Change and Continuity: English Language Teaching in Singapore

| March 29, 2005
Title
Change and Continuity: English Language Teaching in Singapore

Keywords: English language teaching in Singapore, syllabus structure, change in ELT

Authors
Associate Prof Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew
Nanyang Technological University

Bio Data
Associate Prof Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew lectures ELT methodology at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. She has published widely in the areas of education and linguistics, comparative religion and women’s studies. Her research on language has appeared in journals such as World Englishes, Language, Culture and the Curriculum, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, Applied Linguistics and Linguistics and Education. She has also authored &/or directed several language textbooks for Singapore schools and is President of the English Language and Literature Association of Singapore.

Abstract
This paper focuses on change and continuity in English Language Teaching (ELT) in Singapore as revealed by a study of the English language syllabuses and their respective textbooks since the time of Singapore’s evolvement from a British colony to the modern independent nation it is today. It will also examine how the relevant changes were directly influenced by political, social, and economic concerns of the nation as well as larger developments in language research and language teaching taking place elsewhere.
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Category: Main Editions, Volume 7 Issue 1