Welcome to the course!

Please have a look in the folder called  STUDY MATERIALS, especially the COURSE REQUIREMENTS in the ADMINISTRATION AND CRITERIA folder.

We will start with your group "mini presentations"  on the Pro-con topis you chose in the first session.

With your group, you will rework your best arguments and conclusions into a short 5-6 minute-long presentation. The format is up to you, i.e. it may be a simple talk or visual presentation and should represent the main arguments and main conclusions you have arrived at as a group on any agreed upon topic. Feel free to include any other extra research you may do on your topic (in addition to ProCon).

Task 1:

Explore the Academic Word List page, here:  https://www.eapfoundation.com/vocab/academic/awllists/

Discover the use of the Academic Word List Highlighter, here: https://www.eapfoundation.com/vocab/academic/highlighter/

Try out English Vocabulary Exercises, here: http://www.englishvocabularyexercises.com/academic-word-list/index.html

Listening: Giving Talks - 1) Preparation 2) Language 3) Delivery

Task: Listen to the three recordings below and note down the key points for 1), 2) and 3)

REMEMBER to start recording your Language Learning Log (LLL) with some new VOCABULARY that you are processing. You can also include some REFLECTION on your group presentation that you did in Week 2- including the preparation phase, team work, actual delivery and handling of question.

During the seminar

Before the seminar:

Task 1: Revisit and review "Week 3: Presentation skills" in Week 3 of the Interactive Syllabus, especially the part about handling questions (pg. 9).

Task 2: Think of a topic that you would like to cover in your semester presentation. Focus on a purpose statement and an introductory part i.e. describe the aim and reason for your talk and context,  and why your audience should be interested in your presentation  - you will do a short peer review and ask for some feedback. (Remember that by stating your presentation’s purpose in the first few minutes, you shape your audience’s expectations. This adds to your credibility as a speaker). 

Task 3: Please read the below handout (up to the end of page 3) and focus on Tasks 1, 2, 3

Optional task: 

For more help with grammar, the Linguistic Quizzes should be useful:

We will cover the rest of materials from the previous week.

Presentations schedule and sign-up sheets

1) Please finalize your topic selection for your individual presentations if you have not done so.

2) Choose the date / week for your presentation, and enter your name and the presentation title / topic into the sign-up sheet below:

Before the seminar: Leads (homework preparation)

The lead, or opening paragraph, is the most important part of a news story. With so many sources of information – newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and the Internet – audiences simply are not willing to read beyond the first paragraph (and even sentence) of a story unless it grabs their interest. A good lead does just that. It gives readers the most important information in a clear, concise and interesting manner. It also establishes the voice and direction of an article, and entices the reader to continue.

Tips for Writing a Lead

1. The Five W’s and H: Before writing a lead, decide which aspect of the story – who, what, when, where, why, how – is most important. You should emphasize those aspects in your lead. Wait to explain less important aspects until the second or third sentence.
2. Conflict: Good stories have conflict. So do many good leads.
3. Specificity: Though you are essentially summarizing information in most leads, try to be specific as possible. If your lead is too broad, it won’t be informative or interesting.
4. Brevity: Readers want to know why the story matters to them and they won’t wait long for the answer. Leads are often one sentence, sometimes two. Generally, they are 25 to 30 words and should rarely be more than 40.
5. Active sentences: Strong verbs will make your lead lively and interesting. Passive constructions, on the other hand, can sound dull and leave out important information, such as the person or thing that caused the action.
6. Audience and context: Take into account what your reader already knows. Remember that in today’s media culture, most readers become aware of breaking news as it happens. If you’re writing for a print publication the next day, your lead should do more than merely regurgitate (repeat) yesterday’s news.
7. Honesty: A lead is an implicit promise to your readers. You must be able to deliver what you promise in your lead.

Task 1: Look at the LEADS ppt. slides below to see some examples.

Task 2: Please start uploading your own relevant and current lead into the DF below (you may include the link to the original story there), ask a follow-up question of two other students, or just comment, and be ready to discuss it in class.

Note: this is one of your continuous tasks and needs to be completed until Week 8 (incl.)

Before the seminar

Study material for the seminar

There will also be in class presentations according to the schedule below:

This week you are going to discuss the topic of the environment.

In-class presentations will take place according to the schedule below:

 ! Note: There is a change concerning seminar group 04 schedule (from week 8 onward)

Please upload your presentation here:

Extra material related to a summary writing

Task (optional): as a  follow up on Week 7 seminar, you can do some research on SDGs goals at: Home - United Nations Sustainable Development (you can choose one of  the goals and find out more information about what issues and challenges the goal tries to address and resolve and what we can do to fix these issues).

Those who missed seminar 7 can review the in-class slides in Week 7 of the IS.

Argumentative text (continuous) task

Instructions:

Write an argumentative text of about 170 to 220 words.

You may choose to structure your text into 3-4 short paragraphs:

1)    the introduction with thesis statement (introduction of your two response points, i.e., what the main argument of your essay is / your main claim) and background (the context for your argument)

2)    arguments for or against, with examples and evidence

For each of your response points, you should:

·       a) make a clear claim; and then

·       b) give evidence for that claim.

 3) the conclusion (making a more general statement and possibly stating your final position)

You may write your text on the assertion we covered (see Week 6 in the IS): Why I hate the news. OR Your body language may shape who you are OR The power of introverts OR Facebook’s role in Brexit: A threat to democracy OR a any other source of your choice.

Most likely, your response (to your selected original text /article, video, podcast etc. – whatever you have chosen and summarized), will fall into one of the following categories:

·       You will agree with the author and support your agreement with logic, (other sources, supporting examples, and/or) personal experience.

·       You will disagree with the author and back your disagreement up with logic, (other sources, counterexamples, and/or) personal experience.

·       You will agree with part of the author's points and disagree with others.

·       You will agree or disagree with the author but feel that there is a more important or different point that needs to be discussed in addition to what is in the original text.

Please upload your texts into the vault provided in Week 6

Deadline: April, 16th.

Week 8 seminar

In this week's seminar, we are going to cover the topic of writing an abstract.

Additionally, in-class presentations will take place according to the agreed schedule (see week 5)

After the seminar

Upload your presentation abstract here:

Deadline: April, 30th

Task 1: In-class presentations as per the schedule.

Task 2:  Listen to the lecture Science Can Answer Moral Questions  by Sam Harris at:

https://www.ted.com/talks/sam_harris_science_can_answer_moral_questions

1)      Can values be reduced to facts?

2)      Can the idea of well-being be defined? How? Or is it too open to interpretation to be defined?

3)      With morality, we value differences of opinion in ways that we do not allow in other areas of our lives. Which areas? Why?

4)      Is it possible for there to be expertise in the moral sphere? What are the criteria? Who could have this expertise?

Task 1: Please familiarize yourself with the study material below prior to the seminar

Task 2: Final in-class presentations as per the schedule (only group 4, 14:00)

Submit your LLL here: Deadline 14th May

Requirements wrap-up

Maximum 50 points

(Extra: Group presentation…………………… 3 points)