Globalisation of Language and Culture in Singapore

Abstract

What are the effects of globalisation on patterns of language use in the domain of media in Singapore? Rather than only cultural imperialism of hegemonic English, which is no doubt the case, the use of languages in the ‘mediascape’ also shows the consumption of non-English languages and cultures. Though English may be the main language of the internet, Singaporean children access this information through the mother tongue. Singaporean children enjoy movies, songs and TV programmes in Tamil and Mandarin through which they are networked into larger civilisations. What do these patterns imply about the nature of globalisation? Cultural globalisation does not emanate from one Euro-American centre; it is a polycentric process. It can also result in the consumption of non-English languages and their concomitant cultures like that of Indian cinema, a genre rooted in Indian cultural traditions and Chinese culture that networks the Chinese diaspora in a pan-Chinese identity. The data for these claims are from The Sociolinguistic Survey of Singapore (SSS 2006), linked to in-depth follow-up studies.

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