Hello, ESL 500 students!  I wanted to remind you to sign up for a presentation time (if you haven't already).  Please click this link if you are in my 12:30 - 1:50 class:

ESL 500N Presentation Schedule

Please click this link if you are in my 3:30 - 4:50 class:

ESL 500L Presentation Schedule

I will check this schedule again tomorrow, and if it isn't full, I will write the names in myself!  This means you MAY HAVE TO DO YOUR PRESENTATION FIRST ON TUESDAY.  Please don't wait!  Enter your name into a time slot TODAY.

If you have any questions about your presentation, please e-mail me or come to my office on Monday after 1:00 pm.

See you on Tuesday.

OK, class, I see a few names on the sign-up sheets for presentations. This is good.  If you haven't, please sign up for a time to give your presentation.

I have added the presentation to the Homework Assignments list on the right.  Click here to see it.

Also, there is one more assignment that you have to do before the end of the semester.  It is the Reflective Essay 3.  You have done 2 of these already, so this one shouldn't be too difficult.  Keep it short, but please give good feedback.  We take these reflections seriously in order to improve our teaching and the classes you take.

Reflective Essay 3

See you at your conference.

Good job in class today, everyone!  I hope this lesson about public speaking and giving presentations was helpful to you.  Don't forget to review the lesson here:

Lesson 25 Review

If you come to class at 12:30, please go to this link to confirm your schedule:

ESL 500N1 Presentation Schedule

If you come to class at 3:30, please go to this link to confirm your schedule:

ESL 500L Presentation Schedule

Do NOT forget your conference!  Remember, if you don't come, it counts as 2 absences!

See you on Thursday.

Hello, ESL 500 members.  Today's lesson gave you a lot of information about doing your debates.  I hope you all understand your tasks and can perform well on Thursday.  We'll see which team can persuade others better.

If you need to review the lesson, you can go to the Lesson 23 Review page.

Good luck, and see you on Thursday.

Capital Punishment Source

Hello again, class.  Here, I have a link to a good article for some pro-con information about the death penalty.  You can use this for today's class and also for the debates on Thursday.

Death Penalty

I hope you have prepared for today's lesson.  See you in class.

I just wanted to remind ESL 500N class of your teams.  They are:

Pro:        Xi, Yao, Yu, Tigran, Ruiheng, Mingu

Con:       Yuqiao, Xuesong, Ping-ju, Trong, Elena, Bushra,

Mod:     Albert

PLEASE!  Get in contact with your group members (e-mail, phone calls, Facebook, etc.) and get ideas of the main points of your topics.  You will need to use them in class on Tuesday, and you will need to write your arguments after class to prepare for the debate on Thursday.

In addition, I put a link in my FYI list (right of this post, scroll down) that goes to the CRAAP method to evaluate your sources.

Hello, ESL 500 students.  I wanted to remind you that the debate lesson will be on Tuesday, and you will actually conduct the debate on Thursday.  This means you need to get in touch with the other members of your team and make sure everyone has their roles assigned.  If you are pro, you need to make sure everyone researches at least one of the five points.  If you are con, you need to make sure everyone researches at least one of the other five points.  You may want to actually meet in person to discuss these, and come prepared with a lot of material that will support the point (or points) you have.  If you are not clear about what your teams are or what your main points should be, send me an e-mail and I'll let you know.  You can use the internet or any other sources to find this information.

Good hunting.

Hello again, classes!  I think everyone did well today practicing opposing arguments.  Now that you see how hard it can be, think about how you can find those topics for your argumentative essay.

Next Tuesday, we will begin learning about doing debates.  In order to debate correctly, I will teach a lesson about the strategies and vocabulary you should use when debating.  In order to be more prepared for the lesson, you need to prepare to research the topic.

The topic we decided for this debate is Capital Punishment (being able to execute prisoners). There will be a moderator who will manage the debates and direct the flow of it.

For the Pro team, you will have 5 main points you need to research and present as part of your debate.  The 5 points are:

1. Capital Punishment provides justice for the victim's family.
2. Capital Punishment ensures the criminal will no longer be able to commit crimes.
3. There is a serious problem with overcrowding in American prisons.
4. Most American people support Capital Punishment.
5. In some states, it is more expensive to keep a person incarcerated for life instead of executing them.

For the Con team, you will have 5 main points you need to research and present as part of your debate.  The 5 points are:

1. There is a possibility of executing innocent people.
2. It is not proven to deter others from committing crimes.
3. In some states, Capital Punishment is more expensive than keeping a prisoner incarcerated for life.
4. The government should not have the right to decide who lives and who dies.
5. Execution methods are barbaric and inflict great pain on the victims.

You should all have a list of who is in your group.  Please contact your group members and decide which points of the topic you want to research for the debate.

I'll see you all on Tuesday.

Update

Hello again, everybody!

I have updated some information in the Source-Based Argumentative Essay page.  Please take a look at it when you have a chance.  I included a link that can show you a good example of an argumentative paper.

On Thursday, we will practice making opposing arguments and refuting them.  I will also give you time in class to work on your introduction to this essay.  Make sure you have a thesis statement ready to include with that introduction.

Also, we will do a debate next week.  I will introduce a topic to you and assign teams.  One team will be pro, one team will be con, and one team will judge the debates and determine which team (pro or con) was more convincing of their point of view.  I will assign those teams on Thursday.

See you in class!

Hi, everyone!  Good work in class today.  I hope you understand the importance of opposing arguments and refuting.  Please review the lesson here:

Lesson 21: Opposing Arguments and Refuting

On Thursday, we'll do a little more work on refuting with some useful vocabulary and we'll practice good opposing arguments.

See you then!

Change of Plans

Hi again, everyone.  Things have changed since I posted that last message.

One of our teachers needed to leave the school due to personal reasons, so I have taken her class.  I will teach a second lesson on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I want to keep both lessons on the same page.  It will make things easier for me and all the students.  That means we will change the schedule a little.

For Tuesday's lesson, instead of Evaluating Sources, we will go ahead and do the Opposing Arguments lesson, and on Thursday we will practice refuting and I will give you time in class to work on your essays.

If you haven't selected a topic, do so before class tomorrow, and then search for your sources.  You need at least 5 sources.  We will talk a little about evaluating a source to confirm its legitimacy and I will show you a database filled with journals, articles, and books you can use to find good materials to support your argument.

You need to find those sources by Thursday night.  Upload a bibliography of them to your Dropbox account.

See you tomorrow.

Hello, class!  I hope you all had a good weekend.

For Tuesday's class (11-6-12) we will change the lesson from the syllabus.  We are going to talk about evaluating your resources.  This means you will need to bring some sources with you to class so that we can evaluate them.

If you have already found resources to use for your argumentative essay, please use those.  Otherwise you can use textbooks from your other classes or websites that you use for information.

Hello again, everyone!  I think you did really well in class with the syllogisms and logical fallacies.  You can go to the Lesson 19 Review to check it again.  If you have questions, please e-mail me.

Next class, we will have a library tour of the main library and the undergraduate library.  Don't worry!  You can still use the undergraduate library even though you are graduate students.  I will show you some good ways to find sources for your argumentative essays.

One more thing: UIUC is doing a Space Race promotion from Dropbox.  You can get more space to use with Dropbox if you click here:

UIUC Space Race

Enter your illinois.edu webmail address to get more Dropbox space.

Hello again, class!  I've used all the pages I can from Blogger, so from now on, I have to link the review pages directly to Dropbox.  You will still be able to see all the material we discuss in class, and remember that you can look in the Dropbox folders for each lesson to see the in-class assignments and homework.

Also, I want to remind all of you that if you want to come talk to me about writing your assignments or the material we discuss in class, I am available in the Foreign Languages building (FLB) on the second floor.  My office is 2022.  I am always there on Mondays and Fridays from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM.  You can usually find me there after 2:00 PM (I do my class assignments before I go home).  I usually stay until around 5:00 PM.  Please come to my office if you have any questions or you want to talk about this class.  You can also send e-mail to my address, kallist2@illinois.edu.

Please think about the topic you want to research for your Argumentative paper.  If you have trouble thinking of an idea, go to the Lesson 18 review page to get some ideas.

I see that many of you are starting to finish your first drafts of the Source-Synthesis Summary.  That's good.  I will check them when I have time.

See you all on Tuesday.

Hello, everyone.  Good job in class on Thursday.  I think you understand how difficult it can be to choose an argumentative topic that you can support with evidence.  This weekend, think about what you want to write about.

Unfortunately, Dropbox is having problems recently.  I will link a page to help you review this lesson as soon as possible.

On Tuesday, we will talk about logical fallacies.  This will be necessary for your Argumentative essay.

Have a nice weekend!

Hello, class!  I hope the peer reviews you did today helped.  Make sure you double check your work before you submit it.  The first draft will be due Monday, October 29th before midnight.  This will give you about a week to work on it.

Next class, we'll study for your next project: Source-Based Argumentative Essay.  You will have to choose an argumentative topic (i.e. allowing handicapped athletes to enter the Olympic Games), then you will need to search for five sources that support your opinion.  Think about your topics as we study the next two lessons.

See you on Thursday!

Hello, class!  I forgot to put this in the homework section, so I'll put it here.

Please name your Source-Synthesis Summary like this:

Source Synthesis Summary Final_(your name)

So, for example, mine would be "Source Synthesis Summary Final_Robert Kallister.

Hello, everyone!  Great job in class today.  I think the peer reviews you gave were very helpful for you all.  I hope you learned a lot from your classmates.

Remember to review this lesson in the Lesson 16 Review page.

Don't forget!  You need to finish your Source-Synthesis Summary essays before Tuesday, October 23rd.  Here is an example of a completed Source-Synthesis Summary:

Source-Synthesis Summary Example

Please put a Reference List at the end of it.  Also, fill out your Source-Synthesis Chart and bring it with you to class.  You can use the paper copy I gave you, or you can create a new one on Word and print it.

If you want to use citations in MS Word, this document will explain how to do it:

Citations in MS Word

Next Tuesday, we will peer review your completed Source-Synthesis Summaries.  After I check them, you can rewrite them and turn in your final copy on Tuesday, October 30th.

Have a good weekend!

Good afternoon, class!  Everyone did a great job in class with the Source-Synthesis charts.  Make sure you fill out your copy with the information you wrote in your three summaries.  That will be part of your grade in this assignment.

The review page is now up.  I posted an example essay that you can look at before you begin writing.  It might give you some ideas about how to write your Source-Synthesis Summary.  Remember, you can click the link on the right side under Homework Assignments to check the directions about writing it.

On Thursday, we'll do Peer reviews of your summaries.  Make sure all three of your summaries are finished and posted to Dropbox before then.

Hello, everyone!  Good job in class today.  I think there might still be some questions regarding neutral language.  Remember, you can e-mail me at anytime to ask.  My address is kallist2@illinois.edu.

Please look at the review for lesson 14.  It is listed on the right.

This is article 3 for your summary.  It is longer than the other articles because it's a transcript of a radio broadcast.

Article 3

One advantage of this article is that you can listen to it as well.  Click this link:

Reality Television

On that page, click the speaker icon (next to it, it says "Listen to the Story").  The transcript we will use is from 00:00 to 10:35.

Also, please look again at the Source-Synthesis Summary page to see how to name your file.

Next week, we'll talk about how to synthesize your summaries into one essay.

Have a good weekend, and don't forget the Reflective Essay.

Hello again, class!  I just wanted to let you know that you will need to finish Summary 2 for class on Thursday.  We will apply the information we learn in class and do another peer review of the summaries.  Hopefully I can save enough time for everyone to give a feedback to each author as well as the comments on the peer-review handout.

See you tomorrow!

Hello, class!  Good job today in class.  I hope the peer reviews were helpful to you.  Make sure you open them in your Dropbox folders and read them for good advice.

You need to submit your summary of the second article before midnight, Wednesday October 10th.  Use this link to read the article:

Source-Synthesis Article 2

Also, please work on your Reflective Assignment.  It will be due on Monday, October 15th at midnight.

And if you haven't, please take a few minutes to fill this out:

Informal Feedback

See you all on Thursday. We'll study Neutral Language for unbiased papers.

Hello, everyone!  I hope you all had a good weekend.

The lesson schedule has changed a little.  I put a new calendar on this site.

For Tuesday, we'll spend more time talking about writing summaries.  We'll show you some techniques you can use to help you find the most useful information in a summary and some useful vocabulary you can use.

We will also do some peer reviewing of summaries.  Be prepared to show your work to others in the class.

On Thursday, we'll talk about Neutral Language, and how it is useful to keep your work unbiased.

Hello again, everyone!  Good job in class today.  I know these plagiarism lessons are tough, but you're all doing very well.  Please review the lesson by clicking on the link on the right.

Also, here is the link to the citation generator:

Citation Machine

You can use this to help you with citations for any essay you write.  I suggest bookmarking this website to help you in the future.

Don't forget your assignment!  You need to read Article 1 and write a 1-paragraph summary about it.  Upload the summary to your Dropbox folder.  Please name the file:

Synth Summary 1_(yourname)

So mine would be: Synth Summary 1_Robert Kallister

The full assignment is listed in this link: Source-Synthesis Summary

Also, please look at the Reflective Essay 2 directions and prepare to write it.  This will be due on October 16th.  And please click the link for the Informal Feedback and finish that as soon as possible.  It only takes a few minutes.

Thanks, and have a good weekend!

Informal Feedback!

Please take a few minutes to answer these questions.  They are very important for the department to help develop our ESL lessons.

Thank you!

Informal Feedback

Nice work in class today, everyone!  Unfortunately, we didn't have time to finish everything, so now it'll become homework!

Please choose one of the following essays to read:

Roger Sipher's "So That Nobody Has to Go to School if They Don't Want to"

or

Stephen King

Then, at the bottom of the document, write a summary of that article.  If you don't remember how to write a summary, click the link on the right side for Lesson 11: Summarizing and read the PowerPoint.

When you are finished, save the document as "summary1_(yourname)" for Roger Sipher's article, or "summary2_(yourname)" for Stephen King's article.  Upload them to your Dropbox folders.

After that, please do the exercise we couldn't finish in class involving run-on sentences:

Run-On Sentences Exercise

You can upload the finished copy to Dropbox if you want me to check it, but this is optional.
On Thursday, we'll talk about APA style citations.

Hello everyone!  I hope your weekend is going well.

I have finished grading your Diagnostic Revisions.  They turned out very well.  If you want to see your scores, you can go to Engrade, log in, and find your scores. 

Also, I put a "Graded" copy of your Diagnostic in your Dropbox folder.  Feel free to check it. 

In addition, in your Dropbox folder, you will find a file called "500 Diagnostic Final Rubric (your name)"  I used this to determine your scores.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you on Tuesday when we start Summaries to avoid plagiarism!

Very nice job today in class, everyone!  I think most of you understand paraphrasing very well.  If you can, practice including paraphrased information in paragraphs and essays.  They can be very helpful.

On the right side of the screen, click on the link to Lesson 10 to review my Powerpoint presentation on tips to avoid plagiarism.

On Tuesday, we will talk about Summarizing.  Also, I will introduce a project for our Summarizing lessons we will start on October 9th.  You will have to write 3 summaries based on different sources that I will introduce to you.

Remember to send me your Diagnostic Revisions by 11:59 pm tonight!  After that, it will be considered late and it will affect your grade!

Have a nice weekend and practice putting paraphrases in your body paragraphs!

Good job in class today, everyone!  I know plagiarism is a tough subject, but you all did very well.  I'm sorry I couldn't answer all of your questions, but I will try to find the answers as soon as I can.  Please read the links in the Lesson 9 review on the upper right corner of the screen.

Remember to make corrections to your Diagnostic Revision #1 and submit it to your Dropbox folders before Thursday, September 27th.  If your paper is submitted after midnight on Thursday, it will be considered late.  Please name the file:

ESL 500 Diagnostic Revision 1 Final_(your name)

So, for example, if I submitted it, it would be "ESL 500 Diagnostic Revision 1 Final_Robert Kallister"

Thanks, and I'll see you on Thursday for part 2 of plagiarism!

BONUS!  Remember how I told you about Coldplay and Joe Satriani?  You can decide if Coldplay stole the song from him.  Listen to this:

Coldplay Vs. Joe Satriani

Hello, everyone!

Just a reminder: please do the Transition Exercise practice to help you with connectors.  This assignment won't be graded but it can help you with your paragraphs.  If you put a finished copy in your Dropbox folder, I can check it for errors and give you comments.  If you don't, it's no problem.  This exercise is just for your benefit.

Be ready tomorrow for plagiarism!

Good job in class, everyone!  Practice making paragraphs using good coherence, cohesion, and (of course) unity.  Click the link on the right for Lesson 8 review to help you remember the class, and you click this link:

Transition Practice

Please practice transitions.

Next week on Thursday, we'll start studying plagiarism.  Also, I'll give back your first drafts of your Diagnostic Revision so you can make corrections and submit a final copy of Revision #1 for a grade.

Have a good weekend!

Hello, everyone!

I graded the quizzes.  Everyone did a good job on them.  Your grades are posted to Engrade if you want to see the results.  I will give you back your paper copies on Thursday.

If you want to see the answers, click this link:

Review Quiz Answers

Next class, we will do Cohesion, Coherence, and Unity.  See you on the 20th!

Hello, everyone!  I hope your Diagnostic revisions are going well.  If you have questions about them, please e-mail me (kallist2@illinois.edu)

Tomorrow, we will have a QUIZ! Please review everything we studied from the beginning of the semester.  Click on the links on the right side of the page under Lesson Review and study these pages.

Hello, everyone!  One of the teachers in our department wants information from students in the ESL department.  Please take a few minutes to complete this survey.  Thank you!

Pragmatics Survey

Hello, everyone.  I received some news from our ESL department.  We will have several changes to the schedule.  Hopefully I can make a new calendar for you to see.

The calendar now says that we will study "Unity and Coherence" for next class.  We will change this.  Instead, we will do a review of our lessons from our previous classes and we will do a peer review of our Diagnostic revisions.  Please print them and bring them to class.

I am currently grading your Reflective Essays.  You should get them back on either Sunday or Monday.

On Thursday, we'll study Cohesion.

Good job in class today, everyone!  I think you are all doing very well with Introductions and Conclusions.  Make sure you PRACTICE them.  Use the link on the right side of this page (Lesson 5) to review the main points of today's lesson and write a few introductions and conclusions.

Next class, we will be studying Body Paragraphs.

Hello, everyone.  The Linguistics Department asked me to put this message on my website.

Writing in Academia: International GRAD Writing Groups

Do you want to know more about different aspects of US academic writing? Do you wonder about expectations for graduate level writing? Do you want to communicate more effectively with your professors? Would you like to practice US conventions of using sources?

 

Then you need Writing in Academia, free writing groups hosted by the Writers Workshop. These groups are specifically for ESL writers and will meet in 4-week sessions. Topics include understanding different kinds of writing, responding to different audiences, and effectively integrating sources.

 

In order to participate, you must attend the informational meeting on September 17 (Monday) at 4:30 p.m. to sign up and you must attend all four sessions. Students who have participated in Writing in Academia in the past are not eligible.

 

Informational Meeting:

Monday, September 17, 2012

 

International Grad Writing Group Sessions:

Monday, September 24

Monday, October 1

Monday, October 8

Monday, October 15

4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Room 251 Undergraduate Library

Hello, everyone!  Good job in class today.  Please practice the brainstorming techniques we did in class today: Listing, Free-writing, Cluster

On the right, I added links to making essay outlines.  Read these and practice making an outline.  You can use the Outline Template.

Don't forget your assignment!  Your reflective assignment is due on Monday night before midnight.  Please upload it to your Dropbox account before then.  You have 4 days from today to finish it.

Also, go to this website:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/

Read about writing a thesis statement.  This will help you with your essays.

Have a nice weekend, everyone!

New assignment: Reflective Assignment 1
Please check the list to the right to see your next assignment for class!

Good job on the discussion and exercises everyone!  I hope you had a chance to understand the differences between the writing styles of your home country and the US.  Please review the cultural paragraphs and learning styles we talked about.

Next lesson, we'll talk about steps that can help you prepare for writing documents in English.

Thank you for taking the Diagnostic test on Thursday!  I have read all of your essays but I cannot post them because there are still a few students who have not taken it.  Once the entire class has taken the Diagnostic, I will return them to you.

On Tuesday's class, we will talk about cultural writing styles.  Before the lesson, think about the differences between writing in English and writing in your native language (Chinese, Russian, etc.)  We will discuss those differences in class.

On Thursday, August 30th, we will have the Diagnostic in class.  We will also talk about Dropbox.

August 27 - September 1

Welcome to ESL 500!  This week will be introduction week with a course outline and overview.  On Thursday, August 30, we will administer the Diagnostic.

Assignments: None