Friday, April 2, 2010

Form 1

Topics to be covered

1 People :
Introduce oneself; talk about self (personal details)

2 Sentence pattern – introducing oneself.

3 Talk about friends and interests

4 Adjectives to describe qualities;
Describe friends and family

5 Punctuations

6 Rading materials such as an articles

7 Summary

8 Literature – talk about message/ themes

9 Write a letter to a pen pal – telling about likes, dislikes, family etc

10 Parts of speech – noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, conjunction, preposition, interjection

11 Question forms –
i. Simple past/present - (Do/Does/Did)
ii. Other tenses - (verb to be – is,are,am, was
were / has, have, had/ modals – will etc)


12 Verb forms – simple continuous, and perfect
13 Negative verbs/ Positive and Negative statements

14 Summary

15 Write an account of experience eg. A visit ot the National Science Centre

16 Summary

17 Sentence Structure; Subject and Predicate

18 Simple, compound and complex sentences


19 Dialogue / Language Functions :
To invite or welcome friends/ to accept or to decline an invitation/Expressing thanks/ to apologise
Eg. Invite friends to one’s house, to a birthday party,to a kenduri, to participate in a gotong royong etc.

20 Write messages – Write simple invitation – present info in the form of a card.
(e.g. In note form on postcards and self-made cards and e-mail. Include receiver’s name, sender’s name, date, place, salutation, message, leave-taking.)

Identify the errors

Sentences
1. I think live in the countryside is better than live in the city.
2. It is because the river in the countryside are not polluted.
3. They are not like the people in the city that always mind their own business.
4. The air are clean.
5. I agree with Zainal that live in the countryside is better.
6. I want to say that live in the countryside is more better.
7. We can living with healthy lives.
8. I am agree with Zainal.


Sentences
1. Children that live in the village
2. His works is collect rubbish.
3. He likes eat.
4. His job is collect rubbish.
5. Pak Manan walking near a river.
6. The children swimming and splashed water at Pak Manan.
7. When they saw Pak Manan collects rubbish…
8. Pak Manan walk along the beach and saw a few children are swimming near the sea.
9. The kids called he a crazy man.
10. One evening, he saw the children was swimming.
11. He heard someone scream for help.
12. His name is a Pak Manan.
13. In Serdang Village, have a one person that the villagers called him crazy.
14. He very poor and his shirt very dirty.
15. Children splashed water at Pak Manan and he wet.


Sentences
1. After ten minutes later, Pak Manan heard one girl scream for help.
2. Pak Manan was collects rubbish at river.
3. Pak Manan is not have money.
4. The children was called her a crazy m an.
5. At there , we have fresh air.
6. At city, we not have fresh air because have smoke from factory-factory at city.
7. There also have many thing to do such swimming at river, fishing and do outdoor games activities.
8. They continued splashed water to Pak Manan.
9. Pak Mananheard a children scream help.
10. Child at the Kampung Senawang dislikes Pak Manan.
11. We will calling him with nickname Pak Manan crazy.
12. He not angry.
13. While Pak Manan passing the road.
14. When they see Pak Manan walking at the banbk river collects rubbish, they splash water at him.
15. After the accident, they did not called Pak Manan crazy; anymore.
16. He like to collect the rubbish, cans.
17. Everyone in his village he crazy.
18. When we have many times, we can jogging and swimming.



Transitional Devices

addition again, also, and, and then, besides, equally important, finally, first, further, furthermore, in addition, in the first place, last, moreover, next, second, still, too
comparison also, in the same way, likewise, similarly
concession granted, naturally, of course
contrast although, and yet, at the same time, but at the same time, despite that, even so, even though, for all that, however, in contrast, in spite of, instead, nevertheless, notwithstanding, on the contrary, on the other hand, otherwise, regardless, still, though, yet
emphasis certainly, indeed, in fact, of course
example or
illustration after all, as an illustration, even, for example, for instance, in conclusion, indeed, in fact, in other words, in short, it is true, of course, namely, specifically, that is, to illustrate, thus, truly
summary all in all, altogether, as has been said, finally, in brief, in conclusion, in other words, in particular, in short, in simpler terms, in summary, on the whole, that is, therefore, to put it differently, to summarize
time sequence after a while, afterward, again, also, and then, as long as, at last, at length, at that time, before, besides, earlier, eventually, finally, formerly, further, furthermore, in addition, in the first place, in the past, last, lately, meanwhile, moreover, next, now, presently, second, shortly, simultaneously, since, so far, soon, still, subsequently, then, thereafter, too, until, until now, when

The Necklace

Reference : The Star

The short story
Below is a summary of the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant
“The Necklace” tells the story of a nineteenth-century middle-class French couple, Monsieur and Madame Mathilde Loisel. She spends a lot of time imagining herself in wealthy settings, hosting and attending high society gatherings.
Monsieur Loisel is a clerk in the Ministry of Public Instruction. He manages to obtain an invitation to an official dance at the Ministry. Madame Loisel is distraught because she has no suitable dress or jewellery for the dance.
The clerk sacrifices his savings to buy her a dress and suggests that she borrow some jewellery from her old friend, Madame Jeanne Forestier. Accordingly, Madame Loisel borrows a beautiful diamond necklace from her.
She has a wonderful time until the early hours of the morning. When the couple returns home, they discover that the necklace is missing.
Unable to bear the shame of informing Madame Forestier, Monsieur and Madame Loisel decide to buy an identical diamond necklace from the Palais Royal as a replacement. The cost is extravagant - 36,000 francs - a fortune at the time. Monsieur Loisel spends his entire inheritance and life savings, 18,000 francs left to him by his father, and incurs heavy debts by asking usurers for loans to buy the replacement. They do not inform Madame Forestier of the change and spend the next 10 years of their lives paying off the debts. Both Monsieur and Madame Loisel are forced to take on extra jobs and live in abject poverty. In time, the Madame comes to empathise with those she once looked down upon with disdain.
At the end of the 10 years, Madame Loisel, now older, tougher, more worn and less graceful from years of hard manual labour - but immensely proud €” has an opportunity to tell her old friend of the lost necklace. Madame Forestier is shocked and informs Madame Loisel that her original necklace was, in fact, an imitation, “...worth 500 francs at the most!”
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Necklace
Now, see if you can answer the questions based on this excerpt taken from “The Necklace”.
“What do you mean? You brought it back.”
“I brought you back another exactly like it. And it has taken us 10 years to pay for it. You can understand that it was not easy for us, for us who had nothing. At last, it is ended and I am very glad.”
Madame Forrstier had stopped.
“You say that you bought a necklace of diamonds to replace mine?”
“Yes. You never noticed it then! They were very similar.”
a. How long did it take the Loisels to settle their debts?
Ten years. (1 mark)
b. How did Mathilde feel after having settled the debts?
Glad. (1 mark)
c. Why didn’t Madame Forrestier notice that the necklace given to her was a diamond necklace?
It was very similar to the lost one. (1 mark)
d. If you were Mathilde, what would you have done when you discovered that the lost necklace was worth only 500 francs? Give a reason for your answer.
I would have screamed in anger because of the unnecessary suffering and debts incurred or I would have just blamed myself for it. If I had told Madame Forrestier the truth in the beginning, I would not have had to borrow 36,000 francs. (2 marks)
Remember the answers to the first three questions can be found in the extract. Only the fourth question requires some interpretation on your part.

There's been a death in the opposite house

Let’s look at one poem in detail: (Reference : The Star Online)
There’s been a death in the opposite house
There’s been a death in the opposite house As lately as today. I know it by the numb look Such houses have always.
The neighbours rustle in and out, The doctor drives away. A window opens like a pod, Abrupt, mechanically;
Somebody flings a mattress out, The children hurry by; They wonder if It died on that, I used to when a boy.
The minister goes stiffly in As if the house were his, And he owned all the mourners now, And little boys besides;
And then the milliner, and the man Of the appalling trade, To take the measure of the house. There’ll be that dark parade
Of tassels and of coaches soon; It’s easy as a sign, The intuition of the news In just a country town. — Emily Dickinson
In stanza 1, the persona tells us that someone has died in the house opposite his. The death occurred recently and he knows this because of the sombre atmosphere of the house. The house is said to have a numb look because the occupants of the house are numb with grief.
In stanza 2, he tells us about the goings-on at the house of the deceased. The neighbours come and go, and they try to be quiet and this is conveyed by the word “rustle”. The doctor drives away probably because there is nothing he can do. Then a window opens suddenly, mechanically. This is also how the family of the deceased behaves because they are overcome with grief.
In stanza 3, we learn that a mattress is thrown out, frightening the children who walk past the house. They wonder if the deceased died on the mattress. We learn that the persona used to do the same when he was a boy. From the last line we can infer that the persona is now a grown man. The deceased is referred to as “It” because he/she is no longer alive.
Stanza 4 describes the minister’s arrival. He appears to be stern and takes charge of the funeral arrangements.
Stanza 5 focuses on two people, the milliner and the undertaker who have come to make arrangements for the funeral. The milliner is there to take measurements to make a hat for the deceased while the undertaker, “the man of the appalling trade”, is there to take measurements for the “house” (coffin).
Stanza 6 tells us that once arrangements have been made, there will be the funeral procession (“the dark parade”) where the coffin will be taken to the cemetery on a horse-drawn carriage with the mourners following it.
Setting: The death takes place in a country town where people know one another. This is why the persona is able to recognise the people who come and go.
Theme: Death is a natural occurrence. Yet, it is a sad event for those who lose a loved one (the people are numb with grief).
Tone: Though the theme of this poem is death, it does not have a sad and mournful tone. The persona tells us of the goings on in a matter-of-fact manner to convey the idea that death is a natural occurrence.
The present tense is used to convey the idea that death is an everyday occurrence.


Let us look at some sample questions.
a. How do the people of the house react to the death?
They are numb with grief. (1 mark)
b. Who does the word “his” in line 14 of the poem refer to?
The minister. (1 mark)
c. Why does the persona refer to the undertaker as “the man of the appalling trade”?
He thinks the undertaker’s work is unpleasant and dreadful. (1 mark)
d. In your own words, explain what the speaker means when he says “then, there’ll be that dark parade”?
He is referring to the funeral procession where the mourners will be dressed in black and the mood will be sombre. (2 marks)

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Congratulation to SYTRA Tribune Editorial Board

Assalamualaikum w.r.t
First of all , I would like to congratulate the editorial board for being able to produce the second issue of SYTRA Tribune. If I am not mistaken, this is the first time an English Bulletin such as this is produced.
The main purpose of this bulletin is to give students the experience of reporting the events that happened every day in SMSTSP. Students will be exposed to journalism at an early age. This is a good exposure to them and of course it is one of the methods that can improve your English.
In Malaysia, an average student learns English for at least 11 years. If you are a Form 5 student, you have learnt the language for 11 years, but why aren’t you proficient in the language? Well, one main reason, in my opinion, is you never really use the language. You just learn it in class, but you don't practise it outside the class, at home, or at the hostel. . Of course, that is the main reason why students cannot improve on their proficiency level.
There are many theories that suggest this. Given below are proofs to my statement :
* Based upon the principles of Skinnerian behaviorism, RFT posits (suggests) that children acquire language purely through interacting with the environment.
RFT = The relational frame theory (Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, Roche, 2001)
* “Children learn on average 10 to 15 new word meanings each day, but only one of these words can be accounted for by direct instruction. The other nine to 14 word meanings need to be picked up in some other way. “
source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_acquisition

 Children learn, on average, ten to fifteen new word meanings each day, but only one of these words can be accounted for by direct instruction.[66] The other nine to fourteen word meanings need to be picked up in some other way. It has been proposed that children acquire these meanings with the use of processes modeled by latent semantic analysis; that is, when they meet an unfamiliar word, children can use information in its context to correctly guess its rough area of meaning.[66] A child may expand the meaning and use of certain words that are already part of its mental lexicon in order to denominate anything that is somehow related but for which it does not know the specific words yet. For instance, a child may broaden the use of mummy and dada in order to indicate anything that belongs to its mother or father, or perhaps every person who resembles its own parents, or say rain while meaning I don't want to go out.[67]

This means that a language is acquired not only by learning it but also by practising it . To acquire a language , you need to be good in these four skills - Speaking, Reading, Writing and Listening.
So today, I would like to suggest to my students to use the language all the time. What you can do will be :
1. Read materials in English - story books, magazine, newspaper etc
2. Write as much as possible - I would suggest that you keep a diary - a journal of your thought or what happened to you.
3. Listen well, especially when you watch movies, try to listen and understand the dialogue.
4. Speak the language - what else are you going to use the language for - except to communicate with others.

Lastly, we should always remember a quotation from a chinese philosopher, Lao-tzu , "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" which means that you should take that first step to achieve what you want even though every step is painful or just too difficult for you. You should start now ! You should also practise using the language every day as mentioned in the idiom "Practice Makes Perfect" which means the more you practise, the better you will become.

So, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, keep taking steps.... even if they feel like baby steps! Good Luck !!!

Monday, March 29, 2010

Win RM100, 000.00 ......

Announcement
WHAT MAKES FOR A BETTER LIFE?

WIN RM100,000 worth of scholarships at The Star-Pizza Hut’s annual Newspaper-in-Education (NiE) contest which requires students to produce a three-page mini magazine. This year’s contest, jointly sponsored by The Star and Pizza Hut, in cooperation with the Education Ministry, centres on the theme “A better life”.

Students, in teams of four or five, have to design a three-page mini magazine on an issue that changes their lives for the better. Topics could centre on health, safety, racial integration and environment, among others. Each team will have to conduct research on a selected topic, interview peers and write a feature article. Students are also encouraged to be more creative in their presentation by using a myriad of writing forms such as poetry, anecdotes, statistics, or comic strips for a more exciting presentation.

Online registration for schools will open on April 1, and contest templates will be available on April 7 (with reprints on April 28). The contest is limited to schools and is open to primary (Years Four to Six), Lower Secondary and Upper Secondary teams.

reference : http://contests.thestar.com.my/nie/3286925.asp