Short Instructions and Procedures

Objectives

Basic Competence: Understanding and responding the meanings as well as the rhetorical steps in a text using accurate, fluent and acceptable expressions in social and academic contexts in form of: short instruction and procedures.

Learn about it!

You will learn about the kinds of texts, specifically short instruction and procedures, and how to comprehend the meaning through reading.

Short Instructions

Short instructions is the type of functional texts containing sets of orders, directions, or instructions; something that has to be or not to be done.A short instruction can be a prohibition, invitation, short message, shopping list, notice, announcement, et cetera. Here, we are going to focus on discussing about short instructions.

According to its definition, an instruction is something that someone tells you to do; it contains some advice and information about how to do or use something. Often, short and clear instructions are more preferable in order to make the person who is given the instructions understand it clearly.

You may often encounter short instructions in your daily life. For instance, your teacher may give short instructions in class such as “should you have any questions, raise your hand”, or your parents say “tidy up your room” at home. But, have you ever heard about ‘Scavenger Hunt’?

A scavenger hunt is an outside game in which the participants will get a list of instructions—sometimes in riddles, and usually to collect or to find some items, often specific and unusual items.

The participants can be either individuals or teams, and the ones who finish and collect all the instructions given will get a prize. Look at the set of instructions below to complete your scavenger hunt!

Short Instructions

As you have studied earlier, a procedure text explains how to do, how to make, or how to use something. The diversity of ideas being presented in the texts ranges from simple procedures such as ‘how to make pancakes’ to complex procedures such as ‘how to defuse a bomb’. The aim of this text is to inform the readers on how to do or how to make something. The order is commonly divided into several steps.
The structure of a procedure text

·         There is a clear aim about what to make or to produce, it is usually stated in the title of the text;

·         There is a list of required ingredients, tools, or material needed to have the aim accomplished;

·         The steps are presented in an orderly clear explanation.

The language features of a procedure text

·         The present tense is used

·         Action verbs are used to make the clear idea of the necessary steps

·         Adverbs are often used in to make the steps clearer, such as “slowly”, “gently”, etc.

*Connectives are also used to make the sequence understood better.
Look at an example of a procedure text below.

Keypoints

So, we can conclude that a procedure text can be a set of instructions or directions to show steps or stages. The procedure begins with an aim or goal then followed be materials needed, and the steps of how to do such activity.

Understanding songs (theme: Movie Soundtrack)

Objectives

Understand the message that is conveyed through the song

Learn about it!

People say that music is a universal language.

No matter where you come from or what your native language is, music is something that we can always relate to with people from all over the world. It is also a good and fun way to learn a language. This time you are going to learn English from the movie soundtrack.

Movie Soundtrack or Original Soundtrack (OST)

Movie and soundtrack are inseparable. When we watch a movie, music, and songs are always there. Usually, a movie will have its own music and songs called soundtrack to accompany and synchronize with the story.

Up to this point, some of you may be asking “How can listen to songs help us to improve our English?” The following explanation might help you to answer the question.

Emotional Experience make your learning enjoyable.

The songs can evoke our emotions and make us enjoy the story more. Sometimes, you feel that a certain song is made for you because it describes what happens to your life or it reflects your feeling and emotion. This is because most of the songs are written based on real experience.

Many people could have the same experience and that is why we can relate to a certain song. When you can relate the learning material with your experience or the things that you like, you will enjoy it more; and your brain will work way better when you enjoy the learning process.

Try to listen to this song and feel it. See what kind of emotion that is expressed through the song and how does it make you feel?

Do you know what soundtrack is it?

Get Acquainted with English Pronunciation.

Listening to English songs will help you to be familiar with English words and tone. You can learn how native English speakers say the word, so you will not have any difficulties when listening to people speaking in English. Also, try to sing along when you listen to a song. Listen carefully to what the singer says and try to say the words the same way. Without realizing it, you learn how to pronounce English words correctly.

Learn New Vocabularies and Everyday Language.

Have you ever had a song that always plays over and over again in your mind even without you realizing it? Songs often contain repetitive words and phrases. This will simply make them get stuck in your head. It is really an effective way to memorize new English vocabulary and phrases. Since English songs are intended for English native speakers, many English songs also contain up-to-date everyday language. There are a lot of useful words and expressions that you can use for daily conversation.

The Lyric Helps You Understand English.

Understanding the lyrics will help you to understand the message in that song. If you already watched the movie, maybe it will be easier for you to understand the meaning of the song. If you have not watched the movie, you could still get the gist of what the movie is about through the song.

When you find English songs that you like, try to catch what the singer says. If it is difficult, you can look for the lyrics on the internet. If you do not understand the words, open your dictionary. You can also learn language patterns or grammar from the lyrics. When you understand the grammar of the language pattern, it will help you to have a better understanding of the lyric. In that way, not only can you enjoy the music, you can also sing wholeheartedly because you understand the meaning.

Try it!

Here is the lyric of the song above.

Song title: A Thousand Years
By: Christina Perri

Heart beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave?
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?
But watching you stand alone,
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow.

One step closer

[Chorus:]
I have died every day waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more 

Keypoints

There are many benefits from learning English through songs, such as:

1. Emotional Experience Make Your Learning Enjoyable
2. Get Acquainted with English Pronunciation
3. Learn New Vocabularies and Everyday Language
4. The Lyric Helps You Understand English

Evaluation

SOAL 1

This song is for question 1 and question 2

Listen to the song and fill the blanks.

It's been a ... without you, my friend
And I'll ... you all about it when I see you again
We've come a ... from where we began
Oh, I'll ... you all about it when I see you again
When I see you again

A. long way, tell, long way, tell
B. long wail, sell, long day, tell
C. long may, tell, long day, sell
D long day, tell, long way, tell
E. long day, tell, long wail, tell

---

 PETUNJUK

The last blank is ‘tell’

---

 PEMBAHASAN

It's been a long day without you, my friend
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
We've come a long way from where we began
Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
When I see you again. D

 

SOAL 2

This song is for question 1 and question 2

When listening to the song, you feel....

 PILIHAN TUNGGAL

A. nostalgic
B. excited
C. angry
D. thrilled
E. horrified

---

 PETUNJUK

Feel the music. Pay attention to the lyrics. How does it make you feel?

---

 PEMBAHASAN

The music makes you feel sad and happy at the same time. The lyric is about friends that have not met for a long time and want to tell stories when they meet again. It evokes nostalgic feeling that makes you feel happy but also a bit sad remembering the things that happened in the past. A

 

SOAL 3

Listen to the song and answer the question.

When listening to the song, you feel….

 PILIHAN TUNGGAL

A. excited
B. sad
C. romantic
D. angry
E. nostalgic

---

 PETUNJUK

Listen to the beat! Enjoy the music.

---

 PEMBAHASAN

The music makes you feel happy and excited at the same time. It makes you want to clap along and jump around.A

SOAL 4

Listen to the song and answer the question.

The singer mentioned the word ‘happiness’ … time(s)

A. one
B. two
C. three
D. four
E. five

---

 PETUNJUK

Be careful, the singer mentioned the word ‘happy’ and ‘happiness’ in the song.

---

 PEMBAHASAN

It might seem crazy what I'm about to say
Sunshine she's here, you can take a break
I'm a hot air balloon that could go to space
With the air, like I don't care baby by the way

Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do B

 

 

Explanation Text about Natural Phenomena

Objectives

Basic Competence: Responding to the meanings and rhetorical ways in an essay by using an accurate, fluent, and acceptable writing style in daily social contexts in forms of: narrative, spoof, and hortatory exposition.

Learn about it!

You will learn more about the explanation text, especially the ones related with natural phenomena in this lesson. Moreover, you will learn to comprehend the messages conveyed in the text.

EXPLANATION TEXT ABOUT NATURAL PHENOMENA

     As you have probably learned earlier, an explanation text is a kind of text that aims to describe how something happens or why it is made. An explanation text actually is almost the same as procedure text; but there are essential differences between those two. For starters, the purpose of those kinds of text: the explanation text tends to explain, while the procedure text is intended to show the way of how to make something.

Moreover, an explanation text provides you the information about some issues that are interesting or important for people to know about. In general, the aim of an explanation text is to explain how something forms or why that happens; it explains the sequence, cause, or theoretical understanding of a phenomenon or an event. Thus, the text will cover the answer of "how" or "why" relating to the topic being discussed. An explanation text is organized with the generic structure of a general statement and a sequence of explanations, alongside the closing.
There are diverse topics that an explanation text can cover. Usually, it covers the topics related to science, phenomena, and also social, for instance about why certain social phenomena happen, how to conduct an experiment, or how natural phenomena occur.

Here are some common elaborations in an explanation text:

• Sequential explanation: This describes the stages of an event such as the sequence from cocoon to butterfly.
• Causal explanation: This describes what causes the change from one stage to the next such as why earthquakes occur.
• Theoretical explanation: This describes the possible phenomena behind a natural or created process.

Keypoints

As shown above, an explanation text, particularly the ones that explain natural phenomena, is the kind of text that tells the reader about the reasons and the process of something natural happening. The generic structure is the same as other kinds of explanation text, which are general statements, sequenced explanation, and also closing.

How to Write News Texts

Objectives

• Learners are able to comprehend the information given on the text.
• Learners are able to understand the aim of the news items.
• Learners are able to make news item text.

Learn about it!

What is a news item text?

News item is a text which informs readers/listeners about particular important events of the day.

What is the purpose of news item text?

To inform the readers/listeners about current and important issues.

How to make news item text?

The following are needed to be known if you want to make news item text.

1. Generic Structure.

• Main Event(s) / Newsworthy Event(s): Recounts the event(s) in summary form.
• Elaboration / Background Events: Elaborating what happened, to whom, in what conditions/circumstances.
• Source: Comments by witnesses to/participants or authorities experts in the event(s).

2. Linguistic Features.

• Focusing on current circumstances.
• Generally using material processes/action vocabularies to retell the event(s). Example: go, move, strike, open, etc.

To enhance your knowledge, pay attention to the following news item below.

Car Accident at Setiabudhi Street Bandung

Four people were killed and 5 people got injured in a collision between a minibus and a sedan at 2.30 A.M at Setiabudhi Street near UPI campus. The people killed in the accident were all passengers in the sedan and all the people who got injured were the passengers in the minibus. The accident happened due to human error. The sedan’s driver did not give a sign when he wants to turn left, at the same time a minibus coming from behind struck the sedan. A collision could not be avoided. The driver of the minibus said that he did not see any sign from the sedan so he did not know that the sedan would turn left.

Based on the information gotten from the police, it was clear that the fault was with the sedan. It should have given signs if the sedan wanted to change its direction.

The text entitled Car Accident at Setiabudhi Street Bandung belongs to news item because this text fulfill the three generic structures of news items. The following is the explanation:

Keypoints

A news item text is a factual text to inform readers of daily events.
The structure of a news item text consists of three parts:

1. Newsworthy events: Recounts the events in summary form.
2. Background events: Elaborates of what happened, to whom, and in what circumstances.
3. Source: Comments by participants. It can be a witness or an expert.

The language feature of a news item text focuses on the circumstances. So there is no exact use of tenses in this text.
You may read a lot of passive form sentences and reported speech in a news item text.

PASSIVE VOICE

Objectives

• Identifying passive voice found in the texts
• Converting active sentences into passive
• Writing passive sentences

Learn about it!

Passive voice is used in the sentence when the focus is on the action, not the subject. The action is the essence of the sentence. In this lesson, you will practice to recognize sentences in the reading texts. During the reading, you have to identify passive voice. It contains actions that are stated.

Form of passive sentence

S + BE + PAST PARTICIPLE (V3)

There are some important concepts we have to be aware of, when writing passive sentences. Here are the notes:

• The object of an active sentence is the subject of the corresponding passive sentence. In contrast, the subject of an active sentence becomes the object of a passive sentence. Learn the following illustration:

• The tense of passive sentences are noticed by the use of ‘be’ form.

Do you understand?

Look at in the first paragraph, which sentence is using passive voice?

a.        I woke up late

2. I ran into the bathroom
3. I found a bottle of mineral water
4. It was used to wash my face
5. I took my uniform

Hint: What happened to the mineral water?
Explanation: Passive voice uses be form which is followed by past participle. Answer D is the only sentence that has be form (was) and past participle (used #V3). Moreover, the word it in answer D refers to a bottle of mineral water.

What is the first passive sentence that you could find in the second paragraph?

a.        When I arrived at the school

2. The gate was closed
3. The flag ceremony was on progress
4. I forgot it was Monday
5. I entered the school through the back door

Hint: Which sentence has both ‘be’ form and past participle?
Explanation: Answers B, C, and D has be form (was) but only answer D which is followed by past participle (closed #V3)

What is the next passive sentence you could find in the second paragraph?

a.        One of my teachers saw me

2. I was caught by Mr. Herman in the parking lot
3. He gave me a punishment
4. I had to sing our national anthem “Indonesia Raya”
5. I promised to myself

Hint: What is the V3 of catch?
Explanation: Answer B is the only one which has be form. The word catch (V1) is an irregular verb; its past participle (V3) is caught.

Keypoints

• Remember that the focus of active and passive sentences differs.
• Active sentences focuses on the do-er, or the person taking the actions.
• Passive sentences focuses on the objects experienced by the do-er.