How Can We Make Queenstownians Better Users of The English Language

Simply focusing on being efficient in making Queenstownians proficient is not sufficient. Haste makes waste. Rome was not built in a day. To become proficient, one needs an ever increasing level of awareness of the intricacies and beauty of the language. To simply relegate students to the daily mechanical task of completing an infinitely tall mountain of assignments is at best going to greatly increase their hands muscles and at worst going to achieve no conceivable aim. What is then required of both the students and faculty is an increased understanding of how best to express oneself in any given situation with appropriateness and accuracy. It is not practical to regularly cow students into believing that speaking in 'proper English' 24/7 is the way to go. The truth of the matter is that as universally accepted as we believe the language to be, the fact remains that speaking in Singlish is still a viable alternative for communicative means especially among their peers. Language is after all a means for communication. To stamp out one language and to encourage another while insisting communication will be improved is ironic and naive. The message we need to bring forth today is that it never hurts to gain proficiency in another language, as it will render us better and more effective communicators. What we need to then do is to encourage our students to observe and understand the ways in which we can enhance our communicative means by gaining an awareness of the language. This can be done anytime and anywhere, by simply being more aware. One need not dogmatically slave over piles of grammar exercises, or read a great many books hoping that by memorising phrases one's proficiency will automatically increase, one simply needs to be aware of the universally accepted way of speaking and writing the language by having competent mentors to guide the way.

Pearlyn Wee (40)

3D Band 1