英文摘要 |
In the early period of Malaya and Singapore in 1950s and 1960s, the government and civil society joined together to promote the learning of national language. However, different perspectives on the national language’s supremacy from diverse ethnic groups lead to multiplicity within the movement. This paper focuses on both Chinese and Malay elites who were actively involved in national language movement in 1950s and 1960s in Malaya and Singapore. The comparative analysis on their discourse and practical experience reveals that the disparity stems from the differences lied in the historical and cultural background of both ethnic groups. Malay elites who advocated the supreme authority of national language were inclined to form a monolingual society. On the other hand, the Chinese elites preferred a multilingual nation. Unintentionally, the concept of monolingual nation was deterred to certain extent during the national language movement by the bilingual practice among Chinese community. |