This book provides students a very systematic procedure which they could follow along while writing without further confusing questions. And it is a good book for students who learn about composition writing. When they have any questions about writing, it seems that they can use this book very conveniently. Teachers who teach composition could profit by this book, too. Instructors can even learn something from this book. They could instruct their students along with the book so that they can both gain something valuable. And it is actually quite different from other writing books because it contains many details that students may have in writing. And since it illustrate its contents clearly, teachers may skip some simple parts that student read by themselves and explain more difficult chapters. And it fuses many aspects of writing, too. For instance, it contains the forms of writing of movies, paintings, etc. This book contains all sorts of genres of writing and different materials we may write about, from literature, visual arts and film.
We can follow the tips which have been given to us in the book. And the professional writers’ articles (as examples harmonizing with each chapter’s theme) enlarge readers and students’ scope of horizons, which inspire them to work harder by maybe imitating them in the first place. After being familiar with professional articles, students may use them to begin their own original work since they are really masterpieces. It provides students essays, which encourage students to write as good as them and sympathize them since they make similar mistakes. We also think there is another key point the book teach us from the basic theory. For example, it mentions how to summarize an article. As a matter of fact, this is the first step to learn how to write a good composition.
From these student essays, we can know how to revise our problems, just like our discussion in class before, we compare two articles and then we can notice which one is better. And when this book talks about paintings, it would give us many paintings for students to practice. It provides students with essays, which encourage students to write as good as them and sympathize with them since they make similar mistakes. What’s more, this book is endowed with vivid illustrations helping readers understand its words. Its wording and typesetting are impeccable with different colors and sizes of words. We think in the book, it provides many question to think after reading the article. And it is very important because we can realize some points which we ignore before. We find that the questions the book provides after the article are the key point.
Questions make/force us to think, and to reflect. They would also sharpen our interpretative skills. There is also another good point. In the book, it has a "remember column.” It can remind us of some writing tips. Also, sharing is quite important in the writing pedagogy. Students' own thoughts and teachers' are interacting if they share thoughts with each other. In conclusion, we think that this book is very good in general.
2008年12月30日 星期二
2008年12月25日 星期四
Annotated Bibliography 4
(http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=107&sid=ac4f178b-27e9-4844-b49f-2dc66911d0f1%40sessionmgr8&bdata=JmFtcDtsYW5nPXpoLXR3JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ulh&AN=34912845)
I think how the dictionary can help its users best depends on a lot of things mentioned in the journal. One of the things is that you can look up a word in a dictionary and understand how to use it in a sentence by looking the examples provided in the dictionary. This reminded me that it is better to be in an English-speaking country to fully understand how to use a word than just to learn the word by its Chinese translation in your own country. Of course you can still learn English well in your own country, but we can not deny the fact that you will have more chances to be exposed to the correct ways of using the right word by everyday conversations with native speakers and the whole English environment. Though it depends on people’s attitude, the fact is that we are more likely to misunderstand an English word by learning its Chinese translation in your own country.
I think how the dictionary can help its users best depends on a lot of things mentioned in the journal. One of the things is that you can look up a word in a dictionary and understand how to use it in a sentence by looking the examples provided in the dictionary. This reminded me that it is better to be in an English-speaking country to fully understand how to use a word than just to learn the word by its Chinese translation in your own country. Of course you can still learn English well in your own country, but we can not deny the fact that you will have more chances to be exposed to the correct ways of using the right word by everyday conversations with native speakers and the whole English environment. Though it depends on people’s attitude, the fact is that we are more likely to misunderstand an English word by learning its Chinese translation in your own country.
Revised Annotated Bibliography 3
The difference between learning English in an English-speaking country and not an English-speaking one is mentioned in this video: that is, the pronunciation of the native teacher and the way students learn English are more helpful to them than the way they were taught in their native countries. Still, there are other opinions may be against these thoughts.
As far as I am concerned, I am pretty identified with what these students say in this video. My identification with them actually bases on my own experiences. In effect, I have been in the United States twice before. I think one of the greatest advantages of learning English in an English-speaking country is exactly the one mentioned by the students that we can learn the accent of the native speakers. However, it still depends on what your attitude is when you are abroad. You need to be active in improving yourself rather than passive in learning the foreign language when you are abroad. Otherwise, you will still not improve your language skills in a foreign country.
As far as I am concerned, I am pretty identified with what these students say in this video. My identification with them actually bases on my own experiences. In effect, I have been in the United States twice before. I think one of the greatest advantages of learning English in an English-speaking country is exactly the one mentioned by the students that we can learn the accent of the native speakers. However, it still depends on what your attitude is when you are abroad. You need to be active in improving yourself rather than passive in learning the foreign language when you are abroad. Otherwise, you will still not improve your language skills in a foreign country.
Revised Annotated Bibliography 2
The article presents a whole new point of view about how German immigrants immigrating to Wisconsin in the mid-1800s adapted themselves to the English-speaking country. Contrary to notions of fact and fantasy, evidence shows that some of them are actually slow and passive in learning English because they did not really need to change their language in order to survive in that English-dominating country. What is more surprising is the fact that, as it is mentioned in the article, Some second- and even third-generation German immigrants who were born in Wisconsin were still monolingual in German as adults.
The reason why all this is happening is partly because the multitude of the German immigrants gather together as in many communities. Therefore, they need not learn a second language to communicate with each other in their communities simply because everybody speaks German there.
This discovery actually has something to do with the main point of my issue paper; that is: is it necessary to immerse yourself (e.g., traveling, working, studying) in the American culture in order to learn English well? Well, in this case, it depends. If people behave like the German immigrants, then the answer would certainly be no. For example, when a Chinese student goes to the United States, we can not expect that his English would be improved by his hanging around in China towns every single day. You need to find chances to practice English by yourself and try as many opportunities as possible to polish your English skills in the United States. Otherwise, perhaps it would be better to stay in your own native country to study it.
The reason why all this is happening is partly because the multitude of the German immigrants gather together as in many communities. Therefore, they need not learn a second language to communicate with each other in their communities simply because everybody speaks German there.
This discovery actually has something to do with the main point of my issue paper; that is: is it necessary to immerse yourself (e.g., traveling, working, studying) in the American culture in order to learn English well? Well, in this case, it depends. If people behave like the German immigrants, then the answer would certainly be no. For example, when a Chinese student goes to the United States, we can not expect that his English would be improved by his hanging around in China towns every single day. You need to find chances to practice English by yourself and try as many opportunities as possible to polish your English skills in the United States. Otherwise, perhaps it would be better to stay in your own native country to study it.
Revised Annotated Bibliography 1
The issue of speaking English without an accent is quite important in today’s competitive world. As it is mentioned in the article, many professionals see an accent as a weakness in a competitive workforce. So how can we improve our speaking ability to the next level in which we would sound much more like a native speaker?
Take Sourav Bhunia, mentioned in the article, a native Indian who started studying English in grade school, for example. Although he leads quite a successful life in Massachusetts, Bhunia is still one of the many non-native English speakers who strive to be better understood. He decided to take a course at the University of Minnesota to improve his accent. His goal is to sound more like a native American, and less Indian, when he speaks English.
It brings us back to the point: is it necessary to immerse yourself (e.g., traveling, working, studying) in the American culture in order to learn English well? Or in this case, in order to pronounce your English well? From the article, we could know that if you are in the United States for a period of time, you are supposed to be able to express yourself enough in English, but not necessary mean you would be understood by others completely. It requires personal training, like the course Bhunia takes. But the courses would not be found in a not English-speaking country as easily as they would be found in an English-speaking country. But if you really try hard to find help, you can still learn the pronunciation well in your own country.
Take Sourav Bhunia, mentioned in the article, a native Indian who started studying English in grade school, for example. Although he leads quite a successful life in Massachusetts, Bhunia is still one of the many non-native English speakers who strive to be better understood. He decided to take a course at the University of Minnesota to improve his accent. His goal is to sound more like a native American, and less Indian, when he speaks English.
It brings us back to the point: is it necessary to immerse yourself (e.g., traveling, working, studying) in the American culture in order to learn English well? Or in this case, in order to pronounce your English well? From the article, we could know that if you are in the United States for a period of time, you are supposed to be able to express yourself enough in English, but not necessary mean you would be understood by others completely. It requires personal training, like the course Bhunia takes. But the courses would not be found in a not English-speaking country as easily as they would be found in an English-speaking country. But if you really try hard to find help, you can still learn the pronunciation well in your own country.
2008年12月8日 星期一
Revised Exam Esaay
In the passage above from “From tripod to Cosmos: A new metaphor for the language arts” written by Baines, it tells us the way how contemporary teachers train their students’ writing skills has been changed over the past 25 years. Instead of simply being asked to write some prescriptive, short, and academic responses, students need to try various forms of writing for different purposes as well as for different viewers. By doing this, students can understand how to write for real audiences rather than only for their own teachers. On the other hand, one of the main reasons why the way how teachers teach composition has been changed is the popularity of computer among people. For instance, almost every newly constructed school building has individual areas in which students can conveniently write, edit, and publish their work. In addition, they can also do that in their classrooms. As a matter of fact, students of language arts departments use this kind of facility most frequently to make themselves to be more accustomed to the main stream of today and the future’s writhing method. In effect, the writing method is also for a promisingly lucrative writing career, which is to write for nonprint media. Teachers of language arts departments are forced to be familiar with various software programs, word process programs in particular. Why? Because they need to guide students in computer use and provide environments for them to engage themselves in writing for media such as film, television, Internet, and CD-ROM because the relation between them would be very important in the future.
To be no surprise, the situation described in the passage can also be found in our English apartment. We can see ubiquitous computers no matter where we go in our university, and we, as students of English department, do have various opportunities to use computers to accomplish our assignments or work. I think it is really important for us to get used to this technology and take good advantage of it. As it is mentioned in the passage, writing for nonprint media is really where the industry of writing is heading towards to and where we really need to engage ourselves in. We need to try to write in different kinds of forms and need to know what kinds of people are out there reading what we write. In addition, we need to know how to write in a proper form to fit our purpose appropriately. In conclusion, I am pretty identified with this passage and think that it contains many true examples of the reality, which is good for the audience to know what is really happening nowadays.
To be no surprise, the situation described in the passage can also be found in our English apartment. We can see ubiquitous computers no matter where we go in our university, and we, as students of English department, do have various opportunities to use computers to accomplish our assignments or work. I think it is really important for us to get used to this technology and take good advantage of it. As it is mentioned in the passage, writing for nonprint media is really where the industry of writing is heading towards to and where we really need to engage ourselves in. We need to try to write in different kinds of forms and need to know what kinds of people are out there reading what we write. In addition, we need to know how to write in a proper form to fit our purpose appropriately. In conclusion, I am pretty identified with this passage and think that it contains many true examples of the reality, which is good for the audience to know what is really happening nowadays.
2008年12月3日 星期三
Exam Essay
柯志儒 Ko Chih-Ju
2 hours, 21 minutes, and 3 seconds
In the passage above from “From tripod to Cosmos: A new metaphor for the language arts” written by Baines, it tells us the way how contemporary teachers train their students’ writing skills has been changed over the past 25 years. Instead of simply being asked to write some prescriptive, short, and academic responses, students need to try various forms of writing for different purposes as well as for different viewers in order to understand how to write for real audiences rather than only for their own teachers. In addition, one of the main reasons why the way how teachers teach composition has been changed is the popularity of computer among people. For instance, almost every newly constructed school building has both individual areas in which students can conveniently write, edit, and publish their work as well as do that in their classrooms. As a matter of fact, students of language arts departments use this kind of facility most frequently to make themselves be more accustomed to the main stream of today and the future’s writhing method and promisingly lucrative writing career, which is to write for nonprint media. Therefore, teachers of language arts departments are forced to be familiar with various software programs and word process programs in particular because they need to guide students in computer use and provide environments for them to engage themselves in writing for media such as film, television, Internet, and CD-ROM because the relation between them would be very important in the future. In my opinion, the situation described in the passage can also be found in our apartment. We can see ubiquitous computers no matter where we go in our university, and we, as students of English department, do have various opportunities to use computers to accomplish our assignments or work. I think it is really important for us to get used to this technology and take good advantage of it. As it is mentioned in the passage, writing for nonprint media is really where the industry of writing is heading towards to and where we really need to engage ourselves in. We need to try to write in different kinds of forms and need to know what kinds of people are out there reading what we write as well as to know how to write in a proper form to fit our purpose appropriately. Therefore, I am pretty identified with this passage. (400 words)
2 hours, 21 minutes, and 3 seconds
In the passage above from “From tripod to Cosmos: A new metaphor for the language arts” written by Baines, it tells us the way how contemporary teachers train their students’ writing skills has been changed over the past 25 years. Instead of simply being asked to write some prescriptive, short, and academic responses, students need to try various forms of writing for different purposes as well as for different viewers in order to understand how to write for real audiences rather than only for their own teachers. In addition, one of the main reasons why the way how teachers teach composition has been changed is the popularity of computer among people. For instance, almost every newly constructed school building has both individual areas in which students can conveniently write, edit, and publish their work as well as do that in their classrooms. As a matter of fact, students of language arts departments use this kind of facility most frequently to make themselves be more accustomed to the main stream of today and the future’s writhing method and promisingly lucrative writing career, which is to write for nonprint media. Therefore, teachers of language arts departments are forced to be familiar with various software programs and word process programs in particular because they need to guide students in computer use and provide environments for them to engage themselves in writing for media such as film, television, Internet, and CD-ROM because the relation between them would be very important in the future. In my opinion, the situation described in the passage can also be found in our apartment. We can see ubiquitous computers no matter where we go in our university, and we, as students of English department, do have various opportunities to use computers to accomplish our assignments or work. I think it is really important for us to get used to this technology and take good advantage of it. As it is mentioned in the passage, writing for nonprint media is really where the industry of writing is heading towards to and where we really need to engage ourselves in. We need to try to write in different kinds of forms and need to know what kinds of people are out there reading what we write as well as to know how to write in a proper form to fit our purpose appropriately. Therefore, I am pretty identified with this passage. (400 words)
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