Acquiring the kind of language required in academic settings is a far more challenging task than learning a language for merely conversational purposes and takes much longer. L2 learners are often at a disadvantage because they are faced with the task of acquiring and using English at the same time they are trying to learn academic subjects. Classroom lectures in, say, science or social studies are given in English; a report for science must be written in English; and assignments in mathematics courses often require both sophisticated reading and writing skills in English for the student to offer a solution to a problem. Thus, in instances where their English -speaking peers have only to accomplish one task, L2 learners have to confront two types of learning tasks – one in acquiring a new language and the other in gaining content mastery. In classrooms where the language of instruction is English, much of what many L2 learners who lack sufficient English skills hear and even more of what they are assigned to read may be ultimately incomprehensible to them. Students are often asked to read tests that are far beyond their language capacity to understand. They can derive meaning from such tasks only when specifically designed activities accompany the assignment to make tests comprehensible. For example, teachers can preview the material and attempt to activate students’ background knowledge and help to fill in the gaps by explaining and defining words and helping students understand concepts. Further, teachers can also help students monitor their listening and reading and teach them to ask for help when they do not understand what is presented in class or in a textbook. Without this kind of assistance, L2 learners, even when surrounded by spoken and written English, will “tune out” learning, and their exposure to English will contribute little or nothing to their language development.
Two important issues in language acquisition are the length of time it takes to acquire proficiency in a second language and how proficiency is defined. Recent research conducted in four states on thousands of students representing over 100 primary languages supports the claim that on average it takes five to seven years for students in the most effective programs to reach the norm on nationally standardized achievement tests such as the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills. Education in the first language reduces the amount of time required and improves ultimate second language proficiency. Students with no schooling in their first language take an average of seven to ten years and sometimes more to reach the norm, while in that same period students with the greatest amount of academic language development in L1 (first language) achieve, on average, above the national norm set for English speaking students.
Understanding the length of time required to attain proficiency in a second language is important for all educational professionals because of a tendency to allow L2 learners to move too quickly through a school’s language continuum. Students often feel social or parental pressure to complete their studies, especially in English, quickly. At the same time, schools often feel hesitant to hold L2 learners in an English language program back until they attain adequate proficiency in English to succeed in the next level. Failure to provide enough time, however, has too often proved ultimately detrimental to the L2 learner.
Of course, many variables influence the process of language acquisition, including the amount and quality of instruction learners receive, their opportunities to communicate in the language, their age, their personality and learning styles, their first language literacy level in L1, and their motivation and attitude towards the new language and culture. Even at advanced levels, L2 learners may not demonstrate the proficiency of a native speaker of English. They may speak with an accent and write with the written equivalent of an accent, still exhibiting second language traits, although they will be able to perform academic tasks alongside their native-English-speaking peers, often with great distinction.
As important as ESL faculty are in serving ESL students, they cannot begin to do the job by themselves.
In most programs, ESL students spend only a small part of their school day with ESL teachers, if they spend any time at all. Most of their time is spent with teachers in other disciplines. Therefore, developing academic language skills for ESL students must be viewed as the task of teachers in all disciplines and at all levels, since L2 learners remain engaged in the process of language development throughout their academic lives.
In order to serve L2 learners, content-area faculty need the following information about second language students:
_ Amount and kind of education they received in their home countries
Other curricular issues affect the content-area faculty when dealing with second language learners are as follows:
_ Background in second language acquisition and multicultural communication.
_ Help in designing instruction that will be useful to the L2 learners in their classes.
_ Help in providing instruction that contributes to these students’ language development comprehension
_ Interactive teaching techniques that will make the second language students in their classes be active users of English
_ Useful assessments that evaluate fairly the learning of second language students in their classes.
ESL teachers are an excellent resource for classroom teachers who need help and guidance in effective teaching strategies for L2 learners. ESL teachers can help design lesson plans, provide appropriate materials, and adapt content to make it comprehensible to L2 learners. Close collaboration between ESL teachers and classroom teachers will result in more success for L2 learners in content-based study in the classroom.
The reading section of the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test consists of three parts, which vary slightly, depending on whether you are doing the old or new version of the test, as shown below:
In this multiple-choice section, you need to choose the best answer to complete a sentence. Your knowledge of grammar and vocabulary are both important in helping you understand the correct context of the sentence and in choosing the right answer. For example, you must be familiar with word forms such as nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc. to know which one fits the sentence correctly.
ERROR RECOGNITION (OLD OR CLASSIC TOEIC TEST)
This part has been eliminated in the New TOEIC Listening and Reading Test, but still remains in the older version, used in many parts of the world. It is the section which tests your knowledge of grammar and its impact on the meaning of the sentence.
TEXT COMPLETION (NEW TOEIC TEST)
Here, you will be asked to fill in the blanks, as in the incomplete sentences section above. The difference is that the blanks are part of longer pieces of writing such as a letter.
READING COMPREHENSION
The reading comprehension section presents texts taken from a wide variety of contexts such as bulletins, advertisements, reports, tables, announcements, memos, etc. A number of questions follow. Reading skills such as skimming, scanning and understanding vocabulary in context are all useful here.
TOEIC Listening Overview
TOEIC LISTENING FORMAT
The Listening section of the classic and new TOEIC Listening and Reading Test is paper-and-pencil based, and lasts about 45 minutes. It contains 100 questions, divided into four parts:
Part
Content
Old Test
New Test
1
Photographs
20 questions
10 questions
2
Question-Response
30 questions
30 questions
3
Short Conversations
30 questions
(30 conv.,
1 question each)
30 questions
(10 conv.,
3 questions each)
4
Short Talks
20 items
(6-9 talks,
3-4 questions each)
30 questions (10 talks,
3 questions each)
Remember also that in the listening section of the New TOEIC Listening and Reading Test, you will hear a variety of accents – American, Canadian, Australian and British – so you must practice listening to and understanding all of these.
In this part, you see a photograph and hear four statements about it. The photo itself may portray people, things, actions and locations. You must select the sentence which best describes what you see in the picture. You hear the sentences only once, and must make your choice immediately after that, or else you’ll miss hearing information related to the next picture.
In this part, you may be asked a question about almost any subject related to people, events, location, time, emotions, reasons, opinions or activities. You need to choose the answer that makes sense.
“WHY” because ‘ALVIN” is “HERE” it has a BEACH and a great school
“GREAT” Teachers
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TOEIC Listening Tips
The following TOEIC listening tips will help you beware of test traps, and direct you to the right answer. Remember, it is possible to get a score of 100% in the listening section. Many students have done so before you, and you can too, so keep your eyes and ears open and your motivation high.
PHOTOGRAPHS
In the first part of the TOEIC listening section, you will see photographs and then be asked to select a sentence which best describes the pictures. The key to doing well is to read each of the four options carefully. The three incorrect answers may have:
words that sounds similar but are in fact different
the right words used inaccurately
the right words used in a confusing manner
answers that are only partially true
words that refer to a context other than the one shown in the picture
words related to, but not in the picture
The best way to approach these questions is to scan the picture completely and identify what’s happening, just like a journalist or a spy. Ask yourself: who, what, where, why? Listen for any words that are stressed, as they may hold a clue.
QUESTION – RESPONSE
In the second part of the TOEIC listening section, you will be asked a question about almost anything and you need to choose a suitable answer. The trick here is to watch out for:
words that sound similar but have different meanings
wh- questions – who what, when, where, why, what – that need logical answers
questions with question tags
yes / no questions which may have no direct yes / no answers
To do well, keep the question clearly in mind as you scan the possible answers. Choose the one that makes the greatest sense. If in doubt, guess. You won’t lose points.
SHORT CONVERSATIONS
In the third part, you will hear a short dialogue and then be asked a question about what you have heard. You need to use your short-term memory well. The best strategies are to beware of:
similar-sounding words
inaccurate words
confused word order
words that change the meaning
negative words (hardly, not, etc.)
words associated with time (always, never, etc.)
It will help if you can read the question, and possibly even the answers, before you hear the dialogue. Check all the options and don’t choose too quickly. Try and picture the speakers and where they are.
We hate to admit it, because we personally feel that clothes shouldn’t matter.In a perfect world, a person would be judged at their workplace based solely on the caliber of their work. Unfortunately, that’s not how the world works.
How you choose to dress each morning reflects how you feel about your job – that you take your position seriously, that you are ready to work and that you pay attention to detail and know what you expect to encounter that day. You wouldn’t go to a construction site in your favorite four-inch stilettos, right? Of course not, you’d go in a hard hat, because it’s appropriate for the situation. Appearances matter!
We’ve all been there, though. The days you wake up feeling sick, but still have to make it into the office, so you throw on any old thing that’s (kind of) clean. The office where you never see anyone but your hated boss and your frumpy coworkers. The jobs you work from home in your pajamas and no makeup.
Regardless of the excuses, there are some things that professionals should just never wear. Ever.
We’ll show you what these things are, why they’re a terrible wardrobe choice and if you’re guilty of having one in your closet – or (gasp!) in your daily rotation – we’ll give you a much better alternative
Recently, the good people at AskMen.com revealed their list of the ìTop Ten Things Men Shouldnít Do In Public,î which included definite no-noís like picking their noses and peeing conspicuously, and debatable no-noís like crying (Come on, what if his dog just died? What if he just watched The Notebook for the first time?). Interestingly, they said proposing to your girlfriend on a subway was a ìboldî public moveósomething that really ought to top the list of forbidden public acts, if you ask me (I mean seriously, a subway? Is there a danker, drearier place on Earth to ask a woman to spend the rest of your life with you?).
Anyway, thereís no reason men should have all the fun, so in the interest of equality weíve got a list of our own. After the jump, the ìTop Ten Things Women Shouldnít Do In Public.î
1. Apply Full Make-Up
Okay, look. Refreshing your lip gloss after a meal is one thing, but putting your whole face on while riding the bus or subway (where no one should do any proposing!) is so not cool. Set your alarm ten minutes earlier, and do your makeup before you leave your apartment. A woman has to retain a little mystique, you know.
If itís so uncomfortable in the first place that you have to go digging in places you really shouldnít, maybe itís time to switch to underwear with a little more coverage, hmm?
I donít care if youíve got washboard abs, if you could bounce a quarter of your belly, or if youíre only sixteen. Unless youíre on the beach, at the pool, or working for tips, no one, I mean no one, should be running around with an exposed midriff. Itís just not classy.
5. Talk on Your Phone in a Public Bathroom or Dressing Room
Bathrooms and dressing rooms are sort of like Vegas. What happens in them should stay in them, and you with your phone broadcasting every sound to God knows who and subjecting the rest of us to some inane conversation that can absolutely wait until you no longer have your pants around the ankles is not honoring that sacred code.
6. Ask Your Partner or Spouse If They Love You
Itís uncomfortable for them; itís uncomfortable for us. Save your strange pillow talk for when youíre horizontal.
While I understand the temptation of removing any evidence that youíre less than perfect, doing so in public not only underscores your imperfections, it makes you look, well, kinda nasty.
8. Criticize Your Partner or Spouse
Sure, they may deserve itóespecially if theyíre treating a waitress like crap or ogling other people, but thereís a time and a place for everything, and in public when everyone can hear your private conversation is not it.
9. Adjust the Girls
Weíve all been there before: a breast slips below your underwire or heads too closely to your armpit, but until you find a private spot, resist the urge to reach into your bra and readjust.
If you do happen to have bad aim, remember the old adage: If you sprinkle when you tinkle, please be neat and wipe the seat!
Are you curious to know what the top things you should never do on a first date are? There are many things you can do to ruin your chances with a man on a first date. Here is some very good dating advice for girls that you should read and follow through with.
First, you already know that the exes are going to come up in the conversation. You should never put down your past lovers and you really should never reveal what the reasons were that you broke up. You should simply just say that it didn’t work out. This is because if you let a guy know that you broke up with a man for a specific reason, then if he is one that does that same thing he will do it and just hide if from you, if possible.
Second, you should never talk about the big three on the first date. This would include sex, politics, and religion. This is just dangerous and if you talk about any of these three subjects you might learn things you don’t want to know yet and don’t need to know yet. Plus they are very serious and will not lighten the mood on a first date.
Third, do not pay and then see the guy again. It is fine if you buy your own coffee or something like that, but do not pay for the guys drinks or dinner or whatever, then go and see him again. If he is not willing to pay, especially if he asked you out, then he is not worth your time. Get rid of him in a hurry and if you leave him stuck with his own tab when you leave, then maybe the embarrassment will be enough to make sure he does not do it to the next girl.
Last, this is probably the most important part of the dating advice for girls, you need to be 100% honest. This does not mean you tell him your life story, but if he asks a direct question do not beat around the bush or lie. Make sure you tell the truth because if you lie and you become serious with him he is going to find out sooner or later anyway. Then, the chances of him trusting you will be much less and you cannot have a relationship without trust.
Known primarily for his role as the host of television’s THE TWILIGHT ZONE, Rod Serling had one of the most exceptional and varied careers in television. As a writer, a producer, and for many years a teacher, Serling challenged the medium of television to reach for loftier artistic goals. The winner of more Emmy Awards for dramatic writing than anyone in history, Serling expressed a deep social conscience in nearly everything he did.
Born in Syracuse, New York in 1924, Rod Serling grew up in the small upstate city of Binghamton. The son of a butcher, he joined the army after graduating from high school in 1942. His experiences of the working-class life of New York, and the horrors of World War II enlivened in him a profound concern for a moral society. After returning from the service, Serling enrolled as a physical education student at Antioch College, but before long realized that he was destined for more creative endeavors.
Changing his major to English literature and drama, Serling began to try his hand at writing. As a senior, after marrying his college sweetheart, Carolyn Kramer, he won an award for a television script he had written. Encouraged by the award, Serling started writing for radio and television. Beginning in Cincinnati, he soon found a home for his unique style of realistic psychological dramas at CBS. By the early 1950s he was writing full-time and had moved his family closer to Manhattan.
Serling had his first big break with a television drama for NBC, called PATTERNS. Dealing with the fast-paced lives and ruthless people within the business world, PATTERNS was so popular it became the first television show to ever be broadcast a second time due to popularity. Throughout the 1950s he continued to write probing investigative dramas about serious issues. He was often hounded by the conservative censors for his uncompromising attention to issues such as lynching, union organizing, and racism. Television dramas including REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT and A TOWN HAS TURNED TO DUST, are still considered some of the best writing ever done for television.
Fed up with the difficulties of writing about serious issues on the conservative networks, Serling turned to science fiction and fantasy. Through an ingenious mixture of morality fable and fantasy writing, he was able to circumvent the timidity and conservatism of the television networks and sponsors. Self-producing a series of vignettes that placed average people in extraordinary situations, Serling could investigate the moral and political questions of his time. He found that he could address controversial subjects if they were cloaked in a veil of fantasy, saying “I found that it was all right to have Martians saying things Democrats and Republicans could never say.”
The series was called THE TWILIGHT ZONE and was incredibly popular, winning Serling three Emmy Awards. As the host and narrator of the show, he became a household name and his voice seemed always a creepy reminder of a world beyond our control. The show lasted for five seasons, and during that time Serling wrote more than half of the one hundred and fifty-one episodes. But for Serling, television was an inherently problematic medium—requiring the concessions of commercials and time restrictions.
For much of the 1960s and into the 1970s Serling turned to the big screen, writing films that included a remake of REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT (1962), THE YELLOW CANARY (1963), and ASSAULT ON A QUEEN (1966). His most famous, however, was the classic PLANET OF THE APES (1968), co-written with Michael Wilson. Similar to his early work on THE TWILIGHT ZONE, THE PLANET OF THE APES was a moralistic tale of contemporary life told through a science-fiction fantasy in which Apes have taken over the world. Dealing with question of how we act as a society and how we view ourselves as moral beings, PLANET OF THE APES was a culmination of Serling’s career-long interests as a writer.
By the early 1970s, he found a job teaching in Ithaca, New York. Continuing to write for television, he sought to impart a sense of moral responsibility and artistic integrity to the new generation of television writers. In June of 1975, he died of a heart attack. Today, more than twenty-five years after his death, Serling’s legacy continues to grow. His television and cinematic works have reached cult status—enlivening a new interest in one of the great early writers of American television.
Poignant last words, no standards to measure such a gem of a person… Humanity was his business . He did something that had worldly implications… Simple and to the point.
He was a diminutive man with too big of a heart and soul to be so rich and famous. You get the feeling that he would have given it all up to be an anonymous fixer of the world’s problems. His ticker gave out when his time was past. But his TZ episodes are timeless. And somewhere in the place we go when we leave this world, he will live forever.
We only hate the rampant stupidity we see from the US. Not that Canada doesn’t have an proportional amount of dummies up here. Rod Serling saw the same thing which is why he felt compelled to write about it; war, racism, sexism, inequality, injustice etc…. Serling’s understanding of the human condition is what made The Twilight Zone the greatest TV show of all time
Caveat lector: grumpy older guy moment ahead. Want to know what I think is wrong with the youth of today? None of them grew up with The Twilight Zone. They don’t even understand the moral and philosophical depths of the plots. That world is lost to them. It doesn’t mean anything to them. Theirs is a world of violence and gore, whether on film or in their music; not the world of imagination and humanism. I thank the stars above that I grew up when I did. Thanks for posting this! It made my day!
Yes, he just used the premise of an other-worldly “twilight zone” to give himself a venue in which to write about human nature and human conflict–examine it–when network executives wouldn’t accept scripts Serling submitted set in a real-world present-day setting.
I put a collection of some of the best of his original series that I could find on YT and put them on a playlist at my YT site. If you find these interesting, you can order the whole original series from CBC on DVD from their website. They own the right to the “Twilight Zone”.
The Twilight Zone (1959) – Where Is Everybody?
Directed by – Robert Stevens
Written by – Rod Serling
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I’ve uploaded a full version of this Twilight Zone episode. It skips a couple times because I spliced the parts together, so there might be a few milliseconds missing.
This is my first upload so please don’t tube rage at me. Enjoy!
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I’ve spent over five hours trying to improve and correct the CC and it’s still horrible. Sorry.
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