Third Diaspora World Englishes

English in Southeast Asia
1. Introduction
Southeast Asia is a region where great linguistic and cultural diversity exists. Interestingly, the varieties of
English within the region fall into different Kachruvian circles, the Outer Circle, which comprises
countries where English was first spread through colonization by the British or Americans. The Expanding
Circle, where English is mainly used as a foreign language.
2. The Historical and Sociopolitical Aspects of English in Southeast Asia
The spread of English to Southeast Asia was mainly through colonization, except for Thailand. The
colonial history of Southeast Asia lasted more than a hundred years.
A. English in Malaysia
Malaysia comprises two main areas, namely West or Peninsular Malaysia (earlier called Malaya) and
East Malaysia, comprising Sabah and Sarawak.
1786: The advent of British rule may be signposted by the founding of Penang.
1826: Subsequently, the Straits Settlements, comprising Penang, Malacca, and Singapore, were
established to facilitate more effective administration of the British colonies and English‐medium
schools were established in these areas.
1957: Malaya gained independence from British colonial. English was established as the language of
education in urban schools as well as the language of administration. After independence, the
country initiated a gradual changeover to Malay as the language of instruction (Asmah1 1982: 89)
1963: Malaysia was formed, and comprised Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore, though
Singapore left shortly after.
B. English in Singapore
English in Singapore used to be considered one entity with English in Malaysia and called English in
Singapore and Malaysia. This is unsurprising given the shared history of both nations until 1965,
when Singapore became fully independent. Malay was established as the national language of
Singapore and Malay, Mandarin, Tamil, and English were made coofficial languages. Singapore later
adopted the bilingual policy which is also described as an English1 policy termed by Pakir 1991 as
Englishknowing bilingualism, which requires that every Singaporean learn English plus their ethnic
mother tongue. Only Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil were offered as second languages, not the range of
dialects spoken by the Chinese or the full range of languages spoken by the Indians. The aim of the
bilingual policy has been twofold to allow Singaporeans the language competency to function
effectively in a globalized world while enabling them to be culturally rooted.
C. English in Brunei
1984: Brunei gained independence.
1985: Brunei introduced the National Education System and its bilingual policy (Jones 2000;
Kirkpatrick 2010). According to that policy, Malay was to be used as the medium of instruction up to
the third year of primary. From the fourth year onwards, English was used as the medium of
instruction for mathematics, science, geography, history, and technical subjects, whereas Malay
remained the medium of instruction for Malay literature, Islamic knowledge, civics, arts, handicrafts,
and physical education (Asmah 2007: 358
2009: Brunei adopted the National Education System for the 21st Century.
2011: Brunei menerapkan kebijakan baru which made English the medium of instruction for
mathematics and science from Primary 1 (Kirkpatrick 2010).
D. English in the Philippines

According to the 1918 census, English was spoken by an educated elite of 896,358 out of 10.3 million
people in the Philippine islands, 20 years after the American occupation began in 1898 (Gonzalez
2008: 13). English has been well accepted by the Filipinos who have continued to use it for purposes
such as international communication, education, and mass media. After 1898, the American military
chaplain W. D. McKinnon’s “initiative …to teach English to the locals” was “welcomed”.
The first two decades of English in the Philippines saw not only an emergence of the Philippine
variety of English with its distinctive pronunciation.
E. English in Cambodia
More than 90% of the population are Khmer. In 1989, French and English replaced Vietnamese and
Russian as the main foreign languages of Cambodia. In 1993 English became increasingly welcomed
by students in the universities. English has now become the foremost foreign language in Cambodia,
though Chinese is also in demand.
F. English in Indonesia
The beginning of English language teaching in Indonesia is traceable back to the Dutch period,
before World War II. During the Japanese occupation, however, both Dutch and English were banned
though they were secretly taught in some districts. With Indonesia’s independence, English became
the first foreign language and began to be taught at schools. Sadtono (2007) indicates that some
schools in larger cities in Indonesia use English as the medium of instruction as early as in
kindergarten and that some primary schools in urban and rural areas may also teach English.
G. English in Laos
1948: Laos was gained independence from France
Laos is divided into three Lao areas, namely Lowland Lao, which makes up about 65% of the
population; Midland Lao, around 25% of the population; and Upland Lao, the remaining 10%
(Kirkpatrick 2010). These three areas, however, are quite separate in linguistic terms (Watkins 2007:
409). Lowland Lao speak Tai; Midland Lao speak Mon‐Khmer languages; and Upland Lao, Tibeto‐
Burman languages. ow taught in schools. According to the most recent Ministry of Education policy,
English is taught from Primary 3 onwards (Phommanimith 2008) in spite of the lack of qualified
teachers and suitable instructional materials. The present situation is one where only a small
number of the elite are proficient in English.
H. English in Myanmar
Myanmar, formerly Burma, is a country both ethnically and linguistically diverse. Burma was
occupied by the British in 1886. In the 1920s and 1930s, a student organization called Our Myanmar
Association carried out a movement to oppose the British rule and official use of English but failed
due to its inability to establish “a strong, convincing and all encompassing Myanmar” identity (Kyaw
2007: 153. Burma gained independence in 1948 under the leadership of U Nu, the first prime
minister. During the period between 1962 and 1988, the role of English was considerably
undermined with Burmese being made the medium of instruction for all university subjects. Thus,
the use of English is still “restricted to the elite and to a small number of domains, mostly involving
the few NGOs and aid programmes which remain” (Kirkpatrick 2010: 53).

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English in Southeast Asia

2. The Historical and Sociopolitical Aspects of English in Southeast Asia

D. English in the Philippines

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