Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. Introduction...............................................................................................................1
2. Origins and developments of English in Singapore................................................2
3. Origins and developments of Singlish.........................................................................3
4. Conclusion................................................................................................................... 6
References.......................................................................................................................... 7
1. Introduction
Singapore is a city-state located in the southern of the Malay peninsula and near the
Straits of Malacca. The island is also known as a multiracial city with 74.3% of Chinese,
13.4% of Malays, 9% of Indian, and 3.3% of others (Department of Statistic Singapore,
2017). As a result, official languages in correspondence with the main races in Singapore
are Chinese, Malay and Tamil. But English is the lingua franca even though this language
does not represent any ethnical groups in Singapore. English was adopted by
Singaporeans during the British colonial time and it is one of the main reasons that foster
Singapore to become a fast-developed country in the world with a powerful economy and
modern education system. Based on Kachru’s (1985) framework, Singaporean English is
a variety of English which is in the Outer Circle of the three concentric circles along with
Nigeria or India, in contrast to the United Kingdom, the United States belonging to the
Inner Circle since English is spoken as a second language in Singapore. Nowadays it is
undeniable that the extent of English usage varies in every country and region, even in
English-speaking nations. And when it comes to Singaporean English, there have been
socio-political controversies surrounding Singlish.
4. Conclusion
Over time, Singlish has been accepted gradually as one of Singaporeans’ conversational
languages because it also has a long history since the British colonialism. The unique mix
of English and other dialects is a unique language that people only found in Singapore,
and also is seen as a badge of Singapore’s identity. Foreign people can easily recognize
Singaporeans by the way they communicate. It has transformed from a habit among
residents and a culture in Singapore. It is expected that both Standard Singapore English
and Singlish co-exist in the later run. Currently, the term of ‘World Englishes’ has been
prevalently spread out and many varieties of English are used and spoken all over the
world. Other difference versions of English can be found in Scotland, Ireland or Jamaica.
Although the Singaporean government still discourage the use of Singlish in formal
settings, Singlish may be seen as a mixture of global and local functions of English in
Singapore and an undeniable development of a multiracial and multicultural country as
Singapore. It still develops dramatically in this fast-changing era of technology since the
language is closely related to the cultural reference point of any country. This mean
government policy has a little impact on Singlish language use and attitudes. However,
Singaporeans would admit that Singlish will never become Standard English that is used
and understood worldwide.
References
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