Politics influences on English Language

Assalamualaikum, hi!

For your information, this week is really, really a tough week for me as this week is assignment and presentation week.

But, still, all praises for Allah, all of the assignment and presentation are done successfully.

For English for Language Teacher’s subject, we have given four tasks and Task 1 need to be done and present it within this week.

We were required to read and discuss how Malaysian culture affects English Language. All of us must consider all of these factors:

a.             multicultural society – major ethnic groups & dialect groups

b.             urban & rural settings

c.             political/historical influence 

d.             educational policies

In groups, we must present our answer using PPT slides and edit them based on lecturer’s comments.

So, my lucky group got the factor of political influence.

At first, when I first heard the factor which my group has to do, I felt worried because the factor is quite difficult to be done as it is theoretical and there’s got not many information about this particular factor.

But, Alhamdulillah, my friends keep encouraging me and guide me in doing this task.

On the next day, we went to the library to look for relevant books about our task. But, unfortunately, we can’t found any of it except a book about language politics in Malay language.

So, for the sake of this task, the next alternative is we have to find the information by research through the internet.

Alhamdulillah, through the research, we manage to find a lot of relevant information. So, when there is a will, there is a way! It’s really giving me a lesson. Alhamdulillah. =)

Actually, the English language is influenced by many factors, and the main factors are multicultural society, urban and rural settings, political influence, historical influence and educational policies.

The decision-making in Malaysian education system is a highly centralized and bureaucratic top-down system.

            …a system of administration based upon organization into bureaus, division of labour, a hierarchy of authority, etc.: designed to dispose of a large body of work in a routine manner

The politics in Malaysia especially seem to play a dominant influence in shaping the education policies of the country. The case of the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (PPSMI) is an example of the interference of politics on education.

The politics influence on English language in Malaysia can be divided into two phases or time lines which are politics before independence and politics after independence.

Throughout this task, I can learn about the politics happening in Malaysia especially in the education field. We as an English teacher in future must update all of the events or policies happen in the education field as the policies in Malaysia have a big influence on English language.

InsyaAllah, hope my group’s members and I can done well as a language teacher in the future and contribute to the beloved religion, students, community and country. Amin…

Assalamualaikum…

With love,

Liza Tiong~

Language games

Assalamualaikum…hi!

For this time, I would like to ask you a question. Do you like to play language game?

If you like it, then this is the right place, right time.

Actually, for this week, we were required to create a language game on word formation for examples: compound words, stems and affixes.

After brainstorming, my group’s members and I comes out with a few games.

During the games were conducted, it seems everyone was excited as we all know, there is nobody who don't like games in this world. 

What can I learned from creating all of these games and during conducting it?

Well, from all of these games, I learned to be more creative as a creative idea of course will attract students' attention to learn in the class. 

By conducting all of these language games, students get to learn on word formation in a creative and interesting way. 

These were the language games which we had conducted in the class.

The first game: 

Memory and Imagination

¡You are asked to look at the picture shown for 10 seconds.

¡When the instructor says “start”, you are given one minute to write down as many words that you can think of based on what you see in the picture.

¡The words written must be according to the word class stated by the instructor either nouns, adverbs, verbs or adjectives.

 ¡The player who has the longest list of correct words is the winner.  

The second game:

Imagination and Write

¡You are given a situation by the instructor.

¡Then, write down the words that you can think of to describe the situation given, based on one of the word classes - either nouns, adverbs, verbs or adjectives as stated by the instructor.

¡The longest list of correct words is the winner. 

The third game:

Listen and Write 

¡The instructor will play a record of sound effects for 5 seconds.

¡You are required to listen and guess the sounds.

¡After the record of sound effects has stopped, immediately you have to write down the words that you can think of to describe the sound.

¡The words written must be based on one of the word classes given by the instructor either nouns, adverbs, verbs or adjectives.

¡The time given is one minute and the player who get the longest list of correct words will be the winner.

The fourth game:

Roll and Action 

¡Each group will send a group representative to choose one of the four envelopes given by the instructor.

¡Then,  he or she needs to read silently the instruction given in the envelopes and act it out.

¡The other group members will be given one minute to guess the words based on the word classes of either nouns, verbs, adverbs or adjectives.

¡The group who gets the highest number of correct guesses will be the winner.

The fifth game:

Guess and Check 

¡Two groups of four, group A and B will play this game.

¡Group A will choose one of the four envelopes. Each envelope contains a theme.

¡Each member of group A will write down a list of the words based on the word classes of either nouns, verbs, adverbs or adjectives.

¡The words written MUST related to the selected theme.

¡The time given is 2 minutes.

¡After the time given is finished, group B will have to guess the words that have been written by group A.

¡Group A will give clues for group B to guess.

¡For example, if group A has the word “refrigerator”, then they can give clues in the form of adjectives such as “cold” to describe the word.

¡The time given for guessing is 2minutes and each correct guess will be given 10 marks.

¡After the time given is finished, then group B will write and group A will guess. 

You can try all of these games on your own and I bet you will get excited of it!

Enjoy the games!

Assalamualaikum...

With love, 

Liza Tiong~

Tongue Twister?

Assalamualaikum…hi everyone!

Today, I would like to share about the activity which our whole class had been done in each group, which is presenting three tongue twisters for pronunciation drills.

Before that I would like to ask, do you ever heard about tongue twister?

Tongue twister...

If you never heard of it, I will kindly share with you about what is tongue twister.

A tongue-twister is a phrase that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly, and can be used as a type of spoken (or sung) word game. Some tongue-twisters produce results which are humorous (or humorously vulgar) when they are mispronounced, while others simply rely on the confusion and mistakes of the speaker for their amusement value.

The definition of tongue twister is taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongue-twister.

Before I give you have a look at our group’s tongue twisters, please read the tongue twister loudly if you want to know how it sounds interesting. =)

The first tongue twister:

While we were walking,
we were watching window washers wash Washington's windows with warm washing water.

The second tongue twister:

 Excited executioner exercising his excising powers excessively.

The third tongue twister:

Luke Luck likes lakes.

Luke's duck likes lakes.

Luke Luck licks lakes.

Luck's duck licks lakes.

Duck takes licks in lakes Luke Luck likes.

Luke Luck takes licks in lakes duck likes.

Well, what do you feel? Does it sound funny?

Actually, tongue twisters are not only for light-hearted linguistic fun and games. They serve a practical purpose in practicing pronunciation. English tongue twisters may be used by foreign students of English to improve their accent, actors who need to develop a certain accent, and by speech therapists to help those with speech difficulties.

When their use is for one of these more serious reasons, then tongue twisters are generally subdivided into categories classifying them by the particular vowel or consonant sounds they exercise. The Peter Piper twister, for example, clearly provides practice for the P sound.

The Peter Piper

Peter Piper Picked A Peck of Pickled Peppers.

So, let’s recite the tricky rhyme of tongue twister with fun and laughter!

Assalamualaikum…

With love,

Liza Tiong~

Work sheet

Assalamualaikum…hi!

For this time, I would like to share about an interesting activity which our group had done in English for Language Teacher’s class.

Actually, we were required to create a worksheet with two sentences for analysis using tree diagrams and its suggested answers.

After “brainstorming”, I have create two sentences with tree diagrams in my worksheet.

So, this is my worksheet…=)

Read the sentences given carefully and fill the box with the correct answer. 10 marks will be given for each correct answer.
1.         Urban pupils have more exposure to English language.

2.         English lessons are formally taught in public schools.

Throughout this activity of creating sentences and making tree diagram, I had learned on how to identify the word classes, the types of word classes, deeply and carefully analysis the sentences. Besides that, I also learned about the structure of sentences.

It’s my pleasure too to share with about the structure of sentences and word classes which I had found after doing some research through the internet.

The Simple Sentence

The most basic type of sentence is the simple sentence, which contains only one clause. A simple sentence can be as short as one word:

Run!

Usually, however, the sentence has a subject as well as a predicateand both the subject and the predicate may have modifiers. All of the following are simple sentences, because each contains only one clause:

Melt!

Ice melts.

The ice melts quickly.

The ice on the river melts quickly under the warm March sun.

Lying exposed without its blanket of snow, the ice on the river melts quickly under the warm March sun.

As you can see, a simple sentence can be quite long -- it is a mistake to think that you can tell a simple sentence from a compound sentence or a complex sentence simply by its length.
The most natural sentence structure is the simple sentence: it is the first kind which children learn to speak, and it remains by far the most common sentence in the spoken language of people of all ages. In written work, simple sentences can be very effective for grabbing a reader's attention or for summing up an argument, but you have to use them with care: too many simple sentences can make your writing seem childish.
When you do use simple sentences, you should add transitional phrases to connect them to the surrounding sentences.

The Compound Sentence

A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses(or simple sentences) joined by co-ordinating conjunctions like "and," "but," and "or":

Simple

Canada is a rich country.

Simple

Still, it has many poor people.

Compound

Canada is a rich country, but still it has many poor people.

Compound sentences are very natural for English speakers -- small children learn to use them early on to connect their ideas and to avoid pausing (and allowing an adult to interrupt):

Today at school Mr. Moore brought in his pet rabbit, and he showed it to the class, and I got to pet it, and Kate held it, and we coloured pictures of it, and it ate part of my carrot at lunch, and ...

Of course, this is an extreme example, but if you over-use compound sentences in written work, your writing might seem immature.
A compound sentence is most effective when you use it to create a sense of balance or contrast between two (or more) equally-important pieces of information:

Montéal has better clubs, but Toronto has better cinemas.

Special Cases of Compound Sentences

There are two special types of compound sentences which you might want to note. First, rather than joining two simple sentences together, a co-ordinating conjunction sometimes joins two complex sentences, or one simple sentence and one complex sentence. In this case, the sentence is called a compound-complex sentence:

compound-complex

The package arrived in the morning, but the courier left before I could check the contents.

The second special case involves punctuation. It is possible to join two originally separate sentences into a compound sentence using asemicolon instead of a co-ordinating conjunction:

Sir John A. Macdonald had a serious drinking problem; when sober, however, he could be a formidable foe in the House of Commons.

Usually, a conjunctive adverb like "however" or "consequently" will appear near the beginning of the second part, but it is not required:

The sun rises in the east; it sets in the west.

The Complex Sentence

A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Unlike a compound sentence, however, a complex sentence contains clauses which are not equal. Consider the following examples:

Simple

My friend invited me to a party. I do not want to go.

Compound

My friend invited me to a party, but I do not want to go.

Complex

Although my friend invited me to a party, I do not want to go.

In the first example, there are two separate simple sentences: "My friend invited me to a party" and "I do not want to go." The second example joins them together into a single sentence with the co-ordinating conjunction "but," but both parts could still stand as independent sentences -- they are entirely equal, and the reader cannot tell which is most important. In the third example, however, the sentence has changed quite a bit: the first clause, "Although my friend invited me to a party," has become incomplete, or a dependent clause.
A complex sentence is very different from a simple sentence or a compound sentence because it makes clear which ideas are most important. When you write

My friend invited me to a party. I do not want to go.

or even

My friend invited me to a party, but I do not want to go.

The reader will have trouble knowing which piece of information is most important to you. When you write the subordinating conjunction"although" at the beginning of the first clause, however, you make it clear that the fact that your friend invited you is less important than, or subordinate, to the fact that you do not want to go.


The information taken from: http://www.writingcentre.uottawa.ca/hypergrammar/sntstrct.html

Definition of word classes:

A set of words that display the same formal properties, especially their inflections and distribution. Similar to the more traditional term part of speech.

The definition taken from: http://grammar.about.com/od/tz/g/wordclassterm.htm

Examples of word classes:

Verb	be, drive, grow, sing, think
Noun	brother, car, David, house, London
Determiner	a, an, my, some, the
Adjective	big, foolish, happy, talented, tidy
Adverb	happily, recently, soon, then, there
Preposition	at, in, of, over, with
Conjunction	and, because, but, if, or

 Well, this is it, word classes and tree diagrams.


Assalamualaikum...


With love, 
Liza Tiong~

Miming...[To be or not to be]

Assalamualaikum…hi!

How are you today? Is everything fine? Hope so and wish your today is BETTER than yesterday.

During this week, our class has been asked by our English for Language Teacher’s lecturer to make a short mime of a situation of our choice.

Actually, according to the “original” instruction, we were asked to perform the short mime in the class. But, as every one of my classmates is “shy”, so our dear lecturer considers us. Thus, we don’t have to perform anymore, but we have to create a video of our short mime and present it.

As usual and I admit it, I am not a creative person or a good actor. But this time, by hook or by crook, I really need to be a creative person and a good actor. Our same group had been discussed and we decided to create a video about healthy lifestyle, entitled “To be or not to be”.

The making of “To be or not to be”

First, to create a video, we must create the story line first. So, our story line is like this….

Once upon a time…

There are four girl, named Naja, Inn, Ju and Liza. (me)….

They live together in a lovely house in Ocean Park.

Naja and Ju likes to eat junk food, EVERYDAY….

They don’t like to eat vegetables and rice.

So, from day to day, they get fatter and FATTER…

At one night, Inn and Liza saw Naja and Ju is eating junk food again.

They eat ice-cream, chips, cakes, instant noodle, candies, chocolates and …..

They eat non-stop.

So, Inn and Liza advise them and tell them that junk food is not good for health.

At first, they don’t want to listen to their friends’ advises.

But, after Inn and Liza feed Naja and Ju with the vegetables and rice which they cook, they begin to fell in love with the food!

From that day on, Naja and Ju eats starts to eat healthy food and exercisely regularly.

They also lose their weight and feel BETTER and HEALTHIER than before.

[The End ]

After we have the story line, next, roll the camera!

1...2....3...Action!

We set up the place and position of camera and then we begin to record our short mime.

After recording session, we edited the video; add in word text and suitable sound effect of it.

The result is…this is our video! Wish you enjoy watching the video!

From the whole process of making this “to be or not to be” video, I had learned to be more creative and confident to act. As an English teacher, we must be a good actor as we need to “act” in front of the class for the beloved students, everyday!

Besides that, this precious experience also taught me on how to make a video as may be in the future, we have to make an our own video as teaching aids for the students.

In conclusion, in order to become a good teacher who can teach well and attract students’ attention to learn in the class, we must master all these kind of skills.

So, to be or not to be, the choice is yours.

Assalamualaikum…

With love,

Liza Tiong~

Language Functions

Bismillahirahmanirahim….

Assalamualaikum and hi everyone!

It have been a long time I don’t visit my this little blog…poor it… =(

But, don’t worry… Because, now, I would like to share an activity which my groups’ member and I (Miss Naja, Miss  Juliza and Miss Nurr Azreen) have done for this week.

Well, for your information, our class had been required to role play a dialogue based on tutorial Week 1 and identify the functions used in the dialogue.

At first, during the discussion, we have no idea to create any of dialogue. But, then, since at that time, the Chinese New Year celebration is just around the corner, so my friends and I decided to create a dialogue based on that happening celebration as me myself also celebrate that festival too. Yeeppy!

Angpau...lai, lai, lai...

So, this is the “result” after a few sessions of “branstorming”…=)

PPRMT5

DAYANG NARZERIAH BT HAJI ABANG YAKUP as NAJA

JULIZA BT YUSUF TAMBI as JUE

NORMARLIZA BT FAISAL TIONG as LIZA

NURR AZREEN BT ABDUL KARIM as INN

CHARACTER	DIALOGUE
NAJA	Hi, girls! Good morning! Chinese New Year is coming. Do you girls go back for holiday? (To ask)
LIZA	Yes! I will go back for sure because it is my family celebration (To reply). How about you girls?(To ask)
INN	I’m not sure yet because my parents are not at home for the time being (To reply).
JUE	Same goes for me as we have not received our allowances yet (To explain).
LIZA	So pity for both of you. Why don’t both of you come with me? Let’s celebrate the Chinese New Year with me and my family. (To invite)
INN	Hmm…I don’t think I can join you because I already have my own plans for this coming holiday (To decline).
JUE	Cool! It’s a good idea! But, I have to ask permission from my parents first (To half agree)
NAJA	Anyway, are you serious Liza? Since I always dream of celebrating Chinese New Year, don’t you mind if I go along with you? May I? May I? (To request)
LIZA	Yes, why not? It’s my honor to have you as my special guest (To agree).
NAJA	Wow! That sounds lovely. Thanks, Liza (To thank). By the way, what is so special about Chinese New Year celebration? Come on, tell us! (To ask).
JUE	Oh, I know. I know! One of them is Lion Dance. I really enjoy the Lion Dance show. It’s what I’m waiting for every year (To express).
INN	But, I know the most special one! (To express)
JUE	What is it? What is it? (To ask)
INN	Angpau! Since I’m not coming with you, so don’t forget my angpau, okay! (To remind)
LIZA	Yes, both of you are correct. But, I’m so sorry, my dear. (To apologize). I’m not married yet so I can’t give you angpau. (To explain)
INN	Why can’t? (To confirm)
LIZA	It’s a tradition. I can’t change it. (To explain)
NAJA	Oh, I see. Actually I’m so excited to play fireworks. (To express)
LIZA	Yes, me too. It is the most exciting part in Chinese New Year celebration for me. (To respond)
JUE	Really? That sounds great! (To respond)
LIZA	So, what are you waiting for? (To convince)
JUE	Alright, I’ll try my best to convince my parents. (To agree)
INN	If that so, I have to think twice about this. (To confirm)
LIZA	Good! That’s my friend (To praise)
NAJA	Awesome! Let’s shopping for a new cheongsam, girls! (To invite)
LIZA, JUE & INN	Let’s go!!! (To agree)

“The making of” dialogue and role play!

After we create the dialogue, we immediately sent the dialogue to Madam Ira’s e-mail for her to check it especially the “little” grammatical errors which we have done…

After we received the dialogue which has been “edited” by Madam, so, what are you waiting for?? Let’s practice the role play!

During the practice, for me, it’s quite a happening and hilarious “experiences”. Although I am not a good actor, but my friends keep encouraging me and motivating me to act like a real one.

Credit and thumbs up for Miss Naja, Miss  Juliza and Miss Nurr Azreen.

During the real role play, I can proudly say that my group has done the best for it. InsyaAllah. As we have tried very hard to make the dialogue more interesting and “live”.

I am also enjoyed with my classmate’s role play, which is Edward’s group. Seriously, they are so funny and their role play is about a client who would like to buy a hair shampoo and there are a few salesman and saleswoman who also promoting their own brand of shampoo. They even bring the real shampoo into the class!

After each group role play their own dialogue, we have been required to answer three question from the “performing” group.

The question is…

 “What functions have been used in the dialogue?”

Ok, please answer it…^_^ For example…

“The line, “Let’s celebrate the Chinese New Year with me and my family” is to invite.”

“That’s true, very good!” (From me…)

Next, I would like to share a few more information about language functions.

Language functions refer to the purposes in which we use language to communicate. We use language for a variety of formal and informal purposes, and specific grammatical structures and vocabulary are often used with each language function. Some examples of language functions include:

• Compare and contrast
• Persuasion
• Asking questions
• Expressing likes and dislikes
• Cause and effect
• Summarizing
• Sequencing
• Predicting
• Agreeing/disagreeing
• Greeting people/introductions

The information was taken from http://eldstrategies.com/languagefunctions.html.

So, from this happening and interesting activity, I can learn more about language functions and able to identify and used it properly in our daily communication and interaction.

Penguin talk...

So, let’s learn Language Functions! (To invite!)

Assalamualaikum, bye~

With Love,
Liza Tiong~