Summary -Academic Article -Peter J. M. Groot

During early stages of instructed L2 acquisition, students learn high frequency words. Functional language requires much number of words mastery. It is necessary in later stages to learn larger vocabulary number in short time; there is no time to copy the natural L1 word acquisition process. Incidental word acquisition is possible in some measures because their low frequency number. They rarely appear in the L2 learning material. Acquisition of words from L2 reading texts by means like contextual deduction is not a solution. There is no alternative to intentional learning of many words instantly; the words to be learned may be presented in isolation or in context. Presentation in bilingual word lists seems attractive; it yields excellent results and takes less time than contextual (advisable for long term retention). Suggestions to implement this in pedagogic contexts should be based on an analysis of two L2 words learning problem aspects by selecting the vocabulary and creating conditions for process. This article describes a computer assisted word acquisition programme which tries to operationalize theoretical thinking about word acquisition based on relevant vocabulary. It was contrasted in experimental settings with paired association methods. The results suggest that combining the two methods is advisable.

Total number of Words: 200

Reducing Academic Article

Language Learning & Technology
Vol. 4, No. 1, May 2000, pp. 60-81
by Peter J. M. Groot
Utrecht University


COMPUTER ASSISTED SECOND LANGUAGE VOCABULARY ACQUISITION

During the initial stages of instructed L2 acquisition students learn a couple thousand, mainly high frequency words. Functional language proficiency, however, requires mastery of a considerably larger number of words. It is therefore necessary at the intermediate and advanced stages of language acquisition to learn a large vocabulary in a short period of time. There is not enough time to copy the natural (largely incidental) L1 word acquisition process. Incidental acquisition of the words is only possible up to a point, because, on account of their low frequency, they do not occur often enough in the L2 learning material. Acquisition of new words from authentic L2 reading texts by means of strategies such as contextual deduction is also not a solution for a number of reasons. There appears to be no alternative to intentional learning of a great many new words in a relatively short period of time. The words to be learned may be presented in isolation or in context. Presentation in bilingual word lists seems an attractive shortcut because it takes less time than contextual presentation and yields excellent short term results. Long term retention, however, is often disappointing so contextual presentation seems advisable. Any suggestions how to implement this in pedagogic contexts should be based on a systematic analysis of the two most important aspects of the L2 word learning problem, that is to say, selecting the relevant vocabulary (which and how many words) and creating optimal conditions for the acquisition process. This article sets out to describe a computer assisted word acquisition programme (CAVOCA) which tries to do precisely this: the programme operationalises current theoretical thinking about word acquisition, and its contents are based on a systematic inventory of the vocabulary relevant for the target group. To establish its efficiency, the programme was contrasted in a number of experimental settings with a paired associates method of learning new words. The experimental results suggest that an approach combining the two methods is most advisable.

Total number of words: 327

Wordy Sentences- Concise Sentences

Those are sentences which contain too many words that distract the reader from the main point or purpose. Wordy sentences can obscure your meaning. Aim for clear, direct sentences so readers can follow your ideas. On the other hand a concise sentence gets straight to the point, just by using the elemental words to express the things that want to be said.

Example:
Wordy sentence: She is wearing dress made of velvet fabric with a peculiar color black.
VS
Concise sentence: She is wearing a black velvet dress.

Guided Practice: Exercise 16-1

The modern economics founder Adam Smith, proposed a theory in the XVIII century that made him controversial. The economist born in Scotland and educated in England wrote the first complete study of political economy “The Wealth of Nations” which was published the same year of American’s independence declaration in 1776. The book directed attention to the independence of freedom and order, economic processes and free trade laws. This thinking did not make an impact during his life time, but did it the next century. Economists gave “the invisible hand” and “laissez-faire” as synonyms of his name. History has made Smith’s ideas more controversial. If the name of “Adam Smith” is said to conservative people, they will say positive things in contrast to liberals who think he is an evil guy. He generates extreme opinions which demonstrate that Smith’s ideas still alive.

Summary - 199 Page

This study went through 1,600 marginal and end comments written on 110 drafts of essays by 47 university ELS advanced students, considering the pragmatic goals and the linguistics features of the comments. Drafts of each essay were examined to observe the influence of the first draft commentary on the student’s revisions and assess actually improved the essays. The author thinks that a significant proportion of the comments led to substantive revision, and there were types of commentary that were more helpful. The results are suggestive of important implications for L2 writing instruction and future studies a neglected topic.

Taken from Ferris, D. (Summer, 1997). The influence of the teacher commentary on student revision. TESOL QARTERLY. Vol 31, Nº2

The Smart House

Schenker says that houses will be networked in the future making people's life easier and relaxing. Electronic devices will be connected to internet and will have special devices to control different activities like housework, communications, shopping, bills, etc. Disadvantages of having a networked home are not significant. People will just have to pay some dollars for chips, internet connection and the security measures to protect the system against cyber pirating. People will not afford the maintenance because the services will repair themselves. Money will not mean much considering the benefits of having a smart house.

Clouds

Clouds can denote lots of things, starting by their forms and their colors. They have a clear ambiguity, if you watch them with an opened mind you can find lots of figures in there; of course they tend to be compared with cotton. The sensation of being in an airplane is indescriptible, almost spiritual. You are flying in the sky and recognizing the whole meaning of being a citizen of planet earth. The incredible nature is seen from lots points of view and perspectives, you feel like you are just the luckiest person alive for having the opportunity of flying like a bird , even though it is a machine that put you in that place. Clouds and sea is what you see, all the tones of gray, white and blue are mixing and you feel like you must do an effort in order to appreciate all the details of the huge image that you watch through your small window. Finally when you arrive, you want to fly again! Flying it isn’t just going from a place to another, it is accepting the whole nature, culture and people from a peculiar point of view…. Naturally forbidden for us because gravity, but we take the sky borrowed from the birds with our intellect and science, we need to show some respect for nature.

Exercise III

Let’s look at the following text. First, read the original essay several times to make surethat you understand each paragraph well.

Students Rights

I. Who knows better than the students than themselves what a university should do for them and how they should be treated? Yet how often do students have any say at all in such important issue as faculty selection, curriculum planning and scheduling? The answer is obvious: never. If university administrations refuse to include student representatives in the decision/making process, something drastic must be done.
II. Let’s examine what is happening right here on our own campus in the areas mentioned above. The first major issue is the selection of faculty members. Never in the history of this college has a student been permitted to interview to examine the credential of, or even meet prospective professors. All hiring is done by joint administrative-faculty committee, often made up of people will not even have extensive dealing with individual after day begin teaching. Those who have the most at stake and whose lives and academic careers will be governed by the professor- the students themselves- never even meet the new teachers until the first class meeting. No one is better equipped to evaluate a professor’s ability to communicate with students than those whom her or she intends to teach. Anyone can read curriculum vitae to ascertain the level of professional training and experience someone has had, but the best judges of a teacher’s ability to teach, which is the primary function of any professor in undoubtedly the students themselves.
III. Students’ interests in and commitment to appropriate curricula are even more obvious. We have come to college with very specific purpose in mind: To prepare ourselves intellectually and practically for the future. We know what we need to learn in order to complete successfully with others in our chosen fields. Why should we be kept out of the curriculum planning process? If we pay for the text books, spend hours in the library doing research, and burn the midnight oil studying for the test and exams, why are we not permitted to give our opinions about the materials we will spend some many hours studying? It is imperative that our views be made known to curriculum planners.
IV. The area of scheduling is of vital interest to students. The hours at which classes are pffered affect us daily. Many of us must juggle work and class schedules, but often administrators ignore such problems when day schedules classes. Schedules must must be convenient and flexible so that all students have equal opportunities take the most popular classes and those that are most essential to their majors. If students help with scheduling, never would there be two required courses offered at the same time for only one semester per academic years. Never would we have to wait two or three semesters to take a course that is a pre-requisite for other desired courses, nor would we have to rise across campus in ten minutes to get from one class to the next. Students are vitally concerned with scheduling.
V. In the 1960s and early 1970s, students were not too shy of fearful to demonstrate against the injustices they saw in the draft system and Vietnam conflict. Why should students today be afraid to voice their opinions about the very important issues that affect their lives?
·

Thesis: The importance of having a representaive of students in the taking of all the important desitions related to students rights.
· I(Main idea): Students are the most cuallified to solve some problems related to school.
· II(Main idea): The issues that affect the campus and can't be solved by students.
· III(Main idea): The increasing interest of students in all the things related to the university.
· IV(Main idea): The interest of students in their schedules.
· V(Main idea):Students of the past speak up their opinions about the problems of that time, students of the present should do the same.