But I have my master degree already

A few hours ago, during my evening class, at the end of the semester, I gave some handouts to my students and asked them to discuss it within their group. I have to go back and forth for the whole session because there are so many questions were raised by the students.

At the very beginning of the semester I have told my students that I am not that good in grammar and for sure I will have problem when it comes to explaining about grammar rules. One of the student asked me a question but I am not very confident to give the answer right away so I said that i myself didnt know the answer. Then the student asked why i didnt know because i have already graduated with master degree.

This is quite funny actually because that is what the most people think when we have graduated from certain area, as for me, in English Language Studies, that most people assumed that I am supposed to be good in grammar.

Well, to tell you the truth, grammar is very broad and very confusing, and not forgetting its very boring. I didnt blame that student because I told her that what if i asked something about her course and she could not give the answer. She replied, she was only doing her diploma, then i replied, i havent done my PhD yet.

In conclusion, I got my master degree not because my grammar was perfect and I'm not majoring in grammar as well. I would rate my grammar as average because sometime I got confuse in grammar. Grammar is not something as easy as ABC because it took many years to master it. Not even the native speakers can perform well in grammar but that doesn't mean that their language is very bad.

For all my students who are going to sit for the exam next week, please study hard and dont afraid to see me before the exam. I wish you best of luck and last but not least. PLEASE submit all your assignments.

May I have Your Attention Please!

I always told my students that no matter how good and how genius or how smart or bright your mind are, if you want to score high marks, you have to follow lecturer's orders. You have to follow what your lecturer asked you to do no matter how stupid it was to you.

It does not really matter that you are very excellent in your grammar, in your speech, in your writing if you did not perform for the assignment that have been given to you. Even if its involving creating a grammar scrapbook like the primary school children does.

I have to tell you this because I will be quite disappointed if you cannot score well enough for the whole semester. Not because you do not have the knowledge but mostly due to your ego. You might think that what the lecturer have told you to do does not even match with your standard.

If you still did not changed that, then I have to say that you are going to regret that for the whole life. For example when i was my 1st degree, i have a class with this lecturer, and i did not even respect him because i think that his knowledge about that subject are not goof enough. His computer skills are outdated, his english was not good enough.

Up until now i still regret for what i have done in the past. it was a biggest mistake, a foolish mistake because no matter how bad was him, he is the one who will give me marks. He is the one who decide what to put in the transcript.

My advice to my students, please show some respect to your lecturer, instructor, and your teacher. Not because they have more knowledge or experience than you but simply they are you teachers, they are the one who give grades. So please, do not make easy things get more complicated.

Leisure Reading #1

Many friends have suggested that I should buy a brand new motorcycle instead of reviving the two decades motorcycle that i am currently riding right now. The Yamaha SS 110 1st model registered in the year 1992.

My brother bought this motorcycle in 1995, when i was in standard six. The first owner was a lady and the colour of that motorcycle was red. My brother bought it using a so called broker that eventually took so many commission as if like my brother was badly cheated. The lady sold that motor cycle for less than 3000 ringgit but my brother had to pay the broker more that 3.2k. My brother was a fisherman and i have no idea how long he have collected enough money to buy that motorcycle.

As soon as my brother got that motorcycle, he painted into black, i still remember me and my other brothers were scratching of the red paint in the night. I have to tell you that this motorcycle was a family pride. I have started to think that with that motorcycle, my family will not be in a group of poor family.

I was quite eager to ride that motorcycle unfortunately my brother loves it so much that i am not allowed to be near that motorcycle. I was quite small at that time and it was quite heavy and dangerous for me. The funny thing was i was very afraid to hear the sound from the exhaust pipe, shortly modified by my brother after buying it. So the sound are somehow annoyed me.

The thing is my brother have also modified the hand clutch and it is not auto clutch anymore which makes it more difficult to ride that motorcycle. One day i decided to try my luck riding the motorcycle without telling my brother, it runs smoothly in the very beginning but then i somehow fell of from the motorcycle.

I took the 1st solo ride in the year 1995 and after the incident, i have never tried to ride it until year 2000. The motorcycle was stolen in the year 1998 and surprisingly the police department was able to get it back a year later.

My brother, who have already bought a new same old brand motorcycle was quite happy and he said that i can have that motorcycle, the one that have been found. I was in form four at that time, i dont have enough money but i am still very happy to hear that.

But no one can easily fight what fate have brought upon us. At one time i was the owner of that motorcycle but at another time, i was being denied the right of ownership for that motorcycle. It has been so many years that eventually all my siblings have used that motorcycle and it have been going so many accidents and giving so many scars to those who rode it.

By the year 2012, I finally took away the motorcycle when i have been offered a job as an English lecturer at one of the private college. I took it with me and so far I have spent around 1k to revive that motorcycle. There are still some minor upgrading in progress and I personally very proud of that "once upon a family pride".

So far, no one have been able to escape from the scar of riding that motorcycle and i have finally been 'awarded' with some minor scars and bruises recently.

As for now, i have a new obsession which are motorcycles and engines. I am planning to get myself another motorcycle. Not a brand new one but a motorcycle that the production have been ceased since year 2000. The question is why do i need to bother reviving the old motorcycle? Well, personally i felt that i was solving a puzzle and it will be a great opportunity for me to learn and study about engines, especially 2-stroke engines.

Thank you for reading and of course it will be continued.

Final Examination

At the end of the semester, the students will be tested on what they have learned during the whole semester provided that the lecturer had already covered all the syllabus and the student have attended all the class.

For my students, their final examination carries 50 marks, which comprises of 20 MCQ questions, a Cloze Test containing eight MCQ questions, one article for reading comprehension followed by structured response type of question which hold 12 marks. Last but not least, they have to write an essay that could be in a form of memo writing or in a form of a summary(based on the text for reading comprehension). It could also be in a form of short essay, normally not less than 150 words and that particular essay was all about general topics, for example the benefits of social networking or personal experiences.

The time given to complete the test are two hours and they have to write their answers in the OMR form for part A; 20 MCQ question which evolves on grammar. 

For the cloze test and essay, they have to write the answers in the answer book. Students are encourage to plan the timing effectively so that they can manage the time adequately. 

For the preparation, they have to study about the grammar (parts of speech and tenses), and for the writing, they have to do a lot of practices and the most important thing is they have to enhance their vocabularies because the dictionaries are not allowed in the examination hall.

I have always reminded to all my students to do very well during on going assessment(formative 1&2, final assignment) because not many students who can actually perform very well for the final examination. 

Final Assignment

At the end of the semester, my students are required to submit their final assignment and they have to struggle a little bit in order to complete this assignment.

For the final assignment, they are required to incorporate all the skills that they have learnt during the whole semester. In addition, they are supposed to complete the before the final examination. Because of that, they are encourage to plan on how to carry out the task from the very beginning of the semester.

This assignment will test on their performances to work in a group because working in a group can be very difficult for some people. For this assignment, the students have to find/create/adapt the script and then they have to act it out and record it. After that, they have to submit the recording and also the personal reflection/reports based on the assignment.

Final Assignment : Group work Assignment 

                               : Teamwork = 20 Marks (Drama + Individual    

                                  Reflection)

1.      Please decide on the title of the drama and write a short drama script based on it. The drama must contain moral values and good messages to the audience.

2.      You may create your own script or adapt the readymade script form the internet or any credible sources.

3.      You are advised to consult with me before starting your drama shooting because I will proofread the script and correct your pronunciation.

4.      You must act the drama/play in not less than 10 minutes in which you integrate at least two voices, moving pictures, sound and music.

5.      Submit the drama/play in recording form.

6.      After you have finished the recording of the drama, you have to write your Experience Reflection throughout the process of finishing the tasks. The mark will be given individually. (Your reflection must not be less than words)

7.      Be creative and good luck!

Formative 2

My students are required to complete two formatives in order to finish complete the course outline. For the second formative I have chosen to evaluate them on their speaking skills.

It has been quite an issue for the non-native speakers of English to have problems when it comes to speaking the language. It was not a surprising fact when a student can write very well in English but cannot perform well enough in speaking. 

In most cases, people will judge our language competency by speaking. For example during an interview session, the candidates are required to exhibit excellent speaking skills. It is not enough just to have good grades in the paper but did not perform very well in speaking.

So for that reason, I personally have decided that I want my students to enhance their English speaking skills in order to prepare them for the real world after graduation.

Formative 2: Oral Presentation

                     : Speaking Skills

1.      You are required to deliver an oral presentation on any topic of your choice as long as it is in English.

2.      The duration for the presentation would be 5-6 minutes per person.

3.      You may use any visual aids along with your oral presentation but you are not allowed to read the slides or notes.

4.      Please choose the topic wisely so that you have a lot of things to say during your presentation.

5.      You are encouraged to consult me before you start drafting your presentation to ensure the quality and the relevance of your chosen topics.

6.      The presentation will be recorded in video form so you don’t have to submit the written form.

7.      Be creative and good luck!

Formative 1

Formative is one of the many types of evaluation that can be utilize to measure the effectiveness of my lesson. For my class I have decided to choose this form of evaluation in order to help my students to develop their research skills and also to introduce them about academic writing. 

        There are other types of formative that can be utilize such as quiz and presentation but I personally choose this type of evaluation to help my students to drive them away from examination oriented method, as this type of formative requires them to do some research and consultation as well as discussion sessions.

                           Formative 1: Individual Assignment

                                       : Research Skills

1.      Choose only ONE topic on grammar and then please write an assignment around 5-6 pages based on the topic you have chosen.

2.      You may find the materials needed in the internet or grammar books and you are allowed to copy them but please change the name, place, and date for the examples given to make that it contains the local elements.

3.      Please provide suitable explanations and examples for any subtopic that you have to cover.

4.      At the end, you must include a text or an article and what you have to do is you have to highlight the grammar element available on that particular text. For example if you are doing about Noun, please highlight some of the Noun from that text/articles.

5.      You are advised to choose a grammar topic that you are not familiar with and the topic that you are not very good at.

6.      Please note that you are allowed to use any credible source from the internet or any grammar books but please make sure that you put the citation or the reference correctly.

7.      PLEASE CONSULT with me before you hand over your assignment. Once I had done giving comments and suggestions, only then you are allow to submit your final draft.

The Very 1st Entry

Bismillahirrahmaanirrahim...Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakaatuh...

Alhamdulillah, today I finally manage to create this blog and I hope many people especially my students will be able to reap the benefit from this blog.