Glocal English in Singapore? A Re-exploration of the Localization of English

Abstract

This chapter re-considers the notion of ‘glocal English’ or ‘glocalism’ in discussing the use of English in Singapore. As a global language, English has developed in interesting ways via social media and the Internet all over the world. However, it is only in special polities such as Singapore where it is used as the ‘working language’ of the country for a multilingual population base, that English has developed into a phenomenon that has to be studied, better understood and perhaps given a label such as ‘glocal English.’ The chapter will contribute to the ongoing discussions of what it means for English to be a global language and how it adapts as ‘a communicative tool of immense political, ideological, and economic power’(Kachru, Kontalinguistik, 1996, pp. 906–913) in global-local tensions (e.g. commerce, trade, finance, industry, science and technology versus intra-ethnic and inter-ethnic communication within Singapore). In the shifting perspectives of what English is (really global or truly local?), what it does (for and in education), and how it is used in this country (globally and/or locally), the paper hopes to elucidate the dimensions of teaching and learning English in the Singapore context and perhaps more widely in an Asia-Pacific context.