The speak good English movement: a reflection and commentary

Abstract

Singapore has long been known for its plethora of campaigns, including annual campaigns to promote the use of each of the nation’s four official languages, viz. English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil. The Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) was launched in 2000 amid official concern about Singaporeans’ pervasive use of Singlish and implications for the country’s global competitiveness. While early campaigns were perceived to be anti-Singlish and highly prescriptive, recent campaigns have been more nuanced, focusing on the usefulness of internationally intelligible English in connecting with others. This paper examines some challenges facing the SGEM today, such as scepticism about whether the campaign is still relevant today, especially when the use of English as a home language among households has more than doubled since the launch of the campaign, and when Singapore has been topping international rankings of English proficiency.

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