Practical English Final Exam Details

Dear Students, Here are some details on what will be on the final exam. Vocabulary: Similar to the Mid-term exam Reading Smart A. The questions will be the same as when you did your homework. However you will want to memorize the sentence and not just the letter (i.e. A, B, C, D) that will be different. B. You can download the rest of the Reading Smart stories from the Annyeong English website. C. This test will not be timed. You can read it as quickly or as slowly as you wish. D. You will also have the questions in front of you so that you can answer the questions as you read the article. E. Only those articles which we discussed in class will be on the final test. F. Study: Re-read (다시 한번 읅으세요) the stories and compare your answers with the PPTs on the KNU website (If there is no PPT don’t study that reading story). Linking Story A. The script for each dictation is below. B. I will give you the questions on paper before I start reading the story to you. C. I will read the story myself instead of using the MP3 file. D. You will be expected to answer each question using complete sentences and the appropriate conjunction (접속사). You either get this question right or wrong. The answers are in the story so all you have to do is memorize the sentence from the story. E. Study: Read the three linking stories and answer the questions. They will be the same on the test. Dictations A. Each sentence will have the same number of words (i.e. 10). B. I will read the sentences myself instead of using the MP3 file. C. I will read each sentence twice. D. You should write the complete sentence. E. There will be no short sentences on the test (i.e. 4 words). F. Study: Check your answers with the answers I have given on the PPTs on the KNU website. If there is no PPT you don’t have to worry about those dictations. Novel A. I told you in class to study the back of the book. But this seems to be too difficult. You told me in class that you wanted to have multiple choice (선다형 문제). So you only have to answer those questions with A, B, C or D. B. There will only be questions about the chapters we talked about in class. C. Study 1. Read the summaries I included in PPTs I presented in class. 2. Be familiar with the names of the characters in each story and the story itself. 6. Speaking Test a. This will be the week after your writing test (15th or 16th week). b. There will be no test on the MLU Dialogues because we didn’t talk about them very much in class. c. You will meet in my office with a partner for 10 minutes. d. You will have a conversation with you based on the Talk Sheets. e. I will have a sheet that either has some questions and no answers or no questions but answers. Linking Story 1 (And) Adam was a university student who liked to play soccer and meet girls. On Monday, he went to the university and talked to many different girls. He liked Amy and Abigal the best. He talked to Amy in the morning and he talked to Abigal in the afternoon. The next day he called both Amy and Abigal. Amy said, “Let’s eat pizza and watch a movie.” Abigal said, “Let’s eat sushi and go to the singing room.” Adam planneda date with Amy on Friday and a date with Abigal on Saturday. Adam was very excited, and he called his friend, Wayne. Adam said to Wayne, “I’m going to date Amy on Friday and Abigal on Saturday.” Wayne said, “Wow. I think you have a big problem, Adam. Amy and Abigal are roommates.” What did Adam like to do? Which two girls did Adam like best? Adam talked to them at different times. When (i.e. time of day) did he talk to each person? What did the first person say she wanted to do? What did the second person say she wanted to do? What exciting news did Adam tell Wayne? According to Wayne, what was Adam’s problem? Linking Story #2 (Or) Bethany wanted to get home quickly after a long day at school. She had to choose the subway or the bus. It was a hard choice. Bethany thought, “Do I want the soft seats of the bus or the hard seats of the subway?” Bethany liked soft seats. But then she thought, “Do I want a long walk to the bus stop or a short walk to the subway station?” Bethany was very tired. She didn’t want to walk far. Then she thought, “Do I want a cheap subway ticket or an expensive bus ticket?” Bethany had to buy some expensive books for her university classes. She didn’t have much money. Finally, she saw her friend Becky. Bethany said, “Where are you going, Becky? To the library or to your home?” Becky said, “I’m going home. Do you want to travel with me or travel alone?” Bethany thought, “Travelling alone or travelling with a friend is an easy choice.” So the two girls rode the bus together. They had a great time. What two types of public transportation did Bethany have to choose from? What two types of seats could Bethany choose from? Where were Bethany’s choices in terms of walking distance? What were Bethany’s choices in terms of the cost of the tickets? What did Bethany ask Becky? What was an easy choice for Bethany? Linking Story #4A (Because) Hi, my name is Josh. I’m so sad right now because it’s Saturday night and I’m at home. Why am I home? Let me tell you the story. First I called my girlfriend because I wanted to go on a date with her. But she said, “I’m so sorry, I can’t go on a date because I’m studying the Talk Sheets.” Then I called my best friend because I wanted to play basketball with him. But he said, “I’m so sorry, I can’t play basketball because I’m practicing the MLU Dialogues.” Next I talked to my roommate because I wanted to go to a PC room with him. But he said, “I’m so sorry, I can’t go to a PC room because I’m reading the Reading Smart articles.” Finally I called my parents because I wanted to go to a restaurant with them. But they said, “We’re so sorry, we can’t go to a restaurant because you need to study the Talk Sheets, MLU Dialogues, Reading Smart articles, Linking Stories, Key Words, Dictation, and Oral Summaries. Actually, we want you to come home right now!” So that’s why I’m at home on Saturday night...because I have to take the Annyeong English final exam. I’m sooooo sad. Why is Josh sad? Why did Josh call his girlfriend? Why can’t Josh’s girlfriend go on a date with him? Why did Josh call his best friend? Why can’t Josh’s best friend play with him? Why did Josh talk to his roommate? Why can’t Josh’s roommate hang out with Josh? Why did Josh call his parents? Why can’t Josh’s parents take him out for dinner? Why is Josh at home on a Saturday night?

A Shameless Time

Fulfillment in Teaching English

I'm looking for a job that fulfills me to the uttermost. Perhaps that is why I feel like I am sweating drops of blood to get my students to talk. And yet even after those drops of blood, I'm still not satisfied. Is the problem that I am in the wrong profession or that I'm thinking about it all wrong? My experience today, teaching children, suggested to me that it may be my thinking. I started off with some cognitive therapy and my classes seemed to go well. Students even seemed to respond well to the worksheets. Apparently students love worksheets. I think there could be a problem with me looking for fulfillment in teaching English in and of itself. To be honest, that isn't the reason why I started teaching English in the first place. Rather, I wanted to develop relationships with people of a different nationality and cultural background. My other challenge lies before me in working with another colleague this afternoon. It seems that if I think someone is better at doing something than I am that I erroneously assume that I am a bad teacher. I am determined not to be defeated with that type of thinking this afternoon. Meanwhile, I hope to learn some things from my colleague. Perhaps I can even make a list and apply them to my own teaching practices.

Collaboration and Research All in One

Tonight, I began reading, "Collaborative Action Research for English Language Teachers" by Anne Burns. I was encouraged to read that although she is writing from an Australian context that she addresses issues of a lack of motivation with students who were required to take English courses for reasons related to immigration. After having a paper published that I wrote with another professor, I decided to find out some more efficient ways for working with a colleague. In fact, I wish I would've read up on the subject before I actually wrote the paper with another colleague. We had a lot of frustrating experiences but it was still a good experience overall. Nonetheless, I hope to learn more about collaboration through research to have more positive experiences in the future. I'm hoping that this book will have positive implications for what I do in my current setting. I know that I have a lot of areas to improve in, especially regarding teaching, and I hope I can work with colleagues to learn from them and hopefully to even have them correct me in my teaching weaknesses. I also believe that the best way to improve the structures at a university are through research, rather than complaining, though the latter seems to take less energy (at least in our thinking) and probably more time than we realize.

Major English Homework

Today I gave the following homework in the "Major English" course that I teach: 1. Choose from the following passages in 1 John: a. 2:1-6 b. 2:7-14 c. 2:15-17 d. 2:18-27 e. 2:28-3:10 f. 3:11-24 g. 4:1-6 h. 4:7-21 i. 5:1-5 j. 5:6-12 k. 5:13-21 2. Choose a subject to talk about related to theology or Christian education. Here are some examples: a. The relationship between 확신 and faith b. The visible Church versus the invisible Church c. "Pastor, I don't believe in the Bible anymore." What would you say? d. Being the hands and feet of Jesus outside of the worship service. e. "Preach the gospel at all times. Use words when necessary." The most effective methods for telling the story of God. f. Authority without inerrancy? g. The future of the Church in the 21st Century. h. Church in Korea: from mission field in Korea to sending missionaries out to other countries. i. Where are the mission trips to the poor inside of Korea? 3. Homework for next time: I gave you a list of words from the handout in class. I want you to write out definitions of those words in English. It was difficult getting students to respond today, more difficult than last week. If you have ideas on why it was difficult, please feel free to post a comment on this post. I will hopefully have the syllabus finalized by the next time you come to class. Hopefully this will clarify any confusion you feel about this class. As always, feel free to e-mail me or post questions on this site. God's Shalom!

Free-Talking Critique

Free-talking Critique
Having free-talked for a whole semester, I'd like to know what you think. Here are some questions I'd like you to consider and give me your feedback. If none of the questions interest you, feel free to add a different question and respond to that question.

1. What have you told your friends/What will you tell your friends and family about free-talking this semester?

2. If free-talking isn't required next semester, will you still sign up for free-talking?

3. What did you like about free-talking this semester?

4. What could have been a more interesting way of free-talking this semester?

5. Did you find the subjects from the textbook to be interesting things to talk about?

6. If you could have chosen the subjects independently of the book, which subjects would you have liked to talk about?

7. Do you think there should be a correlation between class and free-talking?

8. What was difficult about communicating with Brent during free-talking?

9. Would it have been helpful to receive handouts of examples of expressions you can use during free-talking?

10. What do you think is the most difficult part about having conversation in English? How is that different from Korean?

Free-Talking/Class Make-Up

Here are the subjects you may have missed in class or free-talking if your class was cancelled. Please post a comment about the subject you are missing. You may respond to the questions below or say something else that is still related to the main topic. Please also respond to others as part of your time requirement.

1. People
A. Family
B. Your first girlfriend/boyfriend
C. Your hero
D. Your favorite movie star
E. Your role-model

2. Activities
A. Your job
B. Things you do with your friends
C. The last fun thing you did
D. What you do with your friends
E. What occupies most of your time

3. Travel
A. How to board an airplane
B. Your favorite method of travel
C. How you get from your hometown to Jeju Island (or another popular spot)
D. The process of traveling to another country from South Korea
E. How to book a trip with a travel agent

4. Food
A. Your favorite Korean food
B. Your least favorite Korean food
c. Your favorite non-Korean food
D. Your least favorite non-Korean food
E. Exotic food

5. Sports
A. Your favorite athlete
B. Your least favorite athlete
c. Your favorite sport
D. Sports you play
E. What comes to mind when you think of sports

6. Destinations
A. Places you've been in South Korea
B. Places you recommend to a foreigner
C. Places you've been outside of South Korea
D. Where you want to go for your honeymoon
E. The place you want to see before you die

7. Communication
A. How you use your cell phone
B. What you use your cell phone for the most
C. Your favorite means of communication
D. Your first love letter
E. How you keep in touch with people outside of South Korea.

8. The Future
A. Your dream job
B. Where you see yourself in ten years
c. What comes to mind when you think of the future
D. What color is your future?
E. What you dread the most about the future

9. Shopping
A. Your favorite thing to shop for
B. Where you shop the most
C. Reasons for shopping
D. What you dislike shopping for the most
E. What comes to mind when you think of shopping

10. Lifestyles
A. How you exercise
B. How you manage to be healthy in all ways (i.e. spiritual, mental, social,
physical etc.)
C. The most stressful part of your life
D. What you do to relieve your stress

11. Achievements
A. Your list of things to do today
B. Your greatest achievement so far
C. What you don't care about achieving that most of your peers want to achieve
D. What you want to accomplish before your life is over
E. What your parents want you to achieve but that you couldn't care less about

12. Consequences
A. The best choice you made that led to the best consequences
B. Your greatest regret
C. If you could do something over again, what would it be?
D. If you could change the past...would you?
E. The worst choice you made which led to the best thing in your life