LANGUAGE bulletin - Terengganu

I S SU E 13
A PUBLICATION OF
APB UITM (TERENGGANU)
AP R — JU N E
2 014
LANGUAGE bulletin
Recreating
Pedagogy
By WAN NAJMIYYAH WAN MD ADNAN
Being teachers, we are constantly being challenged by new knowledge and ideas, evoked to do
new research on new fields and most of all, we are forced to adapt to the continuous changes in
terms of teaching materials, methodologies and even students. With advances taking place basically everywhere, one cannot deny that we also need changes in the knowledge pedagogy. Pedagogy could be defined as the art and science of teaching. It simply deals with a simple question of
“how teachers manage classroom learning”. Thus, this article would like to focus on the implementation of pedagogic setting in classroom, and in particular- the ESL classroom. What are the issues and
challenges related to the implementations of such settings?
A
ccording to Leach and Moon (1999), ped-
ulum as experienced by learners. A teacher might
agogic setting is a practice that a teacher
have a well-prepared lesson plans for his class, but
creates, enacts and experience with a
what students learned through participation in the
particular group of learners. In other words, peda-
culture of practices is also a part of the learning
gogic setting can be referred to as the application
pedagogy. The relationship between the teachers,
of learning activities a teacher trying to apply with a
learners and the learning practices they share are
particular learning community – as in this case, the
the important things that could determine the suc-
students.
cess of an academic classroom.
The first setting is that teachers should crucially
Teachers should also have clear and proper
determine both the nature and quality of learning.
planning to ensure that the pedagogic setting is
Teachers need to create settings that can engage
able to build the self-esteem and identity of learn-
and motivate learners at all times, despite the differ-
ers. Since many learners develop low self-esteem
ent personal and cultural backgrounds of the learn-
about their learning potentials, teachers have to
ers.
create tasks that motivate and build on prior
The second assertion is teachers need to ex-
knowledge and diverse ways of knowing. The as-
plore learners‟ potentials as human mind must be
sessment process should also be used developmen-
viewed as agentive, complex and multifaceted.
tally rather than judgmentally.
Thus, teaching and learning should not be limited
and learners‟ potentials should be fully explored.
There should also be a balance between the
curriculum as planned and enacted and the curric-
Furthermore, teachers need to develop
habits of mind that enable learners to be reflec(Continued on page 2)
(Continued from page 1)
Another factor that could contribute to the
tive, questioning and critical. Teachers should see
failure of the teaching pedagogy is the issue of
learners as thinkers and need to be multi-voiced. It is
learners being unmotivated in classrooms. In the
very important for teachers to introduce collabora-
context of language classroom, our students seem
tive learning as learners consist of members from
to be even more fragile in self-esteem depart-
different communities.
ment. From my own teaching experience, aver-
Looking at the five pedagogic settings set by
age and low ability students are mostly reluctant
Leach and Moon, one cannot help but question
to even join English class, as they are very unconfi-
whether the settings can actually be implemented
dent about their learning potentials. English has
in Malaysian classroom. Or, have we been imple-
always been perceived as an “alien” language;
menting the theories all this while without even
knowing it?
Malam Kebudayaan Bahasa Arab
Oleh NOR SHAIFURA MUSILEHAT
M
alam
Kebudayaan
Bahasa
Arab kehormat yang kemudiannya merasmikan pro-
merupakan satu aktiviti tahunan yang gram malam Cinta Rasul ini.
dianjurkan oleh Unit
Bahasa Arab,
Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, UiTM (Terengganu).
Pelbagai acara telah dipertandingkan dan
Aktiviti ini diadakan pada hampir setiap semester
disusun mengikut tahap pengajian bahasa Ar-
therefore it is normal for them to literally “alienate”
pengajian peringkat diploma mahupun sarjana
ab, iaitu pertandingan „Choral Speaking‟ dan
the subject. When situations like this arise, the task
muda. Pelajar-pelajar yang sedang mengambil
nasyid untuk pelajar bahasa Arab tahap satu,
As being said by Leach and Moon, a good
falls on the teachers to create activities and lesson
kursus bahasa Arab sebagai bahasa ketiga di
pertandingan video pendek untuk pelajar ba-
lesson is a lesson well planned by the teachers and
plans that could raise their self-esteem and drive
UiTM diwajibkan mengambil bahagian dalam ak-
hasa Arab tahap dua dan pertandingan dikir
a lesson well experienced by the learners. In my
to learn.
tiviti-aktiviti yang dijalankan pada malam terse-
barat untuk pelajar bahasa Arab pelancongan
but.
tahap tiga dan empat. Selain itu, pertandingan
humble opinion, learners need to be reminded that
Basically the last assertion in pedagogical setting
learning is an on-going process of discovery and it
mentioned by Leach and Moon is the most critical
can only materialise through the relationship be-
challenge faced by our teachers. It is a well-known
tween the teachers combined with the individual
fact that majority of Malaysian students are very pas-
skills and experiences of the learners.
sive in class. In the language classroom for example,
khat turut dibuka kepada semua pelajar.
Pada 5 Februari 2014 yang lepas, Unit Bahasa Arab sekali lagi mengadakan program Malam
Tiga kumpulan telah dipilih daripada setiap
Kebudayaan Bahasa Arab yang bertemakan
acara „Choral Speaking‟, nasyid dan dikir barat
Teachers should encourage the students to
it is very hard to get students to be reflective or even
include and relate their own personal experience
ask questions in class. They need the constant push
„Malam Cinta Rasul‟. Pelajar-pelajar daripada
untuk membuat persembahan dan ditentukan
into the classroom as this would result in balanced
to actually present their ideas to the class. Fingers are
kumpulan HM1112B telah dipilih sebagai tenaga
pemenang bagi setiap kategori. Manakala
understanding in the learning process. In one of my
either pointed to either the students‟ own attitudes or
penggerak program tersebut. Bertempat di De-
acara video pendek pula video yang terpilih
speaking classes, we once had a group debate on
simply the acceptable classroom culture in Malaysia.
wan Aspirasi, UiTM (Terengganu), program ini
sebagai pemenang ditayangkan kepada had-
the road bullies, and on the issue of gender relations
Collaborative learning does help to keep students in
dihadiri lebih 600 orang pelajar dan enam orang
irin. Program malam kebudayaan bahasa Arab
when it comes to those causing more troubles on
line with the objective to create thinkers out of learn-
the road. The normally passive class suddenly be-
ers. The good thing about collaborative learning is
pensyarah bahasa Arab. Puan Hajah Roszainora
ini telah berlangsung selama lebih kurang tiga
came heated with discussions, with the male stu-
that the students tend to be more relaxed within their
Setia selaku Koordinator Akademi Pengajian Ba-
jam dan berakhir pada jam 12 tengah malam.
dents putting the blames to woman drivers, and fe-
friends and sharing knowledge and ideas seem to be
male students accusing male drivers of driving too
much easier when it is done in groups. In this context,
egoistically - among all. They were absorbed in the
it is clear that the teachers are the ones that should
discussion and used their personal experiences.
play vital roles in engaging learners with activities
Hence, it showed that both the planned lesson and
that could explore their creativities and the ability to
the information sharing actually proved this peda-
be reflective.
In conclusion, pedagogy means the relationship
between teachers, learners, learning tasks and the
might be theoretically good, but to apply it in a set-
learning environment. With vast changes in the edu-
ting where you have at about 30 to 40 students per
cation world today, there is a need to move away
class proved difficult. It is extremely difficult for
from the technical instrumentation of methodology
teachers to recognise and nurture all different types
and focus more on the understanding of critical ped-
of human intelligences in their classroom. Even
agogy. Teachers do need to keep updated with the
though it might sound idealistic, this theory could be
current changes, and recreating the pedagogy
put into use. Teachers could apply different meth-
would help them to carry on the torches. There is a
odologies and practices in classroom activities to
quote by Alfred North Whitehead that says: “The art
cater to the needs of the students. Teachers need
of life is to live, to live well and to live better.” Thus, I
to be creative and vary their teaching methods as
could not agree more with some teachers who said
different human intelligences need to be handled
that the art of teaching is to teach, to teach well and
accordingly.
to teach even better.
bulletin
EDITORIAL
The concept of exploring learners‟ potentials
LANGUAGE
gogy setting theory.
hasa UiTM (Terengganu) hadir sebagai tetamu
Patrons
Advisor
Chief Editor & Layout
Editors
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdol Samad bin Nawi , Assoc. Prof. Dr. Baharom Abdul Rahman
Roszainora Setia
Aileen Farida Mohd Adam
Nor Ashikin Mohd Yusof, Norhayati Husin, Shamshad Begham Othman, Nurhafizah Ali
Questions or Comments? Email them to aileen@tganu.uitm.edu.my
2 Language Bulletin Apr—June 2014
Language Bulletin Apr—June 2014
3
SUCHEN CHRISTINE LIM
The Lies that Built a Marriage:
Stories of the Unsaid, Unsung
and Uncelebrated (2007)
PART 1
By MAZNI MUSLIM
Introduction
Suchen Christine Lim stumbled into writing through a
children‟s story writing competition. She wrote because she was restless. She wrote “The Valley of
Golden Showers” for the competition. It was a story
about mice. The year was 1979. The story won and
she received S$750 which was used to finance her
much-needed family holiday to Penang, Malaysia
(Quayum, 2007: 190). Her second short story which
won her a second prize (S$500) created a lot of tension in her personal life as her “significant other” who
entered in the competition did not win anything.
She claimed that her winning did not bring any joy.
Rather, she developed insecurity to whether she
could write or not. In her interview with Quayum
(2007), she recalled of going alone to the award
ceremony at the old Singapore History Museum. After receiving her cheque, she took a bus home. On
the next day, she deposited the cheque into the
family‟s housekeeping account and forgot about it.
To this day, she cannot even remember the title of
that prize-winning story that is out of print (p. 190).
In an interview with Klein (2001) published in
Interlogue: Studies in Singapore Literature, Volume
4 Language Bulletin Apr—June 2014
4: Interviews, she said that she did not set out to
be a writer. She did not grow up wanting to be a
writer like most people. Instead, she wanted to be
either a great teacher or a great revolutionary
figure. She wanted to change the world or, at
least, change Singapore (p. 202). In her dialogue
session with Philip Holden (2009), she repeated her
statement that she had never wanted to be a
writer. It never occurred to her that she wanted to
or could write even though by the 1970s she had
won prizes for her children‟s stories (p. 102). She
wanted to sell chicken porridge as a child. In the
late sixties, as a teenager, she was a romantic.
She dreamt of making revolutionary changes for a
better and kinder Singapore. She was with a
group of students, led by a Catholic nun were out
to change Singapore. She claimed that in the sixties and seventies, Singapore was a hard piece of
rock without a heart. Economic survival and a utilitarian philosophy formula were the basis of major
national policy decisions. Until today, she still thinks
that Singaporeans are still living with that legacy.
She concludes that she was a failed revolutionary
who became a teacher who became a writer. To
her, the writer‟s main job is to be the mediator of
those who wish to speak (Klein, 2001: 209). In addition, she sees the writer as a chronicler of her society – the one who records and bears witness
(Quayum, 2007: 195).
Suchen Christine Lim was born in Ipoh, Perak,
Malaysia. During her childhood in Malaysia, she
lived in three different states - Ipoh, Perak; Alor
Setar, Kedah; and Ayer Hitam, Penang. She lived
in Ipoh till she was about six or seven years old.
Coming from a totally Cantonese background,
she went to school not knowing a word of English
as she went to a kindergarten in Ipoh to study the
Confucian classics in Cantonese. The decision to
send her to Cantonese kindergarten could be the
influence of her staunch Taoist grandparents who
came from Tangshan, China and settled in Malay-
sia. Besides Ipoh, her family had lived in Alor Setar,
Kedah whereby she often cycled past paddy fields
in the morning and sometimes would stop at the
edge of the paddy field to watch the farmer
ploughing (Quayum, 2007: 197). Then her family
moved to Ayer Hitam, Penang. There, she went to
a convent school and suffered a culture shock.
She could not understand a word in English, and
for three years in the primary school, she was dumb
and silent (Klein, 2001: 199). Lim‟s mother, being a
quite forward-looking for her time, decided to send
her to the convent so that she could learn English,
cooking and sewing from the nuns. Then, when she
was about thirteen or fourteen, the family migrated
to Singapore because of these two reasons: first,
her mother remarried and moved to Singapore;
and second, she failed her Bahasa Malaysia subject. She failed miserably and only managed to
get ten upon a hundred. As a result, she was severely punished by the Malay teacher. In addition,
the Malaysian government decided to use Bahasa
Malaysia as the medium of instruction in Malaysian
schools. Having the poor results in Bahasa Malaysia, she could never have survived in Malaysian
school and she believed that if she had remained
in Malaysia, she would never have gone to university. When her family moved to Singapore, she was
so relieved not to have study Malay that she simply
took to English and blossomed (Quayum, 2007:
194).
Lim taught at a local college for several
years before she joined the Ministry of Education,
Singapore, as a curriculum specialist. She resigned
from the Ministry of Education in 2003 during the
SARS crisis to pursue fulltime writing. The voluntary
retirement was an unplanned decision. The decision was triggered when victims died of the strange
disease and there was so much anxiety and fear.
She asked herself, “Would I like to die holding a report on the teachers‟ state of grammar in my
hand, or would I like to die with an unfinished manuscript?” (Ng, n.d.).
Lim is better known as a novelist. She has
published five novels – Ricebowl (1984), Gift from
the Gods (1990), Fistful of Colours (1992), A Bit of
Earth (2001), The River’s Song (2014) – which are
categorized as historical novels. To her, writing a
novel is like preparing ourselves to run the 36-mile
marathon. It requires training every day. And the
grind of the long-distance runner is so different
from the glamour of the sprint. Novelists need reflection. They need time to reflect, time for solitude,
time for the artist to be alone for a long period of
time (Ng, n.d.).
Suchen Christine Lim’s Writing Residencies
In 1997, Lim went to Iowa on the International Writing Program and returned subsequently in 2000 as
a writer-in-residence. Lim said that it was Peter Nazareth‟s wife, Mary, who instigated her to apply for
the program (Nazareth, 2009: 14). In 2003, she was
based overseas again in two different countries,
Myanmar and Australia. She became the writer-inresidence in NICA Centre, Yangon, Myanmar and
University of Western Australia. Later, in 2004, Lim
became the first Singapore writer to visit the Scottish Highlands as a writer-in-residence (Quayum,
2007: 203). She was one of the six writers short-listed
out of nearly 260 applicants all over the world. The
writing residency gave her time, space and solitude to research and write as well as read to a different audience. In Scotland, she was asked to
conduct writing and reading sessions for student
and adult groups in towns and villages of the Highlands as a writer and not as some exotic Asian
(Quayum, 2007: 203).
In 2006, Lim accepted an honorary post of
writer-in-residence for the Religious of the Good
Shepherd, province of Singapore and Malaysia
(Lim, 2007: 208). The nuns there needed a writer to
help them write their story. Thus, as part of her research, Lim visited the nuns‟ convent in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Her two-week stay at the convent
gave her ample time and space to write a new
story, “Usha and My Third Child” commissioned by
the Kampong Kapor Methodist Church, that was
later compiled in The Lies That Build a Marriage
(2007). Next, in 2009, Lim was based in South Korea
as a writer-in-residence at the Toji Literary Park,
where she lived in the former house of Park Kyungni, author of the 16-volume Toji (Land), who died in
2008 (Evans, 2009). In 2011, she was based in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore as the
Visiting Fellow in Creative Writing. In 2013, she returned to Moniack Mhor, Scotland‟s Creative Writing Centre to lead a writing retreat.
The Lies That Build a Marriage: Stories of the Unsaid,
Unsung and Uncelebrated (2007)
Lim‟s latest collection of short stories, The Lies That
Build a Marriage: Stories of the Unsaid, Unsung and
Uncelebrated (2007) deal with such subjects as
homosexuality, cross-dressing, adultery and prostitution, all in a Singaporean context. In answering
Peter Nazareth‟s (2009) interview questions, Lim
said that it is the writer‟s job to open doors, to inLanguage Bulletin Apr—June 2014
5
clude people who are marginalized in their fiction,
and that is part of the reason why she wrote The
Lies That Build a Marriage. According to Melissa de
Villiers (2010), the stories have been rightly praised
for their skill at delving beneath the island‟s coded
decorum to describe ordinary Singaporeans attempting to chisel away at the social prejudices
that surround them. The book gives people a
voice, in other words, and a chance to tell their
story (de Villiers, 2010). When asked by de Villiers if
that was her intention, Lim said that giving ordinary
people a voice has fuelled her writing from the
start – to try and “write wrongs,” to write the voices
that we do not hear. Some people think that her
short stories focus only on things that happen in the
margins of the society, but these things are normal
behaviour. It just shows what the perception of
“normal” is here. She thinks that Singaporeans hide
things so well. She claims that unlike her Rice Bowl
published in 1984, her stories compiled in The Lies
That Build a Marriage come at a time when Singaporeans are much more confident about who they
are although there is still a part of Singaporean culture that says: “We do not want to rock that boat.”
It is as if everyone wants to appear very straight
and moral. It is as if only our grandfathers who had
mistresses!
In answering Eustace‟s (2011) interview question regarding the process of writing the stories in
her latest collection of short stories The Lies That
Build a Marriage, Lim states that she did not feel
the stories were difficult to write. In fact, she enjoyed writing many of the stories. She said that
some of creative fictions were composed when
she was chairing the curriculum development
committee that was driving her nuts (p. 141). At the
time of writing her short stories she was attached at
the Ministry of Education and doing syllabus design, planning a new syllabus, chairing two committees on syllabus development and writing papers for the Ministry of Education on the state of
grammar in Singapore. She claimed that all of
those work commitments were driving her nuts.
Thus, to save her soul, her imagination and sanity,
she agreed to write the short stories (Eustace, 2011:
141). Earlier in her interview with Quayum (2007),
6 Language Bulletin Apr—June 2014
she said that she writes because writing keeps her
sane and out of trouble. Writing gives her the illusion that she is doing something worthwhile and
non-violent as the world is full of pain and violence
(p. 189). To be continued.
References
de Villiers, M. (2010). Interview with Suchen Christine
Lim. Retrieved February 2,
2011 from http://
moviesartbook.blogspot.com/2010/09/interview
-with-suchen-christine-lim.html
Eustace, J. (2011). New stories for a staid people.
An interview with Suchen Christine
Lim. Ariel: A Review of International English Literature, 41 (2), 139-152.
Holden, P. (2009). Writing historical fiction: A dialogue with Suchen Christine Lim.
Asiatic, 3 (2).
Klein, R. D. (ed.) (2001). Suchen Christine Lim. In Interlogue: Studies in Singapore
literature, volume 4: Interviews (pp. 199 – 217). Singapore: Ethos Books.
Lim, S. C. (1984). Rice bowl. Singapore: Times Books.
Lim, S. C. (2001). A bit of earth. Singapore: Times
Books.
Lim, S. C. (2003). Fistful of colours. Singapore: SNP International.
Lim, S. C. (2007). The lies that build a marriage: Stories
of the unsung, unsaid and uncelebrated in Singapore. Singapore: Monsoon Books.
Lim, S. C. (2014). The river’s song. London: Aurora
Metro Publications.
Nazareth, P. (2009). Peter Nazareth talks to Suchen
Christine Lim in Singapore.
Confluence. Retrieved October 29, 2013 from
iwp.uiowa.edu/sites/iwp.uiowa.edu/files/
SuchenChristineLim.pdf
Ng, Y. S. (n.d.). Interview with Suchen Christine Lim.
Writing the city. Retrieved March 29, 2012 from
http://civiclife.sg/writingthecity/
Quayum, M. A. (ed.) (2007). Peninsular muse: Interviews with modern Malaysian and Singaporean
poets, novelists and dramatists (pp. 187 – 204).
Switzerland: Peter Lang.
By NURUL AMILIN RAZAWI & SULIA MASTURINA CHE RAZALI
It can obviously be seen almost anywhere, especially on the social media websites that people keep using the
word „congrate‟ instead of „congrats‟ when intending to wish congratulations in any occasion. Saying
„congrats!‟ is an informal way of congratulating someone, while the formal way of saying it is „congratulations!‟.
Pic printscreened from Longman Dictionary of Con-
ducted in a class regarding the use of the words con-
temporary English Updated Version.
grats and congrate. There were 31 first semester diplo-
Example:
ma students who are also Malay native speakers.
Congrats on your wedding!, Or, Congratulations
on your wedding!
You‟ve just passed your driving test. Congrats!, or,
When writing down their responses on a set of a simple
questionnaire, about 84% (26 out of 31 students) wrote
„congrate‟ and „congrates‟ instead of „congrats‟
You‟ve just passed your driving test. Congratu-
when intending to wish congratulations informal way.
lations!
I believe there are many other common spelling mis-
Congrats for getting 4.00 in your final exam!, or,
takes that we normally find in our students‟ writings in
Congratulations for getting 4.00 in your final
which the meanings contradict with what they want
exam!
to say or spell. As English language lecturers / teach-
Therefore, the word „congrate‟ does not exist and
ers, it is our responsibility to make them aware of the
should not be used when intending to congratulate
correct word used. Other than explaining in class, we
someone. Feel free to do some research on your own
should also encourage them to read more English
by looking up the word congrate from any dictionary,
reading materials, be it in formal or informal English
trust me, it is nowhere to be found.
language, so that they will get their English right. As
This semester, a very small scale research was con-
the saying goes, practice makes perfect!
Language Bulletin Apr—June 2014
7
E
THE POWER OF
xperiential loyalty can be
viewed as tourist‟s loyalty
EXPERIENTIAL LOYALTY
to preferred holidays styles
or experiences including certain
settings such as resorts or cities
(Pearce & Kang, 2009). Experien-
By JAZIRA ANUAR
tial loyalty is focused more to
intangible experiences and it
ticularly related to destination
plays a significant role in describ-
choice. Just imagine if you are
I personally believe that
ing tourist behavior. I still remem-
facing bad experiences when
travel providers and hotel opera-
ber a friend of mine who can be
you travel abroad, you probably
tors
considered as an experiential
wouldn‟t want to come back to
„experiential loyalty‟ matters seri-
loyalty tourist where she will visit
that destination again, right? I
ously. They can‟t change how
Perth once a year without fail
had a good time when I visited
people view certain destinations
and had been doing that for the
China and I‟ve travelled to a
but travel operators can contrib-
past ten (10) years. It amazes me
few major cities in the country
ute to a better moment of truth
as most of the activities that she
like Beijing, Guangzhou, Shang-
or service delivery to customers.
did and places that she went to
hai, Kunming, Shenzhen and yet
If guests or customers encounter
are the same. As for me, I rather
I still wish to travel more. Howev-
bad service experiences, it will
explore new destinations with
er, interestingly my spouse had
reflect on the company‟s image
various holiday styles like spa,
opposite experiences. He had
and reputation. I had a very bad
diving or etc. McKercher, Guillet
difficulties
massage
and Ng (2012) however high-
with the local peoples when he
when staying in one of the best
lighted that experiential loyalty is
visited Dalian, cheated by a cab
boutique hotels in Malaysia. It
not only typified by someone
driver as well as unable to find
affects other spa operators as
who visits a place repeatedly in
Muslim food nearby his hotel. He
well as I‟m a bit traumatized to
search of broad understanding,
then pledged to not ever visit
go for spa rejuvenation again. It
but can be visits to different
China again. Although it is unfair
is therefore crucial for resort and
places in search of exemplars of
to perceive all China cities as
travel companies to rely heavily
his or her leisure activity.
the same like Dalian, different
on experiential loyalty, as satis-
people will have different opin-
fied tourists will surely come back
Experiential loyalty is par-
in
communicating
ions and perceptions.
should
or
be
spa
looking
into
experience
to their organizations. In the future, these consequently lead to
revenue increment and image
enhancement of the organizations.
References:
Pearce, P. & Kang, M. (2009),
The Effects of Prior and Recent Experiences on Continuing Interest in Tourist Settings, Annals of Tourism Research, 36 (2), 172-190.
McKercher, B., Guillet, B.D. & Ng,
E. (2012), Rethinking Loyalty,
Annals of Tourism Research,
39 (2), 708-734.
8 Language Bulletin Apr—June 2014