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BACHELOR OF TEACHING (PRIMARY EDUCATION) WITH HONOURS MAJOR IN ENGLISH SEMESTER 4 HBEL1203 LANGUAGE DESCRIPTION

NAME MATRICULATION NO. IDENTITY CARD NO. TELEPHONE NO. EMAIL

: CRISTINA JOHNNY : 781226125338001 : 781226125338 : 012-8661887 : mrskennyfred@rocketmail.com crisfred@oum.edu.my

LEARNING CENTRE TUTOR

: OUM TAWAU (TAWAU LEARNING CENTER) : MR. SAFRIDEN BIN ADININ

Cristina Johnny 781226125338001 ITEM 1.0 2.0 2.1 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 4.0 5.0 Content Task 1 (a) Task 1 (b) Task 2 - Reflection Introduction The Process of Task Completion Conclusion References Attachment PAGE NUMBER 1 23 48 9 9 10 11 12 13 14

Cristina Johnny 781226125338001 2.0 Task 1 (a) School of Life; Ameer Saeeds Story, by Helen Signy (Readers Digest, December 2012) My Father was one of the wealthiest men in Iraq. He owned several jewellery shops and we had a big house in Baghdad. For me, my brothers and sister, life was perfect. I was doing well at school, and we could have anything we wanted. Then one day in 2004, my father came home from work and said to my mum, Be ready in four hours, we are not staying here anymore. She said,How can I prepare myself and my children in four hours? He said, We are not taking anything, just one car. It will be here soon. We left at night for Jordan. People followed us and we just drove the car on the other side of the road, zigzagging through oncoming traffic. They were looking for money, of course. We later found out my dad had been told if we didnt leave they were going to kill his children. We had no house, no-one to tell us where to go. It was hot in Iraq, but in Jordan it was cold and we didnt have clothes. We just drove. For the first few nights we went to a hotel, then we started looking for a normal house. My father told us wed go home in three months, but he still wanted to enrol us in school. No-one would take us. Then, we found a private school. My brother Daniel and I went, but the older kids were bullying us, calling us names. We just couldnt handle it, coming from a comfortable life to this, so we decided to work. I was 12, but I lied and told people I was 16 and my brother was 17. I got a job in a gift shop, where I worked for five years. I didnt go to school during that time. Id work from 9am to 11pm, have a break for one hour, then go to the library and borrow books for Year 8, then Year 9 and Year 10. I was both a teacher and student to myself. I would answer all the questions and use the librarys computers- I just wanted to be more educated. We had a family in Australia, which was really important to my parents as we lived for five years in Jordan with no-one. We applied three or four times and werent accepted but in 2009, it happened.
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Chosen article :

Cristina Johnny 781226125338001 We arrived on a Thursday. On the Monday morning, I started school. I wanted to learn everything, to meet people who spoke English, to engage with people and learn about their lives. I did some work experience and courses at TAFE, then joined the schools Year 11 class when I was 18. When I was in Iraq, I always had a dream to go to a university. But in Jordan I just couldnt continue with school, so I thought my dream had gone. When I came here, I got my dream back. Last year, when I was selected to go with my brother to Switzerland to talk to the UN, I went home and told my dad that they had chosen me to go to Queensland. I hadnt heard properly. In Geneva, I walked up in front of those people and I just couldnt speak. But then I just it. I told them about my story, the challengs we are facing and how Australia is making it easier. I think I made Australia proud.

No.

Type of Verb

Verb Article

From

the

Chosen Location in the Article (also indicated by colour) Paragraph 8 / line 1 Paragraph 3 / line 1 Paragraph 1 / line 2 Paragraph 1 / line 2 Paragraph 1 / line 3 Paragraph 1 / line 1 Paragraph 5 / line 2 Paragraph 3 / line 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Regular Verb Irregular Verb Main Verb

arrived left doing

Primary Auxiliary Verb was Modal Auxiliary Verb Linking Verb Transitive Verb Intransitive Verb could was found drove

Cristina Johnny 781226125338001 2.1 Task 1 (b)

The table below shows the criteria used in the identification of the words(chosen from the article) according to context. No. Word Sentence Type of Verb (in the article) Criteria Used (in the identification of the word) According to Context 1 arrived We arrived on a Thursday. Past tense form of The addition of a regular verb. ed to the past tense form of a base word usually occurs only for regular verb. We can easily identify whether the word is a regular verb when we can predict the the other form of the base word; the past tense form and past participle form are the same. In this case; Base word: arrive Past tense form: arrived Past participle form : arrived 2 left We left late at night Past tense form of Irregular verb does not have for Jordan. an irregular verb. the addition ed for any of its form. Irregular can usually be identified by looking at the spelling of the words; a) in which all three forms (base word, past tense form and past participle form) the word remains the same b) in which two forms are
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Cristina Johnny 781226125338001 identical. c) in which all three forms are different. In this case its the second, where two forms of the word are the same; Base word : leave Past tense form : left Past participle form : left 3 doing I was doing well at Past school. continuos Main verbs are also called

form of a verb lexical verbs. They carry real (functioning as the meaning and are not

main verb in the dependent on other verbs to sentence chosen) clarify them. Main verbs

usually express an action, a state, a sensory perception or a process of change. In this case, the verb I chose expresses the state of

existence at one time in Ameer Saeeds life.

was

I was doing well at Primary auxiliary Primary auxiliary verbs are school. verb (to be) also called helping verbs. They usually occur before the main verb and help qualify the meaning of the main verb. In this article the main verb is doing and the primary auxiliary verb which is was define
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that

the

state

of

Cristina Johnny 781226125338001 existence the sentence

portrayed, is in the past progressive form; was doing 5 could We could have Modal verb auxiliary Modal auxiliary verbs also help to clarify the meaning of a whole sentence. In the sentence I chose, the modal auxiliary verb could help to add a possibility to the main verb or the situation; - We could have anything we wanted - meant that they have the opportunity to have

anything we wanted.

whatever they wanted. - If the modal auxiliary verb is taken out; We have anything we wanted it meant that they already have everything they wanted. The meanings of the two sentences, with and

without the modal clearly differ. 6 was My father was one of Linking verb In the sentence chosen; one of the wealthiest men in Iraq of is the complement, father the wealthiest men in (past tense form of My father is the subject Iraq. verb to be)

which specifies the attribute Ameer Saeeds

(being one of the wealthiest men). The word was is used to link
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Cristina Johnny 781226125338001 the subject to the complement. The linking verb was also indicates that it is in the past tense form, which indicates that Ameer Saeeds father was once the wealthiest men in Iraq but not anymore.

found

Then

we

found

a Transitive verb

Transitive verb requires a direct object for it to have a clear purpose or meaning. In this case; Then we found this does not have a clear meaning. Thus, a clear object must be added; Then we found a private school. The sentence using that

private school.

particular verb also indicates that the action had begun and ended at a particular time in the past. 8 drove We just drove. Intransitive Verb Intransitive verb can stands on its own to give a clear meaning and purpose of the action in the sentence. It doesnt need to have a direct object for it to be understood clearly. Some intransitive

verbs however can be used


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Cristina Johnny 781226125338001 with an adverbial phrase or a prepositional phrase.

In the sentence; I just drove. it clearly is understood that they just went on driving. It does not require any direct object for the sentence to be understood.

Cristina Johnny 781226125338001 3.0 Task 2 : Reflection

3.1

Introduction

As in any other language learning process, knowing the rules of the language is one of the most important criteria to be mastered. For me, the rule of the English Language is the grammar. One of the main grammatical items, which are called the major word classes, in the English Language, is the verbs. As an English Language teacher, I know that merely knowing the verbs is not enough for me to be able to teach English Language effectively to my pupils at school. I must delve deep into the heart of the language description of the verbs, to really know what verbs are. Verbs are the parts of speech that describe actions or occurrences or indicate states of being. Children are usually taught that verbs are action words but they are seldom taught of verbs used for the other purposes, which is to indicate occurrences and states of being or facts. For example children might be familiar with sentences like; I walk to school, where they can identify the word walk as the verb, because it indicates an action people usually do. Yet, I dare say, only a handful of children can identify the verb in a sentence like, It could be raining soon. where the verb phrase it could be raining indicates an occurence. In a sentence like, The sun shines brightly. where the verb shines indicates a state of being, could also pose a problem for most children for them to identify the verb in the sentence. From my experience, children often thought that verbs consist of only the actions done by people so they associate the verbs only to what they know people usually do. This situation happens because teachers, sadly even myself, are self content of teaching them verbs using only people as the doer. This will have to change.

Cristina Johnny 781226125338001 3.2 The Process of Task Completion

As the teaching of grammar to young children (in primary school) touched only the surface of the grammatical items, teachers, such as myself tend to get comfortable knowing and teaching only the simple knowledge of verbs. As long as I taught the pupils what they should be taught according to the syllibus specification, then it is enough. Needless to say, that this assignment taught me differently. The two-task assignment seemed easy enough at first, because it is only about verbs. Or so, I thought. I surprised myself at the difficulty I found myself facing when I began on the first task. I had to do extensive readings, from various sources, to have a clear understanding of what I have to do to complete even the first task. Even the search for an appropriate article at first poses a challenge. My understanding of the type of verbs was really low, due to the long hybernation process of the mind; not reading nor studying about the forms and functions of the word classes, made me all the more confused in choosing the right article for my assignment. By narrowing my mind to teach only what is required of me, not only deprived my children at school of some extra knowledge but also made me lost my edge where the verbs are concerned. I mean, I do know how to use the verbs but when it comes to explaining them, their forms and functions in their correct language form context, I was stuck. To understand and use the verbs correctly is not enough. As an English Language teacher, I have to know how to explain the verbs forms and functions in words. What I understand in my mind does not necessarily translate well into words. I read and made references primarily from three books; first is the HBEL1203 Language Description by Chung Han Teik, Komathy Senathy Rajah and Ong Siow Kim; second is A Quick English Reference by J.S Hooper; and third is English For College Students 1 by Tan Phaik Lee, Marilyn DSilva and Vijaya Naia. I also made some readings online, using the wikipedia, The Free Encyclopaedia search and the site on http://grammar.about.com/od/irregularverbs/a/Ten-Types-Of-Verbs.htm. After making some search, I finally decided on an article written by Helen Signy, in the December 2012 of Readers Digest Edition, under the title School Of Life. The article is of reasonable length and it seemed to have all the verbs I needed for my assignment. The article is
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Cristina Johnny 781226125338001 written in the first person perspective, which is from Ameer Saeeds point of view, as an Iraqi who followed his family as they fleed Iraq to Jordan and the finally came to settle in Australia. I did the first task in the table form as suggested but I did it a little differently than what was given as an example. I didnt write the words in their sentence forms instead I use different colours to highlight where the chosen words were in the article. The reason as to why I didnt write the sentences for the first task is because, I will write the sentences in my second task, so I didnt want to show any repitition. After I finished doing task 1, I continued on to task 2 where I was required to explain the criteria used to identify the words I chose according to context. I was only able to finish this task after some really long reading and I even answered some worksheets online to deepen my understanding of the forms and functions of the verbs I was required to explain. Identifying the words from the article was quiet easy but explaining why I chose the words to explain the type of verbs required was very difficult. My understanding the functions of each of the verbs required, was very critical for me to begin doing the second task. Nevertheless, I did try my best to explain the functions of the verbs. I also tried my best to show the criteria I used to identify the words I chose to convey the function of the verbs. At times, the confusion would suddenly appear but the only thing that I can do was to read again when that happens. So I made the three books I mentioned earlier my best friends during the course of completing this assignments. I found out that through reading more I can easily explain the five basic forms of verbs, namely; the base form, -s form, past form, -ing participle form (present participle form) and -ed participle form (past participle form). I can also explain now, the functions of the type of verbs such as the main and the auxiliary verbs, the linking verbs, the transitivie and intransitive verbs. Now, I believe that giving more to the children at school, than what the syllabus requires us to do, will benefit not only the pupils but also the teachers, me being one of them, as well. This assigment taught me this. By giving more to the pupils means that I have to do ongoing readings, so that I wouldnt forget all the grammatical items of the English Language.

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Cristina Johnny 781226125338001 3.3 Conclusion

Explaining about verbs is not as easy as I thought it would be. Understanding the verbs is of course a crucial stage to explaining them in words but understanding alone without further reading and references might not produce the best explanation. Hence, extensive readings and making a lot of references should be done in order for a teacher to be able to teach verbs to small children. Reading can also help the mind to remember all the important aspects in the English Language that English Language teachers had been learning since schools to the teachers training colleges. In fact, the learning process should never stop, even as teachers teach in class, we are actually learning too. This assignment taught me that, I should never be content with what I know or what I should know to teach primary schools pupils, but I must continue to study to deepen my understanding of this language I am teaching. One of the ways to keep myself afloat with my English Language command is to read extensively and carry out a language form and functions research on the articles I read. I found my weakness through this assignment but I also found a way to redeem myself. So, be it the verbs or any other forms and functions of the English Language, I hope that I will always remember to do some readings and research from now on.

2823 words

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Cristina Johnny 781226125338001 4.0 References Chung Han Teik, Komanthy Senathy Rajah, Ong Siow Kim. (Thirteenth printing/ November 2011). HBEL1203 Language Description. Open University Malaysia. Helen Signy. (December 2012). School of Life. Readers Digest Malaysia. J.S Hooper. (1992). A Quick English References. Penerbit Fajar Bakti SDN BHD. Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia. Tan Phaik Lee, Marilyn DSilva, Vijaya P. Naia. (Second Edition 2003). English For College Students 1. Pearson Malaysia SDN BHD. Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Malaysia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopaedia, online. Grammar article. Can be reached online at http://grammar.about.com/od/irregularverbs/a/Ten-Types-Of-Verbs.htm.

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Cristina Johnny 781226125338001 5.0 Attachment

1. Chosen Article

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