Vaish, Viniti

This survey of language use and users in Singapore sought to find out who speaks what language, to whom, in what context, with what attitude, with what level of fluency, and to what end. This project surveyed 716 students from the Primary 5 cohort of Singapore schools, randomly selected on the basis of ethnic group (i.e., Chinese, Malay and Indian) and socioeconomic status, using a bilingual survey instrument. In its qualitative phase, follow-up studies were conducted with 12 participants who were randomly selected from the three ethnic groups, across a broad spectrum of social classes.

"The Sociolinguistic Survey of Singapore 2006 (SSS 2006) is a survey of language use and users in Singapore to update the one last done in the 1970s by Kuo (1976). The main research question of SSS 2006 is: who speaks what language to whom in what context with what attitude with what level of fluency and to what end?"-- [p. 1] of executive summary.

The emergence of new media and the rapidly increasing needs of today's learners are placing unprecedented demands on educational landscapes across disciplines to restructure and transform. In particular, paradigmatic change is sought in the field of literacy pedagogy where the growing presence of digital technologies has produced a vibrant and challenging body of theoretical and practical interest in ''multimodality'' - a term which refers to the practice of meaning-making involving the purposeful integration of semiotic resources including, but by no means restricted to, writing, images, speech, gestures, drawing, painting and sound. Unfortunately, there is limited material to inform a programme of local research, development and innovation in the area of multimodal literacy in English language and literature (ELL) teaching. This project builds directly on the findings of two primary data sources from the proposed study site - Maris Stella High School (MSHS). Both de Souza (2008) and Towndrow and Vaish (2007) found that ELL teachers at MSHS remain curious, and are often deeply concerned, about how their pedagogy and classroom practices are influenced by spreading an increasing communicative load across multiple modes of representation using ICT and multimedia. The integration and purposeful use of the students' computers in the regular classroom were additional task design and unit planning considerations not easily balanced with demands to meet print-based, standardised teaching and assessment outcomes. In addressing these situational factors, the proposed research methodology is client-centred, participative and flexible in order to accommodate and explore the impact of a variety of theoretical perspectives and personal opinions in multimodal pedagogy and teaching practices, in situ. As such, the research programme is planned as a 24-month innovation-based programme that involves ELL teachers and researchers co-designing, co-implementing and co-evaluating transformative and sustainable learning outcomes in ELL-based multimodal literacy practices. Senior managers and collaborating teachers at MSHS are aware of the proposed research methodology and are fully supportive of it. It is well known that the establishment of teacher-learner communities is complex and involves, as far as sustainable innovation is concerned, profound and incremental changes in individual, departmental and school-wide levels of activity. The study will contribute to knowledge about school leadership and collective teacher-led action in implementing one-to-one laptop programmes in ELL. The study will also help describe how ELL is realised in the local context using multimodality as a theoretical and descriptive lens. Rich descriptions of classroom practices in the local context will provide material that can be benchmarked against and contrasted with school-based, national and international criteria.

This project examines the extent that the current syllabus for Tamil includes different varieties of both spoken and written Tamil, and asks how it can be revised with the concerns of the community for the longevity of the Tamil language in Singapore in mind. The project uses a focus group-based methodology to address these research questions. In addition, the ideas of three main consultants were sought. Based on this data, a number of recommendations for syllabus revision and a curriculum of the future are tabled in this paper, including the use of a Standard Spoken Tamil, especially at the lower primary level; and a revision of the weighting for spoken and written Tamil in the curriculum.

This project investigated what happens in English Language and Literature learning when every student has a laptop computer to use in school and at home. The data were collected from teachers, students and school administrators in a series of questionnaires, classroom observations, meetings, focus group discussions, informal conversations, and interviews. Findings revealed a complex web of relationships between the stakeholders that translated into an uneven picture of professional practice in the laptop initiative. Whereas teachers opted for direct and traditional instructional methods, a fine-grained analysis showed that students were able, on occasions, to create meanings using a range of representational modes. Overall, the study highlighted the need to further build teachers’ capabilities in multimodality, knowledge creation, and the design of student-centred learning.

This essay is about language and unique forms of identity in Singapore resulting from globalization. Specifically it looks at language use amongst the Indians in Singapore in the domains of religion and public space. Identified as one of the most globalized nations in the world, Singapore is concerned about the erosion of mother tongue languages and the consequent demise of Asian Values. Through the preliminary findings of a large scale language survey and smaller scale follow up studies, this essay shows a heteroglossic use of languages and a concomitant hybrid identity which is the mark of being Singaporean. The essay also emphasizes that a unidimensional view of language and globalization, which only looks at globalization as a form of McDonaldization, is not in keeping with actual patterns of language use.

Singapore’s logistic situation has attracted widespread scholarly attention due to the language policies implemented since independence. With English traditionally receiving much of the focus, there appeared to be less interest in language maintenance and shift of other official languages of Singapore. Henceforth, this paper aims to examine language shift among the Chinese community in Singapore and its implications for Singapore which have yet to be further explored in past studies. In this study, three members from a multi-generation Chinese Singaporean family (aged 22 to 84) were interviewed. Participants involved were required to indicate their language preferences across five different domains: family, friends, school/workplace, public space and media. The results indicated a gradual shift in linguistic preferences over generations, especially evident in some domains, but that there is also language maintenance for Chinese dialects in others. Overall, there are clear negative implications for the future of Chinese dialects locally.

"The study investigated what happens in English language and literature learning (ELLL) when every student in a particular school has a laptop computer for use in school and at home. The key issues at stake concerned the development of teachers' and students' capabilities in the use of digital tools, new media and multimodality in meeting curriculum and assessment requirements." -- p. 1.

Bilingualism is becoming more common worldwide, and it remains a central educational policy in Singapore. In this document, we review research related to bilingualism and literacy development and achievement. Following an ecological framework, we outline known factors contributing to literacy achievement and discuss findings from bilingual research regarding these factors. We conclude with recommendations for educational practice informed by the research literature.