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Article published In:
English World-Wide
Vol. 42:1 (2021) ► pp.85–110

Conflicts between World Englishes

Online metalinguistic discourse about Singapore Colloquial English

| University of Edinburgh
| University of Edinburgh

Negative attitudes of non-Singaporeans towards Singapore Colloquial English (SCE) are often used to support the “Speak Good English Movement” in Singapore. This article examines spontaneous metalinguistic discourse about SCE in an online Facebook group where Taiwanese migrants in Singapore gather for mutual support. Based on the idea that metalinguistic discourse is mediated through the social relation between interlocutors, this study reveals how the language ideologies surfacing in the investigated online space are formed through stance-taking processes between people sharing a nationality. We argue that this spatial context elicits and escalates negative ideologies of SCE, which are situated in popular hierarchies of varieties of English, and also hierarchies of Mandarin.

Keywords: computer-mediated communication, language contact, language ideologies, migration, Singlish, social media, stance-taking
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Taiwanese migrants in Singapore: Research background
  • 3.Data analysis
    • 3.1Concepts and methods
      • 3.1.1Ethnic enclaves
      • 3.1.2Facebook discourse markers
      • 3.1.3Stance-taking
    • 3.2Metalinguistic comment analysis
      • 3.2.1Seeking advice on dealing with SCE
      • 3.2.2Having communicative problems with Singaporeans in English
      • 3.2.3Sharing Singlish information
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 27 January 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.00061.wan
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