“In the past, we hear that a lot”: Features of and responses to tense and aspect in written Singaporean Academic English

Abstract

This study investigates the particularities of verb use in written Singaporean Academic English and considers a response from an English for Specific Purposes perspective. It builds on previous research on verb features of spoken Singaporean English, finding many prominent features in spoken Singaporean English missing in written Singaporean Academic English. However, this study suggests that written Singaporean Academic English alters the grammatical categories of tense and aspect and is, then, able to flexibly express the information of tense and aspect in creative and meaningful ways where many instructors might only see grammatical “mistakes”. The paper discusses the ramifications of this for educators, arguing for an approach that simultaneously recognizes the functionality of this verb system and trains students to be capable in the verb systems of other dialects for pragmatic purposes.