Singapore and Malaysia

Over the years, the Englishes of Singapore and Malaysia have developed into varieties in their own right, ranging from the sub-varieties spoken by people with high levels of English-medium education and of higher socio-economic status. This text volume illustrates this from a range of examples of spoken and written Singapore and Malaysian English as well as advertising pamphlets, newspaper advertisements and literary texts. The introduction to the volume sketches the historical and ethnic background, the increase in the functions of English in the colonial and earlier post-colonial period and the divergent language policies which have led to a decline in the status and functions of English in Malyasia but an ever increasing emphasis on it in Singapore. Each text is accompanied by a set of notes which explain grammatical and lexical characteristics and give information about the background of the text.