ELT & English Essay - week 10 // Research Report: Survey on the Purpose of Learning English.

Introduction

More and more people around world begin to learn English. Since it is crucial for future English teachers to understand the students’ purpose of learning English, it was decided to investigate (1) how important English is in students' opinion, and (2) why they learn English.

 

Method

In order to find out the students’ awareness on English language, an 8 item survey was designed. The first two questions collected the basic information such as responders’ gender and age, and the following two questions asked about when they began to learn English and how they evaluate their own English proficiency level. Rest of the questions were about their purpose of learning English and the necessity of English education. The questions were provided in various types including multiple choice, checkbox, Likert scale, and paragraph.

 

Students' Importance on English

It turned out that average students think English is important in their real life. Also, all the responders gave 8 points or more out of 10 on the question asking if they think English education is necessary. In contrast, they showed the different choice in self-evaluation on English proficiency. It means they think English is important regardless of their English ability.

 

The Purpose of Learning English

All the responders included the option "to communicate with foreign people," in their answer to the question asking about the reasons they learn English. Other options were marked 2 times each except "to travel," which was selected only once. There is possibility that to communicate with foreigners is the best reason because it has wide range of meaning; however, there is no doubt, at least, they consider English as a language rather than a mere method for a certain goal.

Conclusion

To sum up, English learners are interested in English as a language rather than a tool, and they all agree that English is important even though they are not very good at English. This can be a good reason for the need of practical English education.

ELT & Enlgish Essay - week 6

     “The Chinese Grandmother” is one of the four literatures dealt with in the class. 16 students of both the morning and afternoon class chose the poem, “To a Daughter Living Home,” as the best educational content for high school students. Though the students who liked the story, “The Chinese Grandmother,” were a half of the ones who preferred “To a Daughter Living Home,” still it is a good text for English teachers. According to the blog posts of 3 students among 8, the story is adequate for high school students because the message in it is beneficial for them, and it has abundant linguistic resources.

     The bloggers agree that the story contains valuable message for high school students. Jinsu Hwang writes, “it teaches the students one of the social issues, which is the cultural/age distinct,” and “it will help students to overcome the difficulty when facing a stranger or in this kind of situation shown in the text” (Hwang, 2014.10.7). Similarly, Jihee Shin believes that the students will “have the comprehensive culture understanding by learning such a diverse material” (Shin, 2014.10.9). Perhaps we can agree that dealing with cultural issues will benefit the students.

     They also feel that the story is written in appropriate language. Hwang points out that it consists of “simple and clear words” rather than difficult vocabulary items. He thinks the students would learn that the good writing is not always about using difficult words (Hwang, 2014.10.7). Another point that Shin finds is that it is written in sequential order. She says that there are many tenses in one passage, which is “helpful for teaching grammar” (Shin, 2014.10.9). In addition, Haneul Joh suggests that through this story, the students would learn about rhetorical devices such as simile and metaphor, and it will motivate them to study literature (Joh, 2014.10.11). It seems all of the points are well describing the potential of the story.

     In summary, these three bloggers give a fine defense of using “The Chinese Grandmother” in a high school literature lesson. The story not only conveys valuable moral lessons but also is filled with abundant linguistic features.

References:

Hwang, Jinsu (2014.10.7) “EEE Week 5 Assignment” [Web Log Post] Retrieved from http://hjshjs360.blogspot.kr/.

Shin, Jihee (2014.10.9) “The benefits of using some prose for English class at high school” [Web Log Post] Retrieved from http://tongtongyi3.blogspot.kr/.

Joh, Haneul (2014.10.11) “Week 5 Assignment of ELT & Essay ” [Web Log Post] Retrieved from http://2012103026.blogspot.kr/.

ELT & English Essay - week 5

    Picking up appropriate educational contents is one of the main concerns for English teachers. Sometimes, a success of the lesson depends on the contents because they directly influence the learners' motivation, which is often regarded as the most important factor in successful education. There are various types of repertoire, and one of the ways English teachers favor is using a good story such as “The Chinese Grandmother.”

    If a story is to be used in the lesson, it should meet at least two conditions: a) it should convey good message, b) it should contain appropriate language. “The Chinese Grandmother” is a story about a Chinese woman who has grown up in North America and met her grandmother. When she saw her, she found there was a huge difference between her and her grandmother. Nevertheless, she could feel that she was somehow connected with her. Generation gap is becoming more and more wider these days, and through this story, the students would learn to admire their ancestors rather than underestimate their profound life-long experience.

    When it comes to the language, “The Chinese Grandmother” consists of language of appropriate level, neither too difficult nor too easy. Since it is a story rather than a poem for example, it is written in understandable grammar structure unlike diffuse sentences of poems. Also, it gives such useful expressions like "as if" that the learners can get familiar with those. In addition, there are sufficient rhetorical examples such as simile and metaphor.

    Using a good story like this would be a great choice for English teachers because it has power of moving and inspiring people, and changing their lives. If you are looking for an adequate content for your lesson, why don’t you try this one?

Week 13 homework

3. On the blog: Summarize the main points of your classmate’s opinion blog post and then say whether you agree or disagree and why. Link the original blog post.

Summary(Sam's Blog): Listening to other’s advice is worth taking it but it is not always the best way of learning about life. Personal experience influences people so impressively that the whole direction of their life change. (Sam's Blog)

My comment: I agree in part. I think he understood the expression, “learning about life”, in a different way with me. In his point of view, I totally agree with that personal experience changes the whole life but I still disagree about that he chose the “different lifestyle” as a disadvantage of advice. Of course, every people have their own perspectives and lifestyles and it is the main advantage of advice,, rather than bad points. We can learn various opinions from abundance of differences which make advice more helpful. In the meantime, it means we have to be advised from as many people as possible, especially to make an objective choice in our life.

http://rladbssam317.blogspot.kr/2013/05/week-12-homework-writing-essay.html

Week 12 Homework

2. On the blog, answer the following question in a 200-300 word essay:

Some people believe that the best way of learning about life is by listening to the advice of family or friends while others believe that the best way of learning about life is through personal experience. I believe that listening to the advice of family or friends is preferable to relying on personal experience.

There are pros and cons for both. Personal experience is very important in our lives. Like a famous saying, “One picture is worth a thousand words,” we often realize that experiencing is the surest way of knowing something. In Korea, however, there is another saying that has totally different meaning: “The frog in the well.” Life is such an enormous concept. Since we are mortal beings, we cannot experience everything on our own. Thus, if we only rely on what we have ever experienced, we would never know about life.

In this point, listening to the advice of family or friends or anyone else who is trustworthy greatly helps us know about life. For example, we can't experience the death, which is an important, mysterious part of life, but we can still get closer to it by listening to advice. Some people might argue that it cannot help us because listening advice is indirect but those advice came from others’ experiences, too. All we need to avoid carefully is listening to a variety of advice and stopping there arrogantly, thinking we already know everything. If only we can avoid this ridiculous error, I believe that listening to advice will give us abundant life lessons than merely relying on personal experience.

Week 11 Homework

3. On the blog, write a summary of the information that you found. Link to the original source.

   Contemporary Christian Music(CCM) indicates religious music whose lyrics are based on Christian view. Christian rock is usually regarded as CCM but it's just a subset of CCM.
   The term CCM is first used in 1976 by Ron Moore when he tried to describe Richie Furay's album. In the 1970s, CCM Magazine publisher John styll covered from 'Jesus Music' artists to mainstream artists such like including Bob Dylan but its meaning became narrower to artists in growing Christian music industries and mainstream artists such as U2 or Bruce Cockburn were less mentioned in the 1980s. With the appearance of a few record lables focusing on Christian Alternative music artists, CCM began to achieve success in the mainstream more or less. In the 1990s and 2000s, Amy Granr, Michael W. Smith, stryper and other CCM artists popped up on the mainstream Billboard charts, TV, DVD achieving great success.

http://ccmwhatisit.bizland.com/history_of_ccm.htm

week 10 homework: how to be kinder to environment?

SEVERAL WAYS TO HELP THE PLANET

This report is intended to suggest several ways that we can do to be environmentally-friendly as university studentsㅡnot just a university but Chongshin. Among the 50 ways on the website, 7 ways that are applicable and can be actually practiced are presented.

1.     SLEEP MODE?

If you used to leave your computer in sleep mode at night, try to turn off it from today. You can save “40 watt-hours per day”, which means “4 cents a day, or $14 per year”.

2.     USE LESS NAPKINS

We tend to waste paper napkins carelessly. Have you ever seen how Jackie Chan, a famous movie star, uses napkins? Go search for the documentary of him, which is made in Korea. You would find the role model of napkin user. He wipes the sweat, cleans his mouth, and sweeps the table with only one napkin.

3.     FAST SHOWER

It is very kind of you to take a shower instead of a bath. The next level is to take a shorter shower. You can reduce both water and energy used to heat water.

4.     TREASURE HUNTER

“Second-hand doesn’t mean second-best”. Being environmentally-friendly, you can enjoy the treasure hunting experience. TIP: Go to second-handed store in Express Bus Terminal Station and be the fashion leader.

5.     YOUR OWN CUP(OR TUMBLER)

It keeps your drink warm and let you be healthier. Go to coffee shop and ask them to fill your cup. Look awesome while being eco-friendly person.

6.     USE ONLINE BILLS

Many organizations support online-bill-service nowadays. For example, you can receive your smart phone bill and check your fee. It helps you save papers and check your fee easier and faster.

7.     SHARE!

“Many hands make light work”. “Take what you’ve learned, and pass the knowledge on to others. If every person you know could take one small step toward being greener, the collective effort could be phenomenal.”

           In addition, don’t smoke. It messes up both you and the others. I believe none of the readers of this article smokes.

All of those above are from the website http://www.50waystohelp.com/ . See the ways, share them out, and save the earth.