Singlish, Singapore’s brand of colloquial English, is accepted by some as an essential marker of
Singaporean identity but deplored by others as a variety of English that puts Singapore and Singaporeans at a
disadvantage because of its lack of international intelligibility. For this reason, it has been argued that
Singaporeans cannot afford to maintain Singlish as a viable linguistic resource. A campaign known as the
“Speak Good English Movement” was established in 2000 to counter the ill effects of Singlish
through the promotion of Standard English. This paper addresses the Singlish-Standard (Singaporean) English
debate in terms of discourse resources and the politics of language planning in Singapore. It may be true that
Singlish is not the most internationally intelligible of Englishes, but what is more interesting is the considerable
disparity between the official concern over international intelligibility and the reality of life in Singapore,
especially for the Singlish speaker. Such a disparity suggests differing notions of what constitutes an important
linguistic resource for the nation as a whole and for specific speech communities. On another level, it provides
insights into the politics of language management in Singapore. The Singlish-Standard English debate also
provides clear evidence of struggles over the determination of the choice of a preferred variety of English and
the control over linguistic resources. Through an examination of media reports, official statements, and letters
to local newspapers, the author considers the implications of this debate for Singaporeans (especially Singlish
speakers) and their participation within the society. In the process, the author also examines the power
relations that are intertwined in this debate for determining the ideal Singaporean society.
2007. Language Planning in Singapore: On Pragmatism, Communitarianism and Personal Names. Current Issues in Language Planning 8:3 ► pp. 324 ff.
BOKHORST‐HENG, WENDY D., LUBNA ALSAGOFF, SANDRA MCKAY & RANI RUBDY
2007. English language ownership among Singaporean Malays: going beyond the NS/NNS dichotomy. World Englishes 26:4 ► pp. 424 ff.
CAVALLARO, FRANCESCO & NG BEE CHIN
2009. Between status and solidarity in Singapore. World Englishes 28:2 ► pp. 143 ff.
CAVALLARO, FRANCESCO, BEE CHIN NG & MARK FIFER SEILHAMER
2014. Singapore Colloquial English: Issues of prestige and identity. World Englishes 33:3 ► pp. 378 ff.
Cavallaro, Francesco, Bee Chin Ng & Ying‐Ying Tan
2020. Singapore English. In The Handbook of Asian Englishes, ► pp. 419 ff.
Hiramoto, Mie
2019. Colloquial Singapore English in advertisements. World Englishes 38:3 ► pp. 450 ff.
Lazar, Michelle M.
2020. Linguistic (homo)nationalism, legitimacies, and authenticities in Singapore's Pink Dot discourse. World Englishes 39:4 ► pp. 653 ff.
LIM, JASON
2015. Popular Nationalism in the Wake of the 2011 National Elections in Singapore. Japanese Journal of Political Science 16:2 ► pp. 143 ff.
Mano, Pavan
2022. Language policy ambivalence. European Journal of Language Policy 14:2 ► pp. 163 ff.
MATTAR, YASSER
2009. Popular cultural cringe: language as signifier of authenticity and quality in the Singaporean popular music market. Popular Music 28:2 ► pp. 179 ff.
Ng, Carl Jon Way
2020. Neoliberal recontextualizations and legitimations in a post‐Confucian state. World Englishes 39:4 ► pp. 638 ff.
Park, Joseph Sung-Yul
2014. Cartographies of language: Making sense of mobility among Korean transmigrants in Singapore. Language & Communication 39 ► pp. 83 ff.
Park, Joseph Sung-Yul & Lionel Wee
2008. Appropriating the language of the other: Performativity in autonomous and unified markets. Language & Communication 28:3 ► pp. 242 ff.
Paul, Anselm Premkumar
2015. Manifestations of Intuitions in the English Language. In Disciplinary Intuitions and the Design of Learning Environments, ► pp. 109 ff.
Penkunas, Michael J., Angelique W. M. Chan, Chek Hooi Wong, Dirk F. de Korne, See Mieng Tan & Sweet Fun Wong
2016. The Role of a Multicomponent Home-Health Intervention in Reducing Caregiver Stress in Singapore: A Qualitative Study. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences► pp. gbw008 ff.
Ricks, Jacob I.
2020. The Effect of Language on Political Appeal: Results from a Survey Experiment in Thailand. Political Behavior 42:1 ► pp. 83 ff.
RUBDY, RANI, SANDRA LEE MCKAY, LUBNA ALSAGOFF & WENDY D. BOKHORST‐HENG
2008. Enacting English language ownership in the Outer Circle: a study of Singaporean Indians' orientations to English norms. World Englishes 27:1 ► pp. 40 ff.
Saraceni, Mario
2018. English in Education in the Philippines: From Research to Policy. In Reconceptualizing English Education in a Multilingual Society [English Language Education, 13], ► pp. 213 ff.
Seilhamer, Mark Fifer & Geraldine Kwek
2021. Repositioning Singlish in Singapore’s language-in-education policies. Asia Pacific Journal of Education 41:4 ► pp. 754 ff.
Tan, Peter K. W.
2007. The Struggle for a Standard: Evidence From Place Names. Names 55:4 ► pp. 387 ff.
TAN, PETER K.W. & DANIEL K. H. TAN
2008. Attitudes towards non‐standard English in Singapore1. World Englishes 27:3-4 ► pp. 465 ff.
TAN, YING‐YING
2014. English as a ‘mother tongue’ in Singapore. World Englishes 33:3 ► pp. 319 ff.
Tupas, Ruanni
2015. All of Myself Has to Change: A Story of Inclusion and Exclusion in an Unequal Learning Space. In Conflict, Exclusion and Dissent in the Linguistic Landscape, ► pp. 170 ff.
Tupas, Ruanni
2018. Singlish in the classroom: is Singapore ready for additive bidialectalism?. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 21:8 ► pp. 982 ff.
Tupas, Ruanni & Csilla Weninger
2022. Mapping Out Unequal Englishes in English-Medium Classrooms. Journal of Language, Identity & Education 21:5 ► pp. 347 ff.
2010. ‘Burdens’ and ‘handicaps’ in Singapore’s language policy: on the limits of language management. Language Policy 9:2 ► pp. 97 ff.
Wee, Lionel
2011. Language policy mistakes in Singapore: Governance, expertise and the deliberation of language ideologies. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 21:2 ► pp. 202 ff.
Wee, Lionel
2011. Metadiscursive convergence in the Singlish debate. Language & Communication 31:1 ► pp. 75 ff.
WEE, LIONEL
2014. Linguistic chutzpah and the Speak Good Singlish movement. World Englishes 33:1 ► pp. 85 ff.
2019. English in Southeast Asia. In The Cambridge Handbook of World Englishes, ► pp. 263 ff.
Wong, Angelia & Ruanni Tupas
2019. Durable and changing views of English: a diachronic thematic analysis of National Day Rally speeches in Singapore. Asian Englishes 21:3 ► pp. 224 ff.
Yang, Peidong
2016. Singlish and the Singaporean: Cross-Cultural Encounter and Othering. In International Mobility and Educational Desire, ► pp. 77 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.