Mid Term Make Up

Analyzing a Review on the Light of APA Requirements

      Academic writing is a complex process that requires the writer to follow certain conventions. As the world of academic writing is very broad, when consulting sources or mentioning other people’s ideas in one’s work, it is essential to cite properly so as to avoid plagiarism as required by APA style.  The aim of this paper is to analyze Nelson’s (2012) Review of Deconstructing Digital Natives, on the light of APA requirements in relation to the use of in-text citations.

     First of all, there are several instances of in-text citations included in Nelson’s (2012) piece of writing. When the author makes reference to the title of the source consulted, he uses capitalization and italics to cite. In addition to this, the author includes short quotations in his review; but even though he mentions the author’s name in a signal phrase, he also includes this information after the quotation including, the author’s name again, the date of the publication in parentheses and the page number, this writing style may not fulfill APA requirements for in-text citations.

      There is also an instance of long quotation included in which the author separates the quotation from the text omitting quotation marks, double spacing is not maintained and there is no parenthetical citation included after the final punctuation mark.

     Taking everything into account, it could be stated that Nelson (2012) does not seem to adjust his work to the requirements of APA style in his piece of writing; this makes the whole work inconsistent and difficult to follow.

 

  

 

 

References

Nelson,M.(2012).Review of Deconstructing Digital Natives: Language Learning & Technology.16, (3), 35-39 Retrieved October 2012 from http://IIt.msu.edu/issues/october2012/reviewI.pdf

Bridging the Gap between Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants

 

Nelson, M. (2012).Review of Deconstructing Digital Natives: Language Learning & Technology.16, (3), 35-39. Retrieved October 2012 from http://IIt.msu.edu/issues/october2012/reviewI.pdf

     In his Review of Thoma’s (2011) Deconstructing Digital Natives, Nelson (2012) analyses a book edited by Thomas (2011). To begin with, Nelson (2012) describes the book as a collection of critical scholarly points of view on the concept of “digital native” a concept opposed to the idea of “digital immigrant”. To describe both concepts, the author resorts to Prenky’s ( 2001) definitions ( as cited in Nelson, 2012).

      In relation concepts previously mentioned, Nelson (2012) goes on asserting that “Deconstructing Digital Natives presents what is arguably the most comprehensive, nuanced treatment to date of these complex, impassioned debates” (p. 35). In addition to this, Nelson (2012) explains how the book is organized, how the chapters are divided. He also mentions how the sections are named and who the authors of the work compiled are, providing a summary of the main issues dealt with in each part.

     Before concluding his review, Nelson (2012) criticizes the layout of the book and the index stating that images should have been included so as to facilitate the analysis and that a more organized index would have been profitable. Finally, he concludes stating that not only “scholars, university students, teachers and policy makers” (p. 38) may be interested in the book, but also “all those who regard the metaphorical digital chasm between digital natives and digital immigrants” (p. 38). 

 

 

References

Nelson, M. (2012). Review of Deconstructing Digital Natives: Language Learning & Technology.16, (3), 35-39 Retrieved October 2012 from http://IIt.msu.edu/issues/october2012/reviewI.pdf

Writing for Wikipedia as a Way of Developing Academic Writing Skills

     In the article “Writing for the World: Wikipedia as an introduction to Academic Writing” published in the English Teaching Forum, Tardy describes her approach to use a collaborative web space called Wikipedia, to help students develop academic writing skills. Students create academic pieces of writing and publish them on the website. To be able to do this, there are eight steps they should necessarily follow.

     The leading step is connected to the use of Wikipedia. Students are required to analyze how the website works, what the requirements for editing and contributing are and they also have to become familiar with the type of information that frequently appears in articles. The second step proposed by the author consists of gathering information. Students are expected to choose a topic and collect information about it, bearing in mind that in the pursuit of information and facts they should consult reliable sources. The third step is related to the organization of the information collected by students and paraphrasing is recommended as a strategy to avoid it plagiarism. The fourth step embroils the ability to produce a coherent piece of writing. The fifth step entails revising drafts, and peer correction and editing is praised as a way of receiving feedback. In the sixth step, after giving format to their text, students should include citation of sources consulted. In step seven, students should read their work carefully to identify possible spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes. The final step leads to publishing. Students should register as Wikipedia users to be able to publish their work. Students should be aware of the fact that once they publish their articles, other Wikipedia users can revise, correct and edit their work.

  To conclude, Tardy (2010) portrays her own teaching experience using a website to develop students’academic writing skills. She makes the assumption that publishing an article in Wikipedia is not only a challenge which requires several steps, but also a meaningful activity as students write for a real audience.

    

 

     

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Tardy, C. (2010). Writing for the World: Wikipedia as an Introduction to Academic Writing. English Teaching Forum: http://exchanges.state.gov/englishteaching/forum/archives/docs/10-48-1-c.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Task 3: A Review Academic Writing: A handbook for International Students

A Review Academic Writing: A handbook for International Students

    

     Bailey’s (2006) Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students is a self-study book, which is intended to aid and guide learners when performing written tasks at university.  According to the author, his work caters to the different needs learners may have at the moment of facing the challenge of writing academic pieces of narrative.

     Divided into for main sections, Bailey’s (2006) work begins with a detailed introduction in which the author clearly states the aim of his book. The first section: The Writing Process, supplies learners with activities that range from note taking to proof-reading. The following section called Elements of Writing deal with all the necessary elements that should be taken into account to meet the demands of academic writing, such as cohesion and style. The third section: Accuracy in Writing provides practice in areas of language in which from the author’s perspective learners have difficulties. The last section entitled Writing Models, offers samples of different pieces of writing such as letters, Cv’s and essays.

     In addition to the four sections that are at the same time sub-divided into sixty units, there is also a section devoted to tests in which students can check their own progress. At the end of the book, students are able to find the answers for the tasks as well as the sources consulted that enabled the author to design the activities.

     All in all, Bailey’s (2006)  work definitely contains many of the tools international students may need so as to face the challenge of writing academically. This well-organized handbook is a practical supplementary resource from which students can undoubtedly profit. All the aspects covered by Academic Writing by Stephen Bailey (2006) make it highly recommendable to all those learners who are taking their firsts steps into academic writing.

References:

Bailey, S. (2006). Academic Writing: A handbook for International Students (2nd ed.).Retrieved October 2012 ,from Taylor & Francis elibrary:http://npu.edu.ua/!ebook/book/djvu/A/iif_kgpm_t27.pdf.

Task 1: Towards an Accurate Definition of a Discourse Community

Orellano Carina

Draft 1

Towards an Accurate Definition of a Discourse Community

     According to Swales (1990), in order to be regarded as members of a Discourse Community, its participants should meet some requirements such as common goals, interactive mechanisms, information exchange, community-specific genres, specialized terminology and a high level of expertise. 

      The purpose of this paper is to analyze different articles and identify evidence to support Swales' theory.

     In relation to the requirement of shared objectives and interests, Kelly-Kleese (2001) states that the community college can be regarded as a discourse community as its participants “have developed a common discourse that involves shared knowledge, common purposes, common relationships and similar attitudes and values”. (p.4)

     As regards the interactive mechanisms proposed by Swales, Kelly-Kleese (2001) also states that “Participating in the discourse of their disciplines and of higher education in general is an expectation of university faculty; it is part of the conceptual scheme of their discourse community” (p.13)

     In relation to shared goals and information exchange, Hoffman-Kipp, Artiles and Lopez-Torres (1990) sustain that “teachers interact with colleagues in goal-directed activities goal-directed activities that require communication and the exchange of ideas…” (p.13). They also suggest that “teacher reflection in social context occurs as teachers engage in and share their reflections in diverse ways” (p.18)

     Discourse communities develop through the use of community-specific genres. In relation to this, Blanton, Simmons and Warner (2001) claim that “journals or virtual systems of communication can be used to mediate teacher learning so they can recall, share and respond to one another’s experiences (as cited by Hoffman-Kipp, Artiles &Lopez-Torres, 2003, p. 20).      

     A discourse community is characterized as utilizing specialized terminology. Kelly–Kleese (2001) has suggested that the community members share their knowledge and interpretations and hence, create policy and redefine language. Besides, Wenzlaff and Wiezeman (2004) conducted a survey in order to obtain information related to the learning processes and reported the results by means of acronyms: “ teachers rated themselves using a Likert scale, ranging from absolutely true (AT) to mostly true (MT)…” (p.20)

    To conclude, the articles analyzed provided arguments to support Swales (1990) theory. It can be established that the author has provided an accurate definition of discourse community. The six requirements help to analyze and determine whether a group of people can be considered a discourse community or not.

   References

Hoffman-Kipp, P., Artiles, A. J., & Lopez Torres, L. (2003). Beyond reflection: teacher learning as praxis. Theory into Practice. Retrieved October 2007, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NQM/is_3_42/ai_108442653

Kelly-Kleese, C. (2001). Editor’s Choice: An Open Memo to Community College Faculty and Administrators. Community College Review. Retrieved October 2007, from

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_1_29/ai_77481463

Kelly-Kleese, C. (2004). UCLA community college review: community college scholarship and discourse. Community College Review. Retrieved October 2007, from

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_1_32/ai_n6361541

Pintos, V., & Crimi Y. (2012). Unit 1: Building up a community of teachers and prospective researchers.  Buenos Aires, Argentina: Retrieved August 2012 from EAP-CAECE.

Wenzlaff,  T. L. , & Wieseman, K. C. (2004). Teachers Need Teachers To Grow. Teacher Education Quarterly. Retrieved October 2007, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3960/is_200404/ai_n9349405

Welcome to my blog

Dear classmates,

    I'm Carina Orellano, I'm 28 years old and I live in a small city called Loncopué, in the province of Neuquén.  I'm an English teacher and I really like my job, I spend many hours teaching at my own institute, It's called Sunshine and It's the only language institute in the city. Appart from this, I also teach at secondary school.

   I really like sharing experiences with colleagues, I administer a facebook group called Teaching English to Children, so If you would like to join it and exchange tips, links or useful information feel free to do it. 

  As I consider that teachers in general have to keep updated, appart from attending seminars, conferences, etc. I decided to enroll at Caece. In one of the courses I am attending, EAP, I was asked to create a blog. At first, I thought it would be a bit difficult, but fortunately I managed to do it and here it is. I hope you like it and I would be pleased to read your comments and suggestions in relation to my performance.

    

       Kind regards,

      Carina Orellano.