Wednesday, June 11th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

Hooray! We've made it to the end of the year! Thanks for all of your hard work and enthusiasm this term.  I wish you all all the best in your next steps.  

Over the summer, what you are you going to do to keep your English growing?  Remember English is like a muscle.  If you don't use it, it'll get flabby. ;)

Here are some links organized by skill to help you keep improving your English over the summer:


Speaking:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/webcast/tae_betterspeaking_archive.shtml

http://m.busyteacher.org/18521-10-esl-speaking-mistakes-students-make.html

Listening:

http://www.ted.com/talks/margaret_heffernan_dare_to_disagree

http://ed.ted.com/on/gTGfE82A#review

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/index.shtml

http://breakingnewsenglish.com/



Grammar:

http://blog.ed.ted.com/2014/05/29/be-a-better-writer-in-15-minutes-4-ted-ed-lessons-on-grammar-and-word-choice/

http://www.englishpage.com/

http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/word-games/verb-machine

http://blog.britishcouncil.org/tag/blog-awards/

http://efllecturer.blogspot.com.es/2014/06/gerund-or-infinitive.html?m=1

http://www.engames.eu/verbs-prepositions-ii/

http://talk2meenglish.blogspot.co.il/2014/05/the-present-simple-1-back-to-basics.html?m=1

http://www.engames.eu/nouns-prepositions/

Pronunciation:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/quiz/quiz1/



Test Preparation:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1143_exams/

http://www.ieltspractice.com/

http://ielts-simon.com/



Mohawk College Writing Centre:

http://www.mohawkcollege.ca/studentservices/writing-centre/esl-resources.html

http://www.mohawkcollege.ca/studentservices/writing-centre/helpful-fact-sheets.html


Also, don't forget that the Hamilton Public Library (4th floor, ESL section) is filled with hundreds of books for you to use.  

Have a lovely and safe summer!

Kim

Wednesday, May 28th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, you will begin preparing for your final presentation.  This time, you'll be working in pairs. You and your partner will be given a topic.  You create a 15-20 minute presentation using PowerPoint, Prezi, or other visuals showing both sides of your topic and the opinions of you and your partner.  The structure will be roughly something like this:

1. the 'Agree' side
2. the 'Disagree' side
3. Yours and your partner's side (either agree or disagree; both agree or both disagree)

You will need to provide a balance of information on both sides before presenting your own opinions. Remember to create interesting slides with visuals and not to much text.  You're presenting, not reading or asking your audience to read your information from the slides.  Also, think about your delivery and try to incorporate features to make your presentation interesting and engaging for the audience. 

You will be evaluated on the coherence and balance of your content, your delivery, and finally, on your ability to communicate effectively.  

Presentations will begin on June 11th.

Wednesday, May 21st, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, you'll be completing two tasks.  First, I'd like you to complete the self-assessment for the presentation you completed this morning.  Once you finished it, please hand it in, so I can complete my assessment of your presentation.

Next, you going to listen to a CBC podcast and take detailed notes.  You will use your notes to discuss your podcast with your classmates on Monday.

Here's a format that you might use for taking notes:


Title:_______________________________

New vocabulary:
-__________________________
-__________________________
-__________________________

Main Ideas                                                                    Details/examples:

* ___________________                                      - __________________

* ___________________                                      - __________________

* ___________________                                      - __________________

* ___________________                                      - __________________

Go to these two CBC websites and choose one podcast.  There are many different topics, so you shouldn't have any difficulty finding one of interest to you.  

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/current-affairs-information/the-current/

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/current-affairs-information/white-coat-black-art/

Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 14th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, you will be working on two tasks. First, I would like you to prepare a short descriptive presentation (8-10 mins.) which you present for us starting next Wednesday (May 21st).  When you're preparing, please keep the things in mind that we have been practicing about organization and delivery. I will be evaluating your organization and content, as well as your delivery, so please be enthusiastic.   You may use visuals, picture, PowerPoint, Prezi, etc. if you wish to enhance your presentation.  Choose a topic from this list:

1. In your opinion, what is the most important characteristic (for example, honesty, intelligence, a sense of humor) that a person must have to be successful in life? Use specific reasons and examples from your experience to explain your answer.

2. If you were asked to send one thing representing your country to an international exhibition, what would you choose? Why? Use specific reasons and details to explain your choice.

3. Your city has decided to build a statue or monument to honor a famous person in your country. Who would you choose? Use reasons and specific examples to support your choice.

4. Describe a custom from your country that you would like people from other countries to adopt. Explain your choice, using specific reasons and examples.

5. A foreign visitor has only one day to spend in your country. Where should this visitor go on that day? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your choice.

6. If you could go back to some time and place in the past, when and where would you go? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your choice.

7. What discovery in the last 100 years has been most beneficial for people in your country? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice.

8. People have different ways of escaping the stress and difficulties of modern life. Some read; some exercise; others work in their gardens. What do you think are the best ways of reducing stress? Use specific details and examples in your answer.

9. People attend college or university for many different reasons (for example, new experiences, career preparation, increased knowledge). Why do you think people attend college or university? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

10. Nowadays, food has become easier to prepare. Has this change improved the way people live? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

When your finished, you can move on and do some more practice with word stress:

http://evaeaston.com/stress-pattern.html

Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 7th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

Please begin by writing a one paragraph summary of the lecture from this morning.  You may use your notes to help you.  Please hand in your notes, comprehension question answers, and summary at the end of class.  

Here are some tips for taking better notes:

For those of you who have not completed the autobiography for your learning portfolio, please refer to the blog entry from April 23 for instructions.  

Ideally, you will also have some extra time to work on word stress.  Please follow the link to read more about word stress.

http://www.really-learn-english.com/word-stress.html

Here's an online exercise for extra practice:

http://esol.britishcouncil.org/pronunciation/identify-stressed-syllables

Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,  

This afternoon, I'm going to give you some time to work on your autobiographies and goal statements for your portfolios. Please finish your final versions of your autobiographies and submit them via email.  Then, you can finish creating your list of goals for language learning.  This video might help you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cCiqbSJ9fg

Finally, go to the VoiceThread and post your comments for today's slides.

https://voicethread.com/share/5608869/

Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, we are going to be creating a document for your new learning portfolios.  This morning, we talked about the purpose of a portfolio and how we will be using them.  In the first section, 'About Me', you will place information about your specific needs and goals.  The first document will be your autobiography.  This is your story about who you are, where you're from and what you're planning to do in the future?

Please write several paragraphs describing what you think are the important details of your life.  You don't need to write anything that makes you feel uncomfortable.  This information will help you to assess your needs, establish your goals, and make a plan for your future learning.  
Submit your writing before the end of class, and it will become part of your portfolio.  

Once you've finished your autobiography, please follow the link to the POSE Test.  I would like you to complete the 'Word Stress' test.  

http://eslactivities.com/pt/mainMenu.phpsesID=7a774dc993e99bd547dedfa39b03cd13

Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 16th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, you're going to be working quite a bit with the VoiceThread.  We seem to have overcome our problems with posting comments (my apologies! The privacy settings were too private ;) 

First, please begin by review the different types of intonation in English. You can listen while you're reading.

http://reallifebh.com/intonation-the-secret-ingredient-to-great-pronunciation-with-audio  

After you have reviewed this website, please go to the VoiceThread and practice what you've learned.

https://voicethread.com/share/5608869/

After you've practiced the different intonation patterns, please practice sharing your opinions on the statements provided.  Try using some of the expressions you learning this morning with Melissa.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 9th, 2014

Good Afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, we going to continue to think about stress and listen to a different way to think about stress. First, you will listen to a TED Talk, entitled 'How to Make Stress Your Friend' by Kelly McGonigal.  The talk is only 14:28 minutes, so you'll be able to listen twice if necessary.  **DO NOT look at the transcript. (This is a listening and speaking activity not a reading activity.)

Before you listen, here are some words that might unfamiliar to you.  Use an online dictionary (not Google Translate) to look up any new words:

1. track (verb)
2. belief
3. freak someone out (idiom)
4. impromptu
5. demoralized
6. constrict (verb)
7. intervention
8. mechanism
9. resilience

http://www.ldoceonline.com/

http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/


http://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend


I know that last week we had some difficulty with VoiceThread, but some of you were able to post messages.  Please try again if you weren't able to post last week.  Also, you will find that I have added a new page for this week's listening task.

https://voicethread.com/#u2203971.b5608869


Finally, here's a little extra practice with word stress, just for fun. :) 

http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/253.html


Enjoy!!

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014

Good Afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, you're going to familiarize yourself with several of the tools we use in LINC 7.  You will access the blog in class, and you can also access it outside of class at any time.  

Please begin by completing the Needs Assessment:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TJQA7rYfrTVCgOy8988950P8A4znCDrllB29_brdxlQ/viewform

Next, we're going to do some listening.  Please follow the link to the BBC Talk About English: Who on Earth Are We? website and listen to Part 1 (please note that you will have to scroll to the bottom of the screen to find it).  Please take notes while you're listening.  If there are words that you need to look up, please use one of these dictionaries:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/

http://www.oed.com/


http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/webcast/tae_whoonearth_archive.shtml

After you have listened to Part 1, please go to the LINC 7 VoiceThread (https://voicethread.com/share/5608869/) and add your comments.  You should have received an invitation via email for VoiceThread.com. 

Enjoy!

:) 

Wednesday, March 26th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, we are going to take a break from writing and researching....YAY!  You will be working on your speaking.  The exercises below are related to the speaking part of the IELTS task; however, many tests have similar types of speaking exercises.  

First, begin by watch a sample IELTS speaking exam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2oawkQIgrw

This speaker is an example of an approximate Band 7 (approximately CLB 9). *Notice that her speaking isn't perfect but very fluent.

Here's some more information about the three parts of the test.  After you've read about the different parts, you can listen to some examples and even try recording your own responses by clicking on these buttons:



http://www.splendid-speaking.com/exams/ielts_speaking.html


Here's the link to Melissa's presentation last week on Michael Ondaatje:

http://www.slideshare.net/KimHenrie/melissas-presentationmichael-ondaatje



Enjoy!
Kim

Wednesday, March 19th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

Today I would like you to finish working on the final draft of your reports. Some of you haven't submitted a first draft yet, so you will need to begin with the first draft.   Here's the format again that you should use: 

When you've completed your writing, here are some more exercises on articles:

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/images/stories/Documents/articles.pdf

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/images/stories/Documents/definite-article.pdf

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/determiners-and-quantifiers/indefinite-article-and

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/determiners-and-quantifiers/definite-article

Wednesday, March 5th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

Thank-you for your interesting presentations! I think we have learned a lot of Canada and Hamilton, too! 

This afternoon, you're going to continue working on the written report based on your presentation.  Most of you have not submitted your first draft, so you should begin by completing the first draft.  Don't forget to paraphrase, quote and cite your references.  Your report should include 5 paragraphs in the following format:

Don't forget to include references using APA format.  You will need to include a reference list at the end but also in-text references following quotations and information that you've paraphrased from your sources.

Please refer to the Mohawk College library APA reference sheet that I handed out when creating your references or go to the Mohawk website:

http://mohawkcollege.ca.libguides.com/Citeyoursources

You will submit a first draft and receive feedback on your format, content, and references before submitting your final draft for evaluation.

Wednesday, February 26th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, you going to begin working on the written report based on your research and presentation. Your report should include 5 paragraphs in the following format: 

Don't forget to include references using APA format.  You will need to include a reference list at the end but also in-text references following quotations and information that you've paraphrased from your sources.

Please refer to the Mohawk College library APA reference sheet that I handed out when creating your references or go to the Mohawk website:

http://mohawkcollege.ca.libguides.com/Citeyoursources

You will submit a first draft and receive feedback on your format, content, and references before submitting your final draft for evaluation.

Wednesday, February 19th, 2014

Here's the presentation schedule:

Monday, February 24th

• 9:20- 9:40         Beatrice
• 9:40- 10:00        Mei
• 10:00- 10:20      __________
• 10:20- 10:40      __________
• 
  
• 1:00- 1:20          Carla
• 1:20- 1:40          Diana
• 1:40- 2:00          Arwa

Wednesday, February 26th

• 9:00- 9:20        __________
• 9:20- 9:40         Jodi
• 9:40- 10:00       Raquel
• 10:00- 10:20     Andrea
• 10:20- 10:40     

Monday, March 3rd

• 9:20- 9:40         Heba
• 9:40- 10:00        Rana
• 10:00- 10:20      Amna
• 10:20- 10:40      Salma
• 
  
• 1:00- 1:20         Ping
• 1:20- 1:40         Modeaa
• 1:40- 2:00         Souha

Wednesday, March 5th

• 9:20- 9:40         Peter
• 9:40- 10:00       Jeena
• 10:00- 10:20     Robert
• 10:20- 10:40     

Wednesday, February 12th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

You will have the entire period this afternoon to work on your research and prepare your presentation using PowerPoint, Prezi, or Google Drive. 

Once you've completed your research, you'll need to think about what information to include.  Remember not to include to much information on each slide. For a 15 minute presentation, you shouldn't use more than 12 slides, including the title slide and the list of references at the end.  It's expected to include references in presentations, and this will give you an opportunity to practice using APA before you complete the next stage of this lesson. ;)

Melissa and I will be available to help you creating your slides and formatting your APA references.  

Because of the Family Day holiday on Monday, February 17th, presentations will be on the following days: Monday, Feb. 24th, Wednesday, Feb. 26th, and Monday, March 3rd.  Once everyone has selected a topic, I will circulate a sign-up sheet for these three days. 

Consider this structure when putting together your presentation:

1. what are the significant events in your person's life?
2. what was his/her contribution to Canada?
3. how can you connect (or not) with your person?

Here are some websites to help you get started with your research:

http://library.mohawkcollege.ca/#

http://hpl.bibliocommons.com/search?t=smart&q=

http://www.cbc.ca/

http://www.canadahistory.com/

http://canada.ca/en/services/culture/index.html?utm_medium=decommissioned+site&utm_campaign

=Canada+Site+Redirect+Tracking&utm_source=canada.gc.ca/eng/aboutcanada-ausujetcanada/&utm_content=Launch+Tracking

You may need to visit the library to find more information and remember NO Wikipedia!

Wednesday, February 5th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,


This afternoon, you're going to do some preliminary research about some important Canadians and learn more about using references, paraphrasing, direct quotations, and avoiding plagiarism.

First, I would like you to go to the Mohawk College library website and look at the information available for using the APA style for referencing.  This is generally the most commonly used style, with the exception of the Humanities.  

http://mohawkcollege.ca.libguides.com/content.php?pid=135623&sid=2019480

Next, I would like you to take some time to and choose one of the people from the list of important Canadians.  You may need to do some research if you're not sure who these people are. At this stage, you may (you have my permission ;) use Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an acceptable resource to find a quick answer to a question.  It is not, however, acceptable for academic research.  When you begin working on the next part, you will need to consult other resources, which can include: online sources, books, journal, video clips.  Remember to keep track of where you find your information.  

You will need to write down the following information for each source:

• author's name
• title
• year published
• publisher
• page number
• if it's a website, the url address for the website 

At this point, we're not worried about perfect form for references, but rather making sure that any information you use is clearly identified as being someone else's idea(s).

Important Canadians:

1. Lincoln Alexander- Beatrice
2. Chief Theresa Spence
3. Pierre Elliott Trudeau-Jodi
4. Nellie McClung- Souha
5. Frank Gehry- Rana
6. Roberta Bondar- Andrea
7. Timothy Eaton- Sai
8. Louis Riel- Jeena
9. Adelaide Hoodless- Diana
10. Jian Ghomeshi- Peter
11. George Stromboulopolis- Selma 
12. Elizabeth Bagshaw- Merna
13. Tommy Douglas- Souha
14. Romeo Dallaire- Raquel
15. Agnes Macphail- Modeaa
16. Joseph Brant- Amna
17. Ellen Fairclough- Mandeep
18. David Suzuki- Carla
19. Margaret Atwood
20. Lester B. Pearson- Arwa
21. Karen Kain- Mei
22. Tim Horton- Ping
23. Rick Mercer-
24. Ivan Reitman- Heba
25. Graham Greene- Robert

Once you've chosen the person you'd like to research, begin collecting information and prepare to complete a 15 minute presentation.  You should use MS PowerPoint slide, Google Drive Presentation, Prezi, or any other program that will allow you to create a visual to accompany your presentation. You will have some class time to prepare, but you will also have to work on this outside of class.  Presentations will begin on Monday, February 17th and take place over several Monday and Wednesday classes.  

Wednesday, January 29th, 2014

 Good afternoon LINC 7,

Today we are going to do some more on-line listening using TED Talks.  I would like you to follow the link below to the talk entitled, "Bryan Stevenson: We Need to Talk about an Injustice." This talk is 23:41, so it will be possible to listen to it twice if necessary.  *DO NOT enable the subtitles in your language.

http://www.ted.com/playlists/15/the_pursuit_of_justice.html

Here are some vocabulary words that will hear in the talk:

matriarch, enslaved, y'all, hung up on, probation, parole, distort, culpability, disenfranchised, litigation, lynched, unconscionable, degraded, marginalization, conviction

• After you have listened, please research these people who were mentioned in the talk: Vaclav Havel, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King.  
• What is the connection between these three people and concepts of 'identity' and 'injustice'? 
• Please write about the connection between these three and identity and injustice.  Which one do you identify with the most? Why?

This weekend, there are two special things happening.  Friday marks the beginning of the lunar new year, also known as the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival).  

         恭禧發財

Here's some interesting information about the festival:

http://www.ibtimes.co.in/articles/535951/20140126/chinese-new-year-2014-wooden-horse-facts.htm

This year is the year of the horse. 

Sunday is Groundhog Day.  Don't forget to check the news and see whether Wiarton Willie sees his shadow or not. 

Enjoy,
Kim

Paraphrasing

Remember when you are paraphrasing someone else's words and ideas, change the words but not the ideas.  Here's a picture to help you remember. :)








Page 135, Task 7, Practising Paraphrasing


Here are some example paraphrases created by previous LINC 7 students:

1.  Vaccines are safe for almost everyone although very rarely there are people who experience adverse reactions. (original)

• Immunizations are considered safe for every single person even though they have negative effects for some.
• Not very often, people have a negative reaction to vaccines.
• Vaccines can cause severe reactions to a minority of people in rare cases.
• Some people have bad reactions to vaccines. However, vaccines are okay for most people.
• Vaccines are good for people, but some have a negative reaction to them.

2. Some mild side effects are experienced by most people after they are immunized. (original)

• After immunization, most people usually have mild side effects from vaccines.
• Most people  have mild side effects when they are vaccinated.
• Mild side effects occur for some people after vaccination.
• Even though there are people who have negative reactions to immunizations, they are still good for the majority.

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, I'm going to give you some time to practice working on paraphrasing and modal verbs.

You can continue to work on the handout that I gave you in class. Here's a website that you may find helpful with your paraphrases:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/01/


When you're finished, you can work on those pesky modal verbs:

http://www.englishpage.com/modals/modalintro.html


Finally, here's a chart with the meanings of modal verbs and examples.

Wednesday, January 15th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, I'm going to give the chance to practice the vocabulary used to describe graphs and charts. Please begin by reading the example paragraph from the text about the graph we looked at yesterday.

The graph shows the number of telephones owned per thousand of the population in different countries over a five-year period.  Overall, the phone owners per thousand of the population varied considerably.  However, numbers tended to fall in countries with the highest level of phone ownership whereas numbers generally rose in countries which had fewer phone owners in 2000.  By far, the highest level of phone ownership was in Singapore where just under 430 people per thousand were owners in 2004.  This figure is slightly lower than the 2000 figure of around 460 per thousand.  In Brunei Darussalam, the second highest levels of phone ownership were recorded, and the numbers fluctuated around 250 per thousand level across the five years.  Countries like Cambodia and Vietnam has much lower levels of phone ownership, and these increased up to 2004 rather than decreasing.  In the remaining countries, the number of landline phone owners remained below the 100 per thousand level between 2000 and 2004.

What do you think about this example?
  







More Vocabulary for describing graphs/charts:

http://www.dcielts.com/task-1-2/trend-vocabulary-ielts/

Please read through this page before trying the exercises in the 'Test Yourself First' section.

Next, you will be doing some listening practice from the Longman TOEFL cds. On the Main Menu, click on Skills, then Listening, and finally Pragmatic Understanding.  Please complete as many as you can from Passages 1, 2, and 3. 


Enjoy!