EDU 3234 TESL Cohort 4: Journals and position papers

Hi guys,

I'm pleased with (most of) the journals produced for this assignment. You understood the requirements of the assignment well and did not just give me the accounts of what happened in class. There were a lot of effort and writing talent shown in the entries. I finished reading everything in one night the day i got the journals. Yesterday i put grades on them. This is how they were graded:

This assignment is worth 15 marks.

For all the 15 entries you joyfully (or painfully) came up with 7.5 marks is awarded (half a mark each)

The rest of the marks depends on depth of reflection & MEANINGFUL creativity.

The journals will be returned to you with comments (hopefully) and i hope to find someone from C4 who can drive the assignments back to JB. All the other assignments will be returned too.


POSITION PAPER:

After the successful viva sessions, you were asked to write on the position you defended.

The position paper is a continuous essay, rather than a piece of writing with sections (not like the research paper). The format given is a guidance of how i want the flow of the writing to go i.e. Introduction, the three points (some of you have included the counter arguments in the essay which is good to strengthen your argument), the conclusion. The tone of writing should be persuasive and confident.

This is how the 20 marks are divided:

Position- 3

(most got 3 but some didnt heed to what a position should sound like. a position cannot sound flimsy. it must sound confident and unafraid)

Points and argument- 7

(how the three points are presented and argued. if i cant find the three points because you have very "cleverly" not use the sequence markers or linkers then that'll be hard. never think people can read your mind)

Format- 2

(if you follow this then it's easy for me to see where you're going)

Evidences- 4

(an argument should be backed up by quotes from relevant sources)

Expression- 4

(to me this is what makes all of the above work. if you write with minimal errors and good language, then it is easy for me to see your points and argument and give you 6 or 7 points)

I guess both these exercises (position paper and viva) should give you an inkling of what to expect in the post-graduate level of studies (but the examiners won't be as cruel as your classmates)


Research paper:

Just bear in mind that, basically the judgment of your supervisors are correct. It's just that an excellent paper (34/40) from supervisor A would mean differently from an excellent paper that was graded by supervisor B (39/40). I just hope you have gained some valuable experience from the supervisors' ways of supervising and their comments. Also this should make you understand that at the postgraduate level of studies a lot of factors come into play i.e. your level of effort, your supervisor's level of expectation, the chemistry between you and your supervisor and a bit of luck.

In class tasks:

I use to give away 20 marks as long as my past students did what they have to do in class. But this semester it will not be that simple. I will base it on attitude and what i observe in class for the presentations.

It shouldn't be difficult to get an A for this class to make your exam transcript look nice. But i also hope you have gained good things from the course that could be used for your personal development and your teaching. Remember that while it is good to get A's, it is your passion and your good heart that are going to make you happy in this profession.

All the best people.

Teaching the Language of Drama: Entry One

Happy New Year to all and welcome to another gruelling semester. Work hard and do have fun at the same time. The results for the short story course last semester was not too bad, but I hope you will ALL aim for an A this time around. You can do this by maintaining or improving the quality of work from what you produced the last time.

To start off our blog response exercise, I am interested to find out how much knowledge of drama you already have.

Please list literary texts from the drama genre that:

1. you have read. Were they read for leisure or for course requirements?

2. you have seen. Were they performed on stage or were they adapted for the film?

3. you have heard of but have not yet read.

Please DO NOT FORGET to write your name and matric number when you respond.

Please respond by WEDNESDAY 6th January 2010
(so we can discuss this during Thursday's tutorial).

Thank you.