Culture, not Anarchy

American English 'Likely to Prevail': Lee Kuan Yew
Leow Si Wan - Straits Times Indonesia | September 07, 2011
(Retrieved September 7, 2011, from http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/american-english-likely-to-prevail-lee-kuan-yew/463863)


The American version of English will probably prevail over other forms in Singapore and teachers may have to eventually accept this as inevitable, former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew said on Tuesday.

The growing dominance of the American media would mean that Singapore's population would increasingly be hearing the American version of English, he said.

Speaking at the official opening of the English Language Institute of Singapore (Elis), he said that he, too, had been consciously switching between British and American English on the computer, and that he saw himself moving towards American English in a nod to the US being "a dominant force."

Teachers might thus do well to accept this trend, and teach their students to recognize - and even speak - American English, he said.

Accent aside, students will thus use the kind of English understood by the rest of the English-speaking world, he said.

Educators and MPs at the event agreed that it was important to teach students here to differentiate between the different forms of English.

Elizabeth Pang, the program director for literacy development in the Education Ministry, said it was pragmatic of Lee to accept that American English had become dominant.

"If you look at English that is in use in society, you have to embrace different standard varieties of English.

"It's not a sea change. It's an evolution," she said, noting that students are now not penalized for using American English, so long as they are consistent.

Elis' program director Ang-Tay May Yin said: "If we allow our students to learn different varieties of English, it will be to their advantage."

Tampines GRC MP Irene Ng said she believed many teachers and writers, having an attachment to British English, would likely continue using it, until 'we're quite convinced that the way to go forward is American English".

The chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education, Lim Biow Chuan, said it was still critical to develop students' ability to communicate their ideas.