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Overarching Themes, Bilingual Dreams and Multilingual Landscapes: Quadrilingual Education in Singapore

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Quadrilingual Education in Singapore

Part of the book series: Education Innovation Series ((EDIN))

Abstract

In this chapter, we provide background for understanding the empirical studies reported in this volume. We offer information on language in education in the Singapore context by first explaining why we refer to ‘quadrilingual education’ in Singapore. We then highlight four themes that overarch the educational system as a whole and within which language education is framed. Subsequently, we discuss dreams and idealisations of individual bilingualism, societal multilingualism and education. This leads to a description of the language-in-education system which serves as background to the studies presented in this volume. The chapter closes with a brief introduction to the six parts of the book and the chapters within each part.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This does not mean every school offers all four languages. There is some variation depending on the ethnic population the school serves.

  2. 2.

    Public speeches by government officials are archived at http://stars.nhb.gov.sg/stars/public/.

  3. 3.

    All subject syllabuses for the Singapore system are available at http://www.moe.gov.sg/education /syllabuses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. English Language and Literature, National Institute of Education, Singapore, Singapore

    Rita Elaine Silver

  2. Department of Education, Crandall University, Moncton, NB, Canada

    Wendy D. Bokhorst-Heng

Authors
  1. Rita Elaine Silver
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  2. Wendy D. Bokhorst-Heng
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Correspondence to Rita Elaine Silver .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Nanyang Technological University, National Institute of Education, Singapore

    Rita Elaine Silver

  2. Crandall University, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada

    Wendy D. Bokhorst-Heng

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Silver, R.E., Bokhorst-Heng, W.D. (2016). Overarching Themes, Bilingual Dreams and Multilingual Landscapes: Quadrilingual Education in Singapore. In: Elaine Silver, R., Bokhorst-Heng, W. (eds) Quadrilingual Education in Singapore. Education Innovation Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-967-7_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-967-7_1

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