A Study On Singlish Under The Multicultural Context Of Singapore

Singapore is globally renowned for its stable political situation and consistent policymaking. The government of the nation is considered to be one of the most efficient countries in Asia. As a distinguished immigrate country, Singapore has never stopped trying to engage in active nation-building activities ever since it separated from Malaysia. And ultimately the nation gained independence in 1965, which marked the birth of a new country(Milne, 1966). Since its independence, a new variety of English, Singlish, has developed in this country and it is exclusively used in Singapore.As a multinational and multicultural society, Singapore has more than one official language in use now, which gives rise to the language choice and literacy question to a large extent. However, English has been put above all the other languages and the position of English is of vital importance in Singapore. Singapore is the only Asian country where English is the official language. In official circumstances, no languages can compete with English until today. Undeniably, everything related to human life in the society involves language because it is through the language that interaction among tribes, ethnic groups, and religions can happen. Sad but true, certain ethnic groups were not able to maintain their language. This phenomenon is especially true and tangible in the multilingual societies.Not until Singapore achieved its independence, did studies on Singlish appear. Yet, it is worth mentioning that English in Singapore is different from Singapore English. English in Singapore normally refers to Standard English, both British and American English are regarded as Standard English in today's world. Around three hundred years ago, English was exclusively used as the language of the British. However, the language we use as English today has already developed into more than a thousand dialects besides Anglo-Saxon English(Strevens, 1972). In the early twenty first century, heated discussions about whether Singlish should be replaced by standardized English are popular. Despite the fact that some academic papers analyzed culture's impact on the formation of Singlish, few studies focused on Singlish's influence toward culture and society in turn. Based on these factors, this thesis describes various languages and cultures of Singapore, provides a general background of the nation and also shows the relationship between language and culture, in order to explain the possible influence towards the society.By analyzing the features of Singlish, the author aims to analyze the necessity of its existence. And finally comes to a conclusion that Singlish exists as a language variety. It is very necessary for Singlish to exist in Singapore and it has great influence on both citizens and the society.