1. Overview

At the beginning of this class, you completed a short survey sharing some of your thoughts about language (see LING 106 Initial Survey on Canvas). Soon after, you learned two approaches to language and grammarprescriptivism and descriptivism. These approaches differ in many important ways including (1) whether the rules of language are driven by grammar books and language experts or by native speakers of the languages themselves, and (2) whether some languages or language varieties are seen as superior to others or whether all language varieties are seen as equally valuable because all languages are equally systematic.

The goal of this assignment is to consider where you started in terms of your views on language at the beginning of the semester and where you are now, evaluating two important global case studies below:

• Haitian Creole: In Haiti, although Haitian Creole is spoken by most of the population and French is spoken by a very small minority, only French has been welcome in This language policy has contributed to Haiti having one of the lowest literacy rates in the world as well as very high dropout rates in elementary school. This example shows how language policies which view some languages as superior can have high-stakes consequences.
• Language policy in Singapore: In Singapore, the government has launched a campaign to encourage the use of standard English, opposing the use of Singlish, a local language variety strongly associated with Singaporean identity.

Your final essay must answer the following questions:

• What is your opinion on the issues raised in the reading materials about the use of Singlish and the controversy surrounding it?
• What connections do you see between the case of Haitian Creole as we discussed it and that of Singlish, and how does this relate to how one might view Singlish?
• How have your thoughts about these kinds of language issues developed throughout this course? We will ask you to revisit your responses to the initial survey and to review course materials.

1. Required Readings

Haitian Creole: Background and linguistic features

Singlish: Background and linguistic features

2. English language teaching

Controversy and contemporary issues surrounding Singlish

1. Harbeck, J. (2016). The language the government tried to suppress. BBC. September 19,
2. 2016. Retrieved from https://www.bb c.com/culture/article/20160919-the-language-the-government-tried-to-
4. Lee, W. (2020). In defense of Singlish: a cultural interpretation of Singapore English. The
5. Morningside Review, 12. Retrieved from

B. Optional Readings

Content

• First, summarize and give your opinion/position on the use of Singlish, in one paragraph. At least two specific points from the reading materials must be discussed explicitly and meaningfully engaged.
• Then, summarize, in at least one paragraph, connections youve identified between issues surrounding Haitian Creole and Singlish, following the instructions below:
• Two specific points from either class lectures or the readings on Haitian Creole must be discussed explicitly and meaningfully
• Note that this part should go beyond simply comparing the linguistic properties of Singlish and Haitian Creole. There should be some discussion of how the issues related to language prestige are similar or different in the two countries.
• Lastly, discuss, in at least one paragraph, how your thoughts on this type of language issue have developed throughout this course, answering the following questions:
• How have your views on language (whether they be descriptive or prescriptive) changed or have been refined/expanded?
• Importantly, what evidence from class lectures and readings has been most significant in informing those views?

Your discussion must include reference to two specific aspects of your survey results AND two specific topics discussed in class. These points must be cited explicitly, explaining your points in full, and be meaningfully discussed.

1. References

Your paper should refer to the required readings, your own survey that you took at the beginning of the semester, and course materials. It isnt necessary to refer to any other sources. If you include any examples in your paper (linguistic or otherwise), you must include the source if you did not come up with the examples on your own. See Section IV. below on citing sources in APA format.

• In text: You should refer to the sources you are citing in the text as you
• Reference list: List all sources that you cited and consulted in the writing of the paper in APA format in a reference list at the end of the References for the required readings are given above. You do not need to list your own survey in the reference list. You should list any lecture slides that you refer to.

APA reference guide

Use these guidelines when discussing information from the reading materials. The examples below use a made-up text and quotes to provide examples of how to refer to these readings. Your paper should not rely heavily on quotes at all. Instead, paraphrase the ideas that you read about and then refer to the relevant readings.

A. How to cite references in text

Works with 1 author:

• Citations within text Thompson (2009) argued that the claim that certain language varieties do not have rules is not valid.
• Parenthetical It has been argued that there is evidence against the claim that certain language varieties do not have rules (Thompson, 2009).

Works with 2 authors:

• Citations within text Sullivan and Green (1998) argued that the claim that certain language varieties do not have rules is not valid.
• Parenthetical It has been argued that there is evidence against the claim that certain language varieties do not have rules (Sullivan & Green, 1998).

B. How to cite sources when using direct quotes

Direct quotes should be used very sparingly, only in cases where a particular brief statement is very powerful. If you feel you must use a quote, here is an example of how to include a short quote in your paper.

C. How to format your reference list

Include all references that have been cited in your paper, as well as any other sources you have consulted. The full references for the required readings are listed above. You do not need to list your own survey results in this list. See below for the basic format and an example, showing how to cite different kinds of sources in APA format.

• Journal article

Author, A., Author, B., & Author, C. (year). Title of article. Journal Title, issue #, pages.

Jones, R. L., Yu, S. K., Warrick, E. P., & Wilcox, Z. (2003). Effects of corrective feedback on second language outcomes of adolescent learners. Journal of Second Language Education, 12, 321-355.

Book chapter

Author, A. & Author, B. (year). Title of chapter. In A. Editor & B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. pages). Location: Publisher.

Sullivan, D. L. & Green, J. (1998). Syntactic processing in second language learners of French. In F. Campbell, J. P. Dunn, & R. Mumah (Eds.), Handbook of second language learning (pp. 27-60). New York, NY: Pearson.

Book

Author, A. B. (year). Title of book. Location: Publisher.

Thompson, W. B. (2009). Researching second language acquisition. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.

Here is the results of my survey :

All languages have rules.

7 (Completely Agree)

Some languages dont use proper rules.

7 (Completely Agree)

Sign languages have rules just like spoken languages.

7 (Completely Agree)

Some dialects or languages shouldnt be allowed to be used in schools.

3

It is better for a school system to use just one language.

4

It is important to me that people think that I try to use proper grammar.

7 (Completely Agree)

It is important to me that other people try to use proper grammar.

7 (Completely Agree)

Using a dialect other than the standard probably means that that person is less educated.

1 (Completely Disagree)

Some dialects dont use proper rules.

5

There is a proper version of every language, and some dialects are more proper than others.

4