Technology Makes Us Write!

Once we heard the word of ‘writing’ I believe lots of things would be on our mind, even if we are challenged to write something by using other language besides our first language. Some people might think that writing is hard to do, because there are some prerequisites to make a good writing. We need to have a good structure (grammatically and thought) in our writing so it would be interesting to be read. 

Though I admit if people are able to read, it means they are able to write as well. It is connected each other. As a teacher candidate I realize I need to make a good strategy to make my students are able to write their ideas easily. Technology is one of the ways. Technology has helped many teachers’ today to teach writing skill especially for writing in Second Language Acquisition (SLA).

There have been many kinds of approaches to teaching writing and the use of computers. One of them is Form-Focused Approach. The instruction includes two types, grammar-based instruction and discourse structure-based instruction. Other three approaches we can use are process-focused approach, content-based approach, and reader/audience-dominated approach. 

Each of approach has its own function. Form-focused approach will let the students do simple drill and practice activities or know many types of written text by using websites. This is very good to be developed because in writing we also need to focus on the form, so this approach provides many ideas and solution for the teacher and the students. Process-focused approach will let the students learn by having a process. Content-based approach will let the students to focus on the content they write about. It is very useful to enhance language skills and develop content knowledge. It also stimulates students’ critical thinking through solving problem. For the last, Reader/audience-dominated approach will make the students’ writing refer to meed the readers expectation. So overall, all these approaches are very helpful for every single teacher who wants to teach writing skills for the students.

Technology nowadays indirectly makes us write! Be grateful then :)

It becomes much more easier to improve our writing skills, even we can use it to teach writing.

Personal Identity among Others

Talking about personal identity for me is not easy at all. When some people are able to be proud with the culture and the identity they have, I am getting confused with what identity I have. Lots of things are fighting in my mind to know the truth of life I live in now. Once I think about that, it is really nice and interesting because it sounds like a mystery. In the other side, the more I think about my identity the more I realize I do not know who I am. Then I ask to myself, why I need to know about my identity? Is that for having appreciation from others (?) or vice versa?

Identity for many people in this world could be the first or the most important thing to be kept in their life. So it seems like a big dignity to have and keep their identity in life. Their dignity is their truthful identity. Then what is identity?

The meaning of identity itself (which I got from Mr. Gazali’s reading material) comes from Latin language which means ‘equal’ or ‘similar’. By identity, people try to classify how similar you are with the people around you, because each person has characters which can be the same with the other ones. That is why we have cultures, as a part of our identity. We have so many, in this world!

Talking about my personal identity, I personally truly feel that I am Indonesian though I am a Chinese ancestry also. I was born in this country and I know a lot about the life I live in Indonesia, especially in Jakarta. I am a Chinese Indonesian and my parents teach me a lot how to face the life as a minority. I have to yield or understand the others first (esp. from other cultures such as Javanese, Bataknese, etc) than myself. My parents said they are stronger and they have power because they are the majority. However, my parents teach me to be strong implicitly, meaning I should have a power inside myself, I am not allowed to give up with everything I am facing in, I have to be a hard worker, I have to be better than people around, I have to be more different (though I have been different). My parents could be very harsh to me, but they said they got a harsh thing from their parents before, that is why they could survive this life in the midst of differences until now.

As a person who lives with many kinds of people, it is inevitable for me to do not get any stereotyping from others about myself. The culture we have, made people (from different cultures) think different as well whether about the politeness, the habit, the characters, etc by using the standard of their culture. So do me. I also have some point of views, opinions about others’ culture, and even some stereotypes for others. Then I realized it as a usual thing, we just need to accept it and appreciate it. However, not all stereotypes are negative or bad.

Again, in this social life I have to develop my awareness that I live with others. Personal identity among others always has two sides whether it is positive or negative. People might think we are different. One thing that we cannot avoid is we live together. We may and need to keep our identity, and do not forget to keep and appreciate others’ identity as well.