GP PAPER 2 NOV 2002

1. the less educatedwill suffer economically and socially (line 2426). What two kinds of handicap is Mr Lee thinking of here? He means that the less educated would lose out to those who speak proper
English because they would not be able to handle jobs that require English and they would have limited friends as they are not able to expand their social circle. Correct.

2. Professor Komarans students seem to have little interest in the art of communication; they are only interested in content (lines 30-31). Explain what this means. The students do not bother to learn the proper usage of English but rather they are
only interested to get the ideas of the content across their head. Correct.

3. From lines 59 to 68 (It is not, after all sense of rootness.) explain, in your words as far as possible, the 3 distinct arguments used to defend Singlish. Explain each argument in no more than 10 words. (i) People associate Singlish as part of Singaporean identity. Correct (ii) Usage of Singlish strengthens friendship bonds among their Singaporean peers.
Correct (iii) Using Singlish, ideas and words are bring across much clearly. Wrong phrasing. Should be Singlish is good for expressing Singaporean thoughts and feelings.

4. From the seventh paragraph, beginning at line 69, state, in your words as far as possible: (i) the principal argument in favour of books, films or in Singlish:
It showcase the unique side of Singaporeans when books, films or plays are in Singlish as Singlish is associated with the Singapore identity. Partially correct. Should also include Singlish makes the works more realistically Singaporean

(ii) the principal argument against books films or plays in Singlish:

Apart from Singaporeans, foreigners do not understand Singlish thus books, films or plays in Singlish would find it hard to tap into overseas market. Correct.

5. From the eighth paragraph, beginning at line 82, explain in your words as far as possible why the heartlanders wonder what all the fuss is about.
The heartlanders wonder what all the fuss is all about because the heartlanders are the ones that make up the bulk of our Singapore society and most of them speak in

Singlish as they are able to get their ideas across quickly, this is especially so for hawkers and shop owners in the heartland. Thus, they do not see a need to grasp the proper usage of English. Correct.

6. the playing field for young Singaporeans would not be level if they did not or could not learn code-switch(line 90-92). Explain, in your own words as far as possible, what the author is saying here.
The writer is saying that Singaporeans would suffer economically and not gain equal opportunities in life if they do not grasp the proper usage of English and learn to codeswitch between Singlish and English if there is a need to do so. Not properly explained. You must explain the phrase code-switch as well, so you should not be using it in your answer. Correct answer: The writer is saying that Singaporeans would suffer economically and not gain equal opportunities in life if they are unable to speak fluent English and fluent Singlish as demanded by different situations.

7. Now you have studied the whole article carefully, look again at the opening headline. Explain what is ironically or contradictory about the headline NO SINGLISH PLEASE, WE ARE SINGAPOREAN.
It is contradictory because Singaporeans are not allowed to speak Singlish however Singlish is known to be associated with the Singapore identity. Not phrased correctly. Should be: It is contradictory because the title rejects Singlish on the basis that we are Singaporean, but Singlish is in fact a Singaporean product.

8. Give the meaning of the following words or phrases as they are used in the passage. You may write your answer in one word or a short phrase. Peculiarly (line 4) typical wrong. Answer: uniquely Intensity (line 50) - zoom into wrong. Its not even grammatically correct to use this
as a replacement. Answer: passion/fervor Image (line 51) icon wrong. Answer: appearance Finely balanced (line 69) - put equal grammatically wrong. Answer: precariously weighted. Consensus (line 88) - general agreement correct

9. Using only the arguments and facts from line 1 to 48 of the article, summarise the case for believing that the increased use of Singlish and declining standards of English are harmful to the interests of Singapore as a whole and to some of its citizens in particular.

Write your summary in no more than 120 words, not counting the opening words which are printed below. Use your own words as far as possible. The growing popularity of Singlish in Singapore is a harmful development because Singlish posses inappropriate grammar as seen in proper
English. Foreigners do not know Singlish thus it cannot be bring to a global scale. Younger Singaporeans are beginning to adopt Singlish and the teaching of proper English is not easy. Low literacy individuals would lose jobs that require English and face limitation in widening their social circle. University students are concern with contextual knowledge rather than learning proper English thus some students failed their admission criteria to degree courses. Singaporeans would find it difficult to venture overseas market and business would lose competency among their peers that are equipped with proper English ability. Singapore economy would slow down as they lack the fundamental linguistic skills in making their steps forward. 119 words Important summary points: 1. Singlish does not follow the same grammar rules as English, so the common usage of Singlish can erode our fluency in English. 2. People who are unable to speak standard English will find it hard to get jobs that require communication in English and will have trouble developing social networks. 3. The lower standards of English caused by the prevalence of Singlish makes it harder for students to pass qualifying tests for degree courses, and to fully understand articles about important developments in their fields of study. 4. Speaking non-standard English will make it difficult for foreigners to communicate with us, and thus will reduce our business opportunities and affect the chances of our economy prospering. Your summary has the points above, but due to your over-paraphrasing, you lose the meaning of the point. Please watch your paraphrasing. 4/7

10. The attempt to discourage Singlish raises 2 issues: How far such an attempt is practical and likely to be successful, and to what extent it is to be welcomed. Give your views on these 2 issues, illustrating your arguments by referring both to what you have read in the article and to your own experiences.

People tend to associate Singlish with Singapore identity. No doubt, it may be true. However, Singlish is not recognized as a language in the global scale. Ultimately, English is still seen as the global lingua franca. Thus, in order to achieve greater standing in the global market, there is a need for the government to discourage Singlish and encourage Singaporeans to adopt the proper usage of English. In education, Tertiary institutions-.competency of their students (line 34-36). Indeed, tertiary institutions do see the need for such programs to educate the poorer English students. More often than not, these students, especially the local ones, are seen as the future leaders of Singapore. With Singapore moving towards globalization, students need to equip themselves with proper usage of English. For instance, students that want to enter NTU and NUS but are poor in English language are required to take an English test before embarking on their degree courses. Not only do these programs aid their competency level among their peers, these people are also most likely to engage in business dealings with foreigners, bringing businesses or Singapore to a higher level in society in the near future. Thus, such attempt to educate the students is practical and likely to be successful as Singapore propels itself forward now and later. In arts, SM Lee commented his views towards Phua Chu Kang (PCK). The famous icon that is well known for his Singlish. SM Lee stated that if our children learn Singlish from him (PCK), they.Gumit Singh (line 20). Indeed, the government is stepping in to discourage the usage of Singlish by reference to PCK as an example. If everyone were to speak like PCK, there would be no one in Singapore that speaks proper English. The attempt to discourage Singlish is successful because the PCK that we seen on television today do not speak Singlish anymore. Even if he still does, there is existence of lines that code-switch from Singlish to English. This comedy is still welcome by the public as PCK is still seen as a neighborhood icon that had learned his mistakes. Furthermore, such attempt is practical as Singapore would want to gain international footing at a global scale and compete with other countries peers. Ultimately, Singapore wants to be accepted by others. However, the implementation of new ideas like the encouragement of new PCK season in proper English might deem to be fruitless. Singaporeans that had watch the old season of the comedy series might have associate PCK with Singlish. Adding to this strain, Translinks had promote its graciousness campaigns using PCK as an icon and pasting his famous phrase Dont pray pray on the doors of the MRT. Thus, the comments of the government to impose changes might be a fruitless one as people are still face with such Singlish phrase in the public. Without doubt, Singlish had become part and parcel of Singaporeans life. There are even attempts to discourage the usage of Singlish. Though, some may deem to be fruitless (the PCK example). However, not all the attempts are useless. Ultimately, Singapore still wants to remain competitive and gain international footing in the global scale. Thus, with the implementation of English as the main medium in teaching and programs to help weaker students to cope with their English, such attempt to discourage Singlish is likely

to be practical and successful. Furthermore, with the competitive mindset in mind, such attempts will still be welcomed by Singaporeans. This AQ did not really explore the side of whether attempts to discourage Singlish would be welcomed. There was only small paragraph on it. You focused too much on the practical part of it. But even then the whole paragraph on the PCK thing was useless because you didnt have a clear attempt to discourage Singlish there. 2/8