Reflecting on EFL writing

Trapped!!!

2008-05-26T21:32:00.006-04:30

One can feel trapped in open spaces, in a specific situation or even in a group, a "writing course" (ha, ha), and probably you may even feel trapped in your own house, city or country for numerous reasons. What do you think is the most critical aspect of being trapped with no way out? Keep it in mind when you write the comments to this blog post.

Watch the following video ( 7:17 min.) about something that happened in 1999. You may read more about this incident here. Write briefly about your reactions and/or any other idea the video made you think of? What would you do in a similar situation? How do you think you would react? What surprised you the most?

Our Voicethread !!!

2008-05-21T21:01:00.008-04:30

What a team!!!
You have set up your part of the presentation on your own, with minimum guidance or help and from different places and computers. Congratulations on an excellent job. I am really proud. There are still a couple of sections to be completed, but I am sure you will do so very soon.

I posted it to our sisterclasses. I had a lot of fun watching the presentation and I am sure other people will do too.
Excellent work!!!

The writing process

2008-05-03T01:48:00.001-04:30

Here are steps in the writing process, as illustrated by the writing team at Monash University in Australia.

Is it different from the one you read here. Were you aware of these steps? Have you followed some of them as you had written the assignments in this course? Which do you find most difficult (pre-writing, drafting/writing, revising, editing)? Do you follow a similar process when you are writing in Spanish? Do you ever write formally in Spanish? in English? What recommendations were useful to you and you will probably take into account?

Write a brief reflection in the comment´s area.

Let´s get started with our sister classes

2008-04-27T09:10:00.003-04:30

Some students in Argentina, Brazil, Hungary, Kuwait, Romania and San Francisco are collaborating on line and would like us to be part of their international project.

We will soon record a presentation about Venezuela to be posted in the sister classes blog. We will be probably using a tool called Voicethread (if you come up with a better idea, let´s do it). Before recording our presentation, we will have to collaboratively write a script of what we would like to say. I propose we open a page where we can all write. We can either do it in the wiki or in googledocs. I have set up a gmail account for us writingatusb@gmail.com. I´ll give you the password in class or by mail, if you decide on this last choice.

If you would like to see what other groups have done so far, here are the posts of march and april. This is the presentation I particularly would like to base ours on. Any ideas, comments?

To get you started, go to this blog post , watch the presentation from Romania and then write a comment about it in the provided area. Don´t forget to mention your name and country.

Keep me posted on what you are doing, difficulties you may have faced, etc.

What is good writing?

2008-04-26T19:56:00.000-04:30

It seems as if good writing were the result of lots of practice and hard work, not necessarily a gift we are born with, although there will be some who have a well developed verbal ability or a sort of linguistic intelligence. But if one is willing to work and practice regularly, writing will come along naturally. As the saying goes "Practice makes perfect".

Putting words into paper or screen everyday will definitely make us better writers and as we gain confidence, our skills get sharpened and our satisfaction grows as we see much better products of our efforts, don´t you think?

So what makes a piece of writing good? Let´s see what your thoughts are on this then ...

How are you doing so far?

2008-04-24T12:55:00.000-04:30

I wanted to check on your experience this first week.

Are you overwhelmed by the amount of activities? Have you been sitting in front of the screen for long hours? Have you had difficulties setting your Wiki page, composing your writing profile, commenting on this blog, reading assignments?

Or on the contrary ... so far, so good ... you have adapted quite well to the course activities and have figured out your way around unexpected difficulties. How did you do that?

Let us know by writing about it in the comment´s area of this post.

Welcome to ID5-128

2008-04-12T14:15:00.000-04:30

The aim of this course is to give you the time, space and opportunities to improve your writing skills in English as a foreign language. Although the course program specifies that English for Science and Technology will be the main target, writing freely, purposely and progressively is the real objective. I would like you to improve your writing at your own pace and for your personal needs and interests.

Should you have further comments and suggestions, write them in the comments area of this post.

Let´s start, then. Best wishes and luck on this journey we are about to start !!!