Welcome D3B1 (Sem 2009)!

It has been a while since I updated my teaching blog. This semester I’m rather frustrated for not getting a class at the Cyber Lingua Lab. Every semester, I use the lab as I like to integrate the activities in class using the facilities at the lab. Unfortunately, I do not have the opportunity to do so. However, although it has been a month, I finally get a lab session every Wednesday night as our class session.
While I’m writing this, all of you are supposed to reflect on what you have learned so far. I’m going to ask you to post it in your blog after this. This might be the first time you ever created a blog.

Today is also the submission of your outline for your term paper, which is 10 % of your total score.I’ve looked through at the outline and these are some of the general comments:
1. Some of you did not do sentence outline as required.
2. Grammatical errors occur and I assume obviously you are not making full use of the grammar and spell check available.
a. Subject verb agreement
b. Tenses
c. No articles
3. Sentences are too long and unclear.
4. Sentences are incomplete. Some sentences without a verb.
5. Words are not appropriate. They sound like direct translation from Malay.
6. Ideas are not well developed.

Don’t despair though! This is just the beginning. You have ample time to improve your writing in your first draft later on.
Before that, I wish you a good mid-term break as this is our last class for this week. Don’t forget to look at Chapter 1, 2 and 3 of Writing Academic English and work on it during the break. It will help you a lot in writing term paper.

Till we meet again!