Topic 1 : Language and Communication

In the first topic, I had learned about language and communication in the subject English for Language Teachers. After learning this topic, I realize that language is very important and useful in our daily life. In this topic, I learned about definition of language, language and culture, functions of language, non verbal communication, speech and writing and English Language in Malaysia.

To help us understand easily about the definition of the language, our lecturer asked some of our classmate to write out a sentence using different types of language such as Chinese, Japanese, Tamil and Arab language. From this activity, we can see clearer and understand better about the definition of the language which is language can be regarded as a code for conveying a great variety of information. After looking at the different symbol of the different types of language, I realize that each word of a language is a symbol and sequence of sounds or letters which has a particular meaning. No wonder English has chosen as a international language because it can understand mostly by all the people around the world.

Besides, for the tutorial presentation 1, we were required to present our group discussion on how Malaysian culture affects English Language by the using factors multicultural society, urban and rural settings, political and historical influence and educational policies in the subtopic English Language in Malaysia. Our group got the topic Malaysian culture affects English Language by the using factors educational policies. From this presentation, we can understand better how Malaysian culture affects English Language and at the same time we can see the opinion of the other group when presenting their own topic.

On the other hand, I also learned about function of language. To understand better about this subtopic, our lecturer asks every group to prepare a dialogue with at least 5 language functions for role play. Our group had role play a dialogue about moving into a new house .Although our dialogue is quite simple and short, the function of language can be identified clearly. After doing the role play, I learned and realize that language has function and form. For example, we use language to ask something, to greet someone, to introduce, to require and so on.

In the subtopic non verbal communication, we were required to prepare 3 minute mime which is non verbal communication of a situation of our choice. Our group had mime the situation in a taxi. I find that this activity is very interesting and enjoyable. We can see the creativity of other group to mime their own action in different situation. I feel proud because our group has done the best miming among the other group. As we know, non verbal communication refers to modes of communication which send messages to the recipient with no voice involved such staring, winking, shaking hand and others.

In conclusion, the activities that I had done in the tutorial and Independent Self Learning (ISL) help me to understand better about the content of this topic. I hope that I can apply what I had learned in this topic to teach our future students.