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Contrastive analysis of Singapore English and standard English: A pilot study of primary 2 pupils in Singapore
Author
Thong, Yoke Teng
Supervisor
Poedjosoedarmo, Gloria
Abstract
This Academic Exercise is an attempt to contrast the English of children in Singapore with Standard English, in order to highlight the differences between the two. The target group of child speakers are those from Chinese families whose dominant household language is Chinese. The areas of language use examined are mainly features of the verb, the noun phrase and some features of the lexis.
The theoretical premise of this study is based on Gupta's (1994a) "polar approach". Singapore English is thus defined in terms of two varieties -- the High variety (Singapore Standard English) and the Low variety (Singapore Colloquial English) -- which differ from each other largely in terms of syntax. The differences lie in the use of "non standard features in SCE. My hypothesis is that the children's English is similar to SCE, and therefore also contains those "non standard" features In order to help children gain competence in SStdE, teachers should raise the children's awareness about the kind of English they are using and how it differs from the standard which they should attain.
The theoretical premise of this study is based on Gupta's (1994a) "polar approach". Singapore English is thus defined in terms of two varieties -- the High variety (Singapore Standard English) and the Low variety (Singapore Colloquial English) -- which differ from each other largely in terms of syntax. The differences lie in the use of "non standard features in SCE. My hypothesis is that the children's English is similar to SCE, and therefore also contains those "non standard" features In order to help children gain competence in SStdE, teachers should raise the children's awareness about the kind of English they are using and how it differs from the standard which they should attain.
Date Issued
1996
Call Number
PE1068.S5 Tho
Description
Pg. 28 and 32 are missing
Date Submitted
1996