Forum Letter Replies
Good English the Way to Go
We refer to the report, “Linguists speak up for Singlish”, published in The Straits Times on 9 Dec 08.
Since independence, Singapore has adopted English as our language of use for business and government. As a result, we have gained a competitive edge as English is the lingua franca on the Internet and in a globalised world.
We have attained a level of proficiency in English among our young and the general public. However, it would be wrong to assume that this competency is a given, if standards are not adhered to. As linguists have pointed out, the language environment in Singapore is complex, due to the use of multiple and very different languages. The Ministry of Education’s experience in schools is that the use of Singlish will confuse students and hinder their progress in developing competency in the English language. If children hear Singlish, they will learn Singlish. Students immersed in Singlish encounter many difficulties in learning and speaking standard English. Furthermore, non-standard usage in speech often transfers to writing. While some students who are proficient in English can switch between standard English and Singlish, this is not true for all students. It is therefore educationally sound to teach standard English.
The Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) promotes standard English. People who speak good English should continue to do so, to serve as role models and help our young learn standard English.
Singaporeans, especially our young, must be able to communicate in English with clarity and impact, not just with fellow Singaporeans but with English speakers all over the world. This is especially important because we are a small nation, and cannot expect others to understand Singlish. While Singlish may be a fascinating academic topic for linguists to write papers about, Singapore has no interest in becoming a curious zoo specimen to be dissected and described by scholars. Singaporeans’ overriding interest is to master a useful language which will maximise our competitive advantage, and that means concentrating on standard English rather than Singlish.
Director, Arts amp; Heritage Development Division
Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
Director, Curriculum Planning and Development
Ministry of Education
Linguists speak up for Singlish (Ang Yiying ST Forum, 9/12, pB3)
Singlish may be the bane of teachers, but it is music to the ears of linguists.
More than 40 academics worldwide, drawn by the evolving nature of Singapore English, or Singlish, have published research papers or books on it.
It is immensely valuable as a living tongue that is evolving all the time, and reflects the multicultural linguistic background of the country, they said.
‘Singapore is an exciting place for a linguist, with people moving from one language to another,’ said sociolinguist Anthea Fraser Gupta.
‘For a linguist, it’s the equivalent of a really well-equipped laboratory for a chemist.’
Dr Gupta, 57, developed a strong research interest in Singlish during her 21 years as an academic in Singapore. She left in 1996 and is now a senior lecturer at the University of Leeds, but continues to track the use of Singlish in blogs.
Other than local academics at the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, other researchers hail from countries as far away as Germany and Portugal.
Dr Edgar Schneider, 54, from the University of Regensburg in Germany, developed an interest in English in post-colonial countries when he became the editor of a journal called English World-Wide in 1997.
‘Singapore is one of the more interesting ones. I don’t think there’s another post-colonial country where English is so embraced. English is used widely but not as thoroughly as in Singapore.’
Dr David Deterding, 51, originally from Britain and now teaching at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam, previously taught at the National Institute of Education here
He said: ‘One characteristic of Singapore that makes its English special is the fact that the four official languages are all completely unrelated.
‘The emergent maturity of the English of Singapore in a society with such a rich mixture of languages makes it of special interest.’
Singlish and standard English can and do co-exist, said Dr Gupta. ‘There is no evidence that the presence of Singlish causes damage to standard English.’
The organisers of the Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) say they are not anti-Singlish.
Their aim, they said, is to make sure that everyone can speak standard English first.
A spokesman said: ‘The presence of Singlish causes damage to standard English only when people do not have a good grounding in standard English.
‘That is why an environment in which good English is spoken is so important for young children.’
Added Dr Deterding: ‘To the extent that organisers of the SGEM try to enhance awareness of standard forms of pronunciation and grammar, they do a worthwhile job.
‘When they try instead to eliminate Singlish, they are probably fighting a losing cause.’