Hello there, dear reader. Welcome to our blog. In it you will find the culmination of our works throughout the semester we've studied Computer Applications in Semester II, year 2008-2009, in the International Islamic University Malaysia. What we intend with this blog is basically to share what we've learned from our course with you, dear reader, as well as others who might be so inclined to read if of when they do so. You might ask yourself “why would anybody want to base their intention on that? Its just an assignment”. True, it is. What started out as drudgery however, a knuckle-scrapping exercise in academic tedium has metamorphosized into something completely different, something that we actually have an interest in.
Firstly, the pertinence of the issue is of somewhat personal significance to every member of our university. The truth is that almost everyone in IIUM is bilingual, including every member of our course, our degree program, even the faculty and staff. And as English Majors, the issue of bilingualism is dually important, at an academic level as well as a personal level. We embody our education and the issues pertaining to it in the very fiber of our thoughts, our future careers, the very things that we say. And we love electronic mediums. There is hardly any student on campus that doesn't chat, socialize, communicate or entertain him or herself electronically. And we use language to interact with these electronic mediums. So it makes sense to address issues that are relevant to this intrinsically personal aspect of language learning as well as users of electronic media.
Secondly, in the pursuit of building our blog to the requirements of the course, we chose socio-linguistic phenomena to feature in it, and in particular, the issue of bilingualism and bilingual education. The issue is a pertinent one. Recently, the issue of bilingual education has become a greatly debated issue with regards to the national education system, and perhaps unfortunately, it has been politicized to the point of being an exercise of narrow-minded polemic and the stark socio-economic and intellectual needs of a growing, expanding society.
Most importantly however, dear reader, we are ever more increased and exposed to the rest of the world, at a pace unparalleled by history, thanks to advances in user-friendly Computer Mediated Communication. That fancy, academic word we use in reference to teaching methods and the enhancement of the scholastic experience refers also to the casual chat between friends and lovers at 2am in the morning. It is simply that important, and that ubiquitous. And as a result, the issue of bilingualism is directly, intrinsically, undeniably relevant. The vast majority of electronic communication and interaction, be it passive (radio, TV) or active (Internet, video games) is done in English, and yet the average proficiency of English in the average secondary student fluctuates wildly between various factors.
It is for these reasons that we have created this blog. We hope you gain something from it, learn and take with you some kernel of wisdom that we perhaps might have put in, and more importantly, above all else, take home a consciousness of your lingual world, its influences, and what it means to you. Thank you.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Group Member Profiles
Name: Abdul Raqib Karim
Date of Birth: March 13, 1984
Home: Tanjung Bungah, Penang Island. Currently resides in Bangsar, KL
Hobbies: Reading online articles, watching documentaries, starring into blank space
Ambition: To live through life one day at a time. And perhaps to be a writer.
Favourite Quotes: "All we ever see of stars are their old photographs"
Name: Mohd Asdil bin Anor
Date of Birth: May 20th 1985
Hobbies: Poetry, Writing, Drama
Ambition: Writer, Actor, Poet
Name: Mohd Afiq Mohd Jani
Date of Birth: Dec 4,1986
Home: Pontian, Johor.
Hobbies: Collecting stamps
Ambition: Kindergarten teacher
Favourite Quote: "KEEP IT COOL!"
Name: Zain Akmal B. Kamaruzain
Date of Birth : Feb 12, 1986
Home: Kuala Lumpur.
Hobbies : To preserve nature.
Ambition : Environmentalist/ Island Caretaker.
Favourite Quote : "we cannot change what we are, but we can change who we are."
Date of Birth: March 13, 1984
Home: Tanjung Bungah, Penang Island. Currently resides in Bangsar, KL
Hobbies: Reading online articles, watching documentaries, starring into blank space
Ambition: To live through life one day at a time. And perhaps to be a writer.
Favourite Quotes: "All we ever see of stars are their old photographs"
Name: Mohd Asdil bin Anor
Date of Birth: May 20th 1985
Hobbies: Poetry, Writing, Drama
Ambition: Writer, Actor, Poet
Name: Mohd Afiq Mohd Jani
Date of Birth: Dec 4,1986
Home: Pontian, Johor.
Hobbies: Collecting stamps
Ambition: Kindergarten teacher
Favourite Quote: "KEEP IT COOL!"
Name: Zain Akmal B. Kamaruzain
Date of Birth : Feb 12, 1986
Home: Kuala Lumpur.
Hobbies : To preserve nature.
Ambition : Environmentalist/ Island Caretaker.
Favourite Quote : "we cannot change what we are, but we can change who we are."
Literature Summaries for ACMC articles
Summary on “The Effects of Electronic Mail on Spanish L2 Discourse” (MOHD AFIQ MOHD JANI)
The article by Manuela Gonzalez-Bueno analyzes the effectiveness of using email; asynchronous mode as a tool to promote foreign language (FL) learning in and out of the classroom. The goal of the study the attempt to generate hypotheses for future research by exploring and identifying specific features of foreign language generated through the electronic medium (Warschauer, 1997). An additional goal of the present study is to predict some aspects of foreign language learner behaviour resulting from the extension of students' roles as classroom learners into a wider perspective as world communicators.
The text-based nature of the language produced through CMC offers additional advantages for language learning by making the written performance available for detained revision and, hence, further learning. The kind of interaction analyzed in this study --instructor/student e-mail messaging-- may serve as a transition toward the use of foreign language in a real-cybernetic-world context. The initial opportunities to interact in the foreign language via electronic communication, as offered to students by their foreign language teachers, may provide the necessary first steps to render learners capable of navigating the Internet autonomously in a foreign language.
Methodology
50 students of first and second semester Spanish at the University of Southwestern Louisiana were offered the opportunity to increase their participation grade by communicating in Spanish with their instructor via e-mail. The subjects' participation was followed longitudinally over two semesters. Both the students' and the instructor's e-mail messages were systematically saved in a mailbox, which was consequently saved to a file for ease of retrieval. Messages were further organized by participant, chronologically ordered, and paired up with the corresponding instructor's responses.
Procedure
The interaction between the instructor and students was kept short and simple for the first two weeks, but when new vocabulary and grammar were introduced in the regular lesson class, the messages become more personalized. Students can put practice the language in a real communicative way as they participate in the e-mail dialogue journal.
Students establish a written "dialogue" with the instructor about a topic of their choice, for a purpose of communication that is important in the writing process.
Using the electronic medium to conduct dialogue journals in her intermediate ESL class had additional advantages over paper-and-pencil dialogue journals.
Findings
Dialogue journal in the electronic format is more beneficial than in the paper-and-pencil format. Computer-mediated communication is a heightened degree of participation over face-to-face communication. Some computer users may feel more comfortable than when interacting in the latter conversations. The foreign language learners can learn at their own pace with the instructor giving corrective feedback. Students can take their own time writing messages, usually outside the classroom. Instructors will not have to respond to 20-30 notebooks every time they collect the dialogue journals, and can answer the students’ messages at their own pace. Personal communications would save the instructor's messages for when they had more time to re-read them and consult references before answering.
Discussion
The pedagogical implications of using CMC for improving first and second language skills could be "enormous" (Ferrara et al., 1991; Warschauer, 1995). The newly learned language may allow FL students to communicate globally through the Internet. This study has been able to identify CMC features in L2 Spanish discourse, suggesting some implications that Internet communication may have for the enhancement and improvement of language skills in the FL classroom. Writing in e-mail dialogue journals may enable FL students to communicate with native representatives of the foreign culture on the Internet, thus continuing to develop their FL skills.
Conclusion
The present study adds to previous research in identifying some of the features that distinguish the foreign language produced via e-mail from that produced in traditional in-class paper-and-pencil assignments. Educators are responsible to offer students the most effective educational tool in learning foreign language skills, such as the e-mail version of dialogue journals. However, further research is needed on the particular features of e-mail that foster L2 acquisition in the FL classroom. This paper hoped to have contributed to a better understanding of the language learning process that results from the use of CMC in the context of a FL classroom.
Reima Sado Al-Jarf. (2005). The effects of online grammar instruction on low proficiency EFL college students’ achievement. In Asian EFL Journal, 7(4).
http://www.asian-efl-journal.com (ZAIN AKMAL KAMARUZAIN)
Teachers around the world have tried various kinds of techniques in order to create effective learning this is because, methods used for teaching English as a second language have evolved over time. Among the techniques used is the incorporation of technology which started in the sixties. Computer and internet have been used to assist language teaching including second language teaching. Various aspects of language are taught using computer and internet. One of the language aspects is grammar. Grammar is also found to be one of the difficult parts to be acquired in language learning since among the errors committed by the low proficiency students in written English are found to be grammatical errors especially in tenses. This research was conducted to observe the progress of a second language learner of English of intermediate level in learning English tenses specifically simple past tense, past continuous tense and past perfect tense through the use of internet.
The objectives of the study are to know whether the use of internet in English grammar learning can help to improve student’s understanding on the subject. Also to examine whether it is suitable to implement the use of internet in English grammar teaching process. Basically, this study focused only on a subject who is an intermediate learner of English as second language.
The research conducted is classroom observation whereby a subject of second language learner of English of intermediate level was chosen and observed. Data are collected from a pre-test, two learning sessions as well as a post-test.
Learning a second language is always found to be difficult. Therefore, the job of teaching the learners of second language is not a simple task and this includes teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). Teachers should be aware of different strategies of learning exist. They should know their students well and be able to adopt different styles of teaching in order to provide for various learning strategies used by the students. One of the important aspects that require attention by the teachers is teaching grammar. It is often said that grammar does not need to be taught but it has to be acquired naturally. Teaching grammar in a way that engages students may require creativity, but the teaching need not and should not be boring. Therefore, one way to enhance language teaching especially grammar is through activities and experiences made available through technology which is meant through computer and internet (Reima Sado Al-Jarf , 2004).
The study made use of grammar as meaningful form whereby it embodies the three dimensions of form, meaning, and use. Therefore, the subject was taught about the form of simple past tense, past continuous tense and past perfect tense. Then, it was told on the meaning that each of this tense form conveys. Next, the subject needed to apply the appropriate tense forms in the exercises given.
The advancement of technology has given impact on the way ESL classes are conducted. The introduction of new methods in teaching helps teachers to be creative in their teaching methods. One of the ways is teaching grammar online.
A study conducted by Reima Sado Al-Jarf (2004) in Arab Saudi showed that teaching grammar online can help ESL students of low proficiency to improve their grammar. Results from the study indicated that students can improve their grammar skills after they were engaged in online grammar learning. Furthermore, it was found that students showed interest in learning grammar online. In addition, it also stated that online grammar quizzes are found to be more interesting by students in learning grammar. However, the study did not indicate whether doing online grammar exercises helps to improve students’ proficiency in grammar. Furthermore, in the study, the internet was only used for exercises part.
Name:Abdul Raqib Karim ()426819)
Course: ENGL 4740, Section 2
Subject: “ASYNCHRONOUS FORUMS IN EAP: ASSESSMENT ISSUES”, Sara Kol and Miriam Schcolnik (2008)
Are reflection and interaction usable and sufficient criteria to assess student contributions? How do students feel about the use of forums? Does forum participation over one semester affect student writing in terms of language complexity? These are amongst the questions asked in this research. Online forum discussions are one of the various Computer Mediated Communications (CMCs) being commonly used to enhance the learning experience in certain courses, particularly in language courses.This paper reports on the use of forums for text-stimulated discussions in advanced English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses. Its main goals are to determine what constitutes as quality in an online forum discussion, which itself involves a criteria for assessing student contributions, and also to assess student's attitudes towards online forum discussions themselves.
Methodology
Research was carried out in Tel Aviv University over two semesters, the first being a pilot to determine criteria for accessing for student forum contributions, and the second being the main test to see if the determined criteria was usable and sufficient. The goals of the student forum discussions were to “provide a framework for text discussion where every student in the class could participate, to encourage thoughtful communication in English, and to offer an authentic and relevant writing experience.” (Kol and Schcolnik, 2008). The participants were freshmen taking one-semester advanced level EAP courses specific to their subject areas, taught by the researchers themselves. The participants were mostly native speakers of Hebrew, with a substantial number of Arabic and Russian native speakers. Their average age was 23 and both genders were equally represented. In each semester, the students were required to take part in 4 online forum discussions, and answer an attitude questionnaire at the end of each semester.
The purpose of the pilot was to determine criteria for assessing student forum contributions. The participants were 94 undergraduate students in four advanced-level EAP courses. Each forum was kept open for approximately two weeks. The instructors observed the forum activity, but did not participate. The students received credit for following the forum instructions, including asking and answering questions about the article and listing interesting points. Language accuracy was not assessed because the focus of the advanced EAP courses is text comprehension and language is not explicitly taught. The forum grades constituted 15% of the final mark for the course. At the end of the semester, the students completed a short questionnaire that tapped their attitudes toward the forums and their perceptions of the usefulness of the forums for text discussion and improving their English.
In preparation for the main study, four online tutorials were created to explain the nature of reflection and interaction and teach the language markers required for those functions. The tutorials explain how to agree and disagree, express an opinion, support an opinion, and interact with others. At the beginning of the semester, the markers of reflection and interaction were taught, and the tutorials were put online. The participants were 156 students in four advanced-level courses. The courses followed a mixed-mode, blended learning approach, in which most of the lessons were conducted in the classroom and occasionally in the computer learning center. Each of the classes had a course site, and a number of the homework assignments required use of the site for Internet-based tasks. Instruction and practice in digital literacy skills, such as skimming a digital article or using an online dictionary, were part of the course curriculum. Forums were an integral, graded part of the courses and took the place of text-based homework questions. A grade, along with teacher feedback on the contributions, was e-mailed to each student after each forum was closed
Data Analysis
In practice, the signs, more so than the markers, guided the assessment. In addition, the time spent assessing student contributions was recorded. To determine if reflection and interaction were sufficient criteria, the quality of 20 forum contributions was holistically assessed by the authors using a six-point scale (inter-rater reliability = 0.72) and compared with the grades given on the basis of reflection and interaction. In cases of discrepancy between the two, the data were analyzed to clarify the cause. To check whether the forum participation had affected the student writing, a text analysis was performed comparing the first and last forums, using a random sample of 20 students. To perform the analysis, all contributions to a forum by each of the 20 students were put together and analyzed using the Textalyser program. The program taps four measures: number of words (reflecting quantity or fluency), lexical diversity (reflecting richness of vocabulary), word length (reflecting lexical sophistication), and average number of words per sentence (reflecting syntactic complexity).
The goal of the qualitative analysis of the forum transcripts was to develop a better understanding of the features of communication in our text-stimulated forum discussions, for which students were given specific guidelines and assessment criteria. The goal of the quantitative analysis was to check the amount of student writing (length of contributions), the presence or absence of audience awareness (explicit acknowledgment of others but not necessarily implying interaction), and the extent of interaction (number of replies to a thread-opening message).
Discussion
The forum guidelines and the assessment criteria probably did affect student messages because the guidelines and the criteria played a part in forming the context for the forum communication. Assessment often has an effect on what students pay attention to and how they perform. The analysis revealed that the students did indeed follow the guidelines, as was reflected in the characteristics of their writing. Interestingly, informal conversational style was not seen as part of the guidelines.The insights that emerged from this study have deepened our understanding of the use of forums in EAP courses. Forums allow for written communication in English among students who would normally communicate in their native language. Students get experience in L2 communication, without slipping into their native language, as can occur in EFL class discussions.
Conclusion
In this study, the forum discussions required students to write about academic topics and express and support their ideas, while communicating with their peers in English. The asynchronous nature of the discussions allowed the students to think before "speaking," and the permanence of the writing may have encouraged them to be responsible for what they wrote. Asynchronous CMC seemed to encourage a unique type of thoughtful interchange.
Although the researchers originally thought that forum writing could substitute for text-based homework questions, the results of the study showed that the online discussions could not serve this purpose. Students were interested in discussing the ideas, especially the controversial ideas in a text, and not in checking to see if they were able to follow an argument correctly or understand a fine point. The students did not discuss the texts, as had been expected; rather, they used the forums to react to the ideas, the new information, and the authors’ arguments. The texts constituted the stimuli and provided the content, vocabulary, issues, and ideas for discussion. This may explain the results of the attitude questionnaire, which showed that very few students felt that the forum discussion helped them prepare for the quizzes or understand the texts. It may also explain the fact that students did not ask for text clarification in the forums.
However, Kol and Schcolnik's research findings suggest the fact that a large majority of the students felt that forums should be part of the courses and should be graded lends relevance to the quest for assessment criteria.on the positive attitudes of the students and their reflection and interaction in the forums, they conclude that there seems to be a place for text-stimulated forum discussions in EAP courses.
The article by Manuela Gonzalez-Bueno analyzes the effectiveness of using email; asynchronous mode as a tool to promote foreign language (FL) learning in and out of the classroom. The goal of the study the attempt to generate hypotheses for future research by exploring and identifying specific features of foreign language generated through the electronic medium (Warschauer, 1997). An additional goal of the present study is to predict some aspects of foreign language learner behaviour resulting from the extension of students' roles as classroom learners into a wider perspective as world communicators.
The text-based nature of the language produced through CMC offers additional advantages for language learning by making the written performance available for detained revision and, hence, further learning. The kind of interaction analyzed in this study --instructor/student e-mail messaging-- may serve as a transition toward the use of foreign language in a real-cybernetic-world context. The initial opportunities to interact in the foreign language via electronic communication, as offered to students by their foreign language teachers, may provide the necessary first steps to render learners capable of navigating the Internet autonomously in a foreign language.
Methodology
50 students of first and second semester Spanish at the University of Southwestern Louisiana were offered the opportunity to increase their participation grade by communicating in Spanish with their instructor via e-mail. The subjects' participation was followed longitudinally over two semesters. Both the students' and the instructor's e-mail messages were systematically saved in a mailbox, which was consequently saved to a file for ease of retrieval. Messages were further organized by participant, chronologically ordered, and paired up with the corresponding instructor's responses.
Procedure
The interaction between the instructor and students was kept short and simple for the first two weeks, but when new vocabulary and grammar were introduced in the regular lesson class, the messages become more personalized. Students can put practice the language in a real communicative way as they participate in the e-mail dialogue journal.
Students establish a written "dialogue" with the instructor about a topic of their choice, for a purpose of communication that is important in the writing process.
Using the electronic medium to conduct dialogue journals in her intermediate ESL class had additional advantages over paper-and-pencil dialogue journals.
Findings
Dialogue journal in the electronic format is more beneficial than in the paper-and-pencil format. Computer-mediated communication is a heightened degree of participation over face-to-face communication. Some computer users may feel more comfortable than when interacting in the latter conversations. The foreign language learners can learn at their own pace with the instructor giving corrective feedback. Students can take their own time writing messages, usually outside the classroom. Instructors will not have to respond to 20-30 notebooks every time they collect the dialogue journals, and can answer the students’ messages at their own pace. Personal communications would save the instructor's messages for when they had more time to re-read them and consult references before answering.
Discussion
The pedagogical implications of using CMC for improving first and second language skills could be "enormous" (Ferrara et al., 1991; Warschauer, 1995). The newly learned language may allow FL students to communicate globally through the Internet. This study has been able to identify CMC features in L2 Spanish discourse, suggesting some implications that Internet communication may have for the enhancement and improvement of language skills in the FL classroom. Writing in e-mail dialogue journals may enable FL students to communicate with native representatives of the foreign culture on the Internet, thus continuing to develop their FL skills.
Conclusion
The present study adds to previous research in identifying some of the features that distinguish the foreign language produced via e-mail from that produced in traditional in-class paper-and-pencil assignments. Educators are responsible to offer students the most effective educational tool in learning foreign language skills, such as the e-mail version of dialogue journals. However, further research is needed on the particular features of e-mail that foster L2 acquisition in the FL classroom. This paper hoped to have contributed to a better understanding of the language learning process that results from the use of CMC in the context of a FL classroom.
Reima Sado Al-Jarf. (2005). The effects of online grammar instruction on low proficiency EFL college students’ achievement. In Asian EFL Journal, 7(4).
http://www.asian-efl-journal.com (ZAIN AKMAL KAMARUZAIN)
Teachers around the world have tried various kinds of techniques in order to create effective learning this is because, methods used for teaching English as a second language have evolved over time. Among the techniques used is the incorporation of technology which started in the sixties. Computer and internet have been used to assist language teaching including second language teaching. Various aspects of language are taught using computer and internet. One of the language aspects is grammar. Grammar is also found to be one of the difficult parts to be acquired in language learning since among the errors committed by the low proficiency students in written English are found to be grammatical errors especially in tenses. This research was conducted to observe the progress of a second language learner of English of intermediate level in learning English tenses specifically simple past tense, past continuous tense and past perfect tense through the use of internet.
The objectives of the study are to know whether the use of internet in English grammar learning can help to improve student’s understanding on the subject. Also to examine whether it is suitable to implement the use of internet in English grammar teaching process. Basically, this study focused only on a subject who is an intermediate learner of English as second language.
The research conducted is classroom observation whereby a subject of second language learner of English of intermediate level was chosen and observed. Data are collected from a pre-test, two learning sessions as well as a post-test.
Learning a second language is always found to be difficult. Therefore, the job of teaching the learners of second language is not a simple task and this includes teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). Teachers should be aware of different strategies of learning exist. They should know their students well and be able to adopt different styles of teaching in order to provide for various learning strategies used by the students. One of the important aspects that require attention by the teachers is teaching grammar. It is often said that grammar does not need to be taught but it has to be acquired naturally. Teaching grammar in a way that engages students may require creativity, but the teaching need not and should not be boring. Therefore, one way to enhance language teaching especially grammar is through activities and experiences made available through technology which is meant through computer and internet (Reima Sado Al-Jarf , 2004).
The study made use of grammar as meaningful form whereby it embodies the three dimensions of form, meaning, and use. Therefore, the subject was taught about the form of simple past tense, past continuous tense and past perfect tense. Then, it was told on the meaning that each of this tense form conveys. Next, the subject needed to apply the appropriate tense forms in the exercises given.
The advancement of technology has given impact on the way ESL classes are conducted. The introduction of new methods in teaching helps teachers to be creative in their teaching methods. One of the ways is teaching grammar online.
A study conducted by Reima Sado Al-Jarf (2004) in Arab Saudi showed that teaching grammar online can help ESL students of low proficiency to improve their grammar. Results from the study indicated that students can improve their grammar skills after they were engaged in online grammar learning. Furthermore, it was found that students showed interest in learning grammar online. In addition, it also stated that online grammar quizzes are found to be more interesting by students in learning grammar. However, the study did not indicate whether doing online grammar exercises helps to improve students’ proficiency in grammar. Furthermore, in the study, the internet was only used for exercises part.
Name:Abdul Raqib Karim ()426819)
Course: ENGL 4740, Section 2
Subject: “ASYNCHRONOUS FORUMS IN EAP: ASSESSMENT ISSUES”, Sara Kol and Miriam Schcolnik (2008)
Are reflection and interaction usable and sufficient criteria to assess student contributions? How do students feel about the use of forums? Does forum participation over one semester affect student writing in terms of language complexity? These are amongst the questions asked in this research. Online forum discussions are one of the various Computer Mediated Communications (CMCs) being commonly used to enhance the learning experience in certain courses, particularly in language courses.This paper reports on the use of forums for text-stimulated discussions in advanced English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses. Its main goals are to determine what constitutes as quality in an online forum discussion, which itself involves a criteria for assessing student contributions, and also to assess student's attitudes towards online forum discussions themselves.
Methodology
Research was carried out in Tel Aviv University over two semesters, the first being a pilot to determine criteria for accessing for student forum contributions, and the second being the main test to see if the determined criteria was usable and sufficient. The goals of the student forum discussions were to “provide a framework for text discussion where every student in the class could participate, to encourage thoughtful communication in English, and to offer an authentic and relevant writing experience.” (Kol and Schcolnik, 2008). The participants were freshmen taking one-semester advanced level EAP courses specific to their subject areas, taught by the researchers themselves. The participants were mostly native speakers of Hebrew, with a substantial number of Arabic and Russian native speakers. Their average age was 23 and both genders were equally represented. In each semester, the students were required to take part in 4 online forum discussions, and answer an attitude questionnaire at the end of each semester.
The purpose of the pilot was to determine criteria for assessing student forum contributions. The participants were 94 undergraduate students in four advanced-level EAP courses. Each forum was kept open for approximately two weeks. The instructors observed the forum activity, but did not participate. The students received credit for following the forum instructions, including asking and answering questions about the article and listing interesting points. Language accuracy was not assessed because the focus of the advanced EAP courses is text comprehension and language is not explicitly taught. The forum grades constituted 15% of the final mark for the course. At the end of the semester, the students completed a short questionnaire that tapped their attitudes toward the forums and their perceptions of the usefulness of the forums for text discussion and improving their English.
In preparation for the main study, four online tutorials were created to explain the nature of reflection and interaction and teach the language markers required for those functions. The tutorials explain how to agree and disagree, express an opinion, support an opinion, and interact with others. At the beginning of the semester, the markers of reflection and interaction were taught, and the tutorials were put online. The participants were 156 students in four advanced-level courses. The courses followed a mixed-mode, blended learning approach, in which most of the lessons were conducted in the classroom and occasionally in the computer learning center. Each of the classes had a course site, and a number of the homework assignments required use of the site for Internet-based tasks. Instruction and practice in digital literacy skills, such as skimming a digital article or using an online dictionary, were part of the course curriculum. Forums were an integral, graded part of the courses and took the place of text-based homework questions. A grade, along with teacher feedback on the contributions, was e-mailed to each student after each forum was closed
Data Analysis
In practice, the signs, more so than the markers, guided the assessment. In addition, the time spent assessing student contributions was recorded. To determine if reflection and interaction were sufficient criteria, the quality of 20 forum contributions was holistically assessed by the authors using a six-point scale (inter-rater reliability = 0.72) and compared with the grades given on the basis of reflection and interaction. In cases of discrepancy between the two, the data were analyzed to clarify the cause. To check whether the forum participation had affected the student writing, a text analysis was performed comparing the first and last forums, using a random sample of 20 students. To perform the analysis, all contributions to a forum by each of the 20 students were put together and analyzed using the Textalyser program. The program taps four measures: number of words (reflecting quantity or fluency), lexical diversity (reflecting richness of vocabulary), word length (reflecting lexical sophistication), and average number of words per sentence (reflecting syntactic complexity).
The goal of the qualitative analysis of the forum transcripts was to develop a better understanding of the features of communication in our text-stimulated forum discussions, for which students were given specific guidelines and assessment criteria. The goal of the quantitative analysis was to check the amount of student writing (length of contributions), the presence or absence of audience awareness (explicit acknowledgment of others but not necessarily implying interaction), and the extent of interaction (number of replies to a thread-opening message).
Discussion
The forum guidelines and the assessment criteria probably did affect student messages because the guidelines and the criteria played a part in forming the context for the forum communication. Assessment often has an effect on what students pay attention to and how they perform. The analysis revealed that the students did indeed follow the guidelines, as was reflected in the characteristics of their writing. Interestingly, informal conversational style was not seen as part of the guidelines.The insights that emerged from this study have deepened our understanding of the use of forums in EAP courses. Forums allow for written communication in English among students who would normally communicate in their native language. Students get experience in L2 communication, without slipping into their native language, as can occur in EFL class discussions.
Conclusion
In this study, the forum discussions required students to write about academic topics and express and support their ideas, while communicating with their peers in English. The asynchronous nature of the discussions allowed the students to think before "speaking," and the permanence of the writing may have encouraged them to be responsible for what they wrote. Asynchronous CMC seemed to encourage a unique type of thoughtful interchange.
Although the researchers originally thought that forum writing could substitute for text-based homework questions, the results of the study showed that the online discussions could not serve this purpose. Students were interested in discussing the ideas, especially the controversial ideas in a text, and not in checking to see if they were able to follow an argument correctly or understand a fine point. The students did not discuss the texts, as had been expected; rather, they used the forums to react to the ideas, the new information, and the authors’ arguments. The texts constituted the stimuli and provided the content, vocabulary, issues, and ideas for discussion. This may explain the results of the attitude questionnaire, which showed that very few students felt that the forum discussion helped them prepare for the quizzes or understand the texts. It may also explain the fact that students did not ask for text clarification in the forums.
However, Kol and Schcolnik's research findings suggest the fact that a large majority of the students felt that forums should be part of the courses and should be graded lends relevance to the quest for assessment criteria.on the positive attitudes of the students and their reflection and interaction in the forums, they conclude that there seems to be a place for text-stimulated forum discussions in EAP courses.
The Polemics of English as a teaching Language
TOPIC OF CONCERN
We felt that analyzing the issue of teaching Math and Science in English in Malaysian schools was a pertinent issue, directly related to the interests of English Language students and experts alike, and would be pertinent to the fields of sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics.
SOURCES FOR ENGLISH
That the average child and teenager, with his or her potentially high exposure to a certain degree of English in popular media still does not absorb any of the English found in these mediums seemed bewildering as well. English is rather ubiquitous in the form of:
a)TV shows (both live action and animated, either terrestrial or through satellite TV subscriptions)
b)Movies (many of which are major blockbusters)
c)A huge array of popular books and magazines that deal with popular and interesting issues
d)Newspapers (like the NST and the Star which get a lot of political attention)
e)Computer and video games (perhaps the most obvious, since the better and most popular are invariably English and they are a very popular past-time, especially amongst male children)
THE MOVE FOR TEACHING IN ENGLISH
1.The move would allow more contact hours with the language, and also higher exposure to English would allow more time for students to learn the language indirectly and in a more organic manner.
2.And since a lot of learning material on Science and Mathematics which was either online or in the form of educational shows were available in English, it made sense for the medium of instruction to be the same, to capitalize on this available resource.
3.The idea is that rather than learn about the language itself, it would make more sense to learn a language simply by experiencing how the language is used in a specific situation. Native speakers themselves aren't aware of the grammatical rules they follow.
4. After all, the government had been espousing the virtues of Information Technology since the late 1990s, and this new reform had a great deal of resonance with this older agenda.
5. There is a scientific basis for the advantages of bilingual education, too. According to Hakuta and Bialystok (1994), nurturing bilingualism cultivates cognitive flexibility in a child, allowing for a richer interpretation and description of words and the concepts that require new words. Therefore, their understanding of the concept behind the word, and thus the word itself, is stronger in both languages.
6. Bialystok E, Martin MM (2004) also mention the benefits of greater metalinguistic sensitivity from bilingualism, where a bilingual child has better inhibitory control than a monolingual child. They can chose which piece of information is more accurate or more relevant.
THE MOVE AGAINST TEACHING IN ENGLISH
1.One reason was that the children themselves were ill-equipped with the requisite English fluency to begin learning complex subjects such as Mathematics and Science. (A matter of English burdening the learning of Science and Math)
2.It was quite hard enough for certain students, especially those in either rural parts or those in poor socioeconomic situations to learn English by itself, without the added burden of doing other subjects in English (A matter of Science and Math burdening the learning of English)
3.The lexical atrophying of Malay as a technical instruction language. These would have ramifications in technical instructions within industrial settings and with end users.
4.Translating research articles for popular reading, development plans to investors, manuals and instructions to workers and consumers alike, and other interpersonal aspects of technology creation might suddenly become extremely complicated when a language gap is created between researcher, producer and consumer.
5.The place of language as a medium for education was seen as a bastion of cultural identity, and one that many amongst the opposing felt was threatened by the disposition of the language from these subjects
6.It is difficult to ignore however that Chinese vernacular schools exhibit great pride in being able to produce very high Math and Science scores for major examinations, and one would argue that this is a function of using Mandarin itself.
7.There are quarters that insist on their post-colonial paranoia that English was and still is a language of the West, of infidels, of "Yellow Culture", of Western Oppression. And thus, the perception of English by Muslims in Malaysia can at times be negative.
8. Generally, a person's ability to learn a second language is limited by his or her fluency in her first language (L1). Therefore, in children where L1 is still undergoing development, the effort put into L2 can distract from the development of L1. Since L2 is dependent on L1 fluency, both languages can end up underdeveloped. (Cummins, 1979, “Cognitive/academic language proficiency, linguistic interdependence, the optimum age question and some other matters. Working Papers on Bilingualism)
REALITY
1.Recent PMR and SPM scores from 2008 have shown that students are able to deal well, at least academically with the subjects being taught in English. Education director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom, when announcing the PMR results at his ministry here yesterday, said the better performance in English language could be due to the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English since 2003.
2. The growing confidence in English was also clearly shown by the number of pupils who opted to answer the Mathematics and Science papers in that language. More than half (51.2 per cent) answered their Science paper in English — more than double the 21.5 per cent of pupils who did so last year.
3.There hasn't been a drastic improvement on English per se, the results have simply shown no detriment to the teaching of Science and Mathematics when they are taught in English.
4.The Malaysian education system is highly centered around test scores and very fixed, very formulaic tests, the students are taught to rote-learn all the facts, whether they understand them or not, and then coached on how to answer questions, not necessarily how to apply what they have learned in any practical usage.
5.In certain controlled schools, teachers will occasionally break into English as a matter of de-formalizing their tone with their students anyway, since vernacular English is the language of choice amongst students and tuition teachers.
We felt that analyzing the issue of teaching Math and Science in English in Malaysian schools was a pertinent issue, directly related to the interests of English Language students and experts alike, and would be pertinent to the fields of sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics.
SOURCES FOR ENGLISH
That the average child and teenager, with his or her potentially high exposure to a certain degree of English in popular media still does not absorb any of the English found in these mediums seemed bewildering as well. English is rather ubiquitous in the form of:
a)TV shows (both live action and animated, either terrestrial or through satellite TV subscriptions)
b)Movies (many of which are major blockbusters)
c)A huge array of popular books and magazines that deal with popular and interesting issues
d)Newspapers (like the NST and the Star which get a lot of political attention)
e)Computer and video games (perhaps the most obvious, since the better and most popular are invariably English and they are a very popular past-time, especially amongst male children)
THE MOVE FOR TEACHING IN ENGLISH
1.The move would allow more contact hours with the language, and also higher exposure to English would allow more time for students to learn the language indirectly and in a more organic manner.
2.And since a lot of learning material on Science and Mathematics which was either online or in the form of educational shows were available in English, it made sense for the medium of instruction to be the same, to capitalize on this available resource.
3.The idea is that rather than learn about the language itself, it would make more sense to learn a language simply by experiencing how the language is used in a specific situation. Native speakers themselves aren't aware of the grammatical rules they follow.
4. After all, the government had been espousing the virtues of Information Technology since the late 1990s, and this new reform had a great deal of resonance with this older agenda.
5. There is a scientific basis for the advantages of bilingual education, too. According to Hakuta and Bialystok (1994), nurturing bilingualism cultivates cognitive flexibility in a child, allowing for a richer interpretation and description of words and the concepts that require new words. Therefore, their understanding of the concept behind the word, and thus the word itself, is stronger in both languages.
6. Bialystok E, Martin MM (2004) also mention the benefits of greater metalinguistic sensitivity from bilingualism, where a bilingual child has better inhibitory control than a monolingual child. They can chose which piece of information is more accurate or more relevant.
THE MOVE AGAINST TEACHING IN ENGLISH
1.One reason was that the children themselves were ill-equipped with the requisite English fluency to begin learning complex subjects such as Mathematics and Science. (A matter of English burdening the learning of Science and Math)
2.It was quite hard enough for certain students, especially those in either rural parts or those in poor socioeconomic situations to learn English by itself, without the added burden of doing other subjects in English (A matter of Science and Math burdening the learning of English)
3.The lexical atrophying of Malay as a technical instruction language. These would have ramifications in technical instructions within industrial settings and with end users.
4.Translating research articles for popular reading, development plans to investors, manuals and instructions to workers and consumers alike, and other interpersonal aspects of technology creation might suddenly become extremely complicated when a language gap is created between researcher, producer and consumer.
5.The place of language as a medium for education was seen as a bastion of cultural identity, and one that many amongst the opposing felt was threatened by the disposition of the language from these subjects
6.It is difficult to ignore however that Chinese vernacular schools exhibit great pride in being able to produce very high Math and Science scores for major examinations, and one would argue that this is a function of using Mandarin itself.
7.There are quarters that insist on their post-colonial paranoia that English was and still is a language of the West, of infidels, of "Yellow Culture", of Western Oppression. And thus, the perception of English by Muslims in Malaysia can at times be negative.
8. Generally, a person's ability to learn a second language is limited by his or her fluency in her first language (L1). Therefore, in children where L1 is still undergoing development, the effort put into L2 can distract from the development of L1. Since L2 is dependent on L1 fluency, both languages can end up underdeveloped. (Cummins, 1979, “Cognitive/academic language proficiency, linguistic interdependence, the optimum age question and some other matters. Working Papers on Bilingualism)
REALITY
1.Recent PMR and SPM scores from 2008 have shown that students are able to deal well, at least academically with the subjects being taught in English. Education director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom, when announcing the PMR results at his ministry here yesterday, said the better performance in English language could be due to the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English since 2003.
2. The growing confidence in English was also clearly shown by the number of pupils who opted to answer the Mathematics and Science papers in that language. More than half (51.2 per cent) answered their Science paper in English — more than double the 21.5 per cent of pupils who did so last year.
3.There hasn't been a drastic improvement on English per se, the results have simply shown no detriment to the teaching of Science and Mathematics when they are taught in English.
4.The Malaysian education system is highly centered around test scores and very fixed, very formulaic tests, the students are taught to rote-learn all the facts, whether they understand them or not, and then coached on how to answer questions, not necessarily how to apply what they have learned in any practical usage.
5.In certain controlled schools, teachers will occasionally break into English as a matter of de-formalizing their tone with their students anyway, since vernacular English is the language of choice amongst students and tuition teachers.
Islamic Perspectives
1.The themes of Literacy and Islam are intertwined together, since Islam pays a huge emphasis on being able to understand what a person is being taught. The first revealed word that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was ever revealed was "iqra'", or the imperative "read!".
2.It is possible that Muhammad (SAW) knowing he himself was illiterate, understood the sheer importance of being able to read, write and attain knowledge. He had mentioned once, "pursue knowledge till you reach China" (where one would assume you'd have to learn Chinese).
3.It is possible that because if this, he did not take learning new things and being able to understand things for granted.
4. Perhaps, considering English's role as a modern lingua franca, we shouldn't take that for granted either.
5. Most importantly, we were essentially created to get along, and invariably language is seen as the divider and uniting force behind people. Perhaps learning the languages of others can give us insight into how they think, and help us understand them at a human level. But Allah S.W.T says it best: "O MANKIND, WE CREATED YOU FROM A SINGLE (PAIR) OF A MALE AND A FEMALE, AND MADE YOU INTO NATIONS AND TRIBES, THAT YE MAY KNOW EACH OTHER NOT THAT YE MAY DESPISE EACH OTHER. VERILY THE MOST HONOURED OF YOU IN THE SIGHT OF GOD IS (HE WHO IS) THE MOST RIGHTEOUS OF YOU. AND GOD HAS FULL KNOWLEDGE AND IS WELL ACQUAINTED (WITH ALL THINGS)".(Holy Quran 49:13)
2.It is possible that Muhammad (SAW) knowing he himself was illiterate, understood the sheer importance of being able to read, write and attain knowledge. He had mentioned once, "pursue knowledge till you reach China" (where one would assume you'd have to learn Chinese).
3.It is possible that because if this, he did not take learning new things and being able to understand things for granted.
4. Perhaps, considering English's role as a modern lingua franca, we shouldn't take that for granted either.
5. Most importantly, we were essentially created to get along, and invariably language is seen as the divider and uniting force behind people. Perhaps learning the languages of others can give us insight into how they think, and help us understand them at a human level. But Allah S.W.T says it best: "O MANKIND, WE CREATED YOU FROM A SINGLE (PAIR) OF A MALE AND A FEMALE, AND MADE YOU INTO NATIONS AND TRIBES, THAT YE MAY KNOW EACH OTHER NOT THAT YE MAY DESPISE EACH OTHER. VERILY THE MOST HONOURED OF YOU IN THE SIGHT OF GOD IS (HE WHO IS) THE MOST RIGHTEOUS OF YOU. AND GOD HAS FULL KNOWLEDGE AND IS WELL ACQUAINTED (WITH ALL THINGS)".(Holy Quran 49:13)
Media Aids and Materials
These are some of the videos that we found that are relevant to our topic, and which we feel would be an insightful, enlightening watch. Enjoy.
A Literature Lesson Plan
As per our lecturer's request, we acquired and presented a lesson plan as our assignment, and now present it on our blog for the benefit of our classmates and whoever might want to visit our blog. Enjoy.
Lesson Plan For Poetry and Proper Pronunciation
Time: 90minutes (2 periods)
Number of Students: 40
Level of Proficiency: Form 4
Theme: Literature
Topic: Poetry (The Road Not Taken)
Focused Skill: Speaking and Writing
Integrated Skill: Comprehension and Listening
General Outcome: To expose students to the literary aspects in literature especially poems
Specific Learning Outcomes: By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
1)recite the poem with feelings and correct pronunciation
2)finding out meaning of unfamiliar words by using contextual clues and the dictionary
3)produce an essay about the specific topic about the poem
4)rearrange the correct sequence of events of the poem from the worksheet given
Evaluation:
1)verbal/oral recitation
2)exercise of the meaning of words in the poem
3)an essay for students relating to the poem
4)exercise; refer to worksheet 2
Teaching aids: Computer
Poem (The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost)
Online Dictionary
Video presentation of “The Road Not Taken”
Sparknotes website
Activities: 1. Whole class discussion
2. Group discussion
3. Groups of 4
4. Pair works
Procedure
10minutes
Induction
-Teacher talks about the history of the poem “The Road Not Taken” and the biography of the poet,Robert Frost
15minutes
Group work and class discussion
-Teacher introduces them to the poem
-Teacher divides students into groups of four. Each groups work on 1 stanza and study them
-Each group recite the poem loudly
-Teacher explains and discusses the meaning of the poem and highlights unfamiliar words using the online dictionary
10 minutes
Group work
-Students who have problems in reciting the poems can use the online dictionary with the teacher’s assistance to pronounce the words correctly
10 minutes
Group work
-Teacher distributes worksheet 1 which asks students to match some lines from the poem with its literal meaning
-Teacher discusses the answer with the students
10minutes
Group Work
-Then, teacher distributes worksheet 2 that requires them to rearrange the sequence of the meaning of the poem correctly and later discusses the answer together with the students
10minutes
Group Work
-Students are asked to go to sparknotes.com and the teacher will explain in brief of what the poem is all about.
10minutes
Class Discussion
Teacher discusses the moral values of the lesson by eliciting question, “what have we learnt today?”
15minutes
pair Work
Teacher asks students to work in pairs and create a short essay based on the poem. The story must be submitted by the end of the class.
Activities:
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Worksheet 1
Below are lines from the poem. Match the lines with correct meaning
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both ( )
“Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps a better claim” ( )
“Because it was grassy and wanted wear” ( )
“Oh, I kept the first for another day!” ( )
“Yet knowing how way leads on to way,” ( )
“I doubted if I should ever come back.” ( )
“I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.” ( )
a)It was the less trodden of the two
b)I am what I am today because of the choice I made to explore the road less walked upon
c)Stood before a road that divided into two and was not able to explore both
d)Perhaps the road can be explored later
e)But the path would lead to another and this could go on and on
f)Chances are I may never return to this point in the road
g)Chose the other road because it seemed better.
Worksheet 2
Rearrange the sequence of the poem into its correct order.
Some time in the future, I shall be telling this story with regret. Two roads branches out in a wood and I took the less travelled one and that has made a huge difference in my life.
( )
I am travelling alone and see two roads in a yellow wood. I feel sorry I cannot travel down both of them. For a long time I look down one of them till it turns a corner and is hidden by the bushes.
( )
That morning, both roads are equally covered with leaves, which have not been walked on.
( )
Then I take the other road. It looks just as good. It attracts me maybe because it is grassy and less used. On second thoughts, it looks as much travelled as the other.
( )
Reflection:
The lesson plan was made according to the literature theme that was given to us. The main problem when creating the lesson plan was to find the software that suits the theme of the lesson plan. The worksheet also needs a thorough check and being revised over and over again since we cannot give students the wrong interpretation of the meaning of the poem. Books and various comments from the literature website are used to give the correct interpretation of the poem. There are several activities provided for the students and the 90 minutes given are fully utilised for group discussion and pair work, just to give students the best method of exposing literature for beginners.
After our presentation, and some recommendations to its various flaws, we were able to make some corrections to the original plan.
A LITERATURE TEACHING LESSON PLAN (EDITED)
Time: 90minutes (2 periods)
Number of Students: 40
Level of Proficiency: Form 4
Theme: Literature
Topic: Poetry (The Road Not Taken)
Focused Skill: Speaking and Writing
Integrated Skill: Comprehension and Listening
General Outcome: To expose students to the literary aspects in literature especially poems
Specific Learning Outcomes: By the end of the lesson, students should be able to
1) recite the poem with feelings and correct pronunciation
2) finding out meaning of unfamiliar words by using contextual clues and the dictionary
3) produce an essay about the specific topic about the poem
4) rearrange the correct sequence of events of the poem from the worksheet given
Evaluation: 1) verbal/oral recitation
2) exercise of the meaning of words in the poem
3) an essay for students relating to the poem
4) exercise; refer to worksheet 2
Teaching aids: Computer
Poem (The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost)
Online Dictionary
Video presentation of “The Road Not Taken”
Sparknotes website
Activities: 1. Whole class discussion
2. Group discussion
3. Groups of 4
4. Pair works
Procedure
10minutes
Induction
-Teacher talks about the history of the poem “The Road Not Taken” and the biography of the poet,Robert Frost
15minutes
Group work and class discussion
-Teacher introduces them to the poem
-Teacher divides students into groups of four. Each groups work on 1 stanza and study them
-Each group recite the poem loudly
-Teacher explains and discusses the meaning of the poem and highlights unfamiliar words using the online dictionary
10 minutes
Group work
-Students who have problems in reciting the poems can use the online dictionary with the teacher’s assistance to pronounce the words correctly
10 minutes
Group work
-Teacher distributes worksheet 1 which asks students to match some lines from the poem with its literal meaning
-Teacher discusses the answer with the students
10minutes
Group Work
-Then, teacher distributes worksheet 2 that requires them to rearrange the sequence of the meaning of the poem correctly and later discusses the answer together with the students
10minutes
Group Work
-Students are asked to go to sparknotes.com and they will answer the study quiz there. Teacher will explain the moral values of the poem.
10minutes
Class Discussion
Teacher discusses the moral values of the lesson by eliciting question, “what have we learnt today?”
15minutes
pair Work
Teacher asks students to work in pairs and create a short essay about the theme or moral values of the poem. The story must be submitted by the end of the class.
Lesson Plan For Poetry and Proper Pronunciation
Time: 90minutes (2 periods)
Number of Students: 40
Level of Proficiency: Form 4
Theme: Literature
Topic: Poetry (The Road Not Taken)
Focused Skill: Speaking and Writing
Integrated Skill: Comprehension and Listening
General Outcome: To expose students to the literary aspects in literature especially poems
Specific Learning Outcomes: By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
1)recite the poem with feelings and correct pronunciation
2)finding out meaning of unfamiliar words by using contextual clues and the dictionary
3)produce an essay about the specific topic about the poem
4)rearrange the correct sequence of events of the poem from the worksheet given
Evaluation:
1)verbal/oral recitation
2)exercise of the meaning of words in the poem
3)an essay for students relating to the poem
4)exercise; refer to worksheet 2
Teaching aids: Computer
Poem (The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost)
Online Dictionary
Video presentation of “The Road Not Taken”
Sparknotes website
Activities: 1. Whole class discussion
2. Group discussion
3. Groups of 4
4. Pair works
Procedure
10minutes
Induction
-Teacher talks about the history of the poem “The Road Not Taken” and the biography of the poet,Robert Frost
15minutes
Group work and class discussion
-Teacher introduces them to the poem
-Teacher divides students into groups of four. Each groups work on 1 stanza and study them
-Each group recite the poem loudly
-Teacher explains and discusses the meaning of the poem and highlights unfamiliar words using the online dictionary
10 minutes
Group work
-Students who have problems in reciting the poems can use the online dictionary with the teacher’s assistance to pronounce the words correctly
10 minutes
Group work
-Teacher distributes worksheet 1 which asks students to match some lines from the poem with its literal meaning
-Teacher discusses the answer with the students
10minutes
Group Work
-Then, teacher distributes worksheet 2 that requires them to rearrange the sequence of the meaning of the poem correctly and later discusses the answer together with the students
10minutes
Group Work
-Students are asked to go to sparknotes.com and the teacher will explain in brief of what the poem is all about.
10minutes
Class Discussion
Teacher discusses the moral values of the lesson by eliciting question, “what have we learnt today?”
15minutes
pair Work
Teacher asks students to work in pairs and create a short essay based on the poem. The story must be submitted by the end of the class.
Activities:
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Worksheet 1
Below are lines from the poem. Match the lines with correct meaning
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both ( )
“Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps a better claim” ( )
“Because it was grassy and wanted wear” ( )
“Oh, I kept the first for another day!” ( )
“Yet knowing how way leads on to way,” ( )
“I doubted if I should ever come back.” ( )
“I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.” ( )
a)It was the less trodden of the two
b)I am what I am today because of the choice I made to explore the road less walked upon
c)Stood before a road that divided into two and was not able to explore both
d)Perhaps the road can be explored later
e)But the path would lead to another and this could go on and on
f)Chances are I may never return to this point in the road
g)Chose the other road because it seemed better.
Worksheet 2
Rearrange the sequence of the poem into its correct order.
Some time in the future, I shall be telling this story with regret. Two roads branches out in a wood and I took the less travelled one and that has made a huge difference in my life.
( )
I am travelling alone and see two roads in a yellow wood. I feel sorry I cannot travel down both of them. For a long time I look down one of them till it turns a corner and is hidden by the bushes.
( )
That morning, both roads are equally covered with leaves, which have not been walked on.
( )
Then I take the other road. It looks just as good. It attracts me maybe because it is grassy and less used. On second thoughts, it looks as much travelled as the other.
( )
Reflection:
The lesson plan was made according to the literature theme that was given to us. The main problem when creating the lesson plan was to find the software that suits the theme of the lesson plan. The worksheet also needs a thorough check and being revised over and over again since we cannot give students the wrong interpretation of the meaning of the poem. Books and various comments from the literature website are used to give the correct interpretation of the poem. There are several activities provided for the students and the 90 minutes given are fully utilised for group discussion and pair work, just to give students the best method of exposing literature for beginners.
After our presentation, and some recommendations to its various flaws, we were able to make some corrections to the original plan.
A LITERATURE TEACHING LESSON PLAN (EDITED)
Time: 90minutes (2 periods)
Number of Students: 40
Level of Proficiency: Form 4
Theme: Literature
Topic: Poetry (The Road Not Taken)
Focused Skill: Speaking and Writing
Integrated Skill: Comprehension and Listening
General Outcome: To expose students to the literary aspects in literature especially poems
Specific Learning Outcomes: By the end of the lesson, students should be able to
1) recite the poem with feelings and correct pronunciation
2) finding out meaning of unfamiliar words by using contextual clues and the dictionary
3) produce an essay about the specific topic about the poem
4) rearrange the correct sequence of events of the poem from the worksheet given
Evaluation: 1) verbal/oral recitation
2) exercise of the meaning of words in the poem
3) an essay for students relating to the poem
4) exercise; refer to worksheet 2
Teaching aids: Computer
Poem (The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost)
Online Dictionary
Video presentation of “The Road Not Taken”
Sparknotes website
Activities: 1. Whole class discussion
2. Group discussion
3. Groups of 4
4. Pair works
Procedure
10minutes
Induction
-Teacher talks about the history of the poem “The Road Not Taken” and the biography of the poet,Robert Frost
15minutes
Group work and class discussion
-Teacher introduces them to the poem
-Teacher divides students into groups of four. Each groups work on 1 stanza and study them
-Each group recite the poem loudly
-Teacher explains and discusses the meaning of the poem and highlights unfamiliar words using the online dictionary
10 minutes
Group work
-Students who have problems in reciting the poems can use the online dictionary with the teacher’s assistance to pronounce the words correctly
10 minutes
Group work
-Teacher distributes worksheet 1 which asks students to match some lines from the poem with its literal meaning
-Teacher discusses the answer with the students
10minutes
Group Work
-Then, teacher distributes worksheet 2 that requires them to rearrange the sequence of the meaning of the poem correctly and later discusses the answer together with the students
10minutes
Group Work
-Students are asked to go to sparknotes.com and they will answer the study quiz there. Teacher will explain the moral values of the poem.
10minutes
Class Discussion
Teacher discusses the moral values of the lesson by eliciting question, “what have we learnt today?”
15minutes
pair Work
Teacher asks students to work in pairs and create a short essay about the theme or moral values of the poem. The story must be submitted by the end of the class.
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