Reflection 5: Blog

Assalamualaikum! :)

Courtesy of letstalkrelations

Alhamdulillah this is the closure of all our assignments Insya Allah. The biggest task for this course is creating this blog and publish all the materials here. We have faced all sorts of challenges in completing the printed assignments but this online project is certainly one of the toughest assignments assigned to us.

Dividing workload:

Everyone is obliged to contribute in the process of creating and updating this blog. However, we do take turns for instance if the one in charge is busy, another one will be in charge to do the part. The process of publishing the assignments is done in small steps. After each assignment is presented and commented, two persons will revise and make corrections before the other one post it on the blog. Meanwhile, the fourth person will do her part of writing the Reflection.

Time management:

After presentation day, we strive to post all assignments as soon as possible, but sometimes we got delayed due to other assignments queuing for submission. However, if the person in charge cannot post it, another team member will lend a hand and help to get it published. Sometimes we do revert posts into draft due to some re-corrections that needed to be amended.

Attitude:

Although this online project seems easy due to its nature of being accessible from almost everywhere, we do not take this blogging activity lightly. In fact, this is the most difficult part in our opinion because everything needs to be commendable and free from mistakes. So, re-revising posts is quite a routine for our team. On another note, this assignment teaches us to be more discipline and follow our timeline closely in order to be on track with other groups. It also gives us the opportunity to experience the process of blogging academically. 

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Reflection 4: Mini Research Proposal

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Courtesy of writepass

As we have completed our mini research proposal, we have pondered on some of these things in our mind:

Writing a research proposal requires hard work, thorough and critical thinking as well as perseverance. Throughout the process, we, as future researchers were required to read many research articles. Not only as literature reviews, they have also served us as idea-giving materials. Without readings, it would be hard for us to base our research and finding the suitable framework and topic.

Thus, our thoughts on the research process have changed greatly over this two weeks process. As part of the requirement for graded assignment in this Computer Assisted Language Studies class, at first we thought that it would not be too difficult, as we have experienced writing a research proposal before. However, along the process, we believe that this research proposal is not the same as what we have completed during Research Methodology class.

The design may seem the same, but this one is related to the use of computer in relation to language learning and teaching. A suitable framework and research design were selected precisely in order to make this research proposal doable, reliable, and can be replicated for future research. These are the features that a research should have which we had planned to accomplish.

Courtesy of sswm

There are times when we were really confused even though we were only choosing the research title. The research process requires us to look in depth and not just in general sense so that the problem statement would serve a starting point to answer the research questions if a research is to be conducted in future.

The research proposal was divided into six parts namely, the introduction, literature reviews, methodology, expected findings, reference and appendix. All the research steps of a research paper were adhered except for findings and discussion parts as this is only a proposal.

As a CALL-based research proposal, our main focus would be the usage of computer in language classroom instead of traditional classroom. Thus, as we have chosen a research entitled “The Effectiveness Of Reading Comprehension Skill Through The Use Of Computer-Assisted Language Learning In ESL Classroom”, we have chosen two softwares which will help the process of learning in classroom. This will contradict traditional classroom which is pen-and-paper-based.It is anticipated from the research proposal that the ESL learners in CALL classroom will be benefitted by the use  of computers due to unique features of CALL classroom.

As the research proposal has completed, we have learnt that to complete a research proposal, researchers have to be patient, persevere, passionate, responsible, and creative in order for the research to expose some new knowledge which may contribute to the previous findings as well as serving as a new study in a new field.We hope that this research proposal would be an excellent research proposal for us to accomplish the mission, maybe in some years after our undergraduate years ended.

Reflection 3: Computer Mediated Communication (CMC)

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Courtesy of zyncro

Alhamdulillah, we are done with the second assignment. We have gone through the hard part and now it is time to reflect on the whole process of getting the assignment done. 

Dividing workload:

The toughest part is to choose a topic in Sociolinguistics. We took some time to do brainstorming and finally came up with "Gender". The workload is divided into two parts. The first pair is assigned to conduct the real-time Skype chat. Second pair worked on the paper work. Although finding relevant articles was a bit of an issue, but we kept on browsing until we found what we have been searching for.

Time management:

This assignment puzzled us at first because we didn't know how and where to start. It was quite hard for us to begin with. However, we took small steps and discussed it among us and other groups as well. Once we figured out the flow of the assignment, we managed to complete it within the time frame.

Attitude:

It was a tense phase for us to complete this assignment altogether. Some of us were freaking out for the fear that it might not be completed on time. But all is well. On another note, we have learned to work out our communication skills and tolerate with each other. On the assignment part, we also realized that no matter how advance our technology is, the role of teacher cannot be dismissed. Teachers are still the "murabbi" and their superiority is far greater than a computer application. 

A computer application knows only things that are programmed in it. But a teacher's wisdom knows more than the subject that he is teaching.

Reflection 2: CALL Lesson Plan

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Last two weeks on the 5th of March we have been assigned to our first task which is to create a lesson plan that is to be presented in front of the whole class.

Courtesy of teachernuha

In the process of completing the assignment, it was done in a period of three weeks through a series of discussions, brain storming and collaboration of ideas between our group members. We selected the softwares, which are from the British council learning website and the Animals Time website. We also used Google Image to add relevant pictures for the lesson plan. We tried out the softwares beforehand to see if the level of difficulty would suit our target audience which is primary 4 school students. We utilize the use of search engines, typing keywords such as 'speaking skills' and 'interactive games' to make our search easier.

Through reflection of this lesson plan, we have learnt the importance of teacher's roles as the teacher needs to cater the students’ needs which should be relevant to their level of proficiency. A lesson plan should include all levels of thinking from lower level through memorization to higher level of thinking to analyze and apply the information. Also, the lesson plan itself should be doable, easy to be understood and conducted by educators.

The objectives and the learning outcomes can be evaluated at the end of the lesson through exercises and activities in the class. Thus, the use of the computer has indeed aid  the process of teaching and learning language.

Finally, when the time comes, as we would step in the world of education (maybe). Remember to stay calm and focus in what we are doing. Just act confidently, positively and be happy about it. 

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Reflection 1: Using CALL in BENL Course

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Courtesy of call.canil.ca

Reflect on your experience in BENL course that you have taken.

Almost all of BENL courses require the students as well as the lecturers to use computers to complete the process of learning and teaching. This shows us that the use of computers to assist language learning is very imperative.

The integration of electronic technology can be manifested as a medium to achieve the benefits in language learning. For example, in learning Sociolinguistics, the use of computers can be seen as an assisting tool by the lecturer. The lecturer made use of computer to provide and show the students the prepared slides. Related pictures and videos were also presented to disseminate information. Instead of having pen and paper based class, computer changes the scenario of learning by the students. Computer is used together with the explanation by the lecturer.

Think of the assignments that require you to apply the computer to assist in the completion.

The assignments of this course require students to be in groups of four. Two assignments were required to be completed. The first assignment requires students to prepare a slideshow for Sociolinguistics sub topic presentation in class. The second assignment requires the students to analyze recorded speech in real-life situations. The analysis of the speech was based on the framework of specific sub-topic. Both the assignments require students to use computer to gain access to online sources such as YouTube videos and related articles on the subject. This helps students to complete their assignments with relevant materials provided.

Relate the 3 stages of CALL & name the key concepts associated to the assignments.

Throughout the process of collecting and gathering the information in the assignments, students use all the sources retrieved by using the computers. Hence, the computer acts as a teacher by providing all the required information.

This proves that by implementing CALL, we could see that it further assists the role of teacher in enhancing the effectiveness of teaching methodology.

Courtesy of ubergizmo

Not only that, as the era of technology advances, it should be clear for us to utilize the uses of the computer and what is has to offer us. It means that the mind ('aqal') bestowed by Allah, and the product of it should be beneficial to all human being. However, one must not totally abandon the traditional methods of teaching as it was all derived from human's production of mind as well.  In a nutshell, it is best to integrate this discussion of CALL with the saying of Rasulullah's companion, Umar Ibn Khattab:-

"Teach your children with the era they live in.”