ABSTRACT
Serving as an introduction to the volume, this chapter offers a brief background to the complex language ecology of Singapore. It sets out the rationale for, and role of, the national and education language policies in managing the sensitivities and competing interests of an ethnically diverse population. The chapter draws attention to pressures of enhanced linguistic heterogeneity and widespread shift to English over time upon the restrictive bilingual framework. By way of establishing the context for the volume, it offers a brief historical and contemporary overview of the language situation and challenges to the four official languages. The chapter then presents the rationale for and structure of the volume before concluding with an introduction to the various chapters.
