Tugas CCU_Opinion Essay

Low VS High-Context Culture

In many Western cultures like American and European countries, people generally speak in a low-context communication style. They ordinarily explain the intended message in a straightforward manner, clearly and explicitly, so that the listeners will understand them easily. These types of exchanging information are good for a number of reasons.

First of all, I think that exchanging ideas in a low-context culture can avoid some misunderstanding between the speakers from different cultural background. It is obviously true because in a low-context communication, people will typically clarify what they really meant and say the precise words instead of being uncertain and ambiguous. Therefore, this types of communication could prevent confusion and misinterpretation among the listeners. Moreover, in my personal opinion, speaking in a low-context culture allows both speaker and the listener for more flexibility and adaptability. For example, if there are uncertainty to what the other party are talking about, the listener would then be able to ask directly and the speaker could reiterate the subject more openly and plainly. In addition, speaking in a low-context culture could help foster mutual understanding among people across cultures. However, some people think that speaking in high-context communication is better because they speak economically and just say what is needed to say without being particulars. Although it may be true in some respect, it is really difficult to expect other people to understand us without being told what we really want, unless we come from similar cultural background. So, speaking clearly and explicitly is a good alternative of communicating with others.

In conclusion, I personally believe that communicating in a low-context culture are good in a sense that it could prevent some confusion and misunderstanding between the speakers, it allows both speaker and the listener for more flexibility and adaptability and I also think that it could help foster mutual understanding among people across cultures.

Writing Assignment

Developing Students' Speaking Skills through the Use of Podcasts

(I) Speaking is one of the most important English components that has to be mastered by the pupils. It is true because living in this globalisation, understanding spoken English and be able to converse well are extremely essential for all students as they could help them shape their future role in their chosen field. (R) Students generally believe that having high proficiency in speaking English will be very beneficial for their future studies as well as their prospective career. They also believe that speaking English fluently will take them far into the world and the future as currently, English is the most widely spoken language in the world. Therefore, mastering speaking in English is a must for them. (G) However, learning to speak English properly without reliable resources is very difficult for many students and as a result it may decrease their desire to improve themselves. (F) This essay will demonstrate a creative idea in developing students' speaking skills through the use of podcasts. A podcast is a series of regularly-updated audio or video files that can be played on a number of devices, such as mp3 players or mobile phones, computers and are distributed over the internet via a subscription service. So, I personally believe that utilizing podcasts to teach speaking are beneficial because they are authentic, easy to access, and free.

Teaching speaking in English by using podcasts is advantageous because they are authentic. Podcasts are generally produced by a reliable and legitimate sources such as Ed Ted Talk. Ed Ted Talk are great learning tools for students as they were produced professionally by educators and animators working together to make a short duration video lesson aimed especially for students and the teachers. Another examples of authentic sources are BBC podcasts, Learn English podcasts and or even the podcasts that were made by the teacher themselves. Students and teachers do not have to worry about the validity of the source as well as the content itself because they come from the professionals. They will be able to see who the writer or the speaker are as well as their education background information and their current employment status. Furthermore, those trustworthy sources are distributed freely for education purposes. So, all in all, teaching speaking in English by using podcast are very advantageous for both the students and the teachers because the sources are credible and reliable.

Teaching speaking in English by using podcasts is favorable because they are easy to access. Podcasts are portable, the audio and the video files that they produced could be played on an mp3, iPod, mobile phone and laptop. Students could get the file by subscripting to a podcasting educational site, they then will get an automatic update regularly. Alternatively, students could go to the podcasting educational site without subscription. They just had to do it manually by downloading the materials into their devices one by one. Once students downloaded their materials into their gadgets, they will be able to use it anytime and anywhere they want. Students will be able to listen to it while they are on the go; they do not have to sit in front of their desk to study or even in the classroom for all matters. It is very accessible for everyone and easy to use.

Teaching speaking in English by using podcasts is worthwhile because they are free. Many audio and video podcasts are chargeless. Podcasts are produced on the purposes of sharing the knowledge to the wider world and for the betterment of the education itself. It is mainly directed for students, teachers as well as independent learners, therefore it is in the public domain. Podcasts are uploaded on the internet for the public use and it is accessible 24/7. Students will be able to get any materials they need and they do not have to be concern about the cost anymore. So, there are no reason for many students not being able to learn because the cost is expensive as podcasts provide learning resources without charge.

In conclusion, I believe that teaching speaking in English by utilizing podcasts can help students to improve their understanding in many different kinds of English accent, increase their pronunciation level by listening to native speakers speaking on podcasts, encourage them to listen to the materials that they are interested in, give students interesting and up to date learning resources and also can help students develop their speaking skill through the use of podcasts materials. Additionally, podcasts are extremely beneficial and great for learning purposes because their materials are authentic, easy to access and free.

Essay Writing Tasked

Championing Students' Writing Skill through the Use of Wattpad

(I) Many students believe that writing is one of the most difficult English skills to master. Writing is obviously not easy to be mastered in a short period of time because of the grammatical knowledge and the amount of vocabulary needed in order for them to be able to write properly. (R) Many of them also acknowledge that they may be able to become proficient writer in no time if they have the dedication and determination to learn as well as a lot of practice. (G) However, the real challenge for many teachers is how to get the students to start to write and love the process of learning how to write itself. (F) This paper presentation will illustrate an innovative idea in teaching writing that can be promoted to guide students' writing skill by utilizing Wattpad. Wattpad is one of the largest online reading platforms that exist. Currently, it has about 45 millions members globally. Wattpad has also been considered as the Youtube of writing because it allows any authors to share their work with wider audiences in the world. Wattpad is an ideal tool to help students to enhance their writing skill because they can find and follow their favourite authors on Wattpad, choose and read any kind of books that interest them for free and in addition, they can write and release their own works on it as well.

Students who can find and follow their authors on Wattpad may be able to help to improve their own English writing skill. This is true because by following their favourite authors on Wattpad, they probably will be able to get most of the authors' written work on there and read it as much as they pleased, especially the one that the students like best and difficult to get hold of. Reading their favourite writers' paperback can help students to learn something interesting and useful as when someone like something, they tend to learn more from it rather than if they read something without the curiosity of knowing anything from it. Furthermore, Wattpad has literally more than a million active authors on their site which might interest them and give the students the inspiration to write themselves. So, improving writing skill is a must for all of the students and knowing as well as interacting with their favourite authors on Wattpad may give the students the motivation to improve their writing ability even more diligently.

Students who are registered on Wattpad will be able to choose and read any kind of books that interest them for free. It is true because Wattpad has more than 17000 plus books which are accessible online and it is in the public domain, so students will be able to access it for free. They don't even have to pay in order for them to join in the site and or even to read the book itself. The books come from different genre such as short story; general-fiction; romance; paranormal; teen-fiction; non-fiction; classic; adventure; horror; fantasy; humour; action; mystery/thriller and so on, therefore, students will have plenty to choose from. Moreover, by having unrestricted access to many different kinds of reading materials, students may unintentionally help themselves to improve their writing skill because by reading a lot of various reading categories, it will help them on how to construct sentences in English. All in all, having the freedom to choose any kind of book the students prefer to read may in the long term will be beneficial for themselves, especially if it is something that interest them. So, Wattpad is one of the best solutions for many students who want to explore in their reading adventure.

Students who are active on Whattpad will have the chance to release their own work on it as well. This is absolutely true as when you join in the community, you will automatically be able to publish your own writing online on Wattpad. These are some steps on how to start writing on Wattpad and how does it works. Firstly, students have to create a profile to join in the community as this is where everyone on Wattpad will be able to see each other. Secondly, as Wattpad stories are posted one chapter at a time so students don't have to rush to finish their writing. They can take their time and find more inspiration to write even better. Thirdly, students are encourage to publish their work in a regular basis. For example, they can release their work perhaps every two weeks or once a month. Fourthly, their readers will get notifications. It means that when students upload their work on Wattpad, their followers or readers will receive notification from Wattpad and therefore, they will come back and be able to view the new materials. Fifth, on Wattpad readers are usually interacting with the stories by giving comment and vote to the stories that they are reading. Sixth, students are advisable to be part of the conversation by replying to the readers queries and comment on their publish work. Seventh, students could write either on their mobile device or computer. As a result, students could write while they are on the go and not necessarily have to be in front of their computer in their study room. So, by being part and active on Wattpad will hopefully improve students' passion on writing, which eventually lead them to write themselves as well as publishing their own work and will make them writer on their own right.

In conclusion. We believe that learning writing can be easy and fun for many students if only they know how to do it the right and proper way. Wattpad could be the place for them to able able to explore, to have fun and to learn to improve their writing. Wattpad is an ideal tool to help students to enhance their writing skill because of three reasons. Firstly, students can find and follow their favourite authors on Wattpad; secondly, they can choose and read any kind of books that interest them for free and thirdly; they can write and release their own works on it as well.

Introductory Paragraph

Championing Students' Writing Skill through the Use of Wattpad 

 

(I) Many students believe that writing is one of the most difficult English skills to master. Writing is obviously not easy to be mastered in a short period of time because of the grammatical knowledge and the amount of vocabulary needed in order for the them to be able to write properly. (R) Many of them also acknowledge that they may be able to become proficient writer in no time if they have the dedication and determination to learn as well as a lot of practice.(G) However, the real challenge for many teachers is how to get the students to start to write and love the process of learning how to write itself. (F) This paper presentation will illustrate an innovative idea in teaching writing that can be promoted to guide students' writing skill by utilizing wattpad. Wattpad is one of the largest online reading platform that exist. Currently it has about 45 millions members globally. Wattpad has also been considered as the Youtube of writing because it allows any authors to share their work with wider audiences in the world. Wattpad is an ideal tool to help students to enhance their writing skill because they can find and follow their favourite authors on wattpad, choose and read any kind of books that interest them for free and in addition, they can write and release their own works on it as well.

Our Readers Theatre Project (Umi, Kinest, Dona and Novi)

A Cries of An Abandon Child

Life is not always like what it seems. Sometimes it's good; sometimes it's bad. And we couldn't expect everything to be like what we want. However, always remember to be strong, never give up and believe that a good day will eventually come.

I am Umi

I am Kinesti

I am Dona

I am Novi

We are from the first group and we are going to perform a readers theatre about the grievances of a daughter who was abandon by her dear mother with the title “A Cries of An Abandon Child”.

She told her daughter she hated her and wished she was never born. She didn't even seem to care that the child's heart was torn. She blamed child for all of her heartache and pain.

Did she realize emotional abuse can drive a child insane. She said her child was the reason she never achieved her dreams. Those words hurt her child more than to her they may have seemed.

All her daughter wanted was her love and her affection. But all she ever got was her mother's constant rejection, 

Feeling like a lost child with no one to love.

She prayed to be taken away to the heavens above, Not knowing why she just wasn't good enough. Why, when she needed gentleness, was she treated so rough.

Wondering why her existence caused her mother so much pain, Longing for her mother's love she probably would never gain. Wanting her mother to tell her she was a blessing, That she was not the reason for her mother's stressing.

The text was taken from: http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/a-grieving-daughter

Why Mommy must you treat me so bad I was there for you my whole life! And now all you do is make me feel sad. I try to hug you and you push me away. The situation is getting worse day by day.

Why Mommy could you say I don't love you When you know that isn't true? You know I love you with all of my heart and that I need your love too

Why Mommy do you make me cry All these hurtful things you say make me feel like I want to die. How could you choose another man over me, I would have never believed that something like that would've happened, not even in my wildest dreams.

Mommy, I am in so much pain Too horrible for me to even name I will follow your wishes and move So I'll no longer be there to mess up your groove Before I go, there is one thing I must ask

Why Mommy didn't our mother-daughter love last?

Text was taken from : http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/why-mommy-why

See what you have done A broken wall of hopes A small tear across my heart I am left to think I have nothing more You turned and left Not a hug, word or thought Now often down and sad I roam Watching, Waiting For things to end

The text was taken from: http://hellopoetry.com/words/8660/abandoned/poems/

Crashing, hit a wall
Right now I need a miracle
Hurry up now, I need a miracle
Stranded, reaching out
I call your name but you're not around
I say your name but you're not around 

 

The lyrics was taken from: http://www.directlyrics.com/the-chainsmokers-dont-let-me-down-lyrics.html

Dear Mom, You said you'd always be there But you're nowhere to be found I can't believe you left me I feel so low beneath the ground

There's nothing I can do now I trusted you with all my heart But now you're gone You're the one who tore my life apart

I've learned not to trust There's nothing more to say You've lost someone special You can't get back each day

Now you're the one left in the dark And all of a sudden you feel my pain You expect me to take you back But you still feel you're not to blame

I could never forgive you Even if I tried You can never make up For the lonely nights I've cried

You will never know the feeling Of losing the person you need the most To laugh and cry and love you Instead of making you feel like a ghost

I've moved on with my life Without you by my side My pain has kept so long I'm telling you how I feel inside

In a way I want to thank you Because of you I'm strong I just wanted you to know I didn't turn out wrong

The text was taken from : http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/poem-by-child-betrayed-by-his-mother

“When you leave,
weary of me,
without a word I shall gently let you go.”

The quotes was taken from : http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/heartache

Tell you what…truth is, sometimes I miss you so bad I can hardly stand it. 

The text was taken from Brokeback Mountain (2005): http://www.moviequotesandmore.com/movie-love-quotes/

Where have you gone My heart beats faster and faster every time I say your name, 

Did you ever love me?
 Do you love me now?

I think of you day in and day out and Yet you are so far away I don't know what to think anymore Once I believed in my heart you were someone I could love forever I can't love you anymore

The pain is so deep That every time I think of you My heart is stabbed once again It feels like thousands upon thousands of knives stabbing me in the heart

I can't go on like this anymore I can't go on missing you so much that is jeopardizes my happiness I want to run and be free from all the hurt you have caused me.

This is our last and final goodbye to the person we thought we could love for the rest of our life. We are sorry. But missing you can't go on. Goodbye, Mommy.

The text was adapted from : http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/missing-you-cant-go-on

Below is our recorded readers theatre performance on our Speaking Class with the text written above. 

After Mid-Test Break

Study Hard & Play Hard

After working so hard for the exam, everyone obviously love to laze around and undoubtedly it's no exception with me. On the last of my exam, my classmates and I went to a restaurant to celebrate the end of our test and the start of our holiday. XD It's nothing fancy, but I personally think that the restaurant was very nice and comfy. It was an outdoor restaurant called 'Pondok Apung", they named it Pondok Apung is because all the sitting areas of the restaurant were constructed on top of the large scale of fish pond. All of our hard worked prior and during the exam were paid off well once we got there. The restaurant was located in the outskirts of Banyuwangi, it took us about 15 minutes to get there by motorbike. It's a bit far but I love that place and it's one of my favourites eatery in Banyuwangi. We enjoyed the food, the service and the atmosphere very much. Moreover, the place was very calm and quiet, it's so green compared to where I live and the fresh air is certainly very refreshing for our exhausted mind. :-D
After the meal, we decided to go to a cafe in the town to continue our fun. As I'm not into singing and all, so I was there just to be a spectator while enjoying myself. Some of my mates were singing and playing guitar on the stage and I knew they were really enjoying themselves. When I look at them singing joyfully, sometimes I envy those who had such confidence and I really do wish that I've a beautiful voice as well as owning the confidence to sing in front of others, alas, I have no talent in such stuff. :-(
The following day, two of mates and I went to Villa Solong Banyuwangi to see the beauty of God creation there. Everyone said that it was very stunning and in fact when I look up on Google, it shows some pictures of Villa Solong which is extremely gorgeous. We went there in the hope of taking many selfies (well, my friend does). Honestly, I am not that into selfies very much as I am not very photogenic in front of the camera. Generally, when I went to visit some new places, I really do want to enjoy the site and admire the beauty of it. XD We went to Villa Solong on Saturday evening at about 4 o'clock, but unfortunately it was closed, so we changed our planned and went to Sweets Desserts instead. It's better than nothing, hey! ^_^
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were really lazing days for me. Well, I did had a look on my after mid-test projects for a bit, but nothing further happened yet. I called that three days as lazing days is because I literally did nothing notable for the period of 72 hours; what I did were only listening to Youtube and watching Korean drama. Ghost, I really waste my life away!
Then, yesterday, Wednesday the second of November was my busiest day during my mid-term break. A few weeks ago, I received a message that our friends from Hong Kong were coming to visit us and they due to arrive in our town on the second of November, afternoon time as they were traveling from Denpasar to Banyuwangi by bus. So to prepare for their arrival, I woke up very early in the morning, did all the cleaning and tidying up around the house, vacuuming and mopping the whole house, filling up the refrigerator and all. I am very excited about it. I am always happy entertaining visitor and I like the fact that our friends come to visit us. :-) They arrived about 3pm. We met in front of Roxy department store and we took them to our home. It has been years since we met them, so we chatted and talked loads. In the end, the guys got drunk and I've to clean up the mess! :-P
Now, I am looking forward to visiting Kuta & Denpasar - Bali at the weekend. And, this is going to be the highlight of this university break. Let's enjoy ourselves and party till dawn. XD

Exam Seasons

Beating Exam Anxieties!

In my university, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Banyuwangi - Indonesia, mid-exam is just around the corner and this time going to happen a bit late compared to the previous year which usually taken place around mid October. Our mid-term test will start in two days time, which is on Monday twenty-fourth of October. Everyone seems to be very calm and cool about it. Well, I am not quiet sure whether they are fully prepare for it or just don't give a damn about it - you know what I meant, some people just think that exam aren't very important at all and just take it very lightly. As for me, I always regard exam very seriously and enjoy being under pressure because of it and I think that I work best when I am under intense pressure. Usually when exams are approaching, I'll try even harder but not overdo it - XD. Here are some of my tips of overcoming exam strain so that it becomes less stressful :-D

• Time management. Take your time doing revision regularly in between your time and don't leave it till too late for you to revise your study all at once just the night or even the morning before the test taken place. It'll be too difficult for your brain to take that much information in one go with limited time. Reading your own notes, books or quizzes are good ways of doing revision before exam. Anyway, everyone is different and you can decide whatever most suitable method for your learning style.
• Good Food. I love having my favorites food available around me whenever I'm studying for my exams. when I'm studying, my brain works even harder for me and because of that it made me hungry very easily. So, having plenty of good food really help me study better because I know, I won't be able to grasp what I'm studying when my tummy grumbles all the time. :-D
• Listening to music. I love listening to classical music while I'm studying. I listen to classical music most of the time whenever I'm doing my uni work in front of my computer and not necessarily when it's approaching exam only. I think, listening to soothing music really help me study better because  it helps enhance my concentration and probably it improves my memory as well. :-P
• Varies what you're doing when you're studying for your test. When you're studying, you shouldn't do it so monotonously because it's going to be very boring and it'll make you feeling frustrated. In my case, sometimes I'll do something that I like in between my studies, for instance after studying so hard for a few hours, I'll just sneak out of the house and swimming in the swimming pool for an hour or so. In another time, I'll just stop studying and do other things like water the plant or just made myself a simple lunch. After that small break, I always feel refresh and feel good about continuing my studies again. 
• Get plenty of rest before your exam and don't stay up too late. Before exam starts, it's good to study hard, however we shouldn't neglect our own body and don't overwork it. Get plenty of rest and feel fresh on your exam day! :-)

Above tips are just what I usually do during my exam time. I guess, everyone will have different habit of overcoming the exam pressure, so it works for me but doesn't mean it'll work for other people. XD Finally, best of luck on our examination. Hope everything goes well and yes, I wish that we won't have any major difficulty in answering the exams questions (I really do anxious with statistic test though as I know, I'm not good at it). Anyway, Best of luck all.

Introductory Paragraph

Extensive Reading for Non-Native Students

For many non-native students, reading extensively in a foreign language is obviously very challenging and it needs special effort as well as determination to do so. Many students believe that extensive reading can help them improve their language proficiency, nevertheless it is extremely difficult to put it in practice because of several problems. Most students encounter the difficulty of understanding English text. In addition, many schools also did not provide different varieties of English literary book. Encouraging students to read extensively in and outside of the classroom setting is undoubtedly one of the teachers main duty. Teachers try to implement different types of approach to reach their goals in making the extensive reading program practicable, for instance by using either web-based stories or paper books stories. In our opinion, there are several ways to make extensive reading for non-native students workable in and out of the classroom. Those ways are as follows, provide students with many different types of reading materials, reading material must be easy and suitable for their level, let students to have the freedom to choose whatever they want to read and interest them.