* Blog 006 - Writing - Weekly Journal Sampling Academic Vocabulary - Recurring Assignment

Form 6 A G S English 2006-2007

Freestyle writing with an academic vocabulary edge....

Starting with the month of October, 2006, to and through June, 2007, in this class you are obliged to write and submit a Journal entry of at least 300 words in English (a thousand words is O.K. too), in batches of two (2) assignments, to be handed in to me , through the homework monitor (with defaulters listed), on the 7th and 21st day of each month (if that is not a school day, then the next school day thereafter).

The entries may be printed or neatly handwritten. No whiteout, thank you. Use paper from the two ring binder, or if you really insist, and can't yet wean yourself from the bound scribbler, then it may be submitted that way as well, at least for now.

Clearly identify yourself on each separate page you hand in. Number the pages, and staple them. Include enough blank paper for comments to be written.

Give each piece of writing a title.

For now, you choose the topic.

Consciously try to exercise your imagination in the choice of topic and when assembling the message you wish to communicate.

Cognitively organize and proofread your piece before you write it.

Consciously try to reduce reader strain.

Seriously consider obtaining a peer review by a classmate before writing the draft that will be handed in.

The more you write, the the more you grow.

Don't copy from any other source.

One Proviso:

Each piece of writing must correctly employ at least eight (8) words taken from the Academic Family Vocabulary List handed out in September (e.g. the spelling used for each chosen word must correctly signal the grammatical function intended for that word). The words so selected and used must be underlined. No word so chosen may be used again in any subsequent piece of writing submitted as a journal entry.

At the end of the writing, the Academic words chosen should be listed, and beside each entry should be written the intended grammatical function of the word, i.e. the part of speech intended, together with a simple definition taken from the WordNet dictionary server at Princeton University.

Your Journal entries will not be proofread by me. There will be no marking of grammar, usage, mechanics, style, coherence, unity or any other variable. The Journals will be read by me, and some general comments made that may guide some of your future writing outputs.

No marks will be added to nor detracted from your term mark as a result of these pieces of writing.

The gain you achieve through serious effort will be to extend your writing skills and confidence. That will be your reward, not marks. The penalty for superficial, shallow efforts, will be the loss of precious time available to you to extend your writing abilities before your final HKALE examinations assess the level of those abilities.

Some of the purposes of this exercise are to extend your capacity to produce more writing each week, provide additional practice in cognitive proofreading, create further opportunities for you to apply your imagination to the needs of a communicative task ,and finally, to promote the exercise and extension of your overall written communicative skills in English.

These instructions may be amended later as experience with this assignment develops.

I look forward to reading your journals... Have fun....

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* Blog 005 - Listening - University Radio - Comprehending Diverse Contexts and Styles of Spoken English

ESL 2006-2007

* Expanding Listening Comprehension Skills

* Raising Self-Awareness of Contemporary Social Issues

* Gaining Access to the World's Coolest Music Programs

All can be done by Frequently Accessing University Radio, to Experience:

(1) Diverse Content (i.e. Oral English Content that Changes on a Daily Basis and From Region to Region)

(2) Content that is Appropriate to Reinforce upper Intermediate and Advanced levels of English Language Proficiency

(3) Content that is Often Archived so that You May Access It at Your Convenience and as Often as You Want for Practice Purposes

and Finally,

(4) Content that is Free.

What More Could A Student Want !

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LISTENING RESOURCES YOU CAN RELATE TO...

Unlike so-called "University Radio Stations" in certain countries, which are completely controlled by university authorities, and which only permit students to broadcast to fellow students on a campus through a P.A.system (i.e. loudspeakers located outdoors and in dormitories), University Radio Stations in more open countries are engineered, produced and operated solely by university students working voluntarily on a part-time basis.

Like many commercial radio stations, these university student-based stations tend to broadcast on the FM band, and they are governed by the same national broadcasting regulations that govern commercial radio. In other words, these university radio stations broadcast to the general public, to homes, cars and businesses, and they broadcast on the Internet as well.

This genuine kind of University Radio has been around for more than 50 years, and on the Internet for the past six years.

These stations are operated by tertiary level students who are generally between the ages of 18 and 24.

The programming created by the students is diverse, intelligent and contemporary. Many programs are archived so that you can listen to them at your convenience, any time.

Some of these stations operate 24 hours a day.

At some stations the voluntary part-time work-force of students numbers more than 200.

The costs of running these stations is financed by listeners, in the local communities where these stations broadcast, making donations. In other words these stations are listener-financed.

The bottom line here is that you can access these sources of good oral English at any time.You can listen to these stations on your computer at home. You can listen to these stations play in the background on your computer while you work on other things.

These stations have a programming schedule which you can consult to select the programs you want to hear. Some programs involve interviews dealing with social issues, while others involve sports, technology, science, relationships, music of different genres, current affairs and other subjects.

The programs are hosted equally by male and female students.

Many university radio stations archive past interviews, thus providing a great reservoir of listening exercises for you. Many of the interviews are with musicians. Other interviews involve social issues. Hey, guess what...it's all free for you to use to strengthen your English listening skills. You can replay the interviews over and over until you understand them. You can even communicate with some of the students who host these programs. Work smart, have fun... It's up to you whether you use these resources. You control your body...you control the development of your mind...would you want it any other way? So do it... !

The following links represent a sample of these stations.

The sample links below, and other similar links you can find through a Google Advanced Search, offer you access to listening content that is generally of A-Level quality, live, relevant to your stage of life, of diverse and ever-changing content, commercial-free and cost-free.

Of course, only you can decide whether to use this resource on a regular, continuing basis.

Try listening to the station of your choice at least 30 + minutes a day. The formats include monologue, duologue, group and talk radio. Try different stations from different regions to familiarize yourself with different English Accents and diverse audio content. Control is yours, through your own computer. Work smart, have fun...

University Radio Links:

Britain Sample:

Britain York University Radio www.ury.york.ac.uk

Britain Cambridge University Radio www.cur1350.co.uk

Britain Nottingham University Radio www.urn1350.net

U.S.A.

University of Hawaii at Hilo www.radio.uhh.hawaii.edu

Canada University Radio all operated by students 19 to 24 years old...

Ontario Universities

CHRW University of Western Ontario
CKMS 100.3 FM University of Waterloo
CKCU Carleton University; Ottawa, ON
CHUO FM 89.1 (University of Ottawa)
CFRC Queen's University; Kingston, ON
CFFF Trent University; Peterborough, ON
CIUT University of Toronto; Toronto, ON
CHMR Mohawk College; Hamilton, ON
CFRU University of Guelph; Guelph, ON
CJAM University of Windsor; Windsor, ON
CFMU Hamilton, Ontario

British Columbia Universities

CJSF Burnaby, BC, Community-based campus radio. Programming is streamed on web site.
CITR University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
CFUV University of Victoria; Victoria, BC
Kootenay Coop Radio (KCR 93.5 FM) On this station you'll hear just about everything from bluegrass to freaky audio art with some social commentary in between. It's ecclectic, too eccletic in fact for the likes of Britney Spears and Ricky Martin. It is the true voice of the Canadian Kootenays.

Alberta Universities

CJSW University of Calgary, Calgary, AB
CKUA Radio Network Innovative web site featuring alternative radio sources. Plays everything from jazz to country and blues to bluegrass. Listeners donate voluntarily more than $2-million a year to keep it alive.
CKUL University of Lethbridge; Lethbridge AB
CJSR FM88 CJSR FM88 is Edmonton's volunteer-run college/community radio station, broadcasting 24-hrs a day

Saskatchewan University

CFCR Saskatoon, SK

Manitoba University

UMFM Hit Free Radio Winnipeg Campus Radio

Eastern Canada Universities

CFMH University of New Brunswick,Campus Radio Saint John 92.5 FM
CHMR Memorial University of Newfoundland (St John's)
CFXU Saint Francis Xavier University; Antigonish, NS
CHSR University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, NB
CHMA Mount Allison University; Sackville, NB

U.S.A. University Radio Stations

Columbia University Radio in New York www.columbia.edu/cu/wkcr

U.S.A. Top ninety-three University Radio Stations in popularity

SITE LISTINGS By Popularity

Sites 1 - 20 (of 93) (see 2 3 4 5 below for the remaining 73 of the links)

WCSB 89.3 - Cleveland State University www.wcsb.org
KALX 90.7 - University of California, Berkeley Broadcasting in a free form fashion from UCB, supported by listeners and run by volunteers.www.kalx.berkeley.edu
WERS 88.9 - Emerson College Offers noncommercial programming with a broad musical mix.www.wers.org
WPRB 103.3 - Princeton University www.wprb.com
Zilo.com Features original entertainment for college students including sketch comedy, reality TV, live event sports, and more.www.zilo.com
KFJC 89.7 - Foothill College@dir.yahoo.com/.../College_and_University/Community_and_Technical
WHRB 95.3 - Harvard University www.whrb.org
KSJS 90.5 - San Jose State University Programming includes a wide range of eclectic info and music.www.ksjs.org
KBSU 90.3 - Boise State University Public radio serving southwestern Idaho, eastern Oregon, and northern Nevada.www.radio.boisestate.edu
WEMU 89.1 - Eastern Michigan University Featuring news, blues, and jazz.www.wemu.org
KZSU 90.1 - Stanford University@dir.yahoo.com/.../News_and_Media/Radio
KVRX 91.7 - University of Texas at Austin@dir.yahoo.com/.../University_of_Texas_at_Austin/News_and_Media
WCBN 88.3 - University of Michigan@dir.yahoo.com/.../University_of_Michigan/News_and_Media
KAMP 1570 - University of Arizona Broadcasting college radio news, sports, and music.www.kamp.arizona.edu
WGTS 91.9 - Columbia Union College www.wgts.org
WRTC 89.3 - Trinity College Trinity College radio.www.wrtcfm.com
WMUA 91.1 - University of Massachusetts Amherst www.wmua.org
KWMU 90.7 - University of Missuori - St. Louis St. Louis public radio. NPR station offering news and talk.www.kwmu.org
KUOI 89.3 - University of Idaho Free-form radio station owned and operated by the Associated Students of the University of Idaho (ASUI).http://kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu
KPSU 1450 - Portland State University@dir.yahoo.com

1 Links for the Next 73 stations: 2 3 4 5 Next

Other Worldwide College and University Internet Radio Broadcasting Stations (Some include Podcasts in their repertory)

For a listing of another 800 + university radio stations in 12 countries (including about 700 more in the U.S.A.) click the following link.

http://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Radio/Stations/College_and_University/By_Region/Countries/

The Choice is Huge...the choice is yours...

Work hard, work smart, have fun with good listening...

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* Blog 004 - Part 2 Raising Self-Awareness of Contemporary Social Issues, Expanding Lexical Resources, Developing Comprehension and Writing Skills

Raising Self-Awareness of Contemporary Social Issues, Expanding Lexical Resources and Developing Further English Comprehension and Writing Skills By Using Online Vocabulary Resources and Tools to Analyze and Comprehend A-Level Newspaper Articles Taken From Qualitative Online Daily and Weekly Newspapers and Magazines. -

You say that you want to develop your English language skills to the proficiency point where, for you, English is an effective, productive working language in your day-to-day life... a proficiency level English proficiency examinations are designed to certify, if present in your examination performance?

You say that you can't find enough interesting articles to read?

- Articles that vary from 1,000 words in length to 3,000 + words?

- Articles that always use academic level vocabulary that you need to know for tertiary level studies or for business English applications?

- Articles that cover a multitude of social issues and themes that frequently find their way into reading, writing, listening and oral examination content themes?

- Articles that are full of ideas, arguments, information, and just plain good writing? Articles that are meant for the aspiring, tertiary-level learner?

- Articles that are not “canned”, but are real?

- Articles that are for real people who live outside of the four walls of a school?

- Articles that are powerful examples of, and exercises in, good, authentic English language communicative skills?

In many ESL schools students are obliged to subscribe to the local printed daily newspaper. For instance, in Hong Kong, many of the secondary school students pay for a subscription to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). The South China Morning Post is an easy read, but that is not the test you need to pass in an English proficiency examination such as TOEFL, IELTS, SAT, GRE, GMAT or other similar English proficiency assessments. The English used in many local newspapers is too simple. The range of vocabulary is not designed for an academic audience. Frequently almost all of the vocabulary used in such newspapers can be found in the list of the 2,000 most frequently used words in English.

There is a high cost of lost opportunities if you spend most of your reading-study time coasting through such material. The time you spend in such reading means you lose opportunities to expose yourself to more suitable vocabulary, more appropriate grammatical range and structure, and the higher level coherence and cogency found in first year tertiary level English medium academic texts.

In other words, you need something more rigorous. Something that, day in and day out, does not deviate from Academic level vocabulary and grammatical structure and range. Something richer, deeper and more diverse. Something that is far more original, resourceful, reliable and useful for your needs.

There are hundreds of good online sources that can meet your needs. Here is but a small representative sample from five countries. The following eight links connect you to over 500 free, well-written, original, current articles per week. Hey, that’s 25,000 + original articles per year! Free! (Why buy a monthly magazine subscription that charges you about $1 HK for each stale article !)

The topics in these freebies are diverse, timely, cogent and helpful to your language skill development.

The sample sources meet the Academic vocabulary proficiency standards tested in the A-S Level examinations. But for starters, if you want to read something less demanding, there are thousands of choices available. Choose what you want to read. If you don't use this power, the process of developing your English language skills will remain stagnant.

These newspapers are produced by huge, reliable, resourceful organizations, in a highly competitive environment, and are read worldwide by millions.

Tapping into these sources, connects you to cutting edge commentary about what matters in the world today. It loads you with information and ideas you can draw on later when you are tested in reading comprehension, writing and speaking in your AS English Examinations.

All you need to do is find a way to integrate daily contact with these sources into your schedule, so that you can and will consult them on a regular basis. Reading five articles a day, every day, is a reasonable goal. You can do it if you really care as much as you say you do about developing your English language communicative skills.

Paste these links to your home computer, as favorites, or desktop shortcuts. I hope you use them all the time.

These links, and others like them, enable you. They empower you. Now it is up to you to use them. The more you do, the more your second language communicative skills will develop.

You need to migrate now from a state of passivity to a routine of self-generated, self-tailored learning activity that can help you to get to where you want to be language-wise. Go for it...you have what it takes !

These links (which represent only a small sample of what is available online), of sources of appropriate level text "streams" I referred to above are as follows: Just click on the link:

New York Times www.nyt.com

Los Angeles Times www.latimes.com

The Economist www.economist.com/printedition

The Times of London From Britain www.timesonline.co.uk/global

The Chicago Tribune www.chicagotribune.com

Novosti (From Russia) www.en.rian.ru

Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

The Toronto Star - Canada www.thestar.com


These links could be bookmarked or saved to your desktop to facilitate frequent access to well-written, short-length, veracious articles that deal with social and business issues of international importance, using vocabulary that is appropriate for the upper intermediate and advanced ESL learner.

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