science

Speak Good English Movement

Speak Good English Movement is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Speak Good English Movement rather than just read about it. In short: The Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) is a campaign by the Government of Singapore, launched by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong on 29 April 2000, to standardise Singapore English. It is seen as a measure to counter the usage of Singlish, the vernacular dialect of the country.

Key takeaways

Speak Good English Movement belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Speak Good English Movement to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Speak Good English Movement from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) is a campaign by the Government of Singapore, launched by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong on 29 April 2000, to standardise Singapore English. It is seen as a measure to counter the usage of Singlish, the vernacular dialect of the country.

Background English was introduced in 1819 with the establishment of the modern port in Singapore. The port attracted migrants from neighbouring countries, such as China and India, resulting in a diverse linguistic landscape. Proximity to these languages has over generations influenced Singaporean English. Known colloquially as Singlish, the vernacular dialect is characterised by the mixture of local expressions with Standard English (e.g. the use of discourse particles such as lah). Singlish is commonly used by Singaporeans in informal contexts and can be incomprehensible to non-Singaporeans. When the Speak Good English Movement was launched in 1999, then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong described Singlish as "English corrupted by Singaporeans", and "broken, ungrammatical English". According to the government, mastery of Standard English is imperative to raise living standards in Singapore, and Singlish causes problems when Singaporeans need to communicate in the "global language of commerce, business and technology". The movement thus campaigns for an improved standard of English used in Singapore. In hopes of extending its reach, the movement adopts a different theme and target group each year, and also collaborates with various partner organisations to provide programmes in line with the movement's goals.

Aims The campaign aims to discourage the use of Singlish and encourage the use of a more standardised form of English, (i.e. generally modelled on the British standard). According to the movement's chairman, then Colonel (NS) David Wong, the Speak Good English Movement aims to build a sense of pride that Singaporeans can speak good English, as opposed to Singlish, as well as to check the trend where Singaporeans use Singlish as a way of identifying themselves. Instead, it envisions a brand of grammatically correct English, different from Singlish, to be linked with the unique Singaporean identity.

Past themes Since 2003, the Speak Good English Movement has been launched annually with year-long programmes and activities held island-wide to increase the awareness among Singaporeans that speaking good English matters in their daily lives. Each year a different theme focusing on the target audience is created. The themes that were used in the campaign up until 2015 are:

2000–2004: Speak Well. Be Understood. 2005–06: Speak Up. Speak Out. Speak Well. 2006–07: Be Understood. Not only in Singapore, Malaysia and Batam. 2007–08: Rock Your World! Express Yourself. 2008–09: I Can 2009–10: Impress. Inspire. Intoxicate. 2010–11: Get It Right 2011–12: How You Speak Makes a Difference 2012–13: Make Good English Stick 2013–14: 10 Tips to Improve Your English 2014-16: Grammar Rules Matter. Use Good English. 2017–18: Learn Grammar Rules to Rule the English Language 2019: Let's Connect. Let's Speak Good English.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Speak Good English Movement

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Speak Good English Movement claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Speak Good English Movement before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Speak Good English Movement ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Speak Good English Movement

In research: Speak Good English Movement appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Speak Good English Movement in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Speak Good English Movement is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2000 establishments in Singapore, English language in Singapore, Language policy in Singapore, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Speak Good English Movement outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Speak Good English Movement” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Speak Good English Movement in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Speak Good English Movement means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Speak Good English Movement out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Speak Good English Movement in simple terms?

Why does Speak Good English Movement matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Speak Good English Movement?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Speak Good English Movement.