What difficulties do you have writing in your university classes?
What have you learnt through EG1471?
How have you improved?
What will you do to continue improving?
In university classes, especially in Engineering, writing is not difficult since those reports that we are writing usually are relevant to our knowledge and the objectives for the specific report are already set. However, since we are not fluent in English, the sentence structures and the use of words in our writing may not sound convincing and cause the meaning to be expressed wrongly. As a result, our message in the report may not get across to the reader and cause misconception. In EG 1471, we are taught to use academic writing to aid us to express our writing in a straightforward manner using step-by-step approach.
In EG1471, we are taught to come out with a mind map and an outline before writing a draft for further editing. In an outline, it consists of an introduction paragraph with a clear thesis statement, follow by few body paragraphs with topic sentences and lastly, a conclusion to summarize to essay. I truly believe that this outline concept has helped us a lot before we could start writing an essay because the thesis statement will clearly express the contents and directions in our essay. But it is also true that academic writing is not an easy task to fulfill such as citing correctly in the essay.
Other than writing an essay, we are also taught to address our grammar mistakes such as the use of articles, modals, pronoun reference, prepositions, subject verb agreement, transitions, verb forms, verb tenses and correcting fragments and run-on sentences. Although grammar cannot be acquired in such a short time, we are able to understand why and how they are used in this manner through our tutor as previously we are not taught clearly in our primary and secondary school. I believe I have improved slightly after all these teachings and will be more aware of how to edit my own grammar mistakes.
In conclusion, we have learnt a lot in EG1471 from our tutor, Ms Khoo. Although we cannot acquire the language fully in such a short time, the module has become a stepping stone for us to improve on our own. As Ms Khoo has mentioned quite frequently that reading is important to not only gain ourselves knowledge but also allow us to acquire the language naturally. I shall pick up more reading in the future. Lastly, I shall thank the module EG1471 and our tutor, Ms Khoo for her patience and kindness in the process of educating us.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
E-Portfolio Task #6
Identify 3 of your common grammar mistakes and explain how the grammatical structures should be correctly used with examples.
In writing assignment 1 and 2, there are several mistakes that I have made during writing. The most common mistakes found are articles, transitions and verb tenses. During writing, it is very difficult for me to find these mistakes because it does not seem obvious to me.
The use of articles is branched into countable and uncountable. Articles are commonly use with common noun or noun phases which they consist of specific or non-specific or even zero article. One of the article mistakes that I have made was the word “research”. For example, “It is true that destroying human embryos in the research is unethical; however, the research is extremely important if we want success in a development.” There are several mistakes in the sentence. It should be written as “It is true that destroying human embryos in research is unethical; however, research is extremely important if we want success in the development.” The word “research” is uncountable and in the example, the word “research" does not specifically relate to a specific research. Therefore, zero articles should be used. As for the word “development”, it is not one and only development rather it is relating to the specific development in stem cell.
The second mistake that I have made was the transition use for “on the other hand”. For example, “This development allows cloning of an identical organ from the donor, so the organ is unlikely to be rejected when a transplant is done. On the other hand, even the percentage of identical tissues that comes from siblings is much lower.” It should be written as “This development allows cloning of an identical organ from the donor, so the organ is unlikely to be rejected when a transplant is done. In contrast, even the percentage of identical tissues that comes from siblings is much lower.” Both sentences are not addressing the same issue rather they are showing the difference.
The third mistake that I have made was present perfect tenses error. For example, “Thereafter, many animals such as cats, pigs, cows, mice and rabbits are being cloned.” It should be written as “Thereafter, many animals such as cats, pigs, cows, mice and rabbits have been cloned. When we use the transition “Thereafter”, the corresponding tense should be present perfect since the example is to express an action that has happened in the very recent past.
In short, these mistakes can be repeated if we are not aware during essay writing. Therefore, we should always check our sentence structures and meaning of the sentences during editing to minimize errors before submission since we are not familiar with the use of grammar.
In writing assignment 1 and 2, there are several mistakes that I have made during writing. The most common mistakes found are articles, transitions and verb tenses. During writing, it is very difficult for me to find these mistakes because it does not seem obvious to me.
The use of articles is branched into countable and uncountable. Articles are commonly use with common noun or noun phases which they consist of specific or non-specific or even zero article. One of the article mistakes that I have made was the word “research”. For example, “It is true that destroying human embryos in the research is unethical; however, the research is extremely important if we want success in a development.” There are several mistakes in the sentence. It should be written as “It is true that destroying human embryos in research is unethical; however, research is extremely important if we want success in the development.” The word “research” is uncountable and in the example, the word “research" does not specifically relate to a specific research. Therefore, zero articles should be used. As for the word “development”, it is not one and only development rather it is relating to the specific development in stem cell.
The second mistake that I have made was the transition use for “on the other hand”. For example, “This development allows cloning of an identical organ from the donor, so the organ is unlikely to be rejected when a transplant is done. On the other hand, even the percentage of identical tissues that comes from siblings is much lower.” It should be written as “This development allows cloning of an identical organ from the donor, so the organ is unlikely to be rejected when a transplant is done. In contrast, even the percentage of identical tissues that comes from siblings is much lower.” Both sentences are not addressing the same issue rather they are showing the difference.
The third mistake that I have made was present perfect tenses error. For example, “Thereafter, many animals such as cats, pigs, cows, mice and rabbits are being cloned.” It should be written as “Thereafter, many animals such as cats, pigs, cows, mice and rabbits have been cloned. When we use the transition “Thereafter”, the corresponding tense should be present perfect since the example is to express an action that has happened in the very recent past.
In short, these mistakes can be repeated if we are not aware during essay writing. Therefore, we should always check our sentence structures and meaning of the sentences during editing to minimize errors before submission since we are not familiar with the use of grammar.
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