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Singaporean students’ language repertoires and attitudes revisited
Author(s) -
Leimgruber Jakob R. E.,
Siemund Peter,
Terassa Laura
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
world englishes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.6
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-971X
pISSN - 0883-2919
DOI - 10.1111/weng.12292
Subject(s) - multilingualism , variety (cybernetics) , linguistics , sociology , ethnic group , contrast (vision) , vocational education , second language , psychology , empirical research , sociolinguistics , pedagogy , anthropology , computer science , philosophy , epistemology , artificial intelligence
Abstract Singapore has received a large amount of scholarly interest with regards to the structural and sociolinguistic properties of its local variety of English. In contrast, there is comparatively less empirical data on individual linguistic repertoires and usage patterns. Building on previous research into the linguistic and sociological background of young Singaporean adults, our study examines 450 students recruited from three distinct educational institutions: a university, polytechnics, and vocational training schools. A detailed language background questionnaire reveals the degree of multilingualism, patterns of language use, as well as language attitudes towards different languages. We find important differences between the three student cohorts examined here and are able to relate them to their social and ethnic backgrounds.