Class blog for Sheffner's Research in English, Writing Strategies and Studies in English at DWC

Studies in English 1, week 5: May 18th, 2012

Today, we

1. finished reading chapter 2 about “What is Language?”
2. translated the definition of language from the textbook: “Language is a patterned system of arbitrary sound symbols, whose characteristic features of displacement, cultural transmission, productivity and duality are rare or absent in animal communication.”
3. Copied the Ayn Rand quote and its Japanese translation:

Homework:

1. Find out about
1. Edward Sapir
2. Aristotle
3. Plato
4. Dionysus Thrax
5. Alexandria
6. the Tower of Babel story
7. William Jones
2. leave a comment here on this blog: how much do you understand of the textbook and the teacher’s talk? And what is your overall impression of this class? In either English or Japanese. By next Thursday. Thank you.

 

Writing Strategies 1, week 5: May 18th, 2012

Today, we

1. talked about temptation

Studies in English 1, week 4: May 11th, 2012

Today, we

1. read chapter 2, “What is Language?” of “General Linguistics”, and summarised the following sections:
1. Variety of message, Organization of sounds and Human Language versus Animal Communication.
2. We answered the following questions:
1. What does “productivity” mean?
1. A:  “Most animals have a very limited number of messages that they can give or receive. A human can produce an incalculable number of new combinations from the elements of his language. Language can cope with entirely new situations by adding new items. Only human language is capable of dealing with unforeseen and novel situations.”
2. What does “duality” mean?
1. A: “Most animals can use each basic sound only once.  The number of messages an animal can send is restricted to the number of basic sounds. Each human language has a stock of sound units or phonemes which are similar in number to the basic sounds possessed by animals, between thirty and forty. These phonemes are in themselves meaningless, but they are combined into larger meaningful units or morphemes. The number of possible morphemes is enormous- an educated man might use up to 100 000, according to one calculation. This organisation of sounds into two layers, one of phonemes and one of morphemes, is known as duality or double articulation. Duality means that language is a much more powerful tool than animal communication systems, since the mathematical possibilities of combinations of morphemes are incalculable.”

Homework:

1. Find a famous book by these two famous linguists and their Japanese translation, and write their details down using the MLA format in the handout provided.
1. Ferdinand de Saussure
2. Noam Chomsky
   

   Duality of Patterning, from http://www.uni-due.de/DI/REV_Linguistics.htm

 

Studies in English 1, week 3: April 27th, 2012

Today, we

1. read again chapter 1 of “General Linguistics” by Jean Aitchison and answered these questions
1. what is linguistics?
2. Why is linguistics a science?
3. What is the difference between prescriptive and descriptive?
4. Why do linguists think that speech is more important than writing?

Homework:

1. Who was Ferdinand de Saussure?
2. What is language?
3. What is the difference between form and substance in linguistics?
4. What is the difference between language and communication?

Writing Strategies 1, week 4: May 11th, 2012

Today, we

1. checked the homework – the list of words and the 3 questions about chapters 3-4
1. Why didn’t the other children believe Lucy?
1. A1: because there was no time – she was only gone  a minute
2. A2: because when they went to check the wardrobe, they could not find Narnia. It was just a wardrobe.
2. Although Lucy was unhappy that no-one believed her, she did not change her story. What does this tell you about her character?
1. That she is honest and stubborn (determined). She has a strong character.
3. Why did Edmund go into the wardrobe? What does this tell you about his character?
1. A: He wanted to tease Lucy more about Narnia (her “imaginary” country).
2. This tells you that he is spiteful.
2. Answered some more questions about chapters 3 and 4:
1. How long is Lucy in Narnia the first time?
1. She is gone for many hours.
2. How long does Susan think Lucy is gone?
1. Susan thinks Lucy is gone for just a minute.
3. How do Lucy’s siblings react when she tells them she has been in Narnia?
1. They don’t believe her. They think she is making up a story.
4. What do the Pevency children do on another day when they cannot play outside?
1. They play hide-and-seek.
5. What does Edmund see when he first enters Narnia?
1. A sledge pulled by reindeer.
6. What is the first question Edmund is asked?
1. Edmund is asked, “What are you?”
7. Why does the Queen yell at Edmund?
1. The Queen shouts at Edmund because he is not respectful enough to her, the Queen of Narnia.
8. What does the Queen think Edmund is?
1. She thinks he is a kind of dwarf.
9. What does Edmund ask for when the Queen offers him whatever he wants?
1. Edmund asks for Turkish Delight （ロクム – もと知りたいならクリックして）
10. What does the Queen ask Edmund to do?
1. She asks him to come back and bring his siblings (his brothers and sisters) with him.

Homework:

1. Read chapters 5 and 6 in Japanese first (if necessary) and in English. Also watch the movie, if you have not watched it yet.
2. Make a timeline or plot-line for chapters 1-6.
3. Make a list of the characters that have appeared in the story so far. Beside each character’s name, write a short description and say whether the characters is
1. a protagonist 主人公、主役,
2. a main character 主要人物
3. or minor character サブキャラクター

Writing Strategies 1, week 3: April 27th, 2012

Today’s summary is thanks to Ms. Koyama.

In today’s class, we

1. checked the homework: the list of animals and their character traits;
2. answered 4 questions about chapter 1 and 2.

Homework

• Read chapters 3 and 4 (read in English and if necessary in Japanese, too).
• Write the page number,  meaning (in Japanese) and the  meaning (in English) for these words in chapters 3 and 4

1.  inquisitive
2. jollification
3. lulling
4. cloven hoofs
5. hoax
6. Pax
7. gilded
8. sledge
9. courtiers
10. pretty poor sport

Questions on chapters 3-4

A  Why didn’t the others believe Lucy?

B  Although Lucy was unhappy that no-one believed how she did not change her story.  What does this tell you about her character?

C  Why did Edmund go into the wardrobe? What does this tell you abour his character?

Research in English 1, week 2: April 20th, 2012

Today’s class:

1. We read and translated the first 2 pages of the textbook.

Homework:

1. Send me an email
2. Read and prepare （予習）the next 2 pages of the textbook, and find out about the following names:
1. Randolph Quirk
2. Roget’s Thesaurus
3. The Observer
4. Institut Pasteur

Studies in English 1, week 2: April 20th, 2012

Homework:

Summarise what we read today – the beginning of chapter 2 of “Linguistics” by Jean Aitchison – in 5-8 English sentences.

 

Writing Strategies 1, week 2: April 20th, 2012

Today’s homework:

1. Finish reading chapter 1: read in Japanese translation (if you need to); read the English and look up the words you don’t know.
2. On page 3 of The LWW, each of the four children in the story is introduced.
1. Each one guesses what kind of animal or bird might be living in the mountains.
2. The guess each child makes gives the reader clues about each character’s personality.
3. For example: Lucy hears a noise. Peter, who is the oldest, suggests that the noise is an owl. In literature, an owl often represents wisdom. From this choice, the reader can infer that Peter is wise.
4. Read the following excerpt and then complete the CHARACTER TRAIT CHART. Each child’s name is followed by the animal or animals that he or she suggests. Use the characteristics of each animal to identify the personality traits of each child.
5. “What’s that noise?” said Lucy suddenly. It was a far larger house than she had ever been in before and the thought of all those long passages and rows of doors leading into empty rooms was beginning to make her feel a little creepy.
   “It’s only a bird, silly,” said Edmund.
   “It’s an owl,” said Peter. “This is going to be a wonderful place for birds. I shall go to bed now. I say, let’s go and explore tomorrow. You might find anything in a place like this. Did you see those mountains as we came along? And the woods? There might be eagles. There might be stags. There’ll be hawks.”
   “Badgers!” said Lucy.
   “Foxes!” said Edmund.
   “Rabbits!” said Susan. (Pg. 3)

Today’s class:

1. C.S. Lewis’ life. Read more (in Japanese) on Wikipedia here.
2. We started reading chapter 1 (up to page 3)
   

   European badger - an animal not seen in Japan but very familiar to British people

   .

 

Welcome to Sheffner’s 2012 Writing Strategies I

Why read “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (LWW)?

1. It is a very famous children’s story in the English-speaking world.
2. You can learn about British culture and history (a little) by reading it
3. You can learn about Christianity
4. Christianity is an important part of Western culture
5. It is a children’s story, so it is relatively easy to read
6. It is a story, so it is more interesting than a textbook.

In this class, we will

• read C.S. Lewis’ LWW story
• learn something about C.S. Lewis himself
• learn about academic writing formats
• make 1 or 2 presentations
• write a final paper in English

In pairs:

1. Have you read an English book in English from beginning to end? What book(s)?
2. What non-Japanese stories have you read (in Japanese)
3. What are your favourite books (in Japanese)?
4. What animals have you seen in the wild in Japan (not in a zoo)?
5. What group games did you play as a child?

Homework

1. Send me an email
2. Leave a comment. Comment is your answers to today’s 5 questions
3. Finish illustrating the list of mythical creatures
• centaur, naiad, minotaur, faun, dryad, satyr, jinn
4. find the meaning and the page number for the list of words  from chapter 1:
1. row
2. stag
3. wireless
4. wardrobe
5. blue-bottle
6. moth-balls
7. inquisitive
8. muffler
9. parcels

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