The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has deployed English not only as its sole working language but also as a tool for forging regional identity, unity and solidarity among its ten member-states. Drawing on the concept of ‘imagined communities’ and, by extension, ‘imagined identity regionalism’, this article provides a critical examination of this policy desire and asks the question whether the desire should be read as a form of political rhetoric or an achievable goal for ASEAN. We argue that the unifying potential of English language as an imagined regional community and identity has yet to be realised. At best, English can be seen as contributing to ASEAN's ‘functional identity’, rather than a more substantive ‘socio-cultural identity’. It is suggested that although the birth of a distinct hybridised variety of ASEAN English may facilitate a bottom-up linguistic identity imagination for ASEAN, such an ideal appears utopian at this time.

中文翻译：

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东盟的英语和区域认同

东南亚国家联盟 (ASEAN) 不仅将英语作为其唯一的工作语言，而且还将其作为在其十个成员国之间建立区域认同、统一和团结的工具。借鉴“想象的社区”的概念，并推而广之，“想象的身份区域主义”，本文对这种政策愿望进行了批判性的考察，并提出了这样一个问题：这种愿望应该被解读为一种政治修辞形式还是一个可实现的目标对于东盟。我们认为，英语语言作为想象中的区域社区和身份的统一潜力尚未实现。充其量，英语可以被视为对东盟“功能身份”的贡献，而不是更实质性的“社会文化身份”。