Entries from August 2007 ↓
August 29th, 2007 — Uncategorized
I was reading Scott Sommers’ Blog about Taiwan, when I noticed he referred to this discussion about Teaching in Japan.
When I first came to Asia, intending to teach ESL as my choice of profession, I too considered going there, but I had the impression at the time (1992-3) that the bubble had burst somewhat for new entrants. Yet, people are still saying that!
I don’t know if there are really a lot of people heading to Japan to teach or not nowadays, but certainly salaries for newbies aren’t really very attractive any more, and you have to pay a lot of money for key deposits, and so on… (But that was always true.)
Scott also mentioned that tenure practices at Universities have also changed as a result of the influx of foreigners teaching. If you want to teach Uni, there, you more than likely will only be offered a max. three year contract.
Given the expenses, the relative salaries, and the trouble getting a real job, is Japan still a viable teaching alternative? Opinions?
Kenneth
August 29th, 2007 — Uncategorized
New Tool for Learners of English
Friday, July 1st, 2005
I found a great tool for learners of English - Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.
This offers a number of advantages for you if you are learning English.
1. 4000 and growing articles
2. quick and easy to grasp information
3. lots of chances to find information that is of interest.
Do check this resource out! In fact, if combined with a basic grammar and vocabulary, you should find it just easy to improve your reading.
While you won’t learn much if you don’t make much effort, you can find even the slightest effort can bring great rewards.
Teacher Kenneth
August 29th, 2007 — Uncategorized
Plagiarism
Taipei Times Reports
Plagiarism issue plagues China’s top universities
AFP , BEIJING
Thursday, Mar 16, 2006,Page 1
Advertising Advertising
Plagiarism is rampant at Chinese universities as academics are pushed to publish or perish, with their schools often covering up for them, state media said yesterday.
A recent survey of 160 doctorate holders found 60 percent had copied the work of others and the same percentage had paid in order to be published in academic journals, the China Daily reported.
Naturally, this is a matter of concern for us all because it drags down the professions in TESOL in so many ways. Our colleagues are coming under the hammer for this, even though they may have done nothing wrong. How does one fight against plagiarism?
As a journal publisher, this is a matter of real concern since publishing an article subsequently accused of plagiarism is a real knock to the journal’s reputation.
How can we combat plagiarism? I guess the best way may be by education. We need to find out what constitutes plagiarism, how to spot it in writing (even if it’s our own writing), and how to solve it by rewriting, editing, or whatever.
Comments, please!
Kenneth
August 29th, 2007 — Uncategorized
The owners of this website operate a number of other lists that
you might be interested in joining. They are listed below.
1. Pleiades Journal
This group discuss Young Learners of English (ESL or EFL or Second
Language) and is affiliated with Pleiades: the Journal of Teaching for
Young Learners of English. We welcome all teachers specializing in
this field.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PleiadesJournal/
2. Forums_TESOLTeachers and http://www.tesolteachers.org/forums/
This discussion group is for Teachers of English as a Foreign
Language, Literature and Arts. This group’s mission will be primarily
to provoke thoughtful discussion of teaching EFL/ESL and other
education-related issues; to make announcements of interest to the
group, such as calls for papers, conferences, new materials, links,
books of interest, etc,; and to provide a forum for our website
visitors to interact with us and each other on issues of relevance to
the profession.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Forums_TESOLTeachers/
and
TESOLTeachers at http://www.tesolteachers.org/
3. Kuixing
This is a Discussion Group for anybody interested in World
Literatures, especially Asian, Asian Diasporic and Indigenous
literatures written in or translated into English. As a Discussion
Group member you will:
1.) Receive regular news reports and special announcements.
2.) Discuss important issues, both personal and professional.
3.) Engage others in healthy debates about topics of your choosing.
4.) Share relevant experiences related to teaching, reading or
writing.
5.) Seekadvice from other members.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KuiXing/
Best Wishes
Administrators
August 5th, 2007 — Materials
Interesting thread on Self-Publishing on Forumosa.
I’m interested in self-publishing. I started my own Journal as I thought there was a gap in the market. See the signature for more information. I’m looking at distribution both in Taiwan and worldwide. I’d be interested in finding out why you write: “I’ve since licenced my books to Bookman in Taiwan, but am having some serious regrets now. “I’m still exploring options. I’m interested in publishing some of my own materials, too. I don’t know exactly much about that.
I do know that some of my worksheets would be of use to others. I doubt that I would want to publish them as a book though. I\’m looking at downloadables right now.
Follow up on the forums.
Kenneth