Problems Found in Writing

I read an article in last Friday's UDN about the writing performance on the GEPT for Intermediate Level.  According to the research done by NTU, the examinees didn't have problems writing complete sentences; one of their problems lay in paragraph writing.   Some examinees lacked the idea of unity; they put irrelevant sentences in a paragraph.  For example, in a composition about exotic food, the raters saw sentences like "Taiwan's food is also good.  You can give it a try when you've got a chance."  

Don't Quit

In yesterday's entry, I mentioned that to make the most of the paper, I put some inspiring words on the back of the lyrics I handed out to students.  The words go as follows.

If--A Beautiful Song

This morning, as promised yesterday, I taught Class 314 the song "If."  

Writing Pleasure

I have some students who love writing.  Every morning when I get to school I can find several notebooks on my office desk waiting for me.   In the notebooks are students' essays.   I often try my best to read, correct, and return them in the afternoon.   However, when I'm busy at school, I have to take them home.   This Monday morning, my son saw my heavy bag when we are leaving home together.  Then we had the following conversation:

Reading Pleasure

More and more students came to borrow English story books or novels from me. Yesterday noon, even Quei-ting (李奎霆) in Class 314, a very queit student, came to ask for something to read. I lent him a story book from the 3rd level of the Original series published by Longman. Amazingly, he finished and returned it to me at around 4pm. Then I handed him another one, overwhelmed with joy.

Now I feel like I'm running a very small library. Hmm, I've got to put more books in my students' hands.

A Serious Problem in Taiwan's Education

A student in Class 313 wrote a short essay about the most serious problem in Taiwan's education.   In his opinion, the most serious problem is that students spend too much time in school.  His argument is that the more time students spend in class sitting and, most of the time, listening to teachers' lectures, the less time they can have to develop themselves. 

I agree with him in some way.  However, if given more time, what will students do?

An Interesting Website about Nanotechnology

The teacher's manual introduces an interesting website about nanotechnology, which is the topic of Unit 3.  At the site, students can not only learn what nanotech is and how it works, but also enjoy an interactive activity.  What's better, they can even hear some researchers talk in English about how special nanotech is.  I love the section about the potential  use of nanotech in particular.  Here's its URL:

http://www.nanozone.org/

 

Excellence Is Nurtured

The teacher's manual of Book 6 mentioned the stories of two excellent persons.  One is Po-yin Yang (楊柏因), who received a PhD degree from MIT at the age of 22, and the other is Roger (羅傑), who entered an American university at 12.  What they have in common is that their interest in reading started at an early age.  The following is the story of Roger.

http://www.taisun.org.tw/qLoveFamilyItem_Show.asp?LoveFamilyItemID=186

There Will Be Miracle When You...

A student at Yu-ling High School (武陵高中) got a 71 ranking score on the SAT,  ranking the 29th in his school.  What is special about him is that he ranked the 452nd in school on the SAT mock exam. 

Yes, You Can

When I flipped through my old files this evening, I came across a newspaper clipping.  It's about how a high school student made big progress in his studies.   Thinking that the news story might inspire students, especially those who didn't do well on the SAT, I decided to try my luck and see if I can find this old article on the Net so that students can read it online.  To my amazement, I found it, an article in the UDN dated May 18, 2006. 

Educational Reform

This afternoon in Class 310, when introducing the new word "radical," I asked the students if we needed a radical educational reform.  They responded with "Yes" unanimously.   I asked why, and a student blurted out, "Too much pressure." 

The students' response proved something.  The educational reform in our country still has room for improvement.  

To Master English

This morning when we discussed the notion in Unit 2 that no one can achieve the highest levels of performance without devoting thousands of hours to practice, I told Class 310 that I once read in the newspaper that to master English, by which I mean to use English as naturally as native speakers, one has to spend 20,000 hours studying it, according to a study.  So if we study English 2 hours every day, it will take us more than 27 years.  Hearing this, the students all stared at me in disbelief.  Now, they know how hard they have to work if they really want to have a good command of English.

English Education

This year more than 20,000 students got a zero for English composition on the SAT.  Many people have shown their concern over English education in Taiwan.

The following are three articles from the UDN.  The first two are news reports written from three professors' perspective, while the third article, by a lawyer, is written from a learner's point of view.  All of them put emphasis on learners' motivation. 

I copied and pasted the articles on my blog in case one day they are removed from the UDN website.  Besides, I can underline the parts that I think are important.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=179118

Mr. Feng-yuan Hsu's Story

This is a news story about someone who started from scratch.   His name is Feng-yuan Hsu (許峰源).   Born in a poor family, he knew he had to work very hard to become somebody.  Besides, reading biographies of famous people guided him all the way.

To know more about Mr. Hsu, click the URL or read on.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=179354

That's What Family Is for

Mr. Zhi-hao Huang (黃致豪), a 20-year-old NTU student, donated 60% of his liver to his father.  This news story has touched many hearts.  You can read the story in the blog of Taiwanese song diva, Hui Jiang (江蕙).

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/jodychiang/13998718

Like Ms. Jiang, I also want to give Mr. Huang a big hug. 

Gems of Wisdom, plus a Way I Teach Reading

Every morning, I can't wait to read the gem of wisdom on the front page of the UDN.  It's usually a sentence said by someone accomplished.   Here are two examples:

To Apply or Not to Apply?

I came across this article online just now, which offers great help to students who cannot decide whether to apply to university now or not.  Please click on the URL or read on.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=179049

Yu-shu's Advice on How to Prepare for UEE English

The following is a mail form my former 316 student Yu-shu (謝雨書).  I'm very thankful that she would like to generously share with all the high school seniors her ways of tudying English for the UEE.  She got a 85.33 on the 2008 UEE

P.S.  I got her permission to put the mail on my blog and I've made a few small modifications

Cram School?

Today the result of the 2009 SAT came out.   While I was reading some related news online, I came across this article.  It's about some students who got top ranking, 75, but never went to cram school.  The main part of the article is about their studying habits.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=178685

An Advantage of Blogging

Yesterday while I was seeking for some good compositions written by former students that I put on my blog, I felt grateful for the invention of blog.