The past four weeks have really been a whirlwind of events.
July marked my 'official' departure from the FAH at AIU. I am no longer a permanent employee of AIU, but a contract one. I've never been on contract or part-time for anyone until this year. It feels strange, though in a good way. It feels like I belong to somebody, but not really, if that makes any sense.
The first week of July was spent updating the FAH's SAR for this Academic Year's QA. I know my 'permanent' ties have been severed, but I thought, they're keeping my office for me, perhaps this is the least I can do.
The second and third weeks of July were really exciting. I was called for a teaching gig at KMUTT. The class that I was given is a reading and vocabulary class for (different types of) engineering students. I haven't taught a skills class for quite some time now. On top of that, I typically teach writing. This was a golden opportunity for me to practice what I have been preaching to my TESOL students for the past four years.
The first day of this 10-day crash course was spent trying to understand the students. Some of the things I found out were: they don't like to read, they always refer back to their dictionaries (instead of understanding words through contextual cues), they are very quiet, they get bored easily, and they're tired (since this was the third intensive course they were doing in the summer session). By the middle of the 10-day crash course, I felt that we understood each other. They didn't like reading, so I made them listen to me while I read to them. I would 'force' them to ditch their dictionaries and instead try to understand the meaning of words through the context. It was going well, I thought. They passed their final exam with flying colors (duh!)
By the end of the week, my conviction that segregated language learning has its place and can be very valuable if done appropriately was renewed. There are many materials out there which are developed with an integrated approach in mind. This approach would probably be more suitable for those who are aiming for communicative competency at a more general or social level. The segregated approach, I think, really helps address specific language skills, and highlights the importance of gaining proficiency in all skills for the purpose of academic language proficiency.
The very last day of this course was also the day that I left for Sabah. The flight there was uneventful. There were hardly any passengers on the plane and my layover was boring since I got to Brunei in the dead of night. We did, however, get delayed the next morning due to heavy thunderstorm in KK. Once I got home, I slept for two days straight and woke up with a cold. This happens every time my flight gets delayed. The week I was back in KK wasn't entirely a 'do-nothing' holiday. I got to catch up with some work and studies. I also got to catch up with some much needed leisure time - went to the Tip of Borneo, twice! Hiked, ate lots of noodles also SHOPPED! Here are some evidence:
July marked my 'official' departure from the FAH at AIU. I am no longer a permanent employee of AIU, but a contract one. I've never been on contract or part-time for anyone until this year. It feels strange, though in a good way. It feels like I belong to somebody, but not really, if that makes any sense.
The first week of July was spent updating the FAH's SAR for this Academic Year's QA. I know my 'permanent' ties have been severed, but I thought, they're keeping my office for me, perhaps this is the least I can do.
The second and third weeks of July were really exciting. I was called for a teaching gig at KMUTT. The class that I was given is a reading and vocabulary class for (different types of) engineering students. I haven't taught a skills class for quite some time now. On top of that, I typically teach writing. This was a golden opportunity for me to practice what I have been preaching to my TESOL students for the past four years.
The first day of this 10-day crash course was spent trying to understand the students. Some of the things I found out were: they don't like to read, they always refer back to their dictionaries (instead of understanding words through contextual cues), they are very quiet, they get bored easily, and they're tired (since this was the third intensive course they were doing in the summer session). By the middle of the 10-day crash course, I felt that we understood each other. They didn't like reading, so I made them listen to me while I read to them. I would 'force' them to ditch their dictionaries and instead try to understand the meaning of words through the context. It was going well, I thought. They passed their final exam with flying colors (duh!)
By the end of the week, my conviction that segregated language learning has its place and can be very valuable if done appropriately was renewed. There are many materials out there which are developed with an integrated approach in mind. This approach would probably be more suitable for those who are aiming for communicative competency at a more general or social level. The segregated approach, I think, really helps address specific language skills, and highlights the importance of gaining proficiency in all skills for the purpose of academic language proficiency.
The very last day of this course was also the day that I left for Sabah. The flight there was uneventful. There were hardly any passengers on the plane and my layover was boring since I got to Brunei in the dead of night. We did, however, get delayed the next morning due to heavy thunderstorm in KK. Once I got home, I slept for two days straight and woke up with a cold. This happens every time my flight gets delayed. The week I was back in KK wasn't entirely a 'do-nothing' holiday. I got to catch up with some work and studies. I also got to catch up with some much needed leisure time - went to the Tip of Borneo, twice! Hiked, ate lots of noodles also SHOPPED! Here are some evidence:
Beautiful ocean at Simpang Mengayau (The Tip of Borneo)
I love how my arms are bulging, but I hated the fact that I was freezing! This was Oscar and me up on Bukit Perahu.
Wan-tan Ho!
Nngau-Chap from Yee Fung Restaurant at Gaya Street (I practically grew up eating this from this very restaurant)
Sunset from my front yard.
Comments