What is this source about?
Kuo, Eddie C. Y. “Multilingualism and Mass Media Communications in Singapore.” Asian Survey. Vol. 18 No. 10. 1978. University of California Press. JSTOR. Web. Pp. 1067 – 1083.
After collecting data from four different modes—newspaper, radio wiring, television and cinema—Kuo concludes that, in the multicultural society of 1970s Singapore, three ethnic languages—Mandarin, Tamil and Malayase—do not participate in significant translingual practice (Kuo 1074). Instead these three disparate ethnic groups participate in universal communication through English (Kuo 1072). Before presenting his full data, Kuo explains that mass media display the “current sociolinguistic situation,” and that it maintains, shapes, and endorses certain languages (Kuo 1069). Because it “legitimizes” these specific languages, mass media can be used to predict future trends of languages not only in mass media, but also in the general society (Kuo 1069). Across the four forms of mass media, a common pattern surfaced. Although four languages existed in Singapore, in most cases, the media did not offer an opportunity or program that connected or meshed the ethnic groups together (Kuo 1073). None of the medial modes offered a channel or program in a multilingual manner; languages remained separate between programs, designed specifically to serve each ethnic group (Kuo 1073). In Singapore’s society, the majority of multilinguals were those who could speak English and their ethnic Asian language (Kuo 1074). Kuo found that English was increasingly utilized in all four media of Singapore as time progressed (Kuo 1071). The summary matched exactly the introduction offered by Kuo.
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