Final Exam Review

The final exam will be on 12/16. It will be structured similarly to the midterm and will cover vocabulary, reading comprehension, reading skills, and language for writing (grammar). Please review the following pages:

Vocabulary:
Unit 8, Lesson A (p. 166)
Unit 8, Lesson B (p. 174)
Unit 9, Lesson A (p. 190)
Unit 9, Lesson B (p. 198)
Unit 10, Lesson A (p. 214)
Unit 10, Lesson B (p. 222)

Reading Comprehension:
Unit 8, Lesson A - "The Healer of Cordoba" (pp. 167-171)
Unit 8, Lesson B - "Pioneers of Medicine" (pp. 175-180)
Unit 9, Lesson A - "The Future of English" (pp. 191-195)
Unit 9, Lesson B - "Vanishing Voices" (pp. 199-204)
Unit 10, Lesson A - "The Fear Reaction" (pp. 215-219)
Unit 10, Lesson B - "Breath of Life" (pp. 223-227)

Reading Skills:
Unit 1 - Identifying main and supporting ideas (p. 9)
Unit 2 - Identifying a sequence of events (p. 31)
Unit 3 - Identifying reasons (p. 56)
Unit 4 - Organizing your notes (p. 77)
Unit 5 - Analyzing causes and effects (p. 101)
Unit 6 - Understanding referencing and cohesion (p. 123)
Unit 7 - Interpreting visual information (p. 148)
Unit 8 - Finding subjects in complex sentences (p. 172)
Unit 9 - Understanding degrees of certainty (p. 196)
Unit 10 - Identifying adverbial phrases (p. 220)

Language for Writing:
Unit 1 - Making comparisons (pp. 17-18 and p. 22)
Unit 2 - Review of modals of obligation and possibility (pp. 41-42 and p. 46)
Unit 3 - Using the simple past and used to (p. 64 and p. 68)
Unit 4 - Using parallel structure (pp. 87-88 and p. 92)
Unit 5 - Using If..., (then)... (p. 109 and p. 114)
Unit 6 - Adding information with appositive phrases (pp. 132-133 and p. 138)
Unit 7 - Using adjective clauses to add information (p. 157 and p. 162)
Unit 8 - Referring to sources using quotes and paraphrases (p. 182 and p. 186)
Unit 9 - Using words and expressions for presenting counterarguments (p. 206 and p. 210)
Unit 10 - Using past form for narration (p. 228 and p. 234)


Please let me know if you have any questions!

Formal Essay #2

For the second formal essay, you will be writing about a debatable topic. You should write a persuasive/argumentative essay convincing your readers to agree with your opinion on the topic. Essays should be properly formatted using Microsoft Word. Essays should be emailed to me before class on 12/9. In the email, please include your essay as an attachment to the Microsoft Word file. In the email subject line, please write: IERW03 - Your Name - Essay #2.

Select one of the following topics. If you have other ideas for topics, please let me know.

1. Cyber bullying is an issue impacting elementary and secondary students in many countries around the world, including South Korea. What is the best way to prevent cyber bullying? Who should be responsible? The government? Schools? Parents? Write a persuasive essay convincing readers to follow your plan to address cyber bullying.
2. Many people volunteer their time to help others, either through non-profit organizations, churches, or other charitable venues. Think of an example of volunteer work you are familiar with and write a persuasive essay convincing readers to volunteer their time working with this organization.
3. More universities are offering online courses, and it is even possible to earn a full degree without ever visiting the campus. Do you think students should be able to take all their classes online? Write a persuasive essay convincing readers why they should or should not take online classes.
4. Proponents of all-girls schools believe that girls learn better when they aren't competing with or intimidated by boys, who statistically get more attention in the classroom. Do you think single-sex schools are a good idea? Why or why not? Write a persuasive essay convincing readers why they should or should not attend an all-girls school.
5. All Korean men must serve in the military for about two years. What do you think of this policy? Should military service be compulsory? Write a persuasive essay convincing readers why all men should or should not be required to serve in the military in South Korea.
6. According to some health organizations, many foods on our grocery store shelves are made with genetically modified ingredients. Many of these foods, however, do not have a GMO (genetically modified organism) label. Do you think there should be a law requiring manufacturers to label foods containing GMOs? Write a persuasive essay convincing readers whether or not foods with GMOs should be labeled.
7. Views on marriage are changing and many young people are getting married later, or not at all. Do you think marriage is important? Write a persuasive essay explaining the reasons people should or should not get married.
8. There is currently a global refugee crisis millions of Syrians are forced to leave their homes due to the war. Some countries are welcoming these asylum seekers, but more countries need to help. Write a persuasive essay explaining why the Korean government should or should not welcome more Syrian refugees into the country.
9. As the world become more connected, some people argue that there should be one world language that everyone speaks. Do you agree? Write a persuasive essay explaining why there should or should not be a common world language.
10. Other ideas? If there is another debatable topic you would like to write about, please let me know.

As always, let me know if you have any questions.

E-journal post #4 - Unit 8 (Innovations)

For this e-journal post, you may choose to write about a new medical innovation or a new technological innovation. Do some basic research online and introduce a new and exciting advancement. This can be a new medical procedure, a new type of technology, or a new invention. Explain the new innovation and why it is exciting, important, or significant. You may also choose to focus on an innovator (the person who has developed the new technology). Please refer to the example on p. 184.

Write a draft, meet with your partner (as part of our online class), and upload the final version to your e-journal before class on 11/25. 

Also remember to submit some type of evidence that you met with your partner. This could include photos of the comments you wrote, audio recordings of the discussions you had, screenshots of the Kakao chats you had, CCing me into the emails you wrote, or attaching the Word documents with comments and sending them to me. You will not be graded on this. It will just be a check for attendance and participation.

Online class

Um. Alright. OK. I've never done an online class like this before, so I apologize about the quality. I'm also not used to seeing myself or hearing myself like this, so I have to say that it is a little embarrassing. Is this what class is usually like with me?! Oh my gosh!

I'd definitely recommend clicking on the CC button on YouTube. Google actually did a really good job with the voice recognition, so there are subtitles available.

As you are watching, these notes may help. On p. 181, the focus is on evaluating websites, which means deciding if they are useful for your essay or not. In addition to the recommendations in the book, I recommended the 3 Rs: Recent, Relevant, and Reliable.

I also realized that I did not say much about Wikipedia in the video lecture. Wikipedia can be a useful resource, but it is not always reliable because anyone can edit it. Checking the footnotes at the bottom of the Wikipedia article page and following the links to other articles can often direct you to more trustworthy web resources.

On p. 182, we talked about quotations and paraphrases. If you get information from a website, you MUST explain where it is from. You can borrow their exact words or explain what they said in your own way. Whether you quote or paraphrase, you must always explain WHERE the information came from (website, newspaper, author, etc.). If the exact word appear in your essay and on a website, and you did not explain where these words came from, then it is plagiarism, and you will get a 0 on that assignment.

I also want you to notice these slight differences:

'This is wrong' said Kyle. According to Kyle 'this is wrong'.

"This is right," said Kyle. According to Kyle, "this is right."

'Wrong', and "Right." (Quote marks need two little lines and the punctuation should be inside the quotes.

It is confusing, and this is something we will talk a lot more about in the Advanced Writing and Presentation class.

I really hope this online class went OK, and please ask questions in the comments section or send them to me by email.

E-journal post #3 - Unit 7 (Ensuring a sustainable future)

For this blog post, you will write a five-paragraph persuasive essay about what people should do to ensure a sustainable future. Revise the draft that you started in class before the midterm, and upload it to your e-journal before midnight on Tuesday 11/15. You can use some of the ideas from the Unit 7 reading passages, or you can suggest different actions. Also see the example essay on p. 160. Your essay can be organized in two different ways: 1) Choose a couple of different actions people can take to ensure a sustainable future. Each body paragraph will explain a different action. 2) Choose one specific action people can take to ensure a sustainable future. Each body paragraph will explain a different reason for why this action is important.

Please try to be creative and think deeply about the issue. Try to make recommendations that go beyond things we already do (recycling, using public transportation, etc.). To protect our planet for future generations, we will need to begin making some major changes to our lifestyles that might not always be easy or comfortable.

Midterm Exam Review

The midterm exam will be on 11/4. There will be four main sections: 1) vocabulary, 2) reading comprehension, 3) reading skills, and 4) language for writing. Please review the following pages:

Vocabulary:
Unit 5 - p. 96 and p. 103
Unit 6 - p. 118 and p. 125
Unit 7 - p. 142 and p. 150

Reading Comprehension:
Unit 5, Lesson A - "The New Face of Tourism"(pp. 97-100)
Unit 5, Lesson B - "Geotourism in Action: Three Success Stories" (pp. 104-108)
Unit 6, Lesson A - "The Poet of the Outback" (pp. 119-122)
Unit 6, Lesson B - "Retracing the Mother Road" (pp. 126-131)
Unit 7, Lesson A - "Straining Our Resources" (pp. 143-147)
Unit 7, Lesson B - "Eight Steps toward a Sustainable Future" (pp. 151-156)

Reading Skills:
Unit 1 - Identifying main and supporting ideas (p. 9)
Unit 2 - Identifying a sequence of events (p. 31)
Unit 3 - Identifying reasons (p. 56)
Unit 4 - Organizing your notes (p. 77)
Unit 5 - Analyzing causes and effects (p. 101)
Unit 6 - Understanding referencing and cohesion (p. 123)
Unit 7 - Interpreting visual information (p. 148)

Language for Writing:
Unit 1 - Making comparisons (pp. 17-18 and p. 22)
Unit 2 - Review of modals of obligation and possibility (pp. 41-42 and p. 46)
Unit 3 - Using the simple past and used to (p. 64 and p. 68)
Unit 4 - Using parallel structure (pp. 87-88 and p. 92)
Unit 5 - Using If..., (then)... (p. 109 and p. 114)
Unit 6 - Adding information with appositive phrases (pp. 132-133 and p. 138)
Unit 7 - Using adjective clauses to add information (p. 157 and p. 162)

Please let me know if you have any questions. Good luck!

Formal Essay #1

Formal essays should be typed on Microsoft Word and emailed to me before class on 10/28. Please see the files in the Dropbox folder for more details about the formatting requirements. Choose ONE of the following topics:

Comparative essay

Choose two cities, or two popular travel destinations, and write about the similarities and/or differences between these places.

Choose two characters from a film or novel, and write about the similarities and/or differences between them.

Cause-effect essay

Imagine Korean universities decided to stop using the Suneung exam for university admissions. Write a cause-effect essay discussing the possible effects of this decision.

Write about the possible effects of a current issue you have read about in the news recently. For example, what are the causes (reasons for creating) and the possible effects of (changes that will result from) the Kim Young-ran Act? Or why has Donald Trump become a popular candidate for the U.S. Presidency, and what might be some of the possible effects of a Trump Presidency? You can choose any current issue, as long as you focus on the causes and possible effects.

Explanatory essay

Choose a piece of art, such as a painting, sculpture, song, film, or work of literature, and explain the meaning behind the work.

Think of some aspect of Korean culture that you think might be confusing to foreigners. Explain some of the historical, social, traditional, religious, etc. reasons for why this cultural tradition is important to Koreans.

E-journal post #2 - Unit 6 (Importance of place in a book or movie)

For this e-journal post, you will revise the essay you worked on in class today (10/7). You should write about a movie or book in which the setting/place is very important. The essay should include details and examples to explain why the place is such an important part of the movie or book, or why the story could not have occurred in any other place. You can see the example essay about Midnight in Paris on page 136 of the textbook. Use the suggestions made by your partner to improve your essay and then post the final version on your e-journal. Posts should be made before midnight on Monday 10/24.

E-journal post #1 - Unit 5 (Geotourism)

For this post, see textbook pages 109-114. You will write a short cause-effect essay focused on the possible effects of geotourism for a particular tourist destination. You can choose to focus on a destination in Korea, or any other part of the world. Think about what ways geotourism might change this destination. These changes can be positive and/or negative. Try to include some of the language for writing about cause-effect relationships (If..., (then)...). If you prefer, you can also focus on the effects of traditional tourism instead of geotourism. Think creatively, and as always, let me know if you have any questions. Please post the final version before class on 10/7. Good luck!

Units 1-4: Language Skills

Pathways 3: Reading, Writing, and Critical Thinking – Units 1-4

In order to avoid rushing through the textbook and to allow us to spend two weeks on each unit (one week for reading and one week for writing), we will be skipping Units 1-4 and beginning the class in Unit 5. However, there are some important skills covered in Units 1-4, which we will briefly discuss during Week 2. This outline provides an overview of the skills covered in the first four units.

Unit 1 – Social Relationships

Reading and Critical Thinking Skills

       Evaluating supporting arguments (p. 8)

       Identifying main and supporting ideas (p. 9)

Writing Skills

       Making comparisons (pp. 17-18 and 22)

       Reviewing paragraph writing (p. 19)

Unit 2 – Science and Detection

Reading and Critical Thinking Skills

       Distinguishing fact from speculation (p. 30)

       Identifying a sequence of events (p. 31)

Writing Skills
       Review of modals of obligation and possibly (pp. 41-42 and 46)

       Writing an opinion paragraph (p. 42)

Unit 3 – City Solutions

Reading and Critical Thinking Skills

        Evaluating sources (p. 55)

        Identifying reasons (p. 56)

Writing Skills

        Using the simple past and used to (pp. 64 and 68)

        Writing a thesis statement (p. 65)

Unit 4 – Danger Zones

Reading and Critical Thinking Skills

        Analyzing and evaluating evidence (p. 76)

        Organizing your notes (p. 77)

Writing Skills

        Using parallel structure (pp. 87-88 and 92)

        Writing an introductory paragraph (p. 88)

Dropbox link

Here is a link to a folder on Dropbox where I will upload various course materials throughout the semester. You will be able to find audio files for the reading passages, the course syllabus, grading rubrics, and other useful materials.

Welcome to IERW!

Welcome to the class! I hope you find this blog to be useful. Please save the link and check back for additional materials and more details about assignments. I will be making posts throughout the semester. You will also find links to your classmates' e-journals, so check those and read your each other's writing, too.

For the first entry in your e-journal, you should write a short self-introduction. You will find my self-introduction below:

My full name is Kyle Andrew Brebner, but you can just call me Kyle. I grew up in Woodbridge, Virginia, which is near Washington, DC. I went to a small school called Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina where I studied History, Peace & Conflict Studies, and African American Studies. Then I got a master’s degree in International Peace Studies from the United Nations University for Peace in Costa Rica. At that time, I was hoping to work for an NGO, the UN, or some international development organization, but it didn’t work out. Instead, I came to South Korea and started teaching English. I first came here in 2007 and I only expected to stay for one year, but I’m still here! I quickly realized that I really like teaching English, so I have continued to study more about it. I graduated from Indiana University with a Master of Education degree in Literacy, Culture, and Language Education, with a specific focus on ESL/EFL Instruction. My wife, Soyoun, and I got married in 2013, and our first daughter, Ellie Minseo Brebner, was born in 2014. Our second daughter, Laina Eunseo Brebner, was just born a few days ago (August 29, 2016). Regarding my interests and hobbies, I really like traveling and learning about different cultures. I have been fortunate enough to travel around the U.S., Latin America, Europe, and Asia. There are so many more places I hope to go! I'm also really into sports, especially ice hockey, baseball, and American football. Finally, I like reading, listening to music and podcasts, and watching TV. I look forward to getting to know you all in this class!