“Hey, wo men yao qu Megabytes for lunch, you coming?”
Does this sound familiar? Maybe this is one line you frequently use or hear from others? Welcome to the club! You would not be the first or the last to be caught using Singlish.
I’m not condemning the use of this language. To me, its alright to speak Singlish as long as you can switch from Singlish to English readily. However, more often than not, most people stumble when forced into a dialogue that involves only English.
One may then question the significance of conversing strictly in English. No doubt, Singlish brings Singaporeans of different race, age, gender and religion together. If not for the puzzled expressions of non-Singaporeans when we converse in this language, I would give my full support to the language. Singlish removes a level of formality among people, but this is not what we seek in a workplace or in an interview. Moreover, when English is the passport to the global economy and Singapore aims to develop herself as one of the key players in the international market, we have to reconsider our stand on Singlish.
There is a need to encourage speaking proper English among Singaporeans. Current campaigns (Speak Good English Campaign) are unsuccessful in their attempts to inculcate the importance of being polished English speakers. With this survey, we hope not to repeat their mistakes and to succeed where they failed. To do so, we have to first investigate how deeply locals feel about both languages. Our target group is NUS students. We can then assemble the methods which encourage the use of English and reduce the students’ reliance on Singlish. The surveys will help to determine the feasibility of the methods suggested. The purport is to create a new generation of undergraduates who can speak both languages fluently and interchange the use of either readily. With these, I conclude this blog with “How do NUS students feel about their daily usage of Singlish? What are the measures that can be implemented so that they are eloquent speakers of the English Language yet glib Singlish conversationalists?”
4 comments:
Hi Shee nee. I think that the general research question should consist of one question only. Probably your research question could be “How do NUS students feel about their daily usage of Singlish?".
Then in your survey, you can ask the students about their opinion on possible measures to be implemented that will encourage them to speak proper English. In this way, your report will be useful to the committee behind 'The Speak Good English Movement' in getting new ideas for upcoming events.
This topic is feasible. But we must also take note that the team from 'The Speak Good English Movement' has launched a new series of activities targeted at youths in January. I think that it may take a longer time before we can conclude that their campaigns are not successful. Besides we need to carry out a survey to confirm if their campaigns are really unsuccessful. Therefore we can carry out a survey to find out if their newly launched activities are useful in achieving their goal of raising awareness of speaking good English among the youths.
A probable general research question would be "Do NUS students think that programmes organised in light of 'The Speak Good English Movement' is successful in encouraging them to express themselves in standard English in their daily lifes?"
I think the above research question would help 'The Speak Good English Movement' committee plan more successful campaigns.
I think Singlish is a topic that many Singaporeans can relate to. I believe many Singaporeans speak Singlish and when required to converse in proper English, they found it difficult to switch completely. The topic is rather feasible to carry out research and surveys. This is because speaking good English is an important issue and it concerns all Singaporeans. Action after the report is done is possible because all Singaporeans have been trying to learn how to speak good English through campaigns and programmes. I agree with Audrey that the research question has many questions within it. With a single clear research question, the direction of the study can be clearer.
i agree with audrey on the double question there... perhaps you can alter the questions so that it becomes more focused?
well, speaking Singlish is fine as long as speak it clearly so that the audiences can understand. I think, there is no such kind of "standard English" in the world. You see, British and American speak English in different ways. In the U.S. people from different part have different accents. So promoting standard English itself is something not practical. However, your survey could be a useful one if you set quetions to investigate students' attitudes towards Singlish. It is important to let the policymakers know students' opinion so that they may reconsider about the necessity of "The Speak Good English Movement".
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