Topic 1: Language and Communication

Language is a medium  for  communication. Using language we can understand,  interact,   and share our  point of view with others.  Language could be verbally, written,  or in term of body language.

For this topic, my focus of learning is in the language and communication.  In tutorial task 1, we had divided into four groups to discuss and search information on how Malaysian  culture affects English language by considering four factors.  For my group, we had discussed on the multicultural society factor  including major ethnic groups and dialect groups.

I think this topic is interesting as we learn how English can be affected by multicultural society. As we know, in Malaysia, there are many ethnic groups. Each group has their own dialect or "slang".  Malaysians commonly use "Manglish" to speak. It is widely use among Malaysian since it is easy to understand. As for me, I use "Manglish" to chat with my friends.  From the presentation, my group and I also get feedback from our lecturer and friends regarding "Manglish". I think I should try to speak more frequently in standard English rather than using "Manglish". In short,  I also think that language is unique because it can be influence by culture and society.

On the other hand, I also learn about function in language. As in our Independent Self Learning (ISL) we were required to prepare a dialogue with at least  five language functions. For the dialogue, my group and I had discussed to prepare a dialogue that happened in Gucci store. We had identified five language function such as to ask, to explain, to greet, to confirm, and to praise. Then, we had did a role play for the dialogue in tutorial week 1. After the role play, we had asked our classmates to identify language functions.  From this activity, I learnt that the language had many functions. We can ask someone, to seek information, and explain to others using language.

Next, I learnt more on the topic communication. Communication is a two-way between two parties.  In communication a sender will send message to receiver. For this topic, we were required to prepare  3 minute mime for non verbal communication. Therefore, my group and I had make a discussion and we had agreed to do a situation entitled "Husband having an affair with a lady" for tutorial presentation week 2. then, we asked our friend to identify the situation.  I think that activity was interesting because I saw how my group and other groups tried their very best to act without say any word. My group also got feedback from our lecturer on how to improve our role play. I learnt that it is not easy to communicate in non-verbal communication. It is not easy to make other understand our idea without saying any word but it is also one way to communicate and we can express our idea especially for deaf students.