The polemics of Singlish

Abstract

An examination of the culture, identity and function of English in Singapore.The widespread use of English in Singapore has placed Singapore in the Outer Circle, along with India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Nigeria, the Philippines and others, in contrast with Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and others who belong to the Inner Circle (Kachru,1991). Placing countries in different circles – inner vs outer or expanding, based on the concept of nativization – has generated questions of democracy in linguistic ideology and related issues of norms and standards. These are discussed.