English in Singapore: Modernity and Management

This collection is the seventh volume in the Asian Englishes Today series. It is an excellent addition as the nation makes an interesting case study of various issues in sociolinguistics, not least because it is an ethnically and linguistically diverse society, but because the country has also a history of attempts at social engineering. The ongoing tensions between what the state envisions for the people and their actual language practices are some of the phenomena that provide the grounding for indepth analyses. The essays here revolve around four closely related themes: the ecology of English in Singapore, reconceptualizing "English," ethnicity and ownership, and English in education; all make for a focused and coherent volume on sociolinguistic issues relating in particular to language policy in Singapore.

Lisa Lim is an assistant professor in the School of English, the University of Hong Kong. Anne Pakir is an associate professor in English language and literature, National University of Singapore. Lionel Wee is an associate professor and deputy head of English language and literature, National University of Singapore.