WEEK 5: SUMMARY AND REFLECTION ON CALL IN LANGUAGE SKILLS

Call in language skills from afiqah rosa khadijah awatif

REFLECTION ON CALL IN LANGUAGE SKILLS

We spend most of our time listening to many things around us. Some people enjoy listening to music, watching videos, television, movies and so on. It is true that listening is a crucial aspect for language learners because in order to learn a language, they must listen to the language first. By listening to the native speakers’ of the target language, they can take note of the pronunciation, grammar, sentence structure, variety of spoken discourse, intonation, stress, pause and other aspects of language that are used by the native speakers of the target language. By doing so, it is very helpful for the learners to acquire the language promptly. This also gives space for teachers to apply the various computer applications in teaching the listening skills for example, multimedia computing and podcasting in order to make the learning process interesting.

                           

Speaking skills are unquestionably one of the most imperative means of communication. There are several opinions about how good speaking skills lead to an effective communication. Speaking skills are very important and truly one of the best assets in Islam. A good communication skill does help to increase your opportunities to communicate better with other people which will help you to spread the beauty of Islam. As the technology develops day by day, we can use many mediums to communicate with other people. Some people might have difficulty to talk face to face but they still can improve their speaking skills through computer-based activities such as chat room via internet which eventually will increase their self-confidence in speaking.

                            

The first revelation from Allah s.w.t to our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w is the commandment for him to read. As it says in Holy Qur’an in translation from Surah Al-Alaq verse 1:

         “ Read (O Muhammad), with the name of the God who creates all the creatures”.

In this verse, we know that the ever first thing that asked by Allah s.w.t to the mankind is reading as it is the key to all of the knowledge. All people are given the ability to read using our aql. Even for some people who are unlucky (virtually challenged), they still can read through many methods that can be found nowadays. As Mulisms we cannot deny that technology does help us to enhance our reading skills. Many computer software such as electronic dictionaries and online reading programs were created to help people to master the reading skills.

Parents also can help and not putting the burden on teachers only, but as adults, the “supervising mode” must be on every time the kids used the computer and try to help them as much as you can. Providing the right contents(parents can control the content in the computer and monitor the usage , well thanks to technology ) in their gadgets also a big help in order for the kids not to astray too much from their work.

Last but not least for now, it is not wrong to keep ahead and advance as long as our intention (niyyah) is not deviating from the reason  of our creation, which is to serve and keep humble yourself to the Creator.

                                 

Besides, CALL also helps students to improve their writing skills. Many interactive writing online program is available for students to learn the writing skills. Blogging for instance, exposes students to the informal writing which allow students to write freely, expressing their thoughts. Students who write will also get feedback from the readers which then will open some group discussions. However there are also writing programs that help students to improve their academic writing. Besides, many grammar and spelling checkers can be downloaded from the internet at no cost at all. Moreover, the traditional grammar teaching in the class will always make students feel uninterested to learn grammar. Instead of textbooks, computer programs and games are the effective ways to maintain the students’ attention in learning grammar. Creativity is needed in order to create interesting computer programs that are attractive and beneficial in language learning. Thus, CALL does help students in language learning because it integrates the use of computer technology which has become crucial these days.