This chapter focuses on recent developments in the field of second and foreign language education in Southeast Asia, with particular focus on Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The nations in this region contain a rich diversity of cultures, languages, and dialects that governments need to reconcile with unifying national projects, the desire to develop their economies, and the need to function in regional and world organizations. The use of English in education has been particularly contentious as some of the countries are former British colonies and English is inevitably associated with political and cultural shifts away from mother tongues and more traditional value systems. At the same time, for many of these governments -Singapore is a case in point -English is viewed as E. Lage-Otero (*) Humanities
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