Sunday, December 16, 2007

Hi people,

As of Friday at 12:30pm, I became a senior officially (IQ Web has been lying for some time now). So finals are oooooooovvveeeeerrrr! I worked a lot my last week -- banquets and such. People just have to get all dressed up to eat. I suggested saving time by spreading blankets on the floor and having a picnic dinner. Ed majors would love that. Sadly nobody else liked it. Apparently it's more proper to dress up and sit at a nice looking table just to eat food which you do anyway so why make a big deal about it. Eating... such a strange activity, yet that's what MuKappa does too. AHHH!!! We have conformed!!!

Anyway I'm really, really, really, really cold... I am still wearing my winter coat in the house. It snowed last night so Andy and I shoveled this morning. Then it rained. Sunday School was canceled but morning service on was fine.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Hello, world. I have a half hour until Astronomy and at this point, I have given up studying. I went to a study group with Mrs. Gossard and that was good. However, it is science and it is multiple choice. Both work against me. So I have decided to stop trying to cram info in because it won't help anymore. All I know is that in the middle of the coronal mass ejection picture is what looks like the face of George Washington. Fascinating, eh? I would notice something like that... Why can't I pay attention to things that matter?

Mrs. Gossard wanted to know my learning style. I said I learn through music. She said I was very audio. But then I said I have to rewrite all my notes to get them in my head and that I know what pictures are on the page that the correct answer is even though I don't know the answer. She said I am visual. Then she said I was kinesthetic and finally she said I was a puzzle and she couldn't figure out my issues. "It...is...a...puzzlement!" -- The King and I

So last week I got 2 books. Student Senate gave everyone The Pursuit of Holiness. Then I got a bilingual Spanish-English NT from Mrs. Sparling for perfect attendance in Spanish class.

Hmm, what else. Oh, there was a special chapel for Dr. Babb. He got presented with a monographed towel, supposedly from the student body. As a result, the student body decided to try to get him a real gift that we actually had something to do with and hopefully more meaningful than a monographed towel. People want to get him a sword. How about a light saber? He's the new chancellor anyway.

I ate in the Eagle's Nest all by my lonesome. I don't like eating here cuz the food is all fried. But I didn't feel like cafeteria food either. Oh well.

I suppose I should start packing up and think about class. Oh and I want to show Mrs. Gossard George Washington's face in the coronal mass ejection. I think she'd find it amusing.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Of snow and white slips and exams and pirates and elephants and peanut butter and Christmas and guinea pigs and Spanish and pixie stix

Ok, half of that stuff will not be addressed in this post. Those were things that popped into my mind while writing it. Fascinating, isn't it?

First order of the day: White slips. I have never gotten a white slip in my entire PBU existence -- a feat of which I am greatly proud. However, lo and behold, soap scum does not come off the shower floor while the shower is still wet. I, however, was not blessed with this knowledge. I was worried about the shower, so I tried to be in the room when the distinguished White Glove Inspectors came through brandishing swords and gloves of um...whiteness. Alright, they didn't but it sounded cooler that way. Anyway, they were supposed to start at 10, so I had no idea when they were coming through and I had to continue my stalking of faculty and staff (more on that later) so I left. Lo and behold, they came when I left and left that little piece of paper that every student dreads (except for the dumb ones that don't care). It doesn't have my name on it, though, because the RD didn't know that I had cleaned the shower. It had Elena and Colleen's name on it and because I am such a nice person, I told Christina rather than let them have a white slip to their name. Poor little sophomores. I just went to Christina and explained about the name mistake and I did tell her that I tried to scrub it, but it doesn't come up when wet. Oh well -- there's a $10 fine but I'm actually more disappointed by my no longer white slip free record. Haha.

Second order of the day: The stalking. It all started with Deborah in Student Life. I have these posters things to put up for people to write questions about missions and the spread of the gospel because there will be missionaries to answer those questions during World Reach (the fancy name for "Missions Conference"). Anyway, I took them to get stamped so I could put them up, but Deborah sent me to Student Ministries and Mrs McAlack sent me to Mr. O'Brien because he's in charge of missions conference. The first time, he was not in his office. I came back when classes were supposed to let out (10:45) but he was still not there. So, I found his teaching schedule and the classroom he was in and went and hung around outside his classroom until he came out. He then had to call Mrs. McAlack to ask her something. I then had to go to Mrs. Hui who was in charge of the posters in the first place and then Mr. O'Brien called and approved of the posters which meant I had to go back to Deborah and get them stamped. However, Deborah was not there so I had to go twice. I finally got them stamped and now they are all over campus. Some people wrote stupid questions, so we'll see how well it works.

Next thing: It's snowing. It's kinda dying down know which is sad. There's pretty white stuff barely covering the grass, though. I was having fun sliding on one of the sidewalks before my 2pm class.

Ok, fourth: Christmas. The RA's came banging on doors waking us all up at 7am. I was actually already up and dressed. Elena then came to me and told me that my presence was wanted in the lounge and that Santa had come and brought presents. I thought she was kidding so I wasn't going to go down. She insisted so I walked down and most of the dorm was there. Apparently the RD's had contacted all of our parents to send a gift for their child. We then had cinnamon buns and whatever else there was. It was very creative. And now my feet are warm because I got socks. Mom, I like the socks, except they're very mature looking. Hahaha. They're warm though and I guess that's more important than my delight in crazy, hideous socks.

Finals: One word: disgusting. I got my grad class final and it's INSANE. We have to make up case studies and write lessons with accommodations and modifications that meet the needs we specify in the case studies. SCARY. It's due Tuesday and I have a big astronomy exam on Monday which requires much work. I'm going to ask if there's any possible way for the Astronomy exam to be moved some so I don't go insane. Finals week has always been beautiful for me. Not this year! Grad classes... ewwwww!!! I actually need to be cramming for stuff right now!!!

Pirates: YES! Pirates of the Caribbean music. Love it!

Ok, here's insanity:
Saturday night: Benaiah's despedida
Monday: Astronomy and Spanish exams
Tuesday: Two grad finals
Wednesday and Thursday: crazy juggling of studying and 3 jobs
Friday: General Epistles final and more juggling of work
Saturday: Banquet and then done!

It is time to accomplish work now!!!! I do have pictures to post of cabinet dinner, cousins, Jenna's birthday, and other random stuff but I can't right now. I got a B- on my teaching approaches paper for TESOL. Sad day. :( Oh well -- every other paper and assignment has been A or A- so I guess it's not the end of the world.

Oh, PS I'm reading a really good book in my devotions. Ok, it's good so far. I don't know about the rest. Disciplines of a Godly Woman by Barbara Hughes. Here's a closing thought from John Wesley:
O God, fill my soul with so entire a love of Thee that I may love nothing but for Thy sake and in subordination to Thy love. Give me grace to study Thy knowledge daily that the more I know Thee, the more I may love Thee. Create in me a zealous obedience to all Thy commands, a cheerful patience under all Thy chastisements, and a thankful resignation to all Thy disposals. Let it be the one business of my life to glorify Thee by every word of my tongue, by every work of my hand, by professing Thy truth, and by engaging all men, so far as in me lies, to glorify and love Thee.

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Office pictures


No longer is the question "Is there any mail today?" in use. Now it is "How many thousands of letters are we sending out today???" Such a look of utter ecstasy when handed slices of trees!

Note the evil, temperamental, female folding machine on the right. It hates James... but it works for me. It's fickle... I talk to it to encourage it. James just says it female.

And since I work in an office with 3 guys over 6 feet tall, I get jealous of their ability to look over the cubicle wall... so I drag a chair over and climb up and feel better about myself because that way I am capable of being just as cool as them.

Photos are courtesy of David S.

I love PBU chapel annoucement videos

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Of cold feet, senioritis, and so on










Can you have senioritis 10 credits away from being a senior?

My feet are cold.

And so on.

Ok, ok. So Thanksgiving day I drove back to NJ. I brought Cyprus along because she lives in a nearby town. That made the trip pass quickly. I am bringing her back to school tomorrow. Then let's see... I made hats and pretended to do homework. Then Aunt Annie, Uncle Don, and John came over. We played a very cool bowling game that Grandfather made.

Friday... I did homework... yeah, I did. I wrote a paper. Go me! It was on Asperger's Syndrome. Fascinating. Except I'd rather read about it than write about it. Then Andy and I went to Catherine's house. We stopped by the Carlson's to get the kids. Mrs Carlson gave me these handy-dandy foot warmer things. They were adhesive and you put them on top of your socks. They work amazingly well! They wear out within a few hours.

We attempted to teach everyone Moro-moro, but it was a flop. We then proceeded to play freeze tag. In the process, I nearly broke my leg. I was chasing Stephen and I jumped on a bunch of rocks and then slipped and twisted my leg underneath me. Andy was the only one who saw it thankfully. I couldn't get up for a while because it really hurt. I tend to have a high pain tolerance but for some reason I was pretty close to crying. (I didn't though) I finally sat up and decided it was broken and then figured pretending it didn't happen was the best way. Haha. Except now it still really hurts and I can't turn my leg inside to the right. Oh well.

Hmm... then Kaitlyn and I decided to bond. She wanted to take me to see this movie "Enchanted" so we did. It was hilarious -- basically Disney making a spoof of their old princess movies. I think it was more amusing for us since we both grew up with Snow White and Cinderella. So that was fun. Then I realized I didn't have my cars keys with me which means I didn't have a door key. On top of that, the house was remodeled so byebye spare key. I tried calling Andy but his phone was on silent. I threw pebbles at his window. Sooo I slept over at Kait's and dragged her out of bed nice an early with my cheery "GOOD MORNING SUGAR PLUM!!!!!!!!" greeting. I offered to sing "Rise and shine, lazy sleepy head, get those lazy bones out of the bed! Rise and shine, lazy sleepy head, get up and serve the Lord!"

Then I got home, got distracted with yarn... and then cracked down and did a lot of homework. Go me. Ok enough. Bye.

PS Oh yes -- I taught the whole table the fascination of loose finger flicking. I showed John and got him into it and then the rest of the table tried it. Andy and I think Grandmother can't bend their finger straight at their second knuckle. I wonder if it's hereditary. Anyway, it's fun: bend your finger at your right knuckle so your finger looks like an upside down L. Then flick the tip of your finger. Go for it. You'll be amused for a while.

Monday, November 19, 2007

I gave Danny and Brett Tagalog lessons today.

I am very handsome: Ang mukha ko ay parang unggoy.
Where is the kitchen?: Mabaho ang aking paa.

Yeah I'm good. Danny is now carrying around a table napkin that with those lines so he can practice. Brett has it written on his hand. I love promoting Tagalog.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

One of those days


This adorns our bathroom wall and greets us in the morning

Jessi's and my side of the bathroom

We're so mean. Hahaha

Tuesday, November 06, 2007









Horrible. Who has 5 exams and a quiz on the same week that isn't finals??? Seriously... I need to be cramming right now... but I'm not. Serina and I were getting lots of studying done in the cafeteria until people showed up and decided they wanted to socialize with us. Bad people. Go away. Haha. And now I'm babysitting. The good news is I finished reading for my night class... and the little angels are asleep. The bad news is I have to memorize all my Spanish vocabulary and write a Spanish paragraph tonight after 9:30 or 10:00pm. Eww. That's disgusting. I have to somehow start writing article summaries and think about completing my science unit... oh and not to mention... study for science exams. The good news is I don't have an 8am class on Thursday because of the MACSA conference. AND I don't think I have Spanish on Friday which is equally beautiful. Sports teams are going down to Florida. The women's volleyball team also made PBU sports history. I don't really know anything about it. You can find out about it on the PBU sports page if you're that interested. Go Crimson Eagles!

I miss out on Student Senate Chapel on Friday. Too bad. Last one was good. I have to be at a mandatory short term missions trip meeting. Yes, I got picked to go on the missions trip to Louisiana over Spring Break.

The weather is quite chilly. James calls it comfortable. I call it freezing.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Happy November 1st! Except nobody really understands that or thinks about that here. Oh well. Yesterday, one of my Calvanistic friends said "Happy Reformation Day!" to me. Last night there were some interesting characters walking around. I went to class though... and then to the mall with Jessi to look for something for Elena's birthday. It was quite unsuccessful on my part. But I ran into a former co-worker from Chick-fil-A who now works at Claire's. She said that the former operators at Chick-fil-A lost the store yesterday. No surprise, really. Apparently the night crew was quite wild and there were complaints and Corporate came and watched the store in the food court and finally cracked down and took over the store. There is a reason I never went back to Chick-fil-A. I would love to work at the new one, though. It's very well-run, and several of the team leaders are PBU students. However, I am very happy with my 6hr a week job on campus! I really have no idea how I used to work at Chick-fil-A 14-20 hrs a week! Crazy.

Anyway, I figured I should post something to say I'm alive. My guinea pig died apparently. :( So sad. I wish I could have a guinea pig here. Dad, are you going to get another guinea pig???? Guinea pigs make good pets.

I was given back an hr and fifteen minutes of time today! I was sooo close to skipping class, but I decided to be a responsible grad student and I went to class only to find out it was canceled. Sadly, it was because my professor's husband had to go to the hospital. He had a heart attack out in Arizona last week during MACSA and Mrs Rivera went out to take care of him. He had a heart attack and had bypass surgery and a stint placed in him. Apparently he is really sick again so she had to take him to the hospital this morning. So pray he gets better. Dr A's husband is also having heart problems as well. Anyway, I utilized my time effectively by writing another lesson plan.

So in chapel there was this "Reverend" from Trenton. He had the whole preacher collar thing. Funny, last night at the MuKappa dinner, Danny, Jessi, and Analee (from Guatemala/Spain, Mexico, and Brazil) and I all said that our first thought was "WE HAVE A PRIEST SPEAKING TODAY?!?!" Haha, we all grew up in Catholic countries. He did have the whole parson voice going.

So today I have to go to ministry, tutor, and do lots of homework. Chanhthu is visiting which is exciting. She was Katrina's roommate last year and now neither of them are at PBU. There are open dorms in Stillman and Souder tonight too. That should be fun. Matt made a video for chapel on it... I don't think it's online yet. If it ever comes on I'll post it here. It's funny... it's all about how Souder has Cooties (girl's dorm).

Anyway I need to go head over to Kiddie College. I found out I need a new ministry next semester because the roster lied. I have a 3 hr class on Thursday, not Tuesday. Grrr. Oh well. Maybe I'll tutor with Colleen at a school nearby.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Moving up in the world

My dorm has an address!!! YAY! Tuition dollars at work!

Sunday, October 07, 2007

So... apparently when I was a freshman I took lots of pictures and wrote extremely long blog entries. HAH!!! I still take pictures, but not as much. And I don't really write long blog entries (obviously). Hmm... It's 10:30 and if I go to bed right now, it will be a truly miraculous event since I usually try to be in bed by such an hr and end up in bed at midnight! But yes, I am alive. I have been busy with school and work and such things like that. See ya

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Yesterday Mr Robb called me Becky Norrmaier. I prefer Needermaier.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

So apparently I have a new name. I am Becky Needermaier. I walked into the cafeteria for lunch and Laura was the checker and asked me to eat my lunch at the checker table and scan people's cards because they were so short handed. So I got to have the cool laser pointer thingy and pretend to hold up everyone who arrived. Anyway, Mr. Robb (he works for alumni relations) showed up and I said "Hi Mr Robb!" He was embarrassed because he couldn't remember my name even though he knows what office I work in. So I told him my name and then after class today, passed him in the hallway and he pointed at me and said, "Becky!" And I said, "Yep." And then he said, "Needermaier!" and I started laughing. He said at least he had the maier part. I think it's fun to confuse people on campus. I remember names and faces pretty well (including people I haven't officially talked to) so I like greeting people by saying their name and sometimes providing additional information such as their academic major and that freaks them out. Mwahaha. So Needermaier was my amusement for the day... that and threatening people with the scanner... or with no lunch by refusing to scan their cards.

I went to the Oliff's and cooked caldereta last night. Yummy... it was fun! I never realized how much of an act of service/ministry just cooking a meal can be for a busy family. Thankfully the girls aren't picky and they all loved it. I tutored Ruth for a class last semester and this semester I'm going to tutor Bekah so in some ways it was a thank you for letting me use their girls in spite of the danger of permanently scarring their academic career. Haha.

Tonight is dorm dessert at the RD's apartment. Woohoo! Yay for food.

Tomorrow I start my ministry with kiddie college. There's a ladies bible study on campus every Thursday and we take their kids and do stuff with them. I hope I get put with the infants. You know, brainwash them when they're young.

Oh yeah, I actually went to the Luau this year. They had a slip and slide and Dr. Babb went down it. Everyone gathered around it and "took a knee for Dr Babb". You can tell he's a swimmer -- he made a perfect dive on to the slide. He's one of the top ten swimmers in his age group in the nation.

So here are some pics of recent stuff.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

So I'm back at school! Junior year! Woohoo! Somebody thought I was a freshman and another girl decided she wanted to be just like me when she got older. HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!! That's funny. Poor girl doesn't know what she wished for.

I've only had 2 classes so far: Astronomy and Developmental and Diagnostic Reading in the Middle School. I liked both classes. Actually I saw the lunar eclipse early this morning and unintentionally broke curfew. They changed the rule for when we can be allowed outside our dorms. It used to be 5:30 but now it's 6. They changed several things in the handbook, some for better and some for worse. For example, the old one said specifically no kissing. The new one leaves it up to discretion. However, attire for formal events is no longer listed as "appropriate attire" but very specific in what can be worn. The old one has stuff about the student's personal walk and devotions and also not planning any University events on the Lord's day that don't promote worship and stuff. I didn't see anything about that in the new one. R-rated movies are now allowed on campus, with discretion. Also, people can have wine like at a dinner setting at home but not get drunk. So yeah... a lot of stuff has changed.

The whole atmosphere has changed too. The new drive is COMMUNITY. The "Manor Dorms" are now supposed to interact a lot more. There are dorm and Manor events crammed upon each other. Tonight was rock painting (door stops) and tonight is a dorm meeting for all of Manor dorms. Thurs is a Memorial photo scavenger hunt, Friday is the Luau and Saturday is the back to school kick-off party at Penndel. Yeah talk about pushing community. We have "Manor Olympics" or something coming up too.

Anyway there is more I could say but I have to go to the dorm meeting.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Woohoo

Wow so it has been a while since I've posted. I am alive but busier than when I'm taking classes... at least it's more time consuming. Plus, I don't have internet access in my dorm (the wireless is all messed up) and I'm too lazy to bother carting my computer anywhere or using the email lounge computers for any extended period of time.

We've been weeding and planting up a storm. I've visited the nurse a couple of times for things like barbary thorns and sprained hands. That was fun. My goal is to get on a first name basis with the nurse as a result of my constant appearance in the clinic. She threatened to start charging.

I start work at 6:15am and work either to lunch or until 3pm or sometimes 4:30 if it's a nice day to pull a 10hr. Sometimes I get begged to work in the cafeteria (like last week) soooo it's been pretty busy. Next week is my last week and it will be a lot! Last week I worked over 50 hrs because of Scott begging me to work. I have grounds work, cafeteria work, and other stuff going on next week. Monday I'm going over to the Oliff's to make dinner with the girls (aka "Oliff-ettes"). (Mr Oliff is a prof at school)

So here are some pics to enjoy

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Would you look at that... two posts in the same week! I'm on lunch break and rather bored. I ran all over campus just now doing some errands, i.e. returning a book to the library, turning in my FERPA waiver to the registrar's office, bothering Academic Communications people, trying to find Scott in the cafeteria, etc. So now I'm back in Heritage waiting for it to be 1pm so we can resume cleaning and moving furniture in the girls' wings. We cleaned the guys' wings this morning. That's all we have to do today and it really only takes an hour and a half at most. Andy, the boss, said "Take as much time as possible and I don't want you to come to me at 1pm and say you're already done." However, he's asking for overtime people sometime later this week into next as we're going to be stripping the floors and rewaxing them. Right now I'm just tired and have a headache again. I'm drinking this nasty, medicine-like drink called "Diet Green Tea with Citrus." Nasty!!! I just felt like drinking it. Lauren left it in her fridge which I'm babysitting.

Yesterday it poured almost all day. The sun finally came out around 4 and it was absolutely beautiful! It was quite cool, sometimes chilly, but really nice. Today's high is 84 and sunny. WOOHOO! Too bad I can't go out and enjoy it after work because I'm doing the banquet.

Speaking of the banquet, I needed black dress pants. I don't own any so I tried to borrow some from Ariel. They would fit fine if I grew about 5 inches. Sniff. So I guess I'll wear my skirt, but the shirts we have to wear are supposed to be tucked in and it doesn't work so well with my elastic band skirt. Oh well. There aren't enough girls on campus to have hopes of borrowing a pair of pants that fits. And speaking of being short, we were cleaning some glass balcony things in the BLC and Ben had to go up the ladder to do it. I wanted to go up the ladder and Andy said, "Well that's great but you're too short." Waaaaaah!!!

I have decided to see how many departments I can work for this summer. So far I've worked for the marketing department and campus services. Tonight I'll have worked for food services. Scott was practically on his knees begging people to work tonight's banquet. He doesn't have enough people and there are so few people on campus now. He promised to treat anyone who worked tonight to Rita's. Haha. That's desparate. Andy tried to get him to let us eat for free all next year, but he wouldn't be that nice. The set-up is really nice though. They did an Italian restaurant theme and there are candles and checked table cloths and everything. Really pretty! Kinda crowded though because they used the bottom of the BLC by the museum area which contains random paintings and of course the Fujimura or whatever it's called painting. We have a lot of random decorations around. I just noticed that the paintings one wall are of the Philadelphia Art Museum and the Philmont WaterWorks. Hah! I've been there!

Well it's only 12:37 now so I've got some more time to kill. I don't feel like walking back up to main campus and bothering the different departments since they're all on lunch break anyway. I must be one of those annoying students who walks into every different department to say hi to people. I take every opportunity possible to bang on Gaynell's office window or talk to Liane in Admissions. I like to visit Student Life and bother people there too. And of course I like to walk into Academic Communications and see if anyone missed me. Haha.

Oh, yesterday, we were moving fake trees from different offices. (Yeah, we steal decorations from all over the school just for this banquet) I was carrying a huge tree (from the Alumni office, which, by the way, has a basket of candy!) which pretty much completely covered me. I bumped into Dr Minto and she gave me a really strange look and said, "What are you doing? Are you hiding? Because I can see you." Hahahaha! Today Andy told us to steal the paintings from the cafeteria. I asked if we could dress in black so it would be more fun. Ben was singing the Mission Impossible theme song to go along with it. ;)

Friday, July 20, 2007

It's over... well, almost...


Hmm... goose in the tree! Wonder how it got there.

My room... before roomcheck

And again

Core Creek

Erin and I found a catfish



Playing with the geese

He looks cute but he grows up to be a nasty goose.

Guess what? All my summer classes are done!!! Nine weeks of classes (plus 2 extra weeks when there was no school) are over! I can't believe it has already been 11 weeks since school ended for the semester. Crazy! Time flew, but it also feels like such a long time ago because it was a lot of work. I still have post-course work from this last class and the first TESOL class, but the class part is done! I hope to get most of it done next week, except for the field observation which I will do next semester. It's all due November 9th, but I don't want to wait.

These past weeks have been crazy. Our TESOL class really bonded and we had a lot of fun. The past 2 courses were more fun because we did more. We've had a lot of laughs together, especially as afternoons wore on. You can tell that half the class is made up of elementary ed majors, or at least young "grad" students. I don't think older, experienced teachers would really crawl under the table and flop on the floor for a group activity, even if they were supposed to be acting like elementary kids. See, we put our desks in a horseshoe this week and we used the middle section for teaching. A lot of the activities that were taught were for younger grades and we sat on the floor a lot. Andrea and I were too lazy to walk all the way around the horseshoe, so we developed a habit of crawling under the table on our hands and knees and then flattening out nice and comfortably on the floor. ;) The funniest part about it all was that Mrs Underhill got into character for whatever age level we were playing. One activity today was geared for adults and there were some collective disappointed moans in the class. We prefer to act like kids... and actually, we still did.

The only guy in our class was basically the perfect model of the problem child. We played this game where we all sat in a circle. The first person said, "My name is ____ and I like ____ (a fruit)." The person following had to say "My name is ____ and I like ____ and _____ likes ____" and so on. For example, "My name is Laura and I like watermelon and Ashlee likes strawberries. You had to keep adding to the list, so it involved a lot of memory work. The one guy in the class, Nick, decided he'd be creative. "My name is Nick and I like strawberries. And Julie likes strawberries. And Krystal likes strawberries. And Andrea likes strawberries..." HAHAHA. When we did our critiques of the lesson, everyone talked about how to deal with people like Nick.

We had an open-book final exam for this class. I don't think it was too hard, but I don't think I could have survived as well in that class if I hadn't had Dr. A. for Emergent Lit and Integrated Language Arts. Half of the class had a lot to do with Emergent Literacy issues which have been hammered into my head by Dr. A. I knew a lot of the methods and stuff really well because of that class. It helped because there was not a lot of completely new information I had to learn. Hopefully I'll do well in these classes. It's looking pretty promising from the grades I've gotten back so far.

Now for culinary college stories:
I made my first ice cream cake! It worked fine and tasted great. Yay! Aldi is a wonderful store. ;) I got some Oreo-like cookies and crushed them up with peanut butter. This made them stick together to form the base of the cake since I couldn't bake. Then I softened/melted Moose Tracks ice cream and poured it over the cookies. I topped it with a few M&M's and melted chocolate chips and butterscotch chips together to create icing. (I put it in a Ziploc bag and cut the corner off so I could form letters.) It was Walter's birthday on Wednesday, so the dinner people threw him a surprise pizza party on Monday night.

Another use for rice cookers: Jam! Walter picked raspberries in the woods last week and then went out and got canning jars and SureJel to make raspberry jam. We used a hotpot and a rice cooker to cook the berries and used the other rice cooker and a 20 cup coffee maker which kind

of looks like the picture, only it's plastic, to heat the jars and lids. Walter messed up the sequence for making the jam (he put the berries, sugar, and SureJel all together at once) but it turned out pretty well. The jam didn't firm up as much as hoped, but it tasted good. We ended up with about 8 jars. In order to seal them, we put them back into rice cookers and the coffee maker for 10 minutes. They all sealed fine! Yay for inventive college cooking!

Another thing to do with raspberries: make raspberry pie!

Cook together for 3-5 minutes 1cup of berries and ¾ cup water
Mix together 3 Tbsp cornstarch and ¾ cup sugar.
Then gradually add to boiling fruit stirring constantly till thick and
clear.
Cool then add tsp lemon juice and 1qt of fresh berries put into a prepared
pie shell and top with whipped cream

We didn't do the whipped cream part, but we did the rest. I got a graham cracker pie shell (at Aldi of course!) and it worked well.

We had a hailstorm on Wednesday. I think it killed one of the geese. Geese can provide a lot of entertainment, by the way. ;) So about the hailstorm, during class it started POURING and we were behaving like little kids in elementary school. None of us were listening because we were so distracted by the downpour. Mrs. Underhill finally told us to get up and go to the window to satisfy our curiosity. ;) We were running around the halls, barefoot, with delighted squeals looking out the windows. HAHA.

About changes in the University:
We have a new statement of faith, a new core curriculum, and a new Community Life Covenant. The handbook is being revised again and here are some of the new changes:
1. All academically classified seniors, regardless of residential location and students who are living in Privileged Housing are without curfew. All other students will continue to have a 1:00 AM curfew.
2. All Penndel apartments are permitted to have one microwave. In the past this was reserved for only those in Privileged Housing.
3. As part of an attempt to set a unified decorum for chapel, we are asking all men to remove their hats as an expression of respect for the Lord.
4. You will no longer be required to report your church attendance on a weekly basis. Participation in the local church is an expectation that remains, yet you will only be asked to commit to a local church on your ministry covenant forms turned in each semester. Our desire is to see you active in attendance and participation in a church where you can worship, grow, fellowship and put in place the great wisdom you are gaining in classes at PBU.
5. There has been much speculation and debate about dancing in the new standards. As you look at the new version of the standards you will notice that there is no longer a distinct statement on dancing. Instead the word dancing has been inserted into the overall statement on entertainment. This does not signal a reversal of the PBU position on dance. While you are at liberty to dance off campus, the university will continue to work with student leadership to determine if any further change is warranted.
6. A Disciplinary Affairs Committee has been developed to hear serious cases of student misconduct. This hearing would be called if it is in the best interest of the student. The hearing allows select members of the PBU community including faculty and students to hear a situation and reach a confidential decision of discipline.


I am classified as a senior next year, so I guess I don't have curfew... not that it makes all that much of a difference since I'm never out past 1am anyway.

Tomorrow, Martha Lipsy becomes Mrs. Martha Klaver. Wow... such a weird thought!

Anyway, I'm done talking now. Hope you enjoyed the lengthy post. HAHA.



Friday, July 13, 2007

Dear eagerly waiting world of fans,

I have been way too busy to write! My second to last grad course is almost over! Our last day is today. So exciting! One more week left and I'm on an academic break for five whole weeks!!!!!!!! How beautiful is that?! I actually enjoyed this class a lot.

There is much I could say but I can't because class is starting soon. One thing I've been thinking about is the beauty of words and language and the complexity of all these languages, yet God understands every single one of them. Everyone varies in dialect and intonation, but every human being can praise God. I also have been thinking about the power of words and how we ought to guard what comes out of our mouths. And the biggest thing I've been thinking about is the incarnate Word, the Word that became flesh!

Anyway, class is beginning. Have to go. Do you miss me?!?!? =)

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Hmm, haven't written in a significant amount of time. I was in the middle of "crunch time" about a week ago. The last week of Prophetics was probably the worst ever. All my Lit and Arts post-course work was due on Monday and a big paper for Prophetics was due on Tuesday. Then I had the Revelation exam Thursday and a big paper for Prophetics the Monday after the course was over. That would have been fine, but I had 2 books to read plus writing that went with it for my pre-course work for Introducing Second Language Acquisition. Yeah, so that last week was awful! I wasn't able to finish my pre-course work for Introducing SLA on Saturday so I got up at 4am on Monday and finished it. Then I worked on the Daniel paper later that evening since the deadline, thankfully, was midnight! I felt so unmotivated to do anything on Tuesday because it suddenly felt like I had nothing to do with my life (even though I had plenty). I had to write a rough draft for a paper on Tuesday and then turn in the paper on Wednesday. The paper was just my "language autobiography" and all about how I learned to talk. How am I supposed to know that???

Anyway, the past few weeks have been busy and sometimes nearly sleepless, but I think the hardest parts are over. I have one full week to do precourse work for my last 2 courses. Yay! So I'll be at school all next week, working some and doing lots of reading.

I completely wiped my computer yesterday and it seems to be running better now.

Friday-Saturday was a sleepover at Julie's. It was her 16th birthday. I got her a card that said "Wrinkle, wrinkle little star, Can't believe how old you are!" At least *I* thought it was funny. Hahahaha. We watched "One Night with the King" after Pastor Carlson talked about the REAL story of Esther and the issues the movie has. I had already seen it because Dean Hernandez had a movie night with "The Well" (ladies' Bible study on campus). I didn't like it much the first time I had seen it and all Pastor Carlson said was exactly what I was thinking.

Anyway, so much has happened in the past few weeks that I don't really have anything to say! Sooo... here are pics! Enjoy!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Wow...

Last time I posted was June 9th??? Ok, I really don't have time to write anything because we have a "mini exam" every day and I still have to review for it. So... I'll give you something really long and boring! MY NOTES! HAHAHA

Characteristics of Language

Languages are systematic:

  • Recurrent elements
  • Patterns of relationships
  • Infinite # of sentences can be created
  • Created - rules and principles - we're usually unconscious of these

Languages are symbolic:

  • Connection between the symbol and the meaning is arbitrary

Languages are social:

  • Express culture
  • Adequate for communication
  • Interaction is required for L1 acquisition

Levels of Language:

  • Lexicon - vocabulary
  • Phonology - sound systems
  • Morphology - word structure
  • Syntax - grammar
  • Discourse:
    • Continuous speech, whether spoken or written, longer than the sentence, e.g. paragraphs, conversations, texts
    • Ways to connect sentences and organize info across sentence boundaries
    • Structures for telling stories, engaging in conversation
    • Scripts for interacting and for events

Contrastive Analysis (CA)

  • Lado 1950s
  • Based on Structural Linguistics and Behaviorism
  • Structural Linguists
  • Comparing L1 and L2 one level at a time:
    • Phonology (how are they the same, how are they different)
    • Morphology (compare word structure)
    • Syntax (compare sentence structure)
  • "Structure before meaning" -- need to understand the structure first in order to learn a language
  • Behaviorist Psychology:
    • SRR as habit formation
  • SLA includes transfer
    • Positive transfer
    • Negative --interference--habits to be replaced by new habits
  • Lado's (1957) Contrastive Analysis Hypotheses:
    • L2 structures that are similar to L1 structures will be easier to learn
    • L2 structures that are different from L1 will be harder to learn.
    • Errors are the result of interference or negative transfer from L1.
  • CA was used to predict errors and areas of difficulty
  • Behaviorism 1940s-1960s

Teaching implications

  1. Practice and drill new structures

Imitate and repeat the same structures over and over

Need to replace L1 habits with L2 habits

  1. Focus teaching on "difficult" L2 structures-- those different from L1

  • Predictions made by CA were shown to be unreliable:
    • Many predicted errors did not occur
    • Many errors could not be traced to interference or transfer from L1
    • Much predicted positive transfer didn't happen

Error Analysis (EA)

  • Replaced CA in 1970s
  • EA didn’t predict errors based on comparisons of L1 and L2
  • In EA, L2 learner errors were:
    • Analyzed
    • Classified
    • Compared to children's L1 acquisition errors

1970s Changes in SLA Focus

  • From structural descriptions of language -> underlying rules
  • From behaviorism -> mentalism
  • From external (language use, behaviorist idea) -> internal/innate (what goes on in mind, some kind of innate ability)
  • From pedagogical focus -> more theoretical SLA research

Transformational-Generative Grammar

  • Noam Chomsky
  • A relatively small number of "rules" account for the basic sentence structures of a language
  • A limited set of transformational rules allow modifications (transformations) of the sentences
  • From these finite sets of rules and "transformations" an infinite number of sentences can be "generated"

Changing views of L1 Acquisition

  • Not S-R-R but instead Inner forces interacting with the environment
  • Child not a passive recipient of "stimuli" but instead seen as an active and creative participant in language acquisition
  • Structures of child language production not just deficient versions of adult language but analyzed as grammar systems in their own right

CA -> EA -> Interlanguage Studies (page 40)

CA focused on contrasting L1 and L2 (inaccurately) predicting L2 errors

EA focused on analyzing L2 learner "errors" -- those features of L2 learner language (interlanguage) that were different form the target language

Interlanguage studies focused on the learner's interlanguage as a whole, studying the stages and changes that characterize learner language

Interlanguage (IL)

  • Selinker (1972)
  • Intermediate states of a learner's language
  • Development of a learner's IL:
    • A creative process
    • Inner forces interacting with environment
    • Influenced by L1 and by L2 input
  • IL differs from both L1 and L2
  • Interlanguage = learner language
  • Systematic -- it makes sense, there are rules
    • Rule governed
    • Learners work through similar developmental stages, though at differing rates
  • Variable
    • Learners switch between a range of correct and incorrect forms over lengthy periods of time
    • Context affects patterns of language use
  • Dynamic
    • Evolves over time
    • Changes frequently, in a state of flux
    • A succession of interim grammars
  • A reduced system
    • Form is less complex grammatical structures
    • Reduced function: serves a smaller range of communicative needs (I can't do anything with interlanguage that I can do when I reach proficiency)
  • Interlanguage and Success
    • Relative success = the level of IL development reached before learning stops
      • Beginning of IL -- when a learner first attempts to convey meaning in L2
      • End of IL-- when development "permanently" stops
      • Boundaries unclear
  • Controversial Issues Re: IL
    • Label of "fossilization"
    • Goal of target language -- "native-like" production not always an appropriate or realistic goal
    • Should "progress" be measured against native-speaker norms?

Morpheme Order Studies

  • Roger Brown (1973) -- children's L1
  • Dulay and Burt (1974) -- children's L2
  • L1 and L2 morpheme acquisition order similar
  • L2 morpheme acquisition by children from different L1s was virtually the same
  • Creative Construction
    • Dulay and Burt
    • Internally driven acquisition processes
    • Learners subconsciously create a mental grammar for interpreting and producing newly encountered L2 language
  • Bailey et al, 1974
    • Studied adult's L2 (ESL) acquisition of the same morphemes
    • Studied 73 adult ESL learners from 12 different L1s
    • Results were similar to study on children's ESL acquisition
  • L2 Morpheme Studies
    • Both child and adult ESL learners (from various L1s) acquire a number of grammatical morphemes
      • In a set order
      • In a variety of contexts:
        • Formal classroom
        • Naturalistic settings
        • A mixture of formal and naturalistic
  • Order of Acquisition of Negatives:
    • Similar stages in
      • English as L1
      • English as L2
      • German as L2
  • Natural Order
    • Important concept for SLA studies
      • Suggests innate capacity may not be limited to early childhood

1970s L2 Development Studies

  • L2 language development is:
    • Systematic
    • Largely independent of the learner's L1
    • Similar in many ways to L1 acquisition
    • Follows similar acquisition patterns across different L2s (though different patterns from those of L1 acquisition)

Krashen's Monitor Model

  • Applies innatist (Chomskian) principle to L2 acquisition
  • 5 Hypotheses (guesses)
    • Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis
      • Two ways of developing competence in L2:
        • Language acquisition:
          • The "natural" way to develop linguistic ability
          • Subconscious
          • Results in acquired linguistic competence-- a "feel" for correctness not awareness of rules
          • Implicit knowledge
        • Language learning:
          • Knowing about language
          • Formal knowledge of a language
          • Conscious
          • Explicit knowledge of rules (aware of them and able to talk about them)
    • Monitor Hypothesis
      • Conscious learning functions as a monitor, or an editor, to self-correct speech
      • Our formal "learned" knowledge serves only to check and correct what we produce by the acquired system
      • Criticism of Monitor Hypothesis
        • Impossible to test or verify
        • No way to know when a learner is consciously applying a rule or not or whether the rule is applied from the acquired system or the "learned" rules
    • Natural Order Hypothesis
      • Grammatical structures/rules are acquired in a predictable order
      • Criticism:
        • Too strong a statement
        • Doesn't take into account
          • Language transfer
          • Individual variability
        • Based almost exclusively on morpheme studies
        • A weak version of the hypothesis is supported by EA and morpheme studies
    • Input Hypothesis
      • We acquire (not learn) language by understanding input that is a little beyond our current level of (acquired) competence
      • Comprehensible input = language that is heard and understood
      • I + 1
        • I = the acquirer's current level of competence
        • Stage I + 1 = the stage immediately following I along some natural order
        • Acquirers progress (from a stage I to stage I + 1) by understanding input that includes a structure (+1) that is part of the next stage (I + 1)
      • Criticism:
        • Vague and imprecise:
          • How to determine level I and I + 1
        • Circular argument:
          • Comprehensible input -> acquisition; Acquisition verifies that input was comprehensible (and I + 1)
        • Impossible to test or verify
    • Affective Filter Hypothesis
      • Affective [emotional] factors, including motivation, self-confidence and anxiety, can positively or negatively affect second language acquisition
      • Affective filter blocks acquisition
      • Low affective filter
        • More open to input
        • Acquisition easier, quicker
        • Right attitudes aid acquisition in 2 ways
          • Confidence to interact with native speakers; acquirers seek out interaction, hence more input
          • More receptive to input received
      • Implications for classroom:
        • Supply comprehensible input (I + 1)
        • Create an atmosphere that promotes a low filter
      • Criticism
        • Vague
        • Impossible to test or verify
        • How does the affective filter work?
  • Influence of Krashen's Monitor Model on Research and Teaching
    • Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis
      • Emphasis on importance of meaningful communication in L2 in the classroom
    • Natural Order Hypothesis:
      • Has influenced teachers and curriculum writers to adapt the order of presentation of new grammar points to the "natural order" of acquisition when feasible
    • Input hypothesis:
      • Has stimluated continuing research on input and interaction
      • Has led teachers to consider whether they are presenting material that is too simple (just I, no + 1) or too overwhelming (I + 2,3,4…)
      • Has led some teachers to allow their students a "silent period" before expecting them to speak in L2
    • Affective Filter Hypothesis
      • Raised awareness of the influence -- positive and negative -- of affective factors on L2 learning
      • Influenced teachers in trying to make the atmosphere in their classrooms non-threatening and affirming

Widespread Consensus going into the 1980s

Re: What the L2 learner comes to know IL is:

  • Rule governed
  • Dynamic
  • Differs significantly from both L1 and L2
  • Final state of L2 differs from native speaker's language system

Re: How the learner acquires knowledge

  • SLA involves creative mental processes
  • Development of both L1 and L2 follow predictable sequences, suggesting that L1 and L2 acquisition processes are similar in significant ways

Re: Why some L2 learners are more successful than others

  • Relates primarily to the age of the learner

The 1980s: Chomsky's Universal Grammar

  • Continued emphasis on:
    • Linguistic competence-- speaker-hearers underlying knowledge of language
    • Poverty-of-the-stimulus argument-- knowledge is beyond what input provides
  • Humans have innate knowledge of what all languages have in common, i.e. UG
  • LAD + UG (Principles and Parameters) + Input = LA
    • Children are born:
      • With a hard-wired Language Acquisition Device (LAD) in their brains
      • With the major principles of language in place (UG)
      • But with parameters to set, based on the input they receive in their particular language
      • Language input is not sufficient to account for language acquisition (Poverty of the Stimulus)
  • Principles and Parameters
    • Universal principles:
      • The core grammar of all human languages
      • An innate faculty that specifies the limits of language
      • Invariable
    • Parameters
      • Language-specific grammar variations
      • Variable but limited
      • Limited parameters:
        • Example:
          • Head-initial or Head-final
          • English has a head-initial parameter setting
            • John kicked the ball
            • Verb "kicked" comes at the head of the verb phrase
          • Japanese has a head-final parameter setting
            • John ball kicked (lit. translation)
  • From Transformational Grammar to Principles and Parameters
    • TG-LA involves a language-specific set of rules based on input and guided by UG
    • P&P-LA involves extremely general principles of UG and options (parameters) to be selected
  • Vocabulary important -- provides data for parameter setting and interpretation of meaning
  • UG in L1 Acquisition
    • Initial state: UG and innate learning principles in the language faculty of the brain
    • What is acquired: info from input (esp. vocab) that the learner matches with UG options (parameters)
    • Final state: adult grammar/ "stable state"
    • How L1 acquisition occurs:
      • "natural," "instinctive," internal"
  • UG and SLA
    • Initial state:
      • Knowledge of L1
      • Same parameter settings -> positive transfer
      • Different parameter settings -> negative transfer
      • Access to UG?
        • 4 options:
          • Full access
          • Partial access
          • Indirect access through L1 knowledge
          • No access
    • L2 Interlanguage in UG Theory
      • Intermediate states of L2 development
      • If access to UG, then IL involves parameter resetting
  • Chomsky's Minimalist Program (1990s)
    • Core of human language: the lexicon (the word store) made up of lexical categories (content words) and functional categories
    • Language faculty consists of:
      • A computational module
        • Invariable
        • Specifying universal abstract principles of language
      • A lexicon
        • Variable across languages
        • LA involves learning the lexicon
  • Errors Analysis (EA)
  • Corder (1967) "The significance of learners' errors"
  • Positive view of learner errors

Corder's view of Errors:

  • Sources of insight into the learning process
  • Evidence of a learner's language system at any point in language development
  • Evidence of learner strategies and hypothesis testing
  • Windows into learner's minds

Error Analysis:

  • Collecting a data sample
  • Identifying errors
    • Language which deviates from target L2
    • Look for "systematic errors" -- due to lack of L2 knowledge
    • Exclude "mistakes" (p. 39)
  • Describe and classify errors
    • Language level-- phonological, morphological, syntactical, etc
    • General linguistic category -- passive, negative…
    • More specific linguistic forms-- articles, prepositions, verb forms
  • Explain errors
    • Interlingual-- negative transfer/ interference from L1
    • Intralingual -- developmental, e.g. overgeneralization
  • Evaluate errors -- how serious (if it affects the understanding)
  • Ambiguity in classification
    • Can't always distinguish transfer from developmental errors
  • Lack of positive data -- focus only on errors, not what a learner has acquired
  • Possibility of avoidance of difficult structures

Constructionism

  • Approach to SLA within Chomsky's Minimalist Program
  • IL development = progressive mastery of L2 vocabulary and related morphological features
  • Lexical acquisition provides info for parameter resetting

Evidence for at least some access to UG in SLA

  • IL doesn't violate the constraints of UG -- doesn't create grammar that is incompatible with UG principles
  • IL can't be accounted for by only L1 transfer and L2 input

Final State in SLA in UG Theory

  • Why some learners are more successful:
    • Varying degrees of access to UG
    • Different relationships between L1s and L2s-> different transfer or interference
    • Quality of L2 input
    • Learner perception of mismatches between L1 parameter settings and L2 input
    • Different degrees of lexical acquisition

Total Physical Response

  • Approach
    • Uses the senses --> stimulus-response
    • Language is a natural process and human brain has a bio-program for learning language
    • Built around coordination of speech and action
    • Alleviates stress in classroom setting
    • Grammar based view of language
    • Verb is key
  • Design
    • Begins with oral proficiency
    • Goal: teach basics that a native speaker could understand
    • Grammar is taught inductively
    • Learner = performer and listener
    • Teacher = modeler and facilitator who provides opportunity for learning
    • Allows mistakes at beginning
  • Initiator of TPR: ASHER

Silent Way

  • Approach
    • Caleb Gattegno
    • Child state of mind when learning

  • Lots of input from teacher
  • Silence aids in concentration
  • Throughout process learner learns to correct themselves
  • Inductive process of learning
  • Vocabulary is important
  • How language is said is vital
  • Teacher isn't really the model of language -- more of a guide
  • Design
    • Goal is near-native fluency
    • Much learning revolves around visual elements (color charts, rods, etc)
    • Independent learning for the most part
    • Student explores and makes generalizations
    • Lessons are built grammatically based on what is previously taught

Suggestopedia

  • Approach
    • Lozanov -- used yoga
    • Music and musical rhythm is central to learning
    • Memorize vocab pairs L1-L2
    • Learn best when info is from authoritative source
    • Child to parent = student to teacher
    • Environment is as important as instruction
    • Rhythm and intonation is part of instruction
  • Design
    • Organized plan
    • Activities: imitation, Q & A, role play
    • Absorb material in a pseudo-passive state
    • Goal: conversational proficiency
  • Problems
    • Teacher is absolute authority -- weird and scary
    • Students aren't supposed to understand things but let it roll over and through them

Community Language Approach

  • Approach
    • Charles Curran
    • Modeled after counseling techniques
    • Focused on "how" the person learns
    • Interaction is key
    • Humanistic perspective
    • SARD = Security, Attention/Agression, Retention/Reflection, Discrimination
  • Design
    • Progression is topic-based
    • Class decides what's going to be studied
    • Teacher functions like a counselor
    • Learning is a community
    • The role of the students is being community members

Whole Language

  • Approach
    • Teaches language as a whole
    • Emphasis on authenticity
    • Interactional perspective
    • Humanistic and constructivist Background
    • Language is thinking. New language = new way of thinking
    • Connects to real life experience
    • Oral language communication
    • Emphasis on using literature and process writing
    • Cooperative learning
    • Concern for student's attitude
  • Design
    • No curriculum, focus on learners' needs
    • Taught to apply outside of class
    • Teacher is facilitator
    • Learner is evaluator and completely self directed

Multiple Intelligences

  • Approach
    • Gardner (cognitive science)
    • 8 total; all of them are used collectively
    • More than just linguistics
    • Armstrong applied it
  • Design
    • Four stages:
      • Awaken the intelligence
      • Amplify the intelligence
      • Teach with/for the intelligence
      • Transfer of the intelligence
    • Based on multi-sensory activities
    • Teach the student to better their own learning experience
    • Environment should be one that encourages the development of the whole person

Neurolinguistic Programming

  • Approach
    • Grinder and Bandler -- developed this as a form of therapy, not for SLA
    • Study of the brain and communication -- more about beliefs about how the brain functions
    • "program" people to learn the language
    • Language reflects and shapes our experiences
    • Humanistic philosophy
  • Design
    • Four principles:
      • Thinking about the outcome and what you want
      • Having good communication with others
      • Using your sense to decipher between feeling vs. real
      • Being flexible so that others understand
    • Modeling is essential
    • How you think directs how you learn

Lexical Approach

  • Approach
    • Memorize patterns
    • Language built on words and words only
    • Language input is an effective approach to learning languages
    • Set word combos that are reused
    • Memorized commonly used phrases and expressions
  • Design
    • Lexical rather than grammatical
    • Instruction based on data analysis
    • A lot of technology
    • Major source of input is teacher talk
    • Learner makes generalizations after analyzing data provided
    • Teacher's role: create an environment where learners can learn effectively and manage their own learning
  • Corpus = body of lexical items

Competency-Based Language Teaching

  • Approach
    • Focus on the output of language
    • Language is seen as a medium through interaction
    • Social context
    • Based on functional and interactional
    • Teaches what one needs to know for certain situations
  • Design
    • Teaches real world content
    • Focus on the use of the language rather than knowledge of grammar
    • What is to be learned is very specific and useful
    • Standards-based

Quiz:

Who is TPR? ASHER

Silent Way? GOTTAGNA

Community-Language Learning? CURRAN

Suggestopedia? LOZANOV

Multiple-Intelligences? GARDNER

SLA chapter 3 thru p. 52

-- Key terms

-- Self-study questions

-- CA, EA, Interlanguage -- what they're about

-- Morpheme order -- L1 and L2 -- general understandings (people acquire the order in similar ways across different languages)

-- Krahen's 5 hypotheses

-- Chomsky's TG, UG, P&P

-- (Matching, multiple choice)

-- Approaches 5-13

Distinctives of each approach

Matching or multiple choice