ENGL E102F Wk 5 Sess 1_ECE

Recap

• Coherence and cohesion
• Module 1
• Reading strategies
• Predicting
• Skimming

Any questions regarding Assignment 1?

Oral practice

Thanks to those who have submitted the oral practice

Generally speaking, the overall performance is not bad. There are indeed some very good sharing.

Oral practice

Here are some points to remember.

Content:

• Examples must be strong.
• Eating culture is not a strong one.
• So is working environment
• but the lifestyle and exposure to local culture are better ones

Oral practice

Here are some points to remember.

Content:

• Must have a clear focus.
• you should talk about what you are expected to talk about.
• so read the question and shape your answers very carefully.

Oral practice

Organisation:

• Generally fine
• Remember: Even though this is a 2-min sharing which should be short and simple, you still have to introduce what you are going to talk about and finish your sharing by saying 'That's all' or 'Thank you'.

Oral practice

Clarity:

• Generally clear

Pronunciation:

• The trouble-maker is still clusters.

Pace:

• Generally fine

Practice

20 students returned the form.

15 of them are valid. 5 have been disqualified because of the text types.

Practice

Result:

1. Which text type(s) in the list do you often work on?

• Essay (14 out of 15)

Practice

Result:

2. Which text type(s) in the list have you never worked on?

• Biography (11 out of 15)

Practice

Result:

3. Which text type(s) in the list do you find easier to handle?

• Essay (6 out of 15)
• The answers are quite diversified.

Practice

Result:

4. Which text type(s) in the list do you find most difficult to handle?

• Biography (6 out of 15)
• again the answers are quite diversified

Reading strategies: Predicting & Skimming

Predicting: speculating about the content of an article by looking at its title carefully

Reading strategies: Skimming

Skimming:

• reading through a text quickly to get a general overview, not reading every single word.
• helps
• to decide whether it is useful
• to identify sections to read intensively

Reading strategies: Skimming

When we skim for general information, we need to skim

• the title
• for academic journals, the abstract
• the 1st sent. (topic sent.) of each para.
• the last sent. (concluding sent.) of each para.
• the introduction

Reading strategies: Skimming

When we skim for general information, we need to skim

• the chapter summary (for course textbooks)
• bolded or highlighted words
• tables, graphs, diagrams and their captions
• the conclusion

except the middle part of each paragraph because it contains elaboration, examples, evidence for justification, which are not necessary for skimming

Reading strategies: Skimming

Subheading A (6 - 12)

Involvement in local community

Paragraph 6

This echoes ... equipping them with local knowledge.

Paragraph 7

He says the project is designed for students 'to understand the local community'

located in the 1st two paragraphs; near the end of each of them

Reading strategies: Skimming

Subheading B (13 - 16)

Advantages of international schools

Paragraph 15

Over 3,300 tertiary institutions in nearly 90 countries currently recognize the IB programme whereas 250 tertiary institutions recognize the HKDSE programme.

the last 2nd paragraph; at the end of it

Reading strategies: Skimming

Subheading C (17 - 22)

All-round development

Paragraph 17

they offer more all-round development ...

the 1st paragraph; the beginning of it

Reading strategies: Skimming

Subheading D (23 - 26)

Integration

Paragraph 24

Cohen decided that in order for them to truly integrate into Hong Kong society, ...

the 2nd paragraph; 'integrate': a bolded or highlighted word

Reading strategies: Skimming

Subheading E (27 - 29)

Career prospects

Paragraph 27

When it comes to competitiveness in the job market, ...

the 1st paragraph; the 1st sentence

Elaboration

Examples

Synonyms & Antonyms

Activity 1.5

Affixes

Scanning

• another rapid reading technique
• search for something specific in the text
• usually have questions in mind and read to find the answer, ignoring unrelated information

Scanning

Activity 1.7

Answer the following questions by scanning Text 1.1 for the specific information.

Scanning

1. Which academic subject did Harry Mou originally wish to study?

Social work: paragraph 5

When he applied to universities, he had put down the undergraduate programmes in social work as his first choice ... all six rejected him.

Scanning

2. What did he end up studying?

Sociology: paragraph 1

Harry Mou Kat-yan is a second-year sociology student ...

Scanning

3. What proportion of students at ESF schools are of Chinese heritage?

46%: paragraph 16

Chinese is the largest ethnic group in ESF schools, constituting 46 per cent of all students.

Scanning

4. Name the four school curricula mentioned in the article.

i. HKDSE ii. IB iii. AP iv. GCSE: paragraph 15

While local schools prepare their students for the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) ... as the IB programme ... Advanced Placement (AP) tests, or the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exams.

Identifying main ideas and supporting information

Academic texts contain facts and supporting ideas.

Supporting ideas are important. They make the writing more convincing.

Let's see if you can identify the main ideas and the supporting information.

Identifying main ideas and supporting information

Where are the main ideas often found in a text?

According to the structure of a paragraph, the topic sentence provides the main ideas of the paragraph and the middle part includes elaboration, examples and justification.

Identifying main ideas and supporting information

Activity 1.8.2

Find reasons given in the newspaper article to support the following two main points:

a. It is beneficial to attend an international school.

b. It is beneficial to attend a local school.

Identifying main ideas and supporting information

a. It is beneficial to attend an international school.

How are you going to do it?

Subheading C: Advantages of international schools

b. It is beneficial to attend a local school

The American woman sends her children to local schools

Subheading D: Integration

Identifying main ideas and supporting information

a. It is beneficial to attend an international school.

• Proficiency in English (subheading B, paragraph 1)
• Experience with middle and upper-class society (paragraph 4 of the opening section)
• Ability to adapt well to the UK or US (paragraph 3 of the opening section)
• Wider recognition of the curricula (subheading B, paragraph 3)

Identifying main ideas and supporting information

a. It is beneficial to attend an international school.

• Emphasis on whole-person development / all-round education (subheading C, paragraph 1)
• Less pressured environment initially (subheading C, paragraph 2)
• Awareness of international affairs (subheading C, paragraph 7)

Identifying main ideas and supporting information

b. It is beneficial to attend a local school.

• Proficiency in Cantonese and written Chinese (subheading D, paragraph 3)
• Experience with a wide range of social classes (subheading D, paragraph 4)
• Knowledge of local communities and culture (subheading D, paragraphs 3 & 4)

Identifying main ideas and supporting information

b. It is beneficial to attend a local school.

• Ability to grasp cultural references in spoken Cantonese (implied in subheading C, paragraph 6)
• Emphasis on academic studies (subheading C, paragraphs 1 & 2)
• Lower financial cost (subheading D, paragraph 4)

Reading for detailed understanding

When you are reading for detailed understanding, you need to work at a slower pace and focus on the details.

Reading for detailed understanding

Activity 1.9

Read subsection A of Text 1.1 and evaluate the following statement and examine supporting points and examples.

The CAS Project does not achieve its objectives.

Reading for detailed understanding

Ideas include

• affected him for the short time he was involved in it and did not provide enough local knowledge
• international school system does not teach enough about local issues

Reading for detailed understanding

Ideas include

• did interact with more local students for the project, but this only had a short-term effect
• may have provided him with an experience, but it did not really deepen his understanding of local affairs.

Reading for detailed understanding

To write in your own words,

While the CAS Project has fairly clearly defined objectives, the activities that students engaged in provided only surface level experiences and were not lengthy enough to encourage deeper interaction and thereby reach a better understanding of the local community, according to the two interviewed students

Distinguishing facts and opinions

To be able to think critically, we must be able to distinguish facts from opinions.

• Facts are statements that can be proven by evidence.
• Opinions may seem convincing but do not always correspond to facts.

Distinguishing facts and opinions

Are they facts or opinions?

Distinguishing facts and opinions

Distinguishing facts and opinions

Activity 1.10

1. Rote memorization is one of the least effective learning methodologies of all.

can be both

• "effective" is an evaluative word. It is difficult to prove. (opinion)
• if mentioned in findings of a research report (fact)

Distinguishing facts and opinions

Activity 1.10

2. According to the 2015 annual report published by the ESF, the majority of ESF students' parents are permanent residents.

• Backed by statistical evidence (fact)

Distinguishing facts and opinions

Activity 1.10

3. For employment, English is more important than Mandarin or Cantonese.

• expert informed opinion
• unsupported fact