Author(s) :

Zimu Lan.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

This study examines the impact of socioeconomic class, represented through institutional affiliation, on Singaporean pre-university students’ attitudes toward and uses of Singlish. By surveying students from separate academic streams (Junior Colleges and Polytechnics) in Singapore as proxies for socioeconomic status, the research explores whether class influences perceptions of Singlish’s role in Singaporean society. Using a mixed-methods survey that combined Likert-scale items, multiple-choice questions, and short-answer responses, the study finds that both groups broadly agree that Singlish functions primarily as an informal and private language of solidarity, echoing existing scholarship on its role in shaping local identity. With a total sample size of N = 22, descriptive statistics indicate that no statistically significant differences were found between groups in either frequency of use or overall attitudes toward Singlish. On a micro-level, however, Junior College (JC) respondents were more likely to highlight Singlish’s perceived drawbacks in international or professional contexts, while Polytechnic students more frequently framed it as an authentic cultural marker. These findings suggest that while institutional affiliation may influence nuance to some degree in language attitudes, Singlish ultimately serves as a unifying resource among Singaporean youth, with variations reflecting individual negotiation of identity across communally experienced lines more than socioeconomic stratification.