-
The following articles were taken from
newspapers in Singapore and Malaysia
– All these news clippings can be
inspected in our office. We are
giving excerpts from the
masterpiece.
English expert who learnt his
mother tongue the hard way.
-
The new language expert
at the Curriculum
Development Institute of
Singapore who will help
shape the standard of English for Singapore
students, learnt his mother
tongue the hard way
-
-
He
confesses he was not particularly
bright in primary school and had to
suffer the ignomity of having red
marks in his report card.
-
-
“Early experience of failure can be
quite shattering. And it takes a lot
of effort to overcome this fear of
failure,” said Mr.Roy Jeffs, the 38
year old English specialist whose
main job is to standardize the use
of the language in new textbooks
produced by the CDIS. Mr. Roy Jeffs
further says
“ I must clarify that standard
English is not synonymous with
British English.The language spoken
by the British contains many
different mistakes from those found
in Singapore,” he insisted.
-
“British English is not perfect English. I see
standard English as a shared pool of
knowledge which meets acceptable
international standards.”
-
-
“The
closer a
country
moves
towards
standard
English,
the
better
it
becomes
in
expressing
ideas in clear,
precise
English.”
-
-
And
it is
specifically
up to Mr.
Jeffs to
make sure
that
Singapore
does. To
achieve
this, he has
to edit all
English
medium
textbooks
and teaching
materials
which will
bear the CDIS stamp.
(Taken from Sunday Times. April 18,
1982)
Top
- GOVT TO MAKE IT ANNUAL AFFAIR
- SPEAK GOOD ENGLISH CAMPAIGN NEXT YEAR,
SAID OUR PRIME MINISTER.
An annual Speak Good English campaign will be launched next year as part of the Government’s efforts to expand the use of standard English and discourage the use of Singlish.
The campaign, to be organized by the Ministry of Information and the Arts, was announced by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong last night.
Mr.Goh, an MP for Marine Parade GRC, was speaking to 1,200 grassroots leaders and residents at the constituency’s National Day Dinner.
In his speech, he dwelt on the need to improve the standard of spoken and written English of Singaporeans so that they could communicate and do business with millions around the world…………
(Straits Times Monday, August 30, 1999)
Top
- To communicate with the world, S’poreans have to drop Singlish
and speak standard English,
-
says BG Lee.
Saying char kway teow and nasi lemak when speaking English is fine, but Singlish and words and phrases like ‘lah’, ‘got meh ‘ and ‘why like that one? ‘ are out.
- The reason: There are only three million Singaporeans—too few to cook up a language all for their own consumption.
That is why Singaporeans have to speak standard English - so they and the rest of the world can understand one another.
This was the message delivered yesterday by Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the launch of the Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) 2001 event
Said Deputy Prime Minister, SINGAPORE ACCENT IS FINE
- “We need not speak with a British or American accent; a Singaporean accent is fine. But Singaporeans must
- speak a form of English that is readily understood by people all over the world”
( Straits Times, Friday, April 6, 2001)
Top
WHAT DID HE SAY?
- When English as she is spoken by Singaporeans is misunderstood
- (This is the actual statement appeared in the newspaper)
-
“We need to tell ourselves that it is worth making the effort to pronounce things as clearly as possible. There is no point
in having information to convey if no one can understand what you are saying”
Quote: 2
“There is no inconsistency in asking Singaporeans to retain their local accents but to make a conscious effort to articulate their consonants and vowels more clearly.”
- Some friends of mine have been trying very hard to convince me that Singaporeans in general do not speak
- well. By this they mean that Singaporeans do not speak clearly. As a result, they claim to often have trouble understanding what their fellow Singaporeans are actually saying.
I have been
hearing these complaints for quite some
time and I must admit that I have been
quite reluctant to believe them.
In fact, I have often tried to downplay
the problem and to defend the
Singaporean’s ability to articulate
clearly.
- However, a few weeks ago, I had an experience that made me reconsider my position. While returning from an overseas trip, the pilot of the flight that I was on made a few announcements. The pilot was clearly Singaporean; this was evident from his intonation patterns.
However, it was impossible to understand what words he was uttering. I noticed expressions of consternation amongst some of the non-Singaporean passengers. But I was particularly surprised to find that a fellow Singaporean like myself also had absolutely no idea of what he was saying despite mustering all my powers of concentration.
We often say that
taxi drivers need to brush up their
English since they are amongst the first
Singaporeans that tourists come into
contact with. But we need to bear in
mind that contact with Singaporeans can
begin well before entry into Singapore;
on the flights themselves
( To-day newspaper, Tuesday, December 4, 2001. )
The author is an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of English Language and Literature, National University of Singapore
Top
|
