From the desk of ...

From Left: Khutaibah, Fauzi Hanis, Amirul Izzat, Azman Azfar

Khutaibah Tilmisani Bin Mat Tari

Age: 24
Majoring in: Linguistic
Year of study: 4th year final semester 

I always wanted to be a great writer, like Victor Hugo who wrote "Les Miserable", or like Roman Roland who wrote "John Christopher". They have influenced millions of people through their books. I also wanted to be a great psychologist, like William James or Sigmund Freud, who could read people’s mind. Of course, I am nowhere close to these people, yet. I am just someone who does some teaching, some research,and some writing. But my dream is still alive. To be a good writer, you need to know how to write well and grammar is an essential to writing skill. Hopefully this blog will contribute in the process of learning Grammatical Analysis.

Mohd Azman Azfar bin Ibrahim

Age: 24

Majoring in: Linguistic

Year of study: 4^th year 1^st semester.

Note: I hope this blog can be helpful to future Benl students who will be taking this course because it can help them to have a rough idea about the possible course works that they will do throughout the semester. Thank you and Wassalam.

Mohd Amirul Izzat bin Zulkifli

Assalammualaikum. Hey there. How are you guys doing? I hope all of us will stay healthy, lead a happy life and always be under Allah’s protection and bless. I am Amirul and I will be 24 on 29^th May 2014. I was born in Alor Setar, Kedah but now I stay in Jitra, Kedah. I am a final year student of Bachelor of Human Science (English Language and Literature) at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Gombak, Selangor, and majoring in Literature and Linguistic (Combo) and insha Allah will be graduating soon in this semester. It has been 6 years since I became a student of IIUM. Gained a lot of experiences and met a lot of great people along the way. I have learn a lot of things as preparations toward the next stage of life; the infamous career world. Last word from me, I love IIUM.

Mohd Fauzi Hanis Bin Mohd Bidin

As a final year student of English Language and Literature in IIUM, majoring in combination of both fields, I am somewhat in between as I do enjoy good literary works and also the technical mechanism of linguistics. A not so tech savvy, but I'm very into computers and stuff. Being a graduating student this semester, I do hope that these final days of mine in IIUM will be a blast. Insha Allah, may we all be granted success in our life and able to contribute to our parents, family, community and the ummah. Wassalam. Oh and did I forgot to mention that I created this blog?

TLGA 107: Summary of Grammatical Analysis

In the early twentieth century, researchers such as the linguist John Firth (1890-1960) and the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942) paved the way for a new approach to language which sees language in terms of what it does rather than what it is. This approach is known as systemic functional linguistics, and the term functional grammar is used to describe how words function in a clause. The linguist most closely associated with functional grammar is Michael Halliday (born 1925).

Halliday’s work and that of his colleagues produced a system which analyses texts in terms of three metafunctions. The Experiential metafunction is concerned with meaning, that is, with the way language interprets experience. The Interpersonal metafunction is concerned with the personal relationships that a text establishes and reflects. The Textual metafunction is concerned with the way in which information is organised in a text. The three metafunctions show how texts vary according to register. 

Grammar jokes LOL

By using systemic functional grammar (SFG), the teacher has a powerful tool with which to mediate her/his explanations of language, and thus mediate the learner’s understandings of how to use the language they are in the process of learning. This tool is the bridge between context and text – between the sociocultural setting in which the speaker is conducting her/his activity and the language that is a part of that activity. The tool is called Register, and gives the teacher the ability to pick away at the context of language use and identify:

• the field: what is going on in the activity 
• the tenor: who is taking part in the activity
• the mode: the part language plays in the activity.

Teaching Grammar is not an easy task.

So, each time you present a text to your learners, you can start with establishing the context, as above, and then proceed to highlight whatever grammar is important in each of the three areas.

All knowledge and information in this blog are taken from varieties of sources.
Source: 
Systemic Funtional Grammar
Grammar
Funtional Grammar
Halliday's Functional Grammar

Coursework: Islamic Awareness

The Quran stresses the importance of reading, studying, reflecting and investigating. Surah Al-Alaq, the first Surah revealed to the prophet Muhammad SAW begins with the word:

"Read"

Reading is one of the important means of gaining different kinds of knowledge and of benefiting from the achievements and experiences of others, earlier and later scholars. It is something vital which the person who wants to learn can hardly do without. It is an essential need which is hardly less important that food and drink. Individuals – let alone cultures and civilizations – cannot advance without reading, for reading brings minds to life, enlightens hearts and sets thinking straight. Reading in as sense is always associated with gaining knowledge.

The first Surah revealed talks about reading

The Qur'an is a treasure trove of gems and jewels. For the one who diligently seeks them, it can provide any or all of the following priceless blessings required for spiritual growth and rejuvenation: knowledge, insight, understanding of reality vs. illusion, the ability to identify causes of day-to-day situations and human reactions to them, a variety of psychological behavioral traits displayed by people in any era of time, and a deep grasp of the concepts of life, death and the afterlife. Reading Quran is not only for the sake of producing sound, but also understanding its meaning. 

How great is the importance attached to learning in Islam can be understood from an event in the life of the Prophet. At the battle of Badr, in which the Prophet gained a victory over his opponents, seventy men from the enemy ranks were taken prisoner. These prisoners of war were literate people. In order to benefit from their education, the Prophet declared that if each prisoner taught ten Medinan children how to read and write, it would serve as his ransom and he would be set free.
This was the first school in the history of Islam established by the Prophet himself with all non-Muslim teachers. Furthermore, they were all war prisoners. There was the risk that after their release they would again create problems for Islam and Muslims. This Sunnah of the Prophet shows that education is to be received whatever the risk involved.Women were not kept away from educational activities.

Reading is essential for life

In Islam, the act of learning itself is considered an act of worship, provided that it is within Allah’s limits and with a good motive behind it. Thus, it is one of the important things in Islam that we know how to achieve all this skill in a correct way. It is important to us because it helps us to convey message clearly to all levels of age. 

The Quran repeatedly asks us to observe the earth and the heavens. This instills in man a desire to learn natural science. All the books of Hadith have a chapter on knowledge.In Sahih Bukhari there is a chapter entitled, “The virtue of one who acquires knowledge and imparts it to others.” For instance, there is a tradition that one who treads a path in search of knowledge has his way paved to paradise by God as a reward for this noble deed. (Bukhari, Muslim). In a tradition recorded by Tirmidhi, angels in heaven, fish in the water and ants in their dwellings pray for the well-being of a seeker of knowledge.In another hadith the Prophet of Islam observed that those who learned virtue and taught it to others were the best among humankind. (Al-Bayhaqi).

Let's go back and read the ultimate book of guidance and knowledge, and may it will keep us from astray.

Therefore, by reading Quran and understanding its meaning, we as the students of IIUM are able to preach Islam throughout the world and be the best Muslim and Muslimah, and ultimately able to guide our self and others to the true path of Islam.

Reflection Episode V: Blog TLGA

The last and ultimate task which was given to us since the beginning of the semester is to create and manage a blog. This task is to be considered as the hardest and complicated of all but Alhamdulillah, with God's blessing we have done it, very well indeed. Every courseworks and lessons from the class were being posted in this blog, TeachLearnGA. We have chosen Grammatical Analysis as our blog's main theme and many notes and knowledge regarding Grammatical Analysis can be found here in this blog. We, the Khutaibah's army do hope that whoever visits our little blog, from students to educators, will gain some knowledge regarding Grammatical Analysis. Though, there are still many flaws that can be found here and there, but we do sincerely hope that you'll gain some real benefit from the TeachLearnGA.

Designing can be intriguing or devastating

The most challenging aspect in creating TeachLearnGA is designing the blog layout and templates. It is a hard work yet rewarding as well. When we get to see the final product of our previously hard works, we were so excited and enthusiastic. With hours after hours of trial and error, we finaly managed to learn a little bit in the art of blog designing - it's such a whole new knowledge for us. Being an English Language and Literature majors, we were not exposed to this kind of knowledge during our study. Aside from that, we also managed to learn how to design and edit photos by using Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. These skills are a plus, as designing and editing might come in handy later in our career days.

Teaching and Learning GA v1.0

Lastly, while creating and managing our little gem, we have learn something far more precious and cannot be gained only while sitting and listening in class. It is the values of cooperation, teamwork and friendship. Throughout this semester, we have learn on how to give and take, learning our own strengths and weaknesses along the way. These values are so important for us which it open our eyes greatly, as man cannot survive on his own, and friends and family are essential in the road to success. May we all be success in no matter what fields and careers that we have pursued, as it is to Him we will return to.

Final word, as most of us will be graduating and leaving IIUM in a matter of weeks, we would like to thank our ENGL 4740 instructor, Dr. Rozina who is very kind and passionate in guiding and teaching us. Thank you Madam for all the efforts that you have poured, insha Allah, only He can repay your favors in this life and the after. For fellow colleagues, thank you all for the cherishable moments that we have created and picked along the way during our studies. Do not forget our parent, family, friends, teachers, and Him, as they are the one who is responsible and made who we are today.

 

Our insert song for this blog.

Coursework: Blog TeachLearnGA

TLGA

It's up and running!

TLGA 106: Grammatical Analysis Exercises

The old adage “practice makes perfect” has been applied to many kindsof learning, from high school chemistry and creative writing to musicand sports. While experts continue to debate the number of hours andthe type of practice that is optimal for success, one thing is clear: training improves performance and changes the brain.

Too much works to be done too little time

Eventually, by learning grammatical analysis which is a new thing, practice should be good to help us to have better understanding in Halliday’s grammar. Here are some links that you would want to find out.

Quizzes can be accessed here:
Quiz 1
Quiz 2
Quiz 3
Quiz 4
Quiz 5
Quiz 6
Quiz 7

All the following quizzes are credited to their respectful owner site.
Source: http://www.alvinleong.info/sfg/sfglinks.html

Overview on Forensic Linguistics

Definition
As a branch of Applied Linguistics, forensic linguistics taking linguistic knowledge and methods and applying these to the forensic context of law, investigation, trial, and punishment.

The 3 main areas of application for linguists working in forensic contexts are;

• understanding language of the written law,
• understanding language use in forensic and legal processes
• the condition of linguistic evidence 

Forensic Linguist in Action

Scope of Study 
According to Forensic Linguistics expert, Dr. Carole E. Chaski :Forensic Linguistics applies the theories and builds analytical methods of linguistics to question the civil, criminal and security investigation

In addition, Forensic Linguists are involved in areas that relate to crime, both solving crime and assisting wrongly accused people.

Some of these areas include:

• Voice identification - determining whether the voice on a threatening tape recording was that of the defendant;  also called forensic phonetics.
• Author identification - determining who wrote a particular text by comparing it to known writing samples of a suspect; sometimes also called forensic stylistics.
• Discourse analysis - analyzing the structure of writing or spoken discourse, often recorded, to help determine issue.
• For example : whether a suspect is agreeing to engage in a criminal conspiracy or he is forced to do so.

Everything is useful in solving crimes, even words!

Corpus
 Corpora that are available in forensic linguistic;

- Ransom notes                                - Suicide notes

- Threatening letters                         - Missing Person

- Anonymous letters                         - Examination Fraud

- Plagiarism

Application to Language Research 
The  application of Forensic Linguistics in language research  are :

                1. Author/speaker identification

                2. Intertextuality

                3. Text typing

                4. Linguistic profiling