Presentation+Script?


 * i. Title slide. **


 * ii. Thesis **

Dorea:

(read out the thesis)

The importance of a language in relation to the cultural identity of a community, especially in terms of a national identity, is indisputable. The symbiotic relationship between language and culture means that the study of a language will provide insight into a community’s culture and history.

In our presentation, we will be analysing, or rather, discussing, the key characteristics of Singaporean Colloquial English and its vital role in Singapore’s cultural life. Through this examination of Singlish, we will highlight how Singlish tells us specific things about Singapore.

This is not a far-fetched idea

Eg.

Japanese – beat around the bush

English – written and spoken

1st generation Australians – Ethnic language, English

**iii. What is singlish?**

Christina:

In Singapore 23 languages are used but four, that is, English, Malay, Tamil, and Chinese Mandarin, remain official. Though there are four national languages, due to the varieties of different cultural groups, more languages are used such as Hindi, Hokkien and Cantonese.

There exists three main ethnic groups that is, Chinese, Malaysian, and Indian. English does not belong to a specific cultural or ethnic group, rather it is used a lingua franca for communication. Originally, standard English was used mainly for educational purposes in schools and for international communication. As English is a culturally neutral language, a distinct colloquial variation of standard English was created that incorporates the cultural aspects of the different official languages.

Singlish holds the position of being able to be a second lingua franca to a multicultural country. To young children, it allows them to communicate with eachother with ease, as it isn't until they reach formal education that they begin to learn languages, and even then, the average student learns two languages. Out of four. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thus, Singapore Colloquial English, better known as ‘Singlish’ is an amalgamation of the four official languages, It is an integration of vocabulary, syntax and grammatical structures, though it is recognised by its syntax - formation of grammatical sentences, rather than its vocabulary, of which it is a mess of several different languages.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hannah:
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">iv. Context : **


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Singapore has a culture composed of multiethnic and multilingual backgrounds. As mentioned before it consists largely of a strong community of Chinese, Indian and Malay as well as other nationalities. The fundamental shift of a population consisting of mostly Malays to a dominating Chinese population portrays the integration and extensive contact within a multicultural society over a period of time.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">English as a lingua franca of communication in Singapore, not only stands as a link language, but holds an important role in administration, of regional and international contact and for economic purposes. Thus the seemingly vital status English holds in the society emphasizes its importance of standing as a mode of interethnic communication, particularly as Singapore is a highly dense population.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Singlish propelled as a medium of interethnic communication due to an almost total absence of monolingual speakers and the widespread usage of English.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Known for being an effective mode of communication as well as a gateway for cultural connection, Singlish holds the popular view as a potential national multilinguistic language of Singapore, its usage being uniquely Singaporean.


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">v. Video **

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hannah/Dorea:
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our primary source is a video from an episode on Singlish by a Singaporean Comedy TV series called The Noose. The video provides a brief explanation on what Singlish is, that is, a mix of languages of the different ethnic groups in Singapore and how it came to be
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This series presents a fictional scenario of a ban on Singlish by authorities due to its supposedly unrefined and broken structure. They use an elderly Singaporean Citizen Madam Cho Si Mee as an example. During an interview, she is stopped every time she uses Singaporean Colloquial English and is left unable to continue as Singlish is the only dialect she can use as a communicational means.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The News reporter went on to continue that a vast number of the population are left speechless by the ban, going on to say that Singlish is the most direct and effective form of communication. It is also the easiest way of connecting to those outside their race. If they can not use Singlish, then they would have to learn two or more language to communicate and connect with other cultures.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The main argument on why there should be a ban on Singlish is that it will help to improve standards of living in the long run, by promoting productivity, business and increase the falling standards of English.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Overall this video focuses on communication, and how Singlish is not just a mode of linguistic communication in a multicultural society but also is a mode of connection in which each different cultural background can obtain cultural familiarity when they integrate with each other.


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">vi. Deletion of words **

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dorea:
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">In Singlish, there are often omitted tenses, structurally consistent for native speakers but frequently interpreted as bad English by foreign ears.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Omitted tenses mirror the grammatical structure of Chinese as there are no difference between past and present verbs in Chinese. This reflects also upon the majority of speakers in Singapore with Chinese ethnicity.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the example on the slide, the sentence is explaining why someone’s leg is bleeding. The verbs are all without past tenses. Instead, past time is indicated by the addition of words, influenced by Malay and Chinese. For example, to explain that the girl was in school, you would say ‘the girl in school just now’ in Singlish. Most often used is ‘already’ which can be linked to ‘liau’ in Hokkien or ‘le’ in Mandarin Chinese.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Generally, you would say ‘My baby has started to speak’ but in Singlish you would say ‘My baby speak already’. __ has noted that omitted tenses in the language should not be dismissed as bad English as it is highly ordered and structured system.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Now what does this tell us about Singapore. Firstly, the use of Chinese, Malay or Hokkien grammatical structures, suggest the dominance of Chinese and Malay as the mother tongue for many Singaporeans. Also the simplicity in grammatical structure is consequential to the purpose of Singlish as a means for communication amongst four official languages.


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">vii. Ambiguity **

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Christina:
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Due to it's diverse nature, Singlish is considerably difficult to define. It imbues the multilingual backgrounds of Singapore's citizens, and represents this by being an amalgamation of the primary languages used in Singapore.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">It cannot be viewed as a creole language, as it lacks Pidgin being it's ancestral language; having been based primarily on English.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Singlish itself as an ever-changing language means that it can never be formalised or standardised. This is perhaps due to it's purely spoken nature and the fact that it is a continually evolving language. The fact that it can never be standardised or formalised means that Singlish is by nature a very ambiguous language
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">What Singlish provides is an avenue for Singaporean's to communicate effectively with eachother. Different languages have specific words and phrases that carry specific meanings - Singlish's preservation of some of these words and phrases allows for Singaporean's to efficiently convey their meaning to one another - as the issue of translation is an ever-present one in regards to the diminishment of linguistic value.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hannah:
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">viii. Code mixing **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">As a multilingual speaker, when one speaks Singlish, they are more often than not code-switching between the different languages.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Code-mixing denotes the linguistic elements such as syntax, structure and lexis transferred from one or more languages into another. In this case, the linguistic elements of the different languages used in Singapore such as Chinese, Baba Malay and Tamil are integrated within English.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The main reason for code-mixing to come into presence is the constant interaction among the different speech communities. Each multilingual speaker obtains speaking habits from interacting with different linguistic backgrounds, engaging in each other’s linguistic repertoire from intonation and pronunciation to the usage of loanwords.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">In terms of intonation and syntax, much of it is influenced by Chinese. One of the characteristics of this code-mix is the incorporation of pragmatic particles which would otherwise be semantically meaningless in English.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">For example, the use of the loanwords ‘Lah’ and ‘Lor’ at the end of the sentence denote emphasis or assertiveness. The words of non-English origin express a concept that is locally but not internationally recognized.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Furthermore loanwords are usually used where it cannot be replicated in another language. Food names are a typical example.The code-mix of words characterize cultural references, much like paying tribute to the culture the word originated from.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Overall, code-mixing provides an integration of different cultures and thus, it can be said that Singlish stands as a linguistic cultural linkage among its speakers.


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">ix. Diglossia **

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dorea:
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Diglossia is when two forms of the same language are used in difference contexts. This is the current situation with English in Singapore. Business and higher education settings require the use of standard English, while Colloquial Singaporean English resonated within the daily interactions of many Singaporeans.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">In 1956, a bilingual primary and secondary education policy was implemented in Singapore whereas students had to learn Standard English and attend language classes of their ethnicity. However, with the highly competitive educational system and the fact that English is used in universities, ambitious parents push for the use of English in homes.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The fact that Singlish is trapped in this diglossia depicts how a diversity of languages exist through its constant use in different context. It also explains how despite the official stigma towards Singlish, Singlish continues to exist. With individuals adopting Singlish as the most convenient form of communication, this is transmitted to their children, to their students if they become teachers and hence Singlish thrives through the generations.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Therefore, while Singaporeans are proficient in the standard variety of English, the use of Singlish is chosen to be used, suggesting its efficiency and sense of comfort it provides for its speakers.


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">x. Colloquial status **

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Christina:
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The term 'colloquial' denotes a language system that is 'used in ordinary conversation; not formal or literal'. Singlish itself is acknowledged as a Colloquial language and hence, due to it's lack of formality, it is given a stigma within society as it is not officially recognised by the land and due to the nature of the term 'colloquial' itself, it is perceived as 'less' and over a lower status.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">What makes Singlish stand out so much in the field of linguistcs is that it borrows words frequently from Malay and Chinese. This is done due to the fact that some words do not carry the same weight once translated and remain in the language as defining points. For example 'cheongsam' and 'sari'.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">In 1993, the Government banned SCE from television on the grounds that they believed television was an educational medium and did not wish to continue to propogate 'improper' language.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Due to Singlish's fluid nature, or rather, due to the fact that it is not standardised, it is a continually evolving language. This has implications for who can or cannot speak it, as those before Singapore's independence do not speak Singlish at all. It is very much the language of younger generations. This causes a very palpable division between generations.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Additionally, Singaporeans tend to find their national-identity in the language of English. While certainly it is a variation of British English; it makes their distinction due to it's pattern of intonations. The choice of Singaporean English as a culturally 'national' language reinforces the idea that Singlish is a far more base language in comparison.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Singlish, as a primarily spoken language is impossible to remove from society due to the fact that people learn languages both in a home environment and educational environment. In the instance where parents will be using the colloquial spoken variation of Singaporean English and where Teachers themselves utilise it, it creates a cycle wherein younger generations are continually exposed to it - hence the propagation of Singlish.


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">xi. conclusion **

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Christina: > > > **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">xii. Bibliography slide ** > > > > > > >
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The linguistically diverse culture of Singapore is reflected in it's multilingual state.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">With Singaporeans culturally identifying themselves by the usage of Singaporean English - it makes way for the presence of the more colloquial Singaporean Colloquial English which is a spoken language and used in much less formal situations.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">As an amalgamation of the primary languages used in Singapore : English, Chinese and Malaysian - Singlish represents the cultural differences between the cultures and languages and yet makes them acceptable by the form of languages.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The insight afforded to us through the studying of Singlish is merely a window into the vastly complex world of Singapore. And yet Singlish enables us to understand the social and cultural nuances by conveying these nuances through language.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">While it is not an officially recognised language, Singlish is nontheless a vital aspect of Singaporean culture and presents itself as such.

<span style="display: block; height: 1px; left: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; position: absolute; top: -25px; width: 1px;"> <span style="line-height: 20.4pt; margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"> · Diglossia is when two forms of the same language are used in difference contexts. This is the current situation with English in Singapore. Business and higher education settings require the use of standard English, while Colloquial Singaporean English resonated within the daily interactions of many Singaporeans. · In 1956, a bilingual primary and secondary education policy was implemented in Singapore whereas students had to learn Standard English and attend language classes of their ethnicity. However, with the highly competitive educational system and the fact that English is used in universities, ambitious parents push for the use of English in homes. · The fact that Singlish is trapped in this diglossia depicts how a diversity of languages exist through its constant use in different context. It also explains how despite the official stigma towards Singlish, Singlish continues to exist. With individuals adopting Singlish as the most convenient form of communication, this is transmitted to their children, to their students if they become teachers and hence Singlish thrives through the generations. · Therefore, while Singaporeans are proficient in the standard variety of English, the use of Singlish is chosen to be used, suggesting it efficiency and sense of comfort it provides for its speakers.