Seminar 8 – University VOCABULARY Task 1 Put each of the following words or phrases into its correct place in the passage. amount curriculum outlines technical calendar electives prospectus three class hours graduation specified week major number subjects college selecting requirements opportunity courses Enrolment The courses given by a ………. (1) or university are called its curriculum. The ………. (2) of the institution ………. (3) the complete ………. (4). It gives the ………. (5) for entry to each course, as well as the credits given for the ………. (6). Each course is designated as giving a ………. (7) number of credits. These are usually equal to the number of ………. (8) devoted each week to the course.. For example, a course that meets three times a ………. (9) usually gives ………. (10) credits towards graduation. Schools using the semester ………. (11) require about 120 credits for ………. (12). Between 30 and 40 of the required credits must be in the student´s ………. (13) subject. Schools vary considerably in the ………. (14) of freedom given students in ………. (15) their courses. Almost all schools have a certain ………. (16) of required ………. (17). Students can also usually choose non-required courses called ………. (18). Liberal-arts colleges usually give students more ………. (19) to choose than do ………. (20) schools. LISTENING Task 2 Listen to the conversation and select the best answer. 1. What will happen if the woman doesn't pay her tuition by the due date? A. She'll have to pay a significant late fee. B. She'll be required to register again for school. C. She'll need to wait a semester to take classes. 2. What is the woman planning to take with her to school from home? A. some food B. warm clothing C. her game system 3. Based on her major, where will she most likely work? A. at a bank B. for a school C. in a national park 4. The father suggests a specific major based on the possibility of _______________. A. earning a decent living B. travelling to different countries C. moving up in the company 5. The man is surprised by the fact that his daughter ________________________. A. already has a part-time job at school B. has earned a scholarship for the first year C. is involved in a serious relationship http://www.esl-lab.com/universitydegree/universitydegreerd1.htm#list VOCABULARY BUILDER Task 3 Choose the best answer. Začátek formuláře 1. A complete listing of courses offered will be found in the class (schedule/plan). 2. Students must pay all their fees before the start of each (semester/division). 3. At university = At (college/PhD). 4. A college or university building containing living quarters for students is called a dormitory, or " " (dorm/dormitorium) for short. 5. Another way of saying "dormitory" is "student " (residents/residence). 6. A student from another university who comes to study for one or two semesters is called an (exchange/elite) student. 7. How many (classes/class) are you taking this semester? 8. What is the short form for "professor"? (prof/pro). 9. A (freshman/starter) is someone in their first year of (an American) university. 10. A (senior/leaver) is someone in their final year of (an American) university. Other useful phrases: 1 Communication with the Erasmus Co-ordinator What is your email address? When are your contact/office hours? Are you available outside of these hours? Are all my documents in order? 2 Orientation in the host institution: Where can I find the Erasmus co-ordinator? Where is the International Studies Centre? Who is the Erasmus co-ordinator at this faculty? Where is the cafeteria/canteen? Where can I/you print or copy materials? Where is the study room? How do you/I get from Building A to Building B? Can you tell me where Room #555 is? I’m looking for Room #555. Can you direct me to it? 3 On-line course registration (IS MU English) Vocabulary: course registration, deregistration (to deregister a course), compulsory/optional course, type of course completion, study schedule/time-line, semester timetable, registration for study, enrolment in a course, pre-requisite course/co-requisite course, see IS PREPARING FOR UNIVERSITY WRITING Task 4 Think about your ability to write in English. How good are you at the following? Discuss with a partner. very good good ok not good unsure 1. Understanding writing tasks 2. Planning 3. Creating ideas 4. Writing introductions 5. Organizing and linking ideas 6. Evaluation ideas 7. Paraphrasing 8. Summarizing 9. Thinking critically 10. Handling different sources of information Which areas would you like to improve most (top 3)? De Chazal, E. & McCarter, S.; Oxford EAP: A course in English for Academic Purposes, OUP, pp. 16. GENERATING IDEAS FOR WRITING Task 5 Working with a partner, list the arguments for and against studying abroad in another language. You can use the following methods 1 Brainstorming - Write 'studying a foreign language' in the centre of a piece of paper and write down as many ideas connected with this as you can think of. Do not exclude any ideas, positive or negative. 2 Key words and phrases - Make a list of nouns or brief phrases that you associate with studying a foreign language. 3 Using text-based sources - Use online articles or information from newspapers and magazines to help you generate ideas. (HW) 4 Using visual information - Research images, video clips, or data online or in the media associated with studying a foreign language, and note down key ideas or information. (HW) Look again at method 2 above. How do the following words relate to the advantages of studying a foreign language? culture, other countries, job, friends, travel, career, new ideas, new places, education for life. Task 6 Using the most interesting ideas from above, select 3 main points for the ESSAY PLAN and make up an ESSAY TITLE. Example title: Factors That Make Young People Choose a Career Abroad 3 main points: 1) potential earnings 2) the influence of friends 3) life experience De Chazal, E. & McCarter, S.; Oxford EAP: A course in English for Academic Purposes, OUP, p.17. CRITICAL THINKING – EVALUATING YOUR PLAN Checklist Is the essay plan simple? Is it well organized? Are the ideas clear? Do the ideas fit well together? Can you use the plan to explain your ideas? De Chazal, E. & McCarter, S.; Oxford EAP: A course in English for Academic Purposes, OUP, p.19. GRAMMAR – USING RELATIVE CLAUSES TO ADD INFORMATION Task 7 Rearrange the phrases to make complete sentences, using the correct capitalization and punctuation. 1 around the world / which promotes health and health education / is a global health organizatíon / the WHO 2 is the UK, / a useful model / road accident rate / which has a comparatively low 3 an organization / is excellent / this is / whose record in preventative medicine 4 a trend of increasing life expectancy / shows / which is likely to continue in the long terrn / the graph in Figure 2 5 who smoke / a higher incidence of breathing problems / tend to have / people De Chazal, E. & McCarter, S.; Oxford EAP: A course in English for Academic Purposes, OUP, p.31. Task 8 Study the following relative clauses. Which of them is defining (providing essential information) and which of them is non-defining (providing extra, non-essential information)? How is the punctuation different? The language courses that this university offers are very popular with the students. This language course, which I also attend, is very popular with the students. Task 9 In each sentence above, decide if the relative clause is defining or non-defining. Write two sentences including relative clauses about two of the following. Explain how they have interested, influenced, or inspired you. an organization / a person / an academic subject / a place / a piece of information / a book Examples: Nelson Mandela is someone who has inspired me because of his dignity and courage. Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, is someone who has inspired me because of his dignity and courage. Psychology is a subject which interests me because I am fascinated by how people think. Psychology, which is a popular subject at university, interests me because I am fascinated by how people think. TOPIC SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS In academic writing, it is important to be able to write a strong topic sentence. The topic sentence states the main idea in a paragraph, and helps the reader to understand the development of that idea by guiding them through the paragraph. Writing an effective topic sentence will therefore help you to produce a well-constructed paragraph. It will also enable you to organize information within the paragraph, such as providing supporting evidence for the main idea, giving reasons and examples, and supplying background information. De Chazal, E. & McCarter, S.; Oxford EAP: A course in English for Academic Purposes, OUP, p.44. Decide which of the following is the best definition of a paragraph. 1 A paragraph is defined as a unit of meaning of at least 100 words in length. It has to contain background information about the topic and supporting evidence such as examples and reasons. 2 A paragraph is a list of ideas that are related to each other in some way, and usually contains quotations. It normally has a topic sentence at the beginning, and it contains reasons and examples. 3 A paragraph can be defined as a unit of meaning which contains a statement about the content / organization of the paragraph (a topic sentence), which may then be followed by supporting evidence using examples and reasons. Task 10 Match each term (A-D) to the relevant sections of the paragraph. A background information C a reason B a topic sentence D an example (1)Human communication has developed throughout history. (2) In the past, the speed of development was comparatively slow, but it has increased rapidly in recent decades. (3) Think of the length of time that it took humanity to move first from writing on clay tablets to the discovery of paper and subsequently to the development of printing. Recent developments have taken place in a relatively short time (4) because of advances in computer technology, leadíng to devices like iPhones and tablet computers like the iPad, which have revolutionized the way we communicate. Task 11 Identify the topic sentence in sentences A-G. Then put the sentences in the correct order to form a paragraph about cultural differences when studying in an international educational context. This is the Answer Key (needs to be shuffled for the seminar here) A) With the rapid globalization of education, increasing numbers of students are choosing to study abroad, both at schools and universities. B) A key factor in this phenomenon is culture. Certain cultural differences will inevitably occur. C) Such differences may include significant challenges such as language, as well as food and local customs. D) Perhaps most challenging among the differences is academic culture. E) The significance of these cultural differences is an important question. F) Minor differences such as food are unlikely to cause particular difficulty, but others may result in considerable challenge for the student. G) Using the example of higher education in the Czech Republic, this essay investigates the challenges of facing up to cultural differences for international students, with a particular focus on language and academic culture. IDENTIFYING THE CORRECT TOPIC SENTENCE IN A PARAGRAPH Task 12 Which of the topic sentences below (A or B) is better for the following text? Text: Business people and academics can make video contact with trade partners and colleagues all around the world, instead of travelling long distances for every important meeting. It is therefore possible to have two or three video-conferences followed by one face-to-face meeting, saving time and money. Topic Sentences: A Face-to-face meetings are more important than meetings by video-conferencing. B Video-conferencing means that face-to-face communication can be supplemented by electronic methods. De Chazal, E. & McCarter, S.; Oxford EAP: A course in English for Academic Purposes, OUP, p.45. CREATING NOUN COMBINATIONS Task 13 What noun + noun combinations using the nouns language and communication are there in the texts in Task 3.1 (above) ? What noun + noun phrases can be made by combining a noun from group A with one from group B? GROUP A body business communication computer human information GROUP B mass minority programming satellite sign communication culture language(s) technology Task 14 Complete the following sentences with suitable noun + noun phrases from the task above. 1 In doctor-patient communication, understanding a patienťs__________ as well as what they say, is crucial. 2 In the global workplace, iťs useful to have a basic working knowledge of at least one __________, as computer skills are in high demand. 3 Good __________ requires a wide range of skills, including networking and negotiating. 4 In many parts of the world, __________ spoken by a small number of people are in greater danger of extinction than ever before, 5 From business and commerce, to home entertainment and personal communication, __________ influences every aspect of our lives. USING NOUN + NOUN PHRASES Task 15 Create noun + noun phrases to paraphrase the underlined parts of the sentences below. Example: Technology derived from satellites is now very advanced. Satellite technology is now very advanced 1) Skills related to using computers are essential in all areas of professional life. 2) The network that we set up to link communications across the company is constantly being updated. 3)The culture of how to behave in a business context can vary enormously between different parts of the world. 4) The revolution that has taken place in the wav information is delivered has transformed methods of study at most universities. 5) One of the key cultural indicators of developing countries is a decline in the number of languages spoken by only a small minority of the population. De Chazal, E. & McCarter, S.; Oxford EAP: A course in English for Academic Purposes, OUP, pp. 46-47. Watch How to Write a Paragraph 1) song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbxKUBsTWF8 and 2) lecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w183qB0KDFg Homework: Based on the second video, prepare the following task. WRITING AND EVALUATING PARAGRAPHS Task 16 Write a paragraph of 80-100 words on the advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad. Include the following: - one main idea (in a topic sentence) - background information about the past or recent developments - evidence to support the topic sentence, such as examples and reasons - additional supporting evidence When you have finished, use the following checklist to evaluate your paragraph. Does the topic sentence ... Yes No - provide the subject of the paragraph? - outline what is in the paragraph? - limit what the paragraph will discuss? - form the first sentence of the paragraph? Does the paragraph contain ... - an example / examples? - background information? - a reason / reasons? - other evidence? - a conclusion?