Study Abroad Seminar

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Study Abroad Seminar

• Presenter Praise Lee

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PART ONE

• Western University Culture

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(No Transcript)
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Getting Your Bearings

• Guide/Foreign Exchange Department
• Nearest bank, convenience/grocery store,
  restaurant
• Map and public transportation

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Dormitory Life

• Resident Advisor (RA)
• Roommate change
• Freedom within the dorms (both genders)
• Food, space and time consideration

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Academics in a North American University

• Focus on learning, less on grades
• Participation
• Collaborative learning
• Heavily weighted exams
• Diversity is a strength
• Originality of thought
• Email communication
• Independence

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Glossary

• Prerequisite
• Add/Drop
• Pass/Fail
• Midterm/Final
• Pop quiz
• Portfolio/Contracts

• Pre-writing
• Rough draft
• Revision
• Reflective writing
• Term paper

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How to Address the Professor

• When in doubt, ask
• Professor is not always accurate
• Titles are only used with family names
• Titles
• Doctor
• Professor
• First name only (informal)
• Last name only
• (informal)

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First Day

• Punctuality (Take a practice walk.)
• Books and supplies
• Sit anywhere
• Bathroom
• Speaking in class
• Syllabus

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Things to Avoid

• Lavish gifts
• Lavish praise
• Fixation on grades
• Lateness
• NO cell phones (NO TEXTING)
• Emails or papers with and .

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Resources on Campus

• The Writing Center
• The Writing Center website
• EFL centers
• The library
• Office hours
• Minority organizations

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PART TWO

• Writing Tips

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WRITING WORKSHOP

• Professors are looking for originality of
  thought. They do not want a regurgitation of
  ideas, but your own ideas formulated into a
  thesis. All western university writing is
  thesis-driven in both the sciences and the
  humanities.

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The Thesis

• Formulating a thesis is a skill
• Can be taught
• Like a sport, it must be practiced
• English, history, sciences, social sciences, math

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Fill in the blank

• The thesis is not a fact, but an ___ that must be
  ___ with ___.
• A thesis MUST take a ___.
• The thesis is found at the ___ of the ___
  paragraph.
• The thesis is usually ___, ___ sentence.
• The thesis answers the question, ___? or ___
  ___?

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How to write a thesis

• Brainstorm all ideas.
• Find a pattern of thought.
• Summarize all ideas into one coherent statement.

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Thesis Secrets

• Topic/Point
• Some bigger countries may have the responsibility
  to help smaller countries, but they do not have
  the right to destroy and reconstruct countries
  that are not a part of them.
• Although
• Although some might believe that bigger countries
  do not have the right to impose their help on
  smaller countries, smaller countries need the
  imposition or they will not be able to survive.

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SAT Prompt

• Some people say you should be content with
• what you have and accept who you are. But it is
  possible that too much self-acceptance can turn
  into self-satisfied lack of ambition. People
  should always strive to improve themselves and to
  have more in their livesfriends, things,
  opportunities. After all, where would we be if
  great people, both in history and in our own
  time, did not try to have more and to improve
  themselves?

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The Task Part 1

• Is it best for people to accept who they are and
  what they have, or should people always strive to
  better themselves?
• Brainstorm ideas with your classmates.
• Have someone write down all the ideas
• Find at least three ideas that have a common
  thread.
• Use topic/point or although to write a thesis
  statement that encompasses the three ideas. Stay
  away from topic/points 1, 2, and 3.

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Task 2 Thesis Checklist

• Is your thesis one, long sentence written in the
  thesis format? (Yes)
• Can a reasonable person make an argument to
  counter your thesis? (Yes)
• Does the thesis explain SO WHAT? (Yes)
• Does your thesis state the obvious? Is it a
  prediction? A diagnosis? (No)

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Examples of Bad Thesis Statements

• Many admirable people continuously try to improve
  themselves. (obvious, cant be argued)
• Life is too short not to improve yourself. (not
  focused, off-topic)
• Accepting ones true self is ultimately better
  than futile attempts to prove themselves. (Why?
  So what?)

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Good Thesis Statements

• Accepting ones true self is ultimately better
  than futile attempts to improve themselves
  because then he or she can find their purpose in
  life instead of wasting time on unrealistic
  dreams.
• Self-improvement is something everyone must
  strive for because only then can they realize
  their full potential instead of being paralyzed
  by fear.

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Writing an Essay around the Thesis

• Topic sentence 1 Unless a person tries to
  improve herself, she will not know how successful
  she could have been.
• EX Michael Jordan
• Topic sentence 2 Fear of success attempts to
  keep people locked in certain places, and unless
  they continually improve themselves, they will
  never be able to see what their true natural
  abilities are.
• EX Martin Luther King Jr., Ray Charles

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EXAMPLES OF ESSAYS

• Helpful websites

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The Thesis-driven Essay

• Humanities, social science, history, and
  science
• http//www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/home.html

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Other Types of Writing

• Rhetorical writing cause and effect, compare and
  contrast, letter writing, narrative
  http//aaweb.gallaudet.edu/CLAST/Tutorial_and_Inst
  ructional_Programs/English_Works/Writing/Essays.ht
  ml
• Reflection or journal entry, film analysis
  http//www.bedfordstmartins.com/modeldocs/humaniti
  es.htm
• Charts and graphs within scientific writing
• http//www.ohio.edu/linguistics/esl/writing/mecha
  nics.html

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Format, Citations, and Plagiarism
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Formatting Essays (Western Style)

• Times New Roman
• 12 point font 12 point font
• Double space
• 1. Format
• 2. Paragraph
• 3. Spacing
• ltTabgt for indentation

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Formatting Essays

• Dont skip lines between paragraphs
• Use double quotation marks when using a
  quotation.
• Headings, title pages, and page numbers are
  usually specified by the teacher.
• Headings Name, class, date, name of assignment
  flushed to the right or left.

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Citations

• MLA www.mla.org
• APA www.apa.org

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Citations MLA Examples

• It was as though they hadnt seen me, as though
  I were here, and yet not here (Ellison 301).
• It was the clothes and the new name and the
  circumstances I was becoming someone else
  (335).
• The main character stands in front of the crowd
  as the old couple gets evicted. He doesnt say
  anything specific, but the crowd becomes
  bellicose anyway (274-279).

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Citations APA Examples

• In an influential article, Terrace, Petitto,
  Sanders, and Bever (1979) argued that the apes in
  language experiments were not using language
  spontaneously.
• It is not surprising that apes might rely on
  similar signals (Johnson, 1995).
• For example, Lewin (1991) reported that
  instructions for bonobo Kanzi were delivered by
  someone out of his sight, with other team
  members wearing earphones so that they could not
  hear the instructions and so could not cue Kanzi,
  even unconsciously (p. 51).

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HELPFUL WEBSITES

• http//www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/home.html
• Includes MANY essay samples and citation examples
  for the humanities as well as the sciences.
• Includes how to make a WORKS CITED PAGE
• www.bibme.com
• A free bibliography maker

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Random Grammar Tip

• Underline (sometimes italicize) names of books,
  newspapers, and movies.
• Use double quotation marks for stories, articles,
  and TV shows.
• My favorite book as a child was Anne of Green
  Gables, but now I only read The New York Times.
  There was a great article entitled The Great
  Debate in yesterdays paper.

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Another Tip

• During undergraduate school, do not use the
  pronoun I or me in an essay unless given
  permission by the professor or writing about an
  experiment you did. In essays, it is assumed that
  the essay is YOUR opinion.

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Plagiarism

• USE YOUR OWN IDEAS. Give credit to someone else
  if you use their words to prove your own idea.
• AGREEING with an idea that someone else wrote
  does not make it your own.
• REARRANGING words or changing a few words from
  someone else's writing does not change the fact
  that it is not your own work.
• If most of your paper is in quotes, then the
  paper is not an original.
• A website that gives examples of what plagiarized
  papers look like http//www.depts.drew.edu/compos
  ition/Avoiding_Plagiarism.htm

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One Example of Misquoting

• Original Wording (from Davidson) "Such 'story
  myths' are not told for their entertainment
  value. They provide answers to questions people
  ask about life, about society and about the world
  in which they live.
• Misuse of Source Davidson explains that story
  myths answer questions people ask about life,
  about society and about the world that we live in
  (10).
• Correctly Rewritten with Quotation Marks and
  Citation Davidson explains that "story myths"
  answer "questions people ask about life, about
  society and about the world in which they live"
  (10).

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PART THREE

• Presentation Tips

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Presentation Expectations

• Informal presentations and workshops
• Teaching the class
• Group activity results
• Designated speaker
• Updates or findings
• Reading your own writing
• Formal presentations
• Personal project
• Group project
• Final paper
• Video/Movie

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Presentation Tips

• Body language and voice
• Posture, gesture, dress
• Eye contact, distracting movements
• Speak loudly, clearly, naturally and confidently.
  Practice beforehand.
• Never read from a script. Use cards/notes.
• Be prepared for questions.
• Visual aids and/or short activity

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Presentation Tips

• Remember the time
• Stick to the topic
• Deliberately pause or emphasize KEY points
• Be appropriately enthusiastic!

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Examples

• A typical group presentation
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vAShM4vrMfu4featur
  erelated
• A creative video presentation http//www.youtube.c
  om/watch?vwMnqJFO672Mfeaturerelated
• Research presentation (single)
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vxQ8U18XoY-Qfeatur
  erelated

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Helpful Websites

• The complete list

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Grammar, Citations, and Essay

• Purdue University
• http//owl.english.purdue.edu/ One of the best
  resources for writing and grammar
• Diana Hacker
• http//www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/ Many
  examples of essays in different . Includes sample
  essays for different types of classes. Very good
  collection of other resources
• Ohio University
• http//www.ohio.edu/linguistics/esl/writing/mechan
  ics.html Includes how to use English in graphs
• The University of Chicago
• http//writing-program.uchicago.edu/resources/coll
  egewriting/index.htm
• Dartmouth College
• http//www.dartmouth.edu/writing/materials/studen
  t/ac_paper/what.shtml
• Bedford St. Martins
• http//www.bedfordstmartins.com/modeldocs/humaniti
  es.htm Sample essays of different types of
  writing including journal entries and film
  analysis

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Bibliography Makers

• BibMe http//www.bibme.org/ Free online
  bibliography maker (MLA and APA)
• EasyBib http//www.easybib.com/ Free online MLA
  bibliography maker

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Under/Graduate School Admissions Essay

• College Board
• http//www.collegeboard.com/student/apply/essay-sk
  ills/index.html Includes steps, what to avoid,
  and sample essays
• McPherson College
• www.mcpherson.edu/careers/resource_center/Graduate
  20School20Admissions20Essays.doc
• University of Tennessee
• http//web.utk.edu/aspweb/undergraduate/gradadmis
  sionessays.shtml

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ESL Websites

• University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana
• http//www.iei.uiuc.edu/student_internet_res.html
  writing Includes listening exercises
• Purdue University http//owl.english.purdue.edu/ow
  l/resource/678/01/ Includes how to write
  resumes and business letters, and how to search
  for jobs as an international student

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Question and Answer
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Good Luck!

• Hope you have an invaluable experience!