I believe that many of us have taken up this module unwillingly because we had failed the Qualifying English Test. Most of us may find it time-consuming, especially when it is not counted into our Cumulative Average Points. Initially, I was very reluctant in taking this module but my friend told me, “Since we are already taking this module, might as well we get something out of it.” I find that what he said made sense and therefore, it sort of changed my mindset towards taking this module.
During class when we were learning grammar, I felt that that I had already learnt these during my secondary school days and it is rather redundant to learn everything again. But after trying several grammar exercises in class, I realised that I do have a serious problem in my grammar and it is indeed useful that we are relearning our basics again. This is important because, as mentioned in my previous portfolio, we are required to submit reports during our four years engineering course and if we were to make grammatical errors in our reports, we are actually telling the reader that either our command of language is not up to standard or we did not bother to check through our work. In both cases, it would not reflect well on the writer. I believe these grammar lessons have allowed me to refresh on what I had learnt back in my Junior College and Secondary school and also increased my awareness on all my common mistakes.
I have certainly learnt something from the 2 writing assignments too. Particularly, I am glad that we were taught how to cite our sources properly and the document on APA style citation given to us is very informative. The strict correction by our tutor on format of citation has also made me realise the mistakes I made. This format of citation that i learnt would be useful when I am required to cite sources again in my future work.
Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to my tutor for putting in the effort in helping us to improve our English language and also putting up with a bunch of unresponsive and English language impaired students (us).
=)
Hi Royden,
ReplyDeleteInitially, I had the same feeling when I first joined the EG1471 class. However, to my surprise, this EG1471 is really very informative and useful as what you pointed out. The APA style citation is something new to us and is indeed very useful for our future reports.
I definitely agree that Ms Khoo looks at our essays very closely and never fail to spot any mistakes. This strict marking attitude has really made us strive harder to make it error-free!
Yes, I believe each of us have learnt something from this module. I do believe that the corrections made by our tutor have brought us up to another learning level. There's more to learn about I guess!
ReplyDeleteYou have expressed the importance of good writing very well, Royden. Sloppy writing does indeed reflect badly on the writer. I am glad that you decided to adopt a positive attitude towards EG1471. I think your WA2 shows that you did indeed benefit from better planning and revision. Do continue to practise writing, and remember to constantly read good English materials. All the best for the exam, Royden! =)
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