Language Use

Language Use  11/Oct/ 2013

Language use means to use the language actively in creativity and production in speaking and writing / the output.   The input is listening and text reading activities in the passive learning.   If you don’t engage in the active use of your language, it remains dormant /in a sleeping state.   

Therefore to activate your language that you have learnt as a second language /L2, you have to practise it all the time in thought and interaction with yourself and others.

        
In school,  I believe, nowadays, English teachers have the consensus to teach an item /2 not more than 10 minutes and then engage students in the activities of listening, reading, speaking and writing.  Language does not meant for teaching actually.  It is to use the language through different activities with the 4 skills in mind to learn just as how we learnt our L1. Teacher  helps where necessary and steps aside . 

         
Teacher acts as a facilitator, guide, helper, counsellor and leader where needed.     It is a student-centred learning and Teacher as a co-learner.  It is Confucius’s philosophy that teaching and learning takes place at the same time.  Teachers learn and progress in the process of teaching and learning.   

         
Nobody taught us in L1 but in L2, learners only need Teacher to sensitise them with the rules and regulations.   It is to highlight the general rules and key points.   It is to view the articles with the interests of learners in mind to see how the rule(s) are used in the passage.   Through this language exposure/ experience, learners learn the expressions in context. 

         
English is learnt as a second language / L2 in Malaysia.   Reading as much as possible to acquire the language.  For a text,  it is to understand a reading passage with questions asked and answered in class orally first to practise speaking skills before the written answers for the questions.   

Teacher can also go through the structures of the reading passage to teach grammar in general.   It is to reinforce the learning of grammatical items in context. 

If learners are not clear about the forms, for example, “loss, lose and lost”, it is advisable to sort the item to practise to learn the grammar aspect of the language.    Being able to Classify words into 9 classes is an important skill in language learning.    Do you have any idea how to use the words:  loss, lose and lost

       

1.   Due to careless, the businessman _____________ almost half of his 
    fortune once.  (For verbs, you must be alert to tenses.) 

2.    Thomas sold the house at a ______________ of at least RM200,000.

3.    Jim was ____________ in the forest for 2 days when he went jungle-
     trekking last month.

4.    Nowadays, Peter can take ____________ at ease.

5.    Peter always ____________ in 100-metre race.  But he takes part in 
     the race every year.  He is going to take part in the race again this 
     year.  He is not discourage at all.  

Reading resources you with almost 100% fluency and comprehension but not accuracy.  For accuracy, you need to be competent in the language knowledge, ie, grammar, spelling, punctuation and pronunciation.   

You have to use the language to command it.  This Wednesday , my friend Ng SOSed me for help as her daughter studying in Form 2 was in dire straits with the question, “Are you a materialistic person?”.  She was at a loss how to present 3 evidences to show whether she was or not.    She needed to present that afternoon.   As soon as I reached home from marketing,  she called me up for help.  If not due to the press of time, I would ask her to write first before I helped.   

This girl has  good memory and she studies hard and is willing to go for tuition for all her subjects.   Thus she always gets good results with flying colours.  In UPSR, she scored As for all the subjects.  Now what was wrong with her when it came to the activity which required her to be resourceful?    She could blame her past passive exam-oriented education.   Students are what they have been trained to be.   The inputs were dormant/ passive

Our Education Department has just started School Evaluation of students’ performances 40% .   It is  about Hands-on activities to learn.  For the English language, I think they start to engage students in the classroom activities as much as possible.  This is the beginning.    I am happy for her to be one of the pioneers in this new learning arena.

        
You need constant language exposure and experience as well as conscious effort to become proficient be it L1 and L2.   The following is the sample I provided her for reference:

         

        Are you a materialistic person?

        Based on the number of things that I have possessed,  I think I am a  very materialistic person.   Though I am only 14 years old,  the things that I possess are many times more than my age.  

        I have a smartphone of latest model though my 2 other smartphones are still in good condition.

        I also have so many clothes in my wardrobes.   If I wear one suit of clothes a day,   I can do it for 3 months without wearing the same piece twice.

        Look, I am fancy for toys especially Hello Kitty, Barbie dolls and Millions.  I have 70 Hello Kitty toys,  110 Barbie dolls and 52 Millions.

        I wish I could earn a lot of money one day.  Then I would buy a very big and expensive car such as Volvo, Mercedez Benz,  BMW,  Ninja  and the like.   Besides, I would like to live in a mansion with a very big garden and a swimming pool.  Moreover, I would go travelling whenever I could.  Furthermore, I would like to marry to a wealthy man to ensure high /luxurious standard of living.