This module made me realize that both verbal and written communications are equally important. In the past, my focus was mainly on verbal communication because I thought that if one is able to master the art of this alone, he/she can be deemed as a skilful communicator. He/she would be able to understand a conversation better, avoid any conflicts or argument easily and present his/her ideas across better. If it was the old me, I would have said that this was sufficient. The reason for me having this mentality could be because I am a science student. For all the science reports that I had submitted, language was never an area which I would place my focus on. It was the content that I am more concerned about. My marks depend solely on my content. Even the language used in our lecture notes was not up to standard. That’s why I did not see the need to improve in the area of written communication. It was only through this module that I saw the essentiality of written communication.
I have to admit that I faced problems with trying to bring my ideas across for all the assignments that I have completed. I have little confidence for the language used and I have to make sure that my work is checked by someone before I submit them. Even for this blog entry, I am uncertain about the number of grammatical errors and incomplete sentences I have made. This module has a great emphasis on language and it is an area I am poor in. The fact that I have decided to take this module has showed that I have the intention of salvaging my language problem. I felt helpless when the number of written assignments came flooding in. The weekly blog entry, the written report, the resume and cover letters have forced me to practice my writing skills. I had to pay special attention to the language used. Every time I finish my assignment, I made it a point to source out as many grammatical errors as I could before letting another person vet through. At least, this was an effort that I had put in and I am definitely proud of myself. My friends said that I was making life difficult for myself and I have the same sentiments. However, the time spent would certainly be worth the while if I am able to improve myself further.
On a whole, I felt that the lesson on 7Cs was the most useful. These 7 words (Clarity, Coherence, ..) may seem easy to comprehend but putting them to use in our piece of writing is difficult. As I looked back at my blog entry, I realized that I have not been coherent in my writing. I wrote down everything that I thought of without hesitation.. Maybe it would be better if I plan my work and jot down the points before writing them in paragraphs. This is a good habit that everyone ought to cultivate.
To end off, I would like to say a big Thank you to everyone for making each and every lesson an enjoyable one. Thanks Weili and Miko for making our report writing and presentation a fruitful one. THE GREEN COMMITTEE ROCKS!! In the past, I would grumble about the number of points that I used to bid for this module. But right now, I would say that the 1009 points used was certainly worth it.
P.S. I have a love-hate relationship with this module. =/
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The Blogger
Something I hold on deeply
Trust your heart, don’t be afraid to reach out to something new. Go ahead, get your hopes up. Even if things turn our differently than you imagined, you will have tried, you will have learned, you will have grown. And you will never have to live with regrets.
11 comments:
I'm the opposite. I need to focus on verbal and non-verbal communication.
And I agree that the language in Science can be improved further. Is there any way to get our lecturers to attend language classes?
Minor language problems in Science writing tend to be not a big issue, but major language difficulties will pose problems if the lecturers or tutors cannot understand the writing.
Hi Sharon,
I think everyone in science is capable of writing an essay that can be understood by others. After all, we have the QET to make sure that our Eng lang is of a particular standard. What I am trying to emphasis is that science students don't get much practice for their writing skill. (unless he/she is taking any arts mod)
It seems that we are practicing 'bad English' for every science essay/reports that we do.
Hey Zhenyun,
You have brought up a very important point about the emphasis on content instead of language in science report.
The lecturer really doenst care too much on the language as long as they can understand what we are trying to convey. There is certainly no "language" component in the marking scheme in science reports.
However, I am glad that this module have made us revisit our grammar rules and practise good language usage.
Good luck.
Cheers,
Danny.
I have to say this is the first time I have to worry so much about language in my reports. But I am confident it will be worth it in the end.
Haha, actually I am always worry about my language. This module has really helped me to be more aware of my language.
Like Zhenyun, I, too, have this love-hate relationship for this module too! no wonder we are friends..
Haha, actually I am always worry about my language. This module has really helped me to be more aware of my language.
Like Zhenyun, I, too, have this love-hate relationship for this module too! no wonder we are friends..
I think we have a love hate relationship with all language module.
Anyway, this module offered a good practice for our language. I have benefited a lot from this module.
I supposed the same goes to u as well! =)
Hi Weili,
I faced the same issue as you. But I'm quite certain that the constant checking (editing) of our finished work will enable us to produce a better piece of work.
It is important to minimize our errors, be it language or factual errors, especially in the workplace.
(It might be a 1 million contract that we are talking about!)
Anyway, thanks for the comment!
All the best to you =)
Hi Danny
First of all, thanks for the comment!
Seriously, I need to search through my old grammar book to know what do the terms "pronoun" and "subject verb agreement" mean. I have clean forgotten about them. This module is really a good refreshing module on grammar.
Hope that I did make some improvement in the language area.
Here I am again, one last time, The Language Use Gremlin:
You wrote: However, the time spent would certainly be worth the while if I am able to improve myself further.
I would write: However, the time spent WILL certainly be worth the while if I am able to improve myself further.
This is an example of real conditional, just like this:
If I am sick, I will go to the doctor.
Unreal conditional uses would, in a case like this:
If I WERE seriously injured (imaginary scene), I WOULD/might/should go to the hospital.
Okay. Enough.
I know you have a love-hate relationship with modules like this, where grammarians rule. But you shouldn't. Just think of the future, where you will be so far ahead of everyone else in your office because your grammar will be correct and theirs, well, maybe not.
Anyway, I've seen great progress in your writing this term, even in the blog posts. Thank you for all the patience and hard work!
Best wishes for a great future, Zhenyun.
Brad
or:
The time spent would have been worth its while if I am able to improve myself further.
Yes, this is the one, if you are talking about the time being passed.
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