Linguistic pride towards Singapore English amongst Chinese Singaporeans

Abstract

While the ideas of linguistic insecurity and linguistic ownership in Singapore English have been discussed, little attention has been given to the notion of linguistic pride. Despite Foo and Tan’s (2019) demonstration of a profound sense of linguistic insecurity amongst Singaporeans towards Singapore English, the latest population census of Singapore in 2020 found that 48.3 percent of Singaporeans use English as their home language. This was a significant increase of 16 percent from the census data in 2010. Applying and refining the various philosophical explications of pride, this paper proposes a set of conditions that can be used to define the term linguistic pride. An empirical study was conducted on 124 Singaporeans across various age groups by employing the conditions to establish whether Singaporeans can have linguistic pride towards Singapore English despite being linguistically insecure. The findings reveal an overall perceived sense of linguistic pride amongst Singaporeans regarding the use of Singapore English. Simultaneously, it demonstrates that there is a new wave of linguistic insecurity amongst the younger Singaporeans. These findings reflect the existence of a complex trinity between linguistic insecurity, linguistic pride, and linguistic ownership amongst Singaporeans towards Singapore English. It also shows that the exposure to the messages from the education system, Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) and the state’s rhetoric can have a significant impact on the sense of linguistic pride Singaporeans possess towards Singapore English.