5904LHSWeek 11 – Nina Ginsberg

Yugarabul, Yuggera, Jagera and Turrbal peoples

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5904LHS Resources

This week

• Vocab review

• Analysing Assessment Tasks

• Academic English Vocabulary

What questions do you have about the lecture?

Activity 1:

Vocab Review

Vocab Review Why is questioning texts a useful skill for students?

How can knowing about academic discourse features help students?

• Need to practice handwriting paragraphs• Focus on developing sentence structure, grammar and vocab.• The course convener thinks you might have forgotten how to

write essays!• Use timed writing practice to see how much you can write• Be sure to answer the question and give details and examples• Do not use computer, phone or dictionary – just like in an exam• Good luck!

Need to practice HANDWRITING

Activity 2:

Analysing assessment tasks

Content words• These tell you what the assignment should be about and can also be

used as search terms to locate relevant information. These are words about usually about the topic. Topic words = key words.

Task words• Task words – are verbs

• They tell you what to do and how you should respond to the task set. Discuss the meanings of these task words. What is the difference between:• Analyse

• Argue• Compare• Contrast• Comment• Critically (analyse/discuss)• Critique• Define• Describe• Discuss

• Evaluate• Explain• Illustrate• Interpret• Justify• Outline• Relate• Review• State• Summarise

Limiting wordsLimiting words define the scope of an assignment, i.e. what the focus of the assignment should be and to what depth and breadth the topic should be examined. Some limiting words may be related to:

• geography (in sub-tropical regions)

• an area of study (based on information from the lectures)

• demographics (among indigenous populations)

• time (in the last two decade)

20 mins – by yourself or with a friend.

Here are some examples of current assessment tasks from Griffith Arts and Social Sciences undergraduate courses.

• Look at Example 1. What do students have to do to pass this assessment item?

• In Example 1, what information is provided? Are there task, topic and limiting words?

• Look at Example 2. What do students have to do to pass this assessment item?

• In Example 2, what information is provided? Are there task, topic and limiting words?

• Skim the examples. Identify the different assessment task types.

• Choose one example and identify any task word/s, topic word/s or limiting word/s.

• What information do Griffith assessment tasks always contain?

L@G Authentic Assessment Task Analysis

AnswersQ1: Look at Example 1. What do students have to do to pass this assessment item?

They have to write a research-based report comparing the professional communication practices of an English-speaking nation and a non-English speaking nation.

Q 2. In Example 1, what information is provided?

Related learning outcomes, due date; weighting; task description, length requirements, submission guidelines, and limited assessment criteria. There is a suggestion of an oral report that the students should note.

AnswersAre there task, topic and limiting words?

• Task: compare

• Topic: professional communication practices

• Limiting: geography (comparing two nations), and specific topic: (i) verbal and/or non-verbal communication (ii) assertiveness (iii) negotiation (iv) conflict management or (v) communicating in meetings.

Q3: Look at Example 2. What do students have to do to pass this assessment item?

• Connect personal schooling experience to the themes/issues explored in the course.

• Reflect upon and consider the consequences of that experience in relation to your teaching practice.

• Discuss an academic reference relevant to your subsequent teaching philosophy.

• “Presentation style, literacy, accurate grammar”

• Reference properly

AnswersQ 4: In Example 2, what information is provided?

Related learning outcomes, due date; weighting; task description, length requirements, submission guidelines, and limited assessment criteria.

Are there task, topic and limiting words?

• Task: Connect, reflect, discuss

• Topic: personal reflection of school experience success

• Limiting: your experience (events, relationship and experience), what enabled or constrained, one educational philosopher, academic literature and something that inspires your professionalism

AnswersQ 5: Skim all of the examples. Identify the different assessment task types.

The examples are a variety of tasks – like written assignments and reports.

N.B. items sometimes have different names like ‘problem-solving assignment’ when a short answer response is required or ‘written assignment’ when it is an essay.

Be sure to look in several places to find the exact task type. If unclear, as your tutor.

AnswersQ 6: Choose one example and identify any task word/s, topic word/s or limiting word/s.

Check your answers with a friend.

AnswersQ 7: What information do Griffith assessment tasks always contain?

Tasks always contain:

• the type of assessment,

• learning outcomes assessed

• due date

• Weight

• task description

• something related to criteria/marking

NOTE: there is huge variation in how academics describe tasks in detail and how they indicate task/topic/limiting word format etc.

Criteria and marking is generally vague on this page and you generally need to see the criteria elsewhere on L@G when posted. Always check L@G for more info!

Be brave – always ask your tutor if you cannot find info or you not sure – before the due date.

Activity 3:

Academic English Vocabulary

EnglishHELP

Watch this EnglishHELP video:

https://www.griffith.edu.au/international/englishhelp/help-yourself-resourcesGriffith>EnglishHELP>Help Yourself Resources> Vocabulary / Academic vocabulary

L@G Academic English Vocabulary

How are some ways that you know a word?

• To understand the word when written or spoken

• To recall it when you need it

• To use it with the correct meaning

• To use it in a grammatically correct way

• To pronounce it correctly

• To know its collocations

• To spell it correctly

• To use it in the right situation

• To know if it has a positive or negative meaning

• To use the same word in different word forms

Which are the correct meaning for the word ‘trunk’?

They ALL are!

Other polysemic

words?

Which word fits best?

• I am _______________ that you were able to come.

• We enjoyed a/an ______________ afternoon on the beach.

• The teenagers were absolutely ____________________ that their favourite singer was coming to Brisbane.

• After so many years of travel, I am __________________ to just spend time at home.

More than one word can fit into most of these sentences, but some words will not fit at all.

For example ‘I am merry that you were able to come’. So, be careful of word choice!

Connotation

What do you think?

Answers

Prefixes and Suffixes Answers

Prefix

Suffix

If the opposite of active is inactive, what is the opposite of activate?

deactviate

What are the prefixes and suffixes in these words: incompatibility

in – compat-abil-ityanti-defamation

anti-de-fama-tiontransnational

trans-nation- al

Collocations

Collocations

Academic Word List

In your handout:

Find the AWL sublists here: http://goo.gl/9lz89l

Suggestions on how to use it: http://goo.gl/AcqC9d

What is the AWL?

• It is awesome!

• Helps with comprehension and builds vocabulary

• Averil Coxhead developed and evaluated The Academic Word List (AWL) for her MA thesis.

• The top 570 of the most common academic words (in their word families)

• Is divided into 10 lists each containing 60 words, except Sublist 10 (30 words).

• Sublist 1 is the the most common words, leading down to least (most common) Sublist 10

• The word in italics is the most frequently occurring member of the word family.

Dr Avril CoxheadVictoria Uni. (NZ)

The AWL

1. Go to the below web page2. Click on AWL Sublist Families

Link: //www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/academicwordlist

3. Click on PDF AWL Sublists Families

SAVE TIME: A full PDF copy is uploaded to Bicycles

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AWL

Some ideas on how to use the AWL.

What aspect of the AWL is useful for you?

Other strategies to activate these words?

Other ideas…

Learning new words

Have a great week!