Editing Singapore English (section)

== Standard Singapore English ==
Standard Singapore English is the standard form of English used in Singapore. It generally resembles British English and is often used in more formal settings such as the workplace or when communicating with people of higher authority such as teachers, bosses and government officials.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Roles of Singapore Standard English and Singlish|url=http://www.bunkyo.ac.jp/faculty/lib/slib/kiyo/Inf/if40/if4006.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602055518/http://www.bunkyo.ac.jp/faculty/lib/slib/kiyo/Inf/if40/if4006.pdf|archive-date=2 June 2013}}</ref> Singapore English acts as the "bridge" among different ethnic groups in Singapore.<ref name="Leimgruber"/> Standard Singapore English retains British spelling and grammar.<ref>{{cite web|title=What are some commonly misspelled English words?|url=http://blogs.nlb.gov.sg/ask/children/481|publisher=National Library Board, Singapore|access-date=7 June 2013|date=18 April 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303222846/https://blogs.nlb.gov.sg/ask/children/481|archive-date=3 March 2012}}</ref>

===History===
The British established a trading post on the island of Singapore in 1819, and the population grew rapidly thereafter, attracting many immigrants from Chinese provinces and from India.<ref>{{cite book | title = Singapore English |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VP_HO_Q5rEUC&q=american+influence+on+singaporean+english&pg=PR4|isbn= 9780748625451|last1= Deterding|first1= David|year= 2007}}</ref> The roots of Standard Singapore English derive from nearly a century and a half of British control. Its local character seems to have developed early in the English-medium schools of the 19th and early-20th centuries, where the teachers often came from [[India]] and [[Ceylon]], as well as from various parts of Europe and from the United States of America. By 1900 Eurasians and other locals were employed as teachers.<ref>{{cite book|last= Gupta|first= Anthea Fraser|title= The Step-Tongue: Children's English in Singapore|year= 1994|publisher= WBC Ltd, Bridgend|location= United Kingdom|isbn= 978-1-85359-230-0|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_Wsh1EbUJB0C}}</ref> Apart from a period of [[Japanese occupation of Singapore|Japanese occupation]] (1942–1945), Singapore remained a British colony until 1963, when it joined the [[Malaysia]]n federation, but this proved a short-lived alliance, largely due to ethnic rivalries. Since [[Singapore in Malaysia#Expulsion|its expulsion from the Federation in 1965]], Singapore has operated as an independent [[city-state]]. English served as the administrative language of the British colonial government, and when Singapore [[Self-governance of Singapore|gained self-government]] in 1959 and independence in 1965, the Singaporean government decided to keep English as the main language to maximise economic prosperity. The use of English as the nation's first language serves to bridge the gap between the diverse ethnic groups in Singapore; English operates as the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of the nation. The use of English as a global language for commerce, technology and science has also helped to expedite Singapore's development and integration into the global economy.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Alatis |first1=James E. |last2=Tan |first2=Ai-Hui |year=1999 |title=Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 1999 |publisher=Georgetown University Press |location=United States |url=http://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/551456/gurt-1999.pdf?sequence=1 |format=pdf |access-date=7 June 2013 |url-status= dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715182810/https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/551456/gurt-1999.pdf?sequence=1 |archive-date=15 July 2014}}</ref> Public schools use English as the main language of instruction, although students are also required to receive part of their instruction in their mother tongue; placement in such courses is based on ethnicity and not without controversy.<ref>
{{cite journal
 |last1            = Leimgruber
 |first1           = Jakob R. E.
 |title            = Singapore English
 |url              = http://jakobleimgruber.ch/papers/LLC.pdf
 |journal          = Language and Linguistics Compass
 |date = January 2011
 |volume           = 5
 |issue            = 1
 |pages            = 47–62
 |doi              = 10.1111/j.1749-818x.2010.00262.x
 |issn             = 1749-818X
 |access-date      = 18 April 2016
 |quote            = English [...] is also the only medium of instruction in schools [... e]xcept in the elite Special Assistance Plan Schools, where some subjects are taught in the mother tongue. They currently only exist for Mandarin.
 |url-status          = dead
 |archive-url       = https://web.archive.org/web/20160426041614/http://jakobleimgruber.ch/papers/LLC.pdf
 |archive-date      = 26 April 2016
}}
</ref>
The standard Singaporean accent used to be officially [[Received Pronunciation|RP]]. However, in recent decades,{{when|date=June 2013}} a standard Singaporean accent, quite independent of any external standard, including RP, started to emerge. A 2003 study by the [[National Institute of Education]] in Singapore suggests that a standard Singaporean pronunciation is emerging and is on the cusp of being standardised.<ref name="emergent-patterns" /> Singaporean accents can be said to be largely [[Rhotic and non-rhotic accents|non-rhotic]].<ref name="non-rhotic">{{Cite book|title=English in Southeast Asia: Varieties, literacies and literatures|last=Deterding|first=David|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing.|year=2007|location=Newcastle|pages=11}}</ref>

In 2023, opposition leader [[Pritam Singh (Singaporean politician)|Pritam Singh]] advocated for English proficiency testing for immigrants seeking Singaporean citizenship.<ref name="proposal">{{Cite web |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/new-citizen-permanent-resident-singapore-application-english-test-pritam-singh-josephine-teo-3309261 |publisher=[[Channel News Asia]] |lang=en-SG |date=2023-02-27 |last=Tang |first=Louisa |title=Pritam Singh advocates for English test in Singapore citizenship, PR applications |accessdate=2023-04-06}}</ref> Polling data of native-born Singaporeans show broad support for the proposal.<ref name="polling">{{Cite web |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/english-test-new-citizens-pr-application-survey-3368571 |publisher=[[Channel News Asia]] |lang=en-SG |date=2023-04-03 |last=Tang |first=Louisa |accessdate=2023-04-06 |title=CNA poll finds majority welcome English test to be part of Singapore citizenship application process}}</ref>

=== Singapore's Speak Good English Movement ===
The wide use of Singlish led the government to launch the [[Speak Good English Movement]] in Singapore in 2000 in an attempt to replace Singlish with Standard English. This movement was made to show the need for Singaporeans to speak Standard English. Nowadays, all children in schools are being taught Standard English with one of the other official languages (Chinese, Malay, Tamil) being taught as a second language. In Singapore, English is a "working language" that serves the economy and development and is associated with the broader global community. Meanwhile, the rest are "mother tongues" that are associated with the country's culture. Speaking Standard English also helps Singaporeans communicate and express themselves in their everyday life.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Creative destruction: Singapore's Speak Good English movement|journal=World Englishes|volume=20|issue=3|pages=341–355|doi=10.1111/1467-971X.00219|year=2001|last1=Rubdy|first1=Rani}}</ref>
In 2014, the Singaporean government made an announcement entitled "Speak Good English Movement brings fun back to Grammar and good English", where the strategies that would be used to promote their program in the following years were explained. Specifically, the government would release a series of videos demystifying the difficulty and dullness of the grammatical rules of the English language. These videos provide a more humorous approach to learning basic grammar rules. Singaporeans will now be able to practise the grammatical rules in both written and spoken English thanks to a more interactive approach.<ref>{{cite web|title=Speak Good English Movement brings fun back to Grammar and good English|url=http://www.news.gov.sg/public/sgpc/en/media_releases/agencies/nhb/press_release/P-20140528-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810193412/http://www.news.gov.sg/public/sgpc/en/media_releases/agencies/nhb/press_release/P-20140528-1.html|archive-date=10 August 2014}}</ref>{{update inline|date=July 2023|reason=Need info on how this initiative has fared after the videos' publication (public opinion/reactions, relevant statistics, other details on progress, etc.)}}

=== Malay, Indian, and Chinese influences ===
Although Standard Singapore English (SSE) is mainly influenced by British English and, recently, American English, there are other languages that also contribute to its use on a regular basis. The majority of Singaporeans speak more than one language, with many speaking three to four.<ref name="Singapore Colloquial English">{{cite web | first1=Anthea | last1=Gupta | url=http://www.hawaii.edu/satocenter/langnet/definitions/singlish.html | title=Singapore Colloquial English | website=University of Hawaiʻi| publisher=University of Hawaii | access-date=4 August 2014 }}</ref> Most Singaporean children are brought up bilingual. They are introduced to Malay, Chinese, Tamil, or Singapore Colloquial English (Singlish) as their native languages, depending on their families' ethnic backgrounds and/or socioeconomic status. They also acquire those languages from interacting with friends in school and other places. Naturally, the presence of other languages in Singapore has influenced Singapore English, something particularly apparent in Singlish.<ref name="Singapore Colloquial English"/>

Both Singapore English and Singapore colloquial English are used with multiple accents. Because Singaporeans speak different ethnic mother tongues, they exhibit ethnic-specific features in their speech such that their ethnicity can be readily identified from their speech alone.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lim|first=Lisa|date=1996|title=Prosodic patterns characterising Chinese, Indian, and Malay Singapore English.|journal=Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Reading}}</ref> The strength of one's ethnic mother tongue-accented English accent depends on factors like formality<ref>Deterding, D. & Poedjosoedarmo, G. (2000). To what extent can the ethnic group of young Singaporeans be identified from their speech? In A. Brown, D. Deterding, & E. L. Low (Eds.). ''The English Language in Singapore: Research on Pronunciation,'' (pp. 1–9). Singapore: SAAL.</ref> and their language dominance.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sim|first=Jasper Hong|date=2019-02-01|title=But you don't sound Malay!|journal=English World-Wide|language=en|volume=40|issue=1|pages=79–108|doi=10.1075/eww.00023.sim|s2cid=151307960 |issn=0172-8865}}</ref> Words from Malay, Chinese, and Tamil are also borrowed, if not code-switched, into Singapore English. For example, the [[Malay language|Malay]] words "[[wiktionary:makan|makan]]" (to eat), "[[wiktionary:habis|habis]]" (finished), and the [[Hokkien]] word "[[kiasu]]" ({{zh|t=驚輸|s=惊输|poj=kiaⁿ-su}}) are constantly used, having been adopted into the lexicon, to the point that Singaporeans are not necessarily aware of which language those words are from. The nativisation process has progressed so far that the word "kiasu" has been used in the Singapore press since 2000 without being [[Italic type|italicised]],<ref name="Singapore Colloquial English"/> and went onto claim international recognition, being admitted to the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] in 2007.<ref name="Leimgruber">{{cite web|last1=Leimgruber|first1=Jakob|title=Singapore English|url=http://jakobleimgruber.ch/papers/LLC.pdf|access-date=4 August 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221040/http://jakobleimgruber.ch/papers/LLC.pdf|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Lee |first1=Min Kok |title=Kiasu is Oxford English Dictionary's Word of the Day: Other Singlish words in the OED |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/kiasu-is-oxford-english-dictionarys-word-of-the-day-other-singlish-words-in-the-oed |website=The Straits Times |access-date=9 December 2024 |date=February 11, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=kiasu, n. & adj. meanings, etymology and more |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/kiasu_n |website=Oxford English Dictionary |access-date=9 December 2024}}</ref>