Reflection 3: CMC Assignment

Assalamualaikum and greetings dear readers,

"The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.”  Aristotle

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Undoubtedly, doing the assignment on CMC has served us a host of benefits beyond what we initially expected upon receiving the task. We realise, throughout the course of completing the assignment, some of the vital changes in the way humanity has thrived against the backdrop of modernization and globalisation. In the world where human communication knows no borders and boundaries,  the means of communication in light of the mushrooming technological advancement has greatly transformed. Little did we come to such an awareness of how dependent human beings are when it comes to the usage of computer in their daily life not only for communicative purpose but also for some other aspects of development as well. The emergence of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. marks another great contribution to humanity on a general note. 

In this assignment, we were asked to review a literature that must be related to the topic of our assignment. Since our chosen subject for this blog is Discourse Analysis, we decided to produce an analysis of Twitter conversations with reference to Grice's maxims of conversation. The task of choosing a recently-published research article was somewhat difficult and demanding at first because we had to really be careful so as not to pick one that is irrelevant to our topic. After much scrutiny of the suggested journals and databases, we managed to find and review a research article that was suitable and relevant to what our analysis would lead us to. This, we believe, was a good preparation for us to undertake more daunting tasks of finding and sorting out literature to be reviewed in the future research endeavour. 

Our capacity as future researchers in linguistics was apparently tested through the completion of the analysis done on Twitter conversations with reference to Grice's maxims of conversation as mentioned above. As we were faced with quite a number of challenges, we must emphasise the necessity to be more persistent, determined and patient in an otherwise a seemingly stress-free assignment. The sweetness of the task lies in the unparalleled cooperation and commitment from the members of the team and together we experience the fruition of completing the task in the stipulated time. Having done the analysis and presented it in the class, we hope to disseminate new information and knowledge to the fellow classmates and we also benefited a lot from their excellent presentations. 

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In summary, we have learnt a great deal from the task assigned to us. We managed to derive some important values pertinent in the completion of the assignment. Not only did we finish the task successfully, our ukhuwwah and friendship have become stronger and we value each moment we spent together in finishing the task. We hope our lovely readers would find this beneficial. May Allah grant us His immeasurable boons and compassion alongside our good deeds. Blessed days ahead of you!!

WW 

Assignment 2: Computer Mediated Communication CMC

Assalamualaikum and greetings dear readers,

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Now we would like to share with you our second assignment for this particular course (brace yourself, this is going to be a long one!). If the first assignment was all pertaining to Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in which we looked into how computer was used as important tool in teaching and learning process, the second phase of this course revolves around computer in relation to language use particularly as a means of communication or also known as Computer Mediated Communication (CMC).

In evaluating our understanding on CMC, we were assigned with two tasks. The first required us to provide a brief summary of a CMC-related research article while the second required us to conduct a mini research on the theme of our group which is Discourse Analaysis. You may find our assignments attached to this entry.

Part 1: Summary of a research article related to CMC.

This particular part was assigned to us so as to provide an overview of CMC. CMC is a very wide field and a researcher may want to embark on so many modes of communication; synchronous or asynchronous, or a combination of both. With the advent of a plethora of social network sites and computer applications, the possibility now is nonetheless limitless. In fact this part of the assignment acted as a trailblazer for the next part of the assignment that required our rigorous analytical scrutiny.

The article can be retrieved here: http://cscanada.net/index.php/sll/article/view/j.sll.1923156320120503.801

Herewith the documents of the assignment for your reference:

Part 2: Mini research related to CMC.

For this part we chose to conduct a mini research on Gricean Maxims of Conversation. Since this particular concept was highly regarded in our process of learning Discourse Analysis, we were interested to see how this could actually be translated in a virtual communication. We were curious to know how these maxims would be applied in a virtual communication that is indubitably different to that of face-to-face.

Herewith the documents of the assignment for your reference:

 

Click here to access the summary and here to the mini research proposal.

As a whole, we must admit that we have learnt a great deal from the experience of doing these two tasks. Note that we also found new insightful findings regarding discourse and language in the virtual realm. In the next post, we shall provide you with the reflection as we underwent the process of completing these tasks. We hope that you will find this entry beneficial though we humbly believe that there are many rooms for improvement. See you again, salam! 

WW

Reflection 2: CALL Lesson Plan

Assalaamualaykum dear readers!

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In this entry, Wisdom Waraqah would like to share some of the gems that we managed to pick up in our journey towards completing the lesson plan described in our previous post. 

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Among the things that we wish to highlight in this entry is our realisation of the role of an educator. In the process of constructing the lesson plan, we encountered a few circumstances, for example, the need to be precised especially in making sure that we meet the learning outcomes by the end of the lesson and also in making the right decision of choosing the best application to be used in class. Every step taken in doing the lesson plan was thought of thoroughly as to ensure that students will receive maximum benefit from the lesson. Based on this, it occurred to us that being an educator is a tough job and we strongly believe that every single educator out there including our fellow dedicated lecturers are struggling to do their best to ensure the efficiency of their lessons.

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In the Islamic point of view, we believe than an educator does not only teach worldly lessons but also inspires students to attain the splendour of Jannah. This gives Muslim educators the title of murabbi as it is also their responsibility to lead students to the righteous Path. In fact Allah says in one Quranic ayah:

“Is one who is devoutly obedient during periods of the night, prostrating and standing [in   prayer], fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, [like one who does not]? Say, "Are those who know equal to those who do not know?" Only they will   remember [who are] people of understanding.”

                                                                                                                                    (Az-Zumar: 9)

 
Based on the Quranic verse above, it is crucial for a Muslim to gain as much knowledge as possible. A knowledgeable person is in contrast with an ignorant person. Plus, they are different in the eyes of Allah.

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Awaken by this fact, we as students feel that educators should be respected and appreciated well as they have poured out their utmost effort and hard work in teaching us. If, by the Will of Allah, we ourselves become educators in the future, we learn that it is important for us to be proactive and diligent in pursuing our career so that the nation will be able to produce the best leaders the world will ever possess. 

Warm regards;

WW