Speak Good English Movement

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The Speak Good English Movement ( SGEM ) is the Singapore Government's campaign to "encourage Singaporeans to speak grammatically correct, universally understood English". It was launched by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong on April 29, 2000. The goal is to ensure that Singaporeans recognize the importance of speaking Standard English and to encourage its use.

Video Speak Good English Movement

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English was introduced in 1819 with the establishment of a modern port in Singapore. The harbor attracts migrants from neighboring countries, such as China and India, resulting in diverse linguistic landscapes. Its proximity to these languages ​​has affected Singapore's Singaporean generation. Known as the Singlish everyday language, it is characterized by a mix of local expressions with Standard English (eg the use of discourse particles like lah ). Singlish is commonly used by Singaporeans in an informal and understandable context by non-Singaporeans.

When the Good Speaking English Movement was launched in 1999, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong described Singlish as "English ruined by Singaporeans", and "broken and non-mathematical English". According to the government, the mastery of Standard English is very important to improve living standards in Singapore, and Singlish causes problems when Singapore needs to communicate in "the language of global commerce, business and technology". The movement is campaigning on improving the standard of English used in Singapore. In the hope of expanding its reach, the movement adopts different themes and target groups each year, and also works with partner organizations to provide programs that are aligned with the objectives of the movement.

Maps Speak Good English Movement

Destination

The campaign aims to prevent the use of Singlish and encourage the use of a more standardized form of English, (ie, generally modeled on English standards). According to the movement's chairman, Colonel David Wong, the English Movement of Good English aims to build a sense of pride that the Singaporeans can speak English well, as opposed to Singlish, as well as to examine the trends in which Singaporeans use Singlish as a way of identifying themselves. Instead, he envisages a true English brand that is grammatically different from Singlish, to be associated with a unique Singapore identity.

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Last theme

Since 2003, Speak Good English Movement has been launched annually with year-round programs and activities held throughout the island to raise awareness among Singaporeans who speak good English in their daily lives. Each year different themes focus on the target audience created. The themes used in the campaign so far are:

• 2000-2004: Talk Well. Understandable.
• 2005-06: Speak. Speaking. Talk Well
• 2006-07: Understood. Not only in Singapore, Malaysia and Batam
• 2007-08: Rock Your World! Express Yourself
• 2008-09: I Can
• 2009-10: Impress. Inspire. Drunk.
• 2010-11: Get True
• 2011/12: How You Talk Makes a Difference
• 2012/13: Create a Good Staff Stick

Talk to Good. Understood. (2000-2004)

2000-01

In 1999, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong highlighted the problem of Singlish speaking in the National Day Rally. A year later in April 2000, he officially launched the British English Movement with the tagline 'Speak Wellly, Understandably'. He stressed the importance of speaking standard English and reducing the use of Singlish, as Singapore is a hub city and an open economy with the need to interact with English-speaking foreigners. Singaporeans often use Mandarin syntax and literal translations of Chinese phrases when speaking English, which makes speech seem cut off and not understood by strangers. At the rally, the prime minister stressed that "if we speak broken forms of English that are not understood by others, we will lose a major competitive advantage." The movement was spearheaded by a private sector committee headed by Colonel David Wong, senior adviser to consulting firm Ernst and Young. His target audience is Singaporeans under 40, including young adults, parents and students at schools, tertiary institutes, polytechnics and technical institutes. This launch begins a weeklong festival with events such as dramas and marathon speeches.

Later in the year, the public sector also organized programs throughout the year as part of the movement. One such event was a seminar organized by the Singapore Teachers' Union (STU) at the Shangri-La Hotel, attended by about 500 participants who were mostly teachers. The seminar emphasizes the power of pronunciation and grammar teaching, and encourages teachers to teach English in a more creative way in school using drama and role playing. Other highlights in 2000 included the launch of Grammar Matters, a series of 5 books using comics to illustrate the correct grammar use by the Regional English Language Center to support the movement.

2001-02

From 2001-2002, it was reported that more and more Singaporeans became increasingly aware and recognized the importance of speaking good English. The British Council continues to operate a toll-free line that provides English lessons. Reportedly, in 2001 there were nearly 250,000 callers while there were about 170,000 callers in 2002. Also, the Scrabble competition between schools, in which 54 elementary schools participated, was held to start this year's event in April 2002.

2002-03

According to the Government, more Singaporeans are aware of the need to speak well, and take steps to improve their spoken English. Programs organized by SGEM partners such as the People's Association and the British Council are well received.

2003-04

In 2003, the movement, already in its fourth year, aims not only to encourage Singaporeans to speak well but to speak simple English. Chairman Wong said, "They may be afraid to use English, it is not natural for them.This year what we want to do is encourage people to try.Have even if they can not speak well, even if they can not use the words, long words, even if they can not use long sentences, it does not matter.The idea is to use simple words, simple sentences and convey their message clearly. "The movement continued throughout the year to March 2004, creating the impact and awareness that greater than.

Partner Program in 2003-04

• Mattel Southeast Asia has a Scrabble Inter School competition.
• The Singapore Drama Educator Association (SDEA) held a DRAMAzing race, involving about 150 students from 29 high schools in the competition that encouraged them to use good English. A similar race in the format for the Amazing Race.
• The National University of Singapore hosts a PROSE Forum (Promotion of Standard English) in which prominent figures in Singapore share their experience of the importance of speaking good and understood English.
• The National Library Council hosts the Raise-A-Reader Workshop: Key Years designed specifically to equip parents with the knowledge to select appropriate reading material for their children and complete their reading habits. Other events like ACTiquette! Dramatization Contest is also held simultaneously with SGEM 2003.
• The Association of Singapore English and Literary Teachers, ELLTA (S) held a seminar on ' Speaking Good English for Effective Teaching and Communication .
• Julia Gabriel Speech & amp; The Drama Center holds workshops for parents to develop language skills, encourage reading skills, and motivate writing skills using books, stories and poetry at home for their children.
• The British Council held workshops for parents to improve their pronunciation, to identify Singlish mistakes and replace them with standard forms.
• People to Read & amp; Literacy (SRL) organizes a free 6-month English Language Learning Program (WISH) at 12 community centers across the country with enrollment records of 180 students in 6 classes. In addition, Ms. Sheila Wee from SRL held a lecture to educate parents about the use of storytelling to develop children's interest in English.

2004-05

In the fifth year, officials of the Ministry of Manpower, Ng Eng Hen, launched a campaign at The Arts House in the Old Parliament in April 2004. Campaign targets can be summarized as English @ Work & amp; Play. His target audience is an adult working in the service industry, including taxi drivers, shop assistants, waitresses, and others, covering 70 percent of all workers in Singapore. Affluent people, parents and teachers are also encouraged to be positive examples in speaking good English to those around them. The movement also partners with key organizations and agencies in workshop initiatives to improve the English language of all their teachers. The new program called Functional Literacy For Our Workers (FLOW) was initiated by the Labor Development Board with the aim of equipping workers with little English literacy with some of the basic tools necessary for them to do their work. Other activities to promote good English are also held throughout the year, such as the WISH program (as in previous years), and speak at public libraries selected to educate the public on the importance of reading aloud and using English to communicate with a family.

Partner Program in 2004-05

• Workshops by SGEM partners: These include Hard Reading: The Whys And Hows organized by the Society for Reading & amp; Literacy (SRL), Tell Me A Story and Fun With Tots by the National Library Board that educates parents on how to develop reading skills in their children among others.
• Speak the Good English Weekend held at The Arts House in Old Parliament see SGEM partner collaboration such as Asian Storytelling Network (ASN), British Council, Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Julia Gabriel Speech & amp; Drama Center, National Library Board, News Radio 93.8FM and Regional Language Center (RELC) to organize activities related to English such as Scrabble, poetry, and tongue-twister sessions. Booth was established to allow registration for English classes as well.

Speak. Speaking. Talk well. (2005-06)

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong launched the Speak Good English Movement that year on May 13th at the HDB Hub Auditorium in Toa Payoh. The leader of the movement is Professor Koh Tai Ann, professor of English Literature at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Nanyang Technological University. Professor Koh stressed that speaking good English does not necessarily mean that one should try to remove or reduce the use of Singlish or mother tongue. He acknowledged the importance of mother tongue and Singlish as a binding element for Singaporeans, but emphasized that there is a proper place and time for it and that Singaporeans should be able to speak in Standard English when the event calls for it. Key points of the year's movement included the appointment of 12 ambassadors for SGEM 2005. They included taxi drivers, virtual gamers, and media personalities.

Partner Programs in 2005-06

• The Singapore Plain English Speaking Award (PESA) 2005 is organized by the Ministry of Education and YMCA Singapore from 30 May to 29 July 2005. The format of storytelling competition for elementary and junior high school students is required. While elementary school children must compile and construct their own stories, high school contestants should choose interesting topics, plan speeches, and present their ideas and arguments fluently and fluently through the use of plain English. A total of 140 students participated in the event.
• SGEM Partnership and Seminars: These include the A-Improvement Workshop by the National Library Agency for parents to develop a conducive reading environment for their children. A Mouthful of Words by Reach Learning Center is organized for children between 9-12 years old and their parents to understand and explore phonetic concepts and encourage good spoken English. Hamburger Model: A Story Writing Workshop is organized by Ms. Angeline Tan from Creative Culture Consultants who teaches children ages 7 to 10 how to develop an engaging storyline and story writing.
• READi Course To Read The Facilitator Organized by the Society for Reading & amp; Literacy (SRL) aims to reach underprivileged children who have difficulty reading. Some sponsorship is given to eligible volunteers who have attended the 2-month course. A total of 10 volunteers get sponsors. They then conduct a para-intervention or improvement session in schools, voluntary welfare organizations and libraries for children with reading difficulties.
• National challenges and competitions are organized by SGEM partners. These include the DRAMAmazing race 2 by the Singapore Drama Educators Association (SDEA) involving school students who solve puzzles and make good use of English to complete a race similar to the Amazing race, and between schools < i> Scrabble Championship 2005 put together by Mattel Southeast Asia. Other activities include the challenge of SGEM 2005 Pronunciation held by the British Council and National Library Board between 17 May and 20 June. In the challenge, community members enter the official SGEM website, listen and select a dialog with the correct pronunciation to win a free course from the British Council.

Understandable. Not only in Singapore, Malaysia, and Batam (2006-07)

The 2006 Movement was launched by Radm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, State Minister of Education on July 25, 2006 at The Plaza, National Library Building. The focus of the year is to create an English standard for Singaporeans to be understood anywhere in the world, not just locally but internationally. Key points of the 2006 movement include starting from the 'Damaged English' column on the Generation Y page of The Sunday Times that addresses questions related to English sent by readers. This column continues for 2 years in print and then adapted to the online columns updated regularly at STOMP that are still running today. There are also daily inquiries about English at STOMP. Its popularity led to the publication of 2 best-selling books with the same title - 'English As It is Broken', based on issues raised from the site.

Partner Programs in 2006-07

• Walk and Talk (British Council) Competition: During November 2006 - February 2007, Primary to pre-university students entered the competition by making short animated films in collaboration with tertiary level design and technology students.
• Singapore Arts Favorite Competition (British Council): An online contest is held for the public to choose their favorite English words. The contest closed with 'love' as Singapore's favorite English word. Other words include 'cool' and 'fatigue'. The winner is given a pair of tickets to England. As a follow up of 100 bigger Singapore favorites, a competition was held for the participants to combine the top 10 words in the short story writing competition.
• Golden Point Award 2007 (National Arts Council, The Arts House): The biennial writing competition that began in 1992 was held on April 24, 2007.
• Your 'Express Yourself' Workshop (British Council): A series of 6 workshops are held for young adults to improve their literacy skills. Each workshop focuses on one emotion (eg hope, anger, etc.) and sees ways to express it.
• Know International Phonetic Phonetics (National Education Institute): A 2-hour workshop is held for the public to learn about science. They were held on September 30, 2006 and November 25, 2006.
• Is Your Child Reading Enough? (Reading Specialist Association, National Library Council): A free half-day forum was held to the public on September 9, 2006 at the Bishan Community Library, to express their concerns about reading. Topics include: 'What kind of reader is your child?', 'Busting Reading Myths' and 'Materials for Improving Young Successful Readers'.
• Journey through Stories (Creative Cultural Education Center): On September 7th, 2006, the kids at Cheng San Community Library were taught how to create stories from pictures.
• The Fei Yue Family Community Service program: The parent-child program was held at Yishun Community Library on 6 September 2006 to encourage parents to use rhymes and stories to improve language communication skills in toddlers.
• Tales Magis from Afar (Singapore National Book Development Council): On September 5 and 6, 2006, international storytellers told stories about their homeland.
• 'English Like Destructive' (The Sunday Times, Ministry of Education): A new weekly column is introduced on page Y Gen in the Sunday Times. It answers questions related to English.
• Ordinary English Speech Award 2006 (YMCA Singapore, Ministry of Education, National Library Agency): The public speech competition for students was held in August 2006.
• SGEM Pamphlets & amp; Posters for Retailers (Singapore Reseller Association): Pamphlets and posters consisting of phrases that help for communication are distributed in an effort to encourage staff to use Standard English at work.

Rock Your World! Express Yourself (2007-08)

Launched by Radm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, State Minister for Education on July 31, 2007 at Timbre Music Bistro, The 2007/08 Movement targets four major groups - youth, parents, teachers and front-line staff. The main focus is on the youth, while the parents, teachers, and front-line staff are seen as the main people to interact with them, thus having an important role in the input of the language they receive. Organizers are trying to encourage young Singaporeans to express themselves through art and music. This year also sees the appointment for a new chairman - Mr. Goh Eck Kheng, Landmark Book publisher for a two-year period from 1 March 2008 to 30 April 2010.

Rock Your Word - Social networking initiative

From August 2007 to June 2008, the movement held weekly programs and performances aimed at enabling youth to foster confidence and fluency with codes. Programs include music, oratorical performances, movies, plays, stand-up comedies, and poetry. In providing a platform for local artists, they hope to use the strength and reach of artists to send their message to the youth in Singapore. It also embraces new platforms, such as social networking media as follows:

• MySpace: Rock Your World @ MySpace
• YouTube: Rock Your World @ YouTube
• Facebook: Rock Your World @ Facebook
• Stomp
• Youth.Sg
• Good English Movement Website
• Blog by band members

Partner Program in 2007-08

• Inspiring Teacher of the English Award 2008 (The Straits Times): This is the first national award to recognize the passionate English teachers at Singapore schools who have enlivened love for English with their students using the innovative to help students speak and write better.
• Good English Tip-off! (Youth.Sg): A monthly set that provides nuggets of information about the use of English.
• Overweight Children More Difficult to kidnap - 31 plays in 1 hour (Youth Empire): An interactive theater production conducted by How Dram company that ran for 3 days Wednesday between 5-16 March 2008.
• Schools Digital Media Awards 2008 (SDMA): This year, there are some winning entries related to good English.
• School Invasion Tour at Temasek Junior College: On January 31, 2008, music performances by Switchfoot, Speak Good English Movement activists, West Grand Boulevard and Caracal were conducted for students at Temasek Junior College.
• Speak Good English Day at Singapore Polytechnic: On November 28, 2008, students and lecturers from the School of Business at Singapore Polytechnic held a show to emphasize the importance of speaking good English. This program includes Singlish Little Red Riding Hood play, courtroom sessions and artificial debates on "Men Are Redundant" topics.
• English For Not Destructive! (Singapore Polytechnic) held a speech-Plain English Speaking Award speech-grade contest for speakers proficient to represent schools in the annual English Speaking Plain Award by the YMCA.
• Switch to Standard English! & amp; Interactive Storytelling Sessions (Julia Gabriel Learning Center, National Library Council): 2 events are held with the lecture "Switch to Standard English!" on how Standard English is crucial to the success of children in school, and Interactive Storytelling Sessions that use drama, dolls, and music in the process.
• Story My Grandparents Say I am Storytelling The 2007 Competition (Acropolis English Center, Singapore National Book Development Council): 13 elementary school students qualify as finalists in this competition.
• Rock Your World Special Edition (Timbre Music Bistro & Bar, The British Council): On December 5, 2007, Charlie Dark was brought for a one-night show.
• Rock Your World @ Youth.SG Contest: The contest is held every last Tuesday of the month in which participants must creatively express emotions such as 'excitement' or 'anger' in any way.

I Can (2008-09)

Launched by Minister Lim Boon Heng, Prime Minister's Office, on August 26, 2008, Speak Good English Movement 2008 targeted the workforce seen as both Singaporean and international visitors will meet most often. The frontline staff of the services and retail sectors are primarily targeted. The message from the 2008 tagline - 'I Can' is that 'I can help others improve their English.', 'I can take action to improve my English.' and I can speak English well if I want to. 'To encourage the willingness to speak and improve the ability of Standard English, this year's movement initiated the classification of Singaporeans into 3 categories. 1. Singaporeans who can speak Standard English. 2. Singaporeans who can not speak Standard English and are open to improving themselves. 3. Singaporeans who can not speak Standard English and do not see the importance of doing so.

Partner Programs in 2008-09

• Retail Professional Services (Retailers Association of Singapore): A new training program called "Retail Professionals Service English" was launched. It targets non-fluent English speakers in the services and retail sectors.
• Inspiring Teacher of the English Award 2009 (The Straits Times): This is the first national award to recognize an enthusiastic English teacher at Singapore schools who have enlivened English love in their students, using innovative methods to help students speak and write better.
• Digital Media Award School (SDMA) 2009
• The ABCs of Pronunciation (Jan & Elly) Ã,: A series of 4 workshops conducted in 4 public libraries. They aim to help Singaporeans understand and use appropriate pronunciation on the international stage using phonemic awareness techniques and tip the often misinterpreted words.
• What Parents Should Know About Standard Singapore English (RELC and National Library Council): A series of 3 talks are presented about how parents have an influence on the use of their children's Standard English. The discussion titles are 'What the Parents Should Know about Standard Singapore English' and 'The Ten Best Ideas to Teach Your Kids to Speak Good English' and 'Using Standard English English at Home'.
• Inspiring Teacher of English award 2008 (The Straits Times) Ã,: On October 29, the awards ceremony was held at the National Library Building. 9 teachers presented with appreciation.
• Broken English (STOMP): On the website, public questions and answers about the English language are updated daily by the English language panel.

Impress. Inspire. Intoxicating. (2009-10)

The Speak Good English Movement 2009 was officially launched by Vice Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean on August 28th with the tagline "Impress Inspire.Intoxicate." Highlight those who communicate with us, inspire others as good role models of English and use intoxicating words to make day-to-day communication more interesting. Tagline also aims to convey messages that communicate well beyond grammar and vocabulary and involve the ability to express and be understood as well. The target of this year's movement is the young generation of cable generation, aged 18 to 29 years.

Six Life

This year, the movement started an online play titled Six Lives that follows the lives of six friends planning weddings for their friends John and Huileng. Over the 12-episode range, Six Lives aims to demonstrate the importance of communicating well and how 'Impress, Inspire and Intoxicate' can be incorporated into everyday situations involving friends, through demonstrations by six characters who interact through blog posts and comments on web pages Sixlives.

Partner Program in 2009-10

• Grammar Ninja (STOMP): A contest is held where participants must take pictures of poor English usage in public places, suggest corrections and post them on forums according to different themes each month. 'Grammar Ninja' with the most significant contribution this month was awarded Kinokuniya S $ 100 book voucher.
• Inspiring Teacher of the English Award 2010 (The Straits Times): This is the first national award to recognize the passionate English teachers at Singapore schools who have enlivened the love of English in their students, using innovative methods to help students speak and write better.
• Working Your Language (Mediacorp Radio's 938LIVE): This is a weekly radio program aimed at improving work experience. Despite weekly episodes, tips, and hints where shared about how to be more effective in the workplace and improve relationships with colleagues with better language skills.
• Correct the Sign (STOMP) Ã,: The top 3rd prize contest selects a photo sign entry with the broken English island.
• English Like This Broken contest (PIONEER): Contest with the monthly print magazine of the Singapore Armed Forces, which provides T-shirts for photo entries with correction of signs with broken English.
• Language Master 2009 (Teens Network Club): Working together with the Adolescent People's Youth Network, the Masters of Languages ​​is a competition to encourage youth in elementary and high school to speak in proper English.
• Schools Digital Media Awards 2010 (SDMA): Categories that are open to students and teachers related to good English are included in this year's competition - "English communication in English".
• Free English Workshop (British Council): A series of 4 free English workshops are conducted on "Guiding Kids in Reading", "Online English Learning", "Singles vs English Standard", and "Presentation Skills".

Do It Right (2010-11)

In the 11th year, Speak Good English Movement 2010 was launched on September 7, 2010 with the tagline 'Get It Right'. The focus of the year is on those who are not proficient in Standard English. It aims to expand the environment in which Standard English is used, to create a conducive environment in which those who are less proficient in code can learn by example. Native English speakers are encouraged to use it more often in all conversations, regardless of whether it is with family members, colleagues, hawkers, or taxi drivers.

Toolkit aktivis

In an effort for Singaporeans to 'Get It Right' - where those proficient in Standard English pay attention to using language accurately and those less skilled at trying to use it properly; the committee introduced the Activist Tool. The Activist Toolkit includes sticky notes, stickers and notebooks. People are encouraged to use sticky notes to correct any English errors they encounter anywhere. For example, correcting an incorrect sign is expressed by pasting sticky notes on it. This tactic is called the 'guerrilla style' of guerrilla marketing. The current Minister for Community, Youth and Sports Development Vivian Balakrishnan started this year's campaign by being the first to fix the mark at Xin Food Court at HarbourFront Center. He replaced the ungrammatical sign that says 'No outside food is allowed' with that says 'No food from anywhere else, please'.

Partner Program in 2010-11

• English Pronunciation (Jan & Elly) Workshop: This partnership program by Jan and Elly offers a series of free pronunciation workshops held at a public library in Singapore. The workshop aims to teach participants how to understand and use appropriate English pronunciation in an international environment.
• English Workshop Series (British Council Singapore): British Council Singapore offers a series of free workshops in public libraries in Singapore from August to December 2010. Topics include "Know your pronunciation", "Phonics and Early Learning Literacy" and 'Success with Presentation You. â € A reading workshop for children and parents as well as an English communication workshop for working adults is also conducted.
• English for Young Executives Workshop (Ascend Education Center): Ascend Education Center held a series of 8 workshops targeting youth employment executives. The focus is on improving communication skills by scrubbing the written and spoken grammar of the participants. Some topics include: 'Do not Tight Up Tenses - Present, Perfect and Past', 'Can You Be? - Use of Modals', 'Be Active About Using Passive', 'Do Your Way - Use of Phrasal Verbs',' Therefore, Conclusions - Conjunction Use and Transitional Phrase '
• Damaged English: Citizens of journalism and social networking sites, STOMP is working with SGEM to provide an English Language Panel that answers readers' questions about English in the local context on a daily basis. The ongoing STOMP partnership with this movement has resulted in two books focused on frequently asked questions and mistakes, as well as tips on how to improve the English reader's command. STOMP also launched the free iPhone app, Say It Right, which allows users to listen to the correct pronunciation of words that are most often pronounced by Singaporeans and look up definitions of these words. This app uses Singaporean sounds known to speak words in hopes of making them more appealing and useful to their target audience in spontaneous situations when they are unsure about the pronunciation of a particular word.
• Street Speak (RazorTV): RazorTV, an online television broadcast service launched a 5-part video series entitled 'Street Speak' focusing on 5 areas where Singaporeans usually face difficulty in their daily use in English. The series also suggests corrections for self-improvement. 5 areas including 'Literal Translation', 'Vocabulary', 'Grammar/Tenses', 'Pronunciation', 'Listening'.
• Interesting Facts English (938LIVE): The radio station will run a daily program featuring fun facts and trivia about English. Examples of topics include 'Did you know that certain English words really come from outside?' and 'Did you know that the meaning of some English words has evolved over time?'

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Criticism

SGEM has received mixed reactions early on; His strongest opponents have included linguists and social commentators. In response, Liew Choon Boon, Director of Art & amp; The Heritage Development Division of the Ministry of Information, Communication and Arts and Ho Peng, Director of the Curriculum Development and Planning of the Ministry of Education, wrote in a letter published in The Straits Times on December 12, 2008:

While Singlish may be an interesting academic topic for linguists to write papers, Singapore is not interested in being a strange zoo specimen to be dissected and explained by scholars.

Singlish as a Singapore identity marker

A Good Speech Movement is a government effort to encourage Singaporeans to speak Standard English rather than daily, Singlish. Many Singaporeans have criticized this for trying to root out Singlish. Arguing that Singlish is a distinctive marker of Singapore identity, Singlish supporters criticize SGEM. Their support for Singlish comes from the belief that Singlish can forge social cohesion and according to some, "This may be the only one that makes us Singapore." Likewise, celebrity STOMP bloggers, Leow Ju Len said in this blog post:

"I mean, our tourism slogan is 'Uniquely Singapore', and what can be more unique than Singapore than Singlish?". He also reasoned that the beauty of Singlish is the fact that "It also greatly saves time and breath.If you need to know the time, you say: 'Now what time?' The question comes in three words.Which gets time to say: You know what time it is? ' "

Save Our Singlish Campaign

On April 27, 2002, two years after SGEM's start, TalkingCock launched the Save Our Singlish Campaign. They clarified the speech during the launch that they were not against good English. Instead, they "fully support writing and speaking good English" and hope that SGEM will see the Save Our Singlish Campaign "as a complement, not hostility". TalkingCock feels it's important to save Singlish because it's an important part of Singapore's culture and heritage:

Why we fight for Singlish, is because it is just part of our culture. In fact, maybe it's the ONLY thing that makes us a unique Singaporean. It mixes all the different languages, which to me, seems to spread a multi-cultural understanding. I think this is something to be proud of.

Furthermore, they affirm that "Singlish is not only broken English, it is a patois." They argue that speaking good English should not be promoted at the expense of Singlish. Singapore Watch concluded with "Speak Singlish proudly, speaking English correctly." Colin Goh, who started TalkingCock, points out that Singaporeans can distinguish between English and Singlish:

Trust more Singaporeans than that. We know when to use Singlish and when not. We are smart enough to know that we have not written an official letter in Singlish. When was the last time you typed, "Uh, give me a job, leh!" And we try not to talk Singlish to our foreign friends because we instinctively know that they may not understand. Or as we say, they will not catch the ball.

He further admits that there are times when English is not properly spoken by Singaporeans but reaffirms that mistakes can not be pushed to Singlish:

If Singapore's communication with Europeans or Americans is bad, it's because they speak English, not Singlish. We all know we can not talk Singlish with strangers because they all will not catch the ball. It's just common sense. The mistake is not too much with Singlish, it's because English is taught very badly.

In an event held on August 24, 2006, TalkingCock in Parliament: We, Citizens, , Ruby Pan (former undergraduate of the Department of Education and Princeton University graduate) demonstrated the ability to switch easily from Standard English to Singlish and different English accents.

Speak Good Singlish Movement

The Good Singlish Speak movement garnered support through a Facebook page which in September 2013 had 252 members even though as reported in dead links, a group named identically has 3,140 members by December 2012. It started in response to the launch of SGEM 2010, in particular, the idea of ​​using post- to correct common signs written in bad English. This page runs its own post-it campaign, called "Pas-tak Bak Chew Campaign", inviting supporters to send snapshots of their own homemade signs with corresponding Singlish.

The original Facebook page was established on September 11, 2010 with the following statement:

We are not opposed to Speak Good English Movement in Singapore. But we believe that we have to do it right by speaking English as well as Singlish. We are tired of people confusing Singlish with broken English. We are tired of people pretending to speak Singlish by speaking bad English. We are tired of people who make caricatures of Singlish speakers as being unintelligent and not smart. If you do not want to learn the subtle rules of a naturally evolving language, then please do not conclude that it's simple, superficial, and useless! Singlish is full of cultural nuances and word games, and it combines the best in grammar, syntax, and vocabulary from many languages.

In an exclusive interview with The Online Citizen, one of Singapore's premier social commentary sites, the unnamed founder directly questioned Dr Balakrishnan's appeal of SGEM.

Hiring native English speakers to teach

Since Singapore became independent in 1965, English was taught as the first language and also the most dominant language in Singapore. All public schools use English as the medium of instruction. But one can not classify all Singaporeans as native speakers of English because the main language used at home is not always English. In 2006, Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam mentioned during a dialogue session at a student education conference that his ministry was looking to hire "native speakers" to teach English in schools to improve the standard of teaching English in school. After this, many Singaporeans write to the newspaper forum with questions such as "Why are our English teachers ineligible?" and wondering if "native English speakers" means foreign foreign language speakers from the United States or from the United Kingdom.

On June 14, 2006, mrbrown reported on his blog that the Department of Education has posted job vacancies in the English newspaper The Guardian for experienced, qualified native English speakers to teach English as a first language, English Literature, Geography, History, Knowledge and Investigation.

Next, mrbrown creates two podcasts on the mrbrown event to express his views. The former gives insight into what would happen if the application of hiring native English speakers to teach English became too successful. The second tells how he imagines the interview with the native-speaking applicants for the teaching job.

In response, Jennifer Chan, Press Secretary for the Minister of Education, wrote in a reply letter to the forum dated 22 June 2006 that:

Criteria for selection of foreign teachers will remain tight. In addition to academic and teaching qualifications, they must also have a proven track record in teaching in their country. Individuals may be native speakers or people who have studied EL as well as a first language

Employing "a small number" of foreign teachers is to equip local teachers in subjects such as English, Mother Language and Humanities. This is part of a plan to bring English standards at school to a higher level.

The "interference" argument

Drawing from the notion of linguistic disorder, the "interference" argument justifies the need to eliminate Singlish by suggesting that it is confusing and contaminating Standard English. This shows that the inability to distinguish grammar from two types of English will cause learners to mix their features, thus contaminating the grammar of the standard version.

However, many Singaporeans feel that Singlish does not negatively affect the ability of Standard English. In a 2008 study, about 41% of Singaporean participants felt they already had good English. Another study by Wee (2005) has shown that in general, Singaporeans are confident in their ability to switch codes between Singlish and Standard English, which undermines claims that using Singlish interfere with standard English learning.

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See also

• English special movement
• Singapore language
• Linguistic rights
• Singaporean English
• Singlish
• Singlish vocabulary
• Speak Mandarin Campaign
• Language planning and policy in Singapore

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References

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External links

• Official site
• TalkingCock.com - The most boring satirical humor site in Singapore
• mrbrown show

Source of the article : Wikipedia