how to improve your reading and writing? – part i 高雄市國民教育輔導團...

How to improve your How to improve your reading and writing? – reading and writing? –

Part IPart I

How to improve your How to improve your reading and writing? – reading and writing? –

Part IPart I

高雄市國民教育輔導團語文領域國小英語組輔導員

許儷齡許儷齡 (Linda)(Linda)

(( 高雄市正興國小高雄市正興國小 ))

Warm-up Activity

- Please work with a partner to unscramble the paragraph.- You have 3 minutes.

• Unscramble the paragraph

• Time to check the answer now!

- Can you tell us why you rearranged the sentences the way you did?

Warm-up Activity

• Unscramble the paragraph

What enables you to unscramble the

paragraph?

• From the bottom up, text is comprised of:

- context - discourse - paragraph - sentence / clause - words - letters / sounds

What are discourse markers

• words or phrases that function to signal how the current utterance relates to prior discourse contributing to the meaning of the message.

• in terms of their functions, a preliminary list of discourse markers can be specified as follows:

1. Focusing And Linking: With reference to, Speaking/Talking of/about, Regarding, As regards, With regard to, With respect to, In regard to, As to, As for


2. Contrasts:• Direct Contrast: However, Nevertheless, Mind you, Yet/Still/In spite of, Conversely, In contrast/In contrast to• Concession and Counter

Argument: It is true, Of course, If, May, But, However, Even so, Nevertheless, Nonetheless, All the same, Still


• Contradicting: On the contrary

• Balancing Contrasting Points: While, On the other hand, Whereas

• Dismissal of Previous Discourse:

Anyway, At least, At any rate


3. Similarity: Similarly, In the same way, Likewise, By the same token4. Change of Subject: By the way, Incidentally, Right, Now, O.K5. Structuring: First(ly), First of all, Second(ly),

Third(ly), Lastly, Finally, To begin with, To start with, In the first/second/third place, For one thing, For another thing


6. Adding: Moreover, Furthermore, In addition, As well as that, On top of that, Another thing, What is more, Besides, In any

case, Also7. Generalizing: On the whole, In general, In all/most/ many/some cases, Broadly speaking,

By and large, To a great extent, Apart from, Except for....


8. Exemplification: For instance, For example, In particular, Such as, e.g.9. Logical Consequence: Thus, Hence, Accordingly,

Therefore, As a result, Consequently, So,

Then, That’s why


10. Making Things Clear / Softening and Correcting: I mean, Actually, That is to say, In other words, I think, I feel, I reckon, I guess, In my view/opinion, Apparently, So to speak, More or less, Sort of, Kind of, Well, Really, At least, I am afraid, I suppose11. Gaining Time: Let me see, Let’s see, Well, You know, I don’t know, I…


Warm-up Activity

1. Partner A & Partner B work together to complete the passage. 2. Pair work: fill in the missing words

• Information Gap

- Time to check the answer now!

- Can you share your passage with us?

Warm-up Activity

• Information Gap

What enables you to fill in the blanks?

• From the bottom up, text is comprised of:

- context - discourse - paragraph - sentence / clause - words - letters / sounds

Agree or not?

• When acquiring our first language, we begin developing it orally.

• We need to develop our oral language to some extent before we can be expected to function in writing.

Yes

• What is the most important English skill?

- fluency (the ability to speak, and understand English quickly and easily)

= speak & understand instantly

How to improve your oral English

How to improve your oral English

Intermediate level and below

Listen to easier English,

andlisten to each thing many times!


Listening is the keyListening is the key

• Listen to easy English understandable listening materials

=> improve speaking • A lot of repetition - how many times

(30 times to remember a new word forever; 50-100 times to know and understand it instantly)

Listening is the keyListening is the key

Powerful listening and excellent speaking

• Practice “Narrow Listening”

“Narrow Listening” = listening to many things about the same topic

- find a speaker and find many things about him

(his podcasts, audio books, speeches, etc.) - you can learn faster and deeper (They repeat their favorite vocabulary and grammar many times.)


• Choose one topic to focus on - e.g., read an easy book, listen to the same

audio book, listen to a podcast about it, watch the movie - e.g., read “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” -> listen to the audio book -> watch & listen

to the movie -> listen to interviews with the actors


Powerful listening and excellent

speaking

• Divide your listening time

- divide the time throughout the day

helps you remember more and learn faster. - e.g., 30 min. in the morning, 30 min.

in the car, 30 min. after work, 30 min. before sleep



• Listen to movies - watch one scene or segment per

week (2-3 minutes). 1. watch the scene with Chinese subtitles (to understand the general

meaning)



4. Listen to the scene a few times, without subtitles.5. Repeat 1 – 4 everyday for a week.• Listen, Repeat, and Write - It can enhance your speaking and help with your writing



Practice Time!

• Get a piece of paper and a pen

• Listen, Repeat, and Write

2. watch the scene with English subtitles.

(Pause to check up the new words in the dictionary and write new sentences in a notebook.) 3. listen to the scene a few times, with English subtitles. Do not pause.



Make English you hobby,

and Have fun!

The key to excellent English

The key to excellent English

• Use 1 hour to practice English every day.

- divide the 1 hour into three 20- minute sections. - use the first section for reading. - use the second section for listening. - use the third section for writing.

The key to excellent EnglishThe key to excellent English

- keep a dictionary with you - read something challenging,

and pause to summarize what you have read every 4 minutes.

- say it out loud.- take 1 min. to give a clear

summary of what you read (as if you’re explaining it to your friend)

20-minute Reading20-minute Reading

- repeat this three more times: 4 min. reading + 1 min. oral summarizing = 5 min. (5 min. x 4 times = 20 min.)

• Look up the meanings of the unfamiliar words in the dictionary.

• Keep a list of the new words. • Review the list regularly.

20-minute Reading20-minute Reading

What to read

- academic writing (e.g., university textbooks)

- e-newspapers- magazines (e.g., National

Geographic, Time, The Economist)- books like the “A Very Short

Introduction” series

High-Intermediate – Advanced level

• Read and Listen at the same time - it improves your pronunciation - it helps you to understand more difficult materials.• Read little and often - read something everyday, read something short - read something you really enjoy (e.g., short stories)


What to read

Key Reading Strategies

• Critical reading: to analyze the passage information in a clear, logical and systematic manner

– Spend 15-20 seconds to analyze the title (& picture, if any) and predict the passage

– Ask: What (what is this title/picture?) Why (why is this important?) How (How ?)

– Read each paragraph in the passage separately, and ask: What (what is this paragraph about?) Why (why does XXX happen??) How (how does it happen?)

• Paraphrasing: to express the same ideas using different words in order to understand the information clearly.

– using synonym (words with the same meaning) e.g., big -> large

– using antonym (the opposite word) + negative e.g., go -. Don’t stay

– using expression including idioms, or phrasal verbs e.g., run into -> encounter

– using grammar: e.g., I have visited France. -> I went to France at some time in the past and this experience continues to influence my life now.

Key Reading Strategies

- Get something challenging on CD, the radio, or the Internet.

- Pause every 4 min. or so and use 1 min. to summarize what you heard.

- Repeat this 3 more times. (4 min. listening + 1 min. oral summarizing = 5 min. )


20-minute Listening20-minute Listening

What to listen

• CBC radio (www.cbc.ca/listen) - great for general listening, features both formal and conversational English• Academic Earth (

www.academicearth.org) - free recorded lectures from some of the best universities in the USA


• Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab (www.esl-lab.com)

- great for learning idioms


What to listen

- Divide the 20 min. into two 10-minute segments.

- 1st 10 minutes: write a summary of what you just read or listen to

- 2nd 10 minutes: express an opinion about something you just read or listened to

20-minute Writing20-minute Writing

Improve your writing level

• Read all the time – especially formal or academic

texts: Google scholar, textbooks, essays, The Economist, Time, journals, factual books.

– Reading provides a model for writing and helps with vocabulary.


• Review your basic grammar:

- Before you try to use lots of other

forms, make sure you’re using the basic 100% correctly. - Writing should be clear and concise.



• Keep a diary: - This is a flexible, convenient way to build up writing fluency. - Give it to a tutor to check for re-occurring errors.

• Write emails/messages in English - practice thinking in English


• Practice summarizing: - Summarize articles, chapters of books, essays or features from magazine. - This improves paraphrasing,

sentence construction and use of lexis.



• Sentence construction: - Compare sentences in your own

language with those in English and look at the differences between them. - This will help you stop

translating at a sentence level.



• Learn your prepositions: - Always learn any dependent prepositions for new words, e.g., consisted of, interested in. - Record these prepositions with

new words in your vocabulary book.



• Always edit: - Finish some writing, have a cup of

coffee, and then go back and edit it. - Look for common errors, and when

you see them make a note of them for future reference.



• Linking words and phrases: - Record collocations of two or three

words, e.g., as a result of, in spite of, due to, - Record all of these words and phrases and make sure you can use them correctly.



• Practice your structure: - Use topic sentence, then develop the

points you make with facts, details, examples, opinions or evidence. - The structure will get you the score you want.



• Practice: - Writing is like everything else. If

you don’t practice, you will not improve.

- Focus your practice on the structure and time constraints of your exam.


Resource: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck5CPk4_WNA


• Think in English• Build your writing ability from

sentence to paragraph - Vocabulary - Grammar - Coherence

• Write in English as often as possible

- email, memo, diary, working journal,

etc.

How to improve your writing




- Syntax- Grammar- Mechanics- Organization- Word choice

- Purpose- Audience- The writing

process- Contents

Sub-skills involved in writing (Anne Raimes,1983)

- Syntax: sentence structure, sentence boundaries, stylistic choice, etc

- Grammar: rules for verb agreement, articles, pronounces, etc.

- Mechanics: handwriting, spelling, punctuation, etc.

- Organization: paragraphs, topic and support, cohesion and unity



- Word choice: vocabulary, idiom, tone- Content: relevance, clarity, originality, logic, etc.- The writing process: getting ideas, getting started, writing drafts, revising

- Audience: the readers

- Purpose: the reason for writing



1. Under a pile of garbage, Jack found his watch.

→2. Trying to get under the fence,

Mark’s mother called him. →



Dangling modifiers:

3. After standing in line for four hours, the manager announced that all the concert tickets were sold out.

→4. Sitting under a tree, an apple

hit Jack on the head. →



Dangling modifiers:

5. Running down the street, a huge tree fell to the ground.

→ 6. While cooking dinner, the

kitchen caught on fire.→



Dangling modifiers:

7. After graduating from college, Sean’s father wants him to join the family business.

→ 8. Lacking the necessary qualifications,

the job was not for Peter.→



Dangling modifiers:

9. She wrapped the scarf around her throat that she bought on sale.

→10. The audience enjoyed the concert

that sat on the grass.→



Dangling modifiers:

11. The dog belongs to Ms. Smith that is black and white.

→ 12. Writing hurriedly, the

deadline was met.→



Dangling modifiers:

• Practice paraphrasing - build your vocabulary

- use synonyms when you write - identify main points - listen to recorded lectures and write down the main points



- read 2 articles on the same topic and write a summary of each

- explain ways they are similar and ways they are different



Hurricanes, which are also called tropical cyclones, exert tremendous power. These violent storms are usually a hundred miles in diameter and their winds can reach velocities of seventy-five miles an hour, or more. Furthermore, the strong winds and heavy rainfall that accompany them can completely destroy a small town in a couple of hours. The energy that is released by an hurricane in one day exceeds the total energy consumed by mankind throughout the world in one year.

What is the topic sentence


Does a hot, humid summer day make you

feel grumpy? Does a rainy day make you feel depressed? The weather seems to affect people’s moods. Hot weather makes some people irritable, while others love the heat, and are very happy and cheerful on a summer’s day. Others don’t mind the heat but say they hate it when it is humid because the humidity makes them tired.



In most schools, courses are offered in English, math, science, history, geography, physical education. Some schools also offer art, music, industrial science, home economics, computer science, foreign languages, business studies and even agriculture lessons. A lot of schools provide opportunities before, during, or after schools for students to participate in sport, cultural clubs, and other activities. Schools are also there to help students with problems, reward students for achievement, punish students for unacceptable behavior, and in some cases, even to feed students in addition to educating them. Schools address a large variety of needs.

What is the topic sentenceWhat is the topic sentence

2. Coherence - how to achieve it? * create logical bridges from one sentence to another by 1) repeat key words 2) substitute with synonyms 3) use pronouns 4) use transition words and discourse markers

Elements of a successful paragraph

Elements of a successful paragraph

Learning resources on the Internet

• ELLLO (listening w/ text) http://www.elllo.org• KanTalk (listening, Internet chat & conversation) http://www.kantalk.com• VOA News (listening) http://www.voanews.com/english/podcasts.cfm• ESL Pod (listening) http://www.eslpod.com• Just Vocabulary (listening) http://justvocabulary.com/podcast/• Podcast in English (listening) http://www.podcastsinenglish.com/index.shtml

how to improve your reading and writing? – part i 高雄市國民教育輔導團...

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