First Posting

Greetings and salutations!
My name is Hamizah Hassan, a Part 8 TESL student in UiTM. This would be a blog for my TSL641 CALL class, and - if I feel like it - I would continue to post in this blog. Who knows =)

2. I'm not really well learned in computers to call myself computer expert, but I don't think I am a novice too, so I'll rate myself as computer savvy. I'm a quick learner and I did start using a computer with typing commands in MS-DOS - those were the days. cd..

3. My computer knowledge maybe a bit above average. I know most of the normal hardware - monitor, mouse, CPU - and I know what RAM and ROM is. And I can do some basic troubleshooting if my laptop has minor problems.

4. I have some experience learning via the computer. Mostly it is through educational softwares that has interactive games and such. My favourite programme was Jumpstart 4th Grade. It had games covering almost all subjects like English, History, Music and etc.

5. I did try to incorporate technology in my lessons but then I stopped because the language lab was off limits and the electronic devices at the school were not working properly. I found it more effective to create my own materials instead of virtual ones.

6. I think that using technology in language teaching is a good advantage for the teacher as it is a great resource for teaching materials and we can get students attention through the use of multimedia presentations and lessons. It also expands student-teacher interaction to out side of the classroom and also make the student take more charge of their own learning. If there was adequate time, enough working devices for a classroom a teacher could do wonders.

7. I expect that this class would help me to further develop my computer skills and enable me to effectively incorporate it into my teaching skills.

8. Academic Exercise Topic: ESL Students' Impoliteness in Writing
AE Supervisor: Datin Siti Hawa Othman
I chose this topic because I had the experience of a student using the N-word to describe a black person in his essay. He thought that it was a perfectly acceptable term to be used as he hears it a lot in English songs. So I would like to know more of the common impoliteness in ESL students and find out the responses from English Teachers.
I have a planner to keep me on track with the progress of my AE and my Supervisor is also very helpful in providing me due dates so that I will finish on time. So far I have finished two chapters and I'm actively working on the rest now.

Even though it will be a busy semester, Insyaallah it will be a fruitful one..^^