Post Four: Why Are You Writing Like This??

Today's lesson left me deep in thoughts. Never has it crossed my mind that the writing styele and techniques can differ tremendously across cultures! Indeed this is something new to me. Maybe because written Malay and written English are to a large extent similar, hence, that explains my ignorance. =).

In Malay language, imageries are used only in the first 1-2 opening statements (not the entire introduction) in essay/composition/letter writing. Other than that, we use fancifully-phrased proverbs (see example) only sparingly.

E.g. Bagai pinang dibelah dua

Literal translation: Like betel nuts split into two

What it really means: equally pretty, equally nice

How it is used: Usually used to describe couples - "Look at the (wedding) couple, they're sooo made for one another; 'bagai pinang dibelah dua'!"

Side note: betel nuts when split into two, are not equal by the way ... =)

Simply, when it comes to serious stuff, Malays are rather straightforward. I bet, had Kaplan studied the rhetoric trend of a typical Malay-speaker's English essay, its discourse arrow would have looked something like this! =)

Another fine example of 'beat-around-the-bush' use of Malay words is in pantun, syair, gurindam and sajak (these are the variant forms of Malay poems/prose). Other than that, the use of imagery is rarely used.

Sidenote: Use of imagery in pantun (such as above) are often used to make the sentences rhyme with one another, often lacking meaning. But in other literary works, imagery do have its abstract meanings, which often many can't fully comprehend.

After much reflecting, I realise that I should not be too surprised after all. I have been attending Arabic classes for 3 lessons already now (before this I have taken Arabic classes at primary school level) hence, I've not really touched in-depth on the writing part yet. I am still at the introductory verbal aspect for the course. But I find that culture MAY after all influence how one writes in English and this I can infer from the Arabic language.

Unlike Malay and English, Arabic is a little bit different from these two languages. Not only is there greater variation in the sentence structure, some of the words/phrases, when translated into English or Malay doesn't quite make sense. An example:

As mentioned in class, this is what I mean by 'discrepancy' when translating the prepositions used in the Arabic language. Another example: Note how the term 'at/in' is used in place of ON ('ala). Most of the time, the words are used correctly but in some instances (as given above), the word 'at/in' is not used the way I would normally use it. Hence, this could possibly explain why some Arab-speakers make grammatical errors in their English essays.

After much reflecting, I realise that, I already know these things, but I never thought that it would matter so much. Like what was mentioned in class, even if we attempt to speak a common language (English) to understand one another better, the variations in the type of English we use (be it Singlish or Chinglish or Inglish) can be a potential for miscommunication and misinterpretation to happen. =S. Hence, learning more about written and spoken discourses across cultures may ameliorate these misunderstandings and hopefully, everyone can get along with one another with minimal friction.

Wow, that sounds like a recipe for 'World Peace'! =)

Post Three: Listener Response - Of 'haiks' and 'yaas'

(After struggling to condense my previous post to less than 500 words, I realise that I missed out on a lot of crucial points which I wanted to raise. Hence, from this 3^rd post onwards, I will not restrict myself to the word count limit that I initially imposed on myself.)

This week’s topic is of high relevance to almost everyone. But once again, we’re unaware that the things and way we speak on the phone are rule-governed. With 59.3% of the entire world’s population owning at least 1 mobile phone (Taiwan tops the list with 106.5 phones per 100 persons, and Singapore ranks 16^th, with 79.14 phones per 100 persons), it is no surprise conversations can take place almost anywhere and between two persons from different countries or cultural backgrounds. But the rules that govern these conversations vary with culture.

But what fascinates me most is the study of listener response in telephone calls. (I really didn’t think they had a name for all the uhmms and ahhs and uh uhs we express during telephone conversations).

Listener response simply means how a listener inserts his/her responses into a speaker’s narratives (Bavelas et al, 2002). This is equivalent to the Japanese Aizuchi (backchannels) i.e. frequent interjection during a conversation to indicate that the listener is paying attention and is actively involved in a discussion. This includes nodding, saying ‘haik’ or ‘honto ni’. This made me to realise that listener response is not necessarily verbal only i.e. restricted to just telephone calls; it can also be actions that we observe during face-to-face conversations. I guess this is what we term as non-verbal cues. This can sometimes be detected in phone calls: And since it varies with culture, talking to the locals when we’re abroad is not as easy as we thought it would be.

Try observing the guy in blue during the first 15 seconds of their conversations. Notice how different their response is compared to our local Singapore cultures?

Closer to home, listener responses is widely used in the Malay community. When asked, my Mum said that it’s more polite to interrupt so that the speaker knows that the listener acknowledges what was being said. The younger Malays don’t use these responses as frequently as the elders.

Popular Examples of Malay Listener Responses (based on what I observe):

Example	What it means ...
1.Backchannels (‘continuer’ or internal utterance) - backchanneling that doesn’t result in turn change Ah(h)* Ah ah* Ye Uhm* Mmmm * Apa lah Okay Mungkin * indicates non-lexical terms	I see ... Uh uh/Yes (please continue ...) Yes Ehmm Mmmm What lah ... Okay Maybe/Possibly
2. Reactive Expressions (final utterance) - Ye tak ye Memang pun Betul tu Ye/Betul ke? Takkan lah ... Tak mungkin Bagus lah ... Apa lah Mungkin kot? Bedek?	Ya hor So true ... That’s right Really? Can’t be ... Can’t be That’s good What only Maybe/Possibly? You must be kidding ...

After reading much on the Japanese Aizuchi, I’ve decided to make a comparison between both Aizuchi and the Malay listener responses.

Comparison between Japanese and Malay Listener Responses:

Japanese Aizuchi	Malay Listener Response
Always in agreement with the speaker	May agree/disagree with speaker
Often involving hidden/indirect meaning e.g. ‘yes’ might not necessarily mean yes and ‘no’ might not necessarily mean no	Often direct meaning; any form of disagreement discretely expressed
Both in verbal and action forms	Often more verbal than action forms
Acquired largely through mother-child interactions i.e. mother will teach and ‘train’ child to ‘give’ and ‘take’ signals (Miyata et al, 2007) - More culturally and language-driven; corrected by mum if wrong	Acquired through listening and observing our elders when they communicate with one another - Not ‘formally’ educated
Often involves non-lexical terms like ‘un’ (yes)	Often involves lexical terms like
Widely studied	Not widely studied; information presented based on my experience

Post Two: Education - It's All About the Classroom

We observe it when we visit other countries but it never occurred to us that it’s called SPEECH EVENTS i.e. phenomena and behaviour we scrutinise in locals to understand their culture better. Also, to not offend the locals and sometimes, facilitate one’s assimilation into a community should he/she plans to stay permanently.

I aspire to become a teacher; apart from learning and enjoying the different cultures while abroad, I like to observe how school is like in different parts of the world. I hope such experiences can make me a more competent educator.

Pre-school & Primary Education: Singapore vs. Cambodia

“Kids here go to school as and when they like, can enter and leave the classroom as they please,” I was told. Education isn’t compulsory and not a Cambodian government’s priority, thus only a few can afford to go to established schools. As part of my humanitarian expedition in Sihanoukville, I was assigned to teach at and refurbish two schools in the slum.

My first impression: DISSHEVELED!

School = run-down hut with only 1 classroom + operates any two days weekly + kids aged 3 – 14 attend the same classes (no levels) + VOLUNTARY attendance

No proper system = No discipline in kids. Basically, every aspect of the speech event is highly unpredictable: the teacher has to suit to the likings, not needs, of the children.

In Singapore, students adhere strictly to rules. Lesson starts when teacher greets the students, and the latter responds before proceeding on with class, mostly led by the teacher. That’s the rule of interaction. The moment the teacher leaves class, everyone goes berserk until the next teacher comes in to restore order again.

Tertiary Education: Singapore vs Canada

The first lecture I attended in Canada hinted me that I’m in for some differences in classroom behaviour. The genre, setting, topic, function and the tone of the lecture are the same but the participants and the rules and norms of interaction differ.

In Singapore, when a lecturer asks a question, everyone stares right back. This is similar to a monologue. In Canada, everyone will raise their hands and interrupts the lecturer to ask questions. Such ‘dialogue’ only occurs in Singapore’s tutorials. A Canadian friend who teaches at a local high school said that students are encouraged to inquire and be vocal in class since young. This explains their eagerness to ask and answer questions.

Lack of interaction in NUS’s lectures might be due to an Asian value many have been taught since young: respect for the person talking, especially if he is older. Interrupting is impolite and often disrupts what the lecturer has planned to present for class that day.

Back in Singapore, I found it disturbing that an ang moh guy in my class asks questions in tutorials ONLY but not in lecture. Maybe because he has observed Singaporeans’ lecture vs tutorial ‘etiquette’ and decided to just go with the flow? I suppose that’s a first step to be assimilated into our NUS community. =)

Post One: How Can There Be Action in Speech??

In a Western wedding ceremony, when’s the exact moment a couple 'legally wedded'? It’s believed that it's the moment the priest pronounce 'you are now man and wife'. How can such a short statement create such a big impact on many people's lives? According to Ward (2004), the legal 'binding' occurs upon signing the wedding contract. Yet, the statement above gives the impression that the words itself was an action. This is a fine example of a concept we know as 'speech act'. As paradoxical as it may sound (how can there possibly be an action in speech?), speech act has been a part and parcel of the lives of people who’ve been blessed with the gift of speech. I got the image below from http://courses.media.mit.edu/:

Speech act can be as ubiquitous as making a promise, saying 'sorry' or inviting friends over to dinner. It's basically words that represent an action. And what fascinates me most is how it varies tremendously with culture!

Truthfully, I was never this eager to learn about cultures. I owe this enthusiasm to my exchange in Canada. Singapore may boast itself to be a cosmopolitan nation but one should stay in Vancouver to experience what a 'truly cosmopolitan' lifestyle really is:

Singaporeans are likely to reject compliments as it’s seen to be humble whereas Canadians tend to agree.

My first day in Canada: I told an American friend she looked great. To my surprise, she responded 'I know!'. That gave me the impression that she's yet another haughty and braggy teen, like what I've seen on MTV's 'Sweet Sixteen'. It took me four months to be able to swallow the fact that 'all Americans are snobbish', because they respond similarly to compliments. Perplexed, I felt as though I was being overly humble but my roommates found it disrespectful when I rejected their compliments.

Only after the 'Speech Act' lecture I've learnt it was more polite to agree than to reject in Western cultures. Intrigued, I perused through Google Scholar to find out more about the are of giving and receiving compliments in Malays. A futile attempt, though not totally. All information was accurate but not well-substantiated.

Malays are 'generous' in giving compliments. But their common ‘compliment receipt’ strategy is to 'deflect'; first, politely agree (e.g. say 'thank you') or more often, reject (e.g. say 'no lah'), followed by ‘deflection’, claiming that these attributes are not possible without God's grace.

Knowing that culture is dynamic, I have this impression that the younger ones (who’re evidently more 'westernised' than their senior counterparts) are more likely to adopt the ‘agree’ response strategy. So I put up the following on my Facebook status and the responses come right after (in the blue box):

All except the last respondent are young-generation Malays. Surprisingly, 3 out of 5 still adhere to the traditional compliment response strategy. A larger sample size is definitely required to prove my ‘hypothesis’.

Looks like I’ve got a lot more to learn about my culture. =)