Monday, August 25, 2008

I AM A MALAYSIAN, BUT ARE YOU.. What i think



In a country where race, religion and our differences not just creating boundaries between ethnic communities but also within racial group, makes you wonder who you really are? People might say’ I am a Malaysian” being proud of it even though they don’t look like one and they should not be look down by other people, just because they look strange. This happens to a lot of Malaysians with mix marriages and peer regional places which are influence by different racial and culture. But still, all Malaysian should be treated equally fair, for we share the same vision to be united with Malays, Chinese, Indians and others. We might look different, for the Malays might look like Chinese, and Indians look like Malays but this does not change a thing. It all depends on the individual itself to carry oneself and showing other people your true origins and culture in the public within yourself. Besides that, we should know we are a multi racial country and there are many faces of Malaysian. Lastly we all should just be recognized as Malaysians’ and not for what we look like outside. So be proud of what you are and do not let these boundaries to question you and ask what I am…

What is an Adjunct? In my understanding

What is the definition of an Adjunct? The word derives from the Latin word 'adiƫnctus' meaning 'to join to'. The definition of Adjunct is an element in a sentence that, whilst not essential to the structure of the sentence, amplifies its meaning. An adjunct establishes the circumstances in which the actions expressed by the verb take place.
Examples: Yesterday, tomorrow, after
Adjuncts are used to refer to particular peripheral roles and how these peripheral roles can also be realized in other ways. In the process we'll discover some interesting ways in which languages can differ from one another. One kind of difference involves a distinction that is made in one language but not in another. In other words, two different sentences in one language correspond to one ambiguous sentence in the other language. Another kind of difference involves alternate ways of conveying the same information. One language may express in adjuncts what another language expresses within the verb itself. An adjunct is used in a sentence that may have certain parts of a sentence that convey information about how, when, or where something happened
He ate his meal quickly (how) David gave blood last week (when) Susan went to school in New York (where
)

CRITICAL ESSAY



Sociolinguistic is one of the major concern that exist in the language and society which is also the connections between the language and the society and the way we use it in different social situation. From the articles we have found and studied, we have understood better on the origins of the language. We also explored a lot in the different types of languages used and the article business language which we found caught our interest the most.
In this article we can see from the picture clearly that a business deal is being done. It also shows us, how two different people who do not share the same common language try to come to an understanding to make business. Thus we can also see that they have reached an agreement with each other. In this picture also we can predict that they had to face a rough time trying to understand and communicate. There are a lot of optical illusion that can be answered and question back from this picture.
Besides that, this article shows us that we still used the pidgin which was used in the 19th century where it was used to communicate with the mix people, for shipping and trading routes. This two people had made their way to understanding by using one of the first dominant languages in the world. With the existence of pidgins, business dealing has become much easier in the world these days. It has help human realized that things can be done in other different alternate ways.
On the other hand, there are many small differences that are not taken count. Such as the personal appearance of the people with their dressing code and the culture differences which are obvious with the cup of coffee and the Chinese tea glass. The picture also shows us the two different trade marks that show us the development of the country. In the picture we can also see overall the differences of culture, regions and ethics of a person which pictures the people today.
Lastly the scope of a language can be as wide as possible. But it can be one of the easiest ways to learn and adopt it. It basically just depends on the individual in acquiring it in their own ways to benefit it.

What role does social factors like gender, age, class and ethnicity play in language use.

What role does social factors like gender, age, class and ethnicity play in language use.


There are many factors that can influence the language that a person uses in today’s society. There are many factors such as age, gender, class, ethnic and many more which are very important to develop the language being used. These factors are important for it plays the role to classify the group of a speaker through the language.

Gender is one of the factors which play an important part in language. Gender is divided in to two categories, male and female. A female and male tend to talk differently in many ways, which differentiates them from each other. The female tend to speak very softly and polite for they don’t have a deep and husky voice when they speak. For the male, they tend to talk very loud with a high pitch of voice. Due to the differences of gender the tone of speaking of a person is affected.

Thus age is one of the other factors which influence the language as well. The age is one of the main matters for there are many groups of people. There are the young ones, adult, teenagers, and many more. The teenagers tend to speak with a different slang to look cold. While the, older people tend to speak in an advising way. While the young children have their own way of speech, where they have just learn how to speak and have different ways to communicate.

Besides that, the classes are also on one of the factors, where they are divided in to high class, middle class and low class or categories as educated and non-educated. A high class person might talk very good English with proper grammar such as business man, lawyers, doctors and many more. The middle class people talk differently where they mix the language with other languages. The low class people language might be mix with the village style of speaking.

Lastly is the Ethnicity, which is an ethic group of character, background, or affiliation of a person. The classification of a population that shares a common characteristic, such as, religion, traditions, culture, language, and tribal or national origin. This influences the language because there are many different ethnic in Malaysia such as the Malay, Chinese, Indians and others. The ethnic is influence by the multi culture of this country. This is the reason why some individual might have different way of talking due to the mix tradition, culture and religion which affects the language we speak.

These roles is very important as it plays a important part in language and how a it affect the sociolinguistic way of speaking a language.

What is bilingualism?

Bilingualism is the ability to communicate in two different languages, using two languages in some proportion, in order to facilitate learning by student who have a native proficiency in one language and are acquiring proficiency in others. There are many definitions of bilingualism, for example, a person does not have to speak both languages with equal fluency to be a bilingual. It is very common for bilinguals. Some people have been bilingual since birth, due to their parents. I define bilingualism simply as using two languages depending on the fluency of second language.
Fluency in a second language requires skills in listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Some bilinguals are people who were thought by parents who can each speak a different language at home and by friends who spoke different language in school. In some countries like Malaysia, especially those with two or more official languages due to the multi racial, schools encourage bilingualism by requiring intensive study of a second language.
In Malaysia, we can learn many languages due to mix marriage, friends, schools and many more. This happen to a lot of students and it is an easy way to learn when you come from a different background. Having the ability to be bilingualism or multilingualism is a great advantage because this will allow you to suit any environment at any time. Thus, you will have the benefits of job for your ability of speaking skills. I personally feel, learning a language is fun and the easiest way for it helps you a lot in future.