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Academic Writing & Conference Presentation. Lecturer: Dr. Bo Yuan E-mail: yuanb@sz.tsinghua.edu.cn. Why coming here?. The first time you attend an English class at your own choice. English is a catalyst in your entire career.
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Academic Writing& Conference Presentation Lecturer: Dr. Bo Yuan E-mail: yuanb@sz.tsinghua.edu.cn
Why coming here? • The first time you attend an English class at your own choice. • English is a catalyst in your entire career. • If you are not comfortable with your English so far, now it is your second chance. • I am not an expert in English and my English was very bad. • I know the feeling and I know what you guys need most. • I will help you master the most practical and essential skills.
Course Profile (Spring, 2014) • Lecturer: Dr. Bo Yuan • Contact • Phone: 2603 6067 • E-mail: yuanb@sz.tsinghua.edu.cn • Room: F-301B • Time: 10:25 am – 12:00 pm, Monday • Venue: CI-208 • Teaching Assistant • Miss Yanmin Zhu • Course Materials • http://boyuan.global-optimization.com/Teaching.htm
Learning Activities • Week 1: Introduction • Week 2-3: A Bird’s Eye View • Week 4: Professional Writing • Week 5: Public Speaking and Communication • Week 6: Literature Review • Week 7: Job Application Letters • Week 8: Oral/Poster Presentation
Assessment • Task 1 • Type: Class Activity • Description: Various hands-on exercises • Task 2 • Type: Field Study (Conference/Seminar) • Description: Individual attendance record of 3 talks in English • Task 3 • Type: Oral/Poster Presentation • Description: Individual 5 minutes presentation of a research paper
Plagiarism • Plagiarism is the act of misrepresenting as one's own original work the ideas, interpretations, words or creative works of another. • Direct copying of paragraphs, sentences, a single sentence or significant parts of a sentence. • Presenting as independent work done in collaboration with others. • Copying research results, computer codes, statistical tables, designs, images, sounds or text or any combination of these. • Paraphrasing, summarizing or simply rearranging another person's words, ideas, without changing the basic structure or meaning.
Rules & Policies • Late Submission • Late submissions will incur a penalty of 10% of the total marks for each day that the submission is late (including weekends). Submissions more than 5 days late will not be accepted. • Assumed Background • This course requires reasonable knowledge of English and demonstrated skills in listening, reading, writing and speaking.
Where are you? • Novice • %$#*&^@ ... • Amateur • Lots of grammar errors • Strange expressions • Unstructured paragraphs • Professional • Good command of words • Flow of ideas • Terminator • Full control of language • Eloquent, Compelling, Infectious, Fascinating
What you should know … • This is not just another English course! • Vocabulary, Grammar, Pronunciation • Having said that … • Your active involvement is crucial. • Make the most of this course! • Communication in English is encouraged. • Everyone needs to identify a research topic. • Find some papers relevant to your project. • You will need to work on them throughout the course. • It is much better if you are writing a paper. • It is going to be a lot of fun!
How to improve your English? • We have invested heavily in studying English. • Bad News • Most people still have a fear of English. • The biggest failure in English education • Lack of Interest • Lack of Passion • Good News • You are closer to success than you believe. • Need a bit of extra effort to make the magic happen. • DIY • Plenty of learning resources (free) are available.
Learning Curve Ideal Learning Curve Performance Boring Regions Key Points Time
Think in English Ambulance 救护车
Commercial • Repetitive • Short Phrases • Lively Expressions • Everyday Vocabulary
News • Formal Language • Won’t be frustrated by slang words. • Standard Accent • Easier to get started. • Limited Vocabulary • News stories repeat themselves significantly. • Structured: Who, What, When, Where, Why • Wide Coverage • Visual + Text
TOEFL • Test of English as a Foreign Language • US, Canada, Australia … • Internet Based Test • Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking • Speaking is digitally recorded. • Point Scale: 0-120 • Minimum Requirement: 85/100 ¥1500
IELTS • International English Language Testing System • Australian, British, New Zealand … • Academic vs. General Training • Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking • You need to talk to a real examiner. • Band Scale: 0-9 • Minimum Requirement: 6.5/7.0 ¥1680
Academic Writing • Academic writing is more formal and more objective. • Impersonal and dispassionate tone • Technical and specialist language • Informal Text • Women earn less than men and own less than men. • Formal Text • The relative disadvantage of women with regard to their earnings and levels of asset ownership indicates that within classes there is further economic inequity based on gender...
Academic Writing • The process of nominalisation turns verbs (actions or events) into nouns (things or concepts). • Make the tone of your writing sound more abstract and more formal. • We walked for charity. We raised money for the XYZ Foundation. • The charity walk raised money for the XYZ Foundation. • Crime was increasing rapidly and the police were becoming concerned. • The rapid increase in crime was causing concern among the police.
Academic Writing • Do not use contractions: • don’t, can’t, won’t • Do not use colloquial vocabulary: • above board vs. legitimate • sooner or later vs. inevitable • beyond the shadow of a doubt vs. definitely • Do not use rhetorical questions. • Avoid using run-on expressions: • and so on, and so forth, etc.
My Tips • What really matters is not how many movies or dramas that you have watched but how you watched them. • Step 1: Keep your eyes away from the subtitle. • Concentrate and try your best to recognize every single word. • Start with something not that challenging. • Step 2: Keep your eyes open. • Use the subtitle to figure out the missing parts. • New Words & Unfamiliar Phrases & Dialect & Slang • Step 3: Keep your eyes closed. • Recapture every single word. • Step 4: Reinforce your skills. • Use the newly learnt words and phrases whenever possible.
Review • Course Profile • Rules & Requirements • Learning Activities • Expected Outcomes • Assessment • Learning Tips