Julia Gabriel was in town recently to conduct a seminar for the Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning. So this article (which is taken from mumcentre website) is on her expound vivaciously talk on the importance of teaching your children what she calls “Standard English”.
What exactly is Standard English? According to Julia, it is :
- An international world language.
- The official language of the entire English speaking world.
- The language of educated English-speaking people in formal situations.
- Not localized to a particular area or country.
Standard English is not the preserve of Caucasians. Many of us do use it already, but it wouldn’t be wrong to say that most of us tend to default to Manglish or Singlish or another local derivative of the language.
As Julia says, that’s not necessarily a problem. But it is important for your children’s future success that they are able to switch to Standard English when the need arises.
Major differences between Manglish and Standard English
- Confused tenses
Manglish – Yesterday he come my house.
SE – He came to my house yesterday.
- Redundancies
Manglish – I eat the cake already.
SE – I ate the cake.
- Question tag
Manglish – You cook chicken, can or not?
SE - Can you cook chicken?
- Omissions
Manglish – I still working
SE – I’m still working.
- Wrong pronunciation
We don’t enunciate clearly and dispense with end consonants totally. For example disc may end up as dis, facts as fax and upsize as upsai. In Standard English, the stress on syllables is important to convey the meaning of words. Manglish speakers tend to mangle the stress. For example, we are wont to say ker-LIG instead of KO-lig for colleague. Instead of logging on to the online dictionaries to learn proper pronunciation, use this general rule as a guide.
Stress the first syllable of nouns (things), adjectives and adverbs (descriptive words) and the second syllable of verbs (action words). In these sentences, the same words are pronounced differently.
- I signed the CONtract. (noun)
- In the jungle, he might conTRACT a disease. (verb)
- What is the CONtent of the book? (noun)
- I am happy with my life, so I am conTENT. (verb)
Cannot speak Manglish meh?
Die-lah if we cannot speak Manglish in our own country. Of course we can use Manglish in Malaysia just as Julia said that “Singlish is acceptable in Singapore as it is a healthy, linguistically organic and appropriate code of language if used ONLY informally, amongst Singaporeans, in Singapore.”
Though it is alright for children to use Manglish informally and at play, they should switch to Standard English at school. (You may be thinking : Our school teachers command of English is suspect, how can the children learn Standard English lah? Read on.)
Don’t correct our children’s English or they will zip up. Constant correction destroys confidence. Just accept it and model it back to them and they will follow suit.
For example if they say :
“At what o’clock we must go to cinema ah?”
We say :
“When do we have to go to the cinema? At one o’clock.”
Don’t ask them to repeat the sentence; it’s not natural.
The key time for children to explore language is from 0 to 3 years of age. Babies learn sounds before they are born. In a study, it was found that three-week old Russian babies suck more strongly when they hear Russian, the same with French babies when they hear French.
Now don’t slap your forehead in despair if your children aren’t toddlers anymore. They can pick up Standard English with the right environment.
Code Switching
Children are born linguists. They slip easily into the appropriate codes of English if they have been exposed to them early in life, before the age of six. This is called code switching.
How to children get to know two codes of English? By engaging and interacting with people who use Standard English, they master the patterns of sound and construction. Manglish is a simplified code, learned easily as the language of play and informality.
In a multi-cultural society like ours, we need two codes of English. It is okay to speak to our husbands in Manglish in front of the children but keep it for informal bonding, joking and playing. It is better to use Standard English when discussing current affairs or talking about books that requires a higher code of language. Let the children see us code switch naturally.
How do children learn Standard English?
Language is caught not taught.
1. Children learn Standard English language most easily from birth to 6 years of age by engaging with Standard English speakers.
2. The language that children use is copied from those with whom they interact, like friends and teachers who chat and play with them.
3. Exchanging, interacting and engaging with language is more important than instruction in developing linguistic ability.
4. Children don’t learn Standard English from formal instruction, they ‘catch’ it in environments where they play and enjoy themselves.
5. Children learn grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation through using and fully engaging with language (playing, talking, conversation, interacting with stories and poems, drama.)
How can parents support children in acquiring Standard English?
1. Make time to play, talk, listen and read books in Standard English.
2. Eliminate Manglish as much as possible.
3. Fill the home with books, newspapers and periodicals. Discuss what we read with the children.
4. Visit the library regularly. Talk about the books we read.
5. Reduce television watching – talk more.
6. Watch or listen to BBC World or World Service.
Julia made the case for promoting Standard English as children cannot afford to be limited by speaking a minority dialect of English. Standard English is critical to education and success.
Parents who speak only bloken Ingris but want their children to master Standard English shouldn’t fret. Just as Julia advocates :
Put your children in an interactive Standard English environment with a Standard English speaking teacher as often as possible.
( Well...well...my two kids are also conversing the Malaylish with lah, can you or not, etc. I hope I could help them improve their standard English soon).
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