Grammar

Grammar includes the structure of word, phrases, clauses and sentences. Grammar is divided into morphology, which describes the formation of words, and syntax, which describes the construction of meaningful phrases, clauses, and sentences out of words. Eight major word classes are noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and deter. A word can sometimes belong to several verb classes.  Words combine to form phrases which themselves can take on the attributes of a word class.  Other phrase classes are: verb phrases, adjective phrases, adverb phrases, prepositional phrases, and determiner phrases.

You may visit the following websites and download the following files to get a clear picture on what grammar is.

http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/humanities/exchange/style/grammar.pdf

http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/27261/English%20Learning%20Software/Basic%20English%20Syntax.pdf

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/tenses_table.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_grammar

I recommended the above websites as I have gone through it. I found that it can be easily understood by us and the explanations are direct and the examples also simple and can be easily understood. If you are looking for the grammar tenses, please click on the third link that has been given above as it contains a table which illustrates each grammar tenses with the signal words, use and examples for each grammar tenses. You also can make it as a short note for your English studies.

It is important to learn it so that we will be able to explain the function of each categories of grammar to our children or students in future. However, we must make sure that we have mastered it enough so that the English proficiency among our students in future can be raised.

Honestly, even though I have learned since I was a primary student, I admit that sometimes I could not analyse some sentences according to grammar categories.  Therefore, I feel that studying it brings no harm towards me as it has helped to improve my English much better than before.  Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the English teachers that have made great efforts in teaching me the English subject.

As conclusion, the purpose of studying grammar is not to burden us with so much rules or principles. In fact, the aim of it, so that we know how the structure of the sentence was made and what categories of grammar involved in forming a sentence and how the usage of each grammar tenses in a sentence.

Phonology and Phonetics

Form the past lecture; I have learnt about phonology and phonetics. Phonology is viewed as the subfield of linguistics that deals with the sound systems of languages. It also a study of how sound is organized and use in natural language. Based on my reading, phonology is one of aspects of language. It is also related to other aspects such as phonetics, morphology, syntax, and pragmatics.

Phonology and phonetics are two different things. Phonetics is the study of the articulatory and acoustic properties of the sounds of human language.

Following is the summary from the information that I have get from the internet.  For full information on phonetics, you may visit the following website as there are few diagrams and international phonetics alphabet which may help you to understand the concept of phonetics in more deep. http://jcarreras.homestead.com/rrphonetics1.html

According to the above website, when we are speaking or singing, air from the lungs will pass through the larynx. Then, the Vocal folds will be set into vibration when the air is passing through them which lead to production of sound. A set of muscles and cartilage of it allows them to change their shape, and also the quality of sound that will be produced. These vocal folds can also be kept from vibrating by keeping them completely open or completely shut.  The vocal folds and the opening between them are called the glottis.  Once the vibrating column of air had passed through the larynx, its shape can be molded into different sounds as it passes through the vocal tract.  

Vowels are produced with no obstruction to the air flow coming from the lungs. Vowels take on their different sound qualities by subtle changes of shape in the vocal tract as they are being produced. A diphthong is a long, complex vowel which starts with the sound quality of one vowel and ends with the sound quality of another one. Although they are classified as single phonemes, diphthongs are given a double symbol to show both the quality they start with and the quality they end with. Consonants are speech sounds that involve a momentary interruption or obstruction of the air flow.

            (Source: http://jcarreras.homestead.com/rrphonetics1.html)

            The above information is just to help us to recall back on what we have learned before.  I’m really enjoyed practising the pronunciation during the lesson and I realized that I have done a lot of mistakes in pronouncing certain words in English before. I hope that I will be able to improve my skills in pronunciation so that I will be able to communicate with others by using the Standard English which can be easily understood by the locals and also internationally. By practising it verbally, I’m sure that I will not have any problems in pronouncing the English words again. Sometimes, it is hard for us to make sure that we pronounced the word according to the articulation manner as we can’t see what is happening between our internal organs. However, no matter how hard it is, it is our responsible to learn it and it brings no harm to us. In fact, it brings us more advantages especially for our future profession, which is educator. That’s all. Thank you. If there are any grammatical mistakes, feel free to comment and correct me. ^^

Mime Story

Our group has done a mime story which entitled "X Factor Audition". Actually, I found that it was not easy to create a mime story which can be understood by the audience. It took skills and lot of body languages and of course facial expression also play the major role too. In other word, talking is not necessary in making a mime story, it is all about our body language and how we able to make it funny so that the audience will not get bored easily while watching it.  We also have asked for the other group's help in the process of making this mime story. Apart from that, we also took several scenes and made preview on it in order to improve it. We have done some preparations before we started the shooting session. The preparations were including the making of props, the costumes and camera that will be used during the shooting session and session. Overall, we took almost 2 hours to complete the shooting session and edit the video scenes. For my group, I also enjoyed watching it as there is also a few funny scenes that will make you non-stop laughing if you watch it for several times. I love the scenes where the Priscilla and Nickelson are having their audition sessions. I never saw Priscilla dancing like that before. I also love the part in where Nickelson's voice are turn into horrible voice which is not his real vocal while he is having his audition. The sound effect also plays the important role in making the mime story more lively. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thank to my  group members for the ideas that we shared and cooperation while we are producing this mime story.


Seriously, editing process is not easy as I thought as we need to make sure that the audios used are match with the scenes. Apart from that, sometimes, we need to publish it for several times as almost every time we finished publishing it, then, a new mistake is detected while we are previewing it. It comes to worst when we couldn't locate the folder of video scenes that we have taken. Fortunately, we managed to locate it after searching folder by folder. I couldn't imagine how was my feeling at that moment. I almost gave up and I also can see the expression of my group members at that moment who were hoping the folder comes out quickly by itself as we don't have time to shoot for another time. Therefore, moral of the story will be that we must be careful while storing any important items so that we are able to locate whenever we look for it. 

The moment that I can wait was waiting for the presentation of the mime stories from every groups. Honestly, I felt very excited and enjoy laughing when I was watching each mime stories as it was a lot of surprises and I am proud of my classmates for their wonderful talent in acting. Humour is the main ingredient in the production of mime story. I'm sure that each of us will agree with it. Let's take an example. We watch "Mr. Bean" movie as it contains a lot humour and exaggeration and the body languages with the facial expression that make the story more lively which do not make us feel boring even we watch it for several times. If we look at the actor, Rowan Atkinson who acts as Mr. Bean, he always do something that extraordinary that the audience did not expect. Of course some of the scenes may not logic if we compare to real life. Therefore, the mime story sometimes need to include some exaggeration and non-logical elements so that it will look more interesting. Let's take one example, if we watch the mime story which is produced by Huber's group, we can see those elements within the story. For example, if you still remember the scene where Huberts was bullied by Hishafinaz and Khairunnisa, it is impossible to Hishafinaz and Khairunnisa to beat Hubert who are bigger than their sizes. However, they manage to make the audience laugh and this means that those elements are necessary in producing a mime story. If we exchange their characters, in which Hubert turns into gangster who beats Hishafinaz and Khairunnisa, then, it will become a common thing. I enjoyed watching their mime story as it was really funny and you will never thought how was Hubert act like a small kid in that story.


I think Lydia's group has done a great job as they able to make the audience non-stop laughing along the screening of their mime story since their actions are very funny. They have impressed me with their talents. I can say that my classmates are good in acting as they are able to perform or act in any situation given. No much of us will be able to act like small kids. This also indirectly gives me several ideas which may be useful for me one day in my career as a teacher. Miming appears very simple but it takes a lot of skill and practice to make it appear realistic. Mime study can be very useful, not only for actors and other performers, but for anyone who needs to communicate clearly.


I still remember that one of English language teacher in SM Sains Kuching, Miss Rabiah ever said that a teacher must be perform everyday. This means that a teacher should be able to act and perform so that the students will interested towards our teaching and learning activities. However, the most important thing is that the story that we would like to tell the audience must contain moral values which are able to influence the audiences after watching it.


But, acting is not easy as we thought. No wonder the international actor and actress are paid with high price as it was equitable with their talents. Miming appears very simple but it takes a lot of skill and practice to make it appear realistic. Mime study can be very useful, not only for actor sand other performers, but for anyone who needs to communicate clearly

As conclusion, I would like to congrate every group for the excellent mime stories and I hope we could find another time to watch them together again. That's all. Thank you.

Morphemes

I have learnt about morphemes in past few days. Now, I would like to share some information that I have found which may be useful to us. Based on my understanding, morpheme is a combination of soudn that is meaningful which can stand by itself when it put as a sentence. (Please correct me if it it inaccurate.) There is two types of morphemes which are free morpheme and bound morpheme. Every morpheme can be either a base or an affix. (either a prefix or a suffix)  Let me give one example. For example, the word cars.  Car is the base morpheme, and s is a suffix.

Following is the some of information that I have found and extracted from the internet. You may also visit http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/caneng/morpheme.htm to learn more about morpheme.

Morphemes

by Kirsten Mills
Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, 1998
 

Introduction

Morphemes are what make up words.  Often, morphemes are thought of as words but that is not always true.  Some single morphemes are words while other words have two or more morphemes within them.  Morphemes are also thought of as syllables but this is incorrect. Many words have two or more syllables but only one morpheme.  Banana, apple, papaya, and nanny are just a few examples.  On the other hand, many words have two morphemes and only one syllable; examples include cats, runs, and barked.

Definitions

• morpheme: a combination of sounds that have a meaning.  A morpheme does not necessarily have to be a word.  Example:  the word cats has two morphemes. Cat is a morpheme, and s is a morpheme.  Every morpheme is either a base or an affix.  An affix can be either a prefix or a suffix.  Cat is the base morpheme, and s is a suffix.
• affix: a morpheme that comes at the beginning (prefix) or the ending (suffix) of a base morpheme.  Note: An affix usually is a morpheme that cannot stand alone.  Examples: -ful, -ly, -ity, -ness. A few exceptions are able, like, and less.
• base: a morpheme that gives a word its meaning.  The base morpheme cat gives the word cats its meaning: a particular type of animal.
• prefix: an affix that comes before a base morpheme.  The in in the word inspect is a prefix.
• suffix: an affix that comes after a base morpheme.  The s in cats is a suffix.
• free morpheme: a morpheme that can stand alone as a word without another morpheme.  It does not need anything attached to it to make a word. Cat is a free morpheme.
• bound morpheme: a sound or a combination of sounds that cannot stand alone as a word.  The s in cats is a bound morpheme, and it does not have any meaning without the free morpheme cat.
• inflectional morpheme: this morpheme can only be a suffix.  The s in cats is an inflectional morpheme.  An  inflectional morpheme creates a change in the function of the word. Example: the d in invited indicates past tense. English has only seven inflectional morphemes:  -s (plural) and -s (possessive) are noun inflections; -s ( 3rd-person singular), -ed ( past tense), -en (past participle), and -ing ( present participle) are verb inflections;  -er (comparative) and -est (superlative) are adjective and adverb inflections.
• derivational morpheme: this type of morpheme changes the meaning of the word or the part of speech or both.  Derivational morphemes often create new words.  Example: the prefix and derivational morpheme un added to invited changes the meaning of the word.
• allomorphs: different phonetic forms or variations of a morpheme.  Example: The final morphemes in the following words are pronounced differently, but they all indicate plurality: dogs, cats, and horses.
• homonyms: morphemes that are spelled the same but have different meanings.  Examples:  bear (an animal) and bear (to carry),  plain (simple) and plain ( a level area of land).
• homophones: morphemes that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings.  Examples: bear, bare; plain, plane; cite, sight, site.

I hope that this information will be useful for us and for more information, you may also visit the website that I have put on top to get more clear information. That's all. Thank you..

Tongue Twisters

For this task, we have chosen three lines of tongue twisters which are as follow.

I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish,
but if you wish the wish the witch wishes,
I won't wish the wish you wish to wish.

The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.


Chester Cheetah chews a chunk of cheep cheddar cheese

Tongue Twisters are a group of words which are exclusively meant for practicing the pronunciation and to gain fluency in the language. In other word, a tongue-twister is a phrase that is normally designed to be difficult to articulate properly, and may become humorous when they are mispronounced. If we realise that the tongue twisters are neither grammatically correct nor meaningful. It's just a tool to practice proper pronunciation and to get fluency in the language. The difficulty in pronouncing words differs from person to person. Even though the two lines seem like simple and can be easily pronounced in a slower speed, I found that it is very hard for me to pronounce each single word since their sound are almost the same. Therefore, our group have practiced these lines for several times so that we will be able to teach the other group during presentation. Of course, I e still feel difficult to pronounce the words in the lines as I tend to pronounce words with the same pronunciation even the words are actually have different pronunciations. 

I found that it was really useful rather than reading it as the rhythms help us to differentiate the sound of each single word while pronouncing them. Hence, I would like to share some tips for best use of the tongue twisters. The tips are as shown below:

One can start on the tongue twisters at a slow pace. See that you are able to say it without breaks. 

2.      The next step would be to know the tongue twister by heart. 

3.      Then one can going on repeating the tongue twister as fast as one can, till the time one can master it. One can do this exercise mastering one tongue twister at a time.

I felt very happy as everyone enjoyed singing those two lines. Then, we also put a melody for each line so that we are able to pronounce each single word more properly in a fast speed. When we put a melody on it, it will easier for us to pronounce the sentence or in other word, i has becomes a song. If you realize that the rap music also almost similar to the concept of tongue twister. I do believe not everyone can sing a rap song since it involves a lot words which have similar rhyme. Therefore, sometimes, we found that it is hard for us to catch up what the rap singer is singing. Beside, I also would like to take this opportunity to thank my classmates for being so supportive and sporting while we were presenting the tongue twister. That’s all. Thank you.   

Function of Language

On 11th January 2012, we were asked to present a role play based on any social setting. So, we had decided to choose a mall, which is Imperial Mall as our setting. Apart from that, the dialogue of the role play must contain at least five language functions and the other groups will have to identify the language function that can be found on the conversation among the characters. I'm really enjoyed doing this task as it help me to recall back the things that I have learnt before. Apart from that, I also enjoy the other groups' performances since there are a lot of humour. Even though it may look simple for us, sometimes, we might also find that very difficult to identify the function of language that used in our daily conversation. 

Before presenting our role play, we also has done few practices in hope that we will not look miserable during the day of presenting the role play. I tends to laugh when I look at my friend while I am presenting something during any lessons. That is the most fearful thing that I feel before we are presenting our group's role play.  I am afraid that I will suddenly forget my dialogue and lose my focus when I look at my friends. However, I am feel grateful that I manage to control myself from laughing when I am presenting my part in the role play.     When we are doing our practices, I manage to remember my dialogue. But, suddenly, during the presentation, I forgot some of dialogue. However, I manage to cover by speaking spontaneously during the role play and I'm getting more confident when I looked at my friends who are really enjoyed with our group performance.  That's why I love to speak spontaneously even though sometimes there is lot of grammatical errors within it. I also love when someone correct the grammatical mistakes for me while I am speaking. This will help me to improve my speaking in English language better.

In term of props, we only use hair shampoo products which are different in types. I think that props are very important while we are acting as it helps us to convey the message more clearly. Sometimes, the audiences may not catch up what we are talking about. However, by manipulating the props, at least they can understand what was going on while we are acting. While I am presenting the role play, I assume that there is nobody watching us so that I will be more comfortable and confident to speak and act. 

Apart from that, I also enjoy with other group's performance and this activities has gives a lot of ideas which may be useful for us someday. While watching they performing their role play, I also learn something new from them in term on how manipulate our facial expression and how was our intonation while speaking in certain situation. 

I love this activity as it gives me chance to improve my speaking skills in English. I do believe that not much of us will speak to each other in English. Most of us will prefer to speak in our native language when we meet each other. I think that this is the only chance where we can converse in English language that is through the presentation during English lesson. Furthermore, our major are taught in Malay language. Therefore, I seldom have the chance to speak to my friend in English. But, I also notice that some of my friends have very proficient in English such as Hubert, Jessica, Tiong Kung Ling, Normaliza, Dayang Narzeriah and more. I love the way they pronounce the words or sentences and their intonations while speaking are very clear and they able to speak fluently in English. I always imitates the way they pronounce something in hope that I can improve myself in term of vocabulary and pronunciation so that I will be a good English speaker too as they are.

I think that learning English is a necessity as it is widely used nowadays and I feel grateful that I have the chance to study the English language and teach English language in future. Therefore, I have to work hard in order to make me proficient in English language so that the parents will not worry about their children performance in English language and doubt on my abilities in teaching English language if I am their children's English teacher in future. 

Last but not least, I hope that there will be more fun activities that will be held in future which can help to improve myself in English language. I also hope that each of us can help me to improve my English language skills by correcting me if there is any grammatical errors when I am speaking. I am willing to learn from mistakes as it bring no harm towards me, in fact, it is beneficial to my career in future. 

That's all. Thank you.

The dialogue on the role play is as below.

Setting : Imperial Shopping Mall

Nickelson	: Hey, Priscilla. (to greet) Let us go to Guardian. (to suggest) I want to buy a bottle of hair shampoo there. (to explain)
Priscilla	: Sure I will go with you. (to agree) I would like to have a look at some facial products.
Priscilla & Nickelson are walking around Guardian.
Priscilla	: What type of hair shampoo do you want to buy? (to ask)
Nickelson	: I used PANTEEN before. But, I still have hair fall problems. My hair becomes thinner from day to day. (to complain)
Priscilla	: I suggest that you use another type of shampoo which is more suitable for your hair. (to suggest)
A few moments later, two promoters are approaching them.
Edward	: Welcome to Guardian. (to greet) May I help you, Sir? (to ask)
Nickelson	: I want to buy a bottle of shampoo which can help me to control my hair loss. I used PANTEEN hair fall control before, but I feel it is not effective. (to complain)
Edward	: I think that you should try CLEAR hair shampoo to strengthen the roots of your hair. A lot of customers prefer this product, Sir. (to recommend)
Beremas	: Excuse me. (to interrupt) I would like to introduce to you a new product from LOREAL brand. I’m sure that this hair shampoo will help you to restore your hair condition. It will make your hair look smooth and silky. (to explain)
Priscilla	: Can both of you let him think and choose by himself? Which one do you prefer, Nick? (to ask)
Nickelson	: Hmm… (Thinking) Do you have other types of hair shampoo which are more affordable since the product that you introduced to me just now are is quite expensive? (to ask)
Edward	: You can use SUNSILK Hair Fall Control. If you buy this hair shampoo, you will get a free hair conditioner. The price is only RM 6.60. I am using this product too. Look at my hair. It looks spiky and easy to manage. (to support) What do you think, Berry? (to ask opinion)
Beremas	: I agree with you, Eduardo. (to agree) Anyway, why don”t you have a try ? (to recommend)
Nickelson	: Okay then. Thanks for your help. (to thank) Let us go, Pris. (to invite)
Edward & Beremas	: You’re welcome. Please come again. (to show pleasure)
Nickelson & Priscilla	: Okay, bye.

What is language?

On our first lesson, we had given a task in pair to discuss on what was meant by language. So, I and Nickelson have discussed it together and we finally agreed that a language also can be defined as medium of speech that cannot be inherited, but it can be learnt through  listening, imitating, reading and speaking which really need a lot of practice in order to master of it. Let me give an example. If a Chinese child was grown up with an Iban family since young, it doesn't mean that the child will automatically know to speak in Mandarin if the first language that are spoken within the family was Iban language. Actually, it depends on the first language that spoken among family members.  Of course, the main purpose of the language will be as medium to convey messages from a speaker towards a listener. Last but not least, I think that learning different languages will be an advantage for us since it makes the communication easier among us regardless race and region. That's all. Thank you.

Introduction

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog. Everything that are written on the blog was reflecting the things that I have learnt through the subject of ELE 3103 English For Language Teachers. I hope that everyone will enjoy reading my blog. If there is any grammatical mistakes, feel free to correct me. Peace.. ^^