Picture of our class!

This one is not that clear. >"<

This is the best shot among three.

It's really glad to be classmate with you this semester.^.^

Assignment 11 Ask a question

I asked a question on BBC message board. The question was...

Hi there. I am wondering is there any phrase or word to describe the action that one tries to get informaiton or secrect by setting a tricky trap in a conversation so that the other person would easily reveal the truth.Thank you for answering my question.^.^

What I wanted to ask is 套話 in chinese. I'm not sure if it is a right way to ask.
After an hour, I got the answer as following:

Yes, the slang expression which probably won't mean much to you is "being played". You could ask the person who is setting the trap, "Am I being played here?"



Actually, it's not the answer that I am really expecting, but it's more oral. Or maybe it's because I put my question in a wrong way.

Assignment 10 : MIT course

In MIT OpenCourse website, I read throgh a course called Language Acquisition. Unfortunately, they didn't provide video in this course. However, I took a look at their assignment which gave me a really big surprise. One of the problems in their assignment goes as following:


Consider the following interchange.

Child: Nobody don't like me
Mother: No, say "nobody likes me."Child: Nobody don't like me.
(eight repetitions of this dialogue).
Mother: No, now listen carefully; say "Nobody likes me.
"Child: "Oh, nobody don't likes me."

Does this interchange argue for or against the usefulness of negative evidence in language learning? Be brief. Two or three sentences are enough to explain.


This dialogue exists in the textbook "Introduction to language".


MIT also provide the answer to this problem:
Answer: This interchange argues against the usefulness of negative evidence. First, it suggests that children do not pay attention to their parents' correction: the child in the example hears the correction eight times before even attempting to follow it.Second, the example suggests that children do not understand what their parents are correcting them for: the child here does not correct the appropriate part of the sentence, and the child's final sentence is in fact less correct than the original.In order to get full credit, you needed to state both points: that children ignore corrections, and that they don't understand what the correction is for. Both points are arguments against the effectiveness of corrections for language acquisition.


What really surprised me is that the question goes exactly the same as the one in the exam of 清大.If I have known this website earlier, I could write my answer in full credits!

From the Academic Earth Website, I see the video of The American Novel Since 1945 by Amy Hungerford in Yale University. During the first half part of the video, Professor Hungerford introduces the outline the the course in the semester. That is, they are going to read novels, iincluding Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior, Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping and so on. What they will talk about in class contains war, race, sex, woman, etc.


From this video, I found that the sound of the lecturer is clear enough that I can understand the content easily.However, during the last 30 mins of the lecture, the literature content becomes difficult to catch on. That's why the scrip is necessary for us.


On the other hand, I think the resource from these OpenCourse websites are quite useful. First of all, I can practice my listening skill from the lecture. Lecturers pronounce clearly and loudly enough. Secong, I can try to do the assignment or exams oflinguistic courses so as to handle my future study in graduate school. But there is a disadvantage. Most of these courses are science and engineering related. There is only one kind of English literature course in Yale university and there is even no video provided in the linguistic course in MIT.

Assignment 9 : Share experience of RadioTime

I listened to the radio called WCBS Newsradio 880. As soon as I turned it on, I heared the weather forecast: it said that the weather will be good in the following few days. And it also gave the forecast of temperature. Then, News report comes. The host mentioned that there were 6 school shut down because of the swine flu. Fortunately, the children were not diagnosed with H1N1 virus. Finally, there were some adverisement of helping you to start your own career and etc.

I think that listening to the on-line radio is quite challenging. Since there is no subtitle on my screen, all I can rely on is my ear to catch the meaning. Also, when listening to News, I found it more difficult to understand because they speak faster and more professional. And the content of the News are various, including politics, health, sports and so on. It's really difficult to understand all of them.

Here is the introduction of WCBS New York Radio:

WCBS Newsradio 880 has been the source for News, Traffic & Weather for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut since 1967. The station delivers news, sports and business, along with traffic & weather on the 8's and is the flagship station of the CBS Radio Network and the radio home of the New York Yankees. When the Yankees are on the air, WCBS continues to provide news on line at WCBS880.com LISTEN LIVE and provides regular longer form and special programming on a second live streaming station at WCBS New York Radio.

Assignment 8 : An English song and lyrics - "Moon River"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOByH_iOn88

Moon River, wider than a mile,

I'm crossing you in style some day.

Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker,

wherever you're going I'm going your way.

Two drifters off to see the world.

There's such a lot of world to see.

We're after the same rainbow's end--

waiting 'round the bend,

my huckleberry friend,

Moon River and me.

I think that Audrey Hepburn is the most beautiful girl in the world. Not just her look but also her warm heart for dedicating herself into charity work. This is a beautiful song and the movie "breakfast at Tiffany's" is also worthy seeing. It's the classic!!! By the way, you can also try Andy William's version singing Moon River. It's also beautiful with a different style. As in here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flm4xcOyiCo

Assignment 7 : On The Pulse Of Morning by Maya Angelou in 1993 Bill Clinton Inauguration

Maya Angelou is a well known poet in United State. She can be not only a poet, but also an educator, historian, best-selling author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director. She continues to travel the world, spreading her legendary wisdom. What's so special about her is the wisdom within the rhythm and the elegance of her poetry. Maya Angelou has an unique power to help readers of every orientation span the lines of race and captivate audiences through the vigor and sheer beauty of her words and lyrics.

I have read her poem and books before. And I am quite surprising that she gave a speech of her poem in the inanguration of Bill Clinton in 1993. Let's take a look at the video and appreciate her poem.

Here's the poem:

A Rock, A River, A Tree

Hosts to species long since departed,

Mark the mastodon.

The dinosaur, who left dry tokens

Of their sojourn here

On our planet floor,

Any broad alarm of their of their hastening doom

Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.

But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,

Come, you may stand upon my

Back and face your distant destiny,

But seek no haven in my shadow.

I will give you no hiding place down here.

You, created only a little lower than

The angels, have crouched too long in

The bruising darkness,

Have lain too long

Face down in ignorance.

Your mouths spelling words

Armed for slaughter.

The rock cries out today, you may stand on me,

But do not hide your face.

Across the wall of the world,

A river sings a beautiful song,

Come rest here by my side.

Each of you a bordered country,

Delicate and strangely made proud,

Yet thrusting perpetually under siege.

Your armed struggles for profit

Have left collars of waste upon

My shore, currents of debris upon my breast.

Yet, today I call you to my riverside,

If you will study war no more.

Come, clad in peace and I will sing the songs

The Creator gave to me when I

And the tree and stone were one.

Before cynicism was a bloody sear across your brow

And when you yet knew you still knew nothing.

The river sings and sings on.

There is a true yearning to respond to

The singing river and the wise rock.

So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew,

The African and Native American, the Sioux,

The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek,

The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheikh,

The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher,

The privileged, the homeless, the teacher.

They hear. They all hear

The speaking of the tree.

Today, the first and last of every tree

Speaks to humankind. Come to me, here beside the river.

Plant yourself beside me, here beside the river.

Each of you, descendant of some passed on

Traveller, has been paid for.

You, who gave me my first name,

You Pawnee, Apache and Seneca,

You Cherokee Nation, who rested with me,

Then forced on bloody feet,

Left me to the employment of other seekers--

Desperate for gain, starving for gold.

You, the Turk, the Swede, the German, the Scot...

You the Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Kru,

Bought, sold, stolen, arriving on a nightmare

Praying for a dream.

Here, root yourselves beside me.

I am the tree planted by the river,

Which will not be moved.

I, the rock, I the river, I the tree

I am yours--your passages have been paid.

Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need

For this bright morning dawning for you.

History, despite its wrenching pain,

Cannot be unlived, and if faced with courage,

Need not be lived again.

Lift up your eyes upon

The day breaking for you.

Give birth again

To the dream.

Women, children, men,

Take it into the palms of your hands.

Mold it into the shape of your most

Private need. Sculpt it into

The image of your most public self.

Lift up your hearts.

Each new hour holds new chances

For new beginnings.

Do not be wedded forever

To fear, yoked eternally

To brutishness.

The horizon leans forward,

Offering you space to place new steps of change.

Here, on the pulse of this fine day

You may have the courage

To look up and out upon me,

The rock, the river, the tree, your country.

No less to Midas than the mendicant.

No less to you now than the mastodon then.

Here on the pulse of this new day

You may have the grace to look up and out

And into your sister's eyes,

Into your brother's face, your country

And say simply

Very simply

With hope

Good morning.

If you would like to know more about Maya Angelou, you can read her publication - I Know Why the Cage Bird Sing.

Assignment 6: Note of ESL Podcast 466

1. to be cut out to do sth : to be created to do sth, sth that is a good match for you, sth that is intended for you. ex: He is not cut out for that kind of work. (He doesn’t have the talent for that work)

2. patients : people who are receiving medical care

3. bedside manner : the way that a doc or nurse talks to people how they get medical advice or instruction or other information. The general term refers to how doctor treats their patients, how they communicate with their patients.

4. callous : without considering another person’s feelings. Not considerate about others.

5. taking a turn for the worse : to be getting worse. to become more ill or sicker. Opposite : getting better.

6. blurt sth out : to say sth without thinking about it first. Without considering about the result after saying it.

7. diagnosis : The doctor’s conclusion about what the medical problem is, the doctor’s idea about one’s health

8. soften : to make it nice, to make it easier to accept (soften the blow(a punch or a hit) = soften the news)

9. prognosis : The doctor’s opinion about how your health will change in the future. (compare with diagnosis)

10. comfort or reassure : to do or to say sth to make a person feel better. To make a person more confident about sth, less worried about sth.

11. feel sorry for sb / sth : to understand a person’s difficulty

12. faze sb : You are surprised because someone else wasn’t affected by sth or didn’t have strong reaction about sth.

13. hysterics : uncontrol emotions. you can’t stop crying because the emotion is so strong

14. compassionate with sb :to be care, kind and nice to someone.

15. against one's nature : sth that you can’t do because it’s not part of your personality, it’s not part of your character, it’s not part of who you are.

16. anything but : to emphasize the next word by saying that is definitely not ture. ex: The movie is anything but boring = The movie is exciting.

red words refer to those that I am not familiar with

blue ones refer to those that I've seen before but still need to review

My Statement of Purpose

I know I haven't write my journal for two weeks (>"<), so allow me to use my SOP that just finished yeaterday to make it up.

Here it is:


I, Yuan-Chun Lee, am applying for the master’s degree in TESOL at your university, starting from the autumn term of 2009. I really hope to improve my knowledge and sense in the TESOL field at your graduate school and contribute what I have learned after I finish my studies.


During the five years of my studying at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST), I not only major in Industrial Management, but also minor in English. The reason why I spent five years studying at NTUST is that I also have taken the Education program and Technology and Law program. Under the rigid training of my major, I had taken several statistic courses. I believe that my statistic ability can assist me conducting quantitative research in graduate school. Although I was a non-English major student, I have never lost my enthusiasm for studying English. For example, during these years, I continue enhancing my English ability not only through taking classes, but also reading daily news on BBC website, writing weekly journal, listening to CNN news on TV, and try my best to communicate and interact with foreign students in our school.


In order to better prepare myself to be a good English teacher, I have a variety of teaching experiences. For instance, during the first two years in college, I taught high school English in a private institute and corrected composition for my students. Meanwhile, I was also tutoring a sixth grade primary school child and assisting a third grade high school student to prepare for the entrance exam. In my junior year of college, I served in SinaPalan primary school (新鄉國小) in Nantou with the social service group at our school for one week. I took charge of teaching them English and assisting them to finish their winter-vacation homework. My varieties of teaching experiences gave me a brand new look on myself. Through teaching and collaborative working with my colleagues, I became more cogitative, strong-minded and affirmative toward teaching. However, I would like to learn more theories of TESOL to enable me to teach better Therefore, I decide to step into TESOL field, devote myself to teaching English and apply what I learn to my future career.


I look forward to an in-depth study of TESOL field. I am especially interested in researching Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and Sociolinguistics. I am taking a course of CALL this semester and I believe that with the rapid development of technology, this would be a potential area for language teachers to cultivate. In addition, Brown (2006) indicated that “a successful language learner has to use a language not only accurately but also appropriately.” Sociolinguistic knowledge can facilitate me how to teach my students to be successful language learners. Thus, I am planning to take courses, such as Computer-Assisted language Learning, Computer-Assisted Writing Instruction and Sociolinguistics after I enter your program. Furthermore, during the preparation of the entrance exam of TESOL, I realized the importance of academic writing. Therefore, I would not only take the course Thesis Writing but also read as many theses as I can so as to improve my ability in academic writing. Besides, during three years in graduate school, I will finish my education program and some linguistic courses, such as syntax and morphology because I believe that these courses can help me explain the rule of English more clearly.


After finishing my Master’s Degree, I plan to teach English in junior or senior high school in remote area because I believe that every student there can be given an equal chance at education. I am eager to break the difficulty of the shortage of information in remote area and eliminate the educational gap between urban and suburban schools. All in all, I am very confident that I have the dedication, enthusiasm and stability that will be required for outstanding performance as a graduate student at National Chiao Tung University.

P.S.If you have any suggestion, please feel free to leave your message.

I'll be glad to hear different advice and opinions.

^__________________________________^

Assignment 5: Two audio clips from Randall's Cyber Listening Lab

Audio 1: A Student Credit Card

Level:medium
Type:conversation
Speakers:man - woman
Length:02:00

1. dough (noun): informal for money - He didn't have enough dough to buy the TV, so he borrowed money from his brother.

P.s. According to Cambridge Online Dictionary, dough is an OLD-FASHIONED SLANG.

2. spend yourself in a hole (idiom): spend too much that leads to heavy debt - Some people spend themselves in a hole because they can't control their shopping habits.

Audio 2: College Majors

Level: medium
Topic:
Type: conversation
Speakers: man - woman
Length: 02:11

3. bat around (idiom): consider different choices, including the positive and negative points of each option - My daughter batted around a few ideas on where to travel over the holidays until she settled on Hawaii.

P.s.1. It's an informal phrase and it can be used as "bat around something" or "bat something around".

P.s.2. Another usage of bat:

off your own bat (BrE, informal) if you do sth off your own bat, it is your own idea and you do it without help or encouragement from anyone else. You do is through your own efforts.

Example: She made the suggestions entirely off her own bat.

4. bad-mouth (idiom): criticize or to say unpleasant things about somebody - He always bad-mouths people behind their backs. If you have anything to say about people, it's best to say it to their faces.

5. sermon (noun): a talk with moral advice about life- The minister gave an interesting sermon at church this past week about serving others in need.

P.s. This word has two similar meanings. The first meaning has something to do with religion, refering to a speech about a moral or religious subject that is usually given by a religious leader. The second meaning in this conversation is informal and usually disapproving, refering to serious talk about how someone should behave.

Assignment 4 - Comment on the corpus-based reference tools.

Corpus-based reference tools are quite useful in some ways.It helps learners to see a word within real context, provides collocation and show the frequency of a word.I like to use the concordancer very much, especially the Bilingual online concordancers-TOTALRECALL.It helps me to look for the words that don't have the exact corresponding translation. For example, I would like to know how we say 緣分 in English and the result comes out to be "fate".In that case, I can use it in my article if the frequency of the usage is high enough.

On the other hand, there are some strengths and disadvantges of corpus-based reference tools in comparison with a dictionary.First of all, as mentioned above, corpus-based reference tools can provide learners the collocation and the frequency of vocabulary. Also, some concordancers are bilingual that it's suitable for second language learners to use.Furthermore, corpus-based reference tools give learners more examples in real contexts tha dictionary cannot do.However, unlike dictionary, there are some functions the corpus-based reference tools cannot provides.For example, we can see the pronunciation and some comparison with other similar word in dictionary. Moreover, corpus-based reference tools are sometimes limited. For instance, Brown corpus has not renewed for a long time.But language is always changing through time, so if those tools do not renewed, it's not effective enough for learners to use.

In conclusion, although there are both strengths and disadvantages of corpus-based reference tools and dictionaries. It is still important for language learners and researchers to know how to use the best of these tools.

Weekly Journal 20090316-0322

Dear Diary:

Last week was a nervous week. There are two things making me nervous: First, the result of my preliminary exam of NTUST is going to come out on Thur. Second, I am going to take the exam of my first priority-NTNU on Sat.

Luckily, I got the permission to interview which in on next Sunday (3/29). So I will be "double nervous" again next whole week. God bless me!!!

As for the exam on Saturday... that was exhausting because I could not sleep well the night before the exam which started at 8 in the morning. And I don't have much confidence in what I wrote on the answer sheet. There was a question that almost made me crazy. As following:

Youtube video clipps have been widely used nowadays. They are real people with real language.

It is related with authenticity and corpus. Please define the two terms. (10%) Use the video clipps on Youtube to make a lesson plan that can achieve the goal of authenticity and the integration of four skills. (15%)

Well, well, well, how do I know any useful video on Youtube that is suitable for teaching and

integrating the four skills: L, R, S, W? You know what I wrote down? I use the song clipp "Moon River" from the movie "The Breakfast of Tiffany" as my authentic material to teach. I think it's terrible because it's not authentic at all, is it? Dear Diary, do you have any ideas?

Anyway, I am quite happy that I can go interview next week but I still hope that I can get the

permisson for interview from NTNU. What result will it be? It will wait for at least one month.

Before that, I am going to have fun all day and all night long!!!! hahahahahah

Weekly Juornal 20090309-0315

Dear Diary:

Last week, I went to Hsinchu to take the exam in NCTU(交大) and NTHU(清大). There is only one thing came to my mind - gosh, how can it be so difficult!!!! I did not stop writing until the last minute and I was almost unable to finish my essay. But you know what? There is one essay question asking about CALL!! Let me post the question in the following:

CALL and corpus linguistics are two fast-growing areas in the TESOL field. In your opinion, why should teachers apply the knowledge accumulated in these areas to their daily teaching?(10%) Give one concrete example of applying the knowledge learned from CALL and/or corpus linguistics to language teaching. Situate you discussion in a specific context, for example, teaching non-English majors business communication skills in a Taiwanese university.

See, it's a total integrated question. I didn't know how I finish the essay and make it organized just like I can never figure out the difference between cohesion and coherence. = =+

But I still gave some points that I learned from CALL class. For example, teachers can use corpus and concordancer to facilitate their teaching, such as collocation and vocabulary.

But...what about the concrete example of applying CALL? It came out with no conclusion.

I really wish that I had taken the class last semester!!!!

Anyway...it's all my complaint about the stressful exam. But some thoughts have come to me: If I could enter the TESOL graduate school, why not try to make reasearch on CALL. It will be interesting, isn't it?

p.s. This Saturday, I am going to take the exam of NTNU. That's my NO.1 school!!!

Wish me luck again, heehee. ^____________________^

Assignment 3 - Is there any rule governing the use of "big" and "large"?

Question: Is there any rule governing the use of "big" and "large"? If yes, what is it? Use evidences to explain the major difference between the two words. Please limit your answer to 70 words.

"Big" and "large" can sometimes be antonyms, as in "large classes" and "big classes". However, "large" goes with phrases that describe degree, numbers, or quantity more often, such as "a large amount / number of", "a large extent", "a large scale", etc. On the other hand, "big" is used to describe countable nouns as in big car / change / city / house. Also, “big” collocates with difference very often.

Weekly Journal 20090302-0308

Dear all:

As you can see from the title, I have made up my mind to write journal every week. When I was taking the writing class last year, the teacher asked us to assign journals every week. Unfortunately, since the semester has been over, I stopped writing immediatedly. (hehe)
So, here's my suggestion. Why don't all of us write weekly journals together so as to improve our English ability and also allow other people to get to know us more? I appreciate Donna's sharing about her hometown and the lovely fruits, so I expect myself to do so even if I would probably be too lazy to do what I just suggested. (hahaha)

Here's my last week.

As you know, I am preparing for my graduate school entrance exam. Last week, I had finnished the exam of NTUST(台科) and NCKU(成大). In the test of NTUST, they asked us to write a composition. Here it is:
A job should mean a job for life. Do you agree or disagree? Expain your answer with specific reason and examples.
I made a strong statement that I disagree with it and I proposed three views about what I think a job should be. I think that firstly, a job should mean a job for interest, then a job should mean a job for happiness; finally, a job should mean a job for learning. These three aspects really drive me crazy cause I cannot figure good examples. Thus, I take my friend, my seniors and my mom for example. That's ridiculous, isn't it? Well, if you were me, what would you write about it? Maybe you can "try try see" (haha~Singlish)












**The following event may make you feel sick, ill, and disgusted. Do not take a look if you just finish your meal.











P.S. I had Squid ink spaghetti with Seafood (墨魚麵) last week. That was my first try and I was realy shocked the day after the meal. The next day, the situation of my digestion went really well. After I finished poo-pooing, I stood up and turned around to flush "my dear poo poo". What a horrible look in the stool. "My dear poo poo" looked so dark just like the bamboo charcoal.(竹炭) What happened to my stomach? Am I going to die? That was an unplesant experience and I am not going to eat that spaghetti anymore. Does anyone have the same experience as I do?

Assignment 2 - Dictionary Exercise

I have been trying to get these two words straight, that is, cohesion and coherence.

I know that these two words have always been used on writing, but I Always confuse with them.

So....I tried several on-line dictionaries to look them up, but none of them can provide me a satisfiing answer...until this one - http://dictionary.reference.com/

Firstly, the following is the definition of "cohesion"

noun

1. the act or state of cohering, uniting, or sticking together.

2. [Physics.] the molecular force between particles within a body or substance that acts to unite them. Compare adhesion (def. 4).

3. [Botany.] the congenital union of one part with another.

4. [Linguistics.] the property of unity in a written text or a segment of spoken discourse that stems from links among its surface elements, as when words in one sentence are repeated in another, and esp. from the fact that some words or phrases depend for their interpretation upon material in preceding or following text, as in the sequence Be assured of this. Most people do not want to fight. However, they will do so when provoked, where this refers to the two sentences that follow, they refers back to most people, do so substitutes for the preceding verb fight, and however relates the clause that follows to the preceding sentence. Compare coherence (def. 5).

Then, compare another word "coherence"

noun

1. the act or state of cohering; cohesion.

2. logical interconnection; overall sense or understandability.

3. congruity; consistency.

4. [Physics, Optics.] (of waves) the state of being coherent.

5. [Linguistics.] the property of unity in a written text or a segment of spoken discourse that stems from the links among its underlying ideas and from the logical organization and development of its thematic content. Compare cohesion (def. 4).

See, the comparison under the category [Linguistics] is exactly what I want. This on-line dictionary provides different definitions on each categories, such as Physics, Botany, and Linguistics, etc. Besides, it posts links of the confusing word on it. Isn't it useful?

Assignment 1-Self-Introduction

Take a look! This is me as a baby "boy"(hahahaha)

Hi, everyone! This is Kimmi.(李元君) It's really great to meet you guys in this class.

The following is my brief self-introduction.

I major in Industrial Management and it's my fifth grade this year.

I delay my study for one more year due to my minor in English and Education program.

This year, I am preparing for graduate school majoring in English (TESOL).

In other words, I'm going to have the exam after one week !!!!

So....Wish me luck! ^.^

p.s. hope that WE all can learn a lot in this course, and great to meet you guys (once again! XD)