1 English in ASEAN: Implications for Regional Multilingualism

briefly trace the development of English in ASEAN and demonstrate that, even in those countries of the ASEAN group, which were not colonies of Britain or the United States, English has become increasingly important. I shall show that, in almost all cases, the language policies of ASEAN countries require people to learn their respective national language and English. This combination of the learning of English is along with the national language, which can be a national lingua franca such as Bahasa Indonesia in Indonesia and Filipino in the Philippines. As a consequence, local and indigenous languages, other than the national language, are being replaced by English in many school curricula and in other domains. It is also rare to find government schools in ASEAN teaching the national languages of other ASEAN states. I shall conclude by considering the implications of this for multilingualism in the region