Reading the "Singlish Debate": Construction of a Crisis of Language Standards and Language Teaching in Singapore

Kramer-Dahl, Anneliese

doi:10.1207/s15327701jlie0203_2

Cited by 24 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, debates surrounding what it means to be Singaporean and what consists of Singaporean national cultural identity have also questioned the dominant role of 'imported' English on this island. As such, Singlish, a colloquial variety of English used in Singapore, seen as a cultural identity marker for Singaporeans has been fought against quite harshly by the government and a number of scholars, who strongly believe in the prosperity and globally competitive advantages 'standard English' has brought about to Singapore (Kramer-Dahl, 2003;Rubdy, 2007;Wee, 2011). According to Rubdy (2007, p. 308), "educators, parents and the lay public often echo similar views in the media, namely, that Singlish is a problem, a handicap, a blot", and hence constructing Singlish "as a less prestigious dialect associated with low social status."…”

Section: The Three Circles Of English Their Altering Borders and Lamentioning

confidence: 99%

Nation Building, English as an International Language, Medium of Instruction, and Language Debate: Malaysia and Possible Ways Forward

Kho

Ch`Ng

2013

Jice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this article, we discuss Malaysia's major language policies surrounding Bahasa Malaysia and English as medium of instruction (MOI) since its independence. We show how issues involving a national language vis a vis English are shaped by different ethnic and social groups' competing views regarding these languages. We argue that the language debate in Malaysia is largely an emotive one that carries a historical baggage which no one is yet ready to discard and until such time, it will continue to represent a nation divided by nationalism, race-based politics and globalisation. However, we also interpret the Malaysian government's termination of English as the MOI in certain key school subjects starting in 2012 as not necessarily an arbitrary rejection of English but as a positive move, given the many problems associated with the over-reliance on English in education and language policies throughout Asia. We, thus, see the most recent act known as 'To Uphold Bahasa Malaysia & To Strengthen the English Language' (MBMMBI) as a necessary, firm, strategic and timely response by the Malaysian government to globalisation, nation building, the increasing international role of English, and the pressure to produce knowledge and maintain national cultural identity in today's world

show abstract

Section: The Three Circles Of English Their Altering Borders and Lamentioning

confidence: 99%

Nation Building, English as an International Language, Medium of Instruction, and Language Debate: Malaysia and Possible Ways Forward

Kho

Ch`Ng

2013

Jice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Yet, as noted by a number of scholars (Bokhorst‐Heng, 2005: 192; Kramer‐Dahl, 2003: 162; Wee, 2002: 288), despite the growing number of Singaporeans arguing for English as their mother tongue and primary household language, the official “statal narrative” (Wee and Bokhorst‐Heng, 2005) – the nationalist ideology around language – does not recognise them as native speakers (NSs) of English. Indeed, the government has consistently continued to emphasise the purely instrumental and functional value of English as crucial to Singapore's goals of building a modern nation state and for plugging into the global economy, and to deny English mother tongue status.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This has become particularly evident in recent years with the launch of the Speak Good English Movement in 2000. Intrinsic to this movement is an ongoing debate in Singapore concerning the position and meanings of English – with a growing number arguing that English (and especially Singapore's colloquial variety of English, Singlish) should be considered a mother tongue, while others argue for a pragmatic neutral/non‐identity‐based view of English (analysis of both arguments can be found in Bokhorst‐Heng, 2005; Chng, 2003; Kramer‐Dahl, 2003; Rubdy, 2001; Wee, 2002). Using Crystal's (1995: 110) distinction, the former view represents a position of national identity , in which “a nation looks within itself at the structure of its society and the psychology of its people, and tries to define its [linguistic] needs in relation to its sense of national identity”.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

English language ownership among Singaporean Malays: going beyond the NS/NNS dichotomy

Bokhorst–Heng¹,

Alsagoff²,

McKay

et al. 2007

World Englishes

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Singapore represents what Kachru calls an Outer Circle country. English is an official language, the de facto working language of the nation, and is the medium of instruction in all schools. Yet, with three dominant races and their affiliated languages, there is no single pattern of English language acquisition among Singaporeans. While some do indeed learn English as a second language, others acquire it in the process of its use and interaction, much like first language speakers in Inner Circle countries. Among other things, this makes these speakers native users of their variety of English. While much research has been done on the different varieties of English and their legitimacy, we explore speakers' orientations towards and degree of ownership of their English norms in one language community, Singaporean Malays, taking into account race, age, and socioeconomic class. The Malay community is interesting because, while most still use Malay as their predominant home language, English is making rapid inroads. By looking at English speakers across age and socioeconomic categories, we are able to capture a snapshot of their language ownership in transition, taking us beyond the NS/NNS dichotomy and nuancing the meanings of English in Singaporean society.

show abstract

“…The latter may be questioned due to the high levels of variation within the ‘variety’, a point not restricted to Singlish (Leimgruber, ). Nonetheless, the term Singlish remains in widespread use within the general population, within academia, and within language planning circles (see, for instance, Kramer‐Dahl, ; Platt, ; Rubdy, ; Wee, ). Although definitions on what constitutes ‘Singlish’ differ even within the speech community, there is agreement that it does, in fact, exist (Leimgruber, ), if only as a topic of discussion.…”

Section: Methodology and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Singaporean students’ language repertoires and attitudes revisited

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Singapore has received a large amount of scholarly interest with regards to the structural and sociolinguistic properties of its local variety of English. In contrast, there is comparatively less empirical data on individual linguistic repertoires and usage patterns.Building on previous research into the linguistic and sociological background of young Singaporean adults, our study examines 450 students recruited from three distinct educational institutions: a university, polytechnics, and vocational training schools. A detailed language background questionnaire reveals the degree of multilingualism, patterns of language use, as well as language attitudes towards different languages. We find important differences between the three student cohorts examined here and are able to relate them to their social and ethnic backgrounds.Recent research into the multilingual texture of Singapore indicates that the city-state is developing into a predominantly bilingual society in which, much in line with government policies, citizens speak English next to one of the socalled 'mother tongues' , that is, Mandarin for the Chinese ethnicity, Malay for the Malay group, and Tamil for the ethnic group of Indians. The mother tongues as well as English count as official languages in Singapore. Many Singaporean speakers, however, live in a more complex linguistic setting, since the term 'English' subsumes both Standard and Colloquial Singapore English, the latter being quite distinct from the standard, as is well known.Representing a follow-up study to Siemund, Schulz, and Schweinberger (2014), our study explores the individual language profiles of 450 Singaporean students coming from three cohorts, namely 150 university students (Nanyang Technological University), 150 students from various polytechnics, and 150 ITE students (Institute of Technical Education, the national vocational training school). Such individual linguistic information is conspicuously absent from government reports (SingStats) or other studies and helps, in our view, to paint a clearer picture of the Singaporean linguistic landscape. The novel contribution of our present study is the addition of 150 ITE students that we will set in relation to the two other cohorts sampled and analysed in Siemund et al. (2014). Our study significantly expands the relatively small body of research on language use and language shift in Singapore, thus helping to paint a clearer picture of this highly complex and dynamic situation. 282

show abstract

Reading the "Singlish Debate": Construction of a Crisis of Language Standards and Language Teaching in Singapore

Cited by 24 publications

References 17 publications

Nation Building, English as an International Language, Medium of Instruction, and Language Debate: Malaysia and Possible Ways Forward

Nation Building, English as an International Language, Medium of Instruction, and Language Debate: Malaysia and Possible Ways Forward

English language ownership among Singaporean Malays: going beyond the NS/NNS dichotomy

Singaporean students’ language repertoires and attitudes revisited

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About