Studying Language Variation in Singapore Essay Example for Free

Studying Language Variation in Singapore Essay This paper is a study of code-switching in one Singaporean Chinese household (my own). It will consider the hypothesis that age correlates significantly with proficiency and/or usage of more than one code. To test this hypothesis, three subjects, from the household, reflecting three different generations have had their speech recorded. The subjects S1, S2 and S3 are my grandfather, my uncle and my cousin respectively. General information on the subjects such as their ages, occupations and medium of education can be found in Table 1 (see appendix). Data Collection The data for this study was collected through tape recording of spontaneous conversations during a relaxed and informal family gathering held at an aunts house. Extracts from the recordings were then appropriately selected for analysis such that they will help quantify the nature and number of code-switches. In order to keep as close as possible to actual language usage, all unnatural instances of code alternation, such as deliberate code-switching resulting from an over-consciousness of the tape-recorded or a wish to impress, were excluded. Basic Terminology Code-switching is the case of multilingual speakers making switches between different languages or varieties depending on audience, setting and purpose; or the juxtaposition within the same speech exchange of passages of speech belonging to two different grammatical systems or sub-systems (Gumperz 1982: 59) The verbal repertoire of each subject, including the different languages or varieties they speak, can be found in Table 1 as well (see appendix). Subject 1: Grandfather (Age: 69) My grandfather can speak more than 4 different varieties- Teochew, Mandarin, English, Malay and most of the other Chinese dialects. Teochew is the dominant Chinese dialect which my grandfather speaks. He is very proficient in Teochew and uses it most of the time, with family members of the 1st (grandmother) and 2nd (father, mother, uncles, aunts) generations. He uses the other Chinese dialects only with his friends of a different dialect group or when talking to hawkers or shopkeepers. He communicates with the 3rd generation (myself, cousins) in Mandarin and sometimes in English, which he is not very proficient in. He uses Malay only when speaking to the maid, as she is from Indonesia and can only understand minimal English and no other languages or dialects. In my recordings, I found that he only switched between 4 of the varieties- Teochew, Mandarin, English and Malay. I suppose it was not necessary to speak in any other Chinese dialect because it was a family gathering. Speaking mainly Teochew, he code-switched quite frequently, but not as much as S2. The nature of the switches was mainly, but not solely, due to his interlocutor. I will discuss the various factors further.

Theme of Tradition in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Essay -- The Lotte

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Americans day after day live much of their lives following time-honored traditions that are passed down from one generation to another. From simple everyday cooking and raising children, to holidays and other family rituals, tradition plays a significant role on how they go by there everyday lives. In Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery," the citizens of a small farming town follow one such tradition. A point is made regarding human nature in relation to tradition. The story begins on a beautiful summer afternoon. The town's citizens are eager, gathering in the town square in order to take part in the yearly lottery. With the story focused around one particular family, the Hutchinsons, who are so anxious to get it all over with until they find that one of their members is to participate in the lottery's closing festivities, Tessie. Of course unlike your typical lotteries, this is not one that you would want to win. The one chosen from the lottery is to undertake a cr uel and unusual death by stoning at the hands of their fellow townsmen for the sake that it may bring a fruitful crop for the coming harvest season. Ironically, many of the towns people have suggested that the lottery be put to an end, but most find the idea unheard of being that they have lived in it's practice for most of their lives. The story conveys a message that traditions may be valued so highly that those in their practice may do everything they can to ensure that they continue in accordance. From this a question arises. How far would one go to ensure their sacred traditions remain unscathed? For many, change is a cause for ignorance. Most of us fear the idea of change. When one is faced to deal with c... ...ithdraw from the tradition because they do not know any other way. Can you imagine what life would be if there were no Christmas or Thanksgiving? For many cultures, tradition is the basis for their history. One example to this being the Hawaiian culture whose history was destroyed when they were forced to stop their ancient dances which told stories of their past. Adversely, tradition has played negative roles in society as well with the battle between the Muslims and Christians in many middle-eastern countries. Tradition plays many roles in today's society. Our goal should be to grasp the idea of what they really mean. We must not isolate ourselves to what we think we know, but instead allow ourselves to comprehend. Bibliography: PERRINE'S STORY AND STRUCTUE 9TH ED. ARE, THOMAS R. 1998, HARCOURT-BRACE COLLEGE PUBLISHERS FORT WORTH, TX

Type of International Strategy

Lufthansa is one of the three airline companies world-wide, whose debt is rated as investment-grade. Since the World War II the industry has never earned its cost of capital over the business cycle and after the deregulation which increasing replaced the government-organized IATA cartel the situation got worse. The airline’s response to that and to globalization was to form alliances. Lufthansa join to the Star Alliance, and is the leading probably pivotal member of the largest alliance. Alliances are even more complex to manage than individual companies because they lack the hierarchical conflict resolutions mechanisms that individual companies can employ. The globalization of the airline industry move full speed ahead, and Lufthansa since the early 1980s have a global expansion strategy, but was not economically viable as we can see into the fowling exhibits. The fixed cost were too high, and on the other hand, strong reasons supported the belief that the â€Å"network effect† and economies of scale were leading to a global airline industry, dominated buy the key players. But the deregulation process had not gone far enough to allow major mergers. Deregulation and the erosion of the IATA cartel went far enough to allow sources of new competitors, low cost airlines spread from the United States, to Europe and Asia. Using this new opens in the market Lufthansa grow and expand was we can see in the exhibits

Jane Eyre By Charlotte Bronte - 1231 Words

Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, and Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen, are two well-known 18th and 19th century novels written by women. Jane Eyre follows part of Elizabeth Bennet’s life as she and her sisters begin courtships and finally marry. In Jane Eyre, the story follows the life of an orphan girl, Jane Eyre, as she grows up and lives amidst many disappointments and hardship after hardship. Although both stories have much romance in them, they are written in very different styles, making their characters more difficult to compare. Jane Eyre is a book written in the Romantic and somewhat Gothic style, and places importance on describing everything. Pride and Prejudice, however, is more of a reaction to the Romantic†¦show more content†¦Although Elizabeth grew up with a family on the lower end of the upper class, it was not a family to be longed for. Her mother was silly, her father passive in restraining his wife and daughters, although she was not without some wise sisters. Because of this family atmosphere, Elizabeth could have become like her mother or could have turned against her family; however, she became an independent young woman who tried to respect her parents while trying to act wisely. Thus both Jane and Elizabeth rose above their situations, not letting them turn them into selfish, unkind, or silly people. However, there are other similarities between Jane and Elizabeth. Both young women did not place as high of a value on money and wealth as did many of the people of their time. Although Elizabeth’s mother wanted all her children to marry men of good connections and wealth, but Elizabeth does not as high a priority on these qualities. When she could have married a very silly, foolish man and by this means secured her family’s estate, she refuses because of his character. In addition, when her friend marries this man because he has a large amount of money and has rich patrons, she does not hold that it was a good choice. Later, when Elizabeth accepts a very wealthy man, it is not, as her mother supposes, for wealth, but instead because she admires him. In Jane’s case, she is a hard working but poorer woman. Yet the reason she falls in love with her master, Mr. Rochester, is not