Singaporean Accent

Sinagaporean Accent Task 1 Task 2 Rating Form

Singapore

Singaporean English: The English language is one of the four official languages in Singapore, together with Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil. The English of Singapore has been used in English-medium education since the period of British colonisation, and later expanded to the country’s business and commerce, government administration, and daily-life communication.
The Singaporean English is the standard variety with an accent based on the prestigious Received Pronunciation, which can often be heard in the news broadcasting. The Singapore Colloquial English (Singlish) contains forms ranging from the least prestigious – which bears strong influence from Chinese (dialects) and Malay, to more prestigious – which mixes with the standard but some distinctive features.

Singaporean English accent is non-rhotic (i.e. the lack of [r] sound), and syllable-timed (i.e. almost equivalent stress on all syllables, and a lengthened tone at the final syllable); its intonation flows like singing songs, but has short tones; glottalisation at final consonants.

Task 1)

Watch the video and pay attention to the speech of each character, before attempting the questions.

What has the Singaporean Government launched since 2000 as an attempt to promote the use of Standard English while controlling the spread of Singaporean English or Singlish?
1. Standard English Campaign
2. Good English Reform
3. Speak Good English Movement
4. Singapore English Movement
(Correct answers are bolded.)
Which phonological features have appeared in the pronunciation of English terms by the young Singaporeans in the video? Choose more than one.
1. Non-rhotic for word-final /r/, e.g. photographer is pronounced as photogra/fə/
2. The consonant /w/ in sword is pronounced instead of being silent
3. The final rhotic /r/ becomes /w/ sound, e.g. strawberry is pronounced as strawbe/wi:/
4. Three syllables in the pronunciation of jewellery (jew-wel-ry)
5. The vowel /i/ is lengthened and the consonant /l/ is omitted in the pronunciation of film as [fɪːm], instead of [fɪlm]
6. The voiced labiodental dental /v/ in the pronunciation of twelve becomes voiceless /f/ as twel/f/
7. Four syllables in the pronunciation of February (feb-bre-wa-ri)
(Correct answers are bolded.)

Task 2)

Watch the video and pay attention to the speech of each character, before attempting the questions.

Which languages, dialects and/or accents can Tyler, the Singaporean White boy, speak?
1. Estuary English
2. Mandarin Chinese
3. (Scottish English
4. General American English
5. Singaporean English/Singlish
6. Malaysian English
(Correct answers are bolded.)
Which phonological features have appeared in the pronunciation of English terms by the young Singaporeans in the video? Choose more than one.
1. Short tone at the word-final syllable
2. Non-rhotic /r/
3. H-dropping: dropping the sound /h/
4. Rising pitch for the word-final vowel
5. The alveolar fricative /θ/ becomes /t/ (e.g. theatre is pronounced as /t/eatre)
(Correct answers are bolded.)

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