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2.
Future Researcher
The researcher hopes that this study will be a good reference for those who conduct research about Singapore English. This topic has very wide range, which
is interesting to explore. This research is expected to enrich the existing research about Singaporean English.
F. Definition of Terms
In order to support this research, there are some definitions of terms. Those are provided to make the reader familiar with the terms.
1. Standard English StdE
Crystal 1995 states that “Standard English brings the huge understanding
among people, especially from its vocabulary, grammar, and orthography ” as
cited in Brown and Ling, 2005. The Standard English is used by English Learners as the criteria of every English variety. Richards 1985, as cited in
Brown and Ling, 2005 draw three criteria for Standard English. those are used in media and literature, described in dictionaries and grammars, and taught at
schools and taught to non-native speakers who learn the native language. There are two Standard English which is used by people in the world,
namely American and British English. From the origin and history, Singapore was the colony of Britain for 140 years. Therefore, Singapore refers to British English
as the Standard English. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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2. Singapore Colloquial English SCE Singlish
English Language in Singapore exists as the national and second language. There are two varieties of Singapore English, Singapore Standard English SSE
and Singapore Colloquial English SCE or Singlish. Ling 2005 says that SSE is the Standard English that is used by the Singaporean for the formal purposes of
education, media, and law. While SCE, or commonly called by Singlish, is the local brand of English that usually refers to „poor English‟ or „poor language‟
Brown and Ling, 2005. In SCE, the speaker does not maintain the grammar used,
so it is called as „poor language‟. However, the speaker adds some discourse particles in the end of the sentence, such as
„lah‟, „ah‟ Brown and Ling, 2005, p. 91.
3. Discourse Particles
Singapore Colloquial English SCE, the variety of English Spoken in Singapore, has some features. One of them is the use of
„discourse particle‟ by its speaker such as meh, hor, lah, hah, ah, nah, leh, ma, what, lor and ya. Discourse
particles used as the affix in a sentence. Singaporean uses discourse particle as their language choice. Gupta 1992 as cited in Leimgruber 2009, p. 54 states
that “The category covers a range of monosyllabic items used to convey the speaker‟s attitude or mood, to establish solidarity, or to emphasize the
obviousness of a statement.” PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter is divided into two parts, which are theoretical description and theoretical framework. The first part, theoretical description, discusses all
theories that are relevant to the research. The second part is theoretical framework. In this part, all major theories are summarized and synergized to help
the researcher finds the answers to the two research questions.
A. Theoretical Description
This part is divided into four parts. The first is Singapore Colloquial English SCE, which covers about its definition in detail. The second is Standard
English. The third is discourse particles and the last is review of the related research.
1. Singapore Colloquial English SCE
Ling and Brown 2005 state that SCE, or commonly called by Singlish, is the local brand of English in Singapore which is merely used by educated and
uneducated Singaporean in everyday conversation. Brown and Ling 2005, p.12 point out that SCE or Singlish is the informal, colloquial variety of English in
Singapore with its own unique linguistic features. It is used by either those who have limited proficiency in the language or proficient speakers who choose to use
it for informal purposes. Besides, SCE is the non-standard variety of PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
