Chapter 15. The view from below

This chapter takes a synchronic approach to the investigation of influences of other languages on Malaysian, Singapore, Philippine and Brunei English. Whilst it would be naïve to describe all features as simply the result of transfer from other languages, it is important to consider the axiom that all Southeast Asian Englishes are spoken and written by people who have access to other languages and for whom English is an add-on. It is suggested that all Southeast Asian Englishes are code-mixed varieties, and the main focus is on aspects of code-switching and on broader issues of language contact and pidginisation. In the discussion section, a framework from code-switching research is outlined for analysis at both text- and sentence-level.