TOPIC 2: INTRODUCTION TO PHONOLOGY

REFLECTION 2

            We were moving to the next topic entitled “Introduction to Phonology”. In this topic, we were expected to explain how sounds are produced in the English sound system. After that, we were also instructed to produce accurate English sounds in discourse.

            From this topic, I learned that children learn pronunciation by imitating their teachers. After that, I also learned about the phonetics. Phonetics is the study of sounds made by humans when they talk. English Language is bound to the phonetic script which is International Phonetic Association (IPA) method. Meanwhile, phonemes are the smallest unit of sound in a language which carries distinctive meaning such as /p/, /b/. /t/, /d/ and so on.

            We were also asked to identify the speech organs used in producing English sounds. Below are the images of the speech organs for producing sounds.

 

Next, we moved on the speech production. From what I had learned, there are three sound production processes which are initiation, phonation, and articulation.

            Initiation is the production of any speech sound requires the creation of an air stream in the vocal tract. Phonation occurs as the airstream passes through the larynx, it is modified by the vocal cords, through the introduction of voice.

 Articulation occurs as the airstream passes through the vocal tract, it may be modified by the movement of the articulators such as lips and tongue preventing its passage through the vocal tract.

Phonation

TONGUE TWISTER COMPETITION
Our team had claim the win in this game. below are some of the tongue twisters that we had chose.
I saw a saw that could out saw any other saw I ever saw
A good cook couldcook as much cookies as a good cook who could cook cookies
A big bug bit the little beetle but the little beetle bit the big bug back  
      In this topic, we were also learned about consonants and their types. There are voiced consonants and voiceless consonants. After that, we can classify them into several categories such as stops/plosives, fricatives, affricates, nasals, liquids and semi vowels. On the other hand, vowels will be categorized to two types which are simple vowels/monophthongs and diphthongs.

TOPIC 1: LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

REFLECTION 1

In this week, I learned about language and communication. There are six major aspects need to be learned in this topic and this topic covers three weeks. I learned about definition of language, language and culture, functions of language, non-verbal communication, speech and writing, and English Language in Malaysia.

            As far as language is concerned, language itself is a code that permits us to represent thoughts and ideas by means of sounds of sounds and letters. The picture below shows the map where English is widely spoken among the entire world.

English Language has become the most widely spoken language of all the language in the world. Their native speaker alone is about 309 million people and the total speakers reached the sum of 1800 million speakers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_language).

            When we learn about language, we have to know that it is a code to show variety of data and information, a sequence of sounds or letters which has a particular meaning. For example, we can interpret the meaning of “fish” into other language.

Bahasa Melayu        = ikan

Japanese                  = sakana (魚)

Arabic                         = al asmaak (الأسماك)

Spanish                     = peces

            The next feature of language is linguistic symbols have function and form. For an example, English Language has the order of S-V-O (Subject-Verb-Order) when forming sentences.

e.g

                   Murni (noun)             goes (verb)  to school.

            

 Besides that, linguistic units are constructed according to rules. We must follow the correct order of the sentence so that the sentence will make sense to the reader.

Sentence
Word	Word
Kamariah	sings

The next criterion for language is it is specifically human. All humans use language for communication. Every human language uses sound to encode meaning. The sound sequences are known as words. These words have grammatical classification and can be combined into phrases, sentences, questions and so on.

Besides that, language use is creative. For this purpose, our lecturer had told us to write a short poem from our own creative imagination. I found that it was very hard to write such one on short time. Below is my short poem (just for preview, although it may sounds like Maher Zain-ish):

HIPOCRACY

Mohamad Nazrin Bin Othman

We became the shadows without a soul

Despite the heat from the chimney

Our homes felt so empty and cold

To fill the emptiness

We bought and bought

Maybe all the fancy cars

Jewellery, gold and so on

And bling will make us feel satisfied.

The next aspect that we should take in consideration is language use is constrained by culture. There are some limitations when we use language. There are some words that we should or should not during some particular occasion.

After we finished the topic on language, we move to the next topic-communication. In communication, we have to identify the function of language (i.e to ask, to persuade, to inquire, to give information and so on) so that our interaction with the next speaker will be meaningful. It is because communication is a two way process between two parties (sender and receiver of messages). There are two types of communications. They are either non-vocal communication or vocal communication. During this topic, we are instructed to prepare a 3 minute mime (non-verbal communication) of a situation of our choice. 

After we were done with miming activity, we went to the next part which is speech and writing and English Language in Malaysia. In groups, we are assigned to discuss how Malaysian culture affects English Language. Our group had considered the urban and rural settings factor. From our discussion, we agreed that the influence in terms of usage of English Language is greater at the urban area rather than the rural area.

ELE3103 ENGLISH FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS

PROLOGUE

            This course is one of the elective package courses to be learned throughout the semester 5 of Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) for Mathematics Education. This course provides the trainees with the basic linguistics knowledge on language, communication, the English Sound System (comprises of phonetic and phonology), morphology, syntax, and semantics which is very compulsory for the English language teacher to know and master. It adopts an interactive approach which stressed on independent learning which will enhance learners’ awareness and understanding of the language.

AIM / OBJECTIVE

            There are seven learning outcomes which need to be fulfilled by the trainees in this coursework and one of the outcomes are to be able to assess own language progress through reflection. So, from this blog, I will reflect and assess my own language progress from the information and lecture from the lecturer. Besides that, I am also doing some independent research of what need to be learned from this course from the resource center and also via the internet. Last but not least, I really do hope that I can enhance and empower my knowledge about this course so that I can apply it during practicum and my service as the real teacher soon.