Listening to Many 16 July 2008
Posted by neny in My events, My perspectives.Tags: culture, exposure to culture, listening, listening comprehension
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So, I went to SoE for two weeks, shared a house with 4 guys who knew how to cook so I didn’t have to cook myself *yay!*, taught two courses (Listening and Reading), and at my free time, struggled to write materials for COTIM program. Not bad at all. I think I got some new experiences about teaching during my travel and my stay.
me and the students of class 2006 |
One thing that supports my research proposal for PhD application is that it is extremely difficult to teach English when the students do not have enough exposure to the culture of English speaking country. |
I was using Cambridge materials for Listening which is highly British. Once, the students were required to listen to a guy leaving a phone message for a girl. He was in a call box and he said he would call again. The comprehension question was “why can’t the girl phone him back?”. If the students could infer what a call box was, it would be no problem at all for them to answer the comprehension question. By the way, a call box is a public telephone booth according to Merriam-Webster dictionary, and one who has seen or read about a call box (either in person, in movies, in novels) knows that a call box usually can’t be called back.
Got it? Well, it’s easy if you have seen or read about it. Even if you don’t know the words, you usually can infer what is a call box from the words call and box: it’s a box to call!
Another aspect of listening skills that I notice is that in order to successfully comprehend what s/he listens, s/he has to have the ability to adjust his/her ‘ears’ to accommodate different accents, dialects and styles. I personally believe that exposure to different accents, dialects, and styles will be beneficial to train one’s ears to adjust his/her hearing. Again, in SoE, where the environment tends to be homogeneous in terms of ethnic groups, media, references, etc., my students struggled to listen to even a sentence because I think they didn’t get used to listening and adjusting to different styles of speech.
So, the keyword is exposure to the culture. The more varied the exposure is, the better adjustment one makes with one’s hearing. The better the adjustment, the better the listening comprehension. What do you think?
souvenir from Vietnam 28 November 2007
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I’ve been swarmed by many unfinished business as soon as I returned to Salatiga from Vietnam. In Vietnam, I was attending and presenting in GloCALL 2007 International Conference with funding from Van Deventer Maas Stichting and Bakti-Support Office for Eastern Indonesia from 2-7 November 2007. So, here is the long due posting of what I experienced during the conference. |
In general, I should say that attending conferences is a good way of developing networks, particularly if you’re attending a conference in your field of interest. That was exactly how I feel about GloCALL 2007. I met some CALL practitioners whose names I’ve only read or found in the Internet (like Tom Robb, Jeong-Bae Soon, Deb Healey, Charles Kelly, Vance Stevens) , some colleagues who use CALL in their courses (like George MacLean, James Elwood, Jacqui Cyrus, Anthony Robbins, Andrew Ross, Stephane Charitos, and others) and a virtual friend like Howard Martyn. It’s good to develop and renew contacts with people who have similar interests with you!
me with some presenters including Jacqui Cyrus, Scott Windeatt, Tom Robb,Jeong-Bae Son.
Although it’s quite tiring to present five presentations (some other presenters thought that I was crazy presenting three different topics!), I think I was doing alright. In Hanoi, which was the first city for the conference, the participant attendance was low and they were not very responsive to my presentations. Maybe because almost all presenters were still around, so there were quite a number of sessions that the participants could attend. Some presenters were not attending the Ho Chin Minh City one, so the sessions selected were limited. Hence, I got more audience and more responses. However, I appreciate all comments that I received because in many ways they gave me more insights and ideas of how to further develop my research. If you need the PowerPoint files of my presentation, please email me.
On a more personal note, Vietnam was in a way similar to Indonesia. The weather between Hanoi and Ho Chin Minh City were different. Hanoi was colder because it was in the north and Ho Chin Minh was hot and humid. I was lucky (and I guess just being thoughtful) because I brought a jacket that helped me survived the chill of Hanoi. I stayed at Hanoi University Guest House and I really liked the architecture of the buildings in the campus. They have these colonial style buildings that I just adored! The funny thing was, when I arrived at the Guest House, it was dark already and looking at the hall I thought that it would be a perfect shooting location for an Indonesian horror movie! It looked creepy, but I didn’t sense any spirits (I will tell you about this sixth sense of mine in another post) and the room was new and very clean, with good mattress, a TV set, and a shower. Just like a two star hotel. The feeling of the campus was pretty similar to my campus in Salatiga. Students were everywhere (the dorms were on campus, nearby my guest house) and Internet cafes were just two minutes walk! Hallelujah!
Ho Chin Minh City was another version of Jakarta, Indonesia’s capitol city. The hot weather, the hell-crazy traffic, the way the buildings were located and built reminded me of Jakarta. Maybe that’s the reason why I’m fonder of Hanoi than of Ho Chin Minh City. Hanoi, although the main street near HANU campus was terribly crowded, I still could have a peaceful walk in the campus and people looked similar to Indonesians. I, of course, love the architecture of the buildings in downtown Ho Chin Minh, which again, in colonial style. Remembering home, during those walks to and fro the conference place at SEAMEO RETRACT in Ho Chin Minh, I was sad with the fact that many old buildings in Salatiga (which many are in the Dutch colonial style) was being destroyed everyday, for being replaced with more modern, yet less elegant buildings. Growing up in Salatiga, which used to be the relaxing city for the Dutch living in Semarang during their occupation, I have this soft spot for any old colonial buildings. While travelling, I like to observe the architecture along the way, looking fondly to charming old houses.
Another thing that I learned in Vietnam is how similar they look with Indonesians. There were countless times in Vietnam where people immediately started talking to me in Vietnamese, which I of course replied with a puzzled look on my face and an apology in English that I didn’t know how to speak in Vietnamese. It turned out that my appearance was pretty much similar to those living in villages of Vietnam. When I told this to my students here, they jokingly said that maybe I had the qualities of being ‘villagish’ and backward! 
) Well, I don’t mind being a villager and once I lived for five weeks in a village near Boyolali. Even my grandparents were originally not from big cities. Still about appearance, I had this unpleasant experience of getting unpleasant look from a taxi driver because I was sharing a cab with two Caucasian men (they were George and Jim, presenters from Japan, who stayed in the same hotel with me) and looking like Vietnamese but didn’t address him in Vietnamese. Maybe the driver thought that I was some cheap Vietnamese girl, trying to hook up with male westerners, and being so stucked up by not using my own language. Gosh! First, of course I didn’t know how to speak in Vietnamese because I was not a Vietnamese. Secondly, if you can tell a ‘lady escort’ from the way she dresses, my outfit was not even close to being revealing. I remember I was wearing long black pants and a simple silk shirt, carrying the conference bag (which looked like a laptop bag and indeed it carried my laptop). In short, I looked like an office girl. Well, maybe it was my face. People often mistakenly guess that I am a university student or something, age of early 20s. Sometimes I took it as a compliment (being early 20s as opposed to my real age of 33 means that my face is still fresh like those youngsters!), but sometimes it gets annoying too.
For the souvenir to you, I will post some more pictures when I get the chance. For the time being, please enjoy this video of me presenting in one of the sessions in GloCALL 2007. Thanks to Howard Martyn for taking this video.
*Back to life*
Narcissistic me… 30 September 2007
Posted by neny in My perspectives.2 comments
| Well , not many people here know that I can sing. I even had the experiences of competing and being in bands for that. Being in the US (with their media coverage) had put that little interest of mine on the spotlight although for a narrower audience of my old campus. Not that I want to brag about it, but sometimes I miss the feeling of standing on stage and performing to a large audience. | 
me in Cyclone Idol 2005 |
Last night, I was browsing my music collection and stumbled upon a song that I sung during the final of Cyclone Idol 2004, ‘Unforgettable’, originally by Natalie Cole. It was actually included in a CD produced by the committee. And I was thinking if you would be intested in listening it. I didn’t win, but I did receive a honorable mention for that song. The next year, I won third place in the same competition. It felt so good to stand on stage, singing for 750 something audience, especially my friends who were cheering me and it even felt better when I won.
So here it is, Neny-Unforgetttable.wma. Enjoy. I feel so awfully narcissistic…
False Hope… 29 July 2007
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In relation to what I posted previously about the election, hereby I updated that posting to be NOT TRUE.
Am I lying?
No. I did get elected by at least 10 people out of 19 people.
So, why was it not true?
Because the bosses canceled it.
It has nothing to do with my qualifications and skills. I believe, as people who voted me also believe, I am very much capable of handling this position. My track records and my resume are tangible proofs that I am the right person.
But, there is a teeny weeny little detail called ‘religious background’. As much as it is not relevant to my position in terms of being able to do the job well, that is exactly the reason why they put me off: because I’m different.
Well, I guess I will just ignore my previous post. Obviously it’s just a false hope. Once I thought that this place will be better in seeing what’s worth seeing in a person, and not judging someone’s based on ‘colors’. It turned out that they are visually very demanding.
Well, I am who I am. I don’t need a position to prove it.
It’s time to move…
So, it’s official now… 20 July 2007
Posted by neny in My events, My perspectives.2 comments
Yup, I’m elected.
Exciting? Yes.
Terrifying? Yes.
The thing that I hate about it is that I will be awfully busy and have less time to do things that I enjoy, less time for my significant others, less time to travel. Oh, and I have to maintain ‘my image’ all the times and can’t be myself, even when I really, really, really want to.
Yet, it’s exciting, because I believe I have the opportunity (and power) make good things happen, rather than complaining about things. The question is, can I really do it? As much as I’m positive and optimistic about it, the results of the votes show me that I really need to be vigilant and get my weapons ready. Constant Vigilant! (says Mad-eye Moody in Harry Potter).
Oh well, lets see how it goes.
Help me.
Pray for me.
Making decisions 10 April 2007
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I remember putting that quote on the first page of my undergraduate thesis as my personal belief in 1997. How true. How difficult to do. |
As a Libran (not that I believe in astrology. If it’s good, I take the advice 
If not, well, throw it to the trash bin and move on…), making decisions on actions has been my greatest challenge. Should I do this or that? If I do this, what will happen? So and so. I have this habit of seeking advices from people around me and at the end of the day, after asking advices from over 10 people or more, I still come up with no decision. I also have the tendency to follow my heart, do things recklessly and regret it later. Complicated, huh?
Particularly now, when I have to make a great decision of my career, I am still not sure whether I have taken the right decision. After all I know that my dearests are not thrilled with my decision and it will put a delay on my other plan for my academic career. I admire my dearests’ wisdom to let me make the choice and face the consequences and still love me anyway at the end of the journey. But then, when you’re making a decision and it’s not satisfying your loved ones, it’s heart-breaking.
Of course, when I decide this advancement to my career, I can see that it will be glorious and challenging for me. Why, everybody likes to be in a position that enables one to make a difference and to get things done. I’ve been frustrated for a long time for not making good things happen in my office, partly because I had no power to ensure that my proposal was applied. And now the opportunity has come and of course I embrace it dearly, thinking that maybe this time I can make good things happen.
But still, the glory and the challenges will be for me. What’s left for my dearests is less time and less attention. See how selfish I am? They may be proud of my achievements, but I guess all these times, it’s always me, me, and me.
After all, I think I’m quite fixed with my decision, and all the consequences that follow it. I realize that it may be rocky, full of frustration, lots of hard work, and all those negative situations. Yet, I intend to come out of it triumphantly.
So help me God.
Course Evaluation? I’m terrified… 31 March 2007
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I planned to have a course evaluation for courses that I am teaching this trimester. I did. I swear. I even put it in the syllabus.
Did I do it?
Nope. I have no time.
First of all, I have to finish all materials and give my students time to finish the assignments (which, by the way, quite a lot, as I don’t give tests). Giving a course evaluation, where they will be left by themselves for an hour to fill in the form, will reduce the number of class meetings.
Secondly, I don’t have time to retype and copy the evaluation form, which I planned to adapt from Iowa State’s (thanks to Dan Douglas, my former professor in Iowa State, for sending me a copy of it) and I don’t have time to ask one of my senior colleagues to observe me teaching.
Thirdly, I am terrified of the prospects of having low scores and nasty comments from my students about my methodology, materials and assignments. And having a colleague criticizing my way of teaching gives me the creep. I know, I know, I should be open-minded and be objective about course evaluating my classes. The results of the course evaluation, no matter how painful it is, will be beneficial for improving me as a teacher and for improving my courses. And I know that I should ‘walk the talk’, meaning that I should do what I’ve been telling my students in my English for Specific Purposes (ESP) class that a course evaluation is vital to the design of the course.
Yet, I just don’t have the guts to do it and it led me to my other excuses of not having time to produce the course evaluation time, to distribute the forms and to invite an observer to my classes. I guess, I’m still not ready to face the possibilities of having myself being criticized about my teaching performance. Nobody likes being criticized, ain’t it right? It’s painful for my pride and it will ruin my self-confidence about the popularity of my courses.
Honestly, I’ve been thinking about the low intake of my courses. At every beginning of the trimester, when students are dropping and adding classes, I will anxiously check the registration website from time to time, literally every 10 minutes, to check how many students register to my courses. And guess what, my classes are definitely not the most popular one. I rarely have a full class, with the exception of my Business English class.
In retrospect, I guess the reason of that situation is because my courses usually use assignments as a means of assessing students’ performance. And my assignments are usually time-consuming. I heard from a student of mine, who is pretty close to me and feels comfortable of being honest to me, that assignments are not popular among students because they are time consuming and usually require more efforts to complete than attending tests. Tests usually take about 100 minutes to finish and students only need to study the night before to prepare themselves for the tests. Once it’s done, it’s done. It is unlike doing assignments in which students are required to understand the instructions, read the theories underlying the answers of the assignments, collect materials for the assignments, write the answers or reports and presentation, and present the reports. For instance, for my ESP final project, a month and a week was not enough because they needed to find a learner, conducted an interview with the learner, did a need analysis (in which they had to read the book first to be able to do it), created a syllabus for 8 class meetings, designed a material for one meeting, wrote a report, prepared a presentation, and presented the report. Although my assignments are usually done in groups, I still hear students groaned and complained about it. I can of course blame my students for not being able to manage their time well to finish my assignments. After all, I usually give the instructions for the final project on the first day of class, along with the syllabus. However, I really want to know if that is the case and not because of my mistake.
But, giving assignments is one of my teaching philosophies. First, it is unfair to assess the ability and knowledge of a person just in a two hours test. It will not give a complete picture of someone’s ability. Plus, not every person can memorize all information in a textbook. Secondly, I believe that it is the duty of a teacher to prepare his/her students for his/her future job. I don’t think my students will be required to do a multiple choice question or write an essay answer when a problem arises in his/her workplace. It is most likely that they will be required to work with their colleagues in groups, do a complete analysis using data and resources, produce a report, and present their solution to the problem. Those elements can only be practiced through doing a final project. Tests are good; they just can’t truly assess overall student ability. I think, for the time being, I should be contented with a reflective note part in the assignments, where my students can reflect about their experiences in doing the project, what they have learned from doing the project, what they like or dislike about doing the project, and any comments/criticism/suggestions for the betterment of the project. At least, this is some kind of an evaluation, although not of all aspects of the course. These reflective notes have helped me shaping and perfecting the assignments, and sometimes my students will also voice their concerns, criticism, and comments on the course.
How do you evaluate your course? I really want to hear other teachers’ experiences in this matter, so drop me a comment!
