So our lesson
has come to an end, and it is time for us to reflect on our overall course on
CALL. First of all, it is obvious that we have learned a lot from this course
and we personally think that a well taught course would definitely make a
student to leave the classroom with more than just new information in their hands. Some of the
things we learned, we already know the basics, such different types of
communication using technology, online journals available, and such. However,
we never really acknowledged the terms that we have learned in this class as
well as the definitions. Hence, we’re going to form our very own CALL glossary
to wrap up some of the terms that we have learned in this course.
Blog: blog is another word for weblog. It is a website that is like a
diary or a journal. Bloggers (used to describe people who write on blogs) often
write on their opinions and thoughts.
CALL: Computer-Assisted Language Learning, referring to teaching and
learning computer tools that assist in language learning.
CMC: Computer-Mediated Communication is any communicative transaction that occurs
through the use of two or more networked computers.
Concordances: a kind of search engine designed for
language study.
Corpus Linguistics: the study of language as expressed in
samples (corpora) or “real world” text.
E-Portfolio: technology based portfolio.
Islamization
of Knowledge: Integrating Islamic
perspective between the subjects inter disciplinary curriculum.
Reflection: integral to the complex process of learning and
acquiring knowledge, enabling self-awareness, personal, and professional
growth.
Apart from terms and definitions that we have learned,
the most valuable knowledge gained from this class is how we were exposed to
the advantages of technology in the use of language learning. The Internet is
not all about social networking, entertainment, news, and an open window to plagiarism.
When used in the right manner and with the correct moral and work ethics in mind,
technology can be used as a powerful tool as a teaching aid in language
learning. For example, students of linguistics major can do error analysis on a
corpus text instead of the conventional method of correcting the errors found
in written essays of second language learners, for example. We learned not only as a student on how to use
computer as a teaching material, but we were also exposed to it as a teacher on
the part of building the lesson plans for specific language skills. Although this
is a minor section of teaching language, it is a beneficial exposure that
hopefully can be put into good use in the future if we are given the chance to be
in the teaching field.
Last but not least, the concept of the e-portfolio
(posting assignments on the blog) itself is a new method that has been added to our learning experience and this is one of the interesting aspect of the
class as it made the learning environment conducive and fun. We are not only
able to explore the technological side of setting up an e-portfolio, but we are
able to shine the little bit of creativity in us on designing and arranging the
blog. Most importantly, it exposed us to the creative writing since it did not
only confined us to writing academic papers, but we were also able to write in
our own style of writing when it came to Islamization of Knowledge and
reflecting on our previous tasks.
This was yet a fun and interactive course, have both theoretical
and practical lessons well balanced and have definitely been an informative
subject that would benefit us not only during our remaining duration of
studies, but also in the working setting, InshaAllah.
In
the third task, we learn on the subject of online corpora furthermore after
having completed our second task on analyzing CMC corpus. Corpora is a large collection
of writings of a specific kind or on a specific subject and consist a
collection of a raw language data that are received through many mediums such
as books, journals, periodicals and such.
It
has come to our attention that previously, corpora was hand written (imagine
the millions of words!!) but now the world of technology has brought upon
online corpora and has made the process of research a lot simpler. Since our
focus was on the types of online corpora, we discovered that there are a number
of online corpora available to assist in the process of language study. The
corpora are used as a guide, to learn new ways and to simplify life to the
maximum. Not only does it isbeneficial for anon-native teacher teaching the
language, it is also grammatical-wise where the teacher can use it as a way to
compare thedifferent ways of
using various verbs.
Furthermore,we as students are able to utilize
the program in performing any independentrevision
without the need to have the teachers present. This is one of the aspects of CALL that we have covered earlier
in class where it enables student to study independently. One of the most
beneficial aspects we found on corpora is that it can be used to look at how the words are used in
authentic settings, which can open other aspects that may influence the
authentic language such as socio-cultural practice.
Interestingly, not only
the corpora can collect large writings, it can also collect Qur’anic writings
as such as The Qur’anic Arabic corpus that we stumbled upon while completing
the task. Students can easily find anything they need to know about the Quran
or Arabic as there are corpora specifically on them. CALL has opened us to
great opportunities and teaches not only to prepare students for the working
experience and a working life, but can also guide students to the right path of
the Hereafter. Everything that is to be studied in any subject can be Islamized
thus helps us to be a better Muslim.
Computer-Mediated Communication
(CMC) is defined as
any communicative transaction that occurs through the use of two or more
networked computers. Itis an interesting way of
communication as it has two forms to communicate; the first one is by
synchronous where the communication is happening in real time, meaning it is an
instantaneous communication, for instance real time chatting and video conference.
The second one is by asynchronous where the communication occurs in non-real
time, such as the communications that occur in E-mail and bulletin board.
Through the second task, we not
only learn the definition and the types of CMC, but we also discover how
technology has evolved the methods of communication that we have so many
varieties of it. We find that CMC is interesting in a way that it is
somewhat like a verbal communication that is in written form. In areas or
situations where written communication can be misinterpreted due to the
lack of tone, CMC enables the use of emoticons (emotion icons) to express
emotions. Other gestures of written expression can be in the use of
punctuation, the use of capital or bold letters to express anger or to
emphasize a point, and many others according to out own creativity as well. In
the world of CMC, we also discovered that we people tend to commit the
grammatical crime to signify an informal communication, such as
over exaggeration expressed through incorrect spelling of words,
for example, by extra vowels and consonants such as ‘Noo!’ and
‘hunnggryy’.
What most of the class chose to do
was to study and describe the linguistic analysis of the corpus they collected
from a chosen CMC, as what we have mentioned before. As for us, we chose to
perform intertextual analysis which is more interpretative rather
than descriptive on our corpus, which were a set of comments collected from a
video posted on YouTube.
Looking back at the task we
completed, though the major part was on the study
of linguistic aspect of CMC, we personally learned beyond the types
of CMC and how language is used in the technological world. The video
we analyzed on was an Islamic video, concise, logical, and rather precise in
our view. Of course, this is open for discussion as we have discovered through
the comments we analyzed. Since we focused on interpreting the comments, it was
interesting to be able to get a picture of how people of different areas of the
world think about one subject and how they link it to other issues and
rationalize their discussion. Some seemed intellectual, tried to reason their
points with evidence from the Holy Qur'an or the Bible, some were just plain
emotional and spoke without any logical basis. And then we can see from the use
of language of how some may have gotten their message misread by being
grammatically incorrect, which effects the semantics of their explanation. All
these are linked to one another. The words, the thoughts, and the issue at hand
all compliment one another to form a thread of arguments and discussion that is
still on-going to this day. This has opened our eyes to see that as long as the
video stays, the conversation will never end. Somewhere out there there will be
someone who will stumble upon the video and would either share it to others,
leave a comment and join the discussion, or just simply be one of the million
of viewers. Either ways, it is a never ending discussion.
In short, what we are trying to
reflect is that, we find that asynchronous CMC allows it to be continuous depending on
the situation. For example, if the creator of the video decides to take
down the video then that would be the end of the discussion in the comments
thread. But otherwise, it remains in the world wide web and could be on going,
depending on its' popularity. And the technology of CMC has enabled for
everyone and anyone to be able to give out their opinions as they wish.
Intellectual argument is no longer confined within the realm of a spoken
seminar or a formal debate. Now everyone is able to form a discussion, be it
formal or informal, intellectual or not, and have it spread to the entire world
to be read. Those who have the will to explore and learn will get the
privileges, as what we have discovered through our study of one YouTube video.
In the modern
society, the synchronous way of communication has always been in favour as globalized
social network users are used to being interactive at anytime and anywhere. The
empirical study has proven that the purpose of YouTube serves more than just to
entertain or to pour creativity as marketing strategies. The videos uploaded by
individuals that come from all parts of the world do not only provide free
knowledge and information for the viewers but also give them a way to openly
discuss on the issue of the videos posted. The corpus chosen from YouTube, Why
I Hate Religion, but I Love Jesus (Muslim Version), has over a million
comments from the viewers. The context of this video is in response to the
prior video created and posted by a modern Christian, Why I Hate Religion,
but I Love Jesus. This has called the viewers to eagerly discuss and form
an open debate by leaving comments of their understanding of the videos posted.
II.Purpose of Study
The primary aim
of this study is to fully grasp the ides of the Computer Mediated Communication
(CMC) use in the linguistic perspective through the YouTube corpus chosen. The
study was conducted to particularly scrutinize the concept of Christianity that
has been brought up in the response to the video Why I Hate Religion, but I Love
Jesus (Muslim Version) by using the method of contextual analysis. Most study on textual analysis focuses on the linguistic analysis, such as vocabulary, grammar, semantics, and etc. Linguistic analysis is descriptive in nature. Thus, since this study is on the intertextual analysis, which is on the context basis, it is therefore interpretative and analyzed through the understanding of the concept that will be explained further.
III.Description of Corpus
The video
chosen was taken from the ‘Religion’ segment, which has gained 1,109,200
viewers and contained 39, 410 comments (and counting) by the 8th of
April 2012. The video are of the spoken response in the form of creative poem,
concise and direct, that points out the false reasoning by the creator of the
first video regarding his thoughts on Jesus and religion. What this study has
analyzed here is the context of the most responded issue of the video, which is
the concept of Christianity, both from an Islamic and Christian view.
IV.Framework & Background of Contextual Analysis.
“All
language is intertextual: it is shaped by prior texts, oriented to conventions
and interpreted against the background of a very large corpus linguistic
experience” (Stubbs, 1996)
Contextual analysis
is simply an analysis of a text and its meaning that combine features of the
systematic study of social, political, economic, philosophical, religious, and
aesthetic conditions that were assumed to have been in place at the time and
place when the text is created. In other words, “situating” the text within the
realm of its time and assessing the roles of author, readers, and the
respondents in the reception of the text (Behrendt, 2008). In addition, according
the concept of discourse analysis by Fairclough and Wodak, discourse and social
is always related and compliments one another at all time (2003).
V.Findings & Analysis
The most
frequent discussion underlined by the viewers are the relevance of the concept
of Trinity. The Christians believe that God has manifested himself into three
beings: Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. A viewer of the username ‘jayf4ever’
wrote “god is one but Jesus wasn’t God”. Through this context, the following ‘Corpus
1’ is the diminutive chain of the responds.
CORPUS
1
1+1+1=1
God+Jesus+Holy
spirit are one
stop
thinking with your cold mind,starting warming your heart!God is so mighty, but
yet u cant believe He can have a Son.Just like U can be a Father wirh a Son.
I bet u
cant even Give me 2 reasons why U cant eat Swine.U say Jesus said do something
and I actuely do! But I say Jesus said after me dont believe in any prophets
who comes after me Its like the last one there is a rot egg, U were last
mate.when u read the bible finish it to the end dont talk crap
jesus
probably never existed jews dont call him divine and you christians are the
worst you are more violent than the muslims even though in the last 12 years
you can say muslims are the most violent and if jesus is so divine why did he
do stupid miracles that even a magician can do to trick people why couldnt he
show the different planets you christians blind there is a lost gospel where
jesus get angry at peter for calling him god christianity is fraud
My 4
year old brother even knows 1+1+1 is not 1. I'll give you 2 reasons why you
can't eat swine. Moses forbade swine and in gospel of matthew, jesus said he
didn't come to abolish the law of moses but accomplish it. Contradiction?2)
Swine eat poop and garbage while lamb, goat and cows eat healthy clean veggies. Docors
have come out discouraging eating of pork. Its a devlish thing to change the
laws of god to fit your life style. We should live the way god told us to live
because he knows best.
Another matter brought up is the concept of sin. Christians believe that
Jesus was crucified to save mankind from their sins. Jesus is then depicted as
a savior and Christians are obliged t reverence him. The entailed corpus chosen
is as follow:
CORPUS 2
Yo your
point about the the cross is really stupid. The cross is so we don't
forget the lords sacrifice he made for us. we remember how he gave his life on
the cross for us and our sins.
You said
you refuse to worship Jesus as an idol just like he wants it and proclaimed it
as a sin (exodus 20:4). If he proclaimed it as a sin in Exodus he must be part
of god as that was gods word before Jesus was even born. So you are actually
right in your statement as Jesus is a party of God.
his
point is the best i have heard. Christianity has so many lies in it to
brainwash people. they have a double standard saying not to worship idols yet
you see people have pictures of jesus, celebrities and everything else
worshiping them. if jesus dies on the cross for our sins we would automatically
go to heaven becuase our sins are forgiven.. He came to speak the word of God
not for us to worship him but to
worship God.
You're
response is hilarious. You guys pray to the direction of a black rock, make a
pilgrimage there, go in circles around it, kiss it, touch it. If this isn't a
form of idolatry i don't know what
is.
We don't
worship a rock. Its not even a requirement to kiss it. People want to kiss it
because it is a stone from heaven. Who wouldn't want to kiss
the only thing that fell from heaven and has been touched by holy prophets such
as Muhammad (pbuh) and Adam and Eve???
From the context of the first corpus (Figure 1) which talks on the crucifixion
of Jesus, Figure 2 are comments linked to questioning on Muslim’s pilgrimage
rituals. This thread displays how language is intertextual and how from one
topic, the context can develop to a whole new topic.
Another significant point and example that displays intertextuality and
how discourse is related to social issues, that has been brought up in the
empirical study analyzed, is that YouTube viewers tend to relate political
issues to their comments, blaming it on organizations or nations on the problem
centralized, even though there isn’t much relevance or important. Figure 3
displays the example of relating politics to the current issue at hand.
CORPUS 3
Hey
Muslim your people blew up the twin towers. So why do we want to believe you.
God says in the Bible that to kill somebody for no reason is a sin. You did
that in the twin towers. Islam is full of lies. You have never read the Bible
and you refuse to read the Bible. So you can't quote the Bible. I am Anti
Muslim. I don't like Muslims. Your people need to leave AMERICA. This is a
Christian nation. So get out and good luck trying to mess with ISREAL. THEY
WILL KICK YALLS REARS. SO LEAVE AMERICA
It's
funny.. Christianity is all about loving OTHERS.. and you're setting the
opposite example. Please Look in the Mirror Real Good before calling
yourself a Real Christian. Actions speak Louder than Words. And anyone who
liked your ignorant comment is just as much of a fool as you are.
@MegaChicken201, My bro in Christ... You need more
prayer that the maker of this film
God says
in the bible "Love your neighbor as yourself" and "Do good to
those who hate you" and "For God so loved the WORLD (which includes
the Islamic people) that he gave his..." and finally if God loves the
world and also commands us to be Christ-like, don't you think we should learn
to love, before we condemn? Have you even read the Bible?
A text does not have a fixed interpretation, but is interpreted
differently in different historical periods, and in different cultural contexts
(Stubbs, 1996). Even though contextual analysis is seemingly a scholarly
applied linguistic concept, it is relevant to state that human beings
inevitably apply it in their everyday-conversation be it through spoken or
written media. The concept brought by contextual analysis has been manipulated by
YouTube to apply to its’ viewers that after a particular video is watched and
analyzed, they are able to discuss and respond by leaving their comments in the
comment box.
References:
Fairclough, N. (2003).Analysing discourse: textual analysis for social research. London: Routledge.
Stubbs, M. (1996).Text and corpus analysis: computer-assisted studies of
language and culture. Oxford, OX, UK: Blackwell Publishers.
Wodak, R. (2001).Methods of critical discourse analysis. London: SAGE.
Introduction In the modern
technological world, the role of the Internet has enabled new forms of
association, interaction, and debate, in the change of both economies of
knowledge and the possibilities and conditions of collective action. One that
has the attention of scholars of the Middle East is the use of Internet as a
vehicle for religious and political mobilization, which as reshaped the
sociology of Islamic knowledge.This
empirical study written by Charles Hirschkind focuses on how the Islamic videos
posted on the sites like Youtube give shape to certain styles of online Islamic
devotional practice. One of the features that identifies and unites the variety
of video clips is ascribed by their viewers and the quality of beingmu’aththir, which have multiple
meanings such as, as mentioned by Hirschkin, ideas as effective, affecting,
moving, emotional, impassionate, stirring, exciting, and etc. (2012). The type
of emotional discourse is examined in this study through the appending written
comments to specific videos.
Sample
The sample used for
this study is based on a popular video of a sermon segment that was posted on
Youtube where examples are taken from. The video is a
sermon segment by the Egyptian preacher Muhammad Hassan titled “A Beautiful,
Tearful, Fear-Inspiring Segment from the Honourable Shaykh Muhammad Hassan”. Other
videos were taken to draw comparison to the primary video are 1) “A very, very,
very moving segment – What Do You Cry For?”, 2) ‘Abd al-Hamid Kishk’s sermon
titled “Yawm al-Qiyama”, 3) “Generosity to Parents: A Very Moving Segment”, and
4) “The Tape that Made the Scientists Cry”.
Methodology This study derives its findings by
examining the videos under a number of criteria as its methodology. First, it
examines the video in terms of visualization and audio quality. This is to
evaluate the videos in terms of its quality and how it affects the viewers’
comments. Then the comments are looked into and compared to one another. There are
also a number of interviews that were carried out among the Internet khutba
consumers in Egypt.
Findings & Analysis
The relevant findings made on this
study based on the said criteria explores on how the Internet is being
fashioned by some of the Muslims users into a unique devotional space. One of
the prominent characteristics that have been examined is the significance of a
language of religious affect. It has been found that the Muslim users are
highly moved by the highlighted messages of the sermons rather than focusing on
the visual and audio quality of it. This data is obtained from the observation
of the total views and the number of comments provided by the users. Though there
are some users who adopt a more politically tone, most of the comments reflect
polite interaction that one finds in the mosque, and not just constituted
through the practice of du’a.
As for the findings from the
interview carried out, the study finds that visual and audio elaborations of
the video clips actually inhibits or undermine the quality as it distracts
attention from the emotional fascination. It is said that “fuzziness,
instability, and simplicity” what draws to the aesthetic value of the clip,
followed by the attitudes of modesty, humility, and regret embodied in the
vocal performance.
Conclusion In conclusion, the study has
discovered that the Internet is not merely used a tool of storing and
retrieving useful information but it also serves as a tool for pleasure of the
unexpected and opening up to possibility, discovery and adventure. The style of
internet usage that has been highlighted is seen as a practice of examining
with the ethical sensitivity of devotional attitude. As of the present time,
this study shows that the form and practice of a crafted and shared devotional
space takes owes to the range of different people of different religious
orientations. This practice is seen as both a liability and an asset; an asset
as it redefines one’s relationship over a short clip and a liability as it
opens up a distinct world of experience and action to specific sensibilities
and discriminations.
“If the English language made any sense, lackadaisical would have something to do with a shortage of flowers.”
Doug Larson...
We are determined to make language learning fun, as what we are taught in our Computer Application in Language Studies class. So here is to fun in language learning, or at least what we make of it. ;-)
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