National language has four official languages: English (Singapore English), Chinese, Malay and Tamil. Although English is the primary language of business, government, and education, Malay is designated as the national language. This is due to the geographical and historical ties to Malaysia as well as the recognition of ethnic Malays (about 14% of the population) as the indigenous people of Singapore. Traditionally, the lingua franca among the different ethnic groups in Singapore was Bazaar Malay, a Malay-based creole. Since independence, the government has been promoting English as the main language of Singapore. The bilingual education policy requires students to study two languages:
Teaching English as a second or foreign language and ESL (English as a second language, a term typically used in English-speaking countries, and more often referring to the learning than the teaching). Teaching English as a second language (TESL) refers to teaching English to students whose first language is not English, usually offered in a region where English "is" the dominant language and natural English language immersion situations are apt to be "plentiful". The teaching profession has historically used different names for TEFL and TESL; however, the more generic term teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) is increasingly used to describe the profession. Both native speakers