English Only Policy Revisited

Dear students,

It has been your fifth week of classes for this semester. I've really enjoyed all my classes; mainly because I love teaching although I need to teach for 23 hours per week. It's considered as heavy teaching load but it's not a big problem for me as I don't have to think about administrative work as compared to when I held a post before. I could now think of more effective and creative way to improve my teaching methods.

Over the years, I've reflected and evaluated on what works and what doesn't. I'll keep doing activities that I found enjoyable as well as educational. I like to give a lot of opportunities for all my students to use English in all skills, not just listening to me. For this reason, I'm very strict about using English all the time whenever we have English class. I'm so upset when you don't respect this by ignoring this rule. I've informed about this rule in my first class for all my classes. Now, I'm going to remind you again. Please read this posting here!

I hope all of you understand my intention. If you want to improve in your English, you really need to show that you are serious about it.

Remember my trademark, "ENGLISH ONLY!"

Welcome D1A4

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my class. Although you only start your class today,you need not to worry about being left behind. We'll catch up.

By the time you read this,all of you have created your 10 songs and also the title of your album.

Now,I'm going to show you how to create your own blog.

Welcome D3D2-BEL311-July 2008

Hello there!

It's your turn to create your blog now. I'll demonstrate to you in a few seconds.
Before we begin,how are your classes so far? I hope you are doing well and are ready to get good results for this semester.

In my previous posting to other classes, I've mentioned how I do this CD activity every semester and the outcome of this activity. I'm always excited to read the postings done by my students. All the activities that I've created have the learning objectives in mind. I expect everyone to be serious in completing each task as you are going to use English a lot. Don't worry about making mistakes or feel shy. It's part of learning. I realize you are going to expose yourself to the world. Anyone can drop by your blog and give comments. You need to be open about this. Of course I will not embarass you but I will look at your errors and point it out in general,either in class or through my blog postings.

Now, you are going to create your blog and put your first posting.

Hope to see you in blogosphere!

Please leave comments so that I can link with you immediately.

Welcome D3D1-BEL311 July 2008

Hello everyone!

This is the second week of your class. How are you doing so far? I hope you have enjoyed the lessons. On your first day of BEL311, I've given you the information about the course, such as the Course Outline, the Scheme of Work, sample of Term Paper, sample of discussion questions and sample of final examination question.

In your second class, I've asked each of you to create your own trademark after giving your nicknames. I found that this is the fastest way for me to remember your names. Besides that, I can also see who are more confident and who still need to develop the skill.

Another activity that I like to do at the beginning of my classes is the CD Activity. I've done this activity for a few semesters and found that all my students
have enjoyed this activity. I've also enjoyed reading the titles that were created by them and to be done within 15 minutes in class. Reading the postings has revealed more than just names and basic personal details. It is so enriching and fulfilling.

While typing this, all of you are typing the review about your CD Album Activity. I can't wait to read all your postings.

I will also demonstrate how to create your own blog after this.

So, till we meet again.

Please leave comments so that I'll be able to link with your blog.

Welcome D1C1-Semester July 2008

Welcome to BEL 120,D1C1!
How are you doing so far? I hope all of you are adjusting well to campus life.
Today is our first session at the Cyber Lingua Lab and we will meet here fortnightly. We will have various online activities when we use this lab and I hope you will enjoy the lessons and use the opportunities you have to use English.

Remember to use English only!

You are going to create your own blog now.
In your blog, I want you to reflect and report on the activities that we have done during the lessons, outside the class or when I ask you. You can also blog anytime you like. Please use proper English. No SMS or chatting language in this blog.

Are you ready? I'll demonstrate to you how to create your own blog and take you to blogosphere.

New Semester - July 2008

Too busy to update on my new classes for this semester which start today. Will update this entry soon.

Reflection for D2B3

Here we are in our last class for this semester. I've asked you to reflect on what you have learned throughout the semester in your blogs. I hope to hear from you in your final posting for this semester. However, your postings do not have to end. You can still continue and we can still keep in touch online even though I will not be teaching you anymore.

Best of luck for your final examination!

How To Upload an Image-Damai Laut

This is just a demonstration on how to upload an image.

Picture from Damai Laut Resort, February 2007

Online Paragraph Writing_BEL260 PLK

Dear all,
You have just completed the online interactive paragraph writing activity. I've also asked you to post it on your blog. What I want you to do next is to look at one another's paragraph and try to identify the topic sentence, supporting details and also the concluding sentence of that paragraph. Comment on their blogs.
Is there unity, coherence and cohesion in the paragraph?
Please commment on one another's paragraph.

What do you think of this exercise?
Does it help you to understand the process of writing better?
Please post your comment here.

Simple Present Tense / Present Continuous Tense

Please do this activity to know how far you have mastered Simple Present and Present Continuous. When do you use Simple Present Tense and when do you use Present Continuous Tense?

1. Go to this page

2. Go to this page

3. After you have read the tutorial, try doing the exercises by going to these pages

a)Exercise 1
b)Exercise 2

How's your score? Did anyone score 100% at the first go?

If you have any questions based on this activity,please post in the comment section here.

Keep on practicing!

CD Activity-BEL260 PLK

Hello! We meet again on this beautiful Sunday. Now, I would like to hear your views about the Cd Activity which you did last weekend. Please respond to the questions that I have posted on the 14th of January. Hope to hear from you soon.

BEL 120 Results

Dear BEL 260 students,

I've put up a 'poll' regarding your BEL 120 final results according to your respective classes on the sidebar of this blog. Please click on your result. Nobody will know your identity,don't worry about that. I just want to have a rough idea on the overall performance of each class for the last semester.

YOU ONLY HAVE TO VOTE ONCE!

PLEASE DO IT BEFORE 31ST JANUARY 2008.

Thank you for your cooperation.

English Only Policy

My dear students,
I'm sure by now all of you know that I expect all of you to use English all the time,especially with me. All communications with me ,in class, outside class, through the phone, SMS, even among your classmates,especially when I'm around.

I also informed you that I seldom get angry, but I will be very angry if you do not respect my 'English Only' policy. You often see me smile but I'll be very annoyed if you do not try to use English with me or with your friends. I'm sure you have seen how my facial expressions changed when that happened.

In other words, change your 'channel' to English mode on your way to my English class. As I've mentioned previously, it won't be easy to do that just during your speaking exam week. So many times I've seen students who might have lots of ideas but failed to express it in proper English words. Malay words will accidently come out from your mouth because your are thinking in Malay. How am I going to evaluate an English speaking exam when Malay words are everywhere in your sentences?

Of course I'm not saying that you should neglect your mother tongue. Being good in English doesn't make you less Malay. Read my Malay blog for evidence.

I must say that I was quite shocked to find out that only a few of you were 'forced' by your English teacher to use English with them all the time. I remember how when I was at school, my friends and I would speak in English to our English teachers.

I realize though that this could create barriers. For this reason, you might not want to speak to me at all. Since you are not able to express yourself, I will not be able to hear your thoughts and feelings. I believe that's partly why I want you to blog. This helps me to connect with you.

I hope I've made myself very clear here and I believe you understand my intention.

Finally, if you really need the urge to communicate to me in Malay, do it in my Malay blog. Use proper Malay there. Yes, I'm that strict!

CD Activity- D2B3

It's your turn now. Please read the entry dated 14th January and post your answers here.

CD Activity-D1S1

Read the previous entry and post your comments here.

CD Activity-D2B4

This is our third week already. How fast time flies.

All of you were requested to imagine that you were a singer. In 15 minutes, all of you have created your own CD titles and also your 10 titles of songs. At the end of the 15 minutes, everyone had the chance to present in 30 seconds.

How did you feel about this activity?
Did you learn more about yourself?
Did you learn more about your friends?

I found that some of you are very creative.
Could you imagine that you have done that in 15 minutes only?
Did you feel embarass to speak in front of the class?
How did you feel during the 30 seconds?
How did you feel after that?

Please respond to my questions in the comment space.

Sunday with BEL260 PLK

Welcome to my blog! Congratulations! You have succeeded in creating your blog without my guidance at all. What you need to do is transfer what you have presented in your own blog. You may write about anything that you like about. Just remember to use proper English. No short form; SMS or chatting language.
Since we only meet once a week, the rest of the time we can meet here, in blogosphere. Hope to read more about you and don't forget to leave your comments here so that it will be easier for me to link with your blog.
Hope you have enjoyed the activities.

Introductory Classes-Week 1

Up till now, my students in the 3 of the 5 classes I'm teaching, D1S1, D2B3 & D2B4 should have created their blogs. For D2B3 and D2B4, they only get to go to the Cyber Lingua Lab fortnightly, but D1S1 is very lucky to have the lab session weekly. For all the 3 classes I have 6 contact hours with them. Wheres the other 2 classes are 3 hours and 2 hours weekly.

For the first week, it has been a great time getting to know each of them. As usual, I make it a point to remember all their names on the first day of class itself. I really took the time to do the 'ice-breaking' session as I want to know them such as their nicknames, where they come from, their birthdays, their interests. All these are very important as they help me to think of suitable activities that can match their interests and personalities.

From the first entry of their blogs, I can see that some of them are very creative and a few have the talent to write. Nevertheless, there are glaring grammatical errors in some of the writings. To encourage further writing,as well as, confidence, I will not highlight the errors directly and make them too conscious to write later on. Some of them admitting their broken English. I will, of course from here, can guide them on the proper usage based on those errors.

to be continued...

Hi D2B3!

If you are reading this, it means you have succeeded in creating your own blog. How do you feel about it? It may be your first time or you might have another blog. Your group has the least instructions from me. I purposely do this to see whether you are able to do it just from reading the instructions. You might have asked your friends or might feel frustrated when the connection is so slow or when you failed to get to another page. Whatever it is, when you read this, it means you are successful already. The next step is to leave your comments here.

Please use proper English. I'm using this blog as a tool to improve your English. So, leave out your SMS language. I will integrate most of the activities in class with blog activities. Therefore, you need to be observant in class as you will later need to reflect on the lesson in class or at the Cyber Lingua Lab.

However, don't worry so much if you feel that your English is not good enough. Just express yourselves. I'll guide you on the correct usage personally or in class. You don't have to be embarass. That't why you attend classes anyway.

I hope we will have a great time, either face to face or in blogosphere.
I will go to your blog as soon as you leave your comments here.

Till I write again.

Hello D1S1!

We meet again. This is our second class and your third day attending classes in UiTM Johor. How’s everything so far? I hope you are enjoying yourselves. We are going to be in Cyber Lingua Lab every Wednesday evening.

As I have informed earlier, you are going to create your own blog after this. For the first entry, you may start by writing about why you have chosen the name of your blog, or reflect on our first class when we got to know one another or even write more about yourselves. It’s really up to you, as long as it’s in English. You may write on whatever comes across your mind. You can always edit or delete if you don’t like what you have written.

Once you have created your blog, please leave comment here so that I can easily bloghop to your blog.

Happy blogging!