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Singaporeans' reactions to Estuary English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2002

Chia Boh Peng  and
Adam Brown
Chia Boh Peng
Affiliation:
Upper Serangoon Secondary School, Singapore
Adam Brown
Affiliation:
National Institute of Education, Singapore
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Abstract

A consideration of whether EE could conceivably be an alternative to RP as a teaching model.

Since David Rosewarne first coined the term in1984, much has been written about EstuaryEnglish (EE). The definition usually given ofEstuary English is that if we can imagine a continuumwith Received Pronunciation (RP) atone end and Cockney (an urban accent of London)at the other, then Estuary English is in themiddle. This definition is restated by Wells(1998-9) as ‘Standard English spoken with theaccent of the southeast of England. This highlightstwo chief points: that it is standard(unlike Cockney) and that it is localized in thesoutheast (unlike RP)’. The book English Languagefor Beginners (Lowe & Graham 1998)contains on p. 156 a diagram giving the actressJoanna Lumley as an example of RP, the boxerFrank Bruno for Cockney, and the comedianand writer Ben Elton for EE. This is ironic, inthat Ben Elton himself denies that he is aspeaker of EE (John Wells, personal communication).

Information

Type
Original Articles
Information
English Today , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , April 2002 , pp. 33 - 38
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

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