-psle-what-parents-should-know/ (accessed 27 April, 2019).Search in Google Scholar
© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston