Comn 154- All Journal Entry PDF

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Consolidated all the journal entry required for completing the course...

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Learning Journal #1 Question: Look at the CLB Can Do statements for benchmark 7 (reading and writing). What are

some things that you do well and some things that you need to improve? After I take a look at the Can Do Statements for both Reading and writing skills, I find myself good at writing clearly with well-organized ideas when respond to the task. Not just stopping at that, I can maintain the simple grammar and spelling, or understanding the message of the text quickly. Especially, I usually have interesting ideas to begin my writing with some quoting about the task before I mention the main ideas. Besides my strengths, I still have some weaknesses which need to be improved such as the carelessness when writing and reading. Also, the structures of the formal paragraphs and the use of extended information are my areas of improvement for this benchmark. Specifically, I can eliminate those mistakes by managing the time wisely or practicing the formal writing form more often and clearly expand details in the task.

Learning Journal # 2 Question: Think about a time when you wanted to complain about something. What is challenging about expressing complaints in writing? I usually complain when I feel disappointed about something such as at work, school and restaurant. For instance, I might complain about the quality of the food at the restaurant or express my concerns towards somebody’s behavior at the workplace. Realistically, I think complain in writing is the most complicated concept, so there are a lots of challenges about this idea. In fact, it is hard for me to write formally and politely when I try to blame someone’s mistakes. Once I have done that, the content of the writing should be accurate and I need to show the person or the group my point of view exactly. On the other hand, finding the relevant solution is the hardest matter to deal with just because I might not know exactly what the further results will be. From now on, I’ll try my best to deal with those challenges I listed above in order to improve my writing skills as soon as possible.

Learning Journal #3 Question: Think about what you learned last week about yourself as a language learner. How will you use this information to help you in COMN 154? At first, I found myself an innocent person because I had no idea about what to do in the class. But after a week of studying in COMN 154, the instructor had given a lot of useful details such as the definition of conflict and some efficient ways to solve the problems. Also, he told us to prepare for the first task which is express the disappointment to some department about changes, or the idea of becoming a successful student. I will use those information not just at school, also I can apply it at the workplace. Those ideas will help much as a language learner because it might reveals my strengths and weaknesses throughout the process of learning in COMN 154. By using the details the instructor gave me, I can know more about the misconduct policy in this program and prepare to write about different tasks in class. In order to adapt those information to my learning efficiently, I’ll try my best to focus on learning English but not getting a good grades in this course.

Learning Journal # 4 Question: Set some reading and writing goals for the next five weeks. What are they, and what will you do to achieve your goals? Reading and writing skills are really important to my process of learning English because I frequently use it nearly every day as a language learner. Due to the journal’s question, my reading goals in this class are understanding the texts or the tasks clearly in a short time and know all the details in charts, graphs or diagrams. I didn’t focus much on setting the reading goals because reading is just a minor part in this course and I write more than I read in COMN 154. When I think about my writing goals, I’ll try to be more proficient at formal writing and having a huge range of vocabulary. Also, I’ll attempt to make my writing clearer and more concise, so that the readers can understand my message quickly. In order to achieve those goals, I’m going to set a learning schedule for myself or I’ll try to have a strong desire in my minds. Additionally, I’m willing to focus on the practice but not the performance, so that I will become a successful learner in the next five weeks in COMN 154.

Learning Journal #5 Question: What is challenging about writing a summary of several pages of information? The idea of understanding the content in the texts, paragraphs, or letters is become easier when you know how to summarize the details properly. But, writing a summary of several pages of information is quite a complicated job for me. Despite the fact that summarizing is important, collecting the key words or skimming through the texts are really hard for a language learner like me. Also, it’s really challenging when I try to highlight the main ideas and write down the key support points for the main topic. Writing a summary is difficult because you may not find the main ideas if you go through the texts so quickly and you have to understand the content in the reading clearly. Not only is writing a summary tough, but also having a huge range of vocabulary to rewrite the context is another problem to deal with. The reasons, which were listed above, are my challenges about summarizing several pages of information.

Learning Journal #6 Question: The ELF program has a “no late” policy. What does this policy tell you about Canadians’ attitude towards punctuality? How will this knowledge help you in your day-to-day life in Canada? The punctual policy is a general rule, which was mostly used not just in my country, but also in Canada. This attitude makes the definition of “Canadian” become more precious. Also, this policy has told me much about the Canadians’ behavior that they are serious, liable, and always showing their positive personality. But, the Canadian hates to break any rules because they will be judge badly about their performance at work or being disrespected by their colleagues. That’s why most of the Canadians put responsibility and punctuality on their top list of behavior. This knowledge is really helpful for my life in Canada because it makes me realize how valuable time is and encourage myself to do the best in every situations. Not only is time management important, I can be more responsible for all the decisions

I made or being respectful to everybody. Especially, this policy has inspired me to become more “Canadian” than usual.

Learning Journal #7 Question: Think about the three stages in the task cycle in your TBLT classes: task completion, report planning and task reporting. What can you do to make better use of the time you have in these three stages? In general, the TBLT has three specific steps, which are task completion, report planning and task reporting. On top of that, the TBLT is really important in COMN 154 and it was used frequently in the process of writing tasks. In order to make better use of time in these three stages, I’ll try my best to manage the time wisely for each steps, but not using all of the time to finish my writing. For instance, I have thirty minutes for writing the task and answering the questions, so that I have to divide the time by two for each stages, which are task completion and report planning. However, task reporting sometimes happens to me and if my writing was on the screen, I would express my ideas about what I wrote or I might answer the questions coherently. All in all, I’m going to consume my time equivalently for three stages, so that my process of learning English would be effective.

Learning Journal #8 Question: Review the feedback that you received last week on your journal writing. What are some changes that you will make to your writing this week? Recently, I have received the first feedback on my journals from the instructor last week. Although the result was not bad, but I still have some areas needing to be improved in the following week. For instance, some sentences in my journals were unclear because I didn’t explain clearly the meaning of my sentences, so that’s why the reader will be confusing when they read my writing. Due to the instructor’s comments, there were some similar sentences, which had the same meaning or message, in my writing. In order to eliminate those mistakes, the changes I will be making this week are reduce the sentence to the basic SVO components and only write what is necessary for the idea I’m trying to make. On top of that, I plan to schedule the timetable for learning English and I can use the “Sentence Basics”, which was sent by the instructor, to learn more about a variety of sentence structures. According to those changes listed above, my writing skills is going to improve considerably in this week.

Learning Journal # 9 Question: What are some interesting things that you have learned about Canadians while living here? It has been a while since I lived in Canada for almost two years and everything was different than my country such as the weird taste of food and the cold weather. However, there is one thing, which was surprised me the most, is the Canadian people. On top of that, the people are usually responsible, prestigious and punctual. Also, I really admire their behavior because Canadians are hard-working people and they always try to keep calm in every situation. Not all the Canadians are positive, but I find

most of them are really friendly, helpful and easy-going. For instance, I have noticed the Canadians usually volunteer in many activities such as helping the newcomers, assisting the elders or planting trees, etc. To be concluded, there are a ton of interesting things that I want to know more about the Canadian culture, especially, I plan to make more Canadian friends while living here because I need to improve my English skills.

Learning Journal #10 Question: Think about a time when you had to warn someone about something. What is challenging about giving a written warning? Giving warning is quite important when you want to give a notice to your friends or your coworkers about something bad might happen such as the bad weather, the danger of using flammable materials, etc. For instance, I can give a warning about the person’s attitude at the workplace, if their behaviour is unacceptable. However, giving a written warning is more difficult than giving a verbal warning with many reasons I’m going to explain next. Despite the fact that giving a written warning is necessary in some circumstances, but it is really challenging for me because I need to write formally and briefly, so that I can express my ideas effectively to the audience. Although writing a warning is hard, I ought to provide enough detail and example in order to demonstrate clearly the consequence of an event to the reader. Also, the language must be persuasive and your writing need to be coherent. All in all, giving a written warning is not my strength, so I’ll try my best to deal with its difficulties not so far in the future.

Learning Journal #11 Question: Review the tasks you completed last week in COMN 154. Describe something (or some things) that you learned. How will it (they) benefit you in your day-to-day life in Canada After the third week at SAIT had passed, I have learnt a variety of knowledge which is not only advantageous at school, but also it’s quite useful at work. Especially, the tasks that I finished last week were mostly based on realistic circumstances, so it’s going to be beneficial for me when I start working in the near future. On top of that, the things that I have studied in the previous week were summarize the key points of a video and completely organize details from a text into an outline. Also, I knew the procedure of adding more information from another sources into the summary, or describing the process in the flow chart. Not only did I finish the tasks, also those tasks have taught me plenty of learning abilities, so it’s really helpful for me in day to day life in Canada. For instance, my task report and task planning are well-organized, and I have noticed some efficient ways to select the main ideas from newspapers, TV show, or video clip. Last but not least, I can explain the instruction to the people clearly and those lessons encourage myself to be a better language learner.

Learning Journal #12 Question: Do you always learn new things in the same way? For example, learning to drive a car, play a musical instrument, the names of classmates, grammar rules, etc. Explain. In general, most of the people usually have a passion for learning new things such as having new hobbies, learning to drive a car or playing new sports. In my opinion, I never learn something new in the same way because everything is different. On top of that, I frequently use a variety of methods on different activities, so that I can figure out its basics quickly. For instance, learning to drive a car is not as same as studying new grammar structures. Despite the fact that driving is easy, I have to know where the gas pedal and the brake pedal are, or I might learn how to operate the transmission smoothly, then I’ll be familiar with the action if I practice driving more often. Should I want to study new grammar structures, I’d better understand the basics of the structure first and then I ought to do more grammar exercises in order to develop my grammar skills. Due to my examples, the idea of learning new things in the same way is untrue because every activity has plenty of ways to get use to it.

Learning Journal #13 Question: Plagiarizing means representing another person’s ideas as your own. SAIT has strict policies against plagiarism. Is plagiarism viewed differently in other countries where you have lived? Explain In general, plagiarism means using other people’s ideas or taking some else’s work as your own. For instance, you edit a presentation that you found online or your friend helps you write the task, etc. Basically, plagiarizing is not a crime but it’s an action, which is prohibited at school and at the workplace. Not only are the plagiarism policies apply strictly at SAIT, also those rules are quite similar in my country, which is Viet Nam. On top of that, every student need to learn the knowledge and they should do the work by themselves, but not using another’s people documents without permission. Should I plagiarize in class, I still receive the same results as SAIT, for instance, I might have a zero percent on the whole assignment, or I can be suspended for three days, etc. All in all, plagiarism views similarly in my country and it’s a general policy to keep the students working hard in all situations.

Learning Journal #14 Question: How do you feel when you receive feedback (positive or negative) from a classmate or colleague about your English? Receiving feedback is the idea of acquiring people’s opinions about your performance when you finish the assignment or the presentation, etc. In my opinion, I love to receive feedback about my English even if it’s positive or negative because I’m an open-minded person. As a result, I really respect the assessments from the instructor about the group presentation or the assignments. On top of that, I usually feel proud about myself because I might know which skills I should improve and which areas I should strengthen. However, the negative feedback sometimes makes me upset and become less confident, but I rarely receive negative feedback in class because the instructor and my classmates are really friendly and easy-going. To be concluded, I like to receive feedback although it’s good or bad, so that I can recognize my strength, or the areas of improvement immediately.

Learning Journal # 15 Question: What did you learn from completing the culture awareness project? As a result of accomplishment of the culture awareness project, I have obtained a variety of knowledge for my own such as I knew more vocabulary for giving advice, or I recognized some difficulties when working abroad. Although the project was not easy at the first time, I could use the modals of suggestion properly in order to give recommendations to the people. Also, I’ve learnt some writing structures such as comparative structure, or casual structure, etc. On top of that, I could connect my ideas together by using subordinating conjunction and transition. Not only did I finish the culture awareness project, but also my reading comprehension is going to be enhanced considerably. When I had finished the assignment, my effort was worth and I hope that I’m going to learn more beneficial lessons in the near future.

Learning Journal #16 Question: Think about the amount of confidence you have in your English language ability. How does your confidence affect your language learning? To begin with, the amount of confidence I have in my English language ability is at a normal rate because my vocabulary has an adequate range and so does my grammar skills. Even though my writing abilities are not bad, I’m a very timid person when I try to communicate with the people, so this is the current issue about my speaking abilities. Should this situation keep happening, it will affect heavily to my English learning process. Because of that, confidence is a tremendous factor in developing the ability to study English and it will help me to become more enthusiastic in volunteering or meeting new people. On top of that, confidence encourages me to use new vocabulary and difficult grammar structures in my writing. Otherwise, I won’t be able to improve my English skills, or I will always afraid of trying new things in my life. In conclusion, my English learning process won’t be effective without confidence, so it is really important to gain more confidence in life.

Learning Journal #17 Question: The ELF program uses a task-based approach to language learning. What does this mean? What are some advantages and disadvantages of learning this way? In general, the task-based approach to language learning usually focuses on using the language, which is related to realistic situation such as interviewing a person, calling customer service for help, or giving recommendations to the people, etc. Having researched some details about the task-based approach to language learning, the advantages of learning this way are offering more opportunity for the learners to know more about the real world and helping them to obtain a strong communication with the people. Beside the advantages, there are still some negative aspects about this concept. To be more specific, it requires a high level of creativity in doing the tasks or the role play. More than that, some students use their first language when things become difficult, or they might misunderstand the tasks. All in all, I hope that my English skills will be enhanced by using the task-based approach to language learning.

Learning Journal # 18 Question: Think about a time when you had to explain a process to someone. What is challenging about writing a detailed description of a process? To begin with, I usually explain a process to someone when they don’t understand about the assignment, the website or the flow chart, etc. However, writing a detailed description of a process is really challenging for me. In order to make my writing clearly, I ought to have descriptive language in my writing by using the SVO components, or I must be careful when combining the adjectives and adverbs. Should I explain a process to someone, it’s really difficult to make my writing effectively to the reader because I have to use different types of grammar structures such as adjective clauses, noun clauses, or adverbs clauses, etc. Also, I need to have a huge range of vocabulary in order to describe a process clearly to the audience. Although writing a detailed description of a process is quite significant, it’s a good idea to figure out some relevant solutions for those challenges, which were listed above, so that my writing skills will be improved considerably.

Learning Journal #19 Question: Review the tasks that you h...