WELCOME

Welcome to the English 177-189 Blog. English 177 is English for Academic Purposes; English 189 is English for Business. These courses may be taken separately or as part of the English Language Proficiency Program.The goal is to increase communication between students and instructors, and also provide you with an opportunity to communicate with each other. If you post general questions about the assignments or the course, they will be answered in the blog. If you have detailed questions you want answered, then e-mail your instructor. Note that some activities are more appropriate to one course or the other.

WELCOME NEW STUDENTS!

A hearty welcome to all the new students joining these courses. We hope you enjoy your studies and have fun participating in this blog.

IMPORTANT: This blog site is open to the public; do not post personal information that could identify you--first name and the initial of your last name are the only personal information you should post. Please watch this video from the Canadian Government explaining privacy issues and social networking. 

Next blog: Friday, March 21, 2014.

WHAT’S NEW?

Where should you place “only” in a sentence? It’s a confusing situation for many people and can lead to confusion and ambiguity.

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/only-misplaced-modifier.aspx?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Critical thinking:

http://io9.com/5888322/critical-thinking-explained-in-six-kid+friendly-animations

What makes an argument good or bad?

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-write-dialogue.aspx

PREVIOUS GRAMMAR QUESTION

As the matter of fact, she was a person who hard being convinced for instant, she certainly would likes to thinks that his opinion are the corrected then any one else view.

1. Article use: 

Only use “the” to refer to specific items; for singular non-specific items use “a”.

2. Word form: 

Although the sound is similar, don’t confuse “instant” with “instance”. The meanings are quite different.

3. Passive form: 

While “hard being convinced” seems to be a passive construction, the form is incorrect. Hard needs to be introduced by “was” and followed by an infinitive ("was hard to convince").

4. Verb form: 

After a modal verb, use the verb name (“like” not “likes”).

5. Infinitive: 

The infinitive is formed from “to” + the verb name. There is no “s” or any other verb ending on an infinitive, so use “to think” not “to thinks”.

6. Pronoun agreement: 

It makes more sense if you change “his” to “her”. "His” is possible, but it doesn't make as much sense.

7. Word form: 

“Corrected” is a past participial adjective. Here, however, a comparison is needed (i.e. something like "more correct"). A good solution would be to change this expression to “better”.

8. Word confusion: 

“Then” and “than” often sound alike, but they are quite different. Here, you need “than” because there is an implicit comparison.

9. Possessive: 

“View” belongs to someone (in this case, “anyone else”), so it needs to be possessive (anyone else’s).

10. Punctuation: 

The first independent clause ends with “convince”, so a semicolon is needed here.

Suggested solution: 

As a matter of fact, she is a person who is hard to convince; for instance, she certainly likes to think that her opinion is better than anyone else’s.

*GRAMMAR QUESTION*

Correct the errors in the following sentence:

Less people in Canada are planning travelling over this year because of the worse weather that happened in to many parts of the country recently and because it is expensive.

Solutions will be posted in the next edition of the blog.

PUZZLE

Solution to the previous puzzle:  

1. Push        PIN                Cushion
2. Digital      CAMERA      Shy

3. Crystal     BALL             Park
4. First         CLASS          Clown
5. Bed         ROCK            Candy

New Puzzle:

Add one letter at a time to make a new word:

Example:    a ... adios
Answer:     a/as/sad/dais/adios

1. e … hamper
2. o … erosion

*Note, the first person with the correct answer gets the bonus point.

IDIOMS

There are three idioms that use BEE:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/theteacher/2009/03/090311_teacher_animal_bee.shtml

Watch this video, and then write a sentence that uses one (or more) of these three idioms.


Try not to use the same idiom as the other posters.

*ALL CHANGE!*

Change the words in the following sentence as indicated.

Canadians often play winter sports in the cold weather.

Please change only the exact word in the sequence given. Each participant should build on the changes made by the previous participant.

For instance, Participant 1 writes #1 Subject Noun, and changes the subject noun; Participant 2 writes #2 Direct Object Noun, and changes the direct object noun, etc.

Normally, I request that each participant make just one change at a time, following the order indicated below. But I don't remember the last time we actually made it to the end of the list, let alone started again from the top, so this time you are free to make as many changes as you wish. Just remember to number each change so it is clear to everyone where we are on the list.

When all 7 changes have been made, return to the top of the list and continue.

Changes:                                                                                                                          

1. subject noun
2. direct object noun          
3. indirect object noun                  
4. adjective(s)
5. adverb(s)    
6. verb name      
7. verb tense

AFFIXES

The word stem -hetero- (meaning different or other) occurs in many words. 

Add an affix (either a prefix or a suffix) to this stem to make another word. 

Each participant should add a different word to the list.

*COMPLETE THE SENTENCE*

Follow the instructions below to create three different sentences from the following clause.*

... Daylight Saving Time begins next weekend ...

Sentence 1. Add a phrase      
Sentence 2. Add a dependent clause
Sentence 3. Add an independent clause


*Add your words to the beginning or end of the clause (but not both).

*NUMBER CHANGE*

If the sentence is singular, change it to the plural; if it is plural, change it to the singular.

The rabbits that run up and down the roads in my neighbourhood eat plants from people’s gardens and chew on the bark of young trees; they can cause a lot of damage.

*VOCABULARY*

Vocabulary building is important for both reading comprehension and writing. 

Use the following two words in one sentence (note the part of speech).

subserviently (adjective)  +  malicious (adjective)

To further improve your vocabulary, remember to check out the Word of the Day. 

The site also has word games and puzzles.

http://dictionary.reference.com/

SYNOYMS AND ANTONYMS

We can describe something that proves or supports our position as vindication. 

Provide a synonym and an antonym for this word. Each participant should suggest a different word.

*ACTIVE vs. PASSIVE*

Write two sentences using the word give.

In the first sentence, use the verb in the active voice; in the second sentence, use it in the passive voice.

*TIME CHANGE*

Change the time in the following sentences by replacing the word "yesterday" and any other time clue. 
Each student should choose a different verb tense.

While I was going to a concert yesterday, I was also planning what to do to celebrate my friend’s birthday.

*SENTENCE COMBINATION*

Learning to combine ideas into more complex sentences is an important writing skill. There are many ways to do this. Try to combine the following three sentences.

Sentence 1: Daylight Saving Time begins on March 9^th this year.

Sentence 2: Spring officially starts on March 20^th this year.
Sentence 3: Despite the calendar information and time change, most of Canada is still definitely experiencing winter.

BUILD-A-SENTENCE

The following question is similar to the one in part 3 of the ENGL140 final exam. Write a sentence using the vocabulary and grammar indicated.

Add a time-related adverb clause to the following:

… I am going to a St. Patrick’s Day parade this year…