Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T11:24:33.266Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

12 - English in Southeast Asia

from Part II - World Englishes Old and New

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2019

By
Lionel Wee
Edited by
Daniel Schreier ,
Marianne Hundt  and
Edgar W. Schneider
Daniel Schreier
Affiliation:
Universität Zürich
Marianne Hundt
Affiliation:
Universität Zürich
Edgar W. Schneider
Affiliation:
Universität Regensburg, Germany
Get access

Summary

While the historical emergence and present-day settings of English in Southeast Asia are highly varied, it is possible, nevertheless, to identify a number of key themes that can provide important insights into the changing status and properties of English in this region. In this regard, the chapter begins by selectively focusing on the history of English in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, in order to highlight how (post)colonization influences the ways in which English inserts itself into different countries. The chapter then draws attention to issues that are fundamental to understanding the contemporary development of English, such as neoliberalism, migration, and commodification. Retaining the earlier connection with the focus on (post)colonization, the chapter closes by considering possible strategies of decolonization as different Southeast Asian countries attempt to evolve beyond the constraints of exonormativity and linguistic insecurity.

Keywords

colonialismexonormativitylanguage ideologieslinguistic insecuritymigrationdativizationneoliberalism
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of World Englishes , pp. 263 - 281
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Asuncion-Lande, N. 1971. Multilingualism, politics, and “Filipinism.” Asian Survey 11(7): 677–692.Google Scholar
Bowring, John. 1959. Diary 1856. Bangkok: Trironasarn Printing House.Google Scholar
Bruthiaux, Paul. 2003. Squaring the circles: Issues in modeling English worldwide. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 13(2): 159–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruthiaux, Paul. 2010. The Speak Good English Movement: A web-user’s perspective. In Lim, Lisa, Pakir, Anne and Wee, Lionel, eds. English in Singapore: Modernity and Management. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 91–108.Google Scholar
Chan, Swee Heng. 2012. Defining English language proficiency for Malaysian tertiary education. Advances in Language and Literary Studies 3(2): 150–160.Google Scholar
Chng, Huang Hoon. 2003. “You see me no up”: Is Singlish a problem? Language Problems and Language Planning 27(1): 45–62.Google Scholar
Espiritu, Clemencia. 2015. Language policies in the Philippines. April 30. http://ncca.gov.ph/subcommissions/subcommission-on-cultural-disseminationscd/language-and-translation/language-policies-in-the-philippines/Google Scholar
Gaudart, Hyacinth. 1987. English Language Teaching in Malaysia: A historical account. The English Teacher, Vol XVI. www.melta.org.my/index.php/11-melta-articles/128-english-language-teaching-in-malaysia-a-historical-accountGoogle Scholar
Gupta, Anthea Fraser. 1994. The Step-Tongue: Children’s English in Singapore. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Jain, Ritu and Wee, Lionel. 2018. Diversity management and the presumptive universality of categories: The case of the Indians in Singapore. Current Issues in Language Planning 20(1): 16–32.Google Scholar
Kok, Loy Fatt. 1978. Colonial Office Policy Towards Education in Malaya (1920–1940). Kuala Lumpur: FaKulti Pendidikan.Google Scholar
Kong, Rithdee. 2012. Davos, Tokyo and clueless Tinglish. Bangkok Post, October 3.Google Scholar
Kumaravadivelu, B. 2003. A postmethod perspective on English language teaching. World Englishes 22(4): 539–550.Google Scholar
Lee, Jonathan and Nadeau, Kathleen. 2011. Thai Americans: Vernacular language, speech and manner. In Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife, Vol. 3, 1122–1126. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.Google Scholar
Lim, Lisa. 2010. Migrants and “mother tongues”: Extralinguistic forces in the ecology of English in Singapore. In Lim, Lisa, Pakir, Anne and Wee, Lionel, eds. English in Singapore: Modernity and Management. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 19–54.Google Scholar
Lorente, Beatriz. 2013. The grip of English and Philippine language policy. In Wee, Lionel, Goh, Robbie and Lim, Lisa, eds. The Politics of English: South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Asia Pacific, 187–204. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacArthur, Tom. 1998. Philippine English. In Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-PHILIPPINEENGLISH.htmlGoogle Scholar
Mahathir, M. 1970. The Malay Dilemma. Singapore: Times Books International.Google Scholar
Masavisut, Nitaya, Sukwiwat, Mayuri and Wongmontha, Seri. 1986. The power of the English language in Thai media. World Englishes 5(2–3): 197–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muniandy, Mohan K., Nair, Gopala Krishnan Sekharan, Shanmugam, Shashi Kumar Krishnan, Ahmad, Irma and Noor, Norashikin Binte Mohamed. 2010. Sociolinguistic competence and Malaysian students’ English language proficiency. English Language Teaching 3(3): 145–151.Google Scholar
Noss, R. B. 1984. An Overview of Language Issues in South-East Asia 1950–1980. Singapore: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Park, Joseph and Wee, Lionel. 2013. Linguistic baptism and the disintegration of ELF. Applied Linguistics Review 4(2): 339–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pennycook, Alastair. 1998. English and the Discourses of Colonialism. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Platt, John and Weber, Heidi. 1980. English in Singapore and Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rappa, A. and Wee, L.. 2006. Language Policy and Modernity in Southeast Asia: Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Rubdy, Rani. 2001. Creative destruction: Singapore’s Speak Good English Movement. World Englishes 20: 341–355.Google Scholar
Rubdy, Rani. 2015. Unequal Englishes, the native speaker, and decolonization in TESOL. In Ruanni Tupas, T., ed. Unequal Englishes: The Politics of Englishes Today. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 42–58.Google Scholar
Schneider, Edgar. 2007. Postcolonial English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, Edgar. 2011. English into Asia: From Singaporean ubiquity to Chinese learners’ features. In Adams, Michael and Curzan, Anne, eds. Contours of English and English Language Studies. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 135–156.Google Scholar
Schneider, Edgar. 2016. Hybrid Englishes: An exploratory survey. World Englishes 35(3): 339–354.Google Scholar
Sibayan, Bonifacio and Gonzales, Andrew. 1996. Post-imperial English in the Philippines. In Fishman, Joshua A., Rubal-Lopez, Alma and Conrad, Andrew W., eds. Post-imperial English. Berlin: Mouton, 139–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siegel, J. 1999. Stigmatized and standardized varieties in the classroom: Interference or separation. TESOL Quarterly 33(4): 701–728.Google Scholar
Smalley, W. A. 1994. Linguistic Diversity and National Unity: Language Ecology in Thailand. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Stevenson, Rex. 1975. Cultivators and Administrators: British Educational Policy Towards the Malays 1875–1906. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tupas, Topsie Ruanni, F. 2004. Back to class: The medium of instruction debate in the Philippines. Paper presented at the Language, Nation and Development in Southeast Asia Roundtable.Google Scholar
Vella, Walter F. 1955. The Impact of the West on Government in Thailand. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Wee, Lionel. 2004. Reduplication and discourse particles. In Lim, Lisa, eds. Singapore English: A Grammatical Perspective. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 105–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wee, Lionel. 2018. The Singlish Controversy: Language, Culture and Identity in a Globalizing World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wongsothorn, A. 2000. Thailand. In Ho, Wah Kum and Ruth, Y. L. Wong, eds., Language Policies and Language Education. Singapore: Times Academic Press, 307–320.Google Scholar
Yeoh, Brenda. 2003. Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore. Singapore: NUS Press.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×