This is a continuation of highlights from the upcoming conference "The Teaching And Learning Of English In Asia : Exploring New Frontiers" to be held from June 14 to 16th in Langkawi, Malaysia. For more information please contact Dr Hisham at [email protected]
Using New Literatures in Fostering Cross-cultural Awareness
Rani Rubdy
National Institute of Education
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
This paper is based on the premise that the wealth of new literatures in English that are available in several countries of Asia and South East Asia today can serve not only to provide students access to the rich and varied cultural life of the people in these settings, but also help develop in them sensitivity and empathy towards other cultures. The paper makes a strong case for including other cultural material, especially those from Asian and South East Asian literature, in the selection of content and topics for textbooks constructed for use in EFL/ESL (English as a Foreign Language / English as a Second Language) contexts, with a particular focus on fostering cross-cultural tolerance and understanding, a neglected area in ELT (English Language Teaching).
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Singlish in the classroom
Daniel Tan Kok Heng
Department of English Language, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
National University of Singapore
One of the many issues facing contemporary Singaporean society is that of the relationship between language and national identity. The struggle between having a common language that one can call his or her own, and having one that has an economic value, is manifested in the ongoing debate over Singlish: while some place a high value on it, others consider it a debased variety that should be eliminated. This paper intends to focus this debate within the domain of the classroom, and assess the attitudes toward Singlish among 260 final-year secondary school students in Singapore, who, as speakers the variety, are important, representative stakeholders in the Singlish debate.
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