Honesty in marking Examinations.

Honesty is the best policy as the idiom goes. Honesty gains us respect. We are acknowledged for it and even if we aren't, we have our self respect. It seems to me that some private colleges and academies in Malaysia are allowing students to pass examinations when they don't deserve to or unknowingly. It seems to me that their management does not hire a second examiner to check and confirm what the first examiner has done.

Examinations are at the core of academic life. Examinations are the essential tools for student assessment and evaluation. Examinations tells the student and his or her tutor or teacher how well the student has learnt, mastered and is able to do. It also demonstrates how ell the student was instructed. But when students pass without deserving to do so, what is the point in conducting examinations? What is it that the student has learnt and mastered? Perhaps it is the negligence on the part of teachers, tutors and lecturers who want to preserve their jobs and reputation and the institutions reputation as well.  Perhaps a high failure rate or a rate of poor grades will harm the instructor's job and the institutions profit margins. 

I think a tutor or lecturer or a teacher has to be mindful of the institution's needs and if the marking is checked by another marker so as to ensure that they can keep their jobs. The Malaysian Qualifications Agency should check and see if the examinations  are marked and checked and verified.

Idioms relating to drinking and getting drunk.

Idioms relating to drinking and getting drunk.

The following are idioms about drinking alcohol and getting drunk.

A. Drown (your/his, etc) sorrows:
Examples;
1. Marshall drowned his sorrows at the pub after his wife. Bridget, left him for hos best friend, Richard Vijay.
2. Drowning our sorrows in alcohol is not a good way to resolve our problems.
3. After Fred sold all his possessions following bankruptcy proceedings, he went and drowned his sorrows at a bar.

B. Well-oiled: It means to have drunk a lot of alcohol.
Examples:
1. A well-oiled Velu went to confront his boss and after shouting at him as a consequence Velu got the sack.
2. Alexandra got well-oiled at the bar before she drove home.
3. James got well-oiled at the pub before he went to confront Desmond for insulting him.

C. Three sheets to the wind: It means that someone is drunk.
Examples: 
1. Dennis Lim was three sheets to the wind just after a few glasses of beer.
2. The Polish and the Irish talk sense when they are three sheets to the wind. 
3. The women at the hen party were all three sheets to the wind after a night long drinking binge.

D. Wet (or Whet)  (your/his/her etc) whistle: It means that when you are thirst and you drink, you wet your whistle.
Examples:
1. Politicians often wet (whet) their whistle before making speeches.
2. Dennis Lim whet his whistle before going home to his angry wife.
3. Marshall and Xavier always wet their whistle together at the bar on Saturday nights.

E. Champagne taste on a beer budget: It means It means that someone who is living beyond (or above) their means and like things they cannot afford.
Examples:

1. Patrick Jayathilake has a champagne taste on a beer budget. He spends recklessly on things he can barely afford.
2. Marshalls's champagne taste on a beer budget is going to ruin him financially.
3. Dennis Lim has a champagne taste on a beer budget. He bought a top of the line Mercedes Benz when he can really only afford a Toyota.

Prepositions with 'home.'

Prepositions with ‘home’.

How do we talk about the word 'home'. A lot of mistakes are made with this noun, because it is an exception. With verbs of movement, we don't use 'to'. Instead we use no preposition.

• I went home.
• She walks home every day.
• Marshall drives home after work.

With verbs that say where we are, or where an action happens, we use 'at'.

• She's at home.
• We stayed at home all day.
• Anthony loves to spend time at home during the weekends.

We can use 'from' in certain expressions: work from home, be away from home.

• He works from home on Fridays.
• She doesn't like being away from home for too long.

Try the following exercises. Send me an email next week for the answers.
Let's review! Put in at / from / -
1. She cooked ____________ home.
2. They left ____________ home early this morning.
3. She's coming ____________ home around six.
4. They spent the night ____________ home.
5. Yesterday John worked ____________ home.
6. He loves relaxing ____________ home.
7. Are you going ____________ home now?
8. We spend a lot of time ____________ home during the winter.
9. Are you going to be away ____________ home overnight?
10. How do you usually get ____________ home?

Prepositions for Social Media.

What preposition do we use with social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest?

Social media is today very commonly used for communications. As such we should use the correct grammar when talking about social media usage.

The correct preposition with social media usage answer is that we use 'on'. We also use 'on' with 'the Internet' and 'Skype'.

Examples:


• I posted a photo on Instagram.

• She asked a question on Facebook.

• Are you on Twitter? What's your Twitter handle? (handle = name)

• Let's talk on Skype.

With 'Google', we tend to use it as a verb, though 'search on Google' is also possible.
(Notice that the noun has a capital 'G' but the verb doesn't.)

I don't know the answer. Could you google it?

We also sometimes use no preposition if we're talking about the company or the social media itself.

So, when someone works for one of these companies, we use 'at' or 'for' in the normal way.

• She works for / at Google.

And if we use a verb like 'like' or 'use', then we also don't need a preposition.

• I love Pinterest.

• She uses Facebook all the time.

BUT
• She spends a lot of time on Facebook.



Try the following exercises. Send me an email a week later for the answers.


Make a sentence and add any prepositions that we need.

1. She loves looking __________ pictures ___________ Pinterest.

2. Do you ever use __________ Twitter?

3. Are you ___________ Instagram?

4. I post photos ____________ Facebook so my family can see them.

5. Does she work ____________ Twitter?

6. It must be true. I read it ____________ Facebook!

7. I really hate ____________ Pinterest! It's addictive!

8. Does she know how to use ____________ Google?

9. Did you see that video ____________ Instagram?

10. I'd love to work ____________ Facebook.

A thought about Lesson Planning.

When you create a lesson plan, your first concern is understanding what you are going to teach. Then your next concern is how you are going to teach by addressing your students' needs and completing the syllabus. How the lesson is written is your last concern. Lesson planning is based on understanding what the students need to know, what are the gaps in their knowledge, and the requirements of the syllabus. Lesson plans that are successful should be kept and reused.

Lesson planning requires that the teacher/ tutor knows the subject matter very well. This prerequisite is needed because knowing the content well translates into accurate delivery of the learning content. There will be no errors or omissions in the delivery of the subject matter. The teacher/tutor knows how to provide the lesson in a sequence that is logical and in a way the students can understand.

Lesson planning must take into consideration the needs of the students which is a heavy task as students will come with varying degrees of competency and the necessary language and cognitive skills all in a single class. Addressing this will be a daunting task indeed. The learning content must be designed to cater for everyone. This can be best resolved with assessment tests that gauge the competency of the students so that they are put into classes with the same or similar levels of aptitude. In this way, that teacher/tutor can design the lesson and deliver the lessons according to the level of the students' needs and competency. In this way successful completion of the syllabus is achieved.

Lesson plans, which after reflection are deemed successful should be kept for re-use as long as they comply with the syllabus. Reflection of the lesson that took place determines how future lessons are to be delivered.

Academic Reading: Reading Electronic Text.

 

Academic reading is an essential skill that students need to master very well. Nowadays, electronic text is fast becoming ubiquitous. Many colleges, universities, training centres and schools are delivering learning content via electronic means. In principle, these documents are in the form of web pages, pdf, doc and PowerPoint documents. Web pages in particular require certain strategies that must be followed in order to read them which are:

1. Awareness of purpose
2. Discover meaning
3. Navigation of the text
4. Interpreting the text

       Firstly, there must be awareness of the purpose for reading. this must be firmly borne in the mind of the students. Electronic documents or texts in the form of web pages come with flashing links and other distractions such as links to other , often irrelevant,websites. The student or learner should be focused and mindful of why he or she is reading the text and engaging with the learning content. 

      Secondly, navigation of the text should be made with the built in "search tool" in electronic documents. Navigating an electronic document is unlike navigating a book. Navigating an electronic document requires scrolling up and down endlessly when searching for the correct passage. It is also hard to map or visualise the correct location of a text in the mind when it comes to electronic documents. Hence search tools help the learner to locate, highlight and make annotations on electronic documents. The student/learner should navigate using the tools to read and re-read the screens several times over for better comprehension.

        Thirdly,  the learner should discover or find the meaning of any unfamiliar word by either, clicking on the hyperlink to find the meaning or by using a search engine. The learner can copy the the term and place it in the search box of a search engine. 

          Fourthly, when the learner is unsure of the meaning of text, then the learner can contact the author of the electronic document by email or by asking fellow students and/or the author on an on-line forum. A skilled student/learner should always bear in mind the following regardless of whether the document is printed or electronic:

• the text must be read with its purpose in mind. Why and what is the knowledge that the student wants to learn from the text. 
• the text is previewed by skimming through it in order to get an overview of the content.
• previous knowledge is activated and connections are made with the new knowledge.
• various strategies are used in order to get the meaning of the text.
• the student self-monitors his/her understanding active learning. By active learning, the student answers questions, asking questions, and or working on the exercises.

          In conclusion, reading electronic and also printed documents require the four strategies to be used. 

The Benefits of Knowing a Second Language.

Knowing a second language has clear and tangible benefits. Really! Apart from the obvious reasons, such as communicating in a foreign land in in its language and speaking to a business contact, there are other less well known but important gains. An examination of these other benefits requires examination.   

     Firstly, our cognitive abilities are improved We have to think in the language we are learning and relating it to our native language. We are constantly translating to and fro between our native language and the language we are learning. This increases our analytical abilities as we code switch from one language to another, we connect the meaning in one language and connect it to the other and produce the other language whether in speech or writing. When we listen to other language the act of translating is an analytical process of finding meaning, connecting to an existing lexicon. There is improvement in memory, makes us better at multitasking, and sharpens our listening skills. There will be the ability to monitor the environment and switch between competing tasks. This also leads to greater creativity and flexibility.   

     

   Secondly, we gain a valuable soft skill. We can communicate in other language and gain or enhance our communicative abilities. Furthermore, this soft skill will make us able to understand and appreciate another culture. Bilingualism leads to career advancement. Many employers in Europe and Asia are calling for employees who are bilingual or multilingual. This leads to better salaries and career advancement. 

 Thirdly, learning another language delays the onset of dementia. According to researchers at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, India, the code-switching between languages forestalls the onset of dementia.

      Lastly, we are able to connect with people of other countries and learn about each other and our cultures. This greatly enriches our lives. Lifelong friendships will be created in this way. Hence bilingualism makes able to connect and learn about other societies and its people.

        Nonetheless, it is up to people to learn another language. The reasons for taking up a foreign language rests on the native language. Surprisingly, Britons do not like to learn another language. This might be due to their insular island mentality. It has been observed that in the USA, only 20% of students learn a foreign language. In contrast, in Europe about 92% of students learn a foreign language. 

        To conclude, we improve our cognitive capabilities by learning a language. We also gain a useful soft skill in being able to communicate in another language. We are also able to stall the onset of dementia. People from outside Britain and the USA more willing to learn a foreign language as opposed to Britons and Americans.      

Supplementing students study materials with teacher self prepared materials.

I notice that at times I need to supplement the materials my students need to master English. These are, sometimes, concepts that are not taught in textbooks and hence at their schools and I had to visit websites in search of information about them as well as use other textbooks. Even I had to search for concepts and tutorials in websites and grammar textbooks to supplement the lack or absence of knowledge of topics in English grammar I needed to learn about and use. When I do this searching for additional knowledge to augment or to reinforce my present knowledge, I also give this information to my students depending on their level of proficiency (let’s leave out the word competency, it is demeaning). It is a useful thing to do and aids the student by supplementing or reinforcing what they have already learnt or will learn and give them pride in possessing a comprehensive knowledge of English grammar.

I have noticed that many of my students, who are Malaysians, are not able to use the singular and plural well. As well as that in which tense should they use, which auxiliary verb to be used with what kind of singular or plural. I decided to produce a set of teacher self prepared handouts and accompanying worksheets on the use of the singular and plural, replete with tables and a tutorial on the types of sentences, including subject, verb, question word and object placement. I also included a worksheet that had the three kinds of questions that are always posed; affirmative (positive), negative and question (both affirmative and negative). In this way my students were be able to understand the singular and plural and how to use them in the simple past and simple present tense. This was done to raise their confidence and their ability to produce excellent English, be it in writing, speaking, reading or listening.

Let me tell you of my personal experience. When I was studying for my TESOL diploma I needed to find out more about sentence structure and what were the subject, verb and object in a sentence. I needed to find out more on the placement of the subject, verb and the object in various types of sentences. The textbook which my trainer was using was lacking. It only gave me a brief and cursory description of the subject. Due to teacher hegemony, my classmates and I had no choice but to use that book. The knowledge it gave us on what were the subject, verb and object and their placement in declarative and question sentences was insufficient to create confidence in our knowledge. Also, where was the subject in imperative and exclamatory sentences? I found out about these from a website based in Britain which had content authored by academics. I also found some useful practice files which reinforced understanding through rigorous practice from some American websites with content written by academics.

The other example was when I needed to understand subject verb agreement and its companion, pronoun verb agreement. The textbook I mentioned earlier was devoid of any knowledge on this topic. Our trainer provided content from other books. So I perused the Internet and found content authored by academics on this subject replete with tutorials and practice files. There were also topics that I unaware of such as fused sentences, fragments and demonstratives..

Now as a teacher, as an educator, if I find things that my students lacked fuller knowledge of or had never been aware of until a particular time, am I not duty bound to tell my students about it? Does it not fall upon me to educate my students about it when I know they have no knowledge of it? Certainly, I am duty bound to do so. I can find out what my students lack from their essays where fused sentences and dangling modifiers occur and need correction. I can glean for information of what they lack from their syllabus. I can examine the textbooks they use at their schools to see what is lacking or is absent. I can casually posit questions to dredge out information on anything they lack knowledge of. The errors my students make in their written work and speaking can reveal much of the concepts that they do not know about.

Poem: Isn't it a paradox?

Isn't it a paradox?
In the midst of a multitude, I sit
All alone, despite the crowd
Not even a passing glance nor stare
Ignored, minding their own business they go
By myself I sit all alone
Ignored by the crowd
Into my mind I introvert
Ignoring the crowd
Surrealistic it all becomes
Like a drug infused haze
I blur out vision
Into my mind's deepest corner I sit
it's a paradox, the crowd
So many people and yet we are all alone

Clothes Idioms.

Clothes Idioms.

These idioms are related to clothes.


1. Cut from the same cloth:  if you say that some people are cut from the same cloth, it means that they are very similar in terms of beliefs, ideas, opinions, character etc.

Examples:
A. Marshall, Dennis, and Alan are all cut from the same cloth. They believe that capital punishment is wrong and hold leftist views on politics.
B. Rollo and Borg have always got along well. They share the same past times and love hunting and have the same character. Truly, they are cut from the same cloth.
C. Many right-wing and left-wing political parties in Europe are cut from the same cloth. A right-wing or left-wing political party in one country has similar views to its counterpart in another country.

2. At the drop of a hat: It means that you or somebody will do something immediately.
Examples:
A. Xavier told Jennifer that he would do anything at the drop of a hat for her.
B. Marshall D’Cruz is someone who will accept a new job at the drop of a hat.
C. I will willingly work for an English language centre at the drop of hat.

3. Dressed to the nines: it means to be wearing your best clothes. Wear very nice clothes.
Examples:
A. “Marshall is dressed to nines!” exclaimed Alan to Xavier, Dennis and Patrick when Marshall arrived at the pub wearing the finest clothes and shoes.
B. He always dresses to the nines.
C. Stylish people like me love to dress to the nines.

4. By the seat of your pants. : It means you achieve something, but by only a narrow margin or do something without advance preparation.
Examples:
A. Dennis Anthony only got the job at the supermarket by the seat of his pants. This was because, some of the other candidates decided to drop out.
B.  Alan Cross only just passed his examinations by a narrow margin. Yet, he boasts about passing his exams with flying colours.
C. Xavier Gomez only managed to get away from being chased by a mad dog because his car was nearby and he managed to leap into it fast.

The Importance of Grammar in English Language Teaching and Learning.

Grammar, according to the Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary, is defined as; (the study or use of) the rules of how words change their form and combine with other words to make sentences.

We can describe Grammar as the backbone of a language that a learner or a user must understand in order to communicate effectively and accurately. By effectively I mean the ability to express clearly what one thinks, feels or wants. By accuracy I mean without an errors that will hinder understanding of meaning.

            The reason for grammar’s importance is that we can write and speak without error. Nowadays we write more than we speak.  Emails, sms and Internet forums have increased as well as traditional media like letters, books, magazines, contracts, reports and journals. The need for grammatical accuracy has grown. As a result of this situation grammatical accuracy is needed evermore.  This is so when commands, orders, requests and are made and they must be understood. As well as that, in social settings grammatical accuracy is also needed if there is to be accurate understanding of what is said. In Britain back in the 1970s when there were a lot of immigrants coming into that country from Asia and Africa, there were situations where the misunderstanding of meaning took place. In supermarkets where there were stands for magazines which had some free offer for a product or service described inside the periodical. There were unfortunate incidents of what appeared to be shoplifting. When these immigrants saw the banner with the word “Free” they took it to mean that the magazine itself was free. However, the banner was meant for some free offer that was described inside the magazine. So not knowing what it meant they just took the magazine thinking that the magazine was free. This unfortunate lack of grammar resulted in many people being caught for shoplifting. Had these people had a working knowledge of English and English grammar that mistake would not have occurred.

            When it comes to English learners, we see the need for grammar in English language teaching. The reasons for this are two-fold. One is Competency. By competency is meant that when an English learner displays competency in grammar that person creates a good impression of themselves. When English language learners display grammatical competency they create a good impression of themselves with other people, be they native speakers or other English language learners. It shows the effort they have made in learning the language. If the English language learner fails to achieve competency he or she runs the risk of giving a poor impression of themselves. It shows their lack of enthusiasm and lack of effort to learn the new language. They will also fail in the ability to communicate effectively and understand the meaning of what is said to them or what they read.  The lack of competency can lead to alienation in a society or be deemed as arrogance. The other reason for good grammar among English language learners is Presentation. By presenting themselves as having good grammar, English language learners can present themselves to employers who need staff who can communicate well in English. These employers will be willing to recruit such people knowing they can rely on them to transact business well with god grammatical accuracy. As well as this the English learner will present himself or herself well in any social setting. This will increase their prestige. Competency does not mean that the learner is incompetent. Contrary, it just shows lack of interest in learning the language.

            English language teachers need to have an excellent command of grammar. This knowledge will enable the teacher to;

• They will be to show their professionalism in the English language.

• They will be able to integrate form, meaning and content in the design of syllabus according to the level of capability of their students.

• They will be better able to select and prepare materials for classroom activities.

• They will be able to identify and analyse which student errors to concentrate on.

• They will be able to select and sequence the grammatical forms at any given time.

• They will be able to prepare appropriate exercises and activities for rule presentation or error correction.

• They will be able to deal with any queries or doubts posited to them by their students.

A teacher with a sound knowledge of English grammar will be better able to teach English compared to one with a poor grasp of grammar. These teachers with a sophisticated understanding of grammar can teach without creating confusion or teaching erroneous rules to their students. An effective and good teacher must have a sophisticated understanding of grammar. They will be able to better understand grammar and teach it at the appropriate level of understanding of their students as well s know when, where and how to use this sophisticated knowledge.

            In conclusion I think that grammar is very important in language teaching and learning as it creates learners who can use and understand the language and communicate effectively. Teachers need an excellent knowledge of grammar in order to know what level of difficulty to teach their students.

References.

1. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/admin/teaching-grammar-present-past-tables
2. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/search/apachesolr_search/importance%20of%20grammar?page=2
3. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/search/apachesolr_search/importance%20of%20grammar?page=1
4. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/admin/teaching-grammar
5. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/admin/importance-grammar
6. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/search/apachesolr_search/importance%20of%20grammar
7. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/Writings/Papers/GhentGrammar.htm
8. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/english-usage/projects/grammar-teaching/
9. http://www.tefl-china.net/2003/ca12870.htm

10.  http://languages.com/2013/02/20/the-importance-of-english-grammar/

11.  http://languages.com/2013/02/28/making-a-good-impression-importance-of-learning-english-grammar/

What is Solar Energy, and its Benefits and Limitations?

Solar energy is, to put it simply, the energy of the sun. Solar energy is created by harnessing the sun’s rays and transforming them into electrical power. Solar energy is created by using panels with photo-voltaic cells mounted in an array on these panels. When these photo-voltaic cells are exposed to the sun the heat generated causes the cells to convert the sun rays into electricity. There are two types of solar energy. Firstly, there is the Solar Photovoltaic panel (PV) which converts solar energy into electricity using a photo-voltaic cell that contains a silicon based semiconductor material. Each photovoltaic cell consists of a sandwich of two highly purified silicon pieces. These highly purified silicon semiconductors are highly efficient in converting sunlight into electricity. When sunlight strikes these semiconductors, the electrons in the atomic bond of the silicon semiconductors become excited and move about freely. The movement of the electrons produces electricity. The other type is called Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) which is used in so-called solar power farms. These use mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight, or solar thermal energy, onto a small area. These lenses have tracking systems which follow the passage of the sun across the sky. In this way they continuously capture sunlight. The concentrated light is then used as a heat source that drive a steam turbine connected to an electrical power generator. The electricity produced by Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) is called Solar Thermal energy.

         Solar energy has enormous benefits. Firstly, solar energy is renewable. It does not deplete after use. It is a perpetual energy source. It will not disappear unlike oil, gas, uranium and coal. Once these are used they are gone forever and cannot be reused or recycled. Secondly, solar energy is free. The sun is a given good. We do not pay for it as compared to oil, gas, coal or uranium, where we must pay to obtain them before we create energy from them. Thirdly, solar energy installations are easy to construct. Solar panels in the form of solar farms with numerous large solar panels do not cost much to construct. Whereas with oil refineries, coal power stations and nuclear power stations huge costs are involved in constructing their stations and plants. There is the added cost of procurement of reactors, turbines and other machines to create electrical power. Another benefit of solar power is that it can reduce the electrical power consumption of homes and offices derived from fossil fuels or nuclear power. This effect realizes lower electricity bills for households and businesses. Benefits can also come in the form of tax reliefs for businesses who install solar panels. This benefit can be given by governments in the form of tax incentives. Households can obtain rebates from the local or national government for installing solar panels for their houses. There is a benefit accruing to the environment in installing large solar energy farms. This is the very low impact on the terrain from solar arrays. Unlike coal power electivity stations, nuclear power stations and oil refineries, there is a huge impact on the terrain. There is land clearance and preparation. A lot of land is needed to construct coal power stations and nuclear power plants as well oil refineries. The other benefit of solar power is that there is no pollution resulting from its deployment and use. In the case of coal power there is smoke and nuclear power stations can release radiation in the event of a catastrophic accident such as in Chernobyl, Ukraine and Fukushima, Japan. Oil refineries can accidently release fuel into rivers and oil drilling platforms can have leaks that can cause major oil spill like that in the BP accident in the Gulf of Mexico. Solar energy also allows consumers to be less dependent on energy suppliers and countries who import coal, gas, uranium and oil to be less dependent on nations which supply these resources. This means more economic independence for energy importing nation and a saving for them. Another benefit of solar power is that it does not create any noise when generating electricity. The machinery needed to pump oil and gas are noisy and these plants need to be located in areas away from residential zones. Lastly, solar energy installations can be located in remote areas where it is too expensive to link these areas to the energy grid. The cost of installing a solar panel for a house or a building is inexpensive and once installed the system can create electricity free of charge. Solar energy installations need very little maintenance and repairs. Solar panels need very little maintenance and repairs. They have no moving parts except for the mounts in solar panel arrays that move with the direction of the sun. Compared to oil, coal, gas and uranium plants there is the need to conduct maintenance and repair because they use machines and turbines and reactors which need regular maintenance and repair. Lastly, it does not produce any harmful detritus nor emit any harmful radiation or fumes.

         Solar energy also has its limitations. First of all, solar energy depends on a reliable climate with a lot of sunshine in order to create sufficient electrical power. Simply put, if there is little or no sunshine then there will be little power created or none at all. Solar power stations lie solar energy farms cannot match the electricity output of coal and nuclear power stations. Solar panels installed as units for houses and businesses can supply a part of the electrical power need of the user. Large solar panel farms can supply small towns only. They cannot supply sufficient power for factories, which need a tremendous volume of electrical power. Solar power uses large batteries that need to be charged so that solar powered devices can be used at night. These batteries are large and heavy and need space and they also need to be replaced periodically due to wear. Solar panels can be expensive to buy and install. The investment in this will see the savings accrued being realized after many years from installing them. Lastly, when solar farms are constructed there are enormous costs involved and a lot of land needs to be procured to make a solar power farm that can supply sufficient electrical power as required. Therefore the electrical requirements are matched to land area and hence the costs in doing so.

         In conclusion, I think that solar energy is a good thing. If a household installs solar panels it eventually realizes savings in its electricity bill. A business will be able bear the costs of investing in solar power as its operating costs. Large scale solar farms will eventually realize a reduction on the dependency on mainstream energy suppliers .i.e. those that supply coal derived electricity, nuclear power generated electricity and gas. Despite the fact that solar energy like its renewable energy counterparts cannot generate the power output of nuclear power stations and coal power stations, they easily contribute to an enormous saving for a country and its people. There are engineering advances that will see large solar arrays in orbit around the planet that can capture sunlight in space and channel it to a station on Earth. Such solar arrays in space and terrestrial based ones can supply at least a part of a country’s energy needs. What is important is that renewable energy sources like solar power in combination with wind power, thermal power and wave power can reduce the dependency on fossil and nuclear fuels. The only drawback is that solar power cannot achieve the electrical output of a coal or nuclear power station. But that does not matter. Heavy and medium industries and hospitals or airports require enormous energy that solar energy cannot supply but households, small businesses are also energy consumers. As long as a reduction on fossil and nuclear fuel is achieved and coupled with engineering advances that can realize greater energy output of solar energy as well as other renewable sources we must use solar power and increase its use.

A total of 1,347 words; excluding the title and story board.
Story board.
Introduction: Description of solar energy.
How it is created.
Its benefits.
Its limitations.
Conclusion.

Why we must have free University education?

University education should be made free. Not everyone can afford tertiary level education.
I give you three reasons for free university or tertiary education which are; the rising costs of courses, the financial burden imposed on students from loans and the economic benefits gained from free university education. 
        Firstly, not everyone can afford a university education. University courses which offer greater employability are expensive to provide. Courses such as engineering, information technology, medicine, and specialised courses such as physics and chemistry require expensive and sophisticated computers, software, and other complex machines to instruct students. The universities also need to recruit well trained and knowledgeable tutors and lecturers who will demand high salaries. As a consequence, the universities have to raise tuition fees or opt for cheaper distance learning courses which lack the human contact found in full time university courses. Research from the British and German ministries of Education and the German DAAD foundation has shown meteoric increases in the costs incurred by universities in providing courses in civil and nuclear engineering, computer science and medicine. Sometimes universities have to close a faculty because there are not enough students available. The unavailability of sufficient students stems significantly from the high cost of tuition. According to research by Cornell University in the United States, there is continual rise in tuition fees due to inflation and reduced   government expenditure which causes universities to impose higher tuition fees.

        Secondly, there are many poor families who have children who are very intelligent and capable. The parents of these children and even the students themselves will be forced to take loans to pay for university courses. A student who is repaying his or her loan will not be able to focus on their studies well. Research in the United States and Canada has shown that the increasing tuition fees of many students in both private and government universities are so high that students suffer from depression and an inability to focus on their studies while being burdened with loan repayment. The North American research has also shown these students and their parents will still be repaying loans long after the students have graduated. This causes only affluent families to be able afford good university courses. This is a terrible social inequality and it must be addressed with the correct policies to correct it. Education is not the privilege of the rich but a human right for all. As the late President Nelson Mandela said "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Surely, we can change the social inequalities in our country with free university education. There will be better educated people who will earn well. This will eradicate social inequalities and make our society better.

        Thirdly, there are tremendous economic benefits to be gained in providing free university courses. With more well qualified graduates’ employers will have a big pool of manpower to source their personnel. This country like many others are getting involved in specialized industries such as information technology, bio-technologies and advanced engineering such nuclear and automotive technologies. We are also seeing sophistication in the service industries like banking, insurance and international finance. This global phenomenon requires a large pool of well qualified people and instead of having to recruit foreign expatriates at high cost we have a ready-made pool of labor. A large pool of well qualified graduates will see greater innovations in these new industries because there are more people to provide new ideas and inventions.

        So in conclusion, I recommend that university education be made free. By making university education free the universities will need to impose high fees because they will get government funding to reduce their costs. Also, we will allow students from poor families to excel in life and eradicate social inequalities. Lastly, the country will realize enormous economic benefits.

What is Creative Thinking?

What is Creative Thinking? We can answer this question by starting with defining Creativity. Creativity can be defined as: the process of being creative. A series of actions which create new ideas, thoughts and physical objects (http://www.brainstorming.co.uk/tutorials/definitions.html#creativity).

Thinking can be defined as the process of thought. To consider, judge or believe. The process of exercising the mind in order to make a decision. To remember or recollect. To make the mental choice between options (http://www.brainstorming.co.uk/tutorials/definitions.html#thinking).

Therefore, Creative Thinking can be defined as specific thought processes which improve the ability to be creative. It is being in an optimal state of mind for generating new ideas. To think deliberately in ways that improve the likelihood of new thoughts occurring. To maximize the ability of the brain to think of new ideas. The ability to think of original, diverse and elaborate ideas. A series of mental actions which produce changes and developments of thought. The process of exploring multiple avenues of actions or thoughts (http://www.brainstorming.co.uk/tutorials/definitions.html#creative%20thinking).

The definition of creativity can be seen in three ways:as an ability,  as an attitude andy as a process.

        Firstly, creativity can be seen as an ability. Creativity, as a simple definition, can be seen as having the ability to envisage, imagine or invent something new. It is the ability to create something new whether it is a product, an object, an idea or a concept by combining, changing, reshaping or remolding or reapplying existing ideas to create new ones.

        Secondly, creativity can be seen as an attitude. Creativity as an attitude is where there is the ability to accept change and newness, a willingness or daringness to play around with new ideas and concepts and accept new possibilities. It is a flexibility of outlook, the habit of enjoying the good while looking for ways to enhance or improve it. We are conditioned or socialized into accepting that we have only a limited number of choices of doing something or enjoying or being able to do something. Creative people see or explore new ways of finding new possibilities.

       Lastly, creativity can be seen as a process. When creativity is seen as a process, it is a sequence of actions that seek to improve ideas and solutions. Creativity is rarely a stroke of genius with some new idea or object created in a short span of time. Often creativity is a long drawn out process creativity of creating something b improving on it.

        In conclusion, creative thinking is being in an optimal state of mind to be able to create something new or improve on an existing idea or object. It is the attitude to challenge existing paradigm of thinking, seeing things in new ways, paly around with ideas and accept new possibilities or realities. It is also a process of continuous development and improvement and seeking of solution to problems.

The Importance of Critical Thinking.

Critical thinking has emerged as an essential skill in what is termed the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The appearance of new fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, 3-D printing and genetics is expected to cause widespread disruption in the labor market. This new industrial revolution is set to cause radical changes in the skill sets required by workers in the future workforce. The ability to think critically is much needed to be active in these new fields.  

Critical thinking is important for three
important reasons. Firstly, it is a domain-general thinking skill, secondly, it is needed by the new knowledge economy, thirdly for the enhancement of language and presentation skills, the promotion of creative thinking, for reflective thinking, and lastly for the foundation of science and democracy. That means it is a thinking skill that can be applied to many domains or areas of knowledge, work, and personal development. Critical thinking enhances language and presentation skills. It is the foundation of science and democracy. 

Firstly, critical thinking is a domain-general skill. That means critical thinking can be applied to various areas of work and knowledge. The ability to think critically is needed in the legal, engineering, medical, financial, teaching, and many other fields of work. This is because the ability to think clearly, without bias, to bear down on the crux of the matter, and come up with proper arguments and conclusions is essential in various areas of work and education.

Secondly, critical thinking is needed in the modern knowledge economy. This new economic system emphasizes information is the basis of the business. Information in the new economy is facilitated by information technology and the Internet. Information is obtained from sophisticated systems and transferred across the world in a flash. This allows for quick business transactions and hence business decisions have to be made quickly. To this end, critical thinking is required to make judicious decisions. 

Thirdly, critical thinking improves the way we present our ideas. Critical thinking allows us to present ideas in a coherent, structured, and systematic way. It allows one to read a text, see its logical structure and comprehend it. This is how it in turn allows presenting our ideas properly. 

            In conclusion, we can see that critical thinking is a skill that has wide applications in a wide variety of fields. It is central to the functioning of the new economy with the need to make careful decisions quickly. It provides a lucid, logical, and lucid way to present ideas.

Glossary of English Grammar Terms.

Glossary of English Grammar Terms.

Active Voice In the active voice, the subject of the verb does the action (eg They killed the President). See also Passive Voice.

Adjective      A word like big, red, easy, French etc. An adjective describes a noun or pronoun.

Adverb A word like slowly, quietly, well, often etc. An adverb modifies a verb.
Article The "indefinite" articles are a and an. The "definite article" is the.
Auxiliary Verb A verb that is used with a main verb. Be, do and have are auxiliary verbs. Can, may, must etc are modal auxiliary verbs.
Clause A group of words containing a subject and its verb (for example: It was late when he arrived).
Conjunction A word used to connect words, phrases and clauses (for example: and, but, if).
Infinitive The basic form of a verb as in to work or work.
Interjection An exclamation inserted into an utterance without grammatical connection (for example: oh!, ah!,ouch!, well!).
Modal Verb An auxiliary verb like can, may, must etc that modifies the main verb and expresses possibility, probability etc. It is also called "modal auxiliary verb".
Noun A word like table, dog, teacher, America etc. A noun is the name of an object, concept, person or place. A "concrete noun" is something you can see or touch like a person or car. An "abstract noun" is something that you cannot see or touch like a decision or happiness. A "countable noun" is something that you can count (for example: bottle, song, dollar). An "uncountable noun" is something that you cannot count (for example: water, music, money).
Object In the active voice, a noun or its equivalent that receives the action of the verb. In the passive voice, a noun or its equivalent that does the action of the verb.
Participle The -ing and -ed forms of verbs. The -ing form is called the "present participle". The -ed form is called the "past participle" (for irregular verbs, this is column 3).
Part Of Speech One of the eight classes of word in English - noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction and interjection.
Passive Voice In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb (eg The President was killed). See also Active Voice.
Phrase A group of words not containing a subject and its verb (eg on the table, the girl in a red dress).
Predicate Each sentence contains (or implies) two parts: a subject and a predicate. The predicate is what is said about the subject.
Preposition A word like at, to, in, over etc. Prepositions usually come before a noun and give information about things like time, place and direction.
Pronoun A word like I, me, you, he, him, it etc. A pronoun replaces a noun.
Sentence A group of words that express a thought. A sentence conveys a statement, question, exclamation or command. A sentence contains or implies a subject and a predicate. In simple terms, a sentence must contain a verb and (usually) a subject. A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!).
Subject Every sentence contains (or implies) two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is the main noun (or equivalent) in a sentence about which something is said.
Tense The form of a verb that shows us when the action or state happens (past, present or future). Note that the name of a tense is not always a guide to when the action happens. The "present continuous tense", for example, can be used to talk about the present or the future.
Verb A word like (to) work, (to) love, (to) begin. A verb describes an action or state.