In The Sunday Times main paper dated 13th September 2009, it has been brought up that the standard of English in Singapore has been falling. Various reasons have been mentioned to account for the falling standards.
Firstly, the wide range of languages used here can account for the fall in English standards. As Ms Laraine Bamrah quoted, “ Singaporeans’ exposure to several languages results in breadth, but the richness and depth acquired in any one language is compromised.” This is especially true in a multi-cultural society like Singapore. As a result, the use of English is usually compromised.
Also, the use of various communication mediums has also affected the standard of English. As quoted from the text, “Ironically, the standard has fallen with greater connectivity with the world.” This is especially true as seen from the wide use of short forms in communication mediums such as MSN messenger (transactional model) and forums (interactive models) where language is not moderated. Thus, habitual users of these various mediums will find themselves exposed to improper English. Also, the use of SMS has also affected the standard of English. This is because in order to fit the 160word limit of each message, users will find means and ways of summarizing their message mostly, by shortening the originally intended word so that the meaning of the message is not lost. The prevalent use of short forms may consequently, compromise the spelling standard of the users.
I personally feel that the exposure students have in presentation skills is limited. This is because presentation skills are not emphasized on in the primary and secondary level. Thus, when students reach tertiary level education, they often find themselves struggling to present themselves due to weak verbal skills, which may lead to low self-esteem. Furthermore, classroom lessons are usually one-sided with the teacher speaking and the passive students accepting whatever the teacher is saying. This shows one form of linear communication. Thus, students who are not trained from a young age to verbalise their thoughts will have difficulties expressing themselves in the future.
Therefore, I feel that improving English standards should be done from a young age. As Mr Matthew Ong said, “Teachers need to equip young learners with a solid foundation and the courage to speak well.” Changes to the education systems such as grading class participation and emphasizing on project presentation starting from the primary levels could help to equip students with greater presentation skill and thus, improve overall English standards as they can communicate more effectively thus boosting confidence.
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I am one of them whose verbal skills are not polished to perfection, so I can feel for you on this topic. Verbal presentation skills are important in life, and should not be taken lightly. Schools should focus more on the oral aspects of learning a language. This will also allow students to grow up as confident adults who dare to share their personal opinions and views openly.
ReplyDeleteWith the wide use of acronyms in MSN and other communication devices, the standard of English will deteriorate at a significant rate. I agree that presentation skills should be trained at a young age and not until the college years where project work comes in. It would also give them the courage to speak up and express their point of views confidently.
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I feel that the way we speak and write are all cultivated when we are young.Hence, it is necessary that parents encourage their children to speak and write proper English. They should not leave it to schools to teach their children the proper way. Teachers can only help students to do better if they have a strong foundation in English.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that presentation is a good method to train students to be good in their public speaking skills. There are already efforts to integrate presentation into secondary schools. IPW targets to help students realise the connection between different school subjects, strengthens their verbal skills, and at the same time, allow students to work together to form working teams. But I agree with ~relle~ that it is crucial for parents and schools to work together to improve our english standards.
ReplyDeleteWhich yardstick is it measured against that the standard of English is falling in Singapore? Are we comparing ourselves to other countries or to the past in general? English language is still ultimately used more frequently as compared to the past. Also, by refering to the standard of English, are you referring to Singapore Standard English or the Received Pronunciation. I believe that there are two varieties to English in Singapore and that would be the Singapore Standard English(SSE) and the Singapore Colloqial English(SCE). If the right form is used in the right context, then it is alright for students. But at the same time, much as emphasis is placed on English in Singapore, we should not place to much importance in it as it might cause our multi-lingual society to shift to a mono-lingual one.
ReplyDeleteBeing one of those people who are not proficient in english-speaking, I feel that students are a bit handicapped in presentation skills when they enrolled into tertiary education. As a result of little opportunities to speak up in class during their secondary and primary school years, students are unable to practise speaking up in front of a crowd, not to mention the usage of proper english. I think that if we can allow more project work to be incorporated within schools' curriculum, students can be trained at a younger age and familiarise themsleves with the neccessary presentation skills and language. Their usage of proper english will increase, wich wil lead to a higher proficient in their language skill.
ReplyDeleteBasically, I agree that the drop in English standards may be due to the fact that students nowadays are being exposed to a wider range of languages and cultures, which was probably how Singlish was formed. Furthermore, as a person who have been through the Singapore education system up till university level, I believe that the environment that one grows up in is crucial in the development of one's language ability and that parents have vital roles in helping to improve the English standards of their children from young. Furthermore, I agree that an emphasis on speaking English in schools will help to enhance the students in their abilities to articulate and express themselves in English competently.
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteI feel that no such thing as "perfect" English but standard English do exists. You talked about English being compromised. But, if you observe around us, the majority of SG population does not consists of Britains. In other words, English is not even our mother tongue in the first place so why would we compromise it?
SG adopted English for a sole purpose of allowing differnt ethnic groups communicate with each other without discriminating anyone. It is a good policy but it doesn't mean that we have to speak like Britains or Americans with their slangs and everything. We have our own slang which is called Singlish and I'm proud of it.
As long as we can change our use of English according to the situations we are in, I don't think we should put in more emphasis on English as compared to other languages.
I do agree with ~relle~ comment that the way we speak and write should be cultivated from young. This is because when we are young, we would be able to grasp language better and also, make good english an innate ability within us.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I feel that the wide range of language within Singapore is more of a boon than a bane(as mentioned in the text). This is because if we are exposed to different languages, this can enable us to be bilingual or even mulit-lingual!
Why not accept that the large variety of languages can help us to communicate with a larger group of people? Why not see that being multi-lingual would certainly open up a lot of business avenues with the other countries! Rather than focusing on improving one aspect, English, we also must not neglect other languages in order to ensure that Singaporeans remain competitive in the global market.
Taking the JC route for my tertiary education, I do acknowledge that more emphasis must be placed on presentation skills. THe only form of presentation skills which is put to actual test throughout my education was during oral presentation for my project work. Thus, i feel that more must be done to mould better-speaking individuals.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, in the working world, presentation skills are a must and whether one can go far in the job is mosstly decided by their ability to present, the ability to sell one's self.
Thus, i do agree with you on the point that more should be done in the education system to better improve the presentation skills of an individual.
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ReplyDeleteI like this article! It shows how we as Singaporean students should up our standard of english and also presentation skills. For english, with the introduction of SMS and internet lingo, the standard of english has definitley been compromised greatly. I remember reading an article about this and how some students actually use lingo in their essays. That shows how students should be able to differentiate school work and sms.
Presnetaiton skills are also vital in the workforce but we were not exposed to it when we were younger. My cousins who are studying in the USA ahve great presentation skilld because they are so use to it in school. I feel, even for myself, that Singapore whould put in more presentaiton aspects. It could help also in building a person's self esteem!
Clearly showed that there is a flaw in our education system. In many oversea seminars which I had attended, our local seem to be less outspoken and vocal than those in countries like Australia and America. They can expressed themselves well and good presentation skills. is about time we change our education system to start our children young to learn how to express themselves then just to study for the exam.
ReplyDeleteThe standard indeed dropped especially when younger spend so much time in MSN. But they some how are able to communicate what on their mind and able to b understand by the other party. If the computer language can be universal, then we will have msn language lesson instead of English which is complicated for some. It may evolve into a language which is simple and practical for all...Will this day come????
ReplyDeleteI am from the engineering field and most of my peers have problem expressing ourselves. We can do our job well but can't express ourselves in writing which resulted in not getting recognition for a well done job compared to those who can write well. So English is as important for all to express themselves for the recognition and career.
ReplyDeleteI agreed to a certain extent that lack of presentation skills in school can lead to the low English standard among the Singaporean. However, we must realise that this is Singapore, a multi-racial country. we are exposed to various languages, and even dialects. Hence it is very difficult for us to be fully master a language by itself.
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