The TESL Students' Blog!

TSL521 Notification

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:30:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Dear colleagues,

This notification is about TSL521 – Teaching Literature in the ESL Classroom.

You may collect your quiz 1 and journal starts from today (left outside of Mr. Nasirin Abdillah’s office). The rest will be out next week, probably on 27th April 2009.

Please inform the others.

Thank you.

Wassalam…

P/S: Good luck for tomorrow!

Syikri

Exam Slip - Printout!

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:18:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Dear colleagues,

The final examination is getting closer and closer to you; meaning that the most stressful period of the studying year is virtually approaching you. Therefore, a good preparation is, against all odds, tremendously crucial in order to make your dream comes true – excellence in the final examination (and high marks for on-going assessments too).

Before, please make sure that you have already printed out your examination registration slip stated in the student portal. Do check the codes printed on your exam slip; if there any mistake(s) regarding to the code(s), please contact your TESL coordinator for further action, otherwise, you are not allowed to sit for the paper of which you strived hardly for it over the months. Failing to take advantage of an opportunity, you may miss the boat! Hence, please act before it is too late!

So, fundamentally, how is your preparation? What form your revision is? Is it individually or interactively in-group discussion? Well! Roslaily and I used to group-discuss (some friends who live nearby join our group discussion too!) the past-year question papers and the notes of the codes of the semester. I believe that some of you might have to sink or swim; meaning that you might have to study alone. Consequently, your success or failure depends entirely on your own efforts. Yet, if you collaboratively group-discuss with your friends, they might lighten/lessen the pressure of burdensome preparation to face the final examination (division of labour!).

Besides, some more things should be put into account to guarantee that you are really well-prepared for it. Just question yourself:-

1) How much material do you need to cover?
Of course, lots of materials to read (for four or five codes of all), especially that of Teaching Literature in ESL Classroom; it is so bulky, ain’t it!

2) How difficult are the material(s)?
Some materials are scarcely comprehensible and hardly memorized (for instances, that of Applied Phonetics and Phonology, Educational Psychology, and Principles and Practices in ELT Classroom) contain tremendous number of technical terminologies.

3) How much time is available?
Less than fifteen days (Really? No way!).

4) Do you have any other priorities during the study period?
Yes! Sleeping, internet surfing, flirting (puppy love), chatting, and so much more…

5) What is the format of the exam?
Sudah gaharu cendana pula… (Code-switching!)

6) How important the examination is to you?
Well! You know better!...

7) What is your performance target for the examination?
Dean list, three pointer, two pointer, ‘enough-enough eat’, failure, or what? Whatever it is, accordingly, it depends on how much you put your trust in Allah (Tawakal), and depends as well on your study; how good your strategic investment is, and how far you follow the principles of learning.

Anyway! Thanks for allocating a part of your precious time to read the post.

Best of luck and all the best!

Thank you.

Wassalam…

P/S: By the way! Those who still do not submit their assignment(s), please do the submission before 20th April 2009 (the very first day of final examination).

Warmest regards,

Syikri

TSL485 Notification

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:13:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Dear colleagues,

I met Mrs. T.S. Aini twice to ask her concerning the second test, analysis report and the individual presentation. She said that we will have all those things in one day; in the next meeting!

APRIL FOOL (LOL!)! Got you! In fact, she told me that the analysis report is to be submitted in the very last meeting. Nonetheless, if you wish to submit it prior to the date of submission, then it is up to you/it would be okay too! She said that if the report neccesitates amendment(s), you could fetch it back to refine it. The less error(s)/mistake(s) you make, the higher marks you get.

Regarding to the individual presentation (based on the question that you selected), the meeting for the-whole-day presentation is about to be, yes, rescheduled as well. Thus, you have some more time to set up for the slides (or, conceivably, you have more time to procrastinate! LOL!).

Please inform the rest.

Thank you.

Wassalam…

Best wishes,
Syikri

Final Examination Schedule (April 2009)

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 16:11:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

To Whom It May Concern:

Examination unit of UiTM has officially released a very first draft of a final examination schedule of this semester (April 2009), is as follows:

1) 20th April 2009 [(Monday) (9.00 am – 12.00 pm)]:
TSL485 – Applied Phonetics and Phonology

2) 23rd April 2009 [(Thursday) (9.00 am – 12.00 pm)]:
EDU550 – Educational Psychology

3) 25th April 2009 [(Saturday) (9.00 am – 12.00 pm)]:
TSL450 – Principles and Practice in ELT

4) 30th April 2009 [(Thursday) (2.15 pm – 5.15)]:
TSL521 –Literature in ELT Classroom

This final examination schedule, which I enclose in this post, consists of merely four codes that everybody had previously registered for them via student portal respectively. Hence, please obtain other sources for further information.

In fact, I had already attached the first draft of the final examination schedule in PDF-formed file to your e-mail prior to a new post published on my blog, thus, you may check for a date and time of the remaining codes. Should you find the details easily, just open the PDF file and press ‘Ctrl’ + ‘F’ buttons on your computer/laptop keyboards simultaneously; the ‘Find Tool’ may pop up. Type the subject code(s) you intend to search for in the Find Tool and, Walla; the details (the date and time of the code) may appear on the right side of the subject code.

By the way, the schedule is subject to change(s).

May the excellence be with us!

Thank you.

Wassalam…

Best regards,
Syikri

Second Test - TSL450 (Reminder!)

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:54:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Dear colleagues,

There is the latest notification brought to you by Mr. Muhmad Nur (message received at 1.44 pm - 12th March 2009).

The second test covers a number of chapters – start from chapter six to twelve. Besides, he told me that he will have us tested in the morning before we go for 'commercial break.'

Best of luck!

Thank you.

Wassalam…

Syikri

TSL521 - Presentation (Slides & Written Report)

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:26:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Dear colleagues,

There was a message sent by Mr. Nasirin Abdillah regarding our class on this Friday (I received it last Saturday):

“TSL521 is on as usual next week, 6 March. All presentations and papers must be completed. Marks will be deducted for any delay. Please come on time. Class starts at 8 am. Inform others.”

Well! It sounded rather odd since this was my first time receiving that sort of strictly typed short message from Mr. Nasirin. You better watch yourself and do prepare for your presentation (slides and written report) as requested by him.

Do not even try to awaken the lion!

Wassalam…

P/S: Text highlighted in red indicates 'highly jeopardized' (the state in which Ultraman's light indicator blinks!).

Syikri

Final Day for Validation Process!

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 08:26:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Dear colleagues,

Have you validated your courses yet? If not, please do it as soon as possible because today (9th February 2009) is the final day for validation process.

I had already confirmed that matter with Mrs. T.S. Aini at 4.10 pm.

Please inform the rest.

Thank you.

Wassalam…

Syikri

Two Tests on This Weekend - TSL521 and TSL485

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 07:03:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Please take note that we will be sitting for two tests in this weekend; TSL521 – Literature in the English as a Second Language Classroom and TSL485 – Applied Phonetics and Phonology. For those who do not even start to open their book to read (including me; LOL!), please do initiate reading from this moment.

Remember! Make yourself proud! Be honest to yourself! Do not even try to ‘play dirty’ on these tests such as cheating and copying others’ answer(s). Most lecturers know that you are trying to cheat during tests but they do not want to disappoint you or to put paid to you. Some incidents in the past had already proven it!

Other universities allow lecturers to give students oral examinations on some papers as they believe the students (who cheated in tests) will not be able to cheat at all cost when tested orally! For sure, we do not want that sort of circumstance to happen in our institution.

If you do not want any of your soon-to-be students to cheat in tests and quizzes (or, worse case scenario, cheat you out of something), then please stop cheating, otherwise, someday you will find that sort of students be in your class!

Remember! WYDIWYG! What does WYDIWYG stand for? What You Design Is What You Get! Well! Who knows, you might find people of your ‘kind’ who will do what you did or even worse than what you ever did. You do bad to people, they pay you back for it! I also believe that, sooner or later, we will be responded with each of what we do/did.

The world is a circle without a beginning,
And nobody knows where it really ends,
Everything depends on where you
Are in the circle that's spinning around,
Half of the time, we are upside down…

Please, intrinsically, reform yourselves. You do not want your life to be out of His blessing as the price for you to pay for what you did in the past.

Thank you.

Wassalam…

Syikri

Whose Dictionary Is It Anyway?

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:05:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

To Whom It May Concern:

I believe that somebody might, completely unawares, have forgotten to fetch his/her Oxford Dictionary (English-English-Malay) left in the classroom after being dismissed from EDU550 (Educational Psychology) class yesterday – 31st January 2009.

The dictionary is wrapped with plastic cover and, beneath the hard cover of it, some words are vividly written – ‘UPSI 2004’ and ‘MY KOMPUTER PASSWORD “Deli 05”.’ Neither name nor nickname appear on it to show whom it belongs to.

If you think you have lost your dictionary, please come and see me to claim it in the next class.

Thank you.

Wassalam…

Syikri

No Quiz for This Week - TSL450 (Principles and Practices in English Language Teaching)

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 05:49:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Dear colleagues,

I called Mr. Muhmad Nur just now (12.15 pm) to ensure whether we will sit for the 1st Quiz or not in this week. As the aftermath of having our previous class postponed, he told me that the first quiz of TSL450 (Principles and Practices in English Language Teaching) would be postponed as well to the next meeting on 13th February 2009.

The quiz will also cover a number of chapters – 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 (from ‘Getting Started’ to ‘Intrinsic Motivation in the Classroom’).

Please inform the others.

Thank you.

Wassalam…

Syikri

TSL450 - Reading Materials and Observation Guide

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:42:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Dear colleagues,

Technically, I thought we were supposed to get observation guide for TSL450 (PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING) last week, yet, since the fact that we (part 4 and 5 students) had to postpone the previous class due to some inevitable reasons, we could not see Mr. Muhmad Nur Bin Wan Chik.

I am quite concerned if we could not accomplish the assignment earlier because the date of submission is quite near (13rd February 2009) so as we were scarcely behind the schedule a little bit.

I had requested Mr. Muhmad Nur to give us some guidelines to accomplish our first assignment – observation on a practicing teacher who practices a variety of methods in English class and, Walla; he had given the photocopied observation guide and reading materials (chapters 2 and 3) to me to distribute them to all of you. So, come and see me to get all the materials provided (during Mrs. T.s. Aini’s class at 5B2 – 24th January 2009).

Mr. Muhmad Nur also advised us to read them as preparation for his next class. Well! It may take a plenty of time to read, to understand, to absorb and to memorize all the information within the texts! Remember! Reading precedes lecture as told by Mr. Muhmad Nur!

By the way, please take note that the previous class we missed last week was fundamentally allocated for discussing the two chapters (chapters 2 and 3 that you will take from me tomorrow) and in the next class (30th January 2009) we shall discuss chapters 6 and 7 plus Quiz 1! I have no idea how shall we cover those chapters and how shall we replace the class? Well! We will see!

Thank you for your concern.

Wassalam…

Syikri

Back to Normal!

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:02:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Please be informed that the TSL485 APPLIED PHONETICS & PHONOLOGY class will not be changed from Saturday to Friday due to some inevitable reasons.

If we adjust the class to be on Friday, some of our colleagues might despondently not be able to come down for the class as they have already had their plan(s) with other party. For sure, it is not good to let them left behind. Consequently, we are back to normal, rain or shine!

Sorry for the inconvenience caused!

Thank you.

Wassalam…

Syikri

Proposal of Day-Switching for TSL485 APPLIED PHONETICS & PHONOLOGY

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:43:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Due to Literature class unfilled on next Friday (23rd January 2009) as Mr. Nasirin Abdillah joins UiTM Academic Delegation to Indonesia, I was recommended a brilliant idea by one of part 4 TESL student; Farah Najiha Bt. Baharun, to persuade Mrs. T.S. Aini to have her class – TSL485 APPLIED PHONETICS & PHONOLOGY – on this coming Friday (if there are no obstacles).

From what I heard, part 6 students are having their TSL570 LITERATURE & MEDIA class with Mrs. Mazni on the same day. Probably, we could not have Mrs. T.S. Aini’s Saturday class switched to Friday. Yet, I am still negotiating with them (part 6 students) to figure out whether they will have their contact hours with Mrs. Mazni or not.

If they have no class on that particular day, then I will negotiate with Mrs. T.S. Aini to switch her class to Friday from nine to five, so that we would not have any class replacement on the very last week of this semester. Perhaps, she will tolerate and consider our application or, otherwise, we are back to normal as scheduled (this is most likely another one to-be predictable hindrance against our proposal, for she may have her own plan on that particular day too!).

Anyway, for the time being, let me consult with them first.

Thank you.

Wassalam…

Syikri

Good News or Bad News?

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:54:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Please be informed that the TSL450 (PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE IN ELT) class on this coming Friday (16th January 2009) is about to be cancelled due to electrical substation of the campus is scheduled to be on maintenance on that particular day. The whole campus will be blackout full day.

Classes on Saturday (17th January 2009); BEL482 BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL COMM, BAB501 ARABIC LANGUAGE III for part 4 students and EDU550 EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY for part 5 students run as usual.

Announcement released by TESL coordinator.

Thank you.

Wassalam…

Syikri

Notification!

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 12:51:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Dear colleagues,

Kindly submit your typed note(s) for TSL450 (PRINCIPLES & PRACTICE IN ELT) via e-mail (nursyikri@yahoo.co.uk) for compiling purpose. The compiled notes will be distributed right after all of our peers submit their typed note.

Please make sure that your Microsoft-office-word file attached is saved as 'word 97-2003 document' prior to file attaching.

Thank you.

Wassalam…

Be Prepared for Registration Day and First Day of New Semester

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:18:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Hi there!

Happy New Year (2009) and Happy Ma’al Hijrah (1430).

It is good to see you again in a new semester after a long interval of holiday.

The new semester will resume on 2nd January 2009 (Friday). The Registration Day will also take place on 2nd January 2009 (Friday) at Dewan Cempaka (Part 4 and 5: 9.00 am to 10.00 am).

Have you prepared your money for the registration day? Our colleagues whom their family fully sponsors (FAMA), they would likely to have no financial problem at all to pay for the registration fee. Yet, for those who work to earn money, today:

*is the day on which they let their money goes for future/long-term investment
*is the day on which their savings decrease a bit (of course)
*is the day on which they start to loose their leisure on weekends (sob)
*is the day on which they apply 'togetherness' with peers in TESL class activities

Remember! Do not even waste your penny you consume to pay only to obtain failure in your study! Do struggle for your brighter future! There is no easy way to success, as Rome was not built in a day. Please think about what Assoc. Professor Hj. Mak Som Bin Sarakan used to say in his class:

“If you suffer for four years, you’ll be happy for forty years.”

Think again!

Wassalam…

P/S: “Where there's a will, there's a way.” (English proverb)

Congratulations! Bravo!

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:37:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Congratulations go to all those who had achieved success (as tribute to our/their hard work) in the previous examination! Be grateful and appreciative to Allah for what He had granted to us!

For those who did not make it, do not be so miserable! Perhaps we should fix our weaknesses in study. As expected, students always put their fingers on lack of preparation as common cause for failure in study. Maybe we did not have (or know) correct learning strategies. Thus, we just learn what we want to learn the way we feel comfort. Well, it is not too late to fix it!

Probably, we habitually like to delay our work. I also procrastinate (postpone or delay) to my work as well as I procrastinate to my study – reading learning materials, doing assignments and researches, preparing for presentations, tests and quizzes and so on and so forth. Eventually, I ought to do my work in last minute – naturally, that is my attribute. Actually, the best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today.

For me, procrastination is synonymous to laziness. Nevertheless, procrastination has something to do with lack of time management. Lord Acton (1834-1902) English historian says:

“A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.”

Procrastination (as frequently mentioned by PM Hj. Mak Som Bin Sarakan during his lectures) refers to an act of putting off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness or an act of postponing or delaying needlessly.

Please do learn from these quotes of procrastination:

"Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried."
(Author Unknown)

“You may delay, but time will not, and lost time is never found again.”
[Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist and philosopher]

“Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live on the ‘someday I’ll’ philosophy.”
(Denis Waitley)

“Never put off to tomorrow what you can do today.”
(English Proverb)

We could conclude that procrastination is an ultimate hostile that always attempts its best to put us off from achieving the ‘harbour of success.’

Hence, please put up your effort (so do I), struggle and strive harder, go all-out and bring all the best that you have to undergo this battle. Remember what Pappy used to say:

“If it's to be, it’s up to me.”

Congratulations once again!

Thank you.

Wassalam…

A Matter of Rebranding!

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:00:00 +0000

Assalamualaikum…

Hi there! Thanks for visiting my blog (The TESL Students’ Blog)!

Actually, I had created this blog intentionally to fulfill a partial requirement for Literature in Malaysian Schools (TSL 430) when I was in part two. You could see obviously the journal entries that written in the posts below mentioned something in relation to literature.

We (as part two students at that time) were required to learn how to write journal by using blog. Mrs. Norliana Bt. Ghazali, the lecturer of Literature in Malaysian Schools had invited Mrs. Taherah Bt. Zainuddin, (she teaches mathematics) to instruct us how to register and create blog in the computer laboratory (5B2; I guessed).

Some of my friends had inspired me to modify and rebrand this blog to help TESL students especially those who are in part three and four, (in next semester, they would be in part four and five) and those who (are from different part of TESL Programme that) will participate in the same classes. I hope that this blog could help them (me too) to find out something that could facilitate their study in TESL programme. Let say, if we have trouble to figure out certain terminologies of certain topic, perhaps some of us could share their knowledge with others by explaining to them or just giving them URL address that links them to that particular thing. What is more, this blog could also become an arena for us to brush up and improve our writing skill.

So, what the blog is all about? According to an online dictionary (yes, I do check for the definition too), blog is a shared on-line journal where people could post diary entries about their personal experiences, hobbies, information and so much more. Yet, one feature of the blog that differs it from a manual written journal (with pen and paper) is that it could be read, written, or edited as shared on-line journal (the manual written journal doesn’t have editing feature as the blog does).

My blog also has a number of widgets that might help you to search something you need. I enclose:

1) Yahoo! Messenger widget – to indicate my online presence.
2) Clock widget
3) Hijriah calendar widget
4) Gregorian calendar widget
5) Translation widgets (2 types):
6) Weather forecast (available for Kuala Dungun, Terengganu only!)
7) Online reference widget – http://wwwthefreedictionary.com/
8) Proverb’s widget
9) English flashcards widget
10) English level test
11) About.com widget
12) Englishtips widget
13) BBC news widget
14) CNN news widget
15) Journal widget
16) Shoutbox
17) Youtube search engine widget
18) Google web search widget
19) Answer.com widget

Please tell me if you need some more appropriate widgets to enclose in this blog. I am very grateful to get your comment(s) in order to improve my blog’s design and function.

Eventually, I hope that all of you could follow the netiquette or general guidelines of Internet for blogging purpose. Please write in proper English writing (mind your language), as we are TESL students, and we are concerning with English too!

Thank you.

Wassalam...

Best regards, Syikri

Seventh Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:54:00 +0000

Date : 30th September 2007
Day : Sunday
Topic : Novels and Revision

Descriptions:
Today would be the last meeting for the course – TSL 430. We took the opportunity to study two more novels; The Return (K.S. Maniam) and Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson).

Mrs. Norliana Binti Ghazali gave all the necessary notes to us to prepare for the final examination - on 27th October 2007.

We also took the chance to discuss and revise the last five-semester Literature examination papers as well as we were taught of how-to-answer-the-question skills.

Last but not least, we were greatly indebted to Mrs. Norliana Binti Ghazali, lecturer of TSL 430 (Literature in Malaysian Schools) for the painstaking care she had shown in supervising and proposing us her valuable comments, advices and guidance in our study of Literature in Malaysian Schools. God! Please bless her!

Sixth Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:53:00 +0000

Date : 28th September 2007
Day : Friday
Topic : Novels and Submission of Report Writing

Descriptions:
Today we learnt three novels; Prisoner of Zenda (Anthony Hope), Potato People (Angela Wright) and Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe). The important points of the novels discussed came in the form of Power Point slides to ease the students for note writing.

At the same day we submitted the Report on Poems Study in Sekolah Menengah Imtiaz (Atas) Dungun, Terengganu Darul Iman to Mrs. Norliana Binti Ghazali. The report writing consisted of six sections:

Introduction
Literature Review
Research Design
Findings
Recommendation
Reference

The reports were initially to be presented in Power Point by the groups assigned but were cancelled due to time constrain.

Fifth Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:52:00 +0000

Date : 14th September 2007
Day : Friday
Topic : Quiz 2 – Short Stories

Descriptions:
In the fifth meeting, we learnt another two short stories;
The Pencil (Ali Majod)
How Dalat Got its Name (Heidi Munan).

My comment for the short stories was that they were really beneficial for me especially The Pencil – the most attractive one in my opinion. The TESL students as the prospective teachers or lecturers should read and absorb the moral values of the story; of how to deal with the students (specially the problem makers), how to manage them in term of solving their problems, what were the required characteristics the educators should have and so on.

After the discussion done, we sat for Quiz 2 – the two short stories mentioned above for approximately thirty minutes.

Fourth Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:51:00 +0000

Date : 25th August 2007
Day : Friday
Topic : Short Stories Presentation and Drafting Questionnaires

Descriptions:
Today we concentrated to the presentations of the short stories. We performed the presentation for short story - The Drover’s Wife. The tough moment to remember during the presentation was the QA session. Questions came over and over again! By the way, all the titles in the short stories were entirely covered in the same day.

It was my second absence for the afternoon session as I had to attend my cousin’s wedding ceremony at Kuala Berang, Terengganu Darul Iman.

I was told by my group members that they had consulted the lecturer and drafted questionnaires for survey on poems study. The questionnaires were to be distributed in the school. Our group planned to choose Sekolah Menengah Imtiaz (Atas) Dungun, Terengganu Darul Iman to be the location for distributing the questionnaires in order to gain data for our report writing – poems study. The following day, I retyped the drafted questionnaires and passed / submitted it to Mrs. Norliana Binti Ghazali for any correction or amendment required.

Third Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:49:00 +0000

Date : 10th August 2007
Day : Friday
Topic : Novel, Quiz 1 and Preparation for Short Stories Presentation

Descriptions:
Mrs. Norliana Binti Ghazali has lectured us the novel The Pearl. We also learnt how to write about short stories, how to quote the texts to be the textual evidences and so on.

We also sat for Quiz 1 – Poems (questions came from two poems; Monsoon History and si tenggang’s homecoming) successfully. The time given was half an hour to answer the quiz.

At the same day, we also prepared for short stories presentation. A number of groups were assigned with different titles of short stories. My friend (Mrs. Roslaily Bt. Mohamad) and I as a group would perform our presentation for short story - The Drover’s Wife - in the next meeting. And today was my first time using and creating blog. I indeed was very greatful to learn a new thing. Thanks a million to Mrs. Taheerah for lecturing part two TESL students to use blog for educational purpose. We learnt the blog in 5A2 - Computer Laboratory.

Second Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:47:00 +0000

Date : 27th July 2007
Day : Friday
Topic : Overview of Poems

Descriptions:
In the second meeting, the class was started with self-introduction session; we introduced our names, our positions / occupations, what did we like and so on. After the self-introduction session ended, our first-met lecturer of Literature in Malaysian Schools (TSL 430), Mrs. Norliana Binti Ghazali distributed some notes for the introduction of poems.

We did revise our poems study acquisitions based on what we have learnt in the first semester. Apparently, we really needed to put up our efforts to revise back to back the skills of analyzing poems. We were then given task to analyze only one poem out of the titles given. The analysis of the poems was to be presented by the groups assigned in the afternoon session of the class. There were approximately five groups with different title of poems. My group presented si tenggang’s homecoming.

Unfortunately, I could not attend for the presentation as I needed to consult the doctor since I was not feeling very well – having slight cough and fever. My group members then substituted me for my portion of the presentation. There was the number of poems that we learnt today: The Lake Isle of Innisfree (William Butler Yeats), Sonnet 18 (William Shakespeare), si tenggang’s homecoming (Mohammad Haji Salleh), There’s been a Death in the Opposite House (Emily Dickinson), Monsoon History (Shirley Geok-lin Lim) and If (Rudyard Kipling).

First Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (I'm Nur Syikri Bin Harun) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:41:00 +0000

Date : 13th July 2007
Day : Friday
Topic : Introduction on Literature in Malaysian Schools

Descriptions :
I was absent today as I was obliged to attend the ‘Kursus Peningkatan Ilmu Guru-Guru Tasmie’ Luar’ held in Kem Sri Bari, Bari Besar, Besut, Terengganu for three days. The course was organized by Integrity Icon Sdn. Bhd. (one of Yayasan Negeri Terengganu Holdings) administrator of Sekolah Menengah Imtiaz Dungun, Terengganu Darul Iman.

But my colleagues told me that the very first class of Literature in Malaysian Schools was lectured by Mr. Gopala, who briefly motivated the students on the importance of English and the problems faced in learning English as second language. He also encouraged them to increase the reading habits particularly in reading English materials to assist the students to acquire and master the English language.

They were also introduced to Mrs. Norliana Binti Ghazali who will be the lecturer for the subject Literature in Malaysian Schools (TSL 430) for part two students.