A Teachers’ Day gift

Write a story with the title “A Teachers’ Day gift”

Suggested Outline
1. Describe how the class planned to give Mr. Nanthan a nasty gift to humiliate him.
2. Describe how Mr. Nanthan accepted the gift graciously.
3. Describe the speech that Mr. Nanthan gave during the concert.
4. Describe how embarrassed the class felt after the speech.

“Let’s insult him with our gift”, I said through tightly gritted teeth.

The class was planning to present all the subject teachers with gifts on Teachers’ Day the next day, and wanted to purposely humiliate Mr. Nanthan, our Biology teacher, was disliked by most of us. He unsparing gave us tons of homework to do. He also had the habit of making us to back to school during the holidays for extra lessons.

I explained to the class that Mr. Nathan was a sensitive man and we should, instead of giving him flowers, give him a cactus! The class was thrilled at this idea and was unanimous in agreeing that it was a fitting insult for such an unpleasant person. He would indeed be terribly humiliated!

The next day, in the midst of the Teachers’ Day celebrations, we publicly presented our “gift” to him. Attached was a message that read. “The gift tells you what we think of you”.

Mr. Nathan was startled at first, but he recovered quickly and thanked us graciously. During the Teachers’ Day concert, however, an unscheduled item was announced – a speech by Mr. Nathan. It was a speech that I shall never forget.

Mr. Nathan first thanked our class for the thoughtful gift and then displayed the cactus to the entire school. There was an ourburst of laughter. Unruffled, Mr. Nathan explained that he thought it was a meaningful gift for the cactus was a life-giving plant that sustains weary travellers in the desert. Symbolically, it signified life and growth. In a sincere voice, Mr. Nathan said it pleased him to think that he had inspired his students to give him such a profound gift.

With the exception of my class which looked awkward and sheepish, the entire school gave Mr. Nathan a round of applause.

What opportunities have you had at school or elsewhere of listening teacher and speaking English?

What opportunities have you had at school or elsewhere of listening teacher and speaking English? How far have they been helpful? What changes would you suggest?

All the subjects in school are taught in Bahasa Malaysia except for English Language. Thus the opportunity for using English in school is very limited. I do converse in English with some of my friends, but only with a few of them. This is because most of the others cannot converse in English.

Some of these others do not have ample command of the English Language. Yet there are other who are either too shy to speak English or they simply refuse to do so. The teachers are not much help either for some of them can hardly speak English. It is only outside school hours that I get to speak English to teachers who can do so. Such opportunities only come when we have to return to school for games or other activities.

It would be beneficial if the school could have special periods or days each weak where the students and teachers are encouraged to converse in English. In that way both sides benefit and we do not have to be at a disadvantage because of our poor command of English. My father’s generations are proficient in English because English was the medium of instruction then. I am not saying we should go back to their time. I am just saying that we should not lose our proficiency in English and thus become handicapped when we face the outside world.

However the mass media provide much opportunity for listening to English. Television especially is very helpful. Most of my favorite programs are in English and we hear it being spoken although mostly by Americans. I cannot complain though for I do learn a lot from them. In fact I can see how different spoken English can be in the U.S.A, England, Australia, India, Malaysia and other countries. Though it is basically English each speaks, the pronunciation, accent and local flavor are plainly discernible. I can, quite accurately, tell where a person is from by listening to the English he speaks.

Unfortunately while I can hear English being spoken via television or radio, I cannot speak back. So again the opportunity to speak English is limited.

I suppose I have to live with the fact that the number of opportunities for listening and speaking English is limited. That does not mean that I give up using English. I realize that English is a very important language in the world and it is definitely important that I become proficient in it. We all should be proficient in it because most of the important discoveries and advances in science, technology and other fields are available in English. So if our command of English is lacking, we lose out and always are left behind.

The goal of teachers who use the Communicative Approach is to have students become communicatively competent.

“the goal of teachers who use the Communicative Approach is to have students become communicatively competent. While this has been the stated goal of many of the other methods, in the Communicative Approach the notion of what it takes to be communicatively competent is much expanded.” State the reasons why you are for or against the above idea.
(The notion of communicative competence as expanded in the communicative approach)

In the English language teaching methods come and go but few can establish themselves firmly in the field. The Communicative Approach is one of those few exceptions it has gained much popularity since its advent in the late 1960s. Most of the value of this approach lies in the fact that it expands the notion of communicative competence in such a way that no other method is able to.

First, the Communicative Approach highlights the fact that understanding language functions is an important aspect of communicative competence. This can be clearly seen in the following comparison. The Direct Method, the Audio-Lingual Method and the Communicative Approach are similar in that they all aim at teaching language for communication. However, each of them has its own way to achieve its goal. While the Direct Method tries to establish a direct link between the target language and meaning by immersing students in a rich sample of the structural and lexical items being taught and the Audio-Lingual Method insists on mastery of structural patterns through imitation and repetition, the Communicative Approach stands out with its emphasis not only on linguistic forms and meaning but also on functions. It claims that as language is used for performing a variety of functions such as apologizing, requesting, thanking, inviting, an understanding of language functions is really necessary. Learners need to know that a function can be realized by different forms or that a form can serve different functions. What is important, learners must draw on this knowledge to choose the most appropriate form to fulfill the function intended. So, though the Communicative Approach is not the first to put forward the idea of teaching a second/foreign language for communication, it is definitely the first to advocate the learning of language functions to gain communicative competence.

The Communicative Approach emphasizes that the ability to use language appropriately is another essential aspect of communicative competence. The principle applied here is that grammatical competence and lexical knowledge are not enough to enable students to operate efficiently in the target language. They must be able to use the language appropriate to the speech event they find themselves in. Some variables that decide the appropriateness of their language use are the purpose of their interaction, the role relationships between them, the topic they are engaged in and the shared knowledge they have. In other words, by considering who they are talking to, what they are talking about, when, where, and why they are talking, speakers know what words to use. And of course, the ability to use language appropriately helps to distinguish skilled communicators from unskilled ones.

The Communicative Approach also points out that the ability to develop strategies that can ensure effective communication is an indispensable part of communicative competence. As the Communicative Approach views langue as a vehicle for communication the process of negotiating meaning receives much attention. Engaged in oral communication, speakers not only have to make themselves understood but also have to interpret the listener’s intention correctly. To do this they need to employ a number of strategies to make sure that communication can take place smoothly. These strategies cover a wide range, from initiating and maintaining communication, sharing and clarifying information to reparing, redirecting and terminating communication. Obviously, successful communicators must be able to devise strategies that suit them as well as the social context they are involved in.

It can be concluded that the concept of communicative competence as defined by the Communicative Approach is very broad indeed. It embraces three fundamental dimensions: the ability to use linguistic means to realize a variety of language functions, the ability to use language appropriately with due consideration of the social context in which communication takes place and the ability to develop strategies to manage the negotiation of meaning. This specification of communicate competence is the hallmark of the communicative Approach because it cannot be founding the theoretical framework of any other method of or approach to language teaching.

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