Dear all,
We come to the last practice activity on the genre of essays. Please remember during the final test, you will have around 80 minutes to do writing, listening, and reading activities. This is why organizing your ideas quickly and getting  your writing more structured is a good way to start.


Choose one of the topics below and write a 250 word 5- part essay.

Option 1:
Some people say "what you see is what you get" (meaning what you look like is what you are) while others say "never judge a book by its cover" (meaning outward appearances don't reflect what is inside the person). Discuss the implications of both attitudes and say which you agree with more.

Option 2:
Cars have revolutionized the way we live and may be the greatest invention of the last 120 years. Some say this is a good thing while others say we need to move away from depending on cars. Discuss both ideas and say which you agree with more.

Write a 5 paragraph essay that contains

Introductory  paragraph (remember your thesis statement)

paragragh 2

pargragh 3

paragraph 4

Concluding paragraph

Topic

"Technology is becoming more prevalent in our lives and world. There are pros and cons to this situation. Discuss both, and state whether you see more pros or cons with this."

Minimum 220- 250 words and 1 comment

Here is an example of an essay. It answers this question: What are the issues that need to be considered before taking a long trip?  Please explain.

I think it is true that we all like travelling.  Leaving home for an extended period, such as a trip, however, requires taking several precautions and making certain preparations. We can’t just go out the door.  Especially important are transport, accommodations, money, and home supervision.  I will explain why they are so important.

Probably the most important issue is transportation and accommodations. We need to consider the means of transportation.  Do we go by bus or plane, car or train? We also need to think about where we will stay, and the length of our sojourn.  For example, are we leaving on a long vacation?  Should we stay in a hotel or at a camp ground?  These choices have to do with the character of our trip. We also should think about the level of comfort we deem necessary.  Some of us are fine with a cold and Spartan tent; others prefer luxurious five-star hotels.

Another important matter is the ever-present issue of money. We need to know how much money we need for the trip; we need to consider the ratio of expense to length of stay. Another important factor is the surprise factor.  What if we have an accident?  Do we have money to cover this?  This is very important, too. Related to the unforeseeable events, we should consider insuring ourselves for them.  For example, an insurance policy can provide us with adequate coverage.

While we are away, we need to think about what is happening to our home.  We need to make sure the bills have been paid.  What if you return to a dark and cold house because you forgot to take care of the electricity bill before you had left. It is a good idea to get a friend, neighbor or relative to look in on your house.  You could give them a key.  Electrical surges can be a problem.  Therefore, we should unplug sensitive equipment, such as television sets while we are away.

Therefore, if we take all these things into consideration, we should be able to enjoy our trip.  Wherever we are, we can enjoy the parties, sun or museums without having to think about money, schedules or accidents at home.

conclusion

Structure of a paragraph: introduction, body, conclusion

A paragraph is a group of sentences about one topic.  The first sentence of a paragraph should be indented.  The second sentence follows the first sentence on the same line, not on a new line.

Concluding statement

In this paragraph, you may restate your thesis in different words or summarize your reasons.  In your final comment you may call for action.  Your final comment should be powerful—one that readers will remember.

Example of a concluding paragraph for an essay stating the writer’s opinion of cloning humans:

   To summarize, cloning humans is clearly dangerous and unethical.  It is one thing to clone a mouse, sheep, or pig but quite another matter to duplicate a human being.  Even though scientists claim that their only 

POst Wednesday 25

Introductory paragraph
paragraph 1
paragraph 2
paragraph 3

Please remember

Your 2 paragraghs for this evening.
Thank you

Ok,
today we are working collectively


Please visit

https://sites.google.com/site/level5facso/about-l2-learning

Go to

https://sites.google.com/?hl=es

Please visit

https://authorservices.wiley.com/Reviewers/journal-reviewers/what-is-peer-review/index.html

Gearing your writing towards academia

Dear all,

Please remember that in academic writing, there are different genres (journal, essay, letter, etc.) and some of them can be more impersonal. When you write about a research project, even though you can use "I" sometimes through the text, passive voice and reference by nominalization are more common.

e.g.

There are a number of issues with immigration worldwide. Chile has received (has been host to) a great number of migrants. OR A great number of migrants has arrived in Chile in the past few years...

Remember it is important to include more formal discourse markers, for example

Furthermore, in addition, moreover

In contrast, in spite of, although

whereas, while, etc.

To conclude

Today the idea is to copy the text you wrote on wed August 9^th about piece of research you would like to carry out and edit it. How to do that? As follows:

First of all, you could present the background info. Context

Secondly, the actual problem you want to investigate

Try to include other authors who have addressed this topic or something similar elsewhere

What type of research would you carry out? How?

Remember to try to incorporate discourse markers. Write a minimum of 210 words. Then post it on your blog for today’s task.

Here is a sample text 

A number of theories have arisen regarding the learning of a second language. However, most studies in this area have been carried out in context of English as a second language (Norton, 2000, Bernstein, 1993) (e.g. Puerto Rico) and not as a foreign language (e.g.Chile) .

 Interestingly, Chile has had an important influx of immigrants, among them, some coming from countries in which Spanish is not spoken and whose first language is Creole (a mix between French and African language) and some whose first language is Arabic, which does not only sound very different but is written differently. Additionally, many of these people have arrived with their whole family. Today, there are more than 50,000 foreign people under 18 years old.

This study seeks to explore the perception foreign children coming from considerably different backgrounds feel about learning English in a country where English is not spoken.

What evidence is there of how these children are “invested” (Norton, 2000) in learning the English language? How is their identity affected learning a foreign language?

This research will use mixed methods and will have participant observation over 10 sessions (10 weeks). Data will be collected via semi-structured interviews to the children, teacher and one of the parents, and surveys that will be administered after classes on the premises of the school.

Wed 23

Dear all ,

Please write about the task for today.

-What was the last essay/paper you read  about?

- why did the teacher recommend it?

- Did you enjoy reading it? Why ? Why not?

-What is something related to your career you would like to read more about? why?

-How do you usually organize yourself when you have too much to study?

Please remember to try to include the connectors of the fantastic page at the top. 

Write a minimum of 210 words and 3 comments on your clasmates' blogs. The deadline is 24 hours.

Thank you.

Regards,

Beatriz