The Hokkien community in Singapore : exploring the language use of Singapore Hokkien through domains

This study looks into the Hokkien community, specifically the language use of Singapore Hokkien in the family, workplace, friendship, and religious domains through a social perspective. The Hokkien community is a sub-group of the ethnic Chinese community in Singapore, which has been undergoing language shift from the Chinese vernaculars to English and Mandarin Chinese since the implementation of the Speak Mandarin Campaign in 1979. Eight adult Singapore Hokkien speakers between the ages of 24-56 participated in this study, which takes on a qualitative approach of the domain analysis developed by Fishman (1965). The informants’ responses to the semi- structured interviews conducted constituted the data. The findings support existing literature on language shift in the Chinese community from vernaculars and revealed that the language shift is likely to have progressed to a point where it has stabilised. This study indicated that the use of Hokkien is motivated by identity and communication with the elderly. The motivations behind the use of Singapore Hokkien are limited. Singapore Hokkien is viewed as a ‘solidarity’ language as Mandarin Chinese and English has a broader range of functions in the society for the Hokkien community now.Bachelor of Art