With the world’s freest economies and an international modern city-state, is not just a dot in map of the world economy (Guide to Singapore Work Culture for Newcomers 2009, April 1). Along with that, many cultures and customs make Singapore one of the more unique places to do business. With low levels of corruption along with being one of the biggest trade ports in Asia, business can be done quite easy and successfully there. A trip to Singapore would be ideal for anyone in the business world for many…
In the essay ‘Mother Tongue’ (Tan 1990) it is portrayed that Amy Tan is an Asian American writer. She comes from a cultural background where English is not the main language spoken. This reflected her upbringing as she was raised in a country where English was the first language. This experience reflected her relationship within the language and her daily life. Amy Tan perceives language as ‘’The way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex ideal or a simple truth.’’ (Tan, 1990, pg.1) This gave Tan a stronger linked relationship with language as she viewed it more than just a figure of speech or writing. Furthermore Tan believes that the English language is a very powerful tool.…
The question of how acquisition of language takes place in children seems to me to be fundamental to the approach we take in education. Indeed, language is the medium through which we communicate with children, and the medium through which they begin to understand themselves and their culture, and begin to form their own identity. The Cox report (1989), recorded views of teachers on the importance of language in their profession, and the results show that this recognition of the importance of language is ubiquitous; statements such as the following show just how inextricably linked language is with not only a child’s development, but their wellbeing and sense of personal identity: "Language embodies social, cultural values and also carries…
In the article Tan shares how growing up with a mother who speaks very little English has shaped her life. Tan explains how she uses different Englishes when talking with different people. She makes her argument for the power of different Englishes by showing examples from her life and how the different ways the people close to her spoke influenced her life. Tan’s position is that she loves language and how it is used to impact people’s lives or change the way they think. Tan was determined to become a better writer rather than lean toward math and science like other Asian Americans.…
Political – Compare with other countries in the world, Singapore have a high stability, integrity, and high efficiency government. Therefore, it creates a reliable and safety image to the investors or businessmen all over the world. Plus, the Singapore government keep paying high attention on attract investors and businessmen…
There are so many different forms of English that are used on the daily basis that we unknowingly switch up on. Some are based on the people that we are around and others are in the area or even situation that we may be in. we rarely notice when we change from one form to another. In Amy Tan’s article “Mother tongue” she shows how her mother’s unique English led her to go through many trials and obstacles and was overlooked by many. In this essay, I will show how some of the issues that Amy Tan talks about in her article can be applied to my everyday life and is still very relevant.…
At the same time our own government could also be emphasizing and reminding locals of the “smallness” of Singapore, firstly to prevent complacency from building up in the mind of its citizens. After all, though Singapore is well-established in its reputation as a Global City with effective and able citizens contributing to the world stage, it still lacks the natural defense of a “big” country, namely natural resources and a strong military force. In the event that our immediate neighbours decide to engage in a military conquest against us, there is little that we can do beyond requesting aid from our allies. Therefore citizens must not be foolish in thinking that our existing prosperity and reputation will be enough to secure our success in future years, but rather continue to build upon the existing positive state of affairs.…
If progress is to be achieved, we cannot insist on knowledge that is founded on a bedrock of indubitable beliefs. How far do you agree?…
University Faculty for ASEAN universities”, in which CELC is one of the seven institutions taking…
1) Approval: Language gives identity. A people’s common language is their pedigree-their line of ancestry. That perhaps why Singlish is so important to Singaporeans. The beauty of Singlish lies in it being so succinct. Speaking Singlish is a…
In the 1960s-80s, local acts in Singapore were way more successful. This may be because Singaporeans were not exposed to a lot of foreign music. Their music was greatly appreciated by the locals. Today, local music rarely gets aired on radio, and what more, national television. International music hits flood the radio waves. The media here also overly celebrates foreign artistes. Some people are not even aware of the music scene here.…
The way most Hong Kong students speak English has always been criticized to be too unnatural and clumsy. The reason behind this phenomenon is that they try to speak exactly the same with what they would write when expressing ideas. However, speech is not just writing read out loud as speech and writing represent different codes of English respectively. Most Hong Kong students have the misconception that all dialogs should be in complete manner with complex sentence structures or grammar included whenever they speak in English. This kind of misunderstanding is probably built on the inauthentic models of spoken language demonstrated in textbooks they have read for over a decade. In this article, features characterize authentic and inauthentic English shown in two separate texts would be examined.…
Next, Singlish, to Singaporeans, is the basic medium of communicating with one another. Singlish is widely spoken in our everyday lives. As Singlish is a language is the language which most Singaporeans understand, it is the language that gets the point across the most. Therefore, Singlish has already become a bridge between the people in Singapore. Singlish is also used often for casual chats. It feels more intimate and it is something closer to our hearts by some turn of cultural evolution. Take a look at MSN chats or SMS(es) in particular. Singlish is used so often in these mediums just because it is an easier way of communication. Therefore, we should not break this medium of communication by banning the use of Singlish.…
Children build the nation sound and strong. One may think how these tiny tots can change the nation. Yes, they can, because today’s children are responsible citizens of tomorrow. For a country to develop lies in the hands of the child. And the foundation of knowledge, skills and attitude are laid in this impressionable period.…
The presence and use of borrowed words and discourse particles in Colloquial Singapore English (CSE) have been widely studied by linguists (e.g. Lim, 2007; & Deterding, 2007). It is also widely accepted, both amongst scholarly literature and within the general population, that CSE (its lexicon/syntax/etc.) is predominantly Chinese- or Malay-based and that Tamil has only had minimal influences (Leimgruber, 2009). However, little thought has been given, by the general population at least, as to why exactly this is so (that CSE is predominantly Chinese- or Malay-based); most Singaporeans simply take this ‘phenomenon’ for granted without knowing that there are sociolinguistic reasons which give rise to such situations. A detailed discussion of the possible causes of this would be most beneficial.…