ELL_P2SA_SINGLISH_

ELL P2SA SINGLISH NOTES ● What is it? ○ John Platt (1975): a creoloid ○ Kachru (1982): Outer Circle English ○ McArthur (1987): New English ○ Schneider (2007): post-colonial English in the endonormative stabilisation stage ○ Platt & Weber (1980): Singlish is a basilect, spoken by SG ’eans w minimal formal education, while SSE is an acrolect spoken by SG’eans with tertiary education ○ Gupta (1992): use of Eng in SG is a diglossia ■ Singlish is the native ‘low form’ ■ SSE is the non-native ‘high form’ ■ They are contextually mutually exclusive ● Standard SG English: a localised version of Standard English, which doesn ’t exhibit major differences from other versions of SE around the globe ● Colloquial Singapore English (CSE): is the vernacular. ** diglossic r/ship ● (Pakir, 1991) Many Singaporeans can switch between the varieties according to the situation ● (Alsagoff, 2007) by indirectly associating Singlish with low proficiency, it mar ks Singlish as the ‘non-desired’ variety, thereby lending itself to prescriptivism ○ Also Alsagoff, Cultural Orientation Model [COM]: a model that sees the variation of English in SG as a product of two conflicting cultural needs, namely localisation and globalisation. ○ SG’eans see the need to be part of the global community for survival, but at the same time do not wish to lose their cultural identity ● Speak Good English Movement ○ “Speak to be Understood” ○ Refer to case studies glossary for more details ● Kiasu (Hokkien) ○ Used in the press in 1990s with italics ○ By 2000, used in the leading newspaper without italics ○ Kiasuism- a singaporean concept ● Jiak kantang ○ Jiak (Hokkien) Kantang (Malay)

○ Means eat potato. Is a cultural expression as an adjectival phrase used to describe Asian who admire Western culture and have adopted aspects of it, thus betraying Asian heritage, tradition and roots. ● Discourse particles ○ Ah: tentative marker or continuation marker ○ Hah: question marker ○ Hor: to garner support for a proposition ○ Lah: mood marker ○ Leh: tentative suggestion or request ○ Mah: info is obvious ○ What: marks obviousness and contradiction ○ Meh: skepticism ○ Ya: weak emphasis ● SG50 National Day celebs ○ Tote bags given out to households included Singlish phrases like ‘ chope’, ‘relak la’, ‘this is an ATAS bag’, ‘shiok’ ● SARS outbreak, 2000s ○ Local sitcom character Phua Chu Kang sang the SAR-vival song ● Pioneer Generation Package ○ Commercials are shown interspersed with Hokkien and Mandarin so senior citizens can comprehend the benefits they are entitled to ● McDonalds advertisements ○ Shiok shiok satay ○ Rendang sedap angus beef burger ● ‘Singlish to English’ language courses offered by the British Council ○ Teaches people to how to switch between the two and be able to appropriately do so ● 2005, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew: “Because of our bilingual policy, today the li