Journal

Week 1
It was supposed to be the very first period of Grammatical Analysis. Well, I was kind of eager
to know how this new subject would seem. I asked a friend and she told me that it was similar to the
subject taught by Madam Low during the Foundation Year - Language Description. Only this one
might be more in depth and required more hard work. I had butterflies in my stomach upon knowing
that.
Unfortunately, Madam Jane was not being able to come to class so I decided to go to the
library. There was not much good books on the old racks but I still search for anything that would
give us at least some mere imagination of what the subject would be like. It was hurt to admit that
some of the books available in the library were outdated and it was published almost decades ago.
But it was alright and I decided to be more grateful for what I had and just accept things as the way
they were. Sigh.
I was on the verge of starting my TESL degree course. Whether I like it or not, I am going
against the current. I wanted to be well-prepared for this course. I prayed that God gives me
strength to cope with that. ;)






Week 2
This week I had Grammatical Analysis class in the Balai Pelawat Block C together with my
other course mates. Madam Jane was there. She started her class with a lot of gentle reminders to
help us through the course. She motivated me to work smart and be more optimistic towards
achieving success. Well, I must say that she was very motherly. She sounds s little bit like my mother
but I liked her. She seemed strict too. We were told about the overall of what we are going to face in
the subjects. She reminded us too that she did not like lazy people. I took note and I think I have to
change some of my bad habits like procrastinating and delaying works.
Madam Jane distributed us the 21
st
Century Skills. At first I was confused with the paper
itself and did not have any idea what was actually 21
st
Century skills. Then she explained to us. They
were the very useful skills that we have to apply in our works. Not only that, she also gave each of us
the course syllabus. It contains all the topics and sub-topics that would be taught throughout the
semester. Upon receiving papers, I was thinking that perhaps I need a file to keep them.
Everybody was put into groups of four. So there were six groups altogether. I had mine with
my beloved roommate, Diyana together with Fieqa and Izatil. We will stay in the same group to
complete our coming projects and group assignments. I think I had great group members.
Madam Jane showed us a video clip, not just an ordinary video clip but a video which was so
inspiring and touching. It was about a woman named Mary who was born handicapped. To be more
specific, she did not any limbs. She did not have both of her hands and legs. I just cannot imagine
how she would live in so much lacking but yet she seemed happy and contented with life. She led a
life just like normal people have. She even got married and had children. She was very amazing.


Week 3
Madam Jane had given us our very first project. She distributed some papers and guidelines
to complete the work. So me and my group members sat down together and discussed what we are
going to do for the project. My group was assigned to do project for Standard 6 students. We
exchanged ideas and thought for the most suitable theme. Not only that, we surfed the internet to
find additional information and ideas for the project.
The first draft had to be submitted within this week. We decided to create a crosswords
competition for the project. The crosswords can be created using HotPotatoes, the software given
by Madam Jane earlier. We also find some short stories to be made as the clues for the crosswords.
Then, we wrote everything down on the project handout.











Week 4
Madam Jane was absent. But she left us with works to finish. She had distributed some
handouts on the topic structure word class. We were asked to read the whole chapters and made a
mind map. The handouts were a little long and it took me some time to finish reading and start with
the mind map. As I read through the handout I realized that it was similar to what I had learnt in the
foundation year, only it was a little complicated and so much more in detail. While I finished the
mind map, I made sure the mind map was correct and understandable. A mind map should be short
and simple yet with important points.














Week 5
Madam Jane did not come to class this week. We were reminded to apply the 21
st
Century
skills in our project. She asked us to create a mind map using MindManager software. Earlier she
had given us a CD with a lot of useful software. I had installed all the software in my laptop so that I
can use the whenever I need them. The software made my works easier. Thanks to my sweet
lecturer, Madam Jane. Well, we had to print it out and submit to her soon. Well, I decided not to
delay any works anymore. I do not want to procrastinate again. Ever. I hope so.












Week 6
This week, Madam Jane was not present again. But it was alright as we used the time wisely.
We were still working on the project. We changed from crosswords to big book as we felt that the
crosswords competition was not suitable for the students. So my group came up with the idea of
creating a big book. In the big book, there will be a few small books. We completed the first draft
and decided to show Madam Jane what we have in mind.














Week 7
We started the PowerPoint presentation this week. The first group presented the topic
Content and Function Words. It was basically about content words which comprises of nouns,
verbs, adjectives and adverbs that contribute substantially to the meaning of the sentence.
Function words are the smaller words which help to establish the structure of the sentence but have
less inherent meaning of their own, such as article, demonstrative, pronoun, quantifier, modal verb,
primary verb, preposition, conjunction and infinitive-to. Not only that, we also learn about the types
of phrases.
While the second group presented about Sentence Structure which covered subject, verb,
object, complement, adverbial and types of sentences. The group also showed everybody an
inspiring video clip of two handicapped dancers. In spite of their disabilities, they still could really
dance gracefully. They did not let their weaknesses stop them from doing what other normal people
could.









Week 8
This week we had class as usual with the presentations. This week we had six presentations
modals, articles and determiners, noun, preposition and phrasal verb. Modals are single words
that always have single form such as can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will and
would. A determiner is a modifier that expresses the reference of a noun or a noun phrase including
quantity. Types of determiners are articles and possessive determiners. Nouns are naming word
used as the name of a person, place, objects or anything we can think of. The types of nouns are
common nouns, countable nouns, proper nouns, uncountable nouns, collective nouns and
compound nouns. Prepositions are a word or a group of words that indicates the relationship of a
noun or a pronoun with another word in the sentence. The word may be a noun, a pronoun, a verb
or an adjective. The forms of preposition are simple preposition, complex preposition and
prepositional phrases. Phrasal verb means a special group of verbs which consist of two or three
words. It consists of a verb followed by an adverb, a verb followed by a preposition and a verb
followed by an adverb or preposition.
There were so many topics discussed this week. I think I must put an effort to revise and
study all of these.







Week 9
Class continued with the presentations. The next groups presented the topics Adverbials
and Verbs. After the presentation, Madam Jane asked for every group to see her so that she could
check on the progress of the project. We were so eager to show her what we had. But, Madam Jane
rejected our ideas. Our theme was not suitable for Year 6 students and the big book idea was a little
bit too childish. Besides, we do not use any ICT and it was not challenging at all. We admitted that it
was our mistakes and we decided to discuss back and redo everything. That was tough and a little bit
sad but I accepted it as a part of learning because we learn from mistakes.
So we had to redo everything. We wanted to make the best projects. We accepted failure as
the booster to reach success. We wanted to make sure Madam Jane approved our project theme
and ideas this time. Regarding of our rejected ideas, we had come up with a new idea and started
the new draft with the new idea which is Festivals in Malaysia. The project was still in progress. So,
we used the period to work on the project with the other group members. All my group members
were active and hardworking. I was so proud of them.








Week 10
This weeks presentations were the topics Questions and Adjective. The topic Questions
was presented by my group. Me together with Diyana and Afiqah presented the topic and included a
video clip. The video was about a mother giraffe which had a new-born calf. Unfortunately, the calf
was not born healthy and it had difficulties in using its limb. It could hardly walk too. Even though
the baby giraffe was helpless, but it kept trying. The mother took a very good care of the baby and
watched it every single minute. Then one day, the baby slowly died. The mother giraffe was grief-
stricken. There was danger around her. A herd of hyena were trying to eat the babys dead body. But
she still protected her dead calf. She did not let her calf became the dinner for the hyenas. But
suddenly, the hyenas came in a bigger crowd and finally she lost her dead calf to the hyenas. It was a
sad video. Even animals love their flesh and blood. My friends commented that it was touching.
On the other hand, the other groups video was also interesting. It was about a man who
lived without limbs but yet still carry life just like normal people do. I was inspired. Really. After all
the presentation, we showed Madam Jane our second draft. We were so happy that she gave
compliments on our works but she also reminded that there were still room for improvement.





Week 11
This week was the last week before the Eid holiday started. Madam Jane came to the class in
Anjung Hikmah. She touched a little bit on the exams. She talked about the formats and advised us
to focus on the coming exams. Well, I think I have to start preparing for the exams now before its
too late.
The last group presented the topic Active and Passive Voice. Active voice is the subject
performs the action expressed in the verb, the subject acts. While passive voice is the subject
receives the action expressed in the verb, the subject is acted upon. They explained what are the
differences between the two, how to choose active or passive voice and how to change active to
passive.