Understanding Functional Text: Spoof

Objectives

Understanding the meaning of short functional text and monologue form of spoof in the context of daily life

Learn about it!

You have already learned about some kinds of text such as narrative text and recount text. In this lesson, you will learn about how to understand a short functional text of spoof text form.

SPOOF TEXT

Spoof text is a text that tells about a short story which cannot be predicted in the end, but it has funny ending. Spoof text commonly contains funny wordplay which has sense of humor. People use this kind of text to make a joke. So, if you want to make a spoof text, you need to have a humorous style.

Social Function of Spoof Text

Spoof text aims to entertain or humor the readers with a twisting or unpredictable ending. It focuses on humor story than taking a lesson. It is made for entertaining and the funny thing will be found at the end of the story.

Generic Structure of Spoof Text:

Even though the story is short, but it has some generic structures which should be noticed as follows:

1. Orientation
   As in narrative and recount text, spoof text has also orientation which introduces the characters of the story, a place where it happens, and when it happens.
2. Events
   This part tells about the sequences or chronological events of the story. Several events are arranged in chronological way in order that the reader can read it well.
3. Twist
   This is the last part. It is an unpredictable plot which is put in the end of the story to amuse the reader. The readers cannot predict the plot, so the writer put the twist in the end of the story. The story cannot be called as a poof text if there is not a twist. Thus, it can be concluded that twist is the most important thing in making a spoof story.

Language Feature of Spoof Text

In writing a spoof text, you should also pay attention to its language feature.

1. Focusing on participant like as animals, people, or certain things
2. Using action verb (came, decided, got, etc.)
3. Using past tense to tell the past events.
4. Using of adverbial phrases of time and place such as one day, in the hospital, in the store, etc.
5. Telling about the sequences of events in the correct order.
6. Using of direct speech or indirect speech for the conversations.

Do you understand?

Example of Spoof Text:

After reading the story above, some of you may think hard to understand the twist. You need a sense of humor to understand the story to catch the humor in the twist.

Keypoints

To sum up the lesson above, spoof text is:
• A story which has unpredictable and funny ending.
• Aims to amuse the readers through the story.
• Has three parts in generic structures; orientation, events, and twist.
• Uses past tense because it tells about past event.
• Has the important thing in the story to make punch line which is called as twist. It is put in the end of the story.

Instructing Others Formally and Informally

Objectives

Comprehend the way to give instruction to other people formally and informally by understanding the meaning of the conversation.

Learn about it!

In this lesson you are going to learn about instructing others formally and informally. First, we will take a look at several dialogues in which instructions are used in our daily conversation.

Situation 1

Teacher : .... That’s how you give instruction to others in English. Any question?

Student A : Can I say that in a formal situation, Maam?

Teacher : Yes, you can. It is also applicable in a formal situation, but it is better to add the word ‘please’ to make it more polite. Are there other questions?

Students : (no response)

Teacher : Alright, then. Now, please open your book and do exercise 3 in 20 minutes.

The dialogue above is a conversation between a teacher and a student. In the conversation above, the teacher instructs the students to do the exercise from the book. The underlined sentence indicates the instruction given by the teacher for the students.

Situation 2

Moderator : Ladies and gentlemen, the seminar is about to begin. For those who are still outside, please return to the seminar room immediately.

From what the moderator said in the text above, we can conclude that the situation is formal. The sentence indicates that the moderator instructs the participants of the seminar to return to the seminar room by saying “….please return to the seminar room immediately”. The use of the word ‘please’ here indicates that the situation is formal.

Situation 3

Father : Dio, clean your room. It’s quite messy.

Dio : Later, dad. I’ll do it after this show.

Father : Do it RIGHT NOW. Do you hear me?

Dio : Yes, dad. Alright, I’ll do it now.

Father : Good.

In the dialogue, Dio is asked by his father to clean his room. His father instructs him by saying, ‘Dio, clean your room.’ The conversation between father and son above happens in an informal situation.

Based on the examples above, we can see that the instruction is always in imperative. You have already learnt about imperative in the previous lesson. To refresh your memory, imperative can be used to give instruction to others. In imperative, the verb is always in its base form (simple present verb).

In informal situation, it is okay to instruct others directly using the imperative. However, in formal situation several expressions below can be used in order to make the instruction more polite.

• Please ....
• Could you please ....
• Would you ... please
• Would you please ....
• Can you ....

Pay attention to another example below.

Situation 4

Teacher: Aldo, would you clean the board, please?

Aldo : Sure, Sir.

Teacher: Thank you.

In the dialogue above, the teacher instructs the student formally by saying “would you clean the board, please?” The phrase, “would you … please?’ is also used in order to make the instruction less direct.

Situation 5

You watch a television show. It is a cooking show. The chef tells you how to make a breakfast menu.

Chef: Okay, now I’m going to tell you two easy-steps to make a healthy breakfast. You only need a pack of cereal and a bottle of milk. Now, let’s get started. First, put the cereal into a bowl. Then, pour milk into the bowl. That’s it. Your cereal milk is ready! See? It is simple and easy to make.

In the example above, the chef gives the viewer instruction how to make breakfast. As there are several steps, the chef uses the word ‘first’, and ‘then’ to make a sequence. The chef does not add the word ‘please’ or the phrase ‘could you ….’because in a TV show you do not usually use formal language. So, the chef instructs the viewer informally using imperative.

Keypoints

• The key in deciding which expression suits the occassion is by looking at the degree of formality.
• Formal occassions are for example: seminars, conferences, class sessions.
• Informal occassions are for example: talks between friends, some of television show, study group discussion

Lets Practice!

Learning about Imperatives

Objectives

Comprehend the meaning, the function, and the use of imperative in giving instruction and able to use it in daily contextual way.

Learn about it!

Have you ever read the text in the back of instant noodle package, the one that tells you how to cook the noodle? Do you remember what it says?

Pay attention to the sentence structure. The sentences do not have any subject as it starts with a verb. This is called imperative.
In this lesson, we are going to learn about imperative. However, before you start the lesson, here are few things that you have to do:

• Relax
• Keep reading
• Enjoy the lesson

The three statements above (number 1, 2, and 3) are also considered as imperative.
Then, what is imperative? The term imperative is used to describe the verb that is usually used for giving orders or instructions, for example:

• Leave me alone!
• Clean your bedroom.
• Keep it away from children.

The verb leave, clean, and keep in the above sentences are in imperative form. The verbs are in the simple present form or it is called as base form.

When do we use imperative?

Situation 1
You are in the classroom, the teacher is checking the students’ work while all of the students are talking to each other. The class is really noisy. What will the teacher say? In most cases, here is what the teacher will say:

• Be quiet, please!

Situation 2
You just buy a new gadget, but you do not know how to use it. The new gadget that you buy, it usually comes with an instruction book to help you. The sentences in an instruction guide are usually used imperative to tell people how to use the object. For example:

• Push the power button to turn on/off your mp3.
• Use the ‘play’ button to play the song.

Positive and NegativeImperative

The explanation above is about using positive imperative. Now, if there is the positive form of imperative, is there any negative form of it? The answer is yes. Pay attention to the situation below.
You are in a park or in a garden. Most of the time, you will find grass. Usually, there is a sign that prohibits you stepping on the grass. Can you tell what is usually written on that sign? The statement below is what you will usually find in a place like that.

• Do not step on the grass

Other examples of negative imperative:
- Do not go outside
- Do not smoke in this room
- Do not use

Imperative in polite and casual way

When you want to give order to someone or tell them to do something, imperative can be used as a direct order. For instance:

• Stop writing
• Wait here
• Take a seat

However, giving an order like that is not always a good way to tell someone to do something, especially when you are talking to someone who is older than you or someone that you do not know. Therefore, in order to make the statement more polite, you can add the word ‘please’ in the beginning or the end of the statement. Example:

• Please stop writing
• Please wait here
• Take a seat,

Keypoints

Imperative is usually used in the following situation:

1. When you want to tell someone what to do
2. When you want to give instruction to other people

The Pattern:
* Positive imperative always use base verb (present simple verb).
* Negative imperative always use DO NOT / DON’T+ base verb.

The Expression of Satisfaction in a Discussion

Objectives

At the end of the lesson you are expected to be able to identify the expression of satisfaction in a discussion.

Learn about it!

When you go shopping with your friends, do they ask for your opinion about which to buy? Is your friend satisfied with your opinion?

When you give an idea or opinion over something to other people, they will probably react by accepting or just ignoring it. When your opinion is accepted, it means that they are satisfied with the idea you give and agree to do so. Take a look at the following example.

The dialog above is a discussion between you and your friend over what gift she should give to her mother. Pay attention to the expression used in the dialog; you gave some opinion by saying,

I reckon you should buy her a new watch. Currently it will be more useful to your mother than a dress.

Since you gave a good reason, you friend accepted you opinion. She was agreeing with you to give her mother a watch, and she was satisfied with your idea.

That is right. I can’t think of anything better.

The sentence expresses satisfaction. Your friend was satisfied enough that she decided to get a new watch as a gift to her mother.

After all, when people talk about something, they tend to throw their own ideas or opinion to each other. Sometimes they argue over an issue and end up feeling satisfied with their interlocutors’ opinion. There are some expressions to use to show satisfaction, especially in a discussion.

Do you understand?

To ease your understanding, here is provided another situation that contains the expression of satisfaction. Make notes and count how many expressions there are.

A basketball tournament is coming, and you are one of the main players to join. But right before the tournament begins, you wreck your knees. You come to your basketball team captain and the coach to discuss this matter.

You : I got an injury on my knees, and the doctor said that I cannot play for the time being to recover.

Captain: Oh my God. And the tournament is just getting nearer. What should we do?

You : I am sorry, this is also unexpected for me.

Coach : It is okay. I will see what I can do about it.

Captain: Should we change our formation?

Coach : No need. I think we just need someone to replace your position.

Captain: If so, I will propose Bintang as the replacement. He has the body and I am happy enough with his skills.

Coach : Well, he is good enough for me too. So, everything is fine, isn’t it? We still have Bintang, so you do not need to worry about the tournament, just recover as soon as possible and come back to the team.

You : I am very pleased with the decision. Thank you very much.

How many expressions you can identify from the conversation? Yes, there are three of them.

• The first expression is showed by the captain: I am happy enough with his skills.
• The second one is expressed by the coach: Well, he is good enough for me. So, everything is fine, isn’t it?
• The last expression is coming from you: I am very pleased with the decision.

Keypoints

When you receive something you wanted or when the other people give you opinion and you agree and accept that, you will have a pleasant feeling and be willing to do what it is said; it is kind of satisfaction. There are many expressions to use to show how satisfied you are, and all of them have some positive feeling of pleasant.

Advice and Recommendation

Objective
Through this section, you will learn:

• How to give advice and recommendation

Learn about it!

What does your parent usually do when you are going to try something new? Well, they usually give you an advice, right? What is advice? What is it for? How to give an advice wisely? Don’t worry. We’ll learn those things in this section!

Read the following situation.

Nina is going to have an English debate competition tomorrow morning. In your opinion, what will her mother say the night before?

Mom: Nina, have you had all your stuff prepared for tomorrow?
Nina: I have. Everything I need is in the bag.
Mom: Okay, that’s good. What time are you going to go tomorrow?
Nina: Around 6 a.m.
Mom: Well, you’d better go to bed now.

From the conversation, we can find that Nina’s mother is checking Nina’s preparation for the competition by asking, “Nina, have you had all your stuff prepared for tomorrow?”Moreover, we also know that Nina’s mother gives Nina an advice. She gave an advice to Nina to go to bed by saying, “Well, you’d better go to bed now.”

Now, think about this: why does Nina’s mother advice her to go to bed soon?

Now, read the following situation.

Nina will go to watch movie with her friends this afternoon. In your opinion, what will her father say before Nina going to the Cinema? Well, let’s find out what Nina’s father will say through the following conversation.

Father: With whom are you going to watch the movie?
Nina: With Marissa, Minka, and Rangga.
Father: What will you do after watching the movie then?
Nina: I think we’ll just grab some food and go home, Dad.
Father: Okay, it sounds good. But, remember, you’d better not go home late at
night.
Nina: Sure. You can keep my word.

From the conversation, we know that Nina’s father asks Nina two questions. The first one is about with whom Nina will watch the movie. The second one is what Nina will do after watching the movie.

Besides that, Nina’s father is giving an advice. Can you find the advice? Well, the advice is about not to go home late at night. The advice can be seen in the following statement, “But, remember, you’d better not go home late at night.”

Now, think about this: why does Nina’s father advice her not to go home late at night?

From the conversation one and two, we can find two different advices.

• First advice: ask Nina to go to bed soon. Why does Nina’s mother ask her to go to bed soon? From the situation, we can infer that Nina’s mother gave advice to her daughter to go to bed soon because Nina should go early in the morning. So, she should go to bed soon. Therefore, she will be fresh and punctual.
• Second advice: ask Nina to not come home late at night. Why does Nina’s father ask her not to come home late at night? Well, because it is dangerous to come home late at night. It is for her safety.

So, from the conversations what can you say about giving advice?

From the two different situations, we can infer that giving advice is one of the ways to prevent bad things to happen.

When you give an advice, sometimes people you gave the advice will ask recommendation for further action, for example:

Nina: If I were you, I would not go to that restaurant?
Marissa: So, what do you recommend?
Nina: I recommend going to Rumah Teduh cafe.

From the conversation, we can infer that Marissa asks Nina’s recommendation on a good restaurant. So, Nina suggests Rumah Teduh cafe by saying, “I recommend going to Rumah Teduh cafe.”

To give recommendation, you can say the following expressions.

• I recommend that you....
• I suggest that you....
• I recommend....

Do you understand?

Now, try to practice it in the following activity. Read the conversation below. The conversation is not complete yet. Complete the conversation by filling the blanks with the expressions given below.

Minka: Rangga, what will you use for the Prom Night?
Rangga: I don’t know. I think I will use my grey shirt.
Minka: What? .... ^1. Ever!
Rangga: Why?
Minka: ....^2.
Rangga: So, what should I wear for the Prom?
Minka: .... ^3.
Rangga: Never. It’s even worse than the grey one.

A. It’s so out- dated.
B. I think you should never use that shirt again forever.
C. I suggest that you wear the red one

Keypoints

From this lesson, you have learnt how to give advice and recommendation. You know that giving advice and recommendation is a mean to prevent bad things to happen. To give an advice, we can simply say you'd better or you'd better not.

How to Make Appointments Formally

Objectives

Responding to meanings in formal and informal transactional (to get things done) and interpersonal (socializing) simple and accurate using oral text fluently and accurately in daily life context involving expressions of: making appointments formally.
Learning Objective(s)
• Identifying the expressions to make formal appointments fluently
• Arranging formal appointments accurately

Have you ever made any appointments? People usually make an appointment before they see somebody. For example, a doctor, a consultant, a lecturer, or any people who work in public service. With friends, you might call them directly and speak casually. But, when you call your teachers or offices to make an appointment, you might need to speak formally.
Why do we have to make an appointment?

Making an appointment is a common courtesy. It means that it’s a polite behavior. We want to make sure that people that we want to meat will be available on the certain time. We cannot just come to someone’s house without making appointment beforehand, unless the host is fine with that.
There are several phases in making an appointment (if you or the people you want to meet are not available). You might want to change the time, day, or place. You might as well need to cancel it when you can make it.

Making an appointment

• I’d like to make an appointment with …
• I want to make an appointment to (see) …
• I’d like to make an appointment to (see) …
• I was wondering if (you) could come and see (me) some time …
• Would you like to come and see me?”
• Would you be available on …?

Accepting an appointment

No problem. I’m free on …”
Yes, Thursday is fine."
Friday suits me."
Tuesday would be perfect."
I’ll wait you there.”
I’ll be there on time”
I’m available on …
I would be available to discuss…. on … at …
Setting a time/day
What day did you have in mind?
Would Friday suit you?
What sort of time would suit you?
Is 8 a.m. a good time for you?
If possible, I'd like to meet in the morning.
How does 2 p.m. sound to you?
Cancelling an appointment
I’m sorry. I’m very busy.
Sorry, I don’t think I can make it.
I’m so sorry I can’t make it.
I’m terribly sorry (that) I have to put off my appointment.
I’m afraid I have to postpone my appointment with …

Changing an appointment

What about … (Sunday at 03: 00 p.m.)?
Is that O.K. if we meet at (9 tomorrow morning)?
Do you have another time (this afternoon)?
Could we change the day (time) of the meeting?
Would you mind if we change the day (time) of the meeting?

*Suggesting a different date## *

I'm afraid I can't on the 23rd. What about the 26th?
I'm sorry. I won't be able to make it on Sunday. Could we meet on Saturday instead?
Ah, Thursday is going to be a little difficult. I'd much prefer Friday, if that's alright with you.
I really don't think I can on the 11th. Can we meet up on the 12th?

Do you understand?

Read the following dialogue.

Keypoints

So, basically making an appointment is like a negotiation. Sometimes you get a deal, sometimes you don’t. The above phrases are examples so you can figure out what to say in making a formal appointment.

How to Make Appointments Informally

Objectives

• Knowing how to make appointments informally by using the right expressions to make and respond to appointments.

Learn about it!

Read the following illustration:
It has been a long time since the last time you meet with your high school best friends. You miss them and you want to meet them. So, you make a plan to meet them. However, unlike when you were in high school, each of you has different schedules now. It is a bit difficult to meet because you are busy and your friends are busy as well. In this case, you have to ensure that you and your friends are available to meet on a certain day at a certain time.

So, what do you have to do to ensure that? You have to make appointment with your friends. How do you make appointments with your friends or with other people in English? In this lesson you will find out about it. This lesson will tell you about how to make appointments informally (in an informal situation, usually with your friends, family, or with someone close to you)

In the dialogue above, Zara and Hannah make an appointment to meet up. They plan to meet on Saturday at 5 p.m. Now, read the dialogue one more time and find out how they make their appointment.

Hannah asks Zara to meet up this weekend. She says “Let’s meet up this weekend.” Then, she asks Zara if she is available this weekend by saying “Are you available on Saturday or Sunday?” These are some of the expressions that you can use when you want to make appointment with someone informally. So, how does Zara respond to the question? She says “Yeah, sure. I’m free this weekend. What day should we go?” This is a way to respond to an appointment.

In the dialogue above, you will also find these expressions:

1. .… how about Saturday noon at 5?
2. .… Should we meet at the usual place?
3. Sounds good for me….
4. That’s a great idea
5. Perfect!

The first and the second expressions are another way to make an appointment. The expressions number three to five are the examples of how you respond to an appointment. More expressions can be found in the following table.

Keypoints

• Making appointment is a skill that you need to arrange a meeting with other people.
• In informal settings, you can use casual expressions.
• In reponding to invitation to meet up, you can agree or decline.