Fourth Posting (Assignment Number 4)

(1) Beyond Concordance Lines by Arshad Abd. Samad (UPM)

For this fourth posting, we are required to do it together with a partner and my partner is Farhana. Below are the gist of summary on article in page 70 of the Online Teaching and Learning in ELT, (OTL) text book.

Based on the article written by Arshad Abd. Samad, UPM (OTL,70), concordance program like Wordsmith, Monoconc Pro and Microconcard is used to analyze the language data as well as to show how words and grammatical constructions are used. The benefit of using this program according to Schmitt (2002:34) is, it help students to look at the systematicity of language as an interesting linguistic puzzle.

In Malaysian context, the use and analysis of language CORPORA is limited because it is unavailable even though there is an effort being done by researchers from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) regarding to this matter. When this happened, other researchers from UM and UPM make an effort to produce useful corpus, for example the UM researchers produce a corpus entitled ‘Malaysian learner’s corpus’ while the UPM researchers produce a corpus called ‘English of Malaysian School student’, (EMAS).

EMAS CORPORA was collected in 2002 with half a million words (Arshad et al., 2002) that contains written data that consists of three essays written by 800 students from year 5, form 1 and form 4. The first essay was based on picture series of a fishing trip event, while the second essay was entitled ‘The Happiest Day of My Life’ and last but not least; the third essay was selected by teachers according to the students usual schoolwork.

Investigating Development.

The investigation starts by comparing the language use of the 3 different age groups based on their language productivity and vocabulary use. Below are the gists of the results:

(1) Language productivity

productivity= number of sentences per essay and words per sentence.

results= older students produce longer essays and complex sentence.

(2) Range of vocabulary

Number of separate words (type) DIVIDED Number of words in a text (token) X100

results=older respondents use a wider range of vocabulary in their essays.

Apart from that, EMAS corpus also retained the students spelling and grammatical errors as well as deletes the nonsensical words and proper names done by the students. Lastly, EMAS corpus also corrected the students’ misspelled words.

To sum up, the methodology that the researchers used in order to produce this COPPORA are based on comparison methodology where students from various ages starting from age 11, 13 and 16 were chosen to be apart of the researchers experiments work in order to make this program success.

2. Applications Of Concordance in Language Teaching and Learning.

A “concordance”, according to the Collins Cobuild English Dictionary, is defined as “An alphabetical list of the words in a book or a set of books, which also says where each word can be found and often how it is used. It is known that concordance can be applied in many fields such as language teaching and learning, translation, content analysis, corpus linguistic and etcetera. Thus, in this posting my partner and I will explain regarding the applications of concordance in language teaching and learning.

By using concordance program such as corpora, the teacher can find examples of authentic usage to demonstrate features of vocabulary, typical collocations and a point of grammar or even the structure of a text. The teacher also can generate exercises based on examples drawn from a variety of corpora. On the other hand, students will be able to work out rules of grammar or usage and lexical features for themselves by searching for key words in context. This depend on their level, student can be invited to question some of the rules, based on their observation of patterns in authentic language. Besides, student is more likely to be active in vocabulary learning depend on their level. Among of the activities student can participate are, they can be invited to discover new meanings, observe habitual collocations, relate words to syntax, or to be critical of dictionary entries. Students also will be able to reflect on language use in general, based on their own explorations of a corpus of data, thus turning them into growing researcher.

In addition, another interesting feature of concordance is to compare texts produced by native speakers of a language. By doing this way, user can study way students position words in sentences and compare this with native speakers. Students also can use this feature so they will be able learn more about language.

Large computerized corpora of English, which were created in 1960s, show there has been a steady increase in the number of publications devoted to their use in the context of language teaching and learning.

Chambers (2005) suggest that, “corpus consultation as a language-learning activity has many positive, features particularly in a language-learning environment which favors learner autonomy and discovery learning.”

References:

ICT4LT Module 2.4: Using concordance programs in the Modern Foreign languages classroom. http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_mod2-4.htm [viewed on 27 March 2008]

Chambers. 2005. Volume 9, Number 2. Integrating corpus consultation in language studies. http://llt.msu.edu/vol9num2/pdf/chambers.pdf [viewed on 27 March 2008]

Online Teaching and Learning in ELT, (OTL,70)

Syakirin & Farhana(2008)

Third Posting (assignment number 3)

THE IMPACT OF ICT ON BUSINESS

For this third posting, I had to go to the online journal at Perpustakaan Tun Sri Lanang in order to search for the online databases. I decided to choose the topic on the impact of ICT on business for my third posting. Below are some of the necessary details and information on this topic.

According to the online journal entitle ‘Integrating Local and Global Knowledge through ICT- implication for Rural Business and Development. By: Anand, Sandip; Parashar, Vinayak. IIMB Management Review, Mar2006, Vol. 18 Issue 1, p85-93, 9p; (AN 20388367), ICT are designed to strengthen this capacity for development. This online journal is mainly focusing on the impact of the interaction between global and local knowledge. Besides that, it also tries to understand the role of ICT in the process of integration.

Overall, the impact of ICT in business is mainly effected the life of the farmers and the fisherman’s as it helped in the processing of the material in transactions to buy or sale livestock as well as in payment to them and in massive saving in time. Apart from that, it also enables communication of information like the weather forecasts, market price quotes, advice on farming practices and specific training to the farmers and fisherman’s. They can get this information through the internet or from the fixed or mobile telephone. Apart from that, with ICT the troubles of lack of transport infrastructure are not a problem anymore because ICT invention can help in overcoming these barriers.

Bill Barton12 said that the internet can make significant impact on agricultural distribution channels in three ways. Firstly, it brings greater transparency to market since it is easier to share information. Secondly, with internet access, the price can be posted on auction sites and lastly, it can lead to inventory visibility and affects the industry structure.

Development and Resource Poor Farmers

Computer and Internet led technologies in villages are likely to create a material culture of their own. Farmers or villagers are likely to adopt this culture quickly, if they receive enough attention and respect from marketers, which seems to be happening at present17. However the extent to which dignity is created among farmers through e–initiatives in India has to be further explored. Today eChoupal is considered one of the most successful business models that has also fulfilled its social responsibility of meeting developmental objectives.

An analysis of Habermas’s critical theory by Fritjof Capra18 indicates that emancipation happens whenever people are able to overcome past restrictions that resulted from distorted communication, and ITC has been successful in removing those distortions. Evidence suggests, not surprisingly, that richer farmers and fishermen as well as middlemen are faster adopters of such technologies, but falling access costs through innovation, such as those of the IIT-Madras group (Telenet) should broaden information access and its benefits. Though the eChoupal model has been able to increase the prosperity of villagers, it may be important to understand which sections of rural society it has impacted. Is it the small farmer, the middle level farmer or large farmers who have been impacted positively by it? We need to understand whether the profile of ITC eChoupal’s suppliers as well as customers is homogeneous; if not what is the nature of its heterogeneity? In the long run will the eChoupal model create inequality in the village or will it lead to equality of opportunities? Will the gap between the rich and the poor increase or decrease?

An understanding of the gap in the distribution of newly generated wealth is essential for corporate houses as it informs the key business players and competition about the potential of various products and services in villages. Further, it also needs to be explored how ITC with its well established electronic and human network could include resource poor farmers, develop knowledge linkages with them and adopt native capability building. The current business model seems to be evolving towards a holistic model where knowledge linkages could be established with the resource poor farmers. However, its relationship with farmers has to be further grounded in the social space which includes resource poor farmers who represent a system of knowledge and wisdom. This has to be done by building social contracts. Such social contracts are likely to create business relationships which are more contextual and embedded in local cultural systems. Because of their evolution from their own roots, they carry varieties of information with them. Their traditional knowledge also brings many ‘tools and techniques’ from local memory, as well as cultural aspects. The cultural memory interacts with digital memory and that interaction is likely to strengthen the knowledge base of organizations. Plurality of health education, particularly HIV/AIDS awareness.

However, the planning and implementation of e-hubs and kiosks require in-depth understanding of rural India and its ability for e-learning. ITC’s experience suggests that e-learning may not be directly correlated with the formal literacy level of villagers. The ITC e-hubs could be further studied and analyzed from the training point of view to throw light on the challenges in the area of e-learning. Further exploration is required of the symbols of information sharing, such as the platforms that can be used for learning apart from the choupal. Understanding the factors affecting the synergy between local knowledge and global knowledge is likely to be helpful. In the context of learning and knowledge, areas of memory need to be explored to understand what forms the basis of local and global memory.

These experiments in the twenty-first century, particularly in the context of rural India, have created demand for innovations for business enterprises. There is great potential for innovation in the area of mobile and internet technology. However, those innovations have to be triggered within communities to embed them in the local context. Needless to say, this demands openness and willingness on the part of all stakeholders viz. the community, business enterprises, IT firms, government and policy makers, and also makes heavy demands on basic infrastructure, such as power.

In conclusion, ICT brings a lot of good and beneficial impact to the business industry especially to the life of the farmers, fishermen and the agricultural sector as it is focusing on the rural business and development.

Besides that, this journal also tries to understand the role of ICT in the process of integration. Below are examples of the differences between knowledge, ICT and business in the context of the network society:

Visvanathan1, referring to Castells’s work, argues that there is no single form of knowledge, but a variety of knowledge existing across the world. Visvanathan contends that to define knowledge as formal and abstract able is to impoverish knowledge and deny the existence of tacit, embodied and alternative knowledge. His intention is not to negate the importance of abstract able knowledge but to emphasize the importance of sensory or intuitive knowledge. Sensory or intuitive knowledge evolves in one’s life through encounters with information which one processes in order to adapt, heal and renew.

Van der velden5 further argues that designs strengthening a community’s capacity for self-organisation help to cultivate the diversity of the knowledge found in that community. ICT designs are required to strengthen this capacity for development. Centralised systems provide efficient consistency and quality control in the global context, but lack effectiveness when it comes to adaptation to local contexts. Centralised systems lack sharing of information in local formats and languages or connectivity with existing local media such as radio. Further, centralized knowledge-sharing systems are designed for the discussion and transfer of codified explicit knowledge or information6. Diversity does not refer only to plurality of expressions of explicit knowledge, but more importantly to different ways of knowing. ICT-based systems for knowledge sharing both for corporate as well as development programmes need to embed diversity, self-organisation, and the understanding of knowledge as situated and gendered, in order to support the cultivation of diversity and the self-organising capacity of knowers7. The above debate between local and global knowledge and development has started gaining prominence in organizational strategy.

Stuart L Hart8 argues that multi-national corporations must combine their technology and global reach with in depth understanding of local knowledge. The combination of local and global knowledge requires the development of native capability, a strategy that is well illustrated by Honey Care Africa. A partnership between three constitutive sectors, it harnesses the private sector’s marketing prowess, the development sector’s social capital and microfinance expertise, and the local community’s entrepreneurial spirit. Replacing the earlier crude technology to produce honey, Honey Care makes advanced, yet context specific beekeeping equipment available to small farmers. It procures and sells all of the equipment required to establish a beekeeping enterprise to a development sector partner. In turn, the development sector organisation capitalizes upon its local social capital to provide microcredit financing to small farmers for the purchase of the equipment. Honey Care deducts a designated percentage of their earnings and uses it to repay the farmers’ loans. It thus ensures microfinance loan returns and guaranteed earnings. Honey Care is today the largest producer of high-quality honey in East Africa and has been able to promote sustainable community development, building on native capability and local knowledge related to harvesting and producing honey9.

Native capability building seems to be emerging as a successful business strategy. The strategy is built on the fact that business expansion has not only to take the needs of the communities into account but also the local context, in that it has to go beyond mere integration of the local context and create synergy with it. While global knowledge has to be embedded in the communities, it also has to assimilate the context. The localized knowledge and traditional wisdom of the communities while transforming global knowledge is also likely to undergo metamorphosis and create constant interaction as seen in the OKN and Honey Care contexts.

The synergy has a dual advantage. By strengthening native capabilities, it enhances the purchasing power of the communities. It also generates trust by providing them with a sense of care. At the same time, it creates the market for business expansion. This expanded market cannot be seen as any other mass market, because it does not seek only one point or a few points of interaction with the consumer, but as a market that is created by the company and the community together. It is an exercise in collaboration rather than competition. Collaboration demands sharing of resources and knowledge, and that can be facilitated by ICT. Native capability enhancement through incorporation of local knowledge in plural forms is likely to bring benefits to business enterprises as well as communities. However, it demands facilitation by the government and policy makers. Such collaboration between organizations and communities is likely to provide the genesis for meta-organizations, as exemplified by the interaction between ITC and the agrarian community. Meta-organizations, where communities have become an extended part of the business enterprise and are no longer part of the external environment, are the way organizations are headed in the future and the government and its policy need to facilitate this symbiotic relationship between organisation and community. At the same time, the government also needs to take preventive measures against the pitfalls of collaboration, which could be done through enhanced transparency created by ICT, as exemplified by OKN. In addition, such experiments have to be extended in the context of other services like health and education and may demand collaboration among business enterprises, communities, government and development agencies, facilitated through ICT. ( Ibid3 )

REFERENCE AND NOTES
1 Visvanathan, Shiv, 2001, ‘Knowledge and Information in a
Network Society’, Seminar, July, p. 503.
2 Van der Velden, M, 2005, ‘Programming for Cognitive
Justice — Towards an Ethical Framework for Democratic
Code’, Interacting with Computers, Vol. 17, pp. 105 –120.
3 Ibid.
5 Van der Velden, ‘Programming for Cognitive Justice …’
8 Hart, Stuart L, and T London, 2005, ‘Developing Native
Capability: What Multinational Corporations Can Learn from
the Base of the Pyramid’, Stanford Social Innovation Review,
Summer.
12 Barton, Bill, 2003, ‘The Internet’s Impact on Agricultural
Input Distribution Channels’, Review of Agricultural
Economics, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 14-21.
18 Capra, F, 2003, The Hidden Connections, Flamingo, London,
p. 69.

Second posting (assignment number 2)

ANALYSIS OF COMPUTER ASSISTED WRITING

In this second posting, I was given the task to analyze the computer assisted writing program. It is quite similar from the computerized reading except in this computerized writing, it is focusing on our writing skill where it can help to enhance our writing expertise. As we all know, blogging and Microsoft words or processor are one of the examples of computer assisted writing where it helps us to develop and improve our writing ability.

The example of computer assisted writing program that I found was available in this particular website: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~leslieob/pizzaz.html

In this fastidious website, it facilitates me to improve my grammar as well as my poetry skills. The reason why I choose this website is because I am interested to learn more on poetry because I found that poetry are very unique and fun to learn. Since my experienced on writing a poem are very little, this website are very useful in order to improve my writing skill because it provides information and useful tips on how to construct a good poem without grammatical error. Besides that, I am also able to look at some good example of poem written by expertise in this field. I can also leave a comment and the people in charge of viewing and correcting my writing can assist me to improve certain part that have to be improve by posting my work to their email address.

Below are the gists of the website program that include the entire example that I mentioned above:

Combine Your Grammar and Poetry Skills
Hundreds of poems:Poems received in 2001 Poems received in 2000 Poems received in 1999.Poems received in 1998 and earlier.
Note: Only poems observing the grammatical categories will be published.

Write a 5-line poem in the following constructivist manner:

(1)On the first line write a noun of your choice
(2)On the second line write two adjectives joined by and to describe this noun
(3)On the third line write a verb and an adverb to describe this noun in action
(4)Start the fourth line with like or as followed by a comparison
(5)Start the final line with if only followed by a wish
Below is an example of such a poem (written by the Norwegian pupil Sven Grüner):

Politician

phoney and false

lying desperately

like a mocking bird

if only I had the key to the bird cage

Now it's your turn. Use the white space below to write a 5-line poem of your choice. Whenever you need to, you can call up a search form for

Merriam-Webster OnLine (with sound!) to help you look into and/or experiment with synonyms to the words you first chose (opens in separate window). Make changes and decide which version works best. This is great to discuss and actually sculpt your language. Note that you can also copy (parts of) the text you find in the Theasaurus.

The finished poem can be passed on or published in many ways:
(1)mark the poem (use left mouse key, press down and drag your pointer across the text)
(2)use the edit option or Ctrl-C to copy your poem to the clipboard
(3)start a word processor or Notepad and paste your poem into it (Ctrl-V)
(4)or open your browser's mail option (if present), copy the poem and mail it to someone
(5)why not mail the poem to me

anlun@online.no

Good poems will be published on this website for all the visitors to read!
It is also possible (and fun) to do this exercise in a very low-tech way: Decide on a theme for the noun in the first line. Then let the pupils suggest the subsequent lines, write everything on the blackboard. Make sure you go over the lines again to open up for synonyms, creative imagery and unexpected twists. The next versions will be so much better than first one.

Poems received:
The following poems are published chronologically as I receive them. Class contributions are placed in "boxes" at the bottom of the page.

Ghosts

scary and strange

floating silently

as morning fog

if only I was one too. (by Mads Olavsbråten (walking_zombi70@hotmail.com)

bird

red and sick

flying high

like a plane

if only hogs could fly. (by Espen Herbert (budoboy1@hotmail.com)

blood

red and warm

controlling willingly

like a polluted river into the sea

if only I could go back in time. (by Jesper Scerri (jesperd@maltanet.net)

He

kind and gentle

always patient

as he got the time of the world

if only I could have him here beside me. (by Pranvera Sefaja (pranveras@kujtesa.com)

Love

beautiful and painful

waiting anxiously

like a flower to grow

if only I could tell you my feelings. (by M⮡ªnµ~k ±î®åÐÕ (odarit59@hotmail.com)

Students

responsible and intelligent

working happily

like an army of ants

if only I had the posibility to know all that wait for me to study. (by Judith Keibel (j_keibel@hotmail.com)

Easter sun

Yellow and warm

Shining brightly

like the moon on a cold winter day

If only this weather could stay. (by Bente Amsrud Moen (b-a-moen@frisurf.no)

Child

Innocent and loving

Always bringing peace and hope to the world

Like a good guardian angel

If only adults could have this spirit... to make a different world. (by Marisol, MARISUN_8@hotmail.com)

Teacher

Honest and respectful

Working hard

Like an ant

If only people could be like that. (by Gerardo Peña )

Volcanoes

Dangerous and magnificent

Throwing up violently

like a sick man

If only we could prevent it from pukingby Vivian Tan (vivian1005sg@yahoo.com.sg)

Friends

fun and loving

always exciting

like a child at play

if only we need never partby Alison Toh (alisontoh@hotmail.com)

Mother

warm and loving

encouraging consistently

like a friend to me

if only she will always be there for me. (by elaine ng (el_ng@hotmail.com)

Headache

Painful and Pounding

sneaking up calmly

Like there's a nucLear war inside my head

If only it could leave me ....... alone. (by Mari Haugen (h_mari@hotmail.com)

Hello,
My name is Sílvia and I'm a young English teacher from Portugal. I've recently come across your site, and I've found it really interesting. One of the problems I have here is how to motivate students to learn English, so I thought about asking my young students to write something that could be published in your site along with other students work. The theme we've choosen was computers and here are the results.
best wishes,

Sílvia
Computer

Sensitive and soft

It sounds magically

Like a woman

If only I could understand them…(By Ricardo Gil and Bruno Dias)

Computer

Good and bad

It makes everything quietly

Like a ninjaI

f only it could fight (By Daniel and Luís Chaves)

Computer

Practical and fast

It thinks fast

Like a bullet

If only it could fly…(By Mário and Nuno)

Computer

Good and functional

Speedy and good

Like a woman

If only I could kiss her (By Sérgio Miguel and André Dores)

Computer

Fast and entertaining

It thinks and executes

Like a genius

If only I loved it (By Sérgio and João)

Computer

Intelligent and slow

It helps a lot

Like a book

If only we knew how to work with it (By Vanuza Santos and Sandra Dias)

Computer

Fast and useful

I like to connect to the internet

It has lots of information

I which I could work much better with a computer (By Andreia)

Computer

Intelligent and organized

It speaks Rapidly

I wish it wouldn't speak (By Célia Sobreira)


Updated: Dec 31, 2002

main page] [personal] [workplace]
You are visitor number since Dec 13 1995.

Here are example of a poem that is written by myself:

The moon
shines so brightly last night,
It was very beautiful and bright,
Up and above the sky it slowly moving around,
If only I get the chance to be up there and shone brightly and beautifully like the moon.

In conclusion, this computer assisted writing program really helps in building up my self-confidence in improving and enhancing my writing proficiency.

My Nokia Nseries Advertisement

NATURE OF ELECTRONIC USER

(a) Properties of electronic text.

http://www.usingenglish.com/

In this particular website, there were elements of plasticity because when you click to the link available then you will be able to copy it and paste it in word document. In here you can altered, remodeled and combined the fixed previously record. Besides that, there were also links in this website where you click to certain text there will be picture coming out. There were searchers available in this website like the search engine itself where complex searchers can be done quickly. The frame and material templates are available at the both right and left side of the homepage. Apart from that, there were footprints available in this website where the internet browsers keep records of sites that we visited, for example in history. We can trace and used various types of record later beside copy and saved it. Virtuality elements also available in this website as it provide ESL discussion forums where we can communicate live with other persons. Last but not least, tagging is also available in this website because once you click a word to the search engine, there will be varieties of choices we can choose from.

http://www.manythings.com/

An element of plasticity also available in this meticulous website, where you can copy, paste, altered, remodeled and combined the fixed previously record to word processer. There were many exercises and learning games in this website. Links are provided in this website, for example once you click to one of the hypertext, and then it will go to another website. There were links for students and links for teachers. Apart from that, this website is multi-modal because it has visual and audio in it. Searchers like the search engine also available in this website. The templates like the frame and material are also available at the both right and left side of the homepage. As usual, most of the website has its own footprints that are kept in history because of safety purpose. There were elements of virtuality in this website as it provides information that can be updated automatically from a remote source without human agency. Finally, the elements of tagging also available in this website as we can click to certain hypertext then it will bring us to another site.

Online Learning Games

SCRABBLE (www.scrabble.com)

Scrabble is a great family game for both fun and education. It is the wildly popular classic word-making board game with the use of selection of 7 letters to form the best words that score the highest points. It slowly helps to progress up the skill levels to gradually improve your vocabulary and scoring skill. It is very challenging and suitable for both adults and teenagers. Even those who are in their late 50’s and above also capable to play these games. It is a good games to keep their senior mind busy. You can play by yourself anytime and build up your vocabulary skills. By playing scrabble, you can measure your improvement over time because it keeps track of your scores.

You can choose to play against the spectacular Artificial Intelligence, play against another player, or even play by yourself. When playing the computer, you have the choice of 8 different skill levels which is from the beginner to advance up to genius. Besides that, there is also an official scrabble dictionary where you can find out the definitions of any word played. This is great for anyone who is trying to improve their vocabulary, especially students. Apart from that, it is also enhances your imagination and thinking. There were also similar types of games as scrabble named jamble that are available in www.itsyourturn.com. This one is a little challenging and quite difficult compare to scrabble. I recommend advance learner to try and play this words game.