Understanding Malay academic underachievement in Singapore through looking at language
Due to Singapore’s multi-racial characteristic, our bilingual policy has adopted English as lingua franca and Mandarin, Malay, Tamil as mother tongue for each racial group. This paper employs a deconstructivist approach to study Malay academic underachievement through uncovering the operations under...
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| Format: | Final Year Project (FYP) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2010
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10356/41535 |
| _version_ | 1826123378587598848 |
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| author | Chin, Chain Yu |
| author2 | Genaro Castro-Vázquez |
| author_facet | Genaro Castro-Vázquez Chin, Chain Yu |
| author_sort | Chin, Chain Yu |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Due to Singapore’s multi-racial characteristic, our bilingual policy has adopted English as lingua franca and Mandarin, Malay, Tamil as mother tongue for each racial group. This paper employs a deconstructivist approach to study Malay academic underachievement through uncovering the operations underlying the racial stereotypical essentialist claim, specifically focusing on whether a race and its native language (Malay) can possibly account for the educational outcomes for the Malays. Focus group interview was conducted with six Malay undergraduates engaged through personal contacts and snowball sampling. This study shows how language constitutes a grey zone between multiracialism and assimilation on both micro (individual) and macro (societal) levels. Through linking both micro (bilingual policy) and macro levels (“modern Singaporean”) in terms of language, the findings of this study highlight how academic achievement and/or underachievement become(s) simply a “race” issue that develop(s) to a taken-for-granted reality when it could be unearthed as a language issue. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:03:42Z |
| format | Final Year Project (FYP) |
| id | ntu-10356/41535 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:03:42Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/415352019-12-10T13:03:01Z Understanding Malay academic underachievement in Singapore through looking at language Chin, Chain Yu Genaro Castro-Vázquez School of Humanities and Social Sciences DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Communities, classes and races Due to Singapore’s multi-racial characteristic, our bilingual policy has adopted English as lingua franca and Mandarin, Malay, Tamil as mother tongue for each racial group. This paper employs a deconstructivist approach to study Malay academic underachievement through uncovering the operations underlying the racial stereotypical essentialist claim, specifically focusing on whether a race and its native language (Malay) can possibly account for the educational outcomes for the Malays. Focus group interview was conducted with six Malay undergraduates engaged through personal contacts and snowball sampling. This study shows how language constitutes a grey zone between multiracialism and assimilation on both micro (individual) and macro (societal) levels. Through linking both micro (bilingual policy) and macro levels (“modern Singaporean”) in terms of language, the findings of this study highlight how academic achievement and/or underachievement become(s) simply a “race” issue that develop(s) to a taken-for-granted reality when it could be unearthed as a language issue. Bachelor of Arts 2010-07-19T01:26:58Z 2010-07-19T01:26:58Z 2010 2010 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/41535 en 40 p. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Communities, classes and races Chin, Chain Yu Understanding Malay academic underachievement in Singapore through looking at language |
| title | Understanding Malay academic underachievement in Singapore through looking at language |
| title_full | Understanding Malay academic underachievement in Singapore through looking at language |
| title_fullStr | Understanding Malay academic underachievement in Singapore through looking at language |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding Malay academic underachievement in Singapore through looking at language |
| title_short | Understanding Malay academic underachievement in Singapore through looking at language |
| title_sort | understanding malay academic underachievement in singapore through looking at language |
| topic | DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Communities, classes and races |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10356/41535 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chinchainyu understandingmalayacademicunderachievementinsingaporethroughlookingatlanguage |