Language planning and policy in Singapore

In Singapore, language planning is associated with government planning. In this top-down approach, the government influences the acquisition of languages and their respective functions within the speech community through the education system.^[1] Language planning aims to facilitate effective communication within the speech community, which can result in a language shift or language assimilation.^[2] The goals of language planning are very much dependent on the political and social forces present in Singapore during two distinct periods: Colonisation by the British and the Post-Independence period after 1965.^[3]