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Article published In: Journal of Asian Pacific Communication
Vol. 35:1 (2025) ► pp.58–86

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The (in)visibility of Indian languages in Singapore’s multilingual landscape

A study of the linguistic landscape of little India

 | Nanyang Technological University
ORCiD logo with link | Nanyang Technological University
Published online: 31 July 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.25012.lim
Abstract
Literature on Singapore’s linguistic landscape (LL) points to the prominence of English, and Mandarin, to a lesser extent. This is attributed to the city-state’s bilingual education policy and majority Chinese population. There is, however, lack of research on minority languages, and this paper addresses this gap by investigating the LL of Little India. This area serves multiple sociocultural functions: it is an enclave for the Indian minority in Singapore, a popular tourist attraction, and a gathering spot for migrant workers. While the findings show a strong dominance of English, in parts of Little India, there is greater prominence of the Indian languages, specifically Tamil, one of Singapore’s official languages, and Bengali, a language spoken by Bangladeshi migrant workers, typically employed in low-wage, labour-intensive jobs. English has both symbolic and informational functions in appealing to a wider demographic of tourists and Singapore’s multi-ethnic population, while Bengali serves an informational function.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Literature review
    • Previous studies on LL
    • Research on Singapore’s LL
    • Research on language use in ethnic enclaves
  • Methodology
    • Justification for chosen research sites
    • Data collection
    • Data coding
    • Findings
    • Different LL features of Serangoon Road vs Desker & Lembu Roads
      • Languages represented in the primary signs
      • Preferred codes in the bilingual and multilingual primary signs
      • Features of the secondary signs
      • Absence of Bengali in Serangoon Road and Tamil in Desker and Lembu Roads
  • Discussion
    • The English-dominated Little India: Primary vs secondary signs
    • The status of Indian languages in Singapore
      • Tamil’s position in Singapore
      • Bengali serving an informational function for the Bangladeshi worker community
  • Conclusion
  • Limitations of the study
  • Note
  • References
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