University Success is a three-strand developmental course designed for English language learners transitioning to mainstream academic environments. A targeted approach focuses on the unique linguistic needs of students while preparing them to achieve academic autonomy. Watch a descriptive video here.
Robyn Brinks Lockwood, with Sara Davila
The challenge of having a C1-level learner in class may be familiar to many teachers. You have an international student, who, for all intents and purposes, is a highly advanced English speaker who seems perfectly prepared for the challenge of university life. It’s easy to have a conversation, and the student can follow along in a discussion with other non-native English speakers with relative ease. There are no obvious gaps in vocabulary, and language use, with a few minor exceptions, is grammatically flawless. This is a learner that a teacher assumes would do well in any field of study. And yet, this very same student who is energized and ready to learn will suddenly end up in an English language course to further build their language skills. Why? What happened?
Essentially, regardless of C1-level learners’ high mastery of fluency with spoken communication, they are still not ready for the rigor of academic study required to be successful in academic classes in their field of specialization. In some ways, such learners are jumping off an English language-learning cliff. They are moving from classes with tightly leveled content for listening and reading and minimal writing requirements into an environment where the expectation of professors is that they have already attained the ability to successfully read and understand 50 or more pages of reading a day, participate in 90-minute lectures, and successfully write detailed and lengthy research-based papers. What can language teachers do to help address the needs of these already highly advanced learners? Continue reading
Dr. Ken Beatty
How can so much say so little? Quickly skim the following play, Emergency; it’s only a couple hundred words long. 
Dr. Ken Beatty
What do these words have in common?
|
a |
funny |
look |
see |
|
|
and |
go |
make |
the |
|
|
away |
help |
me |
three |
|
|
big |
here |
my |
to |
|
|
blue |
I |
not |
two |
|
|
can |
in |
one |
up |
|
|
come |
is |
play |
we |
|
|
down |
it |
red |
where |
|
|
find |
jump |
run |
yellow |
|
|
for |
little |
said |
you |
Aaron Royer
Teachers are constantly searching for ways to build better rapport with students, individualize instruction, and give more effective and personalized feedback. The benefits of using one-to-one conferences to achieve these ends have been well documented. However, as beneficial as it may be, this type of feedback is not always logistically possible due to large class sizes and scheduling conflicts, among other issues.
One solution to this dilemma is a relatively straightforward application of video and audio technology to give feedback to students. In doing so, teachers can open up ongoing dialogues with each of his/her students, thus adding an element of individualization to their classes and boosting rapport. These tools and techniques harness many of the benefits of conferences, while at the same time providing a practical, logistically feasible alternative. In what follows, I will discuss two basic categories of tech tools along with their feedback applications and some specific software suggestions. Continue reading
