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Investigating the effectiveness of language awareness approaches to English language teaching in Singapore secondary schools
Citation
Liew, W. M. (2020). Investigating the effectiveness of language awareness approaches to English language teaching in Singapore secondary schools (Report No. OER 21/15 LCY). National Institute of Education (Singapore), Office of Education Research.
Author
Liew, Warren Mark Cheng Yi
Abstract
In all Singapore public schools, English is taught at the L1 level through a Standard English (StdE) immersion approach. However, studies suggest that bilingual and bidialectal programs may be more effective than monolingual English-immersion programs in promoting English proficiency among English as Second Language learners (ESL). Such programs aim to accommodate the use of nonstandard Englishes – such as Singlish / Colloquial Singapore English (CSE) – as pedagogical resources in the teaching of Standard English, with the aim of raising student achievement and motivation. This study sought to investigate the extent to which language awareness pedagogies that accommodate CSE in the teaching of writing for Secondary 3 Express and Normal stream classes might improve student outcomes on measures of StdE proficiency and learning motivation. The study was modelled on a mixed methods design with two concurrent quantitative and qualitative strands: (1) a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study yielding quantitative data for hypothesis testing; (2) an ethnographic study of classroom teaching practices in both experimental and non-experimental groups. The overall aim was to obtain locally contextualized, empirical evidence that could corroborate the benefits of accommodation pedagogies documented in the international literature.
Date Issued
2020
Publisher
Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Singapore
Description
Note: Restricted to NIE Staff.
Project
OER 21/15 LCY
Grant ID
Education Research Funding Programme (ERFP)
Funding Agency
Ministry of Education, Singapore