MODULE 3: GRAMMAR: Commas

Thanks for joining me in today's workshop on commas.

Today's presentation on commas can be visited here . It's called Conquering the Comma.

The comma quiz for today is located here.

For more practise, please click here for more worksheets with answers.

Play a game with commas by clicking here.

Some students asked about the correct order of adjectives and when to use a comma. For the correct order of adjectives, please click here.

EXTRA: a song about the Oxford comma.

Module 2: LISTENING - Pop Art

For more on pop art click here.
For more on abstract expressionism follow this link.

Starters Class - Homework Answers

Practice Answers:
12a

3 has got/ 's got / has
4 have got/ 've got / have
5 has got / 's got / has
6 have got/ 've got / have
7 has got/ 's got / has
8 have got/ 've got / have
9 has got/ 's got / has
10 has got/ 's got / has
11 has got/ 's got / has
12 has got/ 's got / has


12b

Please remember:
has got = 's got = has
hasn't got = has not got = doesn't have

3 Jill has got....Jenny hasn't got
4 Jill hasn't got...Jenny has got
5 Jill hasn't got...Jenny has got
6 Jill has got....Jenny hasn't got
7 Jill has got....Jenny hasn't got
8 Jill has got....Jenny hasn't got
9 Jill hasn't got...Jenny has got
10 Jill hasn't got...Jenny has got

EXTRA:
GAME
My name's David and I'm from Scotland.
She always has a sandwich for lunch
British people drink a lot of coffee.
They often go to the gym.
That new car is my parents'.

Starters Class 3pm Friday

http://www.manythings.org/lulu/i3.htmlhttp://www.manythings.org/lulu/i3.html

Module 2: WRITING - Summary Writing

Thanks for joining me in today's Summary Writing Workshop. We focused on sections from the following article: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/08/26/f-vp-fatah.html.

As mentioned, a model answer for the first piece of writing is here:

According to the article at http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/08/26/f-vp-fatah, Indian-European and Indian-American women are flocking to Mumbai in summer and winter months to get cosmetic surgery, creating a huge increase in procedures. The trend is owed to treatments being cheaper, hired helpers being affordable and the anonymity of the overseas experience. (48 words)

The homework model answer is as follows.

According to http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/08/26/f-vp-fatah, India’s recent increased wealth amongst the bourgeoisie has caused a fashion where Western looks are the trend, with bleaching, nose surgery and Liposuction being most frequently requested. (30 words)

According to the article at http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/08/26/f-vp-fatah, the last ten years have seen increased wealth amongst the mid-upper sectors of society, causing the spike in surgery procedures. Western looks are the trend, with bleaching, nose surgery and Liposuction being most frequently requested.


For more advice on summary writing, please try here. For more practise with summary writing, try here. You can email this to me at nicolestoupe@hotmail.com.

UPPER-INT/ADVANCED Reading & Vocab. (Wed 17/2/10 3pm)

Thanks for coming to the Reading & Vocabulary Workshop today. Here are the answers to the Vocabulary Exercises:

9b) 1 runs out of..
2 hold centre stage
3 the life of the party
4 burst into laughter

Grammar answers...
G1) 1b, 2a, 3a, 4b, 5b, 6a
G2) 1 Do you prefer chicken or fish?
2 Are you reading anything interesting at the moment?
3 Does this mobile phone belong to you?
4 Has your course been getting more difficult?/ Is your course getting more difficult?
6 Do you agree with him?
5 Does anyone know the answer to this question?
7 Have the students been learning about pollution this week? / Are the students learning about pollution this week?
8 Do your parents know how to send emails?

G3) 1c, 2a, 3b, 4b, 5a, 6c, 7a, 8b, 9c, 10b

KL) 1 very 2 vicious 3 work 4 trouble/problem 5 idea 6 situation 7 deal 8 solve

V1) 1 pace 2 appearance 3 cultures 4 charisma 5 vocabulary 6 nerves

V2)c 2 f 3d 4a 5g 6b 7e

Intermediate: Writing (Tues 16/02/10 - 3pm)

Thanks for joining us today in the Writing Workshop for Informal Emails. Some good work was done. The class emails are below. If your work doesn't have any numbers [e.g. (1)] in it, this means your email is great! Please see below for comments.
_______________________________________________________
By Saori and Katsuyoshi:

Hi,

Thanks for your email. I'm writing because I got married.

How have you been recently?(0) Have you found a girlfriend? I hope you have already found a girlfriend and enjoy your life.

I've been travelling a lot recently. Why don't you come and visit us?

I'm looking forward to seeing you soon.

Take care,
[writer's name]

_______________________________________________________
By Sakiko and Yang (with the striped shirt):

Hi Fata,

Thank you for having me and being very kind to me every day.(1) I'm sending this message to you because I'm really appreciative. (2) Every time you have cooked vegetarian food for me (3). Sometimes it's really hard (4) and I feel like I am a cow or rabbit. I hope you cook some meat. I'm sending some recipes for beef and pork.

Glad to meet you. Take care. Have a nice day. From your student,
Sakiko
_______________________________________________________
By Mihagi and Shuichi:

Hi Ruth,

I am writing beause I want to appreciate your helping me. I hope you are well. Are you still reading books every day?

I've got a new friend. My English is getting better, so I could make a foreign friend.

I can't wait to see you.

All the best,
[writer's name]
_______________________________________________________
By Kohei and Eiko:

Dear [my friend],

Thanks for your email. I am writing because I want you to know my circumstances. Sorry I haven't been in touch for a while, but I've been very busy with study.

How are you? I hope you are well. Please write soon. (5)

I've been travelling a lot recently. I'm attaching a photo of my travel in Auckland.[not finished]
_______________________________________________________
By Hitomi and Ayako:

Hi Shelly,

Thank you for your nice email. I'm so glad to have it from you. (6) I'm writing because I want you to know about my news.

How are things with you? I saw Mary the other day and she has really changed. She has red hair.

By the way, I have some news (7) to tell you. I'm studying English in New Zealand for a month now. So, I'm writing from NZ. I hope we can meet in three months. I'm looking forward to seeing you again.

Take care,
[writer's name]


_____________________________________________
By Sachie and Yang (with the grey t-shirt):

Hi Mother,

Thanks for your email. I am writing because I want to say I'm fine. Sorry I haven't been in touch for a while, but I'm busy studying English. (8)

How are things with you? Did you spend (7) the New Year holiday happily? (9)[not finished]

______________________________________________
Feedback for Saori and Katsuyoshi:

Good work.
How are you recently?- Please use “recently” with present perfect grammar.

_______________________________________________
Feedback for Sakiko and Yang (with the striped shirt):

Good work, although your structure is missing your news and questions for your reader.

.(1) Please note: your original said “I’m send the message to youbecause I’m really appreciate.” The correct version is: I'm sending this message to you because I'm really appreciative.

(2) Please note: your original said “Everytime you cooked the vegetable food to me.” The correct version is: Every time you have cooked vegetarian food for me

(3). Please note: your original said “sometimes I’m really hard and I feel like I be the cow or rabbit.” The correct version is Sometimes it's really hard (4) and I feel like I am a cow or rabbit.
____________________________________________

Feedback for Mihagi and Shuichi:

Excellent work! Please note the correct spelling for appreciate has an “e”.
_______________________________________________
Feedback for Kohei and Eiko:

Good work! Please note that “Please write soon” is usually in the position of “Take care” or “Lots of love” – at the end.
________________________________________________
Feedback for Hitomi and Ayako:

(6) Please use present perfect and the verb “receive” here. I’m so glad to have received it from you.

(7) By the way, I have some news to tell you. – Please don’t use “a news”, as news is uncountable.

_______________________________________________
Feedback for Sachie and Yang (with the grey t-shirt):

Hi Mother,

(8) I’m busy to study English is wrong here. It should be I’m busy + VERBing…

(7) Did you spent = wrong.
(8): Say the New Year holiday, rather than “’Happy New year holiday’
(9) We say “spend time” + ADV. Eg.happily

MODULE 3 Reading Workshop: Slim pickings

Answers:

1. What did research say about low-carbohydrate diets?
It can not be determined whether they are difinitively better than other types of diets, but "Maybe there is something there, with the emphasis on the 'maybe'...low-carbohydrate diets may be of some use for patients who need to shed weight - at least in the early stages of their treatment...The trials also failed to find signs that cutting carbohydrates rather than fats will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease..." (p2)

2. What is the only guaranteed way to lose weight?
By eating less calories "...if your energy intake exceeds your energy out-put, you will get fat whatever the proportions of fat, carbohydrate and protein in your diet...There's no getting round the laws of thermodynamics."(p3)

3. How much good scientific study has been done into dieting and exercise?
Not enough. More needs to bwe done. Searching for relevant terms relating to Atkins on literature databases resulted in a total of just 2,609 articles. (p2)

4. What does the article tell us about obesity in the USA?
2/3 of US adults are overweight and 1/3 are clinically obese. (p1)

5. Why is Robert Atkins famous? What do we know about his company?
He's a NY doctor who championed the low-carb approach and his company is successful. (p1)

6. What do health experts want to see more of?
They want to see an inclusion of research on the volunteers' health. (p2)

7. What were the results of the Samaha and Foster experiments?
That low-carb diets don't necessarily increase the presence of 'bad' cholestrol and that low-carb diets may be more effective in the initial stages of a diet.(p2)

8. Why should the results of the experiments not be accepted conclusively?
The studies were small (132 and 63 patients, with a minority seeing the studies through to the end). (p2)

9. What is the aim of Foster’s newest research?
To do a larger study (360 patients) and to find out about how their health is affected. (p2)

10. What criticisms are made of low-carb diets and their effectiveness?
That people may not be getting adequate nutrition and that people's expectations are unrealistic. (p2 - 3rd column)

11. What do studies in hospitals tell us about the different diets?
That weight loss is similar for diets containing the same number of calories, irrespective of the proportion of carohydrate, fat and protein. (p3)

12. What problem is there when researching people on low-carb diets?
That it is difficult to determine how many calories patients are consuming. It is also difficult to determine whether they lose weight due to fewer overall calories or whether they lose weight due to the type of food they're consuming.


13. What suggestion is made for future study?
That researchers should find common factors in success stories of dieters.(p3)

14. What are the 2 key factors in managing weight?
Behavioral factors as well as what people consume.(p3)

15. What is needed to solve the problem of obesity?
Governments need to promote the consumption of foods that are less energy intensive, because people are consuming more and more. (p3)

16. What is the doctor’s role in prescribing diets?
To tailor them to individuals, depending on their metabolic & behavioral characteristics. (p3)

MODULE 3: ESP Reading (Saturnz Software)

Please check back tomorrow (Tuesday) for the answers (1-10).

MODULE 3: Listening (Multiple Intelligences)

Thanks for joining me today for the listening exercises on Multiple Intelligences. For more on this topic, try listening to criticisms regarding the theory of Multiple Intelligences. The following comes from a radio programme, where you can find lots of other interesting radio stories:http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/07-08/may03.html


Listen to the radio show.
The radio show is around 15 minutes long.
A Dummy's Guide to Intelligence
This is an overview, but not the same information as the listening:



It's hard to think of an area of science that has caused as much debate as intelligence research. Just what it is and how to measure it has intrigued, puzzled and vexed researchers for well over a century. There are those who stick to classic IQ tests, arguing that, despite their substantial pitfalls, they're the best way of measuring someone's capacity for logic and reasoning. Other researchers feel that IQ tests paint only part of the picture and that, in order to really understand intelligence, we have to take into account things like social skills and emotional competence. And then there are the researchers pushing intelligence testing in a new and potentially even more controversial direction - scientists who want to use brain-imaging techniques to try to measure intelligence from the inside out.

Dr. Linda Gottfredson, a Professor of Education at the University of Delaware, argues that IQ tests are a valid and useful way of measuring intelligence. They're by far the most common tool we have for the task and they're decent predictors of academic success. Dr. Gottfredson is representative of researchers who believe that differences in IQ scores are caused by a difference in inherent mental capacity, or general intelligence.

Dr. James Flynn, Professor Emeritus at Otago University in Dunedin, New Zealand, argues that IQ tests tend to measure mental abilities that are shaped primarily by experience and cultural norms. Dr. Flynn has uncovered one of the most intriguing phenomenons in modern psychology, the Flynn Effect: the fact that, over the past 100 years, IQ scores have been going up with each generation. He argues these IQ gains have happened too quickly to have a biological explanation and, therefore, must be the result of cultural evolution.

Several researchers feel that the definition of intelligence that IQ operates under is too narrow. Dr. Mindy Kornhaber is an Associate Professor in Education at Pennsylvania State University and an advocate of Multiple Intelligences Theory. Dr. Kornhaber suggests that the kind of intelligence IQ tests measure is one among many, including musical intelligence, social intelligence and kinesthetic intelligence.

Along the same lines of thought, Dr. James Parker, a psychology Professor at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, suggests that we put too much stress on measuring cognitive skills and not enough on emotional skills. Dr. Parker has conducted studies that suggest the best way of predicting the academic success of first-year university students is to measure their emotional intelligence, not their IQ.

Dr. Richard Haier is forging ahead in a different direction, using functional MRI scans to visualize what's happening inside the brain when people take IQ tests. Dr. Haier is a professor of neurology at University of California, Irvine. Dr. Haier has found that people with higher IQs tend to have less brain activity than people with lower IQs. But he's also found that you can train the brain to be a more efficient solving problem machine.