TASK 4

Assalamualaikum and hai everyone.

This is the last task for CALL. So here is the link to my website. Have a great time browsing through.

Here is the link to my website :
Posessive Pronouns

TASK 3 : LESSON PLAN

Level: Intermediate (Form 1)

No. of students: 30 students

Time: 60 minutes

Aim: To find specific information online; vocabulary used in cooking activity

Technical Requirement:

1. A computer and a set of headphone for each student
2. A stable internet connection and a Web Browser

Preparations:

1. Find suitable video to be used for listening activity
2. Prepare worksheet
3. Locate sites offering suitable recipe
4. Prepare JCross
5. Prepare Kahoot

Websites:

1.  YouTube
2.  AllRecipe
3.  Padlet
4.  JCross
5.  Kahoot

Procedures:

Activity 1 (20 minutes)

1. Show students some pictures of cakes and ask the students if they knew how to make one.
2. Distribute the worksheets (recipe of chocolate cake) to students and ask the students to read it first.
3. Ask students to go online and follow the link given by the teacher – which will direct them to a video on YouTube - Cake Recipes - How to Make Easy Chocolate Cake
4. Instruct students to watch the video and complete the worksheet given.

Activity 2 (35 minutes)

1.  Divide students into 10 groups with three students per group.
2. Instruct students to find recipes that they like. Suggest some website that students might find helpful
3. Ask students to choose one recipe and identify the verb used in the recipe.
4. Instruct students to open Padlet, each group is required to choose 4 cooking verbs and 4 cooking utensils  used in the recipe they have chosen and construct 4 sentences.
5. Paste the recipe link and the 4 sentences in the Padlet discussion board.
6. Discuss the answers posted by the students.
7. Instruct students to go to HotPotatoes link to complete the JCross (Cooking Utensils).

Activity 3 (5 minutes)

1. Instruct students to go to Kahoot website.
2. Play Kahoot (Cooking Vocabulary Definition) with students.

Follow – up activity:

1. Ask students to form a group of five.
2. Students are required to produce their own recipe presentation using PowerPoint with reference to video and websites that they found.
3. Students are going to present their recipe in the next class.

YouTube

AllRecipe

Padlet

JCross

Kahoot

HYPERLINK AND HYPERTEXT

As I look to the sky I can clearly see
The glorious sun beaming down on me
The clouds go from thick to a whispy thin
To miss such a view is a terrible sin
As I look around this spectacular place I feel a smile take over my face
The fields of lush green grass are dotted
With beautiful wild flowers the bees have spotted
Busily flying from flower to flower
Pollinating before a shower
The distinctive red of a poppy field
To a tarmac strip they have to yield
The man-made pathway cuts through nature's canvas
Taking us to far flung places around us
To a built up concrete industrial machine
Where places like this are rarely seen
So whenever you visit the countryside
Take a few moments to put aside
So you will remember what you have seen
Before you return to the not so green.

ARTICLE REVIEW

Article : Adopting Social Networking Sites (SNSs) as Interactive Communities among English Foreign Language (EFL) Learners in Writing 

The article that I chose for this task is Adopting Social Networking Sites (SNSs) as Interactive Communities among English Foreign Language (EFL) Learners in Writing : Opportunities and Challenges is taken from English Language Teaching journal, Volume 6, Number 11, page 187 - 198. This article was written by Norizan Abdul Razak, Murad Saeed and Zulkifli Ahmad. All three of them are from Faculty of Science and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. 

This main focus of this article is to investigate the opportunities and challenges of SNSs as learning environment in writing. In research questions, the authors further explains the aims of this study by stating these three questions :

1. Does the Facebook group as an online learning community foster the EFL learners' collaboration and interaction in paragraph writing activity?
2. How does the Facebook group as an online learning community foster the EFL learners' collaboration and interaction in paragraph writing activities?
3. How do the EFL learners describe their learning experience in writing activities in this Communities via Practice (CoP) via Facebook?

This study was conducted through an online Community of Practices (CoP) which is a Facebook page called Only for English Learning Facebook. 

It was developed and maintained by a few instructors in English. It adopted a mixed of action research approach to data collection in order to answer the research questions. In this study, a blog was created by the instructors and it was connected to the page so that any new post in the blog will be published in the Facebook. The activities were scheduled twice a week which the participants practiced pre –writing, writing and post – writing. For the data collection, the instructors’ online writing posts and participants’ online interaction exchanges were collected and saved by the researchers at the end of every activity. It served as a source of data for a quantitative analysis to answer research question one, then, the researchers reflected on the learners’ interactive dialogue, peer scaffolding and negotiation in the writing activities  to represent qualitative analysis to answer research question two. After that, the EFL learners’ responses to the online reflection discussions were subjected to a qualitative analysis to answer the third research question. For this research, the purposive sampling was used to choose the participants based on their levels of proficiency in English. The participants were chosen among 24 active and regular EFL learners (14 females and 10 males), coming from different EFL Arab countries. The result of this research stated that the writing activities as part of shared practice in this online community fostered the learners’ participation and engagement, thus the quantity of the EFL learners participation in the writing activities highly increased in the second session. The result also found out that the EFL’s learners’ interaction and engagement with the members of the CoP through posts and comments assisted them to enhance their writing in English. Through the online sample post writing paragraph, it showed that the EFL learners’ collaborating and scaffolding each other in revising their original paragraph as well as revised paragraphs. It shows that the participants viewed CoP as an interactive learning environment that enhances their writing.

Yes, the research does interest me because firstly, this article is related to my Academic Exercise topic which is "The Relationship between Digital Tools and Students' Writing Skills". I can relate to the main idea of this research and I can predict the direction of findings for this research paper. The topic of technology and language learning is always interesting because we know that technology is always evolving and with the help of technology, it can foster the language learning among students. Yes, I think this research was well conducted. It is not easy to gather response from students especially through online medium if the materials were not interesting enough to the students. However, the instructors were able to attract the students’ attention to participate, response and communicate with each other using online medium. At the same time, the issue brought by the researchers is very rational and contemporary to the educational setting. We are slowly moving to a new teaching and learning approach, and blended learning is a thing right now in Malaysian education system. The idea of learning to happen anytime and anywhere allows students to create their own learning style and foster individualized learning. Nevertheless, we should be aware that blended learning requires technology and whether we realize it or not, Malaysia is not yet fully competent in providing the facilities for blended learning. It is possible for schools in urban area to have more access to technology but schools in rural area might have difficulties to access the technology. Maybe further research or study can identify the solution to overcome this problem in Malaysia.

ESL WEBSITE EVALUATION

Website : Learn English Today

Question 1

This website is focusing on grammar teaching and learning. It has different sections and each section provides a particular theme such as Improve your knowledge of English, Develop your business skills, Idioms and Proverbs, Famous Quotations, English Newspapers and Radio - TV, Games and Other Resources.

The exercises that can be accessed from the website are Verb Tenses exercises, Other Verb Forms Exercises, Meaning and Use of Certain Verbs exercises, Grammar and Vocabulary exercises. 

There are also exercises in the form of games such as Crosswords, Jumbled Sentences, Quizzes, Missing Words, and Matching Exercises.

Some feedback given are immediate while some are not. For example, in Vocabulary Quiz, the multiple – choice exercises are given and the students need to choose the right vocabulary to complete a sentence by clicking the answer and the feedback is given immediately. After clicking the answer, a feedback box will appear. If the answer is wrong, the box will ask the students to try again until the student clicks the right answer and the score is given right there and then. 

On the other hand, in another exercise, for example, Present Simple exercise, the students are required to fill in the gaps by writing the correct answers in the blank spaces and the correct answers can be checked after the students are done, by clicking the check button.

Nonetheless, all the questions are doable because the exercises compromises multiple choice questions and hints are also provided to help the students. Only the Games exercises provide different level of difficulty for different proficiency level. It ranges from easy, medium, more difficult and challenging.

Question 2

Firstly, when the visitors or learners are on the homepage of the website, they need to choose from 8 options provided. Each option have different activities for the visitors. If the visitors were looking for notes and exercises for grammar they can head over to the "Improve Your Knowledge in English" section. It covers various grammar topics and they can choose any topic they want to do first. Interestingly, in each grammar topic, it has notes and two sets of exercises, online and printable exercises. It will be very helpful especially for teachers because the materials can be printed and used in the classroom. "Graded Word Games" section is very helpful if learners were looking for activities with different level of difficulties. The visitors can choose the exercises level that suit their proficiency level, ranges from easy, medium, more difficult to challenging. If the visitors were looking for interesting language games, they can click on the "Relax with English Fun Activities" section. Then, the visitors will be directed to a variety of language games to choose from.

Other than grammar and language games, the website also has "Idioms and Proverbs" section as well as "Famous Quotations" section. The visitors just need to click on the sections and they will be directed to numerous list of idioms, proverbs and quotations. 

 

"Develop your business skill" section is suitable for the visitors who want an exposure to the use of English language in the business setting. They can choose from Business vocabulary list, Business conversation, Business vocabulary exercises, Business idioms, and Business word games.The visitors can further learn about English in the business setting by clicking on the "More Business English section". There, they will be presented with various list of business components such as "Business Letters and Emails", "Resumes", etc, and they will be directed to the related website by clicking on the option that they wish to learn more.

Not only restricted to exercises on grammar, the visitors can also find other materials such as videos, newspapers, blogs, pod cast, even exam preparation tips and exercises, in this website. The visitors  can click on the section "English newspaper and radio - TV" and "Other resources" if they wanted more information and learning materials to help them improve their English proficiency level. 

 

Question 3

How I wish I found this website when I was doing my practicum. I like it very much. It is everything I wanted to do with my students. My students loved games related lesson and if possible, they wanted every lesson to involve games. I remembered an English BINGO game (which I created from scratch) that I played with my students. They had fun and genuinely participated during the lesson. At the end of the lesson I asked the students if they enjoyed the lesson and they said "Of course we enjoyed it. We know how hard you prepared it for us and indeed, it was fun". The fact that they learned something from me, loved the activity and appreciated it, shows that my hard work really paid off. Besides the English BINGO game, we also played crossword puzzles, spelling games, charades and other language interactive activity like story telling and role - playing.  The 'Graded word games' and 'Relax with English fun activities' would be wonderfully loved by my students. Other than that, I am an ESL learner myself. This website, especially the input on the grammar section reminds me on how I used to search from one website to another to find  the easiest way to understand the rules of English grammar. When I was a school student, I had limited vocabulary and my English teacher used to ask us to keep a vocabulary book, which we would write any new English word that we encountered everyday and the "English Vocabulary" section brings back all those memories. This website will be very helpful for independent learners because it provides a diversity of English language activities and information that will be enjoyed by the learners. 

Question 4

Yes, of course this website presents learners with something that cannot be done in the textbook or workbook. It is like a one stop centre, everything that you need that are related to English language learning, you can it find here. From grammar, writing, reading, listening and speaking, all are available in this website.The notes, the exercises and the activities provided in this websites would have saved my sleepless nights searching for my teaching materials during my practicum. We, the teachers, are encouraged to use other sources than the textbook provided by the school, and this website has a lot to offer to the English learners. Not only it is useful to the students, it will be a great resource material for the teachers as well. The materials provided are interactive, fun and at the same time have clear language objectives to be achieved. Other than that, the arrangement of the topics is very organized and user - friendly, the font used is clear, the animation is interesting and able to catch the students' attention and the immediate feedback enables the students to identify their mistakes and avoid fossilization. The website also provides external links to other websites to help the learners get more information related to the topic of learning English. There are also links that will direct the learners to Newspapers online, blog, podcast, and Radio & TV. This website is a lot more interesting for students than just a plain textbook or workbook.

Question 5

In my opinion, the website allows the students to manage their own learning style because it comes with options. With options, they can freely access any topic that they want to learn and adjust it to their level of proficiency. They are able to experience a student - centered learning process and it is similar to Constructivism learning theory. Constructivism views learning as an active process and students learn by constructing their own understanding and knowledge through experience. In this website, the learners are exposed to different types of tasks, exercises, notes and links to various ESL website. The students can choose anything that they want to learn from the website and construct their own understanding by connecting the new information with the previous knowledge that they have.

Question 6

Yes, definitely this website has the potentials for language learning. According to Levy (1997) CALL is defined as "the search for and study of applications of the computer in language teaching and learning". Firstly, this website is focusing on the learning of English language, especially grammar. Thus, the fact that it is a website and the language learning is happening in a virtual world fits the definition of CALL. Secondly, the materials provided in this website enable the students to learn on their own. It promotes student - centered learning approach and individualized learning. Students can access the notes, exercises and other learning materials on their own and the immediate feedback for exercises helps students to revise and reinforce on lesson that has been learned in the classroom. It can serve as additional information on what has been taught by the teacher. Thirdly, this website allows the students to access other links that are related to language learning. From notes, exercises, newspaper to Radio & TV, all can be accessed and used for language teaching and learning purposes. The interactive learning activities offered by this website definitely has the potentials for language learning.

Question 7

Of course I would like to use the application in my future work. Did I mention that I like this website very much? It covers mostly everything that I would like to use in my English class. Even I, as an English learner myself, enjoy every activities and informational links provided by the website. As a teacher, the printable exercises would be very helpful to be used as students' worksheet in the classroom. Teachers can directly print out the worksheet and distribute it in the class. Other than that, the language games and fun activities are another ways to attract students' attention towards language learning. If the games and activities were included in the lesson, it would make the classroom more lively and students can actively participate in classroom activities. The inclusion of language games and fun activities would avoid the lesson from becoming teacher - centered and make the classroom environment more approachable and comfortable for the students to learn. Furthermore, if teachers wanted to relate to real life situation in language learning, they can make use of "Develop your business skills" section. It is very informative and helpful exposure to the students on the use of English language in a real life situation. Later on, the knowledge and information provided can be used in their life when the students are looking for a job or encountered with similar situations in their life. It makes the lesson applicable and valuable because they can relate it with their real life.

Taaruf ( The Introduction)

Assalamualaikum w.b.t and hai gorgeous people :)

My name is Nuur Hawani bt. Abd. Mubtalib. My lovely  house is in Bagan Datoh, Perak. My previous school was Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Khir Johari, Sg. Sumun, Perak. My parents, my ultimate support system, are teachers and they are my inspiration to become an  educator.

I rate my computer skills as novice because I only know the basic stuffs about computer.

I know the basic software such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Power Point. For computer hardware I only know  certain names and functions such as keyboard, monitor and computer mouse.

Yes. I started learning via the computer when I started my university life in UiTM, Shah Alam. We are encouraged to use blended learning and participate in online forums such as Padlet, i- Learn and Student Portal. 

Yes. I tried to incorporate technology into learning in my lessons during my practicum. At first, it was a total disaster because of some technical problems.The lesson was not delivered the way I had planned. However, I did not stop at the first attempt. I tried again and alhamdulillah the lesson went well and the students enjoyed the lesson. I personally like it if the lesson can incorporate technology into learning, but not all schools are able to provide the suitable facilities for technology learning. 

In my opinion, the use of computer/ technology in language teaching is a new approach to attract students to learn language in a fun and efficient way. There are many interesting softwares and websites that can be incorporated in language learning. The most important thing is the teacher must know how to make a full use of technology and at the same time make sure the students are able to use the technology wisely.

Honestly, I was a bit worried after I read through the scheme of work and more concern with what Dr. Izham might expect from us. As I said earlier, I rate my computer skills as novice and there are many things that I am not familiar with especially things that are related with technology and computer. I hope at the at end of this course, I will be able use the technology more efficiently and I can use various computer's functions to incorporate technology in language learning and teaching.

My topic for AE is "The Relationship between Digital Tools and Students' Writing Skills". I have chosen this topic because I am interested to know how the lecturers incorporate the technology in teaching and learning writing among students, and how the usage of technological tools might affect students' writing. My supervisor is Dr Rohaya and I have already started with my AE during the previous semester break. Right now I nearly finish the Chapter 1, 2 and 3, while the questionnaire and interview questions are still under progress. I decided to meet my supervisor once every two weeks to show her my AE progress, and by April I hope I have already distributed my questionnaire and done the interview with two lecturers. Then, I can proceed with my data collection, complete the rest of the AE and insyaAllah submit it on time. 

That is all I have for now. Can't wait to have more interesting topics and lessons to be discussed in the class. :)