Blog 3 Article

S'poreans speak better English but... 10 min-->
Spoken English of service staff is still poor.
By Derrick Ho

SINGAPOREANS are generally speaking better English but they find the standard of spoken English among service staff poor, a survey has shown.
Two-thirds of the respondents in the survey, which polled 1,200 Singaporeans between 15 and 39 years, said their standard of spoken English has improved in the last two years.

Key findings in survey
60 per cent of people interviewed said they were aware of the Speak Good English Movement.
The top 3 factors preventing respondents from speaking good English are:

1) Their non-English speaking environment

2) Family and friends do not speak good English

3)Their poor command of English.

The top leisure activities that would encourage people to learn and speak good English:

1) Reading

2) Watching television or videos

3) Listening to radioMany gave wanting to express better and be better understood as the main motivation for speaking better.

The findings of the survey, conducted by the Singapore Polytechnic School of Business, were released at the launch of this year's Speak Good English Movement.
The respondents gave the lowest ratings to the standard of English spoken by service staff, who will be the target of this year's campaign.
'They are the people we meet and interact with everyday. Being able to speak good English is important for service staff to communicate
effectively with customers. They are aware of this,' said Mr Lim Boon Heng, minister at the Prime Minister's office, at the launch of the Speak Good English Movement at Metro department store, in the Paragon on Tuesday.
"As they say, iron sharpens iron. We either learn the best or the worst from people we work, live and interact with. Therefore, it is important that we raise the standard of speaking and using good English as a nation, starting with our workplaces and our homes."
Mr Lim said organisers will work with the Singapore Workforce Development Agency to improve the standard of spoken English among those who communicate frequently with Singapore residents and visitors.
The Singapore Retailers Association is also launching a training programme 'Service English for Retail Professionals'.
'They are our front-runners when Singapore hosts international events. The experience they give to our international visitors is very important,' Mr Lim said.

Link: http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_272077.html?vgnmr=1