Second Language Writing

2011-05-25T12:35:00.001-05:00

Macs are the best in every category according to Consumer Reports. See http://ping.fm/ffQ2u

2011-05-24T09:14:00.001-05:00

Wow! I thought I was lost, but no, the rapture date has been reset to October 21. http://ping.fm/jxQ54

2011-05-22T11:06:00.001-05:00

What happened? I didn't get raptured yesterday.

2011-03-31T18:10:00.001-05:00

On the Google templates, just add a /view after the address to see the sidebar template. For others, look for the button in the top right.

2011-03-31T17:40:00.001-05:00

Google (Blogger) is bringing out some neat templates. http://ping.fm/In4xa

2011-03-13T14:22:00.001-05:00

" An Evening with Friends of Second Language Writing" TESOL SLWIS http://ping.fm/sb5fV

2011-03-13T14:20:00.001-05:00

Check out TESOL SLWIS sessions and SLWIS Evening Out. http://ping.fm/4OBpr

2011-02-21T14:47:00.001-05:00

Mashable has 9 fascinating examples of unique online resumes. http://ping.fm/8SHAI

2011-02-11T20:12:00.001-05:00

Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing describes the skills & habits critical for college success. http://ping.fm/AbjCq

2011-02-09T10:58:00.001-05:00

@Downes Unlike business, academia blows the horn of diversity. Shouldn't the standards and expectations differ? http://bit.ly/icc5V6

2010-12-27T10:22:00.001-05:00

Snow 2 feet plus deep in places on garage roof. Shoveled off. A little slippery & dangerous, but necessary. No fun!

2010-12-27T06:48:00.001-05:00

Snow piled up everywhere. Beautiful from a distance. Frustrating up close when shoveling.

2010-11-20T13:30:00.001-05:00

William Stites talks about using Evernote in the classroom. http://ping.fm/PbMIO

2010-11-20T05:45:00.001-05:00

Jen Dorman's wiki has good resources for using diigo in the classroom. http://ping.fm/fVtBe

2010-11-02T17:20:00.001-05:00

Check out the NWP Digital Is website at http://ping.fm/A7zAD

2010-11-01T05:05:00.001-05:00

"It is never worth a first class man's time to express a majority opinion. By definition, there are plenty of others to do that." --C.H. Hardy

2010-10-21T04:50:00.001-05:00

The Story of Stuff Project has more videos on stuff, cap & trade, and cosmetics. http://ping.fm/Empmx

2010-10-21T04:25:00.001-05:00

"The Story of Bottled Water," a neat video about its history http://ping.fm/wSbPk (via Heather Ross, http://ping.fm/Pwz95)

2010-10-20T21:11:00.001-05:00

Jane Hart has finalized her Top 100 Tools for Learning 2010 List. http://ping.fm/VTUUg

2010-10-20T19:28:00.001-05:00

Kean University Writing Project (KUWP), in cooperation with the National Writing Project, and the National Council for the Teaching of English, is holding its 2nd Annual National Day on Writing Celebration today. http://www.kuwp.org/

2010-07-09T09:05:00.001-05:00

This is my first post from Ping.fm. Supposedly I will be able to update all of my accounts from this one site. If it works, that will certainly be a timesaver.

Fossilization?

2010-04-02T20:26:00.004-05:00

Over at "learn a language or two" is an article on fossilization stating

the various theoretical and empirical attempts made over the years have resulted more in conceptual diversity than uniformity, though all recognize fossilization as a central characteristic of SLA. The differences seem to center around four issues: (1) whether fossilization is global or local; (2) whether L2 ultimate attainment is isomorphic with fossilization; and (3) whether fossilization is a product or a process, and (4) whether stabilization and fossilization are synonymous.

My thoughts (and comments there) are that fossilization is as much a part of native speakers' language as it is of L2 speakers. If one considers language to be a complex system, then fossilization would be a condition in which the various interacting factors of language acquisition had self-organized into a stable ecology that is not easily triggered to continue to evolve and result in a new ecology that is considered more "native." From a complex systems perspective, fossilization is local, a process, and synonymous with stabilization.

Error Feedback in L2 Writing

2007-04-16T12:12:00.000-05:00

I just thought I would make a link from here to my bibliography on error feedback at my blog Explorations in Learning.

Making a link

2007-02-20T20:27:00.000-05:00

To make a link to another page, do the following:

First you need to have some words that talk about that page.
Then you highlight those words.
Next, you click on the link button.
Paste in the address.
Click Okay.
Finish the post, and publish.

Here's the link to a post called "Where does curiosity go?"

The importance of English

2007-02-15T21:13:00.000-05:00

Ruth Sarmiento at the blog Writing 1430 emphasizes that English is important globally for businesses in her post "The importance of the English at world-wide level."

The necessity to communicate in English has become a place common in the businesses, policy, education, medicine, trips and tourism among others and this is not going to change.

As she notes, English is used in almost every type of business ranging education to tourism. And it's used in much communication like email and over the Internet, which gives it wide influence.