Workshop Mind the Gap-an introduction to Academic English for vwo 6 –-oorzaak & gevolg:-www.mindthegap.slo.nl

Aanleiding onderzoek

• Zeven jaar Tweede Fase, een balans

• IOWO – aansluitingsmonitoronderzoeken

• Profielcommissie: Bruggen tussen Natuur en Maatschappij:

• SLOA-aanvraag LEVENDE TALEN

Of zoals de Spits meldde:

• I hate you all welcome....

Advies Profielcommissies:

• Start aansluitingsprojecten voor het vak Engels met sectoren in het hoger onderwijs, waar ontevredenheid over het beheersingsniveau van de Engelse taal van de studenten bestaat.

• Verhelder welke onderdelen van de taalvaardigheid bij de diverse vervolgopleidingen belangrijk zijn en speel daar in het voortgezet onderwijs op in.

Ontwikkelingen in talenonderwijs• Accent verschuift van taalkennis naar

taalgebruik: van ‘kennen’ naar ‘kunnen’• Meer taakgericht: Wat moet iemand kunnen?

Welke kennis is nodig om dat te kunnen?• Competentiegericht leren:

competentie = kennis + vaardigheid + attitude

Het Europees Referentiekader

ERK-niveaus VWO leerling eind V6

• B2 Luisteren• Ik kan een langer betoog

en lezingen begrijpen en zelfs complexe redeneringen volgen, wanneer het onderwerp redelijk vertrouwd is. Ik kan de meeste nieuws- en actualiteitenprogramma’s op de tv begrijpen. Ik kan het grootste deel van films in standaarddialect begrijpen.

• B2 Lezen• Ik kan artikelen en

verslagen lezen die betrekking hebben op eigentijdse problemen, waarbij de schrijvers een bepaalde houding of standpunt innemen. Ik kan eigentijds literair proza begrijpen.

Vervolg ERK-niveaus V6 leerling

• B2 productie (spreken)• Ik kan duidelijke,

gedetailleerde beschrijvingen presenteren over een breed scala van onderwerpen die betrekking hebben op mijn interessegebied. Ik kan een standpunt over een actueel onderwerp verklaren en de voordelen en nadelen van diverse opties uiteenzetten.

• B2 interactie (gesprekken voeren)

• Ik kan zodanig deelnemen aan een vloeiend en spontaan gesprek, dat normale uitwisseling met moedertaalsprekers redelijk mogelijk is. Ik kan binnen een vertrouwde context actief deelnemen aan een discussie en hierin mijn standpunten uitleggen en ondersteunen.

Tot slot: schrijven

• B2 Schrijven• Ik kan een duidelijke, gedetailleerde tekst

schrijven over een breed scala van onderwerpen die betrekking hebben op mijn interesses. Ik kan een opstel of verslag schrijven, informatie doorgeven of redenen aanvoeren ter ondersteuning voor of tegen een specifiek standpunt. Ik kan brieven schrijven waarin ik het persoonlijk belang van gebeurtenissen en ervaringen aangeef.

Onderzoeksresultaten focusgroep: docenten Vu/UvA

• B2 goed startniveau in Bachelorfase• B2 moet naar C1 groeien voor Masterfase• informeel taalgebruik studenten in orde• abstractieniveau 1e jaars vaak te laag• schrijfvaardigheid vaak onvoldoende• woordenschat onvoldoende academisch

register• Universiteiten dragen ook

verantwoordelijkheid door invoering TTO

Aanbevelingen universitair docenten

• meer aandacht voor formele taal op vo• meer aandacht voor productieve vaardigheden

op vo• leerlingen laten kennismaken met academische

teksten• docenten Engels samenwerking laten zoeken bij

andere vakken• gerichter hulp bieden bij reeds beschikbare tools

on-line voor verwerven academische vaardigheden in het Engels, ook op de universiteit zelf

Bevindingen 1e jaars studenten

• Zeer wisselend beeld eigen inschatting ERK-niveau, van B1 tot C2 (!)

• met name inschatting schrijven lijkt onjuist• op school veel aandacht voor grammatica en

lezen• lage scores op school voor luisteren en

gesprekken voeren• in Bachelor fase vrijwel alleen Engels lezen• presenteren & debatteren in het Engels meest

genoemd als onvoldoende vaardigheid

Aanbevelingen 1e jaars studenten

• minder Jip & Janneke taal in vwo schoolboeken

• in V5, V6 geen brieven schrijven maar betoog over wetenschappelijk onderwerp

• Engels koppelen aan andere vakken: geeft realistischer beeld voor studie

• meer lessen lees- en schrijfvaardigheid• meer oefenen door doen (!)

Peiling IOWO – april 2008

• studenten kennen zichzelf voldoende capaciteiten toe bij verlaten vwo (zelfoverschatting?)

• maar: op Universiteit beroep op leesvaardigheid van andere orde van grootte

• onvoorziene langere verwerkingstijd (planningproblematiek)

• specialistisch taalgebruik

V6 klassen pilotscholen: eigen inschatting

CWC vwo 6 april 2008

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

luisteren

lezen

spreken

gesprekken voeren

schrijvenC2

C1

B2

B1

A2

A1

Aims: we would like to...

• Increase awareness of academic genres• Increase skills in reading/writing academic

texts• Increase level of study skills• Aim of the presentation:

– dissemination of materials retrievable from www.mindthegap.slo.nl

Indeling website: www.mindthegap.slo.nl

• Lesmodulen• Materialenbank• Scaffolding• Onderzoek en beleid• Links• Info

Five stages – scaffolding the process

• step 1: engagement

• step 2: building knowledge

• step 3: transformation

• step 4: presentation

• step 5: reflection

Time schedule – a suggestion

• Lesson 1 (approx. 50 minutes) engagement – definition Academic English/what is each of you going to study + activity 1: genres

• Lesson 2 (approx. 50 minutes): engagement rounding off genres + first dictogloss + INTRODUCTION ESSAY TITLES / orientation on background info

• Lesson 3 (approx 50 minutes): building knowledge text reconstruction + second dictogloss

• Lesson 4 (approx 50 minutes): building knowledge academic word generator (homework study words) + start joint writing (homework sentences)

• Lesson 5 (approx 50 minutes): check homework + time to discuss progress on gathering background info essay titles

• Lesson 6 (approx 50 minutes) how to use a thesaurus + third dictogloss• Lesson 7 (approx. 50 minutes) how to use sources, quotations,

references, bibliography• Lesson 8 – presentation end results / SE – evaluation of various activities

Engagement step 1 – activity 1 (activeren voorkennis aanwezig in de klas)

• what is each of you going to study? If you don’t know yet, take a study in mind.

• class inventory – table on blackboard see materialenbank/engagement

(names studies/names students/names universities/gap year?/ etc.)

• what do you know about the amount of English used at that university/for that type of study?

• how can you find out, if you have no idea?

Engagement activity 1 variation a: – without computers

• Explain SE involves writing an academic essay!• What is ‘’academic’’? what is ‘’academic

English’’?• brainstorm in class – group work• possibilities:• a) definitions on blackboard

b) definitions on roll of wall paper to be stuck to one wall of the classroom

> build up a WORD BANK during this project or make a file on www.wrts.nl

• students also take notes –to be kept for the final stage (reflection).

Engagement activity 1 variation b: - with computers

• what is ‘Academic English’ ?• brainstorm in class • take notes – these must be kept for the

final stage (reflection).• go to the following website and take the

Sylvia Plath test (second half of the page): http://www.courseworks.unimelb.edu.au/researchandwriting/academicstyle.php

Samples of definitions

• academic (THEORETICAL)   Show phoneticsadjectivetheoretical and not related to practical effects in real life:a purely academic argument/question(retrieved from: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=403&dict=CALD )

• Definition of academic (adjective)describing school and university activities; educated; scholastic(retrieved from: http://www.english-test.net/toefl/vocabulary/words/047/toefl-definitions.php#academic )

• Academic English is much more than conversational English. To be successful in classes that are conducted completely in English, students need to be able to read large amounts of academic material in English, understand lectures given in English, think critically about the ideas they have read and heard, and express their understandings and critiques of ideas through speaking and writing in English.(retrieved from: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/newsite/main/app/academic_english.html )

Engagement activity 2 - focus on genresbegripsvorming

• presenting different genres: pair workwww.mindthegap.slo.nl materialenbank/engagement activity 2

• give out sample texts a.o. set of written instructions, (tv) news, lesson fragment, joke, scientific definition, paragraph from academic article, etc.

• find out which text is which genre – you have approx. 10 minutes to do this.

• N.B. different sets per group.

Sample genres – excerpts: complete sets or fragments available on website

text 1Amputees can feel relief from phantom limb pain just by watching someone else rub their hands together, a study says. The treatment appears to fool the brain that it is their missing hand being massaged, California researchers say. New Scientist magazine reports that it harnesses nerve cells in the brain which become active when watching someone else carry out an action. UK experts said this kind of therapy may help amputees, as long as they can go along with the illusion.

text 2A schoolteacher asked her primary six class to construct sentences with the words: defeat, detail, defense.There was a pause before a pupil raised his hand and said he could make a sentence with them: "The cow jumped over defense and detail went over defeat."

text 3“But he has nothing on at all,” said a little child at last. “Good heavens! listen to the voice of an innocent child,” said the father, and one whispered to the other what the child had said. “But he has nothing on at all,” cried at last the whole people.

text 4How To Do It:1. Take an egg from the fridge and place it in the egg cup in the centre of the table. 2. Switch on the radio or hifi and turn it up to a comfortable volume.

Engagement (activity 2 cont.): genres and their featuresbegripsvorming tekstkenmerken

• Make use of the matrix on the following page/slide

• Which text shows which features?

• N.B. This matrix comes from Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning, Pauline Gibbons, (2002), p. 58

type of text recount

‘what I did at the weekend’’

narrative

‘Jack and Beanstalk’’

report

‘Insects’’

procedure

‘how to boil an egg’’

discussion

(one side)

argument

(two sides)

‘should smoking be banned’

purpose to tell what happened

to entertain,

to teach

to give information

to tell how to do something

to persuade others, to take a position and justify it

organization orientation

(tells who, where, when

series of events

personal comment/

conclusion

orientation

(tells who, where, when)

series of events

problem

resolution

general statement

characteristics

(e.g. habitat,

appearance, feeding habits)

may have subheadings

goal

steps in sequence

personal statement of position

arguments

evidence

counter arguments

conclusion

connectives to do with time

(first, next, at the end of the day)

to do with time

(one day, later, in the end)

not usually used

first, second, third, finally

first, second, in addition, therefore, however, on the other hand

other language features

past tense

describing words

past tense,

action verbs

describing words

dialogue

uses ‘’to be’’, ‘’to have’’

special vocabulary

uses verbs to give instructions

may use persuasive language

Engagement (activity 1 cont): reporting back – presenting in English

• Present your pairwork findings to the class

• appoint spokesman of the group• appoint time-keeper of the group• appoint note-taker: writes results on

blackboard • stick (or add) texts classified as academic

to WORD BANK

Building knowledge activity 1: listening to academic English and note taking

DICTOGLOSS TECHNIQUE

• Present the class with a dictogloss:• Read out academic text (fragment of

approx.200 words) three times: first time – students listen

• second time: students listen and write down as much as possible

• in pairs of two, students compare and discuss notes. They try and write a reconstruction of the text.

Dictogloss technique (activity 1 cont.)

• next in groups of four: repeat the process, filling in possible gaps.

• read text again for the third time – pairs have chance to do some repair work

• final result: check reconstructed text with sample text on overhead.

• reflect on difficult words. Add these to the WORD BANK or file on www.wrts.nl

Sample dictogloss (easy)

• Text 1 Dictogloss• What types of primary research can be done?• Many types of primary research exist. This guide is designed to provide you with an

overview of primary research that is often done in writing classes.• Interviews: Interviews are one-on-one or small group question and answer

sessions. Interviews will provide a lot of information from a small number of people and are useful when you want to get an expert or knowledgeable opinion on a subject.

• Surveys: Surveys are a form of questioning that is more rigid than interviews and that involve larger groups of people. Surveys will provide a limited amount of information from a large group of people and are useful when you want to learn what a larger population thinks.

• Observations: Observations involve taking organized notes about occurrences in the world. Observations provide you insight about specific people, events, or locales and are useful when you want to learn more about an event without the biased viewpoint of an interview.

• Analysis: Analysis involves collecting data and organizing it in some fashion based on criteria you develop. They are useful when you want to find some trend or pattern. A type of analysis would be to record commercials on three major television networks and analyze gender roles.

Sample dictogloss (medium)• Text 2 Dictogloss: quotations

• What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?

• These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing.

• Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.

• Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

• Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

• Why use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries?

• Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries serve many purposes. You might use them to . . .• Provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing • Refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing • Give examples of several points of view on a subject • Call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with • Highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original • Distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the words are not your

own • Expand the breadth or depth of your writing

Sample dictogloss (difficult)• Text 3

• Emily L.R. Harrison, and Sherry A. McKee www.sciencedirect.com/science

• Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States

Available online 21 November 2007. • Abstract• Binge drinking and non-daily cigarette smoking are behaviors that are both

problematic and prevalent in young adults. Although the relationship between drinking and daily smoking has been well categorized, the intersection between drinking and smoking in non-daily smokers has not been heavily researched. Past 30-day and within-episode patterns of alcohol and cigarette use were collected in young adult non-daily smokers (N = 40). Results demonstrated that 79% of smoking occurred on drinking days. Alcohol use was significantly greater on smoking days with the result that drinking to risky binge levels was more likely to occur on a smoking day. Smoking typically occurred after a certain level of alcohol pre-load (2.87 drinks). Together these results confirm that young adult non-daily smokers often concurrently use alcohol and cigarettes. Research is needed to identify possible mechanisms underlying the association between binge drinking and cigarette use in this vulnerable population.

Building knowledge (activity 2) – text reconstruction & adding subheadings

• Give out scrambled fragments of an academic text (angry partner tore up your one and only copy of this essential piece of work...) www.mindthegap.slo.nl materialenbank/building knowledge

• Ask students to reconstruct the original.• Could they think of adequate

(sub)headings?

Sample text for text reconstruction

•How to Read an Academic Article

• by Becky Rosenberg, Ph.D.

Click on link below and print the article. Cut up and put pieces in envelope(s). Make sure to have

enough sets available for your class.• http://faculty.washington.edu/

davidgs/ReadArticle.html

Building knowledge:activity 2 – the academic word generator

• Present students with sentences containing informal English words (underlined) – see www.mindthegap.slo.nl materialenbank/building knowledge/the academic word generator

• Ask the class for suggestions to turn these words into Academic English.

• Write suggestions down on the blackboard, thinking aloud and explaining why you like certain suggestions.

• useful website if computers available: http://www.academicenglishgenerator.com/

Building knowledge:activity 3– joint construction or cooperative writing

• Present students with complete sentences in informal English. (www.mindthegap.slo.nl materialenbank/building knowledge/jointwriting)

• Ask the class for suggestions to turn these sentences into Academic English.

• Write suggestions down on the blackboard, thinking aloud and explaining why you like certain suggestions.

• See also suggestions on www.mindthegap.slo.nl under “Links” for more material

Sample exercise re-writing sentences retrieved from http://www.waylink.co.uk/?page=6112

Task:The sentences below are grammatically accurate but the style is inappropriate. Re-write these sentences in a more academic style making any changes you need to.

• The planners reviewed the report and said that it was great. • It's obvious that the work environment is going to get a lot worse. • The Chinese economy would like to look after itself, but it's also

affected by things that happen outside the country. Notes on the Task • The planners reviewed the report and said that it was very

satisfactory. • There is evidence to suggest that the work environment is going

to deteriorate. • The Chinese economy would like to be self-sufficient, but it's also

affected by external factors.

Building knowledge:activity 4 – how to use a thesaurus

• Present students with the hand-out on how to use a thesaurus www.mindthegap.slo.nl materialenbank/building knowledge/how to use a thesaurus

• In pairs students study the material and construct suggestions (synonyms for the word ‘’good’’)

• Discuss and add good examples to the Word Bank

Building knowledge activity 5Tips – references, quotations, footnotes, bibliography

• give hand-out www.mindthegap.slo.nl materialenbank/building knowledge/tips-references, quotations, footnotes, bibliography

• how to avoid plagiarism: discussion on use of quotation marks, footnotes and references

• how to refer correctly to used source material: the bibliography

• homework: to be studied and used in the SE.

Transformation: the essay titles

• Why work upside down? Planning helps...

How to write an essay: see link on www.mindthegap.slo.nl (transformation)

• The essay titles on the website may serve as suggestions:

• variations: students may choose a topic provided academic research is required

• students may choose their ‘’profielwerkstuk’’ as a starting point and write a summary of their research in English

Transformation: List of V6 (research) topics for assignment Academic English1) C& M

- Subsidizing Art: a Government’s Task? - The Position of French and German in the Dutch Curriculum - Breakfast in the Middle Ages

- Can the Royal Family be proud of (all) its ancestors ?2) E & M• Daycare: advantages and disadvantages in the development of a child• Inflation back on the economic agenda• The importance of public transport• The last drop of oil and then...

3) N & G• What makes us tick? Our parents' love or their genes?• Acne Vulgaris can be prevented through skin hygiene• Eating disorders and the media• Gender differences in pain perception

4) N & T

• Radiated food improves our health• Current oil crisis: a blessing in disguise• Benefits from space exploration• The position of nuclear energy seen in the light of rising oil prices

Presentation – step 4 assessment, using ERK

• for written presentation results• and spoken presentation results using the

CEFR as a guide-line• discuss pros and cons – see

www.mindthegap.slo.nl materialenbank/presentation

• alternatively rubrics may be used as schools were used to do

Reflection – step 5

• What would you like to remember about Academic English?

• Why? Write this down somewhere so that you can later consult your ‘good intentions’.

• How may you go on developing your Academic English? see also suggested websites on www.mindthegap.slo.nl under ‘’links’’.

www.mindthegap.slo.nl – has even more to offer....

Any questions?

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