Reading and Language Commons^™

Scrabble Revisited, Patrick Blanche

PASAA

SCRABBLE is a well-established word game in many countries and is closely connected with the English language, yet it does not seem to be used a lot by EFL/ESL teachers. This article provides explanations for such a paradox, and then outlines what could be done to turn the situation around. SCRABBLE deserves a place in most EFL/ESL classrooms, not only because of the linguistic worthiness of the game, but also because of its social, cultural, intellectual and international value.

Evaluation Of Language Functions Used By Thai Business People, Ruja Pholsward

PASAA

The paper reports the evaluation of language functions used by Thai business people, with an emphasis on the language functions of disagreeing, apologizing, questioning, and expressing politeness. The subjects in the study were Thai business people enrolled in a graduate course in language functions for business communication offered at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. They were trained how to use accurate and appropriate forms to function in various business interactions that prompt disagreeing, apologizing, questioning, and expressing various degrees of politeness in their communication tasks. Their performances were evaluated in three stages: (1) Preparation Stage which requires …

Welcome To The Club' Means For Developing Language Knowledge For Elt Specialists At The Mittc-Oman, Ali S.M. Al-Issa

PASAA

This paper describes an innovation program that was implemented at the Muscat Intermediate Teacher Training College (MITTC) - Sultanate of Oman and included 35 student teachers of English. The program combined two modes of language improvement, which I have labelled here as 'General English' and 'Professional English' to help my student teachers develop their English language repertoire. This was achieved via the design and implementation of various language activities, which simultaneously consolidated various fundamental aspects of second language education.

Summarising Techniques In The English Language Classroom: An International Perspective, Juan Carlos Palmer Silveira

PASAA

Summarising information taken from different source texts has proved to be a difficult activity for many English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students, especially when dealing with complex pieces of discourse. Despite its importance, not many scholars have devoted their efforts to analyse this topic. In this paper, and after showing a brief account of prior research on the topic, we will try to point out how abridging can enhance EFL students' ability to select relevant information from texts, implementing both their reading and writing abilities in a foreign language. Our attempt will be to introduce a set of fifteen …

How To Teach Efl/Esl Writing: A Basic Guide For Thai Teachers, Bruce Leeds

PASAA

This is an article about teaching writing. More specifically, it is an article about teaching writing in English to people who speak another language. This makes the job of the EFL writing teacher even more difficult than that of the native language writing teacher: not only must she deal with the students' fears towards facing a blank sheet of paper or a blank computer screen; she must also deal with the students' fears of composing their thoughts in a language that they are not comfortable with. In this situation, both the teacher and the student often have to adjust their …

The Assessment Of The Reading Speed And Reading Ability Of Thai University Commerce And Accountancy Students Who Are Trained By Using A Computer Reading Program, Kulaporn Hiranburana, Prakaikaew Opanon-Amata

PASAA

This research investigated the use of the computer in developing reading abilities, including speed reading and reading comprehension. In this study, 99 students from the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy were trained in speed reading using a computer program in English. The program contained activities aimed at increasing reading speed such as eye movement, timed reading and paced reading. The performance of these students in speed reading, comprehension and general English proficiency pretests and post-tests was compared with that of students who did not take part in the training. The results show significant gains in the reading rates of the …

Developing Presentation Skills For Low Proficiency Students, Boonya Wichayathian

PASAA

This article discusses two activities I used in the presentation skill module of my Advanced Business Oral Communication (ABOC) classes1 with groups of lower-intermediate third-year Commerce and Accountancy students at Chulalongkorn University. My goal was to help my students develop their presentation skills and have more self-confidence.

Reading Through Multimedia: Wasteful Or Worthwhile, Malinee Chandavimol

PASAA

Nowadays, the pressure is on to produce results in terms of teaching English as a foreign language. Given the time constraints of the curriculum, however, the only way to maximize existing resources is by providing sufficient channels for self-study. In this sense, we are blessed by the advances made in the field of computers over the past 30 years, and in particular the invention of the CD-ROM. Kaufimann (1992) argues that "computers may help to overcome the difficulties posed by a heterogenous class with the provision of a readily available range of materials, diverse in their level of difficulty and …

Focused Business Writing: The Case Of Replies To Complaints, Anil Pathak

PASAA

Although writing replies to complaints has been a part of our business writing course for long, I was rather disappointed to see students writing similar letters with inadequate structure and making the same mistakes every semester. In this paper I describe a small-scale investigation into the problems faced by students while writing reply letters.

Reduced Forms And Liaisons In The Teaching Of English To Thai Learners, Tanyaporn Arya

PASAA

This paper proposes the inclusion of reduced forms and liaisons in English as a second language instruction, especially as part of pronunciation exercises or in speaking and listening classes since these two aspects contribute much to the effectiveness of communication as will be addressed later in the paper. This paper is divided into 6 parts. The first part of the paper gives an overview of the nature of pronunciation as defined by Pennington and Richards (1986), which will serve as necessary background knowledge in understanding the two features of pronunciation in focus, namely reduced forms and liaisons. The second part …

A Better Understanding Of Attitude And Motivation Of Children In Different Language Learning Contexts, Jirada Wudthayagorn

PASAA

Attitude and motivation is one of the psychological variables that play a role in language learning and achievement (e.g., Gardner, 1985; Gardner, Tremblay, & Masgoret, 1997; Tremblay & Gardner, 1995). This paper demonstrates how in different contexts of learning languages, attitude and motivation play a different role in child language learning. This paper begins with an overview of attitude and motivation. Then, the two empirical research of attitude and motivation conducted in different language learning contexts are discussed. Pedagogical and research implications are also provided. It is hoped that this paper will shed some light on a better understanding of …

A Case Study Of Thai Esl Learners' Language And Literacy Learning In An Authentic Situation, Punchalee Wasanasomsitho

PASAA

Learning is a life-long process. Whether we are at school or not, we are always learning something for some purpose. In fact, society is a large classroom full of rich resources, which allows us to experience, explore, and experiment. As human beings, we all have the capacity to learn to survive and to better our quality of life. We have seen people learn from observing the things and the people around them, from their past experiences, and even from self-reflection, self-exploration, and self-discovery. However, we may wonder why learners learn with different degrees of success. To be more specific, we …

Differences Between Speech And Writing: Does It Matter?, Somporn Handee

PASAA

On the whole, it has been long known that both speech (spoken language) and writing are different in various aspects; however, not many language teachers are fully able to differentiate between such differences. This paper, therefore, aims to outline and examine some significant differences between these two entities. In addition, the implication of how this understanding might be useful for language teachers will be discussed.

An Often-Tumultuous Saga Of Books And Book-Places In The World: A Review, Dayne Sherman

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

Book review of Battles, Matthew. Library: An Unquiet History. W.W. Norton, New York, NY, 2003. $24.95.

Excerpt:

Library: An Unquiet History dignifies the work of librarians as a profession, something needed more now than ever before, as we encounter this chaotic Communication Age. It tells us why we are here toiling in the library by telling us how we arrived as keepers of books and guardians of democracy.

The Canons Of Selection, John Y. Simon

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979-2011)

Although the article touched on many issues of concern to historical editors, I propose to focus on the scope of documentary editions and to explore the issue of selection of documents for printing, hoping to discover whether this can be analyzed as more than a struggle between editors and government officials eager to distribute federal funds more broadly.

Sotheby's Sale Of John Marshall Letters, Charles F. Hobson

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979-2011)

Recently the John Marshall Papers project accessioned a series of nine autograph letters signed from the chief justice to Bushrod Washington, written between 1814 and 1821. Let me state at the outset that the letters disclose no secret loves, no shady financial dealings, no bizarre personal habits. Candor also obliges me to confess that their discovery was not the result of years of painstaking research, of pursuing leads that brought me ever closer to the trunk in the attic of a decaying Virginia mansion. The story behind the acquisition of the letters is not without interest, however, and even a …

What We Would Have Done Differently Now That It Is Too Late, Louis R. Harlan, Raymond W. Smock

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979-2011)

We might as well begin on a note of candor by admitting the worst error we ever made, for of all the things that we would have done differently this surely heads the list. On the errata page of volume 8 appears the note: "Volume 4, p. 309, n. 1. The man wrongly identified as Robert Brown Elliott [a black man] was actually William Elliott, a white man. The letter to BTW, Apr. 25,1898, was from Rev. G. M. Elliott of Beaufort, S.C." Not only had we confused a black man with a white man and another black man, but …

The Editor's Responsibility, John P. Kaminski

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979-2011)

What is done during this time? Generally speaking project directors on documentary editions spend less time in editing documents than do the other editors on the staff. Senior editors are forced to devote varying amounts of their time to administration, fund-raising, and different kinds of public relations. If an editor also teaches, those responsibilities take up time: preparation of lectures, classroom time, consultations with students, and reading, critiquing, and grading papers. Editors also have other responsibilities such as committee work, responding to inquiries, consulting with other projects and individuals, assisting the federal funding agencies in reviewing proposals and projects, cartographic …

"What Good Are They Anyway?": A User Looks At Documentary Editions Of Statesmen's Papers, Daniel Feller

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979-2011)

Historical editing has come far in recent years. Editors now have their own organization; they have an ever-stricter set of standards and, as of this year, a handbook codifying those standards. What was once an avocation has become a profession. Yet one cannot overlook that documentary editions have failed to meet some of the expectations first held out for them. The "bloodless revolution in American history" promised us a quarter-century ago from the publication of great statesmen's papers has so far proved not only bloodless but undetectable. Ironically, just as that revolution was being proclaimed, a very different-and far from …

Articles In The First 25 Volumes Of Documentary Editing And Reviews In The First 25 Volumes Of Documentary Editing

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979-2011)

If Documentary Editing were a grown child celebrating its 25th birthday, its parents, concerned with their offspring's professional welfare and future, would remember fondly earlier times and might well ask questions about plans for life after graduate school. Clearly, the journal of the Association for Documentary Editing is different from a child, although, over the years, many people have left their imprint on Documentary Editing and much has changed since the publication's beginning in 1979. Unlike an adult on the verge of complete emersion into professional life, however, Documentary Editing cannot look back and reflect on the course of the …

Documentary Editing, Volume 25, Number 3, Fall 2003--Front Matter

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979-2011)

Cover--25, Association of Documentary Editing, 1979-2003--Title page--Publication page--Contents--Contributors

"The Most Important Scholarly Work": Reflections On Twenty Years Of Change In Historical Editing, Michael E. Stevens

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979-2011)

Twenty years ago, at the first annual meeting of the Association for Documentary Editing in Princeton, New Jersey, Arthur Link stated that documentary editing is "the most important scholarly work being done in the United States, and, if well done, it will be the most enduring." Last year, the distinguished historian Edmund S. Morgan echoed Link when he wrote in the Wall Street Journal that the 154 volumes produced by the Founding Fathers editions "stand as the single most important achievement of American historical scholarship in this century."

Despite this high praise, Link's and Morgan's opinions are not universally held. …

Adolescent Journals Of Caroline Healey Daii, Helen R. Deese

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979-2011)

Caroline Healey Dall (1822-1912), Boston-born reformer, lecturer, author of books, freelance journalist, memoirist, and occasional preacher, began her apprenticeship as a writer at the age of nine with the keeping of a journal. While still a child, however, she destroyed her earliest journal when she discovered her father reading it. For some time thereafter, she ceased her journal keeping. But soon finding herself unable to quell the need to express herself on paper, she resumed the habit. The journals of this second period, which ran for several years, survived until Dall was in her seventies. Then she also destroyed them, …

Announcement--In Celebration Of The 25th Anniversary Of The Association For Documentary Editing, A Cumulative Index For Documentary Editing, Spanning The Years Of 1979-2003, Appears In The 2003 Winter Issue

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979-2011)

No abstract provided.

Ade Committees 2002-2003

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979-2011)

Officers--Committees

Chocolate Bunnies And Pork For Passover: The School And Home: A Symbiosis For Family Literacy, Karen C. Waters

Education Faculty Publications

This article explores the literacy partnership between school and family when intergenerational stories are made public.

Documentary Editing, Volume 25, Number 3, Fall 2003

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979-2011)

No abstract provided.

Mary Robinson Hunter: Reminiscences Of Her Life In Brazil, Evelyn M. Cherpak

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979-2011)

As a Latin Americanist with a specialty in Women's History, I was eager ft to edit a diary kept by an American woman in South America, so I was pleasantly surprised when I called the Newport Historical Society and spoke to the curator of manuscripts who told me that the Mary Robinson Hunter diaries in their collection covered her residence in Brazil fromi 1835 to 1848. I promptly visited the Historical Society, read the journals, found them fascinating, and began my part-time editing project.

The diaries consist of six volumes in which Mary Hunter wrote nearly every day. Each entry, …

Documentary Editing, Volume 25, Number 2, Summer 2003--Front Matter

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979-2011)

Cover--Photo of Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illnois, November 1934--Title page--Publication page--Contents--Contributors

From Note To Independent Research Project: The Case Of Lauretta Hitchcock Jenney (1808-1833), William M. Ferraro

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979-2011)

My quest after Lauretta Hitchcock and the family connections that shaped her values and beliefs began in 1989, when I came across this young woman at the Salmon P. Chase Papers. John Niven, editor of the Chase Papers, took little notice of Lauretta Hitchcock because the project focused on Salmon P. Chase's rise as an anti-slavery lawyer and political leader. Out of four letters between 1826 and 1827 from Chase to Lauretta or members of her family and seventeen letters between 1826 and 1832 from Lauretta or her relatives to Chase, Niven chose only one for publication in the select …