The Last Post

English language is important especially in tertiary education where students are required to write the report, thesis and articles. Without being able to use the language correctly, the ideas in the report or thesis are hard to be expressed clearly. There are two difficulties I have writing in university class, namely informal writing style and unclear concluding sentence.

Firstly, my writing style is too casual and not academic. Every point or idea in the articles shall be strictly linked to the main idea and certain words like awesome and incredible shall be avoided in academic writing. Academic writing style is vital in the sense that every report and thesis we write in the tertiary level is professional and formal. In order to refine my writing into an academic one, reading newspaper such as The Straits Time is one of the viable and good ways.

Next, my concluding sentence is unclear and too short. It does not give a distinct stand. Concluding sentence is important because it is the last paragraph that gives the punch to the readers and to make our stand clear by summarizing what we have discussed earlier in the main body. Realizing this problem I face, the only way to rectify it would be learning from the mistakes and practicing to write quality concluding sentence after reading other authors’ articles.

In conclusion, without attending the class of EG1471, I would not have noticed my own mistakes and the underlying problems of my writing styles. EG1471 module is illuminating and I do learn a lot of writing skills from this module. Learning is a life-long journey and what we have learned in this module is the basis of University English. In order to truly master the essence of English language, it is necessary to take the initiative to self-study after accomplishing this module.

Grammar Mistakes

Grammar is the fundamental and the essence of English language. In order to correctly use the English grammar, certain rules need to be followed. The correct use of grammar can lead to a smooth flow of idea to be expressed while the wrong use of it can contribute to the central idea being vague. There are three common grammar mistakes where I usually made, namely the use of 'the' article, preposition and parallel structure.

'The' article should be used before the word 'government'
The erroneous version would be,
People should play their role in mitigating climate change and respond to the recycling program advocated by government.
The correct version would be,
People should play their role in mitigating climate change and respond to the recycling program advocated by the government.
Also, article shall not be used when an uncountable noun is nonspecific.
The erroneous version would be,
The internet is a rich source of the information.
The correct version would be,
The internet is a rich source of information.

Next, the use of preposition is also important.
The erroneous version would be,
Despite of the fact that global warming has already taken place, people still carry a passive attitude towards combating climate change.
The correct version would be,
Despite the fact that global warming has already taken place, people still carry a passive attitude towards combating climate change.


Finally, parallel structure is another common grammar mistake that people make.
The erroneous version would be,
These provide students with more background knowledge on this crisis that the earth is facing, thus allowing students to not only aid with the upcoming writing assignment but more importantly to create awareness that many are lacking.
The correct version would be,
These provide students with more background knowledge on this crisis that the earth is facing, thus allowing students to not only aid with the upcoming writing assignment but more importantly creating awareness that many are lacking.

In conclusion, grammar is indeed essential in English and this is the area where people tend to make mistakes. Articles with no or a few grammar mistakes would give a good impression to the readers, whereas those with a number of grammar mistakes would only frustrate the readers and result in the central ideas not being expressed clearly. Hence, there is a need to master English grammar to truly excel in English language.