New term, new classes!

Welcome to the Pre-Masters class at the Language Centre and language support classes at both LCC and Camberwell.

I hope this blog and the links to useful sites help with your learning.

I will post any useful information for your courses here.

Good luck!

Missed your blogs!

Just to say I haven't been able to get on here for a while. Been busy for all of us, eh? But am really pleased to see that some of you are still blogging and therefore might enjoy it and see the usefulness of it.

I've just posted on the class blog about this week. Bit late now. Had i seen at the weekend would have replied then. But that was not possible as I was in the country...nowhere near internet! For a change!

Carribean Food made easy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search/?q=levi%20roots

link to Levi Roots' programme on Carribean food. Happy cooking!!

Geert Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions

http://www.geert-hofstede.com/

Link to Hofstede's research with graphs for eact country. Have fun comparing cultures!

Weekend!!!

As discussed in class today, weekends in Britain are very important....so please enjoy your Friday night and your two days off.

I know for some of you , this might not be the most 'fun' weekend as you prepare for your presentations on Monday, but just think....Monday afternoon you can relax while the others will still be preparing theirs!

Here is another text on culture shock for extra practice if you like:

http://www.ukcosa.org.uk/student/info_sheets/culture_shock.php

Even if you are presenting on Monday, please take the time to do something fun as well.

....and Good luck!! I have seen you presentations and know you are all capable of getting 7 or more. Just be natural, smile and enjoy!!!

Culture shock and presentations

Hi Guys! I know you're really busy with the assessments but I haven't seen anyone reflect on culture shock yet. Could you do this at the weekend by the latest? It is quite important that you start thinking about this topic again and start building up ideas. We will do more work on this in the first lesson next week.

Also, for your presentations remember the following questions on the task sheet:


Consider the following points when presenting work:

• Why did you choose the company, brand or product?
  How did you do it? Talk about the research process, analysis process, and your findings
  What kind of research did you do and why?
  How successful was your research?
  What can you conclude from your research?
  What does your research not tell you?
  Would you change it?
  What do you want to do next?

If you answer each question on your blogs this will help clarify the aims and objectives of your presentations. Those I have seen so far look good though so well done!! Make the most of the practice session tomorrow. We need to get 7's at least!!!

....and I'm sure you can do it!

You're all doing well. So keep focused now and you'll be fine!!

Academic English Cafe

I've added a new website called 'Academic English Cafe' under the link 'quizzes, exercises, links amd more on Academic Language Practice' in the links under Academic links below.

There is a lot of self-study practice on there, but if you want more practice on reporting verbs (or verbs of reference - same thing!) click here and scroll down to find 5 quizzes on them:

http://academicenglishcafe.com/javajournalwriting.aspx

And finally, a quote that might inspire you for your first report draft! :)

"It is better to write a bad first draft than to write no first draft at all."

~Will Shetterly

Online Research

Most of you have now decided on your research questions for both the oral and written assessments. You are now ready to start your research. As I said, google and wikipedia are both good tools as starting points.

The following 'Internet Detective' tutorial will help you to learn more about doing online research for academic work:

http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/

When you have finished, write a paragraph saying what you learnt from the tutorial and how it will affect how you do online research in the future.

End of block 1!!!

Well done on completing block one. You have done well taking in all the information we have given you.



As Fiona told you though, now is the time to reflect on what you have learnt, organise your thooughts and ideas and make sure you have a clear action plan for block two which clearly identifies what areas you need to work on. Please go over all the assessments, marking criteria etc. on your memory sticks so that you are clear from the outset of block two what is required of you. We can clarify this in class on Monday.



Think of block one as you being filled with the skills you need at university. Now, in the next six weeks you need to demonstrate you can use these skills to the required level of MA study. Block two is about your production so you need to be rested, clear and inspired!



Some questions to help you reflect on the pre-sessional course so far. Please post your ideas/thoughts on your blogs:



Is the pre-sessional what you expected? How has it differed?

What are you finding difficult, easy, useful or interesting about the course? What are you learning?

You are half-way there. How does this make you feel? How will you be prepared for block two? How will you manage the assessments successfully? Think about the skills you have learnt and how they apply to each assessment. Also think about your time management.

How ready do you feel for your MA course at this point? What do you think will be most challenging for you?


Hope you enjoy the visit tomorrow. Make the most of the weekend to relax and prepare for the next block. Once again, well done so far!!

Word-verification tool

Could you please turn off the automatic word-verification tool for comments on your blogs. Here is a link on how to do this:

http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en-ch&answer=42520

This will save me and others time when commenting on your blogs.

Thank you!

Prepare for success

Some of you have voiced concerns about your listening and reading skills. The following website is an excellent resource for self-study at home to practice the skills needed in universities in the UK:

http://www.prepareforsuccess.org.uk/

This is also amongst the links to other useful sites for your self study that I have listed on the right below. The 'Using English for Academic Purposes' covers all the academic skills including vocabulary but is especially good for developing your writing skills.

Weekend work

This weekend I'd like you to read the text by Guy Cook entitled The Genre of Advertising. It is on your memory sticks. Please print it for use in class on Monday when we will use it for a seminar discussion.

Well done with having completed the Dragon's Den project. I was very impressed with the presentations and think some of them would do well on the programme itself!! You might develop them and apply!!!

I would like you to reflect on your blogs about the process of preparing and giving the presentations. Think about how you managed your group work, how you liased with the designers, how it felt speaking in front of a group of people and what you felt you gained from the whole experience in general.

I would also like to see some reflection on the critical thinking work we did this week. How do you think you are coping? This is an incredibly important component of academic study so it is important that you reflect on your progress and identify strategies for improvement.

Last but not least, have a restful weekend. Get out and enjoy yorselves as next week we start with the biggie: report writing!!!

Women and Advertising

Well done with your group discussions on the representation of women in adverstising. If you would like further reading on the topic here is a link to an article which references the Kilbourne text we read in class:

http://www.socialistalternative.org/literature/womensrights/advertising.html

Five questions that can change the world!!

http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/gifs/MML_406.jpg

Class blog

We now have a class blog. Accept the invitation in your email and you will become a member. This will allow you to easily see each others profiles. There is also a link to the class blog in the list of blogs on the right.

Use the blog to write whatever you like but I think it could be useful if you want to communicate to more than one person.

Weekend text - What is an academic paper?

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac-paper/what.html

link to the text I'd like you to read this weekend. We will discuss this paper this Monday so make sure you have a good understanding of it by then.

Good luck with working on the Dragon's Den project. You should have a marketing plan together by Tuesday when we'll meet with the Michael's Design students again so you can collate your work and plan you presentation. Presentations should be Thursday and Friday of next week.

Have a great weekend and well done on completing another week. Just 9 more to go!! ;)

Great blogs!

OK. I've finally managed to read all your blogs and leave comments. I will continue checking them for the rest of the course and comment as often as I can. If I don't comment because of time it's probably because your blog is fine and there is no need.

Julia has written a nice reflection on Academic style. Have a look at her blog as it is a nice summary of the differences between formal and informal language. Writing a post like this is a great way of remembering what we have learnt in class, sharing your understanding of it with others and organising your learning in general. You might want to all do the same.

Really excellent start with the blogs though. I'll enjoy following them!

Homework for weekend

Please read the text Study methods in the UK at the following link:

http://www.ukcosa.org.uk/student/info_sheets/study_methods.php

You will be tested on it next week!

Have a lovely weekend and see you on Monday!

Welcome!

Welcome to my academic language support blog. Check regularly for updates on what courses I am teaching on and useful resources/websites etc. for your academic and linguistic needs. Enjoy!