Debating, Homework for Week 12

For homework, please read opinion articles in the four topic areas that you and your partner have decided you want to be "fair game" for the exam. Highlight good language and study the nuances of the arguments. Reading these articles out loud to practice language is a good method.

In addition to this, I would like you to prepare both PRO and CON arguments for the following debate proposition (coming from a genuine quote printed in the Süddeutsche Zeitung): "Since internships break down to 50% work and 50% study/learning the trade, minimum wage should be cut in half for interns."

Teufelskreis = vicious circle :)

Journalism, Homework for Week 11

For homework this week, please have a look at a newspaper online and identify one of its regular columns. Come to class with an idea for a contribution to the column (as we practiced on Friday). Here are some samples from the ones we discussed in class:

http://www.nytimes.com/column/letter-of-recommendation
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/23/10-things-learned-eu-referendum-campaign-tories-labour-eurozone
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/series/a-moment-that-changed-me

Debating, Homework for Week 11

A slight change has been made to the exam: you and your partner can now pick 4 topics from which Mr. Lowman and I will select a debate question. You need to have this worked out before you enter the exam room. More on this in class.

For homework from now until the exam, please read opinion articles on the Internet in these 4 topic areas and finish working your way through the red book.

Writing Skills I, Homework for Week 11

Please reflect on your experience taking the practice exam in class today. What domains do you expect to do best in? What would you like to be able to improve in time for the exam in July?

In addition to this, please read pgs. 61-62 of the reader for next week's class.

Writing Skills III, Homework for Week 10

Please come to class this week with five essay ideas. We are going to practice using these ideas for the exam this week in class.

Debating, Homework for Week 10

The topics that will be represented on my exam include the following:
arts, education, sports, health care and policy, immigration, elections, environment, economics

For homework, I would like you to brainstorm vocabulary (single words and multi-word phrases) that would be relevant for each of these domains (try to come up with 5 per domain).

Writing Skills I, Homework for Week 10

In our class next week, we will have a practice exam. One of these questions will be selected as the question you respond to:

1. Should the UK do away with the monarchy?
2. Should public transportation be free for everyone?

If you haven't already started researching these topics, please do so in preparation of the exam, just as you will do for the real exam in July.

In addition to this, please read pgs. 92-94 and pgs. 96-97 of the reader. Many of you are still having trouble mastering commas. It's important to get these rules straight for the exam. The quizzes on this website can help: https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/exercises/indexpunctuation.aspx

Complete the gap-fill distributed in class and check your answers here: http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2016/06/economist-explains-6

Journalism (Writing Skills III), Homework for Week 9

For your next assignment, either produce the next entry in your portfolio project or try your hand at your own kind of "The Economist explains"-type article. Inspiration can be found here: http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains

Answers to the exercise from class can be found here: http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2016/06/economist-explains-6

In addition to this, read up on investigative journalism using the following websites:

http://journalismfund.eu/what-investigative-journalism
http://www.theguardian.com/media/investigative-journalism
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/

Debating, Homework for Week 9

For homework, please watch 3 debates online and evaluate them in the categories of logic/argumentation, grammar (even if it's native speakers, this doesn't mean they don't make mistakes/use overly simple structures), vocabulary, and interaction/fluency. Bring your notes with you to class next, including instances of language you wish to emulate. If the speakers make mistakes, supply alternatives, as we often do in class.

I would also recommend having a look at the Graphic Detail website on The Economist's page for good infographics and excellent language: http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail

Writing Skills I, Homework for Week 9

For homework, please produce an argumentative essay in response to the question:

Should the UK withdraw from the EU?

Pay attention to the following areas when writing:

- vocab/word choice
- sophistication of syntax
- relevance of detail/supportive evidence
- structure and coherence of argumentation
- originality of thesis

Use the essay distributed in class as a guide.

In two weeks' time, we will have a practice exam in class. You have two weeks to research the following questions for this practice exam. One of these questions will be selected as the question you respond to:

1. Should the UK do away with the monarchy?
2. Should public transportation be free for everyone?

The Writing Skills I exam (not the practice one; the real one :) ) will take place on the following two dates:

Mi 20.7. 14-17h HS 10
Mo 19.9. 12-14h HS 17

Essay Competition

This year, Babel: The Language Magazine (http://babelzine.com/) is once more celebrating young linguists' insights into language with our Babel Young Writers' Competition. We will be publishing two articles representing both 16–18-year-old linguists and linguistics undergraduates. The articles will be published in Babel № 17, due out in November 2016. If you are a keen Babel reader or language lover, get writing to be in with a chance to get yourself published – as well as a free subscription to Babel 2017!

Visit http://babelzine.com/events to read our previous winners and pick up some inspiration! Jonathan Lahdo was our 16–18-year-old winner with his article on sociolinguistic evolution in Lebanon, while Ollie Sayeed claimed our undergraduates prize for his investigation into what spoonerisms can tell us about how language is represented in the mind.

16–18 Competition: Are you aged between 16 and 18 and would like to share your love of language with the world? Send us an article on any topic to do with language and linguistics to win the chance to begin your publishing career!

Undergraduate Competition: Are you studying for a linguistics-related degree and fancy a break from your usual assignments? Write a special essay for Babel readers and get the pleasure of seeing your work in print!

Entries must be no longer than 2500 words, in English, and deal with an interesting and accessible topic to do with language. Please e-mail your entry to editorsbabelzine.com with the title ''16–18 Competition'' or ''Undergraduate Competition''.

16–18 Competition entrants must provide details of their institution and a teacher.

Undergraduate Competition winners must submit their entries from their university e-mail address (e.g. studentuni.ac.uk) and must provide contact details of a teacher at their institution.

The deadline for entries is Friday 26 August 2016. We will acknowledge receipt of your entry soon after receiving it, and announce the winners in October 2016. Good luck!

Journalism (Writing Skills III), Homework for Week 8

For homework, please find a piece of writing on the Web or in print that you will write a rebuttal to. This task will be easiest if you oppose the message of the article in question. The original article can be in any language, but your response to it must be in English, of course. Turn this work in next week (with the article you are writing in response to, please). The alternative assignment would be to continue with the next post/entry in your project portfolio, if you are pursuing this.

Additionally, please complete the collocations exercise distributed in class. Identify which sentences contain cliche and which ones contain structures that you find important to incorporate in writing.

Debating, Homework for Week 8

For homework, I would like you to have a look at the following Guardian 5-minute debate on banning slang in the classroom (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2013/dec/09/should-schools-ban-slang-video-debate). In addition to writing down pro and con points from the clip, consider points from both sides outside of those mentioned. Bring these notes with you to class (you will be assigned your side at the beginning of the next session).

In addition to this, learn these terms for describing graphs and trends (from http://oppematerjal.sisekaitse.ee/eppleibur/describing_graphs/) :

3. Vocabulary for describing graphs

 

Helpful words and phrases for describing graphs

• UP – Verbs rise, increase, grow, go up, improve, jump, surge, shoot up , soar, rocket
• UP – Nouns a rise, an increase, growth, an upward/rising/increasing trend, an improvement, a jump, a surge
• DOWN – Verbs fall, decrease, drop, decline, go down, slump, plummet
• DOWN – Nouns a fall, a decrease, a decline, a downward/falling/decreasing trend, a slump
• NO CHANGE – Verbs remain stable/constant, stay at the same level, stabilize
• FREQUENT CHANGE – Verb fluctuate
• FREQUENT CHANGE – Noun – fluctuation
• AT THE TOP – Verbs reach a peak, peak., reach its/their highest point
• AT THE BOTTOM – Verbs reach/hit a low (point), hit/reach its/their lowest point

CHANGE

Adjectives:

• dramatic, considerable, sharp, significant, moderate, slight, sudden, rapid, steady, gradual, slow

Adverbs:

• dramatically, considerably, sharply, significantly, moderately, slightly, suddenly, rapidly, steadily, gradually, slowly

Prepositions:

• a rise from £725 to £825
• to increase by 2.1 %
• an increase of 2.1 % in the crime rate

Writing Skills I, Homework for Week 8

For homework, I'd like you to read the following online articles on writing and complete the online transformation exercise posted below:
(read pgs. 1-9) http://www.anglistik.uni-mannheim.de/anglistik_iii/documents_for_students/common_german_english_interference_mistakes_correction_key_jones/common_german_english_interference_mistakes_correction_key_jones.pdf

http://create.arizona.edu/content/weak-thesis-statements-recognizing-and-fixing-them

http://www.flo-joe.com/cae/students/strategy/transfrm/compare.htm
http://www.flo-joe.com/cae/students/strategy/transfrm/expressions.htm
http://www.flo-joe.com/cae/students/strategy/transfrm/formal.htm

In two weeks' time, I am going to ask you to submit an essay taking a specific stance on the Brexit question. You can already start to inform yourself on the topic here:
http://www.bbc.com/news/politics/eu_referendum