~speAking exerCIse~

TODAY I HAVE DONE SOME SPEAKING EXERCISES WITH MY STUDENT IN A REAL 

MUET EXAMINATION SITUATION...HUHU..SOME OF THEM WERE VERY EXCITED AND SOME OF THEM FELT NERVOUS, ANXIETY & MIXED OF FEELING..BUT NO WORRIES GUYS..THIS IS JUST A PRACTICE...LET US ENJOY THE PICTURES..

Dayah's group

Ain's group

 

wAyS tO StARt aN eSSaY

 THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO START AN ESSAY. HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLE ON HOW YOU CAN START YOUR ESSAY WITH. HAVE A TRY..

1) A FACTUAL STATEMENT

    

                                   A Wet Market

    A wet market is a rare scene in big towns but it is very popular in small towns. A wet market usually starts very early and closes by midday.

2) AN ACTION

                                     A Flood 

Desperately, my brother and I filled sandbags and passed them on to my father. We were protecting our shop from the rising water.

3) A DIALOGUE

                                    Kidnapped 

'Now listen carefully! I'm saying this just once! '  shouted the burly man with a scarred face. 'If you try anything I'll cut off your ear, do you hear?' He threatened in a thunderous voice.

4) AN INTRIGUING QUESTION

              Values Are More Important Than Qualifications

 What are values? How do we embody them to show people that we are committed to these values?

5) A PROVERB

                                          Mother

 The saying that 'The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world' is surely true where my mother is concerned. She controlled the family with a firm hand and all of us had  to abide by the rules that she had set to avoid getting into trouble with her.

SPEAKING PRACTICE 1

QUESTION SAMPLE FOR TASK A

CANDIDATE A

Situation

There has been an increase in burglaries in your neigbourhood and the residents are very worried about their safety. A committee, suggest ways to make the neighbourhood a safer place.

TASK A       : You suggest the residents improve the safety feautures of the neigbourhoood.
                        Give reasons for your suggestion.

TASK B       : In your group, discuss which one of the following suggestions would be most effective
                       to make your neighbourhood a safer place.


                       The suggestions are:
                       i.      the residents improve the safety feautures of the neighbourhood
                      ii.      a police officer be invited to give a talk on security measures
                     iii.      residents be taught how to defend themselves against intruders
                     iv.     'Rukun Tetangga" teams be set up to patrol the neighbourhood at night








SAMPLE ANSWER:

 GREETINGS    Assalamualaikum and a very good morning to teachers and friends.

 BODY          In my opinion, one way to make the neighbourhod a safer place is by improving the safety feautures. I have a few reasons to support my suggestion.

                         First, burglaries happen because there are no deterrents, for example, no grilles on windows or cheap locks are used. Thus burglars can easily enter the houses. Therefore, to make the neighbourhood a safer place, grilles should be installed on windows as well as at the entrance of back lanes between rows of houses. The cost of the black lanes grilles can be shared by the residents in the houses. Then every house is given a key for emergencies. This will further deter burglars from trying to break  in as it will take longer to cut through he grilles as they might be seen by other residents.

                         Secondly, there are so many dark areas in our neighbourhood where  the    burglars can hide. So, to eliminate all the potential hiding places, the dark areas of the garden and at the back of the houses should be lightup. Besides that, residents must also keep their garden well-maintained and prevent them from becoming overgrown for criminals   to hide in. The clearing of overgrown shrubs on the pavement or roadside must be shared     responsibility of all residents. This can be done by organizing occasional 'gotong royong' session.

                        Thirdly, this is a quite expensive way, but surely an effective deterrent. Residents, who can afford the cost can install burglar alarms that are linked to security companies. Items that are stored outside can be easily carted off  such as bicycles or gas tanks need to chained up. Even expensive shoes should not be kept in public view. Lock them away when not in use. This will deter potential burglars from attempting to steal them.
                     
                         Fourthly, residents can get the authorities to install road bumps to deter cars from speeding away. This will make the burglar's escape difficult.

                        Finally, put in place  system for neighbours to alert one another if they need   help. Each household should keep a whistle handy. If an intruder is spotted at night, blow the whistle to alert other residents and to get help to apprehend  the intruder. If the residents work together as a team, burglars will be deterred from trying to rob that neighbourhood. In addition, residents are also encouraged to carry pepper sprays as this can be used in case of  confrontations with robbers.

Conclusion  Based on all these reasons, I strongly propose that improving the safety feautures  will be the best way to make the neighbourhood a safer place. I hope that my suggestion would be in your kindly consideration. Thank you.



       

LISTENING 800/1

LIsten, LiSten, ListEN

 

 

"in reality, listening is used far more than any other single language skill in normal life. On average, we can expect to listen twice as much as we speak, four times more than we read and five times more than we write"

Rivers 1981 : Weaver 1972

In listening, the following skills are emphasised:

1. Listening for main ideas
2. Listening for specific information
3. Note taking
4. Paraphrasing
5. Summarising
6. Inferencing
7. Predicting
8. Drawing conclusions
9. Recognising speakers' attitudes, roles and relationships
10. Listening critically

1. Listening for main ideas and specific information
    ~ listen generally in order to find out 
     -the main subject or topic of the news item, speech, talk or discussion you are listening to
     -how the subject or topic is dealt with 

2. Note taking
    ~use short form of words, dashes, arrows and, sometimes, even mathematical symbols to  transer the information effectively.
    - exp : (/) the, (x) do not

3. Summarizing & Paraphrasing
    ~ write something in a shorter, cleaner, and sometimes, different way.

4. Making prediction
    ~ To predict is to guess. Predictions are based on :
        -general knowledge
        -clues ( such as: 'how to' , why , steps to take, etc )
                   ( transition markers, eg. first, finally, so, etc )

5. Making inferens and drawing conclusions
    ~In order to make logical inferences and draw  correct conclusions, you have to 'listen between the lines'. In other words, you have to take note of the following points:

• Gender (especially where there is dialogue) 
• tone of voice (angry, happy, sad, anxious, etc)
• attitude of speaker (indifferent, positive, negative, etc)
• Interaction between speakers (in dialogue)
• words used

       

 

 

SPEAKING 800/2 (VIDEO)

gOOD EveNinG eVeryONe!!!

Its VIDEO timeeee...

let see this example of Speaking task together OK.

p/s: credit to youtube.com

SPEAKING 800/2

 '' The secret of successful speakers?

Passion and compassion with a purpose "

Lily walters

" Be interesting,

be enthusiastic...

and don't talk too much! "

Norman Vincent Peale  

TASK A : INDIVIDUAL PRESENTATION

PREPARATION ( 2 MINUTES )

• Study the task given to you. What does the situation require you to do.
• Then gather as many points as you can for the task or situation.
• You may want to jot down the points which you wish to elaborate or when you present them later.
• Give suitable suggestion.
• Remember that you are given only 2 minutes to prepare

PRESENTATION ( 2 MINUTES )

• Try to be at ease when presenting your points
• Speak clearly. Do not rush or speak too softly
• Speak in complete sentences where possible
• Present your points logically and in organized way
• look up at the examiner when you speak.
• Utilise two minutes given to you

TASK B ( GROUP DISCUSSION )

PREPARATION ( 2 MINUTES )

• Listen carefully to the other candidates while they are making their presentations
• Take down notes to support or oppose their viewpoints
• Then try to decide which of the four viewpoints is best, giving your own reasons.
• The group is given 10 minutes for the discussion. 

 
PRESENTATION ( 10 MINUTES )

• Skills that are emphasized:

1. Observing social conventions
2. Managing a discussion
3. Seeking and giving information
4. Expressing agreement and disagreement
5. Making suggestion
6. Justify your point of view
7. Expressing cause & effect relationship
8. Presenting factual information
9. Expressing opinions
10. Persuading
11. Drawing conclusion

 

READING 800/3 TIPS (2)

READING COMPREHENSION

• USUALLY THE DIFFICULTY LEVEL OF THE COMPREHENSION PASSAGES WILL INCREASE WITH EACH PASSAGE
• FOR EACH PASSAGE, THERE WILL BE 7-8 QUEST. THAT COVER:

         1. CONTENT

       2. VOCABULARY

        3. CRITICAL THINKING

READING COMPREHENSION TIP NO 1

• Answers usually follow the sequence 

i.e. Read the passage carefully as the answer for the 2nd quest. is usually found between the answer for quest. 1 and quest 3.

• e.g if the answer in Q1 is in line 5 and Q3 is in line 20, then the answer for Q2 is most likely around line 6 to 19

READING COMPREHENSION TIP NO 2

Use the anaphoric (before) or cataphoric (after) referencing technique to find the answer.

• ANAPHORIC REFERENCE (BEFORE THE WORD)

A study was conducted on 200 Malaysian respondents. The researchers conducted the survey by giving them questionnaires to answer.

1) The word 'them' refers to

    a) the study
    b) the respondents
    c) the survey
    d) the questionnaires

• CATAPHORIC REFERENCE (AFTER THE WORD)

It is one of the most common sleep disorders & a major health problem. In fact, insomnia affects normal rest patterns and as a result insomniacs find it difficult to fall asleep

1) The word 'it' refers to

    a) sleep
    b) health
    c) insomnia

 READING COMPREHENSION TIP NO 3

When you cannot locate the answer directly, you need to 'infer' i.e. make intelligent assumptions.
e.g. Many people brought the products. Profits increased due to the high sales

All the statements are false except :

     a. the product was a failure
     b. the product was a success
     c. the product was expensive
     d. the product was easy to use

*pay attention to word like 'except' and 'not' as it may trick you into choosing the wrong answer. Other common phrases used include, which of the following is true?

READING COMPREHENSION TIP NO 4

• FOR VOCABULARY

          E.g. The word................. in line 3 refers to
          1. Eliminating impossible answer
          2. identify the root word
          3. identify prefixes and / or suffixes
          4. use anaphoric or cataphoric referencing
          5. select the most likely answer

READING COMPREHENSION TIP NO 5

• FOR PREDICTION

          E.g. A suitable title for the passage is.............
          Read the text carefully before selecting the best title

• DRAWING CONCLUSION

          Read the entire text carefully before summing it up.

READING COMPREHENSION TIP NO 6

• FOR WRITER'S STYLE

          E.g. The writer develops his ideas using
                  a. Compare & contrast
                  b. Problems & solution
                  c. Cause & effect
                  d. Timeline

You need to read the text carefully to see the writer's line of argument

READING COMPREHENSION TIP NO 7

• FOR WRITER'S TONE

         E.g. The writer's purpose to
                 a. support
                 b. inform
                 c. go against
                 d. persuade

You have to think about the writer's main intention of writing the text