Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for University

How to Teach the Four Skills: Reading, Speaking, Writing, and Listening

a) How to Teach ReadingActually there are three stages in teaching reading:

• Pre-reading: In this stage, the teacher starts by contextualizing the topic of the reading process by using proverbs, quotes, pictures, videos, or short discussions, etc. Then, move to explain vocabulary items that students may encounter in the text. After that, he asks for their predictions about the topic of the text they are going to read.
• While-reading: Teacher gives the text to students and asks them to read it silently and check their predictions (this process called skimming). Then the teacher asks them to read again to answer the comprehension questions (this process called scanning).
• Post-reading:

Muscle spindles stimulate stretch, while Golgi tendon organs stimulate muscle contraction. Cerebellar tremor is characterized by low frequency. Motor pathways begin in the cerebral cortex and brainstem. Lower spinal cord motoneurons innervate skeletal muscles, including extrafusal and intrafusal fibers. Stimulation of muscle spindles or Golgi tendon organs is accomplished through the reticulospinal tract.

Muscle Tone and Movement Disorders

• Hypotonia: Decreased muscle tone
• Dyskinesia: Atypical, unconscious muscle movement
• Hypertonia: Increased muscle tone
• Spasticity: Hyper-contraction of muscles
• Akinesia: Atypical unconscious posture

Cortical Control of Movement

Layer V contains pyramidal neurons. The primary motor cortex contains smaller and fewer... Continue reading "Motor Control: Pathways, Neurons, and Muscle Function" »

Cork, located on Ireland's south coast, is the second-largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the third-largest on the island of Ireland, following Dublin and Belfast. It is the largest city in the province of Munster, with a history dating back to the 6th century.

Origins of Cork

Cork began as a monastic settlement founded by St. Finbar in the 6th century. However, the ancestor of the modern city was established between 915 and 922 by Viking settlers who created a trading community. The Viking leader Ottir Iarla is particularly associated with raiding and conquests in Munster, and the Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib links this to the earliest Viking settlement of Cork. The Norse phase left a legacy of family names, such as Cotter and Coppinger,... Continue reading "The History of Cork: From Viking Roots to Modern Times" »

Data Manipulation with dplyr

Ordering Rows with arrange()

Selecting Columns with select()

Creating New Variables with mutate()

Creating Functions with Vector Arguments

Linguistics and Applied Linguistics: A Complex Relationship

One approach to practical and professional language issues involves connecting them to linguistic principles. Linguistics seeks general patterns in language.

Generative Linguistics and Idealization

Generative linguistics, introduced by Noam Chomsky, emphasizes the representation of language in the mind (competence) over actual language use in everyday life (performance).

Sociolinguistics, Functional Linguistics, and Corpus Linguistics

Sociolinguistics focuses on the relationship between language and society. Functional linguistics examines language as a communication tool. Corpus linguistics has become increasingly important in investigating language use.

Prescribing vs. Describing Language:

Applied Linguistics

The need for applied linguistics.

We should set out to investigate and understand the facts of language use, to organize and formalize what we know, and to subject our knowledge to rational consideration and critical analysis. This is the aim of applied linguistics, the academic discipline concerned with the relation of knowledge about language to decision making in the real world.

Examples and procedures.

Applied linguistics sets out to investigate problems in the world in which language is implicated. It is these processes of study, reflection, investigation, and action which constitute applied linguistics as an academic discipline.

The scope of applied linguistics.

There is clearly a large and disparate activities to which... Continue reading "Understanding the Scope of Applied Linguistics in Language Education and Communication" »

Essential Qualities of Effective Teachers

Effective teaching requires a combination of knowledge, abilities, and attitudes. The following table outlines key aspects in each of these areas:

General Objective

At the end of the... Continue reading "Essential Skills & Objectives for Effective Teaching" »

Does the lesson provide for adequate assistance for students who do not learn from the initial procedure?

If only everyone "got it" right the first time! The reality is that almost no lesson is 100% reliable. That means some students will fall behind. They "won't get it," and you need to think about what to do about that. The problem is compounded because you are confronted with the real problem of what to do with the students who did "get it" while you are attending to those who didn't. Usual pedagogical thinking suggests that the "got it" students can be given some ancillary work, or some enrichment materials while you work with the students who need your help

Does the lesson provide adequate practice to permit consolidation and integration

1. Fungi obtain nutrients through absorption.
2. The body of most fungi consists of threadlike hyphae, which form a network called a mycelium.
3. Some fungal species live in plants and can kill herbivores that feed on the plant. What type of relationship does this fungus have with its host? Mutualistic
4. What sexual processes in fungi generate genetic variation? Karyogamy and meiosis
5. Almost all of the members of this phylum form arbuscular mycorrhizae in a mutualistic partnership with plants. Glomeromycota
6. From the human perspective, which of the following kinds of fungi would be considered the least useful or beneficial? Rusts
7. Which of the following best describes the physical relationship of the partners involved in lichens? Photosynthetic cells are

Finland's Unique Sporting Competitions

In the past decade or so, Finland has become host to a number of unusual sporting competitions. In many of these events, the winner – or winners – are crowned as world champions. Common to most of these pursuits are their origins in Finnish folk heritage. While intelligence or social skills are not required for success, power, stamina, and courage are vital.

What, then, are these strange sports? Here are a few of the most popular ones:

Wife Carrying World Championships

The Wife Carrying World Championships have been held in the small town of Sonkajärvi, Central Finland, since 1992. The winners are the couple who complete the course in the shortest time. To make it more difficult, two dry and two-meter-... Continue reading "Finland's Wacky World Championships: Unique Sports & Fun" »