Latest format for Report Writing MUET Writing Paper 800/4 Question 1

Hi all... I've received a few emails and messages about the report writing question and there appears to be some confusion. In recent posts (late last year) I did provide two samples with the revised format but I haven't shown you the new formula. So here it is.

NEW FORMULA:

TITLE
INTRO + OV
KFs
CONCLUSION


Compare this to the old formula:

TITLE
OV + CI
KFs
Pi + Pii


Actually the ONLY difference is that they require only ONE sentence for the conclusion and this conclusion does not include any prediction (Pi) or proposal (Pii).

As for the first paragraph, it consists of ONLY TWO sentences and it is exactly the same as the old format, just that MPM has decided to rename it (just to confuse us!!!!!). Therefore, the first sentence is now called the 'Introduction' where you just mention what stimuli you see (graph, chart, diagram etc) while the second one is now called 'Overview', not Controlling Idea (CI). I think this is much better because it was so hard to explain to students what a controlling idea really means. In fact, most of the MUET teachers I have trained also have problems coming up with a good OV/CI. The trick is to be able to find a trend or a connection and the most outstanding Key Feature (KF) that links ALL the stimuli given.

Anyway, click the samples link above and re-read the tips for writing a good report. If you have any questions, just ask. Happy penning!

Forgot to mention, those of you who have asked for the powerpoints, please be informed that I'm currently revising the content based on the updates in format and marking schemes. Will be presenting my first MUET seminar at KK High on 23rd next month so you can have it then but you'll have to email me closer to that time cos I've already forgotten who I need to forward it to. You know... old lady now. hehe..

Feeling touched... cos I've touched a life.

When I first started teaching, I was posted in SMK Inanam, Kota Kinabalu. It wasn't a premier school and yet it wasn't a rural school. So you can imagine that while the level was average, it was the students who made the difference. Being young and energetic and filled with positive vibes, teaching there brought back many good memories. But the days almost 10 years have passed in a snap of a finger and now I've moved on, become better at being a teacher with every new batch of students I teach.

Facebook is fantastic... it connects people, really and truly. Through it I've 'been found' by ex-students... and it is only then that you find out that although the past is the past, but it is a profound past when my ex-students chat with me now, and let me know how much I meant to them, how much I've helped to shape their lives. It's an amazing feeling. Anyone contemplating becoming a teacher, well, it pays grand dividends although not monetary. It enriches the soul and births contentment. Definitely worth the effort. :)

Jerung's blog blew me away. To know that I played a part in his early life where his perspectives were a reflection of mine, knowing that he learnt through observing me and remembers me in a good light, well it is enough to make me smile stupidly the whole day. haha. so sharky, thanks for making an old lady happy. :)

Anyway, am in the midst of preparing the students for their first trial exam this year. Here's an interesting question that you may try. Email me with your replies, pls use microsoft word so that I can edit it for you if I can find the time.

Internet crime is on the rise. People are being cheated by irresponsible parties who use the internet as their scam tool. What is your opinion on this matter? Your composition should be at least 350 words.

Go on.. have a go.

Certainty in Uncertainty...

Those of you out there who've just passed another milestone in your life, i.e. your SPM or STPM results have just been announced, well all I can say is that there is certainty in uncertainty. What exactly does that mean, I hear you ask silently.

A famous saying states that there is nothing constant in this lifetime except the inconsistent. That the only predictable thing about life is that it is highly unpredictable. We may assume we know what will happen in the next chapter but let me tell you that Fate has many tricks up her sleeve.

If you're jumping for joy now, and you can see your future roll out in front of you like a red carpet, then all is well and fine. You'll strive ahead confidently, taking each stride at ease, making your way to the graduation stage with your robe flowing against the carefree breeze. You'll get to wear that symbolic mortar and hold that precious scroll in your hands, proof of all the toil and sweat that you've poured into your dream. Then one fine day after that, you might walk down the aisle and tie the knot with the partner of your dreams.. and you'll be blessed with children, a great career and a blissful life.

BUT if you didn't get the results you prayed and hoped for, and you feel somewhat lost right now - well, let me tell you this. It's ok to not know. It's not a crime to not be able to figure out where the path of life will lead you from here. And it's more than fine to feel insecure because at the end of the day, we're only human; driven by the tides of our emotions - one minute happy, the next sad.. and the whole kaleidoscope of feelings from pleasure to fear that we often can't control.

Does the exam result determine your whole future? In some ways, yes. But the main determinant factor is YOU yourself. If you're uncertain about your future, unsure about what to do now and don't know how you will cope; all I can say is that you should embrace the unknown. We should rejoice in the fact that we CANNOT predict the future, only the creator can do that. We cannot expect to know how the chapters in our life will unfurl and more importantly, we SHOULDN'T know because what would be the joy in life if we knew every single thing that would happen to us? Life is great because it is so unpredictable, so unforseeen.

Okay, so now you agree with me that we know for certain that life is uncertain. So what now? Well now, you deal with the 'certain' aspects of your life, aspects which you have the power to control. In your own life there are many variables like if you get a scholarship or not, if you can find a boyfriend or girlfriend or not, if you can get rich or not. But if you look closely, there are also many constants. And these constants stem from your own personality and outlook on life. We can't control the uncertain aspects of life, but we can deal with making ourselves a better person so that we can bravely face the many challenges and barriers that we are bound to slam into.

What are these constants I'm talking about? Well first up is your personality. Adopt a positive attitude. Believe in yourself because if you don't, people will read the negative vibes and believe that you are not worth believing. If you have confidence issues, now is the time to say: "To hell with what people think, I will do the best that I can at the best of my ability." The door of opportunity will open to those who are confident enough to reach out and pull the doorknob. Not those who don't believe in themselves enough to make the first move. I can tell you to do it, but at the end of the day, only you can command yourself to make that change. So change. Believe in yourself, believe that the impossible is possible.

Next is to arm yourself with knowledge. Do you know why Madonna is so famous? Because every new single she comes up with shows a different version of her. And you can tell that she's done her homework, put in the time and effort in learning something new all the time. If you go through life thinking that you know everything there is to know, then you've shot yourself in the foot and this journey will be short and pointless. But if you tell yourself, make a conscious effort to learn new things all the time, or learn old things again but in new ways, then you're changing yourself for the better all the time. You're evolving in a dynamic way and this will bring you a measure of success and contentment. Thus, you have to make a concerted effort to learn a new skill, go for courses and conferences, and experience new things that you would NOT normally do. Like bungee jumping. Or simply learning to type with all ten fingers. When your heart is open to learning, you'll realise that knowledge is power. Believe me, it empowers you like nothing else in this world can.

So Step 1 was to believe in yourself and Step 2 was to embrace all forms of knowledge. So what is the third constant that we have the power to control? Well Step 3 is simply sharing, to share what we have gained in this lifetime. It seems like such a simple concept, but trust me, not many people can master it. Why don't people share their knowledge or share their ideas freely? Because they are afraid of being judged. Remember that it is not our duty to judge others, only the one above has that right. So set this worry aside, and make a conscious effort to share everything you can (not your spouse though!!!). If you believe in yourself, inspire others to do the same. If you've learnt something new, plant the seeds of knowledge in another so he may nurture it and watch the flower of enlightenment bloom in all its glory. If you can change one person, and that person can change another.. before you know it, you've touched the lives of millions. You've made this world a better place.

Right, what a long winded way to tell you that even if life is uncertain, you can be certain of success if you change yourself first. Change is good; change is inevitable which means that you cannot avoid it. If you fail to move forward, you're not standing motionless but you're actually moving backwards as the tide of humanity surges ahead and leaves you behind. Do you want to be left behind? Of course not. So embrace the unpredictablity of life, make as many aspects of your life predictable, and I predict that wherever the roads in your life diverges, you'll end up taking the road you're meant to travel. And in the words of Robert Frost, that, my dear, will make all the difference.

With all my love,

Audrey...xxx

22 Feb 2011

Fear is Fantastic!!!

With a title like this, it's hard to just look away. Just like the fact there is something gruesome in staring at a road accident - what the Americans call rubber-necking - stretching your neck forward just to catch a glimpse of a dead body or a pool of blood so you may recount the sordid tale to whomever you meet next. Anyway, I digress.

So why was my title worth a second look? Simply because it had an element of 'surprise' or the unexpected woven into it. We don't normally associate fear with positive emotions, so how can fear possibly be fantastic? Well, as the saying goes: Mind Over Matter. What the mind perceives to be true, the heart believes. Therefore, if we can reprogramme our mindset, and make it accept that fear is a good thing, fear challenges our boundaries and fear makes us excel, then indeed, the statement might hold water.

The way I see it, both students in general and the teachers in my profession have one thing in common: Fear of Change.

Teachers fear the tide of change will wash over them and make them lose their footing. The internet, digital technology, student-centred learning, mobile phones as something more than a communication gadget, overhead projectors, all of these things point the way forward, they are the inevitable learning tools that our new generation are empowered with, gadgets which are like the compass leading the way northwards.

Yet almost all the seminars and teacher gatherings I go to seem to tell me something about the average Malaysian teacher. And their message is clear: Teachers fear the new education revolution because they are ill equipped to face the challenges of IT in the classroom. I have given talks and tried to show how easy it is to use a simple digital camera to take pictures, record video clips of students doing work in class, uploading to YouTube and FaceBook... and yet the majority of teachers resist. If only they could feel what I feel, see the euphoria on each student's face as soon as they see they've been published online, that their teacher values their work so much, she'd like to share it with the world. If only today's teachers would stop with the 'I don't know how...' and 'It's too complicated..' and replace them with two simple words: "I'll try." Then the floodgates of knowledge would burst open, and there would be a whole new world to explore and their students would benefit from the wave of new information that would raise the tide of motivation to learn and embrace English.

Ok, maybe that sounded too surreal, but you get my point. The students can only be as good as their teacher. If the teachers don't try to be more creative in their teaching techniques, they will start to fall out of favour with the new age students. Teachers fear change, and this fear paralyses them towards accepting and implementing new technology in classrooms today. So who ultimately loses out? The teacher who doesn't want to try? No. The victims are the students because without such exposure, they grow up in a state of ignorance. They plod through the chalk & talk, sadly and surely, never knowing the difference. In the end, they find English boring, repetitive and unchallenging. And whose fault is it? Definitely not the students.

So what now? Well teachers out there, please hear my plea. Change your ways. Even if it instills the deepest fears in you, and makes you shiver to your very marrow. Take on the bull by both his horns, face him head on. Or take baby steps, learn one new thing at a time and pace yourself. Make fear your friend for fear is truly fantastic. It challenges your boundaries, makes you push your limits, dares you to dive into the deep end, gives you strength to freefall without a safety net if your life depended on it. It's all about your attitude, mind over matter. Adjust your mindset, put into place a paradigm shift and embrace the impossibilities.

So is fear fantastic?

Of course it is.

Simply fantabulous.

Invention Prototype Project

A good lesson for any MUET class to combine the four skills is to get them to form groups and invent something useful. First they brainstorm and plan it out, the next lesson they bring recycled products to make the invention and prepare a poster advert for it (writing). Then they practice their 'sales pitch' (speaking). Two reps for each group stay with the product and become sellers, while the others are buyers. Each buyers asks questions and can only buy TWO products. They 'buy' by writing their names and comments on the poster (evidence of speaking, reading and understanding). After 10 mins, change roles and allow the sellers to become the buyers. At the end of the time limit, the group that made the most sales wins a prize.

Writing is put into authentic practice with the poster advert. It also makes students read in an authentic situation.

Students can be as creative as you allow them to be. As a teacher, expect that they CAN do it, instead of ASSUMING they CAN'T do it. You'll be surprised what they can do.

Mechanical fold machine.. folds t-shirts automatically.. fantastic idea! The boy eating the Choc-Stick is because it was a free gift to lure the customers to buy the product, so you can brief your students on what makes a good salesman and a great sales pitch, after all, Malaysians love free gifts right!

Live demo makes all students enthusiastic and motivated to use the language.

My student explaining the product. :P Language (broken or otherwise) usage in its most authentic form in class.

The point is, any lesson which heightens motivation and gives students a purpose for speaking English cannot be a bad lesson. Steer clear of chalk and talk, my message is that a teacher's core duty is to EMPOWER HER STUDENTS. Trust that they can do it and you'll be impressed with the outcomes. :P

Congrats!

Well you guys are well aware that the results are out for end of last year's MUET. Seems like the exam itself was harder than any i've encountered previously and the essay question about arranged marriages was simply an 'un-spottable' question. All of my students have been drilled on all the hot topics and current issues but we didn't talk about this. Consequently, a lot of you out there had to rely on your own ideas and opinion to answer it. Never mind, it turned out all right in the end. If there is one thing I've learnt from this, it's grammar and vocabulary makes all the difference. You may not be able to 'spot' questions accurately, but if you have impeccable grammar and a wide vocabulary, Bands 5 & 6 can be within grasp, I assure you. So strive for Zero-Error!

As for my school... I'm happy to report that SMK Majakir, Papar, Sabah has had a slight increase in quality (more band 4 this year than previously) although the number of band 3s have reduced marginally. Of the four classes, there were a significant amount of band 2s compared to band 1, so the overall quality also shows an upwards trend. And for the first time in my personal record, NONE of my students from the two classes I taught scored Band 1. For a suburban school, I find this to be an excellent achievement. Congrats to Upper Six Science & Upper Six 2, Class of 2010. You've done an old lady like me proud.

Anyway, the new year has begun, I'm in the midst of organising a Kota Kinabalu Level 1st InterSchool Colloquium Competition for MUET and will be busy designing modules for SPM English & MUET Students' Handbook soon. If I'm successfully published, you guys will be the first to know. Wish me luck.

All hell will break loose next week as activities in school heat up with meetings after meetings and my part time lectures at University Malaysia Sabah twice a week on Mondays & Wednesdays start. I'll try to keep the blog rolling with what I do in class. Will blog soon about my students' "Prototype Presentation" project which they will be doing next week. Cheers for now!

Life, through my eyes.. Dedicated to my children and students.

Everyone writes stuff everyday that is meaningful, and I guess it's time to jump on the bandwagon. This is for Besra & Lanner.. and all my 'external' children who weren't sired in my womb, but have a room in my heart nonetheless.

Here's 10 lil gems from me. Read it. Do it. Feel it. Don't let this life slip you by. Now.

1. At the top of the list is: Do Good. Anywhere, everywhere, all the time. But don't expect anything in return. As simple as opening the door for someone, paying the car park fee for the car behind you, never killing, stealing or sleeping with someone else's partner. Do Good, not Evil.

2. Air Asia.. Now Everyone Can Fly. See the world.. it is so affordable these days that you should pack your bags and go.. even if it is just for a weekend. And even if you go alone. Guys no prob.. girls, read everything you can before you go; check out maps, book hostels/hotels, plan your holiday so that you look purposeful, and no one will dare to cheat you. Or go with close friends, they will show you a different spin on the things you see. Friendships are priceless.

3. On the same note, here are some places you MUST visit and experience. The canals of Venice are gorgeous. Stonehenge is magnificent and so is the Colosseum in Rome. The Eiffel tower and the river Sien beckons the romantic in all of us. The fields of golden sunflowers in Italy are simply breathtaking. The pastel coloured buildings in Florence and the rest of that country is spellbinding. Walking down the streets of La Ramblas in Spain was amazing.. and so was Athens.. where orange trees permeated the sweetest scent perfuming the air. Travel to Inverness in Scotland to see the elusive Loch Ness monster and go stay a night in the hostel on the Isle of Skye. I haven't done much of Asia yet.. except for Singapore and Thailand.. even if you're not Buddhist, visit a temple in Bangkok and feel the peace, calm and contentment awash you. The beauty of travel... it makes you realise that life is so short, we must grab joy with both hands lest it slips from our fingers and disappears into the transient nothingness. Promise yourself - One Country Every Year. I myself will get back to that promise once the kids are older.

4. Spend time with the people you love. Your mother loves you. And your father does too, sometimes quietly. They and your siblings wouldn't mind hearing the words 'I love you' once in a while. Declaring your love doesn't make you weak but stronger. This world needs more love to make it spin on its tilted axis. Anger, greed, envy, hatred... we should never gravitate towards the forces of evil. We could all do with less of these negative emotions and more of love, care, giving, generosity, helpfulness, tolerance and bliss.

5. On that note: call your mother now! Or write your friend a real letter with a real stamp. Drive or take the bus and visit an old aunty today.. To sum it up: Nothing; nothing beats your personal touch. One day you might be able to afford a personal assistant to buy presents and send cards or flowers for you.. but it wont mean as much as if you yourself put in the time and effort to show someone you love them.

6. Get a job you really love. There is no point waking up every day dreading the day ahead. Even if you don't earn much money (like being a teacher).. think of how satisfied you are when you do a job well. Think of all the lives you have touched by committing to your profession and giving it your best. If you hate your job.. get up and get out! Dare to make that change in you by trying something new.

7. Children need time - quality time and quantity time if you can spare it. When you have kids and you hear them laugh out loud for the first time, you'll know what a gorgeous lil piece of creation you helped to make. Read to them. Sing nursery rhymes with them. Play lego or dolls with them. Sit them on your lap and make them feel like your time is their time, your love is all theirs and hold them tight like you'll never let them go. Children feel it if you love them and want to spend time with them, listening to their never ending questions. Children know if you don't care. So please, find the time for them no matter what you're doing. PRIORITIZE!

8. Take picture. Make memories. Life if not just work, work and more work. I try to make sure I never bring my work home with me. Finish it all at the office. And when you come home, plan something simple but nice or extravagant but meaningful. Take a picnic basket and enjoy the beach, river, mountaintop etc. Plan family holidays. Have a bbq or potluck with friends. Nothing beats enriching our lives with soul-feeding experiences. Don't retreat into your own world, thinking nothing is worth the effort. Life is worth the effort, don't let it go down the drain and dissipate into oblivion.

9. Read. I love romance novels. Erotic and moving love stories with a happily ever after. But read everything and anything. Roadsigns, articles, newspapers... I love John Grisham (laywer stories), Jeffrey Archer (incredible storyteller) and Dan Brown (you don't know intelligent until you read him.. then you wikipedia it and and be goggle-eyed by the sheer amazement of the true things he writes about). I really respect people who buy books. Books will live long after you have left this mortal world. They are the footprints of all the loud heroes and quiet victors... And maybe one day, if I am so blessed, I will write a book and seal my footprints in the sands of time.

10. Be good to yourself. If you don't love and appreciate yourself, no one will. Whatever you look like now, I'm pretty certain you are the best person you can be cos everyone gets old and then the bones start creaking and the skin starts becoming friends with gravity and a spare tyre is the norm. By that time, you'll be wishing you were 10, 20, 30 years younger. So no regrets, love yourself now before it is too late. Change your dressing style once in a while. Colour your hair. Wear torn jeans. Learn something new. Pick up a new hobby or try something different. Don't keep ordering the same menu when you get to the same restaurant. Be adventurous. Really enjoy the things that you do for yourself. Even if you do it all by yourself. If you're still single, enjoy the freedom of having no one to answer to but yourself. Sooner or later someone will pop into your life. And if they don't, there is no crime in not getting married or having children. If you do tie the knot, make the best of it. Be good to your spouse, be considerate, loving, compassionate and verbal about how much your life has changed for the better just by being together.

And so we return to the essence of my ramblings. Be good. To others. Even your enemies. Kill hatred with love. And most of all, be good to yourself because the rest will follow.

With all my love,

Audrey

30 Nov 201