Don’t feel kawawa; it’s ok to be kiasu; add oil! Advancing intelligibility and acceptability of New Englishes in the multilingual global ecologies of Asia

Abstract

Who are the gatekeepers for what is considered an acceptable variety of a language? Language academies? politicians? linguists? teachers? BPOs? laymen? And how do we determine what is acceptable and accepted? In ecologies of Asia – such as Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines – the contact varieties of English that evolve in the language practices of such multilingual, multicultural communities comprise, inter alia, discourse particles, lexical tone and mixed codes. Such explicit drawing on such resources are often frowned upon and deemed unacceptable for a more ‘standard’ variety. But today’s global world – which includes the platforms of computer-mediated communication, popular culture and social media – presupposes contact and permeability. This workshop wrangles with the issues and challenges involved when considering the positioning of a New English, including codification, intelligibility, acceptability, traditional vs contemporary standards, ecology and evolution. Focusing on the lexicon as but one area of contention, this workshop traces the processes by which ‘non-English’, ‘non-standard’ features can and do become mainstream, and invites participants to reflect on how each of us, as stakeholders in these evolving Englishes, may play a role as agents of change in advancing these varieties in the multilingual global ecologies of Asia.