Debating Singlish

Bokhorst–Heng, Wendy D.

doi:10.1515/mult.2005.24.3.185

Cited by 57 publications

(33 citation statements)

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“…The message driven home ad nauseam is how SCE will cripple the international image of Singapore as an advanced, economically competitive, and sophisticated nation. The impact of the SGEM has been comprehensively reviewed in Rubdy (2001) and Bokhorst‐Heng (2005). Both writers have pointed out the wide‐ranging impact that this campaign has on language choices, the media, and education.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(1) Content analysis of the public treatment of the languages spoken. In Singapore, these have concentrated on government policies (Shepherd 2005; Schiffman 1995; Pennycook 1994; Bokhorst‐Heng 2005; Wee and Bokhorst‐Heng 2005; Wee 2005), the language used in the newspapers (Chng 2003; Bokhorst‐Heng 2002) and language debates in the newspapers (Rubdy 2001; Bokhorst‐Heng 2005). These studies generally harness public sentiments and evaluate them in the light of prevailing official educational policies.…”

Section: Language Attitude Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Between status and solidarity in Singapore

Cavallaro¹,

Ng²

2009

World Englishes

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ABSTRACT:Language attitude studies have shown that the majority language and its speakers tend to be rated positively along status, intelligence, and power dimensions ('Educated', 'Successful', 'Intelligent'), while the minority variety and its speakers elicit positive responses in the solidarity semantic category ('Friendly', 'Honest', 'Responsible'). This study examines subjective reaction to Singapore Standard English (SSE) and Singapore Colloquial English (SCE), widely known as 'Singlish', using the matched guise technique. Though SCE has been widely reported to be a strong solidarity marker for Singaporeans, no systematic study has been carried out to attest this observation. In this study, 75 Singaporeans and 19 non-Singaporeans listened to a recorded speech sample in SCE and another in SSE and were asked to rate the 'speakers' on a series of semantic traits. The results conformed to widely reported trends of other matched guise studies showing clustering of responses along dimensions of status and solidarity. However, unlike previous studies in other contexts, which tend to show increased solidarity ratings with non-standard varieties, the data from this present study points to a different trend. Contrary to expectations, SCE was rated lower in solidarity traits compared to SSE. This raises questions about the widely perceived role of SCE as a high solidarity language. The discussion evaluates the attitudes of world Englishes in other contexts and seeks to explain the discrepancy in the findings by drawing on the unique and intense language awareness campaigns Singaporeans have been subjected to since independence.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Language Attitude Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between status and solidarity in Singapore

Cavallaro¹,

Ng²

2009

World Englishes

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“…This notion of English as a basic language – which contrasts starkly with the dominant Korean discourses on English as a symbolic marker of social class and prestige (Park and Abelmann 2004) – is produced and reinforced through Korean migrants’ lived experiences in Singapore where English is a medium for interethnic communication regardless of the speaker's social class (cf. Bokhorst‐Heng 2005). Such experience is illustrated in the following recollection by Bok‐Hee, a 48‐year‐old Korean mother:…”

Section: Mandarin As An Economic Instrument and English As A Basic Lamentioning

confidence: 99%

Singlish or Globish: Multiple language ideologies and global identities among Korean educational migrants in Singapore¹

Kang¹

2012

Journal of Sociolinguistics

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South Korean early study abroad students and their parents in Singapore negotiate and redefine the values of Mandarin, English, and Singlish used in Singapore in an attempt to forge their own transnational identities. In this process, these Korean migrants tend to place more emphasis on metapragmatic discourses; that is, how to speak the languages appropriately. They then use such metapragmatic evaluations to justify their use of the local varieties and practices of language in Singapore. Their discourses are based on two language ideologies –pragmatism and sociolinguistic competence – which are examined here as alternative forms of language legitimacy that coexist with the dominant notion of legitimate language. These multiple language ideologies provide the basis for Korean migrants’ emerging notions of the ‘Asian global,’ a desirable transnational subject who is more practical and sociocentric than the conventional image of high‐ranking elites, with greater adaptability to various local situations. 조기유학을 위해 싱가포르로 이주해온 한국인 가족들은, 자신들의 세계적 정체성을 형성하는 과정에서, 영어, 중국어, 싱글리쉬의 세가지 언어에 대하여 다양한 가치와 태도를 보인다. 이러한 정체성 형성 과정에서, 한국인 조기유학 이주민들은 그들의 메타화용론적 담론, 즉 무슨 언어를 사용할 수 있는가 보다는, 어떻게 언어를 사회적으로 적절하게 구사하는가에 대해 더욱 강조하며, 이러한 평가는 동시에 싱가포르 내에서 사용되는 지역적 언어변이와 그 사용양식을 정당화하는 주요 기제가 된다. 나아가 이러한 메타화용적 담론은 실용주의와 사회언어적 능력의 중시라는 두 가지 언어이데올로기에 의해 매개되며, 이러한 대체적 언어이데올로기는 보다 공식적인 언어이데올로기와 공존하고 있다. 한편, 한국이주민들이 가지고 있는 다중 언어이데올로기는 이들이 새롭게 제시하는 ‘아시아적 세계인’의 모습, 즉 기존의 개인주의적이고 서구 중심적인 상층 엘리트의 이미지와는 다른, 보다 실용주의적이고 사회중심적이며, 어떠한 사회적 변화에도 유연하게 잘 적응할 수 있는 이상적인 초국가적 주체의 모습을 반영한다. [Korean]

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“…A case in point is Singapore, which Schneider (2007: 155−61) claims has entered phase four (endonormative stabilisation) of his Dynamic Model of the evolution of postcolonial Englishes, indicating (in Schneider's view), the broad acceptance and approval of the local form of English. Notwithstanding such progress, the emergence of a distinctive nativised variety has been deprecated by the island's establishment (Bokhorst‐Heng 2005; Wee 2005; Rubdy 2007; Tan and Tan 2008; Cavallaro and Ng 2009), who, in an effort to countervail the apparently deleterious influence of Colloquial Singapore English (or Singlish), initiated the Speak Good English Movement in 2000 to encourage Singaporeans to speak a more standard, internationally intelligible form of the language (Rubdy 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hong Kong English and the professional world

Evans

2011

World Englishes

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One of the dominant themes of the literature on language in Hong Kong is the belief that English, particularly its spoken form, plays a limited role in the lives of the territory's mainly Cantonesespeaking Chinese community. For this reason, it is argued, there is no societal basis for the development of a nativised variety of English. One of the limitations of the case against Hong Kong English is that it is based on expert opinion rather than empirical evidence about the nature and extent of English use in the lives of Hong Kong bilinguals. This paper examines the results of a survey involving more than 2,000 English users in Hong Kong which sought to generate much-needed baseline data about patterns of language choice and use in one centrally important and hitherto overlooked domain: the professional workplace. The findings indicate that Hong Kong professionals spend a significant proportion of their working lives reading and writing English texts. Although Cantonese is the usual medium of oral communication, spoken English also plays an important role, particularly in formal situations. The findings also suggest that the need for English increases as a professional rises through the ranks.

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Debating Singlish

Cited by 57 publications

References 1 publication

Between status and solidarity in Singapore

Between status and solidarity in Singapore

Singlish or Globish: Multiple language ideologies and global identities among Korean educational migrants in Singapore¹

Hong Kong English and the professional world

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Debating Singlish

Cited by 57 publications

References 1 publication

Between status and solidarity in Singapore

Between status and solidarity in Singapore

Singlish or Globish: Multiple language ideologies and global identities among Korean educational migrants in Singapore1

Hong Kong English and the professional world

Contact Info

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Singlish or Globish: Multiple language ideologies and global identities among Korean educational migrants in Singapore¹