Early works on Singapore and Malaysian English used to consider them as a single homogeneous entity based on their shared history as previous British colonies. However, since 1965, both Malaysia and Singapore have been independent from each other. It is interesting to investigate, some four decades post-independence, how different the English speech patterns of Malaysians and Singaporeans have become taking into account the different language planning policies undertaken by both countries. This paper compares one particular aspect of pronunciation, i.e. the vowel qualities and durations of both varieties. The formants of the vowels of the read speech of five male and five female speakers of Malaysian English (MalE) are compared to an equivalent sample of speakers of Singapore English (SgE) in order to compare the vowel qualities between the two varieties. In particular, we compare the vowel quadrilateral space of MalE in comparison with SgE. Vowel durations are also measured for vowels produced in citation forms only. It is found that SgE speakers did maintain some distinctions between the long/short vowel pairs in terms of duration while the MalE speakers tended to conflate the long/short vowel pairs durationally.

Previous work on the rhythm of Malaysian English has been based on impressionistic observations. This paper utilizes acoustic analysis to measure the rhythmic patterns of Malaysian English. Recordings of the read speech and spontaneous speech of 10 Malaysian English speakers were analyzed and compared with recordings of an equivalent sample of Singaporean English speakers. Analysis was done using two rhythmic indexes, the PVI and VarcoV. It was found that although the rhythm of read speech of the Singaporean speakers was syllable-based as described by previous studies, the rhythm of the Malaysian speakers was even more syllable-based. Analysis of the syllables in specific utterances showed that Malaysian speakers did not reduce vowels as much as Singaporean speakers in cases of syllables in utterances. Results of the spontaneous speech confirmed the findings for the read speech; that is, the same rhythmic patterning was found which normally triggers vowel reductions.

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The interest in examining the use of English among Malaysian undergraduates arose as a result of much media talk about the poor language skills that these students display upon gaining their first jobs in the work place. This study analyses simulated job interview sessions at a public university involving a group of final year students and a human resource manager. The audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed and analysed to determine the language and strategies used by participants while responding to interview questions. Micro analysis of the interview discourse, and matching it against the macro perspective of the nation’s vision to produce competent users of English for the workforce, revealed that a huge gap exists between the two “worlds”. On the one hand, the university gets students who lack language competency while, on the other, government policy is to have these students trained and ready to communicate effectively at the workplace within a period of three to four years. This is indeed a high call. The data analysed provides a glimpse into the students’ deficiencies. The article proposes that there are more issues that need to be tackled regarding the matter at hand.