Shorten the long tail

ANOTHER consideration often overlooked by people fretting about falling English standards is how quickly Singapore has changed in the past few decades.

In 1990, 21 per cent of households used English as a first language. Now, about 60 per cent do. The base of English speakers has expanded rapidly. Inevitably, so has the variety of its use.

Even if the group in question is restricted to a top range of English speakers, like graduates, there is a need to be mindful of changing parameters.

'Fifteen or 20 years ago, when you talked about graduates, you were talking about the top 4 per cent of the cohort,' says Ms Teo Hee Lian, a trainer at the Civil Service College. 'Now, you are talking about the top 20 per cent. It is not the same group of people.'

Indeed, mass education has changed the face of language in Singapore. As National University of Singapore senior language and literature lecturer Peter Tan observes, when English was the sole territory of an elite segment of Singaporeans, it was fairly homogeneous in usage.

'Now that it's used by a wider proportion of the population, it's become very variegated. And, therefore, certain sections of the population will notice when other sections use it differently.

'Language always allows for a certain amount of creativity. But if we don't agree with (the creativity) we say it's 'destroying the language'.'

This phenomenon is not unique to Singapore. In Britain, there is as much fretting over the 'innit' generation and word poverty as there is here over 'lahs' and 'you ownself do'.

But in a multilingual society like Singapore, the range of English spoken can vary even more widely.

Mr Roger Olofsson, of job recruitment agency Robert Walters, contends that the best English spoken by job candidates here is the best anywhere, but the worst can be worse than that found in other English-speaking areas.

Pedagogues call this a 'long tail'. This sort of variation is not necessarily negative per se. As societies mature and communities evolve, a local patois can be a symbol of identity in a cosmopolitan society like Singapore.

Dr Tan of NUS says that research has shown how Singlish can oil social interaction in certain segments of society, even if it is 'frowned upon' in others.

As Dr Pang of Stellar notes: 'Attitudes towards Singlish have really changed and shifted since 20 years ago. There are linguists who describe it as having its own internal consistency. It has become a variety in its own right.'

This recognition has perhaps moved the debate forward since then-Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew referred to Singlish as a 'handicap' in 1999.

There is no real possibility of eliminating Singlish from every household, and it is perhaps no longer a desirable goal. The endgame now is to shorten the long tail rather then eradicate the heterogeneity.

With that goal in mind, Stellar attempts to put all children on the same solid footing at an early age. Research has shown quite clearly that it is early foundational teaching - at the primary school level - that decides where the chips fall.

Lapses in this crucial period have repercussions through the rest of the child's life, and falling behind here may mean never catching up.

Education has always been seen as the great social moderating tool where socio-economic inequalities have a chance of being ironed out.

The debate on the falling standards of English is not about falling standards. It is about broad demographic and social changes and how they can be dealt with in a maximally fair way. More accurately, it is about pre-empting the opening up of an irreconcilable achievement gap.

Singaporean children already listen, write, speak and read better than most other children in the world. The question is: Can they be as good as one another?

This article was first published in The Straits Times.