MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS LINGUSITIC FEATURES OF THE ENGLISH USED IN SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIES (ĐẶC ĐIỂM TỪ VỰNG HỌC CỦA TIẾNG ANH DÙNG Ở CÁC NƯỚC ĐÔNG NAM Á) NGUYỄN VIỆT NGA Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Supervisor: PhD Do Kim Phuong Hanoi, 2017 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled LEXICAL FEATURES OF ENGLISH USED IN SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIES submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Ha Noi, 2017 Nguyen Viet Nga Approved by SUPERVISOR PhD Do Kim Phuong ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor PhD Do Kim Phuong for the useful comments, remarks and engagement through the learning process of this master thesis Furthermore, I would like to thank her for introducing me to the topic as well as for the support on the way Also, my sincere thanks go to the lecturers of Hanoi Open University, lecturers of the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies of Hanoi Open University, my colleagues and friends who help the study to be fulfilled and willingly share their precious time during the process of conducting this thesis Last but not least, I would like to thank my family for their continuous support and encouragement throughout entire process, both by keeping me harmonious and helping me putting pieces together I will be grateful forever for their support ABSTRACT As English has constantly been spreading around the world as a global language, it is no longer a language restricted to countries where it is spoken as the first language (mother tongue) Its spread is obviously seen in Southeast Asia, a sub-region of Asia which includes eleven multiethnic, multicultural and multilinguistic countries In the region, English can be classified into two groups: as a second language, or as a foreign language Particularly, English has developed into new varieties called “New Englishes” such as Singapore English, Brunei English, Philippine English, and Malaysian English The objectives of this study are to provide overviews of the lexical features of English in Southeast Asian countries, and how the countries fit into this model Besides, the future of English in Southeast Asia is speculated basing on its future in the world and on the current language situation in the region For this to be possible, English as a second language has to be discussed, and features of vocabulary in some countries of Asia in particular will thus be discussed The important element in this study is the various implications of the role of English in Asia on English language practices These implications lead to suggesting some possible suggestions for effective approaches to communicating English effectively in some Southeast Asian countries LIST OF ABBREVIATION AmE: American English BrE: British English MaE: Malaysia English SgE: Singapore English StE: Standard English ESL: English as a Second Language: learning English in an English speaking country EFL: English as a Foreign Language: learning English in a non-English speaking country WE: World of English LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 1.1.1: 10 most spoken languages in the world Figure 2.2.1 : Three concentric Circles of English- Kachru (1997) Table 1: Distribution of features borrowed from Malay Table 2: Semantic modification of Malay loanwords Figure 4.2.1: The three levels of the lectal continuum (Baskaran) TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of abbreviations iv List of tables and figures v Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the study…………………………………………………………9 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study …………………………………………….11 1.3 Research questions………………………………………………………… 12 1.4 Methods of the study………………………………………………………….12 1.5 Scope of the study ……………………………………………………………12 1.6 Significance of the study …………………………………………………… 13 1.7 Design of the study ………………………………………………………… 13 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW …………………………………………15 2.1 Review of the previous study…………………………………………………15 2.2 An overview of “New English” ………………………………………… .16 2.2.1 Term of varieties of English…………………………………………… 19 2.2.2 Some general features of English in Asia……………………………… .23 2.3 Theory of linguistics.………………………………………………………… 25 2.3.1 Lexical features …………………………………………………………… 26 2.3.2 Chapter 3: LEXICAL FEATURES OF MALAYSIAN, SINGAPOREAN ENGLISH……….………………………………………………………………38 3.1 Features of vocabulary in Malaysia English……………………………… 38 3.2 Features of vocabulary in Singaporean English…………………………… 44 3.3 The lexical differences between in some varieties of English used in Southeast Asian and Standard English………………………………………… 46 3.4 Summary…………………………………………………………………… 53 Chapter 4: APPLICATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN ENGLISH IN REALITY…………………………………………………………………… …54 4.1 Implications for regional multilingualism …………………… …….…….54 4.2 Implications of using some varieties of Southeast Asian English in working cross culture………………………………………………………………………57 Chapter 5: CONCLUSION…………………………………………………… 60 5.1 Concluding remarks ………………………………………………………….60 5.2 Limitation of the study ……………………………………………………….61 5.3 Recommendations/Suggestions for further study ………………….……… 61 REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………….62 APPENDIX………………………………………………………………………63 Appendix Status of English, historical background and number of speakers in Asian countries ………………………………………………………………… 63 CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study English has spread in many parts of the world The increase in the number of those learning it and using it has been the most noticeable example of its expansion in this century It has become the most important international language and is the most commonly taught as a second or foreign language in the world Recent facts from the Internet show that there are about 780 million users of English of whom about 380 million are native speakers, about 300 million are second language speakers, and about 100 million are foreign language speakers The spread of the English language has not gone unnoticed in today’s world English has found its way to every continent and many of the remotest areas in the world The English language has not, however, remained the same, in terms of grammar, pronunciation and lexis, in the countries where it has spread Each country or each linguistic area has shaped the language to fit its own communicational needs Therefore, the English language is slightly different in each of the areas it has spread to, though there are also similarities between the varieties Figure 1.1.1: 10 most spoken languages in the world It is important to be aware of these different English varieties spoken and written around the world and therefore also realize that the original varieties, namely British English and American English, are not the only ones spoken nowadays These varieties of English, which are spoken around the world are also called New Englishes among researchers and the term is generally used when referred to post-colonial varieties of English It should not be forgotten either that today there are actually more non-native English in the world than native ones This is due to the fact that the English language has spread around the world and is nowadays used as a lingua franca These New Englishes are therefore not to be left unnoticed Despite the fact that varieties of English, which is considered a very important branch of English language, is investigated and studied by many of lexicologists In addition, English varieties and New Englishes and even Asian English have been studied fairly extensively in general This study was undertaken because studies on Philippines English, Malaysian English and Singaporean English are quite few in number Also, the author found that most of users often care for vocabulary while communicating in English which there are many problems for people as an international language One of the most difficulties of people working abroad is probably problems in identifying and understanding various varieties of English Among them, the varieties of English vocabulary cause a lot of troubles Varieties of English include many phenomena such as words spelling, pronunciation, meaning, etc These are complicated phenomena for learners of English People are always confused in the case of English in some Asian countries which are somehow different from standard English that they have learnt So it is very necessary to work in depth with the English varieties to help these people have an overview and avoid confusing when facing it The purpose of the study is to find out what are the lexical features of some major varieties of English in Asia The varieties in Asia the study focuses on is getting an idea of vocabularies in Malaysian English and Singaporean English In addition, these items are different from the original varieties, British English and American English or the English-speaking world at large In other words, this study would like to point out the differences in Malaysian English and Singaporean English and the original varieties in terms of vocabulary Moreover, as stated above, Malaysian English and Singaporean English have not been extensively studied and therefore the study is of importance in shedding a little light on a) Diphthongs ending with the short front high vowel of sin, which include the three vowels of say, make; I, buy; and toy, boy; they are called rising diphthongs b) Diphthohgs ending with the short back high vowel of put, which comprise the two vowels of so, no and now, cow; these are also called rising diphthongs c) Diphthongs ending with the short central vowel of ago, which include the three vowels of ear, beer; air, hair; and poor, tour, sure; these are called centring diphthongs Finally, triphthongs There are five such vowels in RP, which are originally diphthongs plus the central vowel of ago These are the vowels of (i) sayer, layer, (ii) higher, buyer; (iii) coward, our, (iv) lawyer, Soya, and (v) lower, slower Some of these vowels are undergoing change in progress in young RP speech, especially those of higher, tire and our, hour, tower which rhyme with that of tar, car, bar (see Roach 2008), a process known as smoothing or monophthongization All the above vowels have other sub-types called allophones which need not concern us here There is also a great deal of geographical and sociolinguistic variation involving these vowels (see Celce-Murcia 2010; Roach 2008; Wells 1982, vol 2; Trudgill 1994; Jassem 1993a: Ch 6) There are several varieties of Malaysian English (Jassem 1994a: Ch.2) However, educated Malaysian English is a continuum, comprised of different levels: high educated Malaysian English, medial educated Malaysian English, and low educated Malaysian English (cf Jassem 1994a: Ch.2) The first is characteristic of those speakers who are university-educated and/or (near-native) speakers of English as a first or home language and whose medium of school instruction was English Medial Educated Malaysian English is used by those speakers who are still studying for their first university degree and whose medium of instruction is English to a large extent Low Educated Malaysian English relates to those who have completed their secondary education and whose medium of instruction is Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tamil or any other local language To this group, English is studied as a subject at school, which may or may not be used outside of the school confines The present discussion will be concerned in the main with those of the second type In the speech 54 of educated Malaysians or what Jassem (1994a: 28) has designated high Malaysian English, one can distinguish the following vowels 3.3.2 In terms of word formation This section outlines the differences between Malaysian English and StE MaE formally known as Malaysian StE (MaStE), is a form of English used and spoken in Malaysia as a second language Malaysian English should not be confused with Malaysian Colloquial English, which is famously known as Manglish, a portmanteau of the word Malay and English, or Street English To a large extent, MaE is descended from British English, largely due to the country's colonization by Britain beginning from the 18th century, so Malaysian English was exactly similar to BrE However, in the postcolonial era, the influx of American mass media, particularly in the form of television program and movies has influenced the usage of Malaysian English There is no official language board, council or organization to ensure the correct and standard usage of Malaysian English, because after independence, Malay replaced English as the official language Also, Malaysians are usually familiar with many American English words For instance, both lift/elevator and lorry/truck are understood, although the British form is preferred Only in some very limited cases is the American English form more widespread, e.g chips instead of crisps, fries instead of chips - Words only in MaE Malaysian English has its own vocabulary which comes from a variety of influences Typically, for words or phrases that are based on other English words, the Malaysian English speaker may be unaware that the word or phrase is not present in British or American English For example, one of the most used words in Malaysia is hand phone but it is actually a mobile phone or a cell phone Malaysian use brinjal, but the right use of that vegetable is eggplant or aubergine, the standard word for MC is actually sick note and gostan which is used in Malaysia is actually reverse or to go backwards in StE Moreover, some of the same words found in StE and Malaysian English have different meaning For example, bungalow, in StE it means a small house or cottage usually having a single storey and sometimes an additional attic story that is free standing, i.e not conjoined with another unit But in Malaysian 55 English it means a mansion for the rich and/or famous; or a fully detached house, regardless of the number of floors it has Malaysian English Standard English Handphone (often abbreviated to HP) Mobile phone Public telephone or public phone Payphone Outstation Out of office Keep in view (often abbreviated to KIV) Kept on file, held for further consideration MC (medical certificate) Sick note, aegrotat Bungalow Detached house Bank in (cheque) Deposit a cheque 56 - Words with different meaning in Malaysian English Some words and phrases used in Malaysia have different meanings than in British or American English Words/ phrases Malaysian English Standard English Parking lot Parking space Parking garage Photostat A photocopier, also used as a verb meaning “photocopy” A historical copying machine using a camera and photographic paper, which was superseded by the photocopier Flat Low cost apartment or flat Apartment Apartment Medium cost apartment or flat Flat Condominium High cost apartment or flat Commonhold To follow To accompany Eg: “Can I follow you?” or “I will follow you” meaning I will come with you To go after or behind Eg: “The police car was following me” To revert To come back (reply) to someone Eg: “I had sent out clients an email this morning, but Americans have yet to revert” To return to a previous state Eg: “Indian inverted to our initial plan of hosting the party in a restaurant” To send To take someone to somewhere Eg: “Can you send me to the airport?” To cause something to go somewhere without accompanying it Eg: “I sent this letter to my grandma” Blur Condition of a person who is dazed, confused, appears mentally slow Eg: “You look very blur right now, take a break” Vague, visually indistinct Eg: “Everything is just blur when I take my spectacles off” 57 - Mixing words from other dialects of Malaysia Malaysia possessed a variety of pre-colonial languages with loan words mainly from Arabic and English English in Malaysia is influenced by local vocabulary and code-mixing The main point on how Malaysian English differs from StE is the words spoken which are used in the speaking of English language In StE we use words which can be understood by everyone whereby in Malaysian English, we mix all the language into English whereby only Malaysians can understand the whole meaning of the sentence Even to the certain extent the words used in StE and Malaysian English also different With the variety of influences Malaysian English is gradually forming its own vocabulary Typically, these words are based on other English words but most of the time the Malaysian speaker is unaware that these words are not the words from the standard use of English or even from AmE The various lects of Malaysian English include a great deal of local vocabulary They are derived from Chinese dialects and English lexical materials For example, “chim/cheem” means “excessively complex/difficult/serious”; “chope” means “reserve a chair, etc by putting a bag or garment on it”; “kiasu” means “person with a fear of losing out to others” Foreignisms formed from English lexical material are as follows: “heaty”, “cooling”, means “foods regarded in Chinese tradition as yang (male light positive) and yin (female dark negative) respectively”; “red packet” means “envelope containing money given at a festival” To sum, this section provides a brief description on the aspects of Malaysian English vocabulary in comparison with StE Apart from some similarities with the standard ones, Malaysian English has an identity of its own and the many deviations in terms of vocabulary make it a distinct variety of English When Singaporean English users speak or write English, there are telling signs that distinguish them from native English speakers or writers from Britain, America English language in Singapore is influenced by many factors, not least by the multitude of languages with which it coexists This section studies on vocabulary usage in SgE and compares them to StE Therefore, the aim of this section is to address vocabularies which 58 are used in SgE and compare SgE to StE in terms of its vocabulary As far as the vocabulary is concerned, there are following areas of interest in order to compare with the StE - Words with different meaning Firstly, users can distinguish between words common to StE, but used with a different meaning in Singapore, and words that have been recombined to form lexical items with special local relevance Borrowings from non-English languages occur, too, with some even making it into the Oxford English Dictionary at which point it is questionable, of course, whether such words are still solely Standard Singapore English Colloquial Singapore English, on the other hand, has a vocabulary that draws much more heavily on borrowings A list of words whose meaning is different in SgE and in, e.g., British English, is given in below table Singaporean English Standard English Slippers Open sandals To bathe To have a shower To take To eat/drink To send sb To drive/accompany sb To renovate To decorate Refer to the examples in the sections below, the vocabulary of Singlish is mostly shared with other varieties of English - Local words Like all varieties of English, the SgE needs special words to deal with local institutions for example: • MRT: Singapore's light rail system, partly above ground and partly below; • HDB: Singapore's major system of government managed housing, in which over 80% of the population live; 59 • Flats: The HDB run flats • Condominiums: made up of apartments where wealthy people may live • Bungalows: luxurious detached properties of one or two storeys; • Nursery: level school for children at age 3; • Kindergarten: school for children at 4; • Primary school for children at 6; • Secondary schools: for children from age 12 up to 16 (when Americans take O-Levels); Junior college (where American take A-levels), or VITB before moving on to university or polytechnic; • Slippers: footwear at the beach (not in the house); the same foot wear which in other places is called "thongs" or "flip flops" - Borrowing words Secondly, borrowing words in SgE come from other languages spoken in Singapore, especially Malay and Hokkien People have already seen the pragmatic particles like lah, ah, and hor, which are frequently used Speakers of Singlish are not necessarily aware of which language they are from however These include: Singaporean English Standard English Habits Finished Makan To eat/ meal Chope To lay a claim to, as when putting bags at a table to indicate reservation Cheem Difficult, obscure Ang mo A white person Rojak Mixed, something mixed Refer to words used in formal situations, these are loanwords in Singapore English which can also be used in contexts where StE is expected These items often 60 relate to flora and fauna; food and drink; or cultural items The source is usually Hokkien or Malay Examples include rambutan (‘a succulent fruit with a hairy skin’, from Malay), beehoon (‘rice noodles, vermicelli’, from Hokkien) and songkok (‘a Malay brimless hat for men’) Refer to words used in informal situations, these are loan-words used in informal situations The source is usually Hokkien or Malay Many of them are evaluative or judgemental in nature Examples include aiyah (‘exclamation indicating annoyance’), sway (‘jinxed’, from Hokkien), malu (‘shameful, ashamed’, from Malay), sian (‘exhausted’, ‘annoyed’, from Hokkien); ta pau ‘take-away’ (adj or v.; Cantonese, roti ‘bread’ (Malay), makan ‘food, to eat’ (Malay), paiseh ‘embarrassing’ (Hokkien), kopitiam ‘caf´e’ (Malay kopi ‘coffee’), and many more Following all this, there is no doubt that the English language in various countries bears its own special traits It is vibrant and follows its own rules of development However, in order to avoid confusing when using and learning English varieties, maintain proper communication and transmit the message in a correct manner, every learner should try following the rules and knowing about the features of the target language at least when it comes to vocabulary 3.3.3 In terms of stylistic features 3.4 Summary Since we live in a world with many different cultures of many different English dialects which is a reason why we are very often exposed to some of these many varieties In addition, there are some differences among them such as in spelling, pronunciation, words that differ in terms of stress, as well as vocabulary, etcetera between these varieties, and as a result of this interaction difficulties may easily occur For this reason, the attempt in this chapter was to find out and analyze some features in terms of vocabulary of English varieties in Asia compare with the standard one Also, the implications of this study is that we can no longer speak of the superiority of one variety of English over all others Instead, we need to recognize the features that different varieties of English are so we will be able to distinguish to be not confused as encountering their variation 61 CHAPTER APPLICATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN ENGLISH IN REALITY 4.1 The roles of English language education in Southeast Asian context 4.1.1 The importance of non-native interaction in Southeast Asian context The Asian countries belong to the outer and expanding circles according to Kachru’s model The outer circle Englishes are NS-norm-independent, but the expanding circle Englishes are NS-norm-dependent We should recognize some advantages in NNS-NNS interactions in Asia Although there are some individual differences, the speech rates of Asian people are slower than those of NS, which facilitate the learners to understand their interactions Prof Yano (2006) pointed out the effects of NNS-NNS interactions like these: first, using English in the NNS-NNS interactions help Asian students to liberate themselves from the inferiority complex toward NS Second, using English for communication works to reduce English learners in Asian countries to reduce their excessive self-consciousness about their own English and further helps them to be positive and active in international communication by forcing them to interact immediately Third, NNS show difficulties in expressing themselves in English and often make similar grammatical mistakes, but the English learners in Asian context realize that it is more important to participate in the discussion and express their ideas and opinions than being silent until their English becomes perfect One role of English language education in Asian countries is to recognize the importance of NNS interactions in communicating through English, to encourage their interactions and to create the environment to activate their interactions in daily life in the globalized world 4.1.2 Bi-directionality to communicate in globalized world It is true that the distinction between native speakers of English and nonnative speakers of English is diminishing To understand the English used by people from different cultural backgrounds, we need exposure to speakers from different cultural backgrounds The best solution is to initiate a program for global communication in English in which not only NNSE but also NSE gain necessary training for effective global communication The teaching and learning direction and relationship should be 62 bi-directional in that both NSE and NNSE should not only be aware of the differences in their use of English, but also recognize the differences and learn from each other Successful global communication can be achieved by overcoming national and cultural barriers and by recognizing the equal status of NSE and NNSE So the purpose of English language education in Asian countries is to emphasize the bi-directionality in communicating among NS and NNS in globalized world 4.2 Implications of using some varieties of Southeast Asian English in working cross culture English is considered to be one of the most popular languages in the world In Vietnam, with the changes and the developments of the economy and society, as well as the implementation of the open- door policy, English has been used more and more widely both by the young and the old and it has been the most popular foreign language English also occupied an important status in the development of international relationship in Vietnam More importantly, English has been influenced on our education curriculum as a compulsory subject It is known that, in learning a foreign language in general, and English in particular, the knowledge and mastery of vocabulary play an extremely important role Pyles and Algeo (1970) noted that: "When we first think about the language, we think about words It is words that we arrange together to make sentences, conversations and discourse of all kind" In fact, vocabulary is the element that links the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing all together In order to understand and using well a foreign language, labor export workers in Asian countries should acquire an adequate number of words and should know how to use them accurately Difficulties while working abroad include communication problems particularly in English They have faced many difficulties in using English, especially in vocabulary StE and education are closely entwined, since education is the main channel for transmitting StE to speakers of other varieties and StE is the medium of most lessons and of the formal education A common and longheld belief among many in the English teaching profession is that the best English to speak and learn are “native” or “standard” one This state of affairs needs to change and Asian users of English 63 including Vietnamese people working in Asian countries should accept the standard forms of their own varieties Asian learners of English should use the standardized variety of English as a model for learning and testing purposes StE should be used as an idealized approach to inform learning on both theoretical and practical grounds Theoretically, people should be made aware of the sociolinguistic and sociopolitical profiles of English, e.g., the spread of English in the world and its consequences; the ownership of English; the notion of StE; a distinction of using English in a multilingual society On practical grounds, people should be made familiar with varieties of English Exposure to varieties of English is believed to help facilitate learners’ communication abilities when being confronted with diverse types of English uses and users It is necessary for people to be aware of various kinds of English varieties and provided the basis of ‘correct’ English due to limited exposure to varieties of English may cause people to resist linguistic variations or form the ideas of confusion when they encounter different types of English uses and users in authentic contexts Learners should understand the conceptual issues of varieties of English and thus, able to distinguish the structural elements, be able to distinguish the differences in order to construct between themselves a sense of what is appropriate and intelligible based on different contexts In Vietnam, English has been taught as a class subject, not totally as a means of communication English instruction in Vietnam has always placed a great deal of emphasis on the grammar-translation approach Thus, in spite of the time and effort invested in learning English, many Vietnamese people who work in Asian countries still have difficulty speaking with native English speakers Successful communication is more a question of understanding, and being able to engage successfully, in the contexts of use rather than whether one is a native or non-native speaker 64 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 5.1 Concluding remarks To complete the thesis, three major objectives have been achieved: (i) Finding out the features of vocabulary in some varieties of English in Asia; (ii) Pointing out the differences between the vocabulary in some varieties of English in Asia; (iii) Giving some possible implications for export labor workers in using English in Asian countries The two first objectives will be summarized briefly hereafter and the third will be proposed in the last section of this chapter as a final goal of the thesis With a view to helping the readers have a better understanding of linguistic features of some major varieties of English in Asia, three varieties of English in Asia named Malaysian English and Singaporean English have been described and analyzed Regarding the reason why these features exist, the linguistic features in terms of their vocabulary have been found Varieties of English include many phenomena such as words spelling, pronunciation, meaning, etc These are complicated phenomena for learners of English People are always confused in the case of English in some Asian countries which are somehow different from standard English that they have learnt So it is very necessary to work in depth with the English varieties to help these people have an overview and avoid confusing when facing it The purpose of the study is to find out what are the lexical features of some major varieties of English in Asia The varieties in Asia the study focuses on is getting an idea of vocabularies in Malaysian English and Singaporean English In addition, these items are different from the original varieties, British English and American English or the English-speaking world at large 5.2 Limitation of the study 65 The thesis studies on linguistic features of some major varieties of English in Asia, namely Malaysian English and Singaporean English It is obvious that there are some certain limitation cannot be avoided Firstly, the paper could be conducted to find out more varieties of English in Asia in more countries except the three given countries Secondly, the thesis could not be conducted to study on other linguistic features of these varieties in other linguistic field such as grammar, phonology, etc Thirdly, most of sample are just from dictionaries, reference books and internet 5.3 Recommendations for further study Therefore, here are some suggestions for further studies which may be useful and interesting would benefit the learners and enhance a language course: - A study on linguistic features of some major varieties of English in Asia in terms of grammar - A study on linguistic features of some major varieties of English in Asia in terms of phonetics.5 Due to the limitation of thesis framework as well as the knowledge restraints, some certain restrictions are unavoidable, the writer expect all suggestions from teachers, colleagues and readers to make the thesis better 66 REFERENCE Baskaran, L (1987) Indigenization of English (Malaysian English – Its Development & Features) Paper presented at the Modern Language Association Conference on “The Language Situation in Malaysia?” in Kuala Lumpur Cheshire, Jenny (1991) English around the World Cambridge University Press Collins Co build (2001) English dictionary for advanced learners Glasgow: Harper Collins, 3rd edition (Crawfurd) (Levin, 2006) (Platt, J and H Weber, 1980) (Tan, 2013) (Tongue, 1974) (Wilkinson, 1959) Andy Kirk Patirck, World Englishes: Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2007 Gorlach, M (1991) Englishes: Studies in varieties of English 1984-1988 Amsterdam: John Benjamins Jenkins, Jennifer (2007) English as a Lingua Franca Oxford: Oxford University Press Kachru, B (1986) The alchemy of English: The spread, functions and models of non-native Englishes Oxford: Pergamon Press Noss, Richard B (ed.) (1983) Varieties of English in Southeast Asia Singapore: University Press, for SEAMEO Regional Language Centre 67 APPENDICES Appendix Status of English, historical background and number of speakers in Southeast Asian countries Population Native ESL Status of Background English (in thousands) Brunei 315 Cambodia 10 Spoken British 11,339 No French Indonesia 212,941 Spoken Dutch Laos 5,260 Spoken French Malaysia 20,932 Spoken British Myanmar 47,305 No British Philippine 77,725 Official British, 375 15 104 5,984 36,400 Spanish US Singapore 3,490 300 1,046 Official Thailand 60,037 N/C Vietnam 76,236 Spoken British French 68 ... people in understanding and using English varieties when working in these Asian countries With all these reasons, the study and entitle: ‘Lexical features of English used in Southeast Asian countries ... circles of English and pointing out some features of English in some Asian countries 12 Chapter is Findings and Discussion which consists of three parts in which describes linguistic features of English. .. With the purpose of making a study on the linguistic features of some major varieties of English in Asia, the study will be able to provide Vietnamese people who work in Asian countries the features