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.