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CONTENTS
SAAL Quarterly is under the editorship of Dr T. Ruanni F. Tupas. Please address your correspondence and contributions to: Dr T. Ruanni F. Tupas (elcttr@nus.edu.sg), Centre for English Language Communication, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260.
Malay Sayings as Politeness Strategies In his talk based on his PhD research, Dr Lim Beng Soon discussed aspects of the Malay culture that form the basis of politeness strategies in Malay. It is claimed that Malays' preference for positive politeness strategies in both formal and informal situations can be seen in the cultural norms and values that are disseminated through the proverbs and sayings in the language. In general, the Malay culture (or 'Adat') manifests itself mainly through Adat Resam Berumah tangga (the code of conduct for family members), Adat Resam Berkampung Halaman (the code of conduct between fellow villagers), and Adat Teradat (subtle cultural nuances embedded in everyday interactions). The values advocated in these social norms of behavior include 'sabar' or patience and forbearance among family members to promote family unity, 'hormat' or respect shown to others or oneself in a way that is appropriate to their respective social standing to maintain a good social order, and 'budi' or morality that centers around the notions of harmony and consensus. These cultural norms and values are all truthfully reflected in Malay proverbs, a few of which are quoted below: 'Air dicincang tiada putus' - 'Family bond is never severed by a quarrel' 'Chubit paha kanan, paha kiri pun sakit juga' - "If one's right lap is pinched the left lap will also feel the pain.' 'Berapa panjang lunjor, begitulah selimut' - 'The length of the coverlet should be that of the stretched body'. 'Pipit sama pipit, enggan sama enggan' - 'Sparrows must mate with sparrows and hornbills with hornbills.' The Malay values of patience, respect, and morality can be achieved through people's tactful actions in everyday social interactions, but more importantly, they are also achieved through linguistic indirectness, hedges and other 'positive politeness strategies'. In other words, it is not just what is said that matters, but how it is said. According to Brown and Levinson (1978), "positive politeness is redress directed to the addressee's positive face" (p. 106) or his "desire to be ratified, understood, approved of, liked or admired" (p. 67). By avoiding disagreements, criticisms, complaints and any other face-threatening acts (FTAs) that might reduce the desirability of the addressee and using hedges or even white lies to avoid conflicts, one shows forbearance, achieves harmony and demonstrates morality, thus meeting the essential requirement of the Malay etiquette. For example, people are warned to guard against speaking in a direct manner as it may lead to serious consequences: 'berapa tajam pisau parang, tajam lagi mulut manusia' - 'knives and machetes are not as sharp as tongues'. For many Malays, Adat equals laws, and just as you should not break the law, you should not breach the rules of Adat, and not observing the rules of Adat is regarded as not knowing the Malay culture. Based on his observations of the Malay culture, Beng Soon proposed a politeness modal that captures the relationship between 'hormat', 'sabar' and 'budi', the three key elements that govern the social and linguistic behaviours of individual members of the community: While Brown and Levinson's 1978 politeness modal centers on the negative and positive face wants of a rational being that can be satisfied through the means of various politeness strategies, Beng Soon's modal seems to suggest that in the Malay culture, the face wants of interactants are not the only concern of people. The cultural values of forbearance, respect, and morality carry an equal, if not a heavier, weight in the set of rules that govern people's everyday behavior. Beng Soon's interesting presentation ignited a heated discussion following the talk. Some participants commented that the positive politeness strategies so important to Malays, such as being indirect, are also commonly found in other Asian cultures such as among the Peranakans and the Chinese, so the politeness modal proposed by Beng Soon should also be applicable to these cultures. However, with increasing influence from English in modern Singapore and Malaysia, the cultural values advocated in the Malay sayings will inevitably become less and less relevant among the younger generations and the image of Malays as the 'gentlemen of the East' may also be under threat. Reference
Reviewed by Yuan Yi ↑ Top | ← Publications
REPORT ON THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 11 people attended this year's Annual General Meeting (AGM). SAAL's President A/P Anne Pakir began with a warm welcome and a note of thanks to SAAL's small but deeply committed membership. As can be seen from the recently organized AILA2002, SAAL members and friends can be counted on to organize events, big and small. The SAAL EXCO met 4 times in the last SAAL year. At each meeting, SAAL business such as the organization of AILA2002, the production of the SAAL Quarterly and other SAAL-related publications were discussed. In the coming year, the main focus will be on the STU-SAAL colloquium to be held at the RELC on the 27th and 28th of November 2003. The theme of this colloquium is The English Language in Singapore: Changing Perspectives on Grammar in the Classroom. Please direct all inquiries about this colloquium to: Chris Nur (christiantynur@yahoo.com.sg). To date, SAAL (in collaboration with UniPress and the Singapore Teachers' Union, STU) has produced the following publications:
Assistant Honorary Secretary Dr Low Ee Ling suggested that we put in place a proper system for ordering SAAL publications, possibly with an online facility so that everyone can more easily access our publications. We will look into this matter in the near future. In the meantime, anyone who is interested in any of these titles should contact Dr Low Ee Ling at ellow@nie.edu.sg. The SAAL talk series has been revived, beginning with Dr Lim Beng Soon's talk on Malay Sayings as Politeness Strategies held on 18 July 2003 at the RELC. This first talk was well-attended. The next talk will be held on 27 August 2003 by Dr Alvin Leong on Pro Drop in Colloquial Singapore English. In October 2003, Ms Lakshmy Bhaskar will be giving us a talk (the topic will be announced soon). This year's ASIALEX, a lexicography conference will be held in Tokyo. SAAL has been asked to consider hosting the next ASIALEX in 2005. This issue will be tabled at the next EXCO meeting.
Reported by Chng Huang Hoon ↑ Top | ← Publications PIRLS is the acronym for the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study of 2001, which was an international study of the reading literacy of schoolchildren and the experiences they have had in learning to read in whatever language, both in school and at home. Working across 35 countries and many different languages, PIRLS examined three aspects of reading literacy: (1) the process of comprehension, (2) purposes of reading, and (3) reading literacy behaviour and attitudes. The first two aspects formed the basis of the written test of reading comprehension. The third aspect, behaviour and attitudes, was captured through the use of a student questionnaire which, together with the parents', teacher and school questionnaires, gathered information about home and school factors that are usually thought to be associated with the development of reading literacy. The group of students that PIRLS was looking at came from the two adjacent grades with most of them at about nine years of age. In Singapore, that would be primary four. To understand the significance of the findings to Singapore, it should be noted that out of the 35 participating countries, only students in six of the countries (without counting Canada) - viz. Belize (formerly called British Honduras), England, New Zealand, Singapore, Scotland, and the United States took the test in English. (Canada is not included in this paper because while its students in the province of Ontario took the test in English, those in Quebec did so in French.) The English test was translated into 31 languages for administration in the respective remaining countries. Each translation was very carefully validated by the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement) to ensure comparability across languages. How was reading ability defined? In this study, IEA defined reading ability as The ability to understand and use those written language forms required by society and/or valued by the individual. Young readers can construct meaning from a variety of texts. They read to learn, to participate in communities of readers, and for enjoyment. (International Report, 2003, p.33) What is known about the findings? There is space here to mention only the findings in two main areas: (1) Singapore's primary four students' performance in relation to the performance of students of a similar age in those countries that took the same test in English. Chart 1 gives a general comparative picture of how the six English-speaking countries scored. All of them, except Belize, scored above the international average, with Singapore's students scoring, on average, close to those of Scotland and New Zealand, both of which have English as the mother tongue. This is an important point since New Zealand has always been known as having a very high reading literacy level.
Chart 1: Average Reading Literacy Scores by Country As shown in Chart 1, performance generally differs little among the first five English-speaking countries. In fact, as expected, the differences among the means scored by New Zealand, Scotland and Singapore are not statistically significant. Please see Box 1 for some technical details. As shown in Chart 1, performance generally differs little among the first five English-speaking countries. In fact, as expected, the differences among the means scored by New Zealand, Scotland and Singapore are not statistically significant. Please see Box 1 for some technical details.
However, as most readers of SQ would know, the average score, as a measure of central tendency, can be affected by extreme scores in any group. As a result, it tends to mask a number of finer distinctions when used to compare groups or countries. So, PIRLS set four international benchmarks of student achievement.These benchmarks are the points on the reading scale used in the study that separate out the 10% of students located at the top of the distribution, then the top 25%, the top 50% and the bottom 25%. Based on these benchmarks, Table 1 provides a more interesting picture of how Singapore's students of varying ability (in reading literacy) compare with those in the other five English-speaking countries. Against the top 10% benchmark (the 90th percentile), 15% of the Singapore sample reached that point as compared to 14% for Scotland and 17% for New Zealand. The picture appears similar when the upper quarter (the 75th percentile) benchmark is used to compare the performance of these three countries. Table 1: Percentages of Students Reaching PIRLS International Reading Benchmarks in Achievement
Note: The benchmarks explained -
(2) Frequency of use of English by the students at home and their performance on the reading test. Since, as noted in the PIRLS International Report, only 43% of the Singapore sample used English at home "always or almost always", readers would expect some positive relationship between frequency of use of English at home and reading performance in English. As shown in Table 2, there seems to be a clear positive relationship between the two factors, and the data in turn tell us how good Singapore's high achievers in reading are compared to those who are native speakers of English. For instance, take the group of students who reportedly use English at home "always or almost always" in the six countries. It is noteworthy that the Singapore students in this category (who may or may not be native speakers of English in the technical sense) score a higher average (see the highlighted average scores) than the same category of students in England, USA, etc (who are most likely native speakers of the language). Table 2: Relationship between Frequency of Use of English at Home and Reading Achievement
(Source: Based on Exhibit 4.4 in the International Report, 2003, p. 101) Concluding Remarks The final point is that, on closer study of the PIRLS reports made available as public documents, much more can be learnt by policy-makers, principals, and teachers than what can be summarized in this very brief article. In its conceptualisation, for example, PIRLS had tried to address such questions as: How do students, across participating countries, perform in reading the two types of texts - literary and informational? How well prepared are students to learn to read? What instructional resources do teachers use for teaching reading? What literacy resources do students have in their homes? What are students' attitudes to reading, across countries? Answers to these questions, especially since they are drawn from a cross-country comparative database, should be most enlightening for our policy-makers, school principals, and teachers. Source for all information and data used in this article: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. 2003. PIRLS 2001 International Report. International Study Center, Boston College, USA.
Prepared by Ho Wah Kam ↑ Top | ← Publications
Word of Mouth: A New Introduction to Language and Communication This book is not a general introduction to linguistics, but instead is a survey of the development of human language and the various ways it is used in society. The book starts with an overview of the evolutionary origins of language and then considers how words are used in communication, how different styles are employed in the media, how language is represented in the mind, and how infants acquire language. It is intended for non-specialist readers, so the text is always kept non-technical, but at the same time it goes into some detail over many topics, such as Saussure's ideas of signification and reference and Grice's maxims of cooperation. Considerable effort has been devoted to ensuring the coverage is both straightforward and lively, and many readers will appreciate the regular use of cartoons that illustrate various issues and the boxed-off sections which serve to highlight key points and also enclose apt quotes from well-known writers. It is noted (p.74) that nowadays one pervasive influence of the electronic media such as television is "to make all language look and sound colloquial", and it is ironic that this book itself is clear evidence of this trend, with its regular short sentences and liberal use of abbreviations. For example, just three lines earlier, in discussing the emergence of a virtual community, we are told (p.74): "It's another illusion of course. But we know that too." For many readers, this use of short, sharp sentences and the avoidance of the stuffy language that characterises so much of the literature in linguistics will be welcomed. I guess. One notable absence from the topics that are covered in any detail is phonetics, and so the title is a little misleading, as one thing that is never discussed is the way that sounds are articulated in the mouth. In fact, in the effort to avoid technical usage that might put off some readers, phonetic symbols are almost entirely absent, to the extent that the pronunciation of butter with a glottal stop in place of the medial /t/ is shown as b 'uh' er (p.124) and the American pronunciation of half and top is given as haff and tarp respectively (p.128). While this attempt to ensure the text is accessible to non-specialists will certainly be appreciated by many, one suspects that anyone with a basis in linguistics will find the use of pseudo-orthography somewhat irritating. Of course, any book that discusses language variation in society cannot avoid pronunciation issues entirely, but unfortunately there are a few problems here, not just with the avoidance of phonetic symbols. Firstly, one wonders how many would agree that intonation is "paralinguistic" and a "non-verbal means of communication" (p.56). Secondly, many would question whether, in Estuary English, there is ever a glottal stop in the middle of butter (p.125), as, according to Rosewarne (1996), this is a feature of Cockney pronunciation rather than Estuary. Finally, when the concept of covert prestige is introduced (p.123) with the example from Trudgill (1983) of a non-standard linguistic feature such as yod dropping (the omission of /j/ in words such as tune and beauty), it is claimed that men in Norfolk tend to under-report the frequency of this phenomenon, which supposedly confirms that it is regarded as a desirable trait by these speakers. This makes no sense at all: if men in Norfolk exhibit covert prestige and yod dropping is non-standard, one would expect them to over-report this feature, not under-report it. In fact, Trudgill (1983:175) reports a pattern of under-reporting for yod usage, not for yod dropping, and yod usage is of course the exact opposite of yod dropping. While this book has an interesting and well-presented coverage of a range of different issues, such as the way that language defines us as humans by enabling us to organise and develop our thoughts, and the knowledge we can gain from stroke victims about the organisation of language in the brain, it is rather weaker when it deals with more technical aspects. And this extends beyond phonetics, as the coverage of grammar is also somewhat cursory and occasionally flawed. For example, we are told (p.135) that English lacks "a generic pronoun in the third person singular present tense", and it is rather unusual to say the least to claim that pronouns have tense! Furthermore, the brief introduction to the phrase structure of sentences leaves some rather obvious flaws in the analysis. We are shown a tree diagram with the head cat at the end of the phrase the large Siamese cat (p.158), but then just a few pages later (p.165) we are told that English is a head-first language, which would suggest that the head should always come at the start of a phrase. However, it must be admitted that resolution of this issue is not straightforward, for even if one assumes that the large Siamese cat is in fact a DP, headed by the Determiner the (Radford, 1997), it is not so easy to explain why adjectives such as large and Siamese also precede the noun (Deterding & Poedjosoedarmo, 2001:183). In reality, most readers, not being afflicted with the reviewer's pedantic obsession with detail, will not notice such minor contradictions or care about them too much even if they are aware of them. And maybe this book has it about right in providing a brief (if slightly flawed) overview of syntax, for the focus of the book is on how language has evolved and continues to develop into such an effective tool of communication, and it does not pretend to be a full introduction to linguistics. While the lively, non-technical approach is maintained throughout, quite a few of the statements are somewhat controversial. For example, it is stated (p.144) that children are unable to produce some sounds because their speech organs are insufficiently developed, while adults are able to reproduce an accent if they have sufficient exposure to it. Both these claims might be questioned, as it is often believed that, even when babbling, infants produce a wide range of sounds many of which they are no longer able to produce when their speech becomes fully developed, and it is well known that most adults are never able to reproduce an alien accent accurately, however much exposure they have to it. Finally, the concluding chapter introduces the theory of memetics, which suggests that language takes on a life of its own and develops its own directions, almost impervious to the will of humans, so that "rather than us using language, language uses us" (p.211) and "ideas and beliefs are caught not taught", spreading from one person to another contagiously (p.212). While this seems to belong more to the realm of science fiction than a serious consideration of linguistics, it certainly contributes to the lively, provocative tone of the book. References
Reviewed by David Deterding ↑ Top | ← Publications
English in Singapore: Research on Grammar (2003)
English Language Education in China, Japan, and Singapore (2002)
Psycholinguistic & Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Language Acquisition:
The Singapore Context (2003)
Teaching Listening in the Language Classroom (2002) ↑ Top | ← Publications The Journal is now to be published by Continuum a UK/USA publisher (formerly Cassells, Pinter etc). This company publishes over 30 journals and the move to an international publisher will give the Journal a wider international readership. Editorial control will still be with RELC. Joseph Foley is the Editor of the Journal and Chris Ward the Review Editor. Local contributions are particularly welcome. Editorial Now entering its 34th year, RELC Journal published on behalf of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Regional Language Centre (RELC), is located in Singapore. It presents information and ideas on theories, research, methods and materials related to language learning and teaching. The journal welcomes contributions that have in mind the common professional concerns of both the practitioner and the researcher, providing a bridge between theory and practice. As of 2003, the Journal is published by Continuum and will appear 3 times per year, April, August and December. This increase in frequency reflects a broadening of scope. The Journal will continue to promote an approach to research on language and language-related concerns with particular reference to education, especially, although not exclusively, in Southeast Asia. Within this framework the journal welcomes contributions in such areas of current enquiry as first and second language learning and teaching, language and culture, discourse analysis, language planning, language testing, multilingual education, stylistics and translation. The broadening of scope will be reflected in articles that will present more 'state of the art' surveys, as well as theoretical conceptualisations that contribute fresh insights into the multidisciplinary field of language in education. With the directions that are now being taken in language issues in education, reporting findings is only part of the task; there has to be a critical look at the methodologies used in these studies and the theories used to support the research. As part of our service to teachers and researchers, one section of the Journal will continue to be devoted to book reviews and a compilation of books 'received'. ↑ Top | ← Publications
The English Language in Singapore:
RELC, 30 Orange Grove Road This is a collaborative effort between the Singapore Teachers' Union. The Colloquium is organised such that each participant will have the chance to attend the two plenary sessions and any six workshops. Workshops scheduled for the first day are repeated on the second day. These workshops are intended to be hands-on and interactive. A few workshops will be held in the computer laboratory to allow for hands-on experience in accessing the numerous resources available on-line today. Objectives The Colloquium will cover
Keynote Speakers and Workshop Leaders The two keynote speakers are Dr Tom McArthur, founding editor of English Today, a popular journal for teachers of English worldwide and author of The English Languages (Cambridge University Press, 1998), and Associate Professor Tony Hung of Hong Kong Baptist University, who has published widely on English intonation and grammar teaching. Workshop leaders are practising teachers and lecturers from NIE, NUS and SEAMEO RELC. Registration Fee
For STU/SAAL Members, $200 per participant The registration fee covers lunch on both days, tea breaks and handouts. For applications forms, please get in touch with Ms Pauline Wong of STU by phone (64524403) or email wongpl@stu.org.sg. The closing date for applications has been extended to 16 August 2003. ↑ Top | ← Publications
↑ Top | ← Publications SAAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2002-2004 Know more about our SAAL ExCo officers ... Mr Ao Ran (Member, MA: Singapore): Ao Ran is a Chinese national who first came to Singapore in 1996 to do an NIE postgraduate diploma course. In 2000, he enrolled for MA program at Regional Language Center (RELC), Singapore. He is now teaching a Mandarin course at INSEAD for RELC, and at the same time contemplating a PhD in the near future. His interests are in sociolinguistics and language teaching. He hopes to see an expanding SAAL membership that will reach out to scholars in the region. Ao Ran is currently SAAL's representative for members sited outside Singapore. He may be contacted at: mraoran@yahoo.com Ao Ran is currently outside Singapore so, in his absence, Linden Foo Vargish has stepped in to help as representative for our non-institutional members. The SAAL EXCO would like to thank Linden for her help and support. She may be contacted at lfv@pacific.net.sg Mrs Lakshmy Bhaskar (Member, MA: University of Durham, UK): Lakshmy has been teaching for 15 years now in Singapore, starting out at the RELC and now at NTU, where she teaches communication skills and technical writing to engineers. She is currently doing her PhD at NIE (part-time)on analysis of the literature review section of M.Eng theses. Her research interests lie in ESP and teaching and research in Higher Education. Lakshmy thinks that although reaching out to the region is a good thing for SAAL, she believes that more crucially, SAAL needs to look inward, and reach out more to the local population, especially the polytechnic lecturers. She wishes to see more talks organised by SAAL to help encourage more participation of members in SAAL. Lakshmy is SAAL's representative for members sited in NTU and can be contacted at clbhaskar@ntu.edu.sg. Dr Teng Su Ching (Member, PhD: Singapore): Su Ching is a long time member of SAAL and has served as Secretary, Treasurer and Vice-President. She is the Deputy Director at the Public Policy Programme in NUS. In spite of her varied commitments inside and outside the University, Su Ching carried most of the burden in the organization of AILA2002 as Vice Chair of the Congress, and as Chair of the Secretariat, and Budget & Finance. Su Ching hopes to see new people at the helm of the SAAL EXCO. Su Ching may be contacted at mpptsc@nus.edu.sg. ↑ Top | ← Publications
SAAL WISHES TO EXTEND ITS DR TENG SU CHING WHO HAS RECENTLY BEEN AWARDED THE PUBLIC SERVICE MEDAL (PBM)
FOR HER EXEMPLARY SERVICE TO WE PROUDLY SALUTE YOUR EFFORT, SU CHING! ↑ Top | ← Publications |
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Updated 8 July 2004 | Best with IE5+ 600x800 © 2003 Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics |
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