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Part of
Variation in Second and Heritage Languages: Crosslinguistic perspectives
Edited by Robert Bayley, Dennis R. Preston and Xiaoshi Li
[Studies in Language Variation 28] 2022
► pp. 43–70

Chapter 3
Production and evaluation of sociolinguistic variation in Mandarin Chinese among children in Singapore

ORCID logo | National University of Singapore

Singapore Mandarin is traditionally characterized by non-standard features arising from southern Chinese dialect influence. However, as English expands as a home language in Singapore, children’s Mandarin exposure is increasingly limited to formal school settings. The situation is further complicated by rising immigration from Mainland China and the presence of Mainland teachers in the education sector. This study investigates how local and expatriate children in Singapore acquire and evaluate Mandarin variation in this complex landscape. Expatriates attending international schools are found to orient towards Mainland varieties, while expatriates in local schools acquire more local usage patterns, but do not demonstrate sociolinguistic knowledge comparable to Singaporean peers. These findings suggest that transnational migration and language shift are prompting changes in Singapore Mandarin.

Keywords: language variation and change, acquisition of variation, dialect contact, language attitudes, child language acquisition, transnational migration, Southeast Asia, Mandarin Chinese
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Mandarin variation and change in the Singapore context
    • Mandarin in Singapore
    • Mandarin sociolinguistic variation
    • Mandarin sociolinguistic development among local and expatriate children in Singapore
      • The Voices of Children in Singapore project
    • Mandarin learning environments
  • Participants and methodology
    • Participants
    • Methodology
      • Regional identification task
      • Occupation judgement task
      • Production task
  • Findings
    • Regional identification task
    • Occupation judgment task
    • Production task
  • Discussion
    • Regional identification
    • Occupation judgment
    • Speech production
  • Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 14 July 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/silv.28.03sta
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