TSLB 3023 (ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES)

REVISION 1

Section A (60 marks)

Answer all questions.

1. a The terms ‘listening’ and ‘hearing’ are often interchangeably used amongst pupils
in a classroom. State the difference between these terms.
[5 marks]

b Explain the types of listening skills students apply when attending a lecture.
Provide appropriate examples.
[10 marks]

2. a Briefly explain the differences between inferencing and predicting.

[5 marks]

b Based on the text below, describe on what parents and teachers could do to help
children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

ODD is a childhood disorder that is defined by a pattern of hostile,

disobedient, and defiant behaviors directed at adults or other authority figures.
ODD is also characterised by children displaying angry and irritable moods, as
well as argumentative and vindictive behaviors. While all children will display
some type of defiant behavior throughout their growing years, children suffering
from ODD will display such behaviors much more commonly than that of any
other type of behaviors. For these kids, it can seem like nothing can be done
to make them happy. These children will not only do things to purposely cause
conflict or to purposely annoy the people around them, but they will often place
the blame on others. The actions of these children seriously interfere with their
functioning at home and at school.
ODD symptoms include difficulty complying with adult requests, excessive
arguments with adults, temper tantrums, difficulty accepting responsibility for
actions, low frustration tolerance, and behaviors intended to annoy or upset
adults. Other actions associated with ODD are:
 Being easily aggravated and annoyed if routine is not followed;
 Irritating others intentionally;
 Exhibiting sudden, unprovoked anger;
 Blaming others for their mistakes or for their misbehavior;
 Refusing to comply with adult requests;
 Bragging about being mean and never truly being sorry;
 Lying;
 Being vengeful without provocation; and
 Provoking conflict among peers, family members and other adults.
The environment in which a person is raised can have a significant effect on
whether or not he or she may fall into the symptoms of oppositional defiant
disorder. If a child is surrounded by a somewhat chaotic home life (where
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 violence, arguments, and other forms of general discord) are prevalent, it
would not be unreasonable to assume that the child could begin acting out at
as a result. Similarly, if children are exposed to violence or have friends who
behave in destructive, reckless manners, those children too are more likely to
begin displaying behavioral symptoms that correlate with the onset of ODD.
The best advice from professionals is directed toward parents and teachers.
[10 marks]

3. a Briefly explain the process of synthesizing a text.

[5 marks]

b Based on these extracts taken from four different articles, rewrite one new
paragraph entitled, “Is technology the best solution for better education?”

Article 1
The effectiveness of learning is determined primarily by the way the medium is
used and by the quality of the instruction accompanying that use. When media
(or multimedia) are used for instruction, the choice of medium does not
influence learning.
The crucial factor for learning improvement is to make sure that you do not
replace the teacher as the instrument of instruction, allowing computers to do
what teachers would normally do, but instead use computers to supplement
and amplify what the teacher does (Pedro De Bruyckere, Kirschner & Hulshof,
2016).

Article 2
Video games may strengthen our visual-spatial intelligence by immersing us in
virtual spaces where we need to learn how to rotate objects in our minds and
navigate through various architectures and surroundings. But this gained
ability go[es] hand in hand with a weakening of our capacities for the kind of
‘deep processing’ that underpins ‘mindful knowledge acquisition, inductive
analysis, critical thinking, imagination, and reflection. The subtleties and
complexities of the real world cannot possibly be encompassed by a computer
– no matter how advanced or sophisticated technology becomes (Qubai
Elkerdi, 2013).

Article 3
Students prefer technology because they believe that it makes learning more
interesting and fun. They especially like laptops and tablets. Subjects that
students deem challenging or boring can become more interesting with virtual
lessons, through a video, or when using a tablet. Technology helps improve
students’ retention rate. 18 second grade students were challenged to
complete a Powerpoint project about an animal. 16 out of the 18 students
remembered more facts about the animal after completing the presentation.
These results showed that technology indeed helps students remember what
they learn (Cox, 2017).
Article 4
Educators who receive new technology must first learn how to use the
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 technology and then decide whether or not it supports the class objectives and
curriculum.
An interactive game is more engaging than a book, so technology often
promotes more practice and review in areas requiring memorization, such as
spelling, mathematics and geography. This frees up time in the classroom so
educators can focus on skills like problem solving, character development and
critical thinking (Cleaver, 2014).
[10 marks]

4. a List five ways a student can incorporate the work of others in order to avoid
plagiarism.
[5 marks]

b The two excerpts below illustrate one form of plagiarism. Identify the form of
plagiarism and explain why each of the student’s written text is considered
plagiarised.

Excerpt Original Text Student’s Written Text

1 Coldwell, Craig, Paterson and Mustard It is stressed by many
(2008) alleged that “Online learning authors that online learning
environments (OLEs) facilitate learning environments (OLEs)
by utilizing software that enables the facilitate learning by
design, delivery, and management of utilizing software that
online teaching and learning” (p.19). enables the design,
delivery, and management
Source:
of online teaching and
Coldwell, J., Craig, A., Paterson, T., &
learning.
Mustard, J. (2008). Online students:
Relationship between participation,
demographics and academic
performance. The Electronic Journal of
e-Learning, 6(1), 19-30
2 Linn and Miller (2005) said, “In the final In the final analysis, letter
analysis, letter grades should reflect grades should reflect the
the extent to which students have extent to which students
achieved the learning outcomes have achieved the learning
specified in the course objectives, and outcomes specified in the
these should be weighed according to course objectives, and
their relative importance” (p. 377). these should be weighed
according to their relative
Source:
importance (Linn & Miller,
Linn, R., & Miller, M. (2005).
2005).
Measurement and assessment in
teaching. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Prentice Hall.
[10 marks]
Section B (20 marks)

Answer one question.

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 In a group discussion, there are some strategies that you have to use in order to
keep the discussion going.

1. To what extent do you agree that all members in a group discussion should adhere to
some strategies to keep the discussion going? Support your answers with relevant
examples.
[20 marks]

2. With reference to the following excerpt on digital storytelling, evaluate the extent to
which the text adheres to the nature and purpose of an academic paper. Justify your
discussion with appropriate evidence taken from the text.

1. Introduction
Digital storytelling combines various types of multimedia – images, music,
narration, text and video clips – to make a story that is appealing and interesting to a
digital reader (EDUCAUSE, 2007). It is gaining popularity in teaching and learning
(Afrilyasanti & Basthomi 2011) and is an invaluable educational tool in relation to
language learning because it can be used in a variety of ways (Thomas & Page,
2011). Do you know that digital storytelling is powerful to change the way we engage
in our communities? Digital storytelling has the potential to influence student
audience and help them ‘make better meaning’ from the content they are exposed to.
This paper will discuss the potential and limitations of digital storytelling along with
some fundamental technical information.

2. Role of Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling is an attractive educational aid because it ‘captivates and
engages’ (Stanley & Dillingham, 2011, p. 24) learners. It brings together language,
literacy and technology and this makes it an appealing activity for students who are
likely to already be surrounded by various types of digital media (Alexander, 2011).
Digital stories are often the personal story of the writer but may also be fiction, and
may be based on a single topic or spread across many. However, there are
limitations to digital storytelling. Lenotti (n.d.), an English as a Second Language
(ESL) teacher and an avid supporter of digital storytelling, argued that it can be
exhausting to supervise and guide the development of a whole class of individual
students’ digital storytelling projects. She found that despite carefully checking the
drafts of her students’ stories, many of her students ‘got lost along the way’ (p. 11).
This led her to conclude that although digital storytelling provides meaningful,
relevant and authentic learning experiences for students, but it requires also a
systematic way of utililzing the technology to improve student learning. Also, there is
a danger that students will be distracted by the technological side of digital storytelling
and place less emphasis on the actual creation of the story. Ohler (2008)
acknowledged that ‘no technology or special effects can replace a well-developed
story with literary elements and personal voice’ (p. 6). Despite its limitations,
however, digital storytelling has powerful potential to influence, captivate and engage
learners of many disciplines.

3. Technology Use
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 Digital storytelling is aided by the multitude of available technologies and
software packages that enhance, develop and produce it. Consequently, the way
digital stories are created may vary according to this constantly changing digital
technology (Alexander, 2011) and the wide variety of supporting software. Windows
Movie Maker is already installed on a large number of computers and, if not, it can be
downloaded for free. Photos and videos can be imported and edited, and narration
and music can be added. Microsoft Photo Story can also be downloaded for free.
Photos can be dragged onto a window and then arranged to tell the visual story. The
software also allows the user to add narration and music (Softonic, 2013). Digitial
stories can also be created using Mixbox, Tikatak, Scrapblog, Microsoft Office
PowerPoint, Prezi or similar software. In addition, images can be downloaded from
sites such as Google Images or Flickr and there are a number of free music sites
where music can be downloaded. In summary, it is clear that the array of new
technologies and software products can be utilised to produce digital stories which
are highly effective and engaging.

4. Conclusion
To summarise, it can be seen that technological aspect of digital storytelling
makes it appealing to students and encourages engagement and creativity. It is a
valuable tool in a language-learning classroom and can bring the subject matter to
life, as well as aid students’ comprehension.

[20 marks]