Abstract
Singapore is a multiracial and multilingual nation that designated Singapore Standard English (SSE) as its lingua franca. Despite the state’s disapproval of Singlish (Singapore Colloquial English, SCE) and the launching of the Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) in 2000 to curb its use, Singlish has accrued covert prestige as the country’s informal lingua franca. While the state frequently claims that Singlish is unintelligible to international speakers of English and has no practical use beyond local contexts, the Internet has significantly expanded the language’s domain and complicated Singlish’s production, circulation, and reception. This chapter compares the online reception of two Singlish poems among Singaporean and non-Singaporean participants, arguing that Singlish is a capacious virtual and global lingua franca that facilitates translingual practices. Virtual Singlish as a lingua franca (VSLF) shifts the language away from its limited topolectal use to consider its international value. While Singlish is typically positioned as an obstacle to English language education and international communication, VSLF witnesses how creative deployments of Singlish invite enterprising negotiations of unfamiliar expressions among non-Singaporeans. This practice has implications for Singlish’s pedagogical role in classrooms, whether international or local, virtual or in-person.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Virtual English as a Lingua Franca |
Publisher | Taylor and Francis |
Pages | 85-108 |
Number of pages | 24 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781000882841 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781032379814 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2023 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Arts and Humanities
- General Social Sciences