Speak Good English Movement - Singapore 10/11: GET IT RIGHT!

Primary Resource A poster in one of Singapore’s shopping malls

Brief introduction to Singapore From a British colony to a world-class city state What do we know about Singapore? In general - The Lion City - Major trading port in the region - Multicultural society - Wealthy…?

All start from the ancient times -Temasek (13 th century) -Singapura (14 th century) -Colonial period -Federation of Malaya -Independence -Modern Singapore

Colonial Period British East India Company (EIC) formally colonized Singapore in 1819 English as a Creole but official language In 1867, Chinese made up 65% Singapore's population Less than 2% were British

Singlish? Where are ‘you’ from? Standard English VS Singapore Colloquial English (Singlish) English Medium School Loan words and particles from other languages. e.g. Hakka and Hokkien dialects, Malay English education was encouraged even after independence, why?

You are the tiny one lah 814.2km²694 km² ACT

Singapore – the transit port of its region From Yesterday to Today Where are you? Singapore colonial-singapore/

Why English? -Failed to join the Federation of Malaya - Two multiethnic groups’ riots in 1960’s - Need a language which will not partial to any ethnic groups 1990’s Asian Financial Crisis - Other competitors - English as an advantage for Singapore - Worldwide communication

The Speak Good English Movement was launched by the former Singapore Prime Minister- Goh Chok Tong

Singlish Here is the introduction ‘lah’ -Colloquial Singaporean English, known as ‘Singlish’, it is an English-based Creole language spoken in Singapore which mixed with many loan words from its multicultural immigrants. - Difference: Grammars, vocabulary & Pronunciations

Annually themes : Speak Well. Be Understood 2005/06: Speak Up. Speak Out. Speak Well 2006/07: Be Understood. Not only in Singapore, Malaysia and Batam 2007/08: Rock Your World! Express Yourself 2008/09: I Can 2009/10: Impress. Inspire. Intoxicate.

This year Theme here lah Here is this year’s theme Get It Right!

Criticism - Inferiority of Singaporeans - Negation of Singaporean unique identity - Approaches have limited effectiveness - ‘Speak Good Singlish Movement’…? Should we really do that?

Bibliography 1.Anthea Fraser Gupta, 2006, The Situation of English in Singapore, in World Englishes: critical concepts in linguistics, K Bolton & B. B Kachru (Eds), New York: Rotuledge. 2.Braj B. Kachru 2005, Asian Englishes: Beyond the Canon. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. 3. Crewer, W (Ed) The English Language in Singapore. Singapore: Eastern Universities Press Sdn. Bhd. 4.Dr. Lee, Siew Peng 2010, ‘Don’t mix Singlish with identity’, The straits times, Singapore, Don%E2%80%99t-mix-Singlish-with-identity.pdfhttp:// Don%E2%80%99t-mix-Singlish-with-identity.pdf 5. J.A.Foley, T.Kandiah, Bao Zhiming, A.F.Gupta, L.Alsagoff, Ho Chee Lick, L.Wee, I.S.Talib, W.Bokhorst-Heng English in New Cultural Contexts: Reflections from Singapore. Singapore: Oxford University Press Singapore. 6.K.C. Guan, D. Heng & T.T. Yong, 2009, Singapore, A 700-Year History: From Early Emporium to World City. Singapore: National Archives of Singapore. 7.Lisa Lim, Anna Pakir and lionel Wee (Eds) Asian Englishes Today: English in Singapore, Modernity and Management. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. 8.PETER K. W. TAN “Englishised Name?” English Today 17(4): Rani Rubdy, 2001, Creative destruction: Singapore’s Speak Good English movement, World Englishes (2001 NOV), 20:3, pp Sandra L. Suárez 2005, ‘Does English Rule? Language Instruction and Economic Strategies in Singapore, Ireland, and Puero Rico’, Comparative Politics, vol. 37, No.4, pp , Wong, Jock, "Why you so Singlish one?" A semantic and cultural interpretation of the Singapore English particle one. Language in Society, 34:2. (Apr 2005). p. 239.