Singlish! Language and Identity: Language Variation

The Uplingo team loves variations of the English language, and in this resource we decided to develop a lesson to practice all 4 skills around the topic of Singaporean English (Singlish). This fits well into the theme of IBDP Language B: Language Variation (Identities) but it can also work with any EAL/ ESL class, to open your students eyes to different types of Englishes! The activity includes the following:
Context setting group work activity where students divide into four teams to find out a different aspect of Singapore. They then present to the class.
Pre-listening activity# 1 : Students work with a partner to translate given Singlish terms into standard English
Active listening # 1: Students listen to a video to see if their Singlish translations were correct.
Individual reading activity: Students go to a BBC article to answer questions on Singlish
Active listening # 2: Students listen to an Open University video (Singlish Controversies) and listen for opinions/ attitudes towards Singlish.
Debate: Students divide into 5 teams to debate a motion on banning Singlish
Suggested writing tasks on Singlish

This work has been developed independently from and is not endorsed by the International Baccalaureate Organisation. International Baccalaureate, Baccalaureate international, Bachillerato Internacional and IB are registered trademarks owned by the International Baccalaureate Organization.