Partner Programmes 2008/09
English As It Is Broken (EAIIB) started out as a weekly advice column in The Sunday Times which ran from July 2006 to March 2008. Readers with questions on the use of English or photographs of public signs with bad English sent in their submissions to be answered by a panel of advisors. Audiences were successfully engaged by involving them in co-creating content.
Click to view a bigger illustration of this cross-media initiative.
During this time, the popularity of the column grew and so did the volume of questions. To accommodate all questions, the English As It Is Broken microsite on STOMP was created. The microsite is an ongoing Q&A column that is updated daily.
From there, the bestselling book, English As It Is Broken, and its sequel, English As It Is Broken 2, were born. The books are compilations of the most frequently asked questions on the online column. This repurposing of EAIIB content greatly increased its accessibility. A record-breaking 26,000 copies of the first book were sold within a year. You can find copies of these two books in National Library Board Public Libraries as well as in major bookstores.
An English As It Is Broken category was also created in the Schools Digital Media Awards 2009. Students all across Singapore were invited to create video advertisements using content from the book or the online column. Here, English As It Is Broken content was adapted by students to create new products (e.g. Speak Good English Movement advertisements).
Visit English As It Is Broken on STOMP or our Ask About English section to view answers to questions sent in by members of the public!
Have a question on the English language? E-mail your questions
to 75557@stomp.com.sg and the English Language Panel will answer your questions.