Nouns

 

Hello, students...

This time we are going to learn about nouns in English. Nouns are used as subject, object, and adverb, therefor, learning its types, its forming, and how to use it is necessary.

Noun atau kata benda digunakan dalam bahasa Inggris untuk subjek, objek, dan keterangan. Karena selalu muncul dalam kalimat maka penggunaan kata benda perlu dipelajari dan dipraktikkan.

Jenis-jenis Kata Benda (Noun)

Proper Noun vs Common Noun

Proper Noun	Common Noun
Mark	Hand
New York	Microphone
Jakarta	Elaboration
Pizza Hut	Validity
Surabaya	Economy
Mount Bromo	Darkness
Taiwan	Experience

Proper noun merupakan nama-nama orang, tempat, benda, atau gagasan yang spesifik.

Kata benda ini merujuk pada nama seseorang, sebuah tempat, atau suatu benda. Proper noun dapat terdiri dari satu atau dua kata dan kita harus selalu memulai menuliskannya dengan huruf kapital. Biasanya kata benda ini antara lain digunakan untuk nama institusi, organisasi, hari, bulan, bangsa, agama, dan tempat. Contoh: Celine Dion, Pizza Hut, Ragunan, Disneyland, Mount Bromo, etc.

Di lain pihak, Common noun merupakan nama-nama orang, tempat, benda, atau gagasan secara umum. Common noun merupakan nama dari sekelompok nomina yang sejenis atau mirip.

Karena common noun tidak menamai apa pun secara spesifik, maka penulisannya tidak dengan huruf kapital, kecuali berada di awal kalimat.

Contoh: Singer, tower, restaurant, theme park, zoo, mountain, etc.

 

Countable vs Uncountable

Countable		Uncountable
Shoe	Child	Milk	Powder
Spoon	Curtain	Water	Gas
Kettle	Handkerchief	Oil	Petrol
Plate	Pan	Sand	Juice
Cow	Tissue	Flour	Tea
Mountain	Box	Rice	Coffee
Shark	Leaf	Wheat	Snow

Nouns can be countable or uncountable. Countable nouns can be counted, e.g. an apple, two apples, three apples, etc. Uncountable nouns cannot be counted, e.g. air, rice, water, etc. When you learn a new noun, you should check if it is countable or uncountable and note how it is used in a sentence.

For positive sentences we can use a/an for singular nouns or some for plurals.

There's a man at the door.
I have some friends in New York.

For negatives we can use a/an for singular nouns or any for plurals.

I don't have a dog.
There aren't any seats.

 

Singular – Plural

Most singular nouns form plural by adding –s.

Examples:

Singular	Plural
Fork	Forks
Spoon	Spoons
Chair	Chairs
Car	Cars
Label	Labels
Window	Windows

 

A singular noun ending in s, x, z, ch, sh makes the plural by adding –es.

Singular	Plural
Glass	Glasses
Box	Boxes
Pitch	Pitches
Bus	Buses
Fox	Foxes
Wish	Wishes

 

A singular noun ending in a consonant and then y makes the plural by dropping y and adding –ies.

Singular	Plural
City	Cities
Daisy	Daisies
Penny	Pennies
Baby	Babies
Fairy	Fairies

 

Concrete Noun vs Abstract Noun

Concrete nouns dan abstract nouns adalah kelas noun yang luas berdasarkan keberadaan fisik: Concrete nouns adalah benda bentuk fisik yang dapat dilihat, disentuh, didengar. Sedangkan abstract nouns adalah non physical ideas atau yang tidak bisa kita lihat wujudnya, tidak bisa kita rasakan bentuknya, dan tidak dapat kita cium atau pegang dengan panca indera kita. Misalnya, kamu dapat menyentuh muscle (otot), yang menjadikannya masuk dalam kategori concrete noun, tetapi kamu tidak dapat menyentuh strenght (kekuatan), yang menjadikannya masuk dalam kategori abstract noun.

 

Compound Noun

Some nouns consist of more than one word. These are compound nouns. Compound nouns can be formed in different ways. The most common way is to put two nouns together (noun + noun); other common types are adjective + noun and verb + noun.

noun + noun

car park Iceland shopkeeper website

adjective + noun

blackberry grandstand greenhouse small talk

verb + noun

breakwater fall-guy go-kart runway

 

Contoh Penggunaan:

Let me sleep in peace

My mother is a doctor

Honesty is the best policy

There are five cats in front of my garage

 

Now get a note and a pencil/pen. Kita latihan soal di sini atau bisa di Telegram Bot.

A.          Change the nouns into plural form

1.    A policeman arrests a thief.

2.    There is a book on the shelf.

3.    A lady talks to an old woman.

4.    Is there a mouse in that house?

5.    A student goes to University or college after completing his senior high school.

 

B.           Put the word in brackets in plural form.

1.    Those (lady) told my (child) some funny (story)

2.    There are several (deer) and (sheep) at the zoo.

3.    That man has two (wife) and four (child)

4.    All (glass) were broken into pieces by (thief).

5.    These (watch) belong to those (gentlemen)

 

C.           Read the text then underline the noun you have found on the text.

Yesterday, community in my neighborhood came together to clean the river near the area we live. We worked as a team to make sure the river was clean before the rainy season arrived. We wanted to prevent any floods or other problems that could happen when it rained.

Everyone brought brooms, rakes, and gloves that were used to clean the river. We picked up the trash and removed anything blocking the river. We also cleaned the drainage. The trash assembled in drainages and blocked water flow. It needed hard work, but we were happy to do so because we knew we doing something important for our community.

By cleaning the river, we made sure the water flowed smoothly and didn’t overflow during heavy rains. This help keep our houses and streets safe from flooding. It also kept the river clean and healthy for the plans and animals living there.

We are proud of our team work and the effort we put in to keep our community safe and clean. When we worked together, we can make a big difference. We hope that we can create a healthy and clean neighborhood for 

Monologue, Drama, and Story Telling: What's The Difference?

Monologue is a kind of drama which is done by a person/character, not more than that. The performer, or the character in this case, talks to the invisible second person. Monologue has no dialogue. The extended speech is called monologue.
Example of monologue:
Moritz: I see humans everywhere, why can't I see humanity? Why can I not see humanity? The poor, oh, we are. Who's gonna feed us? The angel has gone back to heaven, oh, yes, she has. There are churches, mosques, and temples, but, why are we here?

On the other hand, drama can be performed more than one characters. We have protagonist as the good character and antagonist as the bad character. The problem is called conflict which sometimes has resolution. Drama is a general term for on stage art, that is performed on stage. Monologue is part of drama.
Example of Drama:
Antony: Have the Rome, let me have Egypt...then we shall live in peace.
Pompey: I have no peace in my memory.
Antony: Then you may have it now.
Pompey: (Raising the sword toward Antony) You have been teased for a long time that you forget how to be a man.

The last thing to discuss is Story Telling. It is a kind of entertainment on stage, but it is not drama. We do not dramatize it. The purpose is to tell a story to the audience/listener. To make the story interesting, a story teller uses gesture, mimics, hands clap, sounds imitation, eye movement, eyebrow movement, tones, accent, various voices, and so on. They sometimes wear supporting costume, but it is just to support the story telling, not the main focus of it.
Example of Story Telling:
The chicken walked through the crowd. Pawk, pawk, pawk...(sound of chicken). "Mother Hen," the fox asked, "Where are you going?" Mother Hen stopped and said, "I got a letter from God, and the letter is very important. I must take it to the palace and give it to the king."
Below are the examples of Drama, performed by Teater Koma, Story Telling by Jan Blake, and Monologue by the talented girl, Maddie Howard.

Manuals Pictures

These pictures can help learners in telling manuals/tips:

Let Alone My Addiction

What would you do if you heard this:
"I'm addicted to you."
I can't hide this feeling;
I'm addicted to your smile,
your warmth, your power;
I'm addicted to you;
I want to see you continuously;
I feel like I can't live without you;

Then I'll find my self all alone wondering;
Do you feel the same?
'Cause when I'm all alone, what in my mind is you.

I remember talking with you romantically;
Did you notice that?
You asked me to come to you,
but I didn't do it.
I realize my limit.

This morning in front of the notebook and chattering lecturer I decided to
be addicted to you more and more.

Malang, 2 September 2015

Narrative Inquiry Versus Content Analysis: A Comparative Review of Qualitative Researches

When the reviewer first heard about narrative inquiry she thought that it is impossible to have it as research method in the way that it is too subjective and mostly are inconclusive, until then the lecturer teaching Qualitative Research Methodology talked about humanism, and since then the reviewer changed her mind. Yes, narrative can be an inquiry and here is a comparative review on a dissertation using the inquiry and a thesis using content analysis. The one with narrative inquiry is entitled Inventing Teacher-Writers written by Christine Dawson, a doctorate candidate in Michigan State University, while the other one is Gender Bias in An English Textbook for Junior High School Students written by Noni Mia Rahmawati, a graduate student of Malang State University. Rahmawati’s thesis is chosen in this review for it is qualitative research and the reviewer knows her quite well.

This review is written not only to fulfill the final project of the lecture of Qualitative Research Methodology, but also to broaden the reviewer’s view in advance, with the fact that research methodology development used in the country where the reviewer lives is somewhat has much further left behind. This review is just the beginning.

The approach used by Dawson in Inventing Teacher-Writer is both Ethnography and Narrative Inquiry, where she uses ethnography to gather the talk and the texts from the thirteen months of writing group meetings using fieldnotes, audiotape and transcription, shared texts gathering, annotation and coding, and memos, and she uses narrative inquiry in both the analysis and the report.

On the other hand, Rahmawati uses content analysis to verify the hypothesis whether there is a gender bias in the textbook or not. She takes the data in the form of language items and images.         

Narrative Inquiry vs Content analysis

First, let’s discuss the similarities between the two researches. The similarities are about the subjects criteria, data collection, instrument, validation, and whether the procedures are clear to follow or replicate and whether the methodological information good or bad. Next, let’s discuss the differences that touch the chaptering/heading/sub-heading and the way the researchers narrate the research and quote theories.

Dawson does not mention any criteria in selecting the subjects, however, it is very clear that she got them by offering to the students who were about to graduate from college. She told them that she wants to have a writing group and continue writing with them, and that she wants to be a member, not an instructor anymore. This kind of getting subjects for narrative inquiry is beneficial in the way that the participants responding to Dawson’s invitation are the ones she knows well. Jenna, Chloe, Karen, and Nell were her students who then work as teacher in different schools and different states. In narrative Inquiry, researchers should try to create a sense of mutual trust between themselves and participants (Moriarty, 2011: 24).

In contrary, Rahmawati mentions her subjects selection explicitly, that she got them by simply taking the language items and images from English textbook of grade 7. She also mentions about two criteria in dividing the items and images. Each subject has their own criteria. She used theoretical background to strengthen the criteria.

Dawson collects the data using using fieldnotes, audiotape and transcription, shared texts gathering, annotation and coding, and memos from the writing group where the participants wrote their experience in their first year of teaching, unlike Rahmawati who does it simply by taking the language items and images from the chosen book. This also works for the instrument, that Dawson uses the tools mentioned above while Rahmawati uses two sets of criteria.

These two researches have both been validated. The narrative one has been validated by the participants request to continue the writing group, the instruments Dawson used in getting the data, and also the checking through calling and audiotaping. In narrative inquiry, researcher uses exemplar validation (see Pinnegar and Hamilton, 2011). The content analysis has been validated through the use of both data collection and instruments which based on previous theories.

Both the researches are replicable, however, the content analysis is easier to replicate. Although they are easy to replicate, Rehn reminds readers that they would fail to reproduce exact research for it is not reproducible (2010, 197). The clear procedure makes them easy to replicate but readers should be aware that they do not use the same inequalities found in the researches (Moriarty, 2011: 24).

Information on methodology in the researches are good. Dawson mentions in detail how she started the writing group, getting the data, collecting them, and validated them in narrative inquiry point of view. She also repeats her explanation in more detailed way in the appendix B. Dawson also follows the rule in narrative inquiry that is hiding the identity of her research subjects for their safety and comfort, although it becomes dillema in the inquiry, for it is against the law of online use and the demand for ethical issues (see also Moriarty, 2011: 25). Dawson also uses table to share their writing and make it based on dates and genre. Rahmawati also mentions her methodology in detail, starts when she selected the textbook, level, and sets of criteria until the data analysis, although in Indonesia, literary studies are still misjudged.

In her dissertation, Dawson uses implicit chaptering, heading, and sub-heading. Readers would find difficulty in getting the point to problem statements, methodology, or subjects criteria. Readers need to read the whole dissertation and while reading they should take notes. Dawson simply wrote her research report in a narrative way. She divides it in seven chapters with headings and sub-headings following narrative style. For example, chapter 1: Inventing Teacher-Writers, where she overviewed literature, the benefits of writing, constraints and challenges, and so on that underlie her reasons in doing the research. In this chapter, Dawson also mentions information about her inquiry. Although it is a bit difficult to guess the content, this way of chaptering/heading/sub-heading is somehow gives value to the researcher dissertation since the readers are challenged to read all parts and that is more classy rather than having pages passed and considered trash by readers.

On the other hand, Rahmawati uses explicit chaptering, heading, and sub-heading that makes the readers easy to find information they want by looking up the chapter. Like in other common research reports, Rahmawati divides the thesis into five chapters; Introduction, research method, results, discussion, and the last is conclusion and suggestion. From the way she divides the chapters, we can easily guess the content, and that means we do not need to read all parts to get certain information.

Readers would not find Inventing Teacher-Writers as bookish dissertation since it was written in a self-assured way, that she wrote her own opinion and understanding with support from other theories, in a language that is not so academical. The language is commonly used in daily interaction. Therefore, readers can easily understand her writing. She did not copy whole statements in other theories, but she used them as supporting ideas. Despite the issue on this, Rahmawati wrote her thesis in a bookish way, giving definition barely from copying other statements, and looked more inconfident. Rahmawati rarely gave her own opinion in the beginning, she did it deductively. She also used phrases that are often used by other researchers. For example, when she talked about the research design, she used the term “In collecting data,” twice and “The data is collected...”.The theories that support her research were developed in the end, unlike Dawson who create her own words and gave the theoretical background in the end.

For those who have not learned about narrative inquiry, they would consider Dawson’s Inventing Teacher-Writers as a bad research in format and validation, especially when they use quantitative methodology to judge it, compare it to other researches which is conventionally formatted and use numbers or statistical formulas.

In the reviewer’s opinion, Dawson’s dissertation has a good quality of research with modern taste that is called narrative inquiry where human thoughts, feelings, and experience are considered as invention. Teacher as the agent of change. They should write to enrich and inform their teaching, participate in discussing about teaching, and enrich their lives (Dawson, 2011). This way their knowledge of teaching and views of the wide world will develop continuously and they will be away of illiteracy. What Dawson has done to her ex-college students are dedication to her country, as she dedicated her times to develop their teaching although she gets benefit from the activity. It is the dedication that needs to be owned by all teachers in this world. In fact, new teachers usually have no chance of learning the experience of senior teachers, like what I had been through until I joined state high school. New teacher needs supervision from the seniors for they lack of experience. The sharing that Dawson has done surely inspires us of what to do if we are senior teachers or new teacher, that supervision can be done online and through writing our experience.

Below are the table of comparison between the two researches:

Points	Narrative Inquiry	Content Analysis
Chaptering/heading/sub-heading	Implicit	Explicit
Subjects criteria	Clear/logical	Clear/logical
Data collection	Logical	Logical
Instrument	Appropriate	Appropriate
Validation	Carried out-by	Carried out
Procedures	Clear  to follow/replicate	Clear to follow
Methodological information	Good in narrative inquiry Not bookish	Good Bookish

Malang, 9 July 2015