Powerpoint Presentations in the MUET Classroom

As you can see from the video clips below, I've been using multimedia in the classroom.. but instead of me preparing and presenting, I've empowered my students to work in groups to gather materials and develop their own presentations. I believe that when you give students the room to grow, indeed they will. Of course the presentations are far from perfect, but as the old saying goes: it is not the destination that counts, but the journey itself.

Therefore, I'm sure my students will agree with me when I say they have learnt a lot from researching the topics using traditional referencing in the library.. and internet access where they collected most of the materials. What is more important is the process of reading and synthesising for a purpose.

For teachers, the basic instructions I gave were:
1. Divide each group into 3-4 students and provide a social ills topic (eg smoking, vandalism, gangsterism, drug abuse, free sex etc.)
2. Each person develops 5 - 7 slides using only POINT FORM (to avoid reading) and PICTURES/GRAPHS etc.. with NOT MORE THAN 20 WORDS per slide (to avoid over-congestion).
3. Students divided the content according to definition, examples, causes, effects and solution or recommendation.
4. Take lots of pics and record sections to be uploaded into Youtube, Facebook & Blogs.

So MUET students out there reading this, would you have liked doing this activity in your own class? Would it increase your motivation to present if you knew you would be published online?

Would be interesting to get your feedback on this as I will be explaining in my next blog the Action Research related to motivation that I'm conducting right now. :)

6A2 Majakir MUET 2010

6A2 Majakir MUET 2010 Vandalism

Grammar Test

Curious to know your grammar proficiency percentage by just completing a simple quiz? I've designed 10 multiple choice questions for my Grammar Formulas workshop... have a go here.. and email me your answers to queendrey@hotmail.com and i'll tell you your overall proficiency. hehe.. if you're lucky i'll even share my grammar secret formulas in the next blog! let's see if i get over 50 replies... :)


1. A) The child is talking to a boys.
B) The child are talking to boys.
C) The children is talking to a boy.
D) The children are talking to a boy.

2. A) She take him to school every day.
B) She takes him to school every day.
C) She taking him to school every day.
D) She taken him to school every day.

3. A) The instructions is give by the teacher.
B) The instructions is given by the teacher.
C) The instructions are given by the teacher.
D) The instructions are giving by the teacher.

4. A) The lady has sing a sad song.
B) The lady has sung a sad song.
C) The lady had singing a sad song.
D) The lady have singing a sad song.

5. A) His results have improved by take extra tuition.
B) His results have improved by takes extra tuition.
C) His results have improved by taken extra tuition.
D) His results have improved by taking extra tuition.

6. A) These ingredients are for make some cupcakes.
B) These ingredients are for made some cupcakes.
C) These ingredients are for makes some cupcakes.
D) These ingredients are for making some cupcakes.

7. A) You should dress neatly.
B) You should dresses neatly.
C) You should dressed neatly.
D) You should dressing neatly.

8. A) The victim must be take to the hospital immediately.
B) The victim must be takes to the hospital immediately.
C) The victim must be taken to the hospital immediately.
D) The victim must be taking to the hospital immediately.

9. A) I like to shop.
B) I like to shops.
C) I like to shopped.
D) I like to shopping.

10. A) The books has been return to the shelves.
B) The books has been returned to the shelves.
C) The books have been return to the shelves.
D) The books have been returned to the shelves.

Well.... do you think you can score 10/10 = 100% :P

email your answers asap.. hehe... good luck!

Results are out!

Why have I only heard from a few about their results? hmmmm... this is not a good sign. I'd like to know how you guys did.. do email me at queendrey@gmail.com if you'd like a more private discussion.

Personally I love exams.. the flow of adrenaline, the excitement of competing against others and more importantly, raising your own standards. So my opinion of abolishing UPSR and PMR? Well, I am sure you can guess that I am dead against it. We need some form of benchmarking and sense of rivalry, stress is good, it challenges us to rise above ourselves. ;-) In the same breath, I've come to know that OUM has made a pass in MUET NON-COMPULSORY. Sighs... this is really disheartening as I can imagine that the real reason behind this is that it has a whole lot to do with monetary gains, or more to the point, profit loss due to the huge number of failures amongst OUM students. again, huge sigh.

How is everyone doin? Keep the faith, ok!

MUET Speaking topics for mid year 2010

Just for your info, I'm having a black month... haha.. that means that i'm super annoyed with my other half for literally destroying my laptop and all the info that's in it. Some of you have asked for my power points from my previous lectures but I'm not sure if i still hv them. Will look around and check when I get my hands on a new laptop hopefully soon.

Anyway, i've been asked about the listening and speaking questions that came out in the recent MUET exams. I don't hv access to the listening transcript or the questions so I can't help there... but if you do remember the speaking topic given to you, write it in the comment here and i'll devise the best 3 points that befits a Band 6 answer. ;-)

As for when the results will be out, i'm not sure exactly but the results should be announced in the first two weeks of July if i'm not mistaken. Fingers crossed for all you guys out there. ;-) Remember to let me know your results by leaving a comment here ok.

MUET Speaking 800/2

The speaking test is divided into two sections: Task A & Task B, groups of 4 usually. Here is the timeframe breakdown:

Sit down clockwise, A to D. There will be two examiners for each exam. Once seated, they will check your exam slips and ICs. Handphones, notes, stationery etc not allowed as a pencil, a piece of paper and the question will be placed on the table for each student.

1st minute - just read the question and make a mental note of the words you would like to ask the examiner about. (you should ask the examiner EVEN IF YOU UNDERSTAND the terms to get the right pronunciation and 'borrow' ideas from the examiners. most examiners are very helpful and will give you some ideas if you ask nicely) (say: Excuse me but what is the meaning of ... DO NOT SAY: What means of...? which is horrendous grammar!)
2nd minute - examiners ask all candidates (A-D) one by one if they understand the question or not. (again, make sure you ask about any word/phrases during this time)
2 minutes to write your notes on the blank A4 paper given (tip: divide the paper into 4 sections, label A, B, C and D, then write only in your section. think of three points and for every point give reasons and examples, make sure it's in note form only to avoid reading)
2 minutes for each candidate to present Task A - MUST AGREE WITH POINT GIVEN (advantage for candidate D cos will hv 8 mins to prepare but the point is generally harder to elaborate than candidate A's point, so there are always pros and cons. MAKE SURE YOU SPEAK FOR THE FULL 2 MINS, and it is ok to just elaborate 1 or 2 points well instead of 3 points but not well explained.)
Speak according to this format:
1. Greetings (Good morning to the examinerS and my fellow candidateS, etc.)
2. Repeat situation (Today we are talking about...etc.)
3. Main Point (The point I would like to discuss is... etc.)
4. 1st point (Firstly,.. , This is because,.., Moreover,..., For example,.. , Therefore,... )
5. 2nd point (Secondly,... , This means that,... , Furthermore,... , For instance,... , Thus,...)
6. 3rd point (Finally,... , This is due to the fact that... , In addition, Take for example..., Hence,... )
7. Conclusion (In a nutshell, etc.)

2 minutes to prepare notes for Task B (now you can write notes for all candidate's points, have a ranking system 1,2,3 and 4, 1 is for best choice and 4 for the least favourite, this will help you with your discussion)
10 minutes to discuss. In the quarantine room, pre-decide who will do the introduction, and someone to do the conclusion (this person MUST PAY ATTENTION TO THE TIME, as some examiners will NOT ALLOW you to do a conclusion if you go beyond the 10 min timeframe.)
YOU MUST MEMORISE THE LANGUAGE PHRASES LISTED BELOW if you want to score a high band.

TEST ENDS


Make sure you train your brain to think of 3 points with supporting reasons and examples. Always write in point form, not full sentences as 2 mins goes by way too fast!

Use your hands to gesture and explain your points. Marks will be awarded for 3 categories:
1. Task fulfillment - Did you understand the question and give a relevant and mature response?
2. Communicative ability - Did you have good eye-contact, body posture, gestures, cooperation?
3. Language - Do you have good command of the language with extended vocabulary?
Marks are given for Task A and Task B then added and divided to find the average.

LIST OF USEFUL LANGUAGE

TASK A:

1. Good morning to everyone.

2. Good morning I bid to one and all.

3. Good morning to the examiners and all my

fellow candidates.

4. A very good morning I wish to all examiners

and fellow candidates.

5. Today we are talking about…

6. The situation I have been given is…

7. According to the situation…

8. Based on the situation given

9. I have 3 reasons to justify my point.

10. First and foremost,…

11. Firstly,…

12. Secondly,…

13. My second point is…

14. Another reason is…

15. Finally,…

16. Lastly,…

17. Last but not least,…

18. Moreover,…

19. In addition,…

20. Furthermore,…

21. Therefore,…

22. Hence,…

23. Thus,…

24. However,…

25. Other than that,…

26. On the other hand,…

27. Conversely,…

28. Consequently,…

29. Subsequently,…

30. In contrast,…

31. For example,…

32. For instance,…

33. Take for example,…

34. … and so on.

35. … and many more.

36. … and others.

37. In conclusion,…

38. As a conclusion,…

39. In short,…

40. In a nutshell,…

TASK B:

1. Let’s kickstart this discussion by starting with..

2. Allow me to begin…

3. May I begin by saying…

4. I agree with you. (NOT:I’M agree)

5. That’s a great idea!

6. I see your point!

7. That’s an interesting perspective.

8. I like your suggestion.

9. Indeed!

10. I concur with your point of view.

11. I’m sorry but I disagree.

12. I’m afraid I have to disagree with your idea.

13. I don’t see eye to eye with you.

14. That’s not a good idea/suggestion.

15. I beg to differ.

16. I’m sorry for interrupting but…

17. Excuse me, may I interrupt please.

18. Pardon me for interrupting but..

19. I’d like to add something please.

20. May I say something?

21. Could you please hear me out?

22. So what do you think, Candidate X?

23. How about your point of view?

24. Candidate X, what is your opinion?

25. Does anyone agree with me?

26. Why don’t we consider the other points?

27. I don’t understand, can you please repeat?

28. I’m sorry I don’t understand, can you please elaborate again?

29. In conclusion, ALL OF US agree that…

30. To conclude, MOST OF US agree that…

31. In a nutshell, SOME OF US agree that… while the rest prefer…

32. As time is running out, it seems that ALL OF US can’t seem to agree on a single point so…

33. That’s the end of this discussion, thank you.