In a classroom, a teacher was sitting on a chair where she was circled by a group of young learners who were sitting on the floor. She then threw a yellow bag one by one as she called out each pupil's name in her class. She threw the bag onto the floor and the children would go and pick it up when their names were called. The bag consisted of a story book and a reading record book which every child would take and read at home with his or her parents.
As usual...ME + MY OBSERVATION + MY CULTURE + ME THINKING = "woo...that's rude!"...
I was brought up in a culture and surrounding where BOOKS are honoured and thus the act of throwing books to the floor was regarded as rude...that's my interpretation.
Not only that, the teacher's act also led me to...MY CULTURE + ME THINKING = "Imagine if a child did the same to you, would it be alright?"
But then I am completely aware of "what's not acceptable in one's culture may be acceptable in another."
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Dressed to Kill
How many of us really concern about how we look like or how we dress up? For me the way I dress represents my mood and feelings. Seldom I dress to kill...I think?! Though sometimes I do dress up to the nines. Perhaps it's worth spending our money to look nice and to feel great.
I keep reminding (without fail) my students to dress smart. Smart enough not to show others of certain parts of the body...which shouldn't necessarily be revealed and that could cause learning distractions.At one point, I did make it compulsory for my teacher trainees to dress accordingly for my class...and for those who refused to do so would be kept outside the four walls. What was I thinking at that time? Was I really mean to my students? I guess not! I in fact was concerned about bringing up an image of Malaysian teachers who will be the role model of our future generations.
Dress appropriately! Dress appropriately! No short skirts! No open-toed shoes! No flip-flops! Be confident! No big dangling earrings! No jeans! These are some the NOs for the teachers to be - Malaysian teachers to be.
Knowing how to dress smart and according to situations certainly helps us from being outlandish. We certainly don't want to be a 'clown' of an event, do we? However, there are people who dress up just to attract attention, these people would overdo themselves to make sure eyes of others would fall on them. Just imagine an Asian lady walking in a t-shirt with a short skirt and a 3" high-heeled boots to class during winter in NZ! (Hey, that wasn't me eh!). What was she intended? I couldn't say much, perhaps she dressed to kill...literally.
I keep reminding (without fail) my students to dress smart. Smart enough not to show others of certain parts of the body...which shouldn't necessarily be revealed and that could cause learning distractions.At one point, I did make it compulsory for my teacher trainees to dress accordingly for my class...and for those who refused to do so would be kept outside the four walls. What was I thinking at that time? Was I really mean to my students? I guess not! I in fact was concerned about bringing up an image of Malaysian teachers who will be the role model of our future generations.
Dress appropriately! Dress appropriately! No short skirts! No open-toed shoes! No flip-flops! Be confident! No big dangling earrings! No jeans! These are some the NOs for the teachers to be - Malaysian teachers to be.
Knowing how to dress smart and according to situations certainly helps us from being outlandish. We certainly don't want to be a 'clown' of an event, do we? However, there are people who dress up just to attract attention, these people would overdo themselves to make sure eyes of others would fall on them. Just imagine an Asian lady walking in a t-shirt with a short skirt and a 3" high-heeled boots to class during winter in NZ! (Hey, that wasn't me eh!). What was she intended? I couldn't say much, perhaps she dressed to kill...literally.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Affectionate Word
Thanks to Bet (Ireland) and Sang C (Malaysia), friends of mine, who commented on my earlier posting in FB. Yeah...that's the term...'affectionate.' I was sharing my thoughts on different terms that people use to address another person which somehow are perceived differently by people from other cultures, myself as an example.
It's quite exciting to see how words are use to create bond. Bet gave an example of the use of HEN, which until now I still couldn't make sense of why they use the word HEN to indicate affection. Sang C also made an indication of the word HEN among the 'fag' or 'sissy' community - to indicate group belonging, I would say. Their examples have actually led me to another, often taken from granted, famously used by strangers within my culture to create bond. The word 'abang' and 'kakak/ kak' or 'kak long' as 'bro' and 'sister' in English, respectively.
If you are in Malaysia, you will often hear people use these words of 'abang' and 'kak long' which I personally feel inappropriate to be used although some may oppose by saying "well...that's part of the communication strategies.Yes, indeed, provided the terms are used in the right 'space.'
Let me give you an example of a real incident. The location was at the Petaling Jaya's famous A&W. I went there with my senior(in age)colleague back in 2006 and we were in the queue to place our order. The crew who was taking our order was wayyyyy younger than us yet she was saying :"Kak, nak order apa kak?...Ada apa-apa lagi kak? Kakak tak nak tambah ni...?" Worse case scenario was when she actually used the word 'Makcik', 'aunt' in English, to address the senior colleague of mine. I assumed that the crew was trying to be polite when she used the term 'makcik', but...to use it to a professional lady (you could certainly tell from the way she dressed herself up) was totally unacceptable - 'absurd' I would say.
"@?x?!*&?1xxxx%!@$^%&*" came out from my colleague's mouth. You could imagine how I reacted to the situation- I felt pity to both the crew and this colleague of mine. Of course, to save their faces, I giggled instead of laughing outloud. Tuhan aje yang tau my perasaan masa tu. We ended up 'to go' instead of 'eat in'
It's quite exciting to see how words are use to create bond. Bet gave an example of the use of HEN, which until now I still couldn't make sense of why they use the word HEN to indicate affection. Sang C also made an indication of the word HEN among the 'fag' or 'sissy' community - to indicate group belonging, I would say. Their examples have actually led me to another, often taken from granted, famously used by strangers within my culture to create bond. The word 'abang' and 'kakak/ kak' or 'kak long' as 'bro' and 'sister' in English, respectively.
If you are in Malaysia, you will often hear people use these words of 'abang' and 'kak long' which I personally feel inappropriate to be used although some may oppose by saying "well...that's part of the communication strategies.Yes, indeed, provided the terms are used in the right 'space.'
Let me give you an example of a real incident. The location was at the Petaling Jaya's famous A&W. I went there with my senior(in age)colleague back in 2006 and we were in the queue to place our order. The crew who was taking our order was wayyyyy younger than us yet she was saying :"Kak, nak order apa kak?...Ada apa-apa lagi kak? Kakak tak nak tambah ni...?" Worse case scenario was when she actually used the word 'Makcik', 'aunt' in English, to address the senior colleague of mine. I assumed that the crew was trying to be polite when she used the term 'makcik', but...to use it to a professional lady (you could certainly tell from the way she dressed herself up) was totally unacceptable - 'absurd' I would say.
"@?x?!*&?1xxxx%!@$^%&*" came out from my colleague's mouth. You could imagine how I reacted to the situation- I felt pity to both the crew and this colleague of mine. Of course, to save their faces, I giggled instead of laughing outloud. Tuhan aje yang tau my perasaan masa tu. We ended up 'to go' instead of 'eat in'
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Words, Expressions & Impressions
It's nice to travel and see how language is associated with one's culture. I remembered my trip to the North England. I was greeted by a man, "Morning luv, can I help you luv?" Hmm...puzzled for a moment, my inner voice was saying "why on earth he used the word - LUV? I'm not so much related to him!" In my culture, we don't greet someone we barely know with such word, do we? I don't think so.
On my way to Sydney from Brisbane recently, I met a guy who was rather friendly for an australian. Well, I have nothing against Australians. It's just that they have got quite a 'reputation' I would say. After a while, I found out that he wasn't an Australian but an Irish instead. We had a bit of conversation...bla...bla...bla... and it was time to go. "So, nice talking to you and see ya" came out from my mouth. He was then replied "You too, and you take care!" . 'YOU TAKE CARE' what is that supposed to mean? Should I be extra careful? (remember I mentioned about Australians and 'reputation'). The word 'YOU TAKE CARE' really bothered me till I met another person (a lady) who happens to be an Australian. We were waiting for our connecting flight at the Sydney Airport. She was interested in knowing whether I have had any unpleasant treatment on my visit. "No" I said. She then explained to me that there are groups of people who extremely go against Asian and a person like me who is obviously not from here (referring to my wearing of hijab). "Aah I see... no wonder the guy who sat next to me on the flight from Brisbane said YOU TAKE CARE" I told her. Then she replied "No, no, no. You take care is an expression that most Australians use to say GOOD BYE." Is it?
On my way to Sydney from Brisbane recently, I met a guy who was rather friendly for an australian. Well, I have nothing against Australians. It's just that they have got quite a 'reputation' I would say. After a while, I found out that he wasn't an Australian but an Irish instead. We had a bit of conversation...bla...bla...bla... and it was time to go. "So, nice talking to you and see ya" came out from my mouth. He was then replied "You too, and you take care!" . 'YOU TAKE CARE' what is that supposed to mean? Should I be extra careful? (remember I mentioned about Australians and 'reputation'). The word 'YOU TAKE CARE' really bothered me till I met another person (a lady) who happens to be an Australian. We were waiting for our connecting flight at the Sydney Airport. She was interested in knowing whether I have had any unpleasant treatment on my visit. "No" I said. She then explained to me that there are groups of people who extremely go against Asian and a person like me who is obviously not from here (referring to my wearing of hijab). "Aah I see... no wonder the guy who sat next to me on the flight from Brisbane said YOU TAKE CARE" I told her. Then she replied "No, no, no. You take care is an expression that most Australians use to say GOOD BYE." Is it?
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Worth Trying
Doing qualitative research really tests my patience especially when there is so much input received and gathered from various sources. All this while I was so much into quantitative research. My first practical experience with qualitative research was when I got involved in a multi-million ringgit kind of project driven by the MOE on 'Technology Initiatives and PPSMI.' The experience that I gained from this project, in a way, has helped me in designing and managing my doctoral research. Even so, there is so much to learn for conducting a research.
I have to admit here that doing a doctoral research could sometimes drive me crazy. It's no joke! Sometimes I wasn't sure enough of what to analyze; where to start; what to focus; which idea to use; which approach to follow - positivist? anti-positivist?; what style of writing should I follow - modernist? post-modernist? etc; which research paradigms should I follow - normative? interpretive?. Well, these were among the issues that I was struggling at during my first 6 months of my candidacy...not forget to mention of having to produce another proposal on research ethics (a requirement in NZ).
My first year was gone, and my second year is almost gone, which leaves me with a year to go more or less. Despite having excellent reports from my supervisors, I'm still struggling with my data. Collecting less data is no good, having too much data is no good either (hahaha). For my case, is having abundance of data. Looking at my data always make me thinking of several different ways to best analyze it so much so that nothing is being left behind. I've learnt using NVIVO, but it seemed complicated as compared to using SPSS for descriptive statistics. Hence, I ended up analysing my data manually. For some people, this is the hard way of doing it but I personally feel this is the best way to work with my data at the moment...hmm...at the moment.
Just to share with friends in the same boat, there is no one best way/method of analysing our research data. It's us to decide which works well and which does not as we know what is best for us. However, it's worth trying several different ways in analysing our qualitative data.
I, recently, was made aware of another software that could assist in qualitative data analysis called LEXIMANCER. According to a friend of mine, it's quite easy to use. I think it's worth looking at...why not?
I have to admit here that doing a doctoral research could sometimes drive me crazy. It's no joke! Sometimes I wasn't sure enough of what to analyze; where to start; what to focus; which idea to use; which approach to follow - positivist? anti-positivist?; what style of writing should I follow - modernist? post-modernist? etc; which research paradigms should I follow - normative? interpretive?. Well, these were among the issues that I was struggling at during my first 6 months of my candidacy...not forget to mention of having to produce another proposal on research ethics (a requirement in NZ).
My first year was gone, and my second year is almost gone, which leaves me with a year to go more or less. Despite having excellent reports from my supervisors, I'm still struggling with my data. Collecting less data is no good, having too much data is no good either (hahaha). For my case, is having abundance of data. Looking at my data always make me thinking of several different ways to best analyze it so much so that nothing is being left behind. I've learnt using NVIVO, but it seemed complicated as compared to using SPSS for descriptive statistics. Hence, I ended up analysing my data manually. For some people, this is the hard way of doing it but I personally feel this is the best way to work with my data at the moment...hmm...at the moment.
Just to share with friends in the same boat, there is no one best way/method of analysing our research data. It's us to decide which works well and which does not as we know what is best for us. However, it's worth trying several different ways in analysing our qualitative data.
I, recently, was made aware of another software that could assist in qualitative data analysis called LEXIMANCER. According to a friend of mine, it's quite easy to use. I think it's worth looking at...why not?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Amazing Discovery
Being an ESL (English as a Second Language) educator wasn't my dream at the beginning and I guess for many of my college mates too. However, my interest in teaching develops after I went for my practicum teaching...and here I am now training the new teachers to teach English as a second language.
As a teacher trainer and language educator, I have the opportunity to explore and research on how one's acquire language. I still remembered that one of the questions received with regard to the language development given by one of my professors - "Language: Nature vs. Nurture. Is acquiring a language an innate ability or is it nurtured? What do you think?
I love observing how young ESL learners acquire and learn their languages. Since English language is significantly emphasized in my home country, most parents tend to send their children to an English medium kindy. The children are given exposure to English as a second language at an early stage.
One interesting observation that I gathered was the confusion or rather the transfer of language rules from their first language (L1) to second language (L2) or vice versa. It was amazing to see a 5 year old child wrote:
I wonder whether parents or friends out there have encountered some other interesting language experience with their children learning L1 and L2. I would love to hear from all.
As a teacher trainer and language educator, I have the opportunity to explore and research on how one's acquire language. I still remembered that one of the questions received with regard to the language development given by one of my professors - "Language: Nature vs. Nurture. Is acquiring a language an innate ability or is it nurtured? What do you think?
I love observing how young ESL learners acquire and learn their languages. Since English language is significantly emphasized in my home country, most parents tend to send their children to an English medium kindy. The children are given exposure to English as a second language at an early stage.
One interesting observation that I gathered was the confusion or rather the transfer of language rules from their first language (L1) to second language (L2) or vice versa. It was amazing to see a 5 year old child wrote:
| MALAY WORD (L1) | SPELLED AS | ENGLISH WORD (L2) USED |
| KUDA (horse) | KU-THE | THE |
| CAWAN (cup) | CA-ONE | ONE |
I wonder whether parents or friends out there have encountered some other interesting language experience with their children learning L1 and L2. I would love to hear from all.
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