Our Theme

Salam and a very good day, everyone.

Firstly, we bid you a big, warm welcome to our blog, the Ministry of Drama.

This blog is dedicated to the subject ENGL 4740, or Computer Applications in Language Learning, for students under the English Language and Literature program from the International Islamic University Malaysia.

Here we will be posting assignments and projects, as well as journal articles and other literature related to the subject.

It is our wish that you will be enlightened and educated as you go through our blog, and at the end of it all, we hope for a better understanding in this field. Without further ado, we present to you the first part of our blog: our theme.

~

After several discussions, we decided to choose one of the introductory courses; Literary Genres II: Drama :)

Basically, we chose this course because:

• It brings back our bittersweet first-year memories, specifically the ones we had during the drama staging assignment :) It was seriously an unforgettable one as we got the learn almost all processes involved in a play staging; from the script writing, directing, acting, etc.
  

playing the role of the chorus of women of Acropolis. (Drama adaptation of Lysistrata) 

Behind is our handmade 'entrance of Acropolis'.

To those who never come across the 'Drama' term, we have prepared this brief introduction for you! :)

  
According to Aristotle (click here if you have no idea about who he is), Drama can be narrowed down into six elements:

While below are some of the types of drama:
 

Though most of the plays learnt are not from any Muslim playwrights (Everyman, Oedipus Rex, Doctor Faustus, etc.), it does not mean that Islamic values are put aside. Instead, be it Islamic or not, a lot of things or aspects can be pondered over in understanding Islam better. Well, that is what Islamization of knowledge is all about, after all :)  

Verily, Allah (alone) is all-knowing and all-aware. Wassalam.

First Non-Graded Assignment

Salam and a very good day to all :)
This post is officially the first non-graded assignment for this subject. In brief, Computer Assisted Language Learning, which is best known as CALL can be defined as "the search for and study of applications of the computer in language teaching and learning" (Levvy, 1997). 


You may read some of these journals about CALL for better understanding :


(1) On using intelligent computer-assisted language learning in real-life foreign language teaching and learning.


(2) Language testing and technology:problems of transition to a new era.

(3) Blogs for specific purposes:Expressivist or socio-cognitivist approach?.

(4) Integrating CALL and Genre Theory: A proposal to increase students’ literacy.


(5) Technologies for Second Language Literacy.


(6) Developing and evaluating an oral skills training website supported by automatic speech recognition technology.

(7) A Learning Environment with Computer-based Technology for Foreign Language Learners.


Verily, Allah (alone) is all-knowing and all-aware. Wassalam.

Second Non-Graded Assignment

Salam and hello everyone!

In Research Method class, we learnt on how to use SPSS software. SPSS is a computer program used for survey authoring and deployment, data mining, text analytics, statistical analysis, and collaboration and deployment. For more information on SPSS you may visit the Wikipedia article here

From what we have learnt, we think that the use of SPSS in learning process is under Communicative CALL. This is because in the learning process, computer acts as a pupil as it assists the user in figuring out certain desired amounts. Besides that, it is also a problem-solving-oriented based method approach. Apart from that, it is also a discovery learning approach as users learn through trial and error. Users are also independent in this process.

"Verily, Allah (alone) is all-knowing and all-aware." Wassalam.

Islamization of Knowledge

Introduction to the concept of  Islamization of Knowledge

Syed Naquib al-Attas

'Everyman' and the Medieval Period

The Medieval society

Comparing Concepts in the Medieval period, Catholicism and Islam

Everyman by Anonymous

Everyman is a Christian morality play, written in England, during the 1400s. As expected from a morality play, readers may find a lot of moral values in Everyman from the very beginning till the end of the story.

Everyman is basically a character in the play which represents the average, everyday human in this world. The story begins when God decides that Everyman has become too obsessed with wealth and material beings, been ignoring the religion, and so forth. Hence, other characters such as Death, Goods, Good Deeds, Kinship, etc appear throughout the story to teach Everyman a life-lesson.

From an Islamic perspective, this play is undoubtedly a good one to read. Though it is a Christian morality play, the good, moral values in it can also be adapted in Muslims' lives. Only several parts have to be changed or accepted differently according to Islamic doctrine such as the concept of Original sin of Jesus introduced in this play. Apart from that, other moral values are appropriate to be instilled in a Muslim's daily life. It is all about what every man in this world should observe in order to obtain rewards from God and eventually be among the permanent residents in Heaven. It also teaches every man to be wise in deciding what matters and benefits him most in both worlds. There are things  which are mostly liken by every man yet obviously bring no good. In the other hands, there are also things which cause hatred to every man yet they are actually beneficial to them.

...to be cont'd.

"Verily, Allah (alone) is all-knowing and all-aware." Wassalam.

First Graded Assignment - Lesson Plan

Our recommended websites for English learning:


1) Grammar Bytes
2) The Grammar Gorillas
3) Fun English Games


Selected website: http://funenglishgames.com/grammargames/verbnounadjective.html

Lesson Plan

Topic: Learning nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions, articles, clauses and phrases in general.

Language skill: Grammar – Parts of Speech

Level of Students: Beginner – Standard 4 students

Time: 1 hour

Number of Students: 40 students

Background Knowledge: Students have previous knowledge on the basic definition of different parts of speech.

Objectives of lesson: To enable students to detect the different parts of speech and to enable students to use parts of speech in their written and spoken tasks.

Learning Outcomes: At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1.    Identify and classify the different parts of speech.

2.    Use the different parts of speech when writing and speaking.

Teaching Aids:

·         ‘Verb, Noun, Adjective Game’ from http://www.funenglishgames.com/

·         Worksheet

·         Oral Presentation

Procedure:

Stages	Teaching and Learning Activities	Duration (minutes)	Role of the Teacher
Induction	Teacher greets students and recaps previous lesson.	3	·     Briefly restate the definitions of parts of speech, as taught in the previous in class
	Teacher explains the topic to be taught and provides examples.	5	·       Provide examples for each part of speech. ·       Provide examples of the parts of speech used in sentences.
	Teacher divides students into pairs	3	·       Help arrange students in pairs. ·       Assign each pair of students to a desktop computer.
Development	Teacher introduces online game to students.	10	·       Briefly explain the purpose of the website. ·       Explain how to open the website. ·       Explain how to load the online game.
	Teacher allows students to begin with the online game. ·         The game begins with a sentence appearing on the screen, along with an instruction. ·         Students are required to extract the correct parts of speech from the sentence according to the instruction of the game. ·         Choosing the correct answer will result in a short animation and pop-up indicating the success of the answer. ·         Choosing the wrong answer will result in a pop-up appearing and explaining why the student has made a mistake.	23	·       Show students how to begin the online game in a step by step manner. ·       Visit each pair of students briefly. ·       Help students who are facing problems with the online game. ·       Correct students when they make a mistake.
Evaluation	Teacher distributes and explains the worksheet given. ·      The worksheet consists of a passage and a table. The passage contains examples of parts of speech, which have been underlined. ·      Students are then required to identify and classify the parts of speech into the table given.	3	·         Distribute one worksheet per student. ·         Explain the instructions on the worksheet. ·         Collect each worksheet after they have been completed.
	Teacher asks some students to give a short oral presentation in front of the class	10	·         Choose 5 students to present in front of the class. ·         Give a topic to present on for 2 minutes. ·         Support and encourage students while presenting. ·         Point out the parts of speech used by the students in their speech.
Closure	Teacher ends the class by repeating the different parts of speech taught in class. The class is dispersed.	3	·         Recap the lesson by repeating the types of parts of speech to the students.

Evaluation:

1.    Worksheet (Refer to Appendix 1)

•    Covers all objectives
•    Contains written exercises for students to complete.
•    Divided into two parts:

i. Short Paragraph – Students are required to read the text thoroughly and answer the following questions.

ii. Table – Students are asked to identify the different parts of speech taught in class by filling in the table with examples taken from the text.

2.    Oral Presentation

•    Students are given a topic and are required to speak on the topic for 2 minutes. They are required to use the parts of speech they have just learned.
•    Selected students will be called in front of the class and present on the topic.

 

Reflections:

• Evaluation should be connected to learning.
• Worksheet should be in online form as well, not in the form of printed handouts.
• Oral presentation should include all students, as picking selected students may not give all students the opportunity to speak.
• There should be a standard theme that bridges the worksheet and online game. One of the suggestions is to find a situation in the online game which can be extended to the worksheet (for example: holiday with the family or going to school)
  

Appendix 1

Question: The underlined words are examples of parts of speech. Complete the table with the correct parts of speech. The first example is shown in the table.

Second Graded Assignment - Computer Mediated Communication - Part One

Report on the Article ‘Disrupted Turn Adjacency and Conversational Coherence in

Orkut Scrapbooks by Anupam Das

This research article began with the introduction of the study; the growth of social networking sites (SNS), conversation types on SNS and multi-participant computer mediated communication (CMC). This was followed with an introduction to Orkut, the history of the website, and its Scrapbook feature. The study is inspired by the observation of problems ofcommunicating through Scrapbook. In the theoretical background, we see that many previous studies on CMCs have been conducted and the results of these studies also urge for further study, specifically on asynchronous and synchronous modes of interaction on SNS.

            In order to begin the study, three research questions and three hypotheses were constructed. All three questions involve the influence of response latency on: 
i. Conversational coherence,
ii. Topic development and,
iii. Structure of turns.
The first hypothesis states that more coherent discussions are generated in pseudo-synchronous interactions. The second asserts that topics on pseudo-synchronous interaction are more narrow compared to asynchronous interactions, which tend to have a wider range and more progress. The third hypothesis says that pseudo-synchronous interactions contain shorter turns.

            In the methodology section of the research, the definition of pseudo-synchronous interaction on Scrapbook was explained and a visual example was given. The sample of the study is then revealed; a total of eight addressers and addressees from the Bengali community were analyzed. It is also stated that the sample was selected based on four criteria, which concerned the amount of friends the addressee had, the gender of their friends and the period in which the interactions began. These criteria were established in order to avoid bias and achieve a representation of the Bengali community. A mode of analysis used in this study was the Dynamic Topic Analysis (DTA) method; it was used for coding, quantifying and representing the data in a visual form. Additionally, this technique was used with VisualDTA, a computer application, to examine the relation between subsequent messages and provide a visualization of the data.The data analyzed consisted of individual ‘scraps’ from the Scrapbook which were subsequent with one another. Two kinds of information were derived from these scraps: i. the type of topic relation and, ii. the semantic distance between them. The DTA coding scheme showed that there was a significant relation between the topic relation type and semantic distance.

            The results and discussions section began with the interpretation of the data; the DTA analysis was presented, then two VisualDTA diagrams showed how the usage patterns affected topic changes, and finally the length of turns were measured to identify the relation between response latency and turn structure. The first analysis showed that the semantic distance in all but one of the asynchronous interactions were more significant compared to the pseudo-synchronous interaction. The time gap between a first scrap, or message, and its response allowed other unrelated scraps to be posted thus disrupting the adjacency pairs and fragmenting the discourse that is happening. This supported the first hypothesis which stated that pseudo-synchronous interactions are more coherent. The second analysis revealed that asynchronous interactions contained more topic breaks. The results showed that while most of the interactions were on-topic, there was a significant sign of parallel shift also. This is due to a wide array of reasons. The first is a result of the confusing design of the scrapbook and also the users own error whereby the messages that are meant to be on their friend’s scrapbook are mistakenly posted on their own wall. This results in conversational chaos and topic breaks. Next, the purpose of the discussion influences topic drift, which in the case of social networking sites, is mainly for small talk i.e. for relaxing, or expressing opinions and comments that are mundane in nature. Other talks, such as educational talks, rarely digress from the topic as there is and end goal set for the discussion. The third analysis revealed that there was no relation between response latency and turn length. Asynchronous interactions proved to have longer turn lengths as the users depended on factors such as message granularity and purpose of interaction in composing their message. Pseudo-synchronous interactions proved to have shorter turn lengths, as there is generally no pressure for immediate or long responses for discussions on social networking sites, which in turn helps maintain adjacency pairs.

The writer concludes the research with recommendations for Scrapbook design such as a separate status update for pseudo-synchronous interactions, a separate window view in Scrapbook for asynchronous interactions, and to remove confusing message box to avoid users’ posting on their own wall. The conclusion of the study revealed that response latency:
i. resulted in a disruption in coherence in interactions,
ii. Influenced topic drift moderately and,
 iii. Did not determine the length of turns,
as other factors contributed to length turns more significantly. Thus only one out of three hypotheses constructed earlier may be fully accepted through this study.

Link to the article:

http://iimk.academia.edu/AnupamDas/Papers/78178/Disrupted_Turn_Adjacency_and_Conversational_Coherence_in_Orkut_Scrapbooks

"Verily, Allah (alone) is all-knowing and all-aware." Wassalam.

Second Graded Assignment - Computer Mediated Communication - Part Two

Analysis of Linguistic Deviations on Facebook Wall Posts

Introduction

            Computer Mediated Communication or also known as CMC is a field of research which explores social, communicative and linguistic impact of communication technologies, which have continually evolved in connection with the use of computer networks, especially the internet (Beißwenger & Storrer, 2008). Corpus, on the other hand, is a body of a text or a large structured text which serves as a data in producing statistical analysis, validating linguistic rules and many more. Hence, corpus can usually be found in various genres of CMC, such as group emails, public chat rooms, bulletin boards, blogs and many more.

The corpus that has been chosen in this particular research is Facebook whereby a few statuses and posts together with its comments were selected in order to analyze the use of different linguistic deviations that are most commonly used. Linguistic deviation is basically typical in literary works, due to some purposes. However, for some necessary and unnecessary reasons, it can also be found in daily written conversation.

Objective

            The main objective of this particular research is to determine and define types of linguistic deviations that are most commonly used in the selected corpus. This is done by looking at several posts and statuses on the corpus itself which is Facebook, and analyze the use of different linguistic deviations throughout all samplings.

Sampling

            The sample that is used in this research is various statuses and posts on Facebook, which is the main corpus in conducting the research. For this study, the selected statuses are by two males and two females (to avoid gender influence), and all are from 20 to 40 years old.

Methodology

            In this case, the methodology or instrument that is used for the data analysis is by grouping different words found in the corpus into different linguistic deviation aspects according to its categories. The words are then analysed and explained with the use of various types of language deviation.

Framework of Analysis

            In order to identify the various types of linguistic deviation in the corpus, G.N. Leech’s classification of linguistic deviation in A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry is used as a reference. G.N. Leech distinguishes the three main language levels; Realization, Form and Semantics. Realization is realized by Phonology and Graphology, and Form comprises Grammar and Lexicon, and Semantics is Meaning. Apart from that, an analysis of this linguistic aspect in Oliver Twist by Masanori Miyata is also used as a guideline. Masanori basically deals with six different types of linguistic deviation, which are 1) Phonological Deviation, 2) Graphological Deviation, 3) Lexical Deviation, 4) Grammatical Deviation, 5) Semantic Deviation and 6) Deviation of Register.

Summary of analysis

            Based on the analysis, it is found that the most common types of linguistic deviation used in written conversation are Syntactic and Graphological Deviation. These two then can be identified in different variations such as Capitalization, Redundancy, Sentence Sense, Malformed Sentences, Missing Letters, Misspelled Words, Hyphen and Wrong Punctuations.

In literary works, it is understood that linguistic deviations are used by writers to show creativity or even stylistic in their works. This may be related and connected to the use of Foregrounding and Parallelism. E.E. Cummings is among the writers and poets who occasionally include any types of linguistic deviation in their works. Besides, it is also due to a claim which says that writers do have freedom not only in word choice but also in shapes. On the other hand, it is believed that the use of linguistic deviation in online written conversation is not mainly for the purpose of creativity but for other relevant, necessary purposes; such as to make ease of the writers in terms of time consumption, etc. These days, internet is accessible even via mobile phone. Hence, it would be difficult for the user to be accurate in observing the linguistic aspect in his/her word and sentence formation. However, it is still more encouraged and appropriate to abide by the proper linguistic components as not everyone might get the message well. For instance, because of a tiny mistake in a word or a sentence, serious misunderstanding may occur between the people who take part in the conversation. For instance, a sentence created with wrong tense will leave different meaning to its readers’ understanding. Besides that, there are still people who commit linguistic deviation for the purpose of being creative; just like most writers of literary works. For instance, Facebook user C posted a status in her Facebook wall, saying that “...hari rabu cuty” (this Wednesday is a holiday). The correct spelling for ‘cuty’ is ‘cuti’ but she made it that way to show creativity in changing the alphabet with similar pronunciation. Though the spelling is changed, the meaning is still conveyed since its pronunciation remained correct.   Apart from that, it is claimed that linguistic deviation in written conversation also functions as humour and play to explore boundaries among the people involved. As an example, there is one person who responded to Facebook user C’s status by saying ‘orak opo opo lah’ (there is nothing). The sentence is actually in Javanese language. It is apparent that his intention is just to be humorous since Facebook user C did not have any idea about what he talked about. Other than these, linguistic deviation is used by some people due to their own ignorance. They just write anyhow they wish, for their own good and satisfaction, without considering people’s understanding and perception. For instance, the spelling of ‘burday’ instead of ‘birthday’ by Facebook user D. Some readers might not get the correct understanding but obviously it does not seem as if she wanted to reach people’s understanding but instead, just for her fun in posting. Besides these examples, other examples of these purposes of linguistic deviation can slightly be observed in the corpus.

Conclusion

            Syntactic and Graphological Deviation are the most common ones used in online written conversation. Just like the ones found in linguistic convention on poetry, it is a very important thing to know and understand by those who concern so that the message conveyed would not be wronged. This is also important to avoid misunderstanding among the people involved in the conversation.   

Reflections
We found some challenges in the following scenarios:

• Finding the right corpus and information related to the topic
• Relating corpus to the right linguistic deviation
• Precisely defining linguistic deviation 

Additionally, we found that linguistic deviation is common to be practiced in corpus for conversation, therefore it becomes a style.


Appendix