Singlish can and speech accommodation in Singapore English

Abstract

ABSTRACTFor Singaporeans it is very natural to switch between ‘Singapore Standard English’ (SSE) and Singapore Colloquial English (SCE), namely, Singlish,. The employment of different varieties of a language between speaker turns can be accounted for using the communication accommodation theory. Are Singaporeans responsive to the varieties of English used by people around them? Does language convergence or divergence in a SSE‐SCE conversation affect a speaker's perceived social image? Participants were asked to listen to different variations of a SSE‐SCE service encounter dialogue before rating the traits of the featured salesman and customer. Generally, Singaporeans awarded higher ratings to the customer when he/she complied with the language standards set by the salesman rather than when he/she deviated from that set by the salesman. These results were contrary to the common belief that ‘the customer is always right’.