华语仍是华族家庭主要用语

ZB noted that the 2020 population census released in June 2021 showed that the English language has replaced the Chinese language as the most frequently spoken language by the ethnic Chinese at home.  ZB interviewed academics on the complex factors contributing to the phenomenon.  Assoc Professor Aw Guat Poh of NIE, NTU said that since MOE's statistics released in 2004 showed that there were more Primary One Chinese students speaking English at home than those speaking Chinese at home, the Government and non-Governmental organisations had been paying close attention to the phenomenon and encouraging Chinese parents to speak Chinese to their children at home.  Their efforts had paid off as she found that the majority of parents were still willing to let their children learn two languages well.  She added that it was an irreversible phenomenon that most young people here had adopted English as the dominant language and what we needed to focus on now was to maintain the use of mother tongue in the local language environment.   

Source: Lianhe Zaobao © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction