Friday, August 31, 2007

Use all your intelligence




Using words and numbers, answer the following ten questions. Have fun. Tell me how you worked out the right answer.

1. Susan walked three miles in one hour. She had to slow down to two miles per hour. She returned at two miles per hour.
What was her average speed?


2. Hassan took six hours to fly to Pluto, in Tierra del Fuego, at 2,000 miles per hour. He hit a head wind on the way back and could only fly at 1,000 miles per hour.
What was his average speed?


3. Unscramble each word below and then form a grammatical sentence about Tom with the words you have found. What is the sentence?
DLRAIEY TMO DSIA OWT TOSAUHND NWO NWO KBOOS.

4. Sally likes liquorice jelly beans, but not vanilla or lemon. She gets a packet of 15 jelly beans, 5 of each flavour. How many jelly beans does she have to remove before she can guarantee getting a liquorice jelly bean?


5. In a contest to collect bags of clothing for charity, Patty was neither first not last, but she beat Jan. Rachel beat Sue. Sue beat Patty. Sally beat Rachel.
Who collected the most clothing?


6. Take one letter from each word to form the name of an animal. What is the name of the animal?
CUT INTO GOT GET ROT

7. Jim is three times as old as Jane was two years ago. In 10 years, Jane will be as old as Jim is now.
How old are they now?


8. At a hairdresser’s one busy Saturday, the staff found there were 10 blondes. One fourth of the customers had red hair, and half had brown hair. How many customers were in the hairdresser’s that Saturday?

9. In one year, Roy will be three times as old as he was 19 years ago. How old is he now?


10.If six painters can paint 12 walls in 30 minutes, working at the same speed, how long will it take two painters to paint 16 walls?


Answers later!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Help with phonetics and producing sounds in English


Help with phonetic symbols
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/phoneticsymbolsforenglish.htm

Help with producing the sounds represented by phonetic symbols
http://www.derek.co.uk/vowels.htm

Links to other sites
http://www.faceweb.okanagan.bc.ca/pron/minpair3.html

BBC Guides
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/pron/chart
NB: All good dictionaries include a chart of all phonetic symbols used with each headword.
Robert L. Fielding

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Extended essay - check list

Check your writing assignment for the following:-
A clear argument http://cptra.ln.edu.hk/~ym1wong/eleac/02process/develop/identification.html

Supporting your argument http://www.umt.edu/writingcenter/pdfs/MicrosoftWord-ThreeWaystoSupport.pdf

Appropriate staging http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/learningconnection/student/learningAdvisors/essays.asp

Key concepts http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/essay/2b.html

Evidence http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/using_evidence.shtml

Critical analysis http://essayinfo.com/essays/critical_essay.php

In text referencing http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/02/

Full reference list http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/06/

Vocabulary (use, register and variety) http://www.uefap.com/writing/feature/intro.htm

Sentence structure http://wwwnew.towson.edu/ows/sentelmt.htm
Robert L. Fielding

Monday, August 13, 2007

Guide to online learning








Online Resources
for
Learners

http://www.rlfielding.com/


Robert L. Fielding

Learning Strategies
Homepage of Study Guides and Strategies
http://www.studygs.net/
Find out what kind of learner you are by filling out this online questionnaire
http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html
A good site for all sorts of things for students and teachers
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/links.html

BBC Learning English – a place to listen to English to help your listening comprehension
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/index.shtml

Online listening for learners – lots and lots of different topics
http://www.elllo.org/index.htm

Keeping a reflective journal – something you can do for the rest of your life
http://www.doceo.co.uk/reflection/index.htm

Style Manual for everything from how to punctuate sentences to when to use italics in your writing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style

Untangling the web – help with online research
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/internet/search/index.html

Counseling services and information and advice on all sorts of problems
http://www.eatingdisorders.org.au/

Feeling homesick – find your local newspaper on this site – wherever you come from in the world
http://www.world-newspapers.com/uae.html

A good place to start to find information
http://dmoz.org/Business/Healthcare/desc.html

Health issues – find help here, but talk to someone too
http://www.athealth.com/Consumer/issues/issues.html

Create a place to save and access your favourites
www. crayon.net is a site that provides a place where you can access all your favourites.
Click on the link and follow the simple instructions.
NB. This is a free and secure site. You will be asked to provide an email address.
http://www.crayon.net/scripts/login.cgi?mode=create
Links to concordancers

UGRU Concordancer
http://www.ugru.uaeu.ac.ae/concordance/

Other concordancers - this one is probably the most useful one for students, with a little help from a teacher
http://www.lextutor.ca/concordancers/concord_e.html2.
Great links for teachers and learners
Using English for Academic Purposes
http://www.uefap.com/
Glossaries for everything
http://bloxword.ca/glossaries.htm
Wordsmyth – glossary maker (you need to register with this site)
http://www.wordsmyth.net/home.php?content=glossary
‘Cause and effect essay’ outlines and resources
http://essayinfo.com/essays/cause_and_effect_essay.php
Chris Morrow’s Blinklist
http://www.blinklist.com/grammar/
Activities for Learners
http://a4esl.org/
At http://www.whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/ (Also found on homepage)

Dictation exercises at:-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2007/08/dictation-exercises-for-listening-and.html

Pronunciation exercises at :-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2007/08/help-with-pronunciation-for-prawate-and.html

Writing textbook online at :-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2007/08/your-text-book.html

Describing charts and graphs at:-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2007/08/describing-graphs-and-charts_02.html

Advice on paraphrasing at :-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2007/08/paraphrasing.html

Advice on giving oral presentations at :-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2007/08/advice-on-giving-oral-presentations.html

What is plagiarism? at:-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2007/08/what-exactly-is-plagiarism.html

Outlining an essay at :-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2007/07/outlining-essay.html

Wordsmyth – help with vocabulary at :- http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2007/07/wordsmyth.html

Interactive grammar sites at :-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2007/07/interactive-grammar-sites.html

Internet Classroom Assistant at :-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2007/07/internet-classroom-assistant-users.html

Subscribing to a podcast at :-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2007/03/subscribing-to-podcast.html

Environmental Pollution – Glossaries at:-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2006/11/environmental-pollution-links-to.html

Become an active learner at :-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2006/10/become-active-learner.html

Strategies to help you develop as a thinker at :-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2006/07/nine-strategies-to-help-you-develop-as.html

Honesty in your work at university at :-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2006/02/honesty-in-your-work-at-university.html

Time management for students at :-
http://whatsnewintheworld.blogspot.com/2006/01/time-management-for-students.html


And much, much more

Just sit, look and learn – let the mouse do the walking!

http://www.rlfielding.com/


Robert L. Fielding
NB: All the sites featured in this guide are free.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Dictation - exercises for listening and writing

Go to
http://www.learnenglish.de/Dictation/Dictation1.htm

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Help with pronunciation for students

Go to these sites for help with your pronunciation of English words.

Remember to practice, practice, practice.


http://www.sil.org/Mexico/ling/Glosario/E005ci-PlacesArt.htm

http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/IPA_chart_(C)2005.pdf

http://www.umanitoba.ca/linguistics/russell/phonetics/articulation/describing-consonants.html

http://www.unil.ch/Jahia/site/ling/cache/offonce/pid/24434

http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/linguistics/russell/138/sec3/poa-big.htm


To hear a word - type the word in the Search box. Make sure you spell the word correctly.
http://www.howjsay.com/

A good writing text book online

Go to

http://www.englishforacademicstudy.com/Task.aspx?taskId=1&unitId=6&partId=1

Monday, August 06, 2007

Interactive Pronunciation Exercises for students

For help with your pronunciation, go to

http://cla.univ-fcomte.fr/english/sites/beginners.htm

Listen and repeat. Record your own voice and compare the way you pronounce words, b ut remember that the pronunciation of many words changes in utterances with other words.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Describing graphs and charts


Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Paraphrasing

Links to help

1. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_paraphr.html

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraphrase

3. http://library.duke.edu/research/plagiarism/cite/paraphrase.html

4. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&rls=GGLR,GGLR:2006-05,GGLR:en&defl=en&q=define:Paraphrasing&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title

5. http://www.canadacollege.edu/inside/acad_integrity/ParaphrasingStrategies.pdf

Characteristics of a well-done paraphrase
It is not a summary.
It does not contain most of the words or phrases from the original (plagiarism).
It includes all minor details from original.
The meaning of the writing being paraphrased is clearer to the reader than in the original text.
It restates the thesis
It is usually shorter than the original. wikipedia.com
Robert L. Fielding

Advice on giving oral presentations

Go to

Mark D. Hill
Computer Sciences DepartmentUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison
April 1992; Revised January 1997
http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~markhill/conference-talk.html

What exactly is plagiarism?

Plagiarism (Use the linked words in the text to find out more)

Plagiarism (from Latin plagiare "to kidnap") is the practice of claiming, or implying, original authorship or incorporating material from someone else's written or creative work, in whole or in part, into one's own without adequate acknowledgement. Unlike cases of forgery, in which the authenticity of the writing, document, or some other kind of object, itself is in question, plagiarism is concerned with the issue of false attribution. Plagiarism can also occur unconsciously; in some cultures certain forms of plagiarism are accepted because the concept can be interpreted differently.
Within
academia, plagiarism by students, professors, or researchers is considered academic dishonesty or academic fraud and offenders are subject to academic censure. In journalism, plagiarism is considered a breach of journalistic ethics, and reporters caught plagiarizing typically face disciplinary measures ranging from suspension to termination. Some individuals caught plagiarizing in academic or journalistic contexts claim that they plagiarized unintentionally, by failing to include quotations or give the appropriate citation. While plagiarism in scholarship and journalism has a centuries-old history, the development of the Internet, where articles appear as electronic text, has made the physical act of copying the work of others much easier.
Plagiarism is different from
copyright infringement. While both terms may apply to a particular act, they emphasize different aspects of the transgression. Copyright infringement is a violation of the rights of the copyright holder, when material is used without the copyright holder's consent. On the other hand, plagiarism is concerned with the unearned increment to the plagiarizing author's reputation.
wikipedia.com

Plagiarism - how to avoid it

1. Read - write down the main ideas (the ones that are useful to you)

2. Divide the points into:-

a) generally known ideas (eg. Water is vital to all forms of life.)

b) not generally known ideas/information (Water degradation is doubled in areas frequented by tourists.)

c) specific information (More water is used in tourist areas than in other areas - 880 litres per person per day vs 250 litres pppd)

Use without citing (a)

Use only after citing (b), (c)

But

i) If you use (a) from a source, still try to paraphrase it (it it into your own words)

ii) Use the information in an order that is different to the order in the original source (ie. Do not simply copy from someone else's text.)

iii) Don't let the original text dominate your writing - you choose what to write, and in what order you wish to write it.
Robert L. Fielding