Essay Outline

Introduction

(a) Description of a situation

(b) Identification of a problem

(c) Description of a solution

(d) Evaluation of the solution

 As the 21st century began, the Internet has become an important tool in many major area such as in politics, in business, or even in daily communication. The Internet has played a vital role in bringing people from all over the globe to be connected with each other on the Web through the social networking websites such as Facebook, and Twitter. However, such benefits seem to be enjoyed mainly by the younger generation who have gone through the education aided significantly by technology. The older generation whose main method of education was dominantly a 'pen-and-paper' mode apparently find adapting to this new era difficult. According to the statistics, only about 30 per cent of Americans over the age of 65 use the Internet, and this compares to nearly 90 per cent of young generation in America using the Internet. The government tries to come up with the solution to bridge the gap between this two groups of people, and the attempt by the community centres to train the older generation to use the basic function of the Internet seems to have done good for the older generation. However, I personally feel that there are more ways to help more of the older people to use the Internet so that they will not be left 'isolated' from this perpetually-progressing society.  

Identification & description of the PROBLEM

(a) Topic sentence

(b) BRIEFLY describe problem

·        why is it a problem?

·        how did globalisation lead to the problem?

·        examples/evidence

(c) Concluding sentence

 - As the technology keeps upgrading to better cater to the needs by many people, the ways to handle those products get increasingly complicated. The instructions found in the new application in the Internet such as Google Chrome, or Ping are using many technical words most of the time, and this makes older generation difficult to use it effectively.

- As mentioned earlier, a significant proportion of the older generation had gone through the education system with a relatively low level of aid by IT (if not, not at all for some) , so they often find these new upgrades of technology difficult to follow up, compared to the younger generation who are rather more acceptive to such changes.

- Therefore, this poses a problem, as older generation may not continue to use the perpetually-changing programmes in the long run, and be left out of the online social circle.

- So, they might feel lonely as they have not many people to talk with, and this problem can be even more worsen by a 'small family' which is a current social problem in which older generation and younger generation do not live together.

SOLUTION - Description & evaluation

(a) Topic sentence

(b) Explain and support one solution.

·        Describe ONE existing solution (WHAT? WHO? HOW?)

·        EVALUATE its effectiveness (evidence)

·        Explain what evidence shows: why effective/not effective

in fixing the problem? Think about why the solution may

still be a problem.

·        If you can improve on existing solution(s), propose modifications to this solution(s).

(c) Concluding sentence.

 - Government can organise the campaign/programme/activity to help the older generation to be able to master the skills of using the Internet.

- Instead of hiring the professionals, school students could be invited to teach the older generation (as part of Community Involvement Programme which is compulsory activity to be fulfilled).

- In this way, students can learn to communicate effectively with the older generation as they teach them, and understand the common problems that these group of older generation face when handling the Internet. This will in turn make students able to treat their own grandparents with better understanding.

- Older generation can also benefit greatly, as they learn the skills to bring themselves into the online social circle to be kept in touch with their friends, and family members for those who are not living with their children.

- This will yield a win-win situation. 

Reader's Response [Draft 3]

In a Today Online article, titled as "Can English be a Singaporean mother tongue?", Lu (2013) addresses some of the issues regarding English and mother tongue, and carefully evaluates the possibility that English might be converted into mother tongue, from the first language with much priority given thus far for many of young generation. 

 According to Lu, some of the reasons for such an observation are due to the facts that too high emphasis on English would not be in line with the government education policy which aims Singaporeans to become effectively bilingual, as well as the low level of recognition by the world that Singapore is a 'native' English-speaking country. He states that proponents of the view that English can be a Singaporean mother tongue also put forth the idea that we experience the linguistic divides caused by the conflicting linguistic interests between younger generation and older generation who generally believe in enduring links between one's biological heritage and cultural practice.

 Although Lu give convincing reasons for English to be regarded as our mother tongue in future, I beg to differ that English can, and should be a Singaporean mother tongue.

 In the 3rd reason for English to be a Singaporean mother tongue, he mentions that Singapore is yet to receive enough recognition from the world that it is an English-speaking country with its citizens speaking English fluently. However, he also should not forget the current economics movement that is taking place in the world right now. Many countries, including Western countries who require Singaporeans to take their English proficiency test to make sure that candidates have good command of English before they can be considered admitted to the school, are in fact investing a huge sum of money into various industries in Singapore. This is because Singaporeans are capable human resources with relatively high command of English, compared to their counterparts in other regions in Asia. As English is already regarded as the global language which is essential in various areas, such as business, economics and even politics, human resources with the ability to speak English were highly sought after, and this is the reason why Singapore was highly successful in attracting many foreign investors from all over the world. Therefore, emphasis on English was the key reason why Singapore managed to outdo its neighbouring countries in terms of economics and raising the standard of living within itself.

 Hence, I advocate that English should not be a Singaporean mother tongue. English became too important to be considered as a 'second class' language and under no circumstances, should people regard English merely as a Singaporean mother tongue, for doing so will bring a myriad of implications in the near future. 

Reader's Response [Draft 2]

Can English be a Singaporean mother tongue?

 In a Today Online article, titled as "Can English be a Singaporean mother tongue?", Lu (2013) addressed some of the issues regarding English and mother tongue, and carefully evaluated the possibility that English might be converted into mother tongue, from the first language with much priority given thus far for many of young generation. 

 According to Lu, some of the reasons for such an observation were due to the facts that too high emphasis on English would not be in line with the government education policy which aims Singaporeans to become effectively bilingual, as well as the low level of recognition by the world that Singapore is a 'native' English-speaking country. He stated that proponent of the view that English can be a Singaporean mother tongue also put forth the idea that we experience the linguistic divides caused by the conflicting linguistic interests between younger generation and older generation who generally believe in enduring links between one's biological heritage and cultural practice.

 Although Lu gave convincing reasons for English to be regarded as our mother tongue in future, I beg to differ that English can, and should be a Singaporean mother tongue.

 In the 3rd reason for English to be a Singaporean mother tongue, he mentioned that Singapore is yet to receive enough recognition from the world that it is an English-speaking country with its citizens speaking English fluently. However, he also should not forget the current economics movement that is taking place in the world right now. Many countries, including Western countries who require Singaporeans to take their English proficiency test to make sure that candidates have good command of English before they can be considered admitted to the school, are in fact investing a huge sum of money into various industries in Singapore. This is because Singaporeans are capable human resources with relatively high command of English, compared to their counterparts in other regions in Asia. As English is already regarded as the global language which is essential in various areas, such as business, economics and even politics, human resources with the ability to speak English were highly sought after, and this is the reason why Singapore were highly successful in attracting many foreign investors from all over the world. Therefore, emphasis on English was the key reason why Singapore managed to outdo its neighbouring countries in terms of economics and raising the standard of living within itself.

 Hence, I advocate that English should not be a Singaporean mother tongue. English became too important to be considered as a 'second class' language and under no circumstances, should people regard English merely as a Singaporean mother tongue, for doing so will bring a myriad of implications in the near future. 

Reader's Response [draft 1]

Can English be Singaporean mother tongue? 

  According to Luke, there is the ongoing argument whether English should be regarded as the mother tongue or the first language. He mentions that it would take a long time for the world to recognise Singapore as an English-speaking country because of the skin colour. However, he also shed the light gives the observation that increasing number of Singaporeans are regarding English as their first language, or they do speak English at home.

 I personally feel that English should not be regarded just merely as Singaporean mother tongue. Because it has been regarded as the first language which made our education, politics, and economics prosper more than it would have been without the aid of English, we should continue to regard English as our first language. 

Luke Lu is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Language, Discourse and Communication, King’s College London
Lu, L. (2013, July 15). Today Online. Retrieved from Today Online: http://www.todayonline.com/commentary/can-english-be-singaporean-mother-tongue?singlepage=true

An event that has shaped your life and the person you have become

 "Why was I so careless?" I shouted to myself, as I was hitting the wall with my fist.

 It was during the mission trip camp last year. The youth ministry in our church has decided to go to Thailand for the annual mission trip. Everyone was busy with his or her respective task given, and I was, as a musician, made sure that the worship session would run smoothly and sounds of each instrument would be well blended. Everything went well during the camp itself, but little did I know that one of the most shameful moment was waiting for me.

 On the last day of the trip, I was even more busy than others as I had to pack my own things as well as the equipment we brought from Singapore.

 "Okay, done!" I thought, as I was about to finish packing my belongings before leaving the room and rushing to the venue everyone was supposed to meet at. We put the equipment and our bags into the bus and got into the bus. Things seemed to have run smoothly then.

 As I was closing my eyes to take a nap, our leader shouted in front of us to announce the lost items (as he was checking once again every room).

 "I got found this T-shirt in room XXX! Whose is this?"

 The moment I saw that familiar blue shirt with the stain at the familiar position, I immediately noticed that it belonged to me.

 "Oh, sorry! It is mine." I squeaked timidly, as I walked up to take it. By then, everyone started to giggle and laugh at me. Embarrassed, I snatched my shirt from leader's hand. However, to make things worse, my underwear which was untidily folded inside the T-shirt dropped.

"Oh, man! What is that?" shouted some of my friends, as they gave me a silly look and some of the girls covered their eyes when they had already seen it. My face turned into a tomato and I just wanted to faint. Unfortunately, I did not. Instead, I picked up that cursed underwear and camp back to my seat, pretending that nothing embarrassing happened.

 This was one of the most shameful experience that I had in my life. Since then, I have cultivated the habit of checking my belongings thoroughly so that I will not lose my things (and prevent them from being found by others)

Summary Writing Exercise_BBC Article

Wakefield (2010) argues that there is an increasing the digital divide between countries, which is becoming a global issue. According to ITU (International Telecommunication Union) analyst Gray, the scale of this divide reflects the economic condition of a country. Thus, many developing countries are trying to improve the problem with the implementation of wi-fi villages and e-learning programmes. The Internet is able to reach the minority communities and improve their standard of living. However, concerns were raised over the capability of citizens to use these resources.