Reflection on Presentation of Political Influences on English Language in Malaysia

Good morning everyone!

This will be the last reflection on my blog. After nearly three months, finally we have finished all the assignments of ELE3103 English for Language Teacher last weeks. The last task was a presentation on How Malaysian Culture Affects English Language In Malaysia.

My group has done about Historical Influences on English Language in Malaysia. For those who do not like politics, maybe this topic sounds boring to them.

However, I would like to advice all my friends who are going to be a teacher some day, please take a look at this issue because as a teacher we should know what happen in our country, particularly in the education system as well as the politics.

Maybe, many people wonder why I said a teacher should know what happen in politics of our country. In Malaysia, politics seems to play a dominant influence in shaping the education policies of the country. Oftentimes, when the Minister of Education changes, we can see there will be many changes in our Education System too. For example, the case of the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (PPSMI) which has been replaced with MBM MBI is an example of the interference of politics on education.

For political influences on English Language in Malaysia, my group decided to devide  the presentation into two main phases; politics before independence (British Colonial), and politics after independence (after 1957 until present). Over all, we come up with five issues that were English as the Language of Communication and British introduced English Medium Schools specifically for politics before independence, while Teaching Of Mathematics and Science In English, English As The Second Language, and English As A Medium Of Instruction For Science And Technology Courses In Public Higher Institution for politics after independence.

To be frank, at first, I feel quite unlucky about the topic that has been assigned to my group. However, after some readings and researches about the topic, I think the topic is quite interesting. I can gain a lot of information about Malaysian current issues especially about education and language education policy.

From our presentation, I can conclude a few things here. First, Language policies in education are shaped and influence by many factors; social forces, political conflicts, changes in government, migration, changes in the structure of local economies, globalization, and elite competition. In my point of view, I think the government needs to put in more efforts and commitment in creating awareness to the Malaysian especially about the importance of mastering English Language. Well, as we all know, English has been used widely and internationally nowadays. For example in the field of communication, almost all reference books are written in English. If we do not master English language, will be left out from getting current information or knowledge about certain areas.

Other than that, more campaigns and activities related to English should be designed in order to instill the interest to learn and use English Language. Besides, the government, particularly the Ministry of Education should first do proper research and survey before implementing any changes in the language-education policy.

In conclusion, this task was able to increase my self-esteem to present in front of the class especially in talking about such a factual thing like politics. Besides, this task also has encouraged me to be an up dated person particularly about our country education system and what happen in our politics. I really hope that all the experience, information as well as knowledge that I obtained along the process to complete this task will be useful in my future as a teacher.

Language Games

In this entry, I want to share about another language activity that my group has done during my ELE3103 class in the last few weeks. The language activity was to conduct a language game with the class.

When people who speak a different language try to learn English, it's common for educators to use games in the classroom to help them learn the new language. Playing games to learn English is also advantageous for people who already speak English, so they can learn the nuances of the language

In addition, English language learning games are a fun way to help English as a Second Language (ESL) students with English mastery and fluency. The type of game that should be played will depend on the level of student's mastery of English.

Last time, we were consisting of six different groups. So, we played six different English language games. For my groups, we have done on a multimedia language game. The game was carried out by means of laptop, LCD and speaker. We have created five segments with different games techniques as a whole. Each segment emphasized on different language aspects that are reading, writing, speaking, and listening. 

The software that we used to conduct the game was the Microsoft Power Point. So, after having a brain storming among my group members, at the end we came up with five types of games namely, Memory And Imagination, Imagination And Write, Listen And Write, Roll And Action, and Guess And Check.

Apart from that, I also enjoyed the other language games which conducted by the other groups. Among all, I think the best language game goes to Edward’s group. Why do I say so??? First, the language games by their group involved every student in the class. Second, the language game got motivational element to encourage every students to participate actively. They provided bids for the winner in form of sweets. So, this is a good example of a good activity which can draw students’ attention in learning English language.

Another group which I think has done a good job was Hubert’s group. The game was creative. It did not only focus on English grammar, but also it has cultivated the value of appreciating money where the game is conducted like ‘Money Drops’ style. However, there was a weakness which I can detect from Hubert’s group. Even though the game was very interesting, however it only involved four students in one time. So, I think this group should think of a modification so that the game can involve at least half of the class member.

In conclusion, I have learned new things from this activity. I learned how to create interesting language games, how to handle the game, and how to get the players involve actively during the game. Other than that, all the language games conducted by each group have given me ideas to be more creative in my teaching in the future.

Tree bears WORDS…?

Hi, there! 

Wow! It has been a while since the last time I updated this blog…
Miss you all so much!!! 

Actually, it has been so busy lately especially in the last few weeks.
In February, my group (PPRMT5) was holding a BIG (Bina Insan Guru), specifically a bench marking in Sekolah Menengah Sains Kuching, which is located in Batu Kawa, Kuching.

Alright, talking about tree bears words, have you ever heard about this??? ;)

I bet, everyone knows tree bears fruits. But, I don't think everyone knows there’s also a tree that bears words…

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you a tree unlike others which can bear words:
...the TREE DIAGRAM!!! 

It does not need sun light, water or even soil. In addition, it does not have leaves, it only has branches. All it needs is the understanding of sentence structure which also people always called as syntax. What is ‘syntax’? I guess, those who learn English formally will somehow accidentally hear, or being taught about this little thing.

So, what is ‘syntax’ actually???

Basically, syntax is the rules by which signs are combined to make statements. If you consider the words of a language to be its signs, then its syntax is the rules which put signs together to make statements, ask questions, and produce other utterances. 

Syntax incorporates the grammar of phrases, clauses, and sentences. Producing and uttering sentences is an important part of how we make sense of our world. We articulate the meaning of our experience in words; in the process of articulate, we make (or discover) the meaning of the experience.

In short and simple, syntax is the study of sentence structure.

Anyway, what is the relation between tree diagram and the syntax?

Actually, a tree diagram is used to show or to study the sentence analysis of a sentence structure.  Below is an example of a tree diagram:

From the example, the sentence is ‘John lost his pants’. In the first stage or in other word, basically a sentence can be broken down into two basic parts, namely Noun Phrase (NP) and Verb Phrase (VP). 'John' is the NP, while 'lost his pants' is the VP. 

After that, the sentence will be further broken down into smaller unit such as Nouns (N), Determiners (Det), Preposition (P) and other word classes. So, this is basically what I learned under the topic Syntax. Actually, this is not my first time learning sentence analysis, but I did learn it formerly in my Malay subject.

Studying sentence structure is not really difficult to me, just that some of the word classes are confusing, depending on the context of the sentence. But, once we mastered the word classes, doing sentence analysis is just like at the fingertips, which is as easy as ABC.  

This time, for our English activity, we are assigned to produce a worksheet with two sentences for analysis using tree diagrams and its suggested answers. At first, I keep changing my sentences due to some word classes’ confusion. Until night, I still did not manage to complete even one single sentence structure analysis. At the end I surrender, I just do whatever I have on my mind and after that I sent my draft. Below are the sentences that I  analysed for my worksheet: 

My sister wears the new purple blouse that she received from her fiancee at the party yesterday.

Acer Aspire 2920 is a branded invention which the community believes is one of the most efficient and expensive laptop nowadays.

Looking at the sentences, both are quite long. But I think it is never mind because the longer the sentences, the more word classes we learn throughout the sentence. For my worksheet, each sentence analysis comprises of 50 marks. So, all together is 100 marks. To test the worksheet, I have asked one of my classmates to complete the worksheet in the specified time given. Alhamdulillah, she was able to answer almost all correct. 

In my point of view, the used of tree diagram in learning syntax is very beneficial especially in helping students to build strong foundation in English. By doing the tree diagram during sentence analysis, students are able to master the word classes faster and easier. When they analyse sentences, simultaneously they think and write of the word classes related.

For me, tree diagram is a helpful way to strengthen the basic in English. Tree diagram gives me revision for each word classes and oftentimes it is quite challenging when we try our best to complete the sentence analysis and even sometimes it makes us rack our brain just to find out what is the exact word classes for a particular word.