Critical Reflection

Writing essays has always been a difficult task for me. Not to mention that it had been a long time since I last wrote an academic essay. The latest one I wrote before taking this module was during the QET test that the result reminded me of my poor essay writing skills.

Throughout this module, I have been taught various essay writing techniques ranging from academic vocabulary to the proper construction of sentences that are gramatically correct. Besides, I have learnt the correct way of referencing to acknowledge the source of information used in my essays. All this knowledge became useful when I was writing the essay on globalization.

However, I faced difficulties while writing the essay as I am bad at expressing my thoughts. I think further reading on newspaper and journals is needed to improve on grammar and vocabulary and hence, I shlould show more initiative for this. Furthermore, writing different kinds of essays is also important to improve my standard of English.

In conclusion, learning English is a long-term process. I will have to recap on the lessons that were taught during this course and put in more effort in order to master English in the future.

Globalization (Final)

It is not difficult to notice that some headlines in newspapers nowadays are related to globalization issues. By definition, globalization is a process whereby an increased portion of economic or other activity is carried out across national borders. It is definitely not a newly discovered phenomenon as people have been trading across the world throughout the course of human history. However it has sped up greatly over the last half-century. No doubt, the world has became more interconnected and the production of goods and services has increased due to globalization. However,it is evident that globalization has lead to a widening gap between the affluent and poor thus resulting in inequality. The strong nations becoming richer and the weak nations becoming poorer as they have less competitive advantages. Therefore, to tackle inequality, education policies which focus on equity have to be employed in order to reduce income inequity (Eun Chung, 2012). Besides, it is important to also ensure that  global economic growth is inclusive and benefits to greatest number of people.

First of all, the unequal distribution of resources such as education results in inequality as people who have access to it are able to reap more benefits. When well established companies want to expand their businesses, they tend to hire well-educated people who have more knowledge and higher skills. Therefore, people from countries with an under-developed education system are at  the disadvantage and they can only work in poor labor conditions with low wages. Every child should have the chance to go to school but there are more than 57 million children around the world who are not able to go to primary school (UK Gov, 2013). Therefore well developed countries can provide education aid to help to build schools in poor countries while the poor countries' governments should put more emphasis on education and try to obtain as many investments and resources as possible to improve the education standards. With the opportunity of receiving a better quality of education, the children there then has a higher chance of achieving higher academic outcomes and eventually securing good jobs. However, there are still large proportions of children in Africa and South Asia unable to receive any formal education (UK Gov, 2013). The implication for education is strong so more effort has to be put in to make sure students worldwide are given the best education possible which in turn increases the earning abilities of the next generation and hopefully reduces income inequity across the world eventually.

Next, another way to tackle global inequity is to encourage an inclusive economic growth so that benefits can be distributed equally and fairly. Right now some government and international organizations have been helping nations at the base of the economic pyramid but usually with little progression. Many people think of the poor as being the responsibility of the state and mere recipients of aid. However, people from poor countries can be creative entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers who contribute to prosperity by doing their share too so they should be included in the growing world economy. There are an increasing number of companies who realize the potential of this market and have been producing and marketing goods to the poor while offering them opportunities to be producers, distributors and retailers (Akpofure, 2012). Those companies who do business with farmers actually give them complete business solutions which include products, financing and knowledge so that their business can be successful and at the same time have gave precious experience to the poor. The ‘inclusive business’ model can be a great competitive advantage for the companies too as shown by the steady rise of developing countries across the world such as Brazil, India and China. More companies have to realize this benefit in order to develop an inclusive growth of economics.

In conclusion, globalization creates inequality between developed countries and developing countries. One researcher (Tanaka, 2012) showed that developed countries like the U.S. and Japan are much richer than some developing countries such as Ethiopia, Haiti and Nepal. Therefore, it is important for developed countries to do something to reduce the inequality. They can provide aid to developing countries on development of a better education system as well as invest more into those countries to establish global inclusive growth. Nations across the world needs to cooperate with each other more to correct inequality so that everyone receive benefits, especially those in need. 



References:

1. Eun Chung Ji (2012), OECD educationtoday: How can education help tackle rising income inequality. Version 25 April 2012. http://oecdeducationtoday.blogspot.sg/2012/04/how-can-education-help-tackle-rising.html (Accessed on 14 Mar 2014)
2. UK Gov (2013), Making sure children in developing countries get a good education, UK. Version 11 October 2013. https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/making-sure-children-in-developing-countries-get-a-good-education (Accessed on 01 March 2014)
3. Akpofure I. (2012), International Development News- Business for the poor is not poor business. Version 24 September 2012. https://www.devex.com/news/business-for-the-poor-is-not-poor-business-79229 (Accessed on 27 Feb 2014)
4. Tanaka M. (2012), Globalization and Inequality, Japan Sociology. Version 03 July 2012. http://japansociology.com/2012/07/03/globalization-and-inequality-3/ (Accessed on 14 Mar 2014)

Globalization (Draft)

It is not difficult to notice that most headlines on newspapers nowadays are somehow related to globalization issues. By definition, globalization is a process whereby an increased portion of economic or other activity is carried out across national borders. It is definitely not a newly discovered phenomenon as people have been trading across the world throughout the course of human history but it has sped up greatly over the last half-century. No doubt, the world has became more interconnected and production of goods and services has increased due to globalization. However,it is evident that globalization has lead to a widening gap between the affluent and poor thus resulting in inequality. The strong nations get richer and the weak nations get poorer as they have less competitive advantages. Therefore, to tackle inequality, education policies which focus on equity has to be employed in order to reduce income inequity. Besides, we have to also ensure that the global economic growth is inclusive and benefits greatest number of people.

First of all, unequal distribution of resources such as education results in inequality as people who have access to it are able to reap more benefits. During expansion of market, when big companies find employees, they tend to hire well-educated people who have more knowledge and higher skills. Therefore, people from countries with under-developed education system are at disadvantage and they can only work in poorer labor conditions with low wages. There are more than 57 million children around the world who do not go to primary school (UK Gov, 2013). Every child should have the chance to go to school so well developed countries can provide education aid to help to build schools in poor countries while the local government should put more emphasis on education and try to get as many investments and resources as possible to improve the education standards so that children there could receive quality education, achieve higher academic outcomes and eventually secure good jobs. However, there are still large proportions of children in Africa and South Asia not making it into the classroom (UK Gov, 2013). The implication for education is strong so more efforts have to be put in to make sure students worldwide are given the best education possible which in turn increase the earning abilities of next generation and hopefully to reduce income inequity across the world eventually.

Next, another way to tackle global inequity is to encourage an inclusive economic growth so that benefits can be distributed equally and fairly. Right now some government and international organizations have been helping nations at the base of the economic pyramid but usually with little progression. Many people think of the poor as responsibility of the states and mere recipients of aids. However, people from poor countries can be creative entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers who contribute to prosperity by doing their share too so they should be included in the growing world economy. There are increased number of companies who realized the potential of this market and have been producing and marketing goods to the poor while offering them opportunities to be producers, distributors and retailers (Akpofure, 2012). Those companies who do business with farmers actually give them complete business solution which includes products, financing and knowledge so that their business can be successful and at the same time have given precious experience to the poor. The ‘inclusive business’ model can be a great competitive advantage for the companies too as we can see the steady rise of developing countries across the world such as Brazil, India and China. More companies have to realize this benefit in order to develop an inclusive growth of economics.

In conclusion, globalization creates inequality between developed countries and developing countries. One researcher showed that developed countries like the U.S. and Japan are one hundred times as rich as developing countries such as Ethiopia, Haiti and Nepal. Therefore, it is important for developed countries to do something to reduce the inequality. They can provide aids to developing countries in developing a better education system as well as invest more on those countries to establish a global inclusive growth. The world needs to cooperate with each other more to correct inequality so that everyone gets benefits of it, especially those in need. 



References:

1. UK Gov (2013), Making sure children in developing countries get a good education, UK. Version 11 October 2013.           https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/making-sure-children-in-developing-countries-get-a-good-education (Accessed on 01 March 2014)
2. Akpofure I. (2012), International Development News- Business for the poor is not poor business. Version 24 September 2012. https://www.devex.com/news/business-for-the-poor-is-not-poor-business-79229 (Accessed on 27 Feb 2014)

Reader Response Final

This was a news article written by Max de Lotbiniere in July 2009. The article reported the decision of the Malaysian government to abandon the policy of teaching Mathematics and Science in English (PPSMI). It was first implemented by Malaysia’s prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2003 with the intention to produce a new generation of global communicators. However, this policy will now be phased out from 2012 because ‘it has not achieved the desired objectives’, was mentioned by Muhyiddin Yassin, the Education Minister in a press conference.

The main reasons which led to this decision was that Muhyiddin believed students were performing less well in Mathematics and Science in national exams after implementing the policy and that some politicians and linguists, especially ethnic Malay believes that PPSMI policy undermines their Malay culture. 

I do not agree with the government's decision to drop the PPSMI policy as it will hurt graduates competing for jobs against people from other countries like Singapore and decrease the competitiveness of the country in the global market due to the poor English skills. English is the international language in the technology, medicine and the sciences fields. The poor standard of English among Malaysian workers has been a longstanding complaint by most investors including Intel. Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsuddin Bardan once told the Malaysia Chronicle that poor command of the language among fresh graduates was one of the top grouses of employers. He thinks that PPSMI was scrapped too soon and it would take at least 15 years to justify if a policy was a success (Malaysia Chronicle, 2003).

Furthermore, universities use English as a medium of instruction in courses related to science and technology. Following the abandonment of PPSMI policy, will the Malaysian government still be able to prepare students to cope with the higher level of competence needed for tertiary education when English is just a subject in the school curriculum? Therefore, there was a rally called Parents for PPSMI (P4P) held whereby a crowd of parents asked for the PPSMI policy to be retained and to seek an overall review of education for the beneficial of their children.

In conclusion, I do think that the PPSMI policy needs to be retained to take the education system in Malaysia to the next phase of development. Only then will Malaysia be one step closer to becoming a fully developed nation.

"PPSMI Scrapped Too Soon? Dr M’s appeal for English proficiency gets support." 

Malaysia Chronicle. Malaysia Chronicla, 14 Nov. 2003. Web. 14 Nov. 2003.

<http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=187121:ppsmi-scrapped-too-soon?-dr-m%E2%80%99s-appeal-for-english-proficiency-gets-support&Itemid=2#ixzz2tJsch5Qn >

Reader Response Draft 1

This was a news article written by Max de Lotbiniere on July 2009. The article reported the decision of the Malaysian government to abandon the policy of teaching Mathematics and Science in English (PPSMI). It was first implemented by Malaysia’s prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2003 with the intention to produce a new generation of global communicators. However, this policy will now be phased out from 2012 because ‘it has not achieved the desired objectives’, mentioned by Muhyiddin Yassin, the Education Minister.

The main reasons which led to this decision were that Muhyiddin believed students were performing less well in Mathematics and Science in national exams after implementing the policy and that some politicians and linguists, especially ethic Malay believed PPSMI policy undermines their Malay culture.

I do not agree with the government decision to drop PPSMI policy as it will hurt graduates competing for jobs against people from other countries like Singapore and decrease the competitiveness of the country in global market due to the poor English skills. English is the international language in the technology, medicine and the sciences fields. The poor standard of English among Malaysian workers has been a longstanding complaint by most investors including Intel. Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsuddin Bardan once said poor command of the language among fresh graduates is one of the top grouses of employers. He thinks that PPSMI was scrapped too soon and it would take at least 15 years to justify if a policy was a success. ^[1]

Furthermore, universities use English as a medium of instruction in courses related to science and technology. Following the abandonment of PPSMI policy, will government still be able to prepare students to cope with the higher level of competence needed for tertiary education when English is just a subject in the school curriculum? A rally called Parents for PPSMI (P4P) was held whereby a crowd of parents asks for PPSMI policy to be retained and to seek an overall review of education for the benefits of their children. In my opinion, PPSMI policy needs to be retained to bring the education system in Malaysia to the next phase of development.

[1]Full article:

http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=187121:ppsmi-scrapped-too-soon?-dr-m%E2%80%99s-appeal-for-english-proficiency-gets-support&Itemid=2#ixzz2shs3PUbX

Reflective Writing

As we all know, English is the universal language and it is the primary language used in Singapore. However, English is not my first language, hence I always encounter difficulty in communicating with other people. I cannot express myself well because my vocabulary is very poor. For example, I cannot explain my thoughts well to my peers and always causes misunderstanding as I direct translate it from Chinese and I cannot pronounce some words properly. Sometimes my friends laugh at my pronunciation and I feel very embarrassed.

English writing is very important in university education. In my course of study which is life science, I am required to write laboratory reports to discuss a certain theory or to provide explanation on experimental results. I do not know how to explain my results in a more professional manner so I did get feedbacks from my peers that my report was not professional enough in the sense that my vocabulary used is very limited and it did not reach the standard. On the other hand, my English speaking skill is still considered good. People understand what I want to present and deliver because I am not shy to speak and I think this is how I improve in speaking English. I am poor at vocabulary and grammar because I do not like reading. I seldom read English language newspapers, magazines or novels.

I think the biggest problem of me is that I tend to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. In my opinion, I need to take note of my mistakes and always remind myself not to repeat them. Besides, I think I need to start reading newspapers or novels that I am interested in in order to build up a reading habit.