Scott's Fall 2010 EAP 1 Students

http://keithryokohaha.blogspot.com/

http://luckysnow29gmail-mgxiong.blogspot.com/

http://deamo419.blogspot.com/

http://bobohappinessplace.blogspot.com/

http://cathunter38.blogspot.com/

http://diegoincalgary.blogspot.com/

http://hmsroro84.blogspot.com/

http://daydayupupup.blogspot.com/

http://takshrufi.blogspot.com/

http://msalim2006.blogspot.com/

http://fayt2.blogspot.com/

http://edwardrexli.blogspot.com/

http://viperliry.blogspot.com/

http://nancyincalgary.blogspot.com/

http://blackrockbarttroz.blogspot.com/

http://weiweiibaby.blogspot.com/

http://hassantukar.blogspot.com/

http://cadic264.blogspot.com/

http://shanshan413.blogspot.com/

http://kiona-funhouse.blogspot.com/

http://abdulhappyhappy.blogspot.com/

http://ashjan-alyamani.blogspot.com/

http://optimisticesgirls.blogspot.com/

http://ahmadfinance.blogspot.com/

http://abdulaziz2011.blogspot.com/

http://sulaimanblogger.blogspot.com/

http://ntheer.blogspot.com/

http://ahmedbingoo.blogspot.com/

http://miaadhamadalqurashi.blogspot.com/

http://fatimah82.blogspot.com/

http://z-mydream.blogspot.com/

http://saleh1987.blogspot.com/

http://hmg2010.blogspot.com/

http://amjad9504.blogspot.com/

http://theblue11.blogspot.com/

The Lexical Anatomy of a Novice NNES Undergraduate Essay

I just had another article published, this time in the ATESL Newsletter. Here is the link:

http://www.atesl.ca/cmsms/home/newsletters/february-2011/feature-article-4/

This article is a case study of a first year university essay written by an international students whose first language was not English. The article looks at the lexical profile of the student in terms of lexical breadth and depth and compares this profile to that of a native English speaking first year student at the novice academic writing level.

If you have any comments, please let me know.

New Article - Just Published!

I have just published a new article in the TEAL News. The article is part of the "Wired Teacher" column, and it can be found on page 13 here: http://www.bcteal.org/newsletter/issues/BCTEAL_2011_Winter_Newsletter1.pdf.

The title of the article is:

How Times Have Changed: Online Vocabulary Profilers

The article outlines how online vocabulary profilers such as Web VP English v3 Classic on the Compleat Lexical Tutor website (www.lextutor.ca) can help teachers determine the whether or not the vocabulary level of an article is suitable for their class. Also, vocabulary profilers can help teachers find the words that that want to highlight and teach before the students read an article.

Enjoy!

TESL Canada Call for Proposals

I’m going to be a co-editor of an upcoming special issue of the TESL Canada Journal. I’m really honoured to have this opportunity to work with Dr. Hetty Roessingh on this project. The theme of the issue is: Generation 1.5 in Canada: Multiple Perspectives on a Shifting Demographic Landscape. This really ties in with my PhD work, and it is becoming a much talked about topic here in Canada. I’m pasting in the Call for Proposals below, but it can also be found on the TESL Canada website here: www.tesl.ca. If you are a Canadian ESL/EAP teacher, please think about contributing to our publication. We are looking forward to hearing from you!

Call for Proposals

Special Issue of TESL Canada Journal, Fall 2012

Generation 1.5 in Canada: Multiple Perspectives on a Shifting Demographic Landscape

Co-Edited by Hetty Roessingh, PhD and Scott Douglas, PhD

Generation 1.5 is fast becoming a topic of research endeavour and classroom significance as the numbers of these students escalate exponentially in major school jurisdictions and postsecondary institutions across Canada. The literature characterizes this demographic category as consisting of individuals who immigrate as children or are the Canadian born children of immigrants, are educated in the local school system, and have life experiences that cover two or more languages, countries, and cultures. The common feature of this demographic is that the first language, or home language, is not English or French.

This themed issue addresses this topic from various perspectives including but limited to:

• Achievement outcomes
• Language and literacy
• Academic Language Proficiency
• Curriculum, pedagogy and classroom practice
• Teacher preparation
• Identity
• Assessment
• Transitions to higher education
• Program support
• Policy
• Provision of Services

We encourage a broad range of methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks, including case studies, program descriptions, classroom practice, and other qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods papers.

A 250 word abstract outlining the paper is due March 31, 2011 and should be sent to

Dr. Hetty Roessingh.

To review author guidelines, visit the journal Website: www.teslcanadajournal.ca and click on bottom right 'Information for Authors’.

Papers are due July 1, 2011.

Queries for the special issue can be sent to Dr. Hetty Roessingh.

What do standardized test scores mean for undergraduate students?

I’ve been looking around at a lot of university websites lately, trying to think what scores would be needed to enter an undergraduate program, and then how much growth might be expected (needed) to occur over the course of one year of undergraduate studies in English. For now, this is just “educated” guess work, but it’s something I’d like to think more about in the future. For reference, the University of Calgary requires iBT TOEFL 83 for entrance to most of it’s undergraduate programs. I’ve set the score just a smidge higher than the university English language proficiency requirements for most measures.

Basically, while there are minimum English language proficiency requirements to enter an undergraduate program, those requirements can’t remain static. They need to grow in order to keep up with the demands of a student’s particular program of studies. A certain TOEFL score may be high enough to enter university, but it is not necessary high enough to exit a program of studies. This means that students need to continue focusing on their English throughout their stay at university.

	Entrance to 1st Year	Exit from 1st Year
iBT	85	90
Paper TOEFL	563	577
CBT TOEFL	223	233
CAEL	71	78
IELTS	7	8
MELAB	85	90
CLBA	7/8	8/9
English 30 Diploma Exam	50%	75%

Happy End of the Semester!

It’s almost the end of the semester. In fact, there are only two more teaching days left, and then there are the final exams. I thought for this post, I’d give some tips on how to write an essay for the EAP 1 final exam. Let me know what you think about them!

Thirteen Steps to Writing a Short 4 Paragraph Essay for the Final Exam

Step One:

• Brainstorm three or four supporting ideas for the topic.

Step Two:

• Brainstorm three or four supporting points for each of the supporting ideas from Step One. Brainstorm facts, details, statistics, anecdotes, examples, elaborations, explanations.

Step Three:

• Choose the best two supporting ideas from your brainstorm and decide which one is the first body paragraph, and which one is the second body paragraph. Remember to save the best for last!

Step Four:

• Choose the best two or three supporting points for each of the supporting ideas you have chosen for your essay. Underline or circle them in your brainstorm.

Step Five:

• Write a thesis statement for your essay.

Step Six:

• Write a topic sentence for your first body paragraph.

Step Seven:

• Write a topic sentence for your second body paragraph. Don’t forget a transition between the two body paragraphs.

Step Eight:

• Write a concluding statement for your conclusion paraphrasing the thesis statement.

Step Nine:

• Write a general to specific introduction. It should be about four sentences long.

Step Ten:

• Write the first body paragraph. It should be about 100 – 150 words long.

Step Eleven:

• Write the second body paragraph. It should be about 100 – 150 words long.

Step Twelve:

• Write the concluding paragraph. Use added thoughts, comments, predictions, hopes, wishes, judgements, opinions, or recommendations. Do not add any new information about the topic.

Step Thirteen:

• Read over the essay carefully two or three times. Revise for ideas, and edit for grammar and mechanics.

Extraordinary Measures and Popcorn!

Last Tuesday class was really different than usual. It was a special holiday for our Muslim students, so the class was really small. As a result, I decided we could have a "fun" educational day instead of the usual classes. First of all, I showed the students a couple of powerpoints on adjective clauses . . . I'm not sure if this part of the day was so fun for the students, but then the fun stuff started to come. I made popcorn in class! I brought in my hot air popcorn popper, and I silently demonstrated to the students how to make popcorn while they took notes. This fit in perfectly with our unit on Process Paragraphs because after I was done making the popcorn, the students had to use their notes to write a process paragraph on how to make popcorn. I was surprised at how educational it actually was! The students learned lots of new vocabulary like "measuring cup" "hot air popper" and "kernels". Anyway, after we finished our process paragraphs, I made up a whole bunch of popcorn and melted some butter. Now we were ready for a movie!

The movie my students chose to watch was Extraordinary Measures. In the morning I showed the students the trailers to five different movies, and then they voted on the movie that they wanted to see in the afternoon. I was really happy that they chose Extraordinary Measures because I had never seen it before. Basically, it is about this guy whose children have a terrible genetic disease. He finds a scientist who can help him make a cure for the disease. I won't tell you the ending, but I think a couple of my students were crying during the movie! here is the trailer:

All in all, it was a really great day!

Convocation 2010

It's now official. I have a PhD! I had my convocation last Friday, and I've received my fancy piece of paper saying that I have a Doctor of Philosophy with a specialization in Teaching English as a Second Language. Hmmm, does this mean I now have to give my students more homework because I'm an "expert" now?

Convocation started off with my parents picking me up at my house. We then went to the university for the Faculty of Education convocation lunch. The lunch was really nice with posh little sandwiches and cream cake, but all I could manage was a cup of coffee. For some reason, I was actually feeling nervous, so I couldn't eat anything. This is really rare for me!

After the lunch, I went over to pick up my special robes and hood and put them on. I also picked up my degree at that time. Then, once everyone was ready, we marched into the Jack Simpson gym headed by a Scottish Piper. The ceremony started at 2:30, and it finished around 3:30. My turn came when I went up on stage and my hood was official attached to my robes. I then shook hands with a bunch of people on stage, got my picture taken, and sat back down. Once that was over, I was a doctor!

After the ceremony, my parents then took me to my favourite Chinese restaurant in Brentwood Mall, and we had Pekin Duck. It was so good. I love the little pancakes that come with the duck. We also had duck noodles, and duck tofu soup. My dad also wanted to have some vegetables with black bean sauce, and we ordered some extra ginger chicken because my mum doesn't like duck too much. She thinks they are too cute to eat.

Anyway, it was a great day! Enjoy the photos!

Me with my PhD:Me walking off the stage: My mother and I:
My father and I:

The "convocation" cake and I:

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Right now in my class we are reading The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Scary stuff!!

I don't usually link to funny youtube videos, but I couldn't resist. Let me know what you think about it!

If you like the song, you can find the lyrics here: http://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/arthur/jekyll_and_hyde-lyrics-1188936.html

Back from Edmonton!

I’m back from Edmonton. Above you can see a picture of the hotel I stayed at. I was only there for two days, but I feel like I was there for a week! I was in Edmonton for the Alberta Teachers of English as a Second Language (ATESL) conference. I always love going to conferences, and this conference was great. On the Friday of the conference there was a speaker from Australia, Lynda Yates, who made a presentation on pragmatics. Pragmatics has to do with how language is used and how culture influences how language is used. One example that Dr. Yates gave was that in Canada we might say “how’s it going” when we greet someone, but someone from Chinese might say “have you eaten yet?” or “where are you going”. If those are translated directly into English, they won’t work very well on an English speaking Canadian. The other keynote speaker was Dr. Tom Cobb. He presented on the Saturday of the conference. It was really great to hear Dr. Cobb speak again. He first presented at an ATESL conference in 2002, and that was the first conference that I ever went to. Seven years later, I based my PhD research on his work! I finally got to meet Dr. Cobb at the conference in person, and I was pretty nervous. Especially when he came to my presentation!

However, conferences are more than just presentations. It’s also a great chance to meet up with friends from all over the province. I was really happy to meet colleagues from Edmonton and Lethbridge that I hadn’t seen in a while. It’s always great to catch up!

All in all, it was a great conference, and I can’t wait to go again next year!

Alexander the Great Presentations

I wonder how many of my students have started to go out for coffee with a friend, even if they both speak the same first language, and promise themselves that they will only speak English for 30 minutes. I remember learning that languages are learned when you have two people who are willing to negotiate meaning with one another. That is, if one person doesn’t understand, the other person doesn’t mind trying to explain what they want to say in a different way one more time. Finding someone like that, however, can be difficult. I see it all the time, but I guess people have busy lives, and if a native English speaker is speaking to a non-Native English speaker, they don’t always have the patience to negotiate meaning. That’s why I tried recommending to my students that if they can’t find an English speaker to practice with, that’s no problem, they can just practice with each other.

On another note, my students have just finished doing their presentations on the Penguin Reader Alexander the Great. The presentations were brilliant! I was actually surprised because, to be honest, sometimes I dread presentations. They can go on and on and no one understands what is being said, and the students spend the whole time speaking into a piece of paper or with their backs to the audience talking to the power point screen. Painful! However, this time, it didn’t happen. Usually, presentation time is a time of open topics with students choosing their own group members. This time, however, I randomly chose the groups for the students, and I assigned the topics. The Penguin Reader we have been reading in class has 10 chapters, so I divided the class up into ten groups, with each group presenting a different chapter in order. Although students could search the internet for pictures and maps, they weren’t allowed to use any other information except that in their books. By narrowing down the information they could use, the students really focused on the chapter they had to present, and boy did they know their stuff! I have an entire class of experts on Alexander the Great! I think by lowering the amount of work they had to do in order to find content for their presentations, they were able to focus more on the English and delivering a good presentation. On top of all that, because the groups were randomly assigned, there were speakers of different first languages in all the groups. The working language had to be English, so it was good practice as well while they were preparing. Anyway, I was very impressed! I can’t wait for the next presentations!

Nihongo Half Hour!

I think a lot of my students know already, but my hobby is learning Japanese! I lived in Japan for two years, and I think one of my biggest regrets is not learning how to speak Japanese fluently. I remember, when I first went to Japan, I thought it would be easy to learn the language because I had been to other places before, and I had quickly learned the local language. For example, when I was 17, I went to Quebec for six weeks, and by the end of six weeks, I couldn't stop speaking French!

Why, then, can't I speak Japanese? I think the main reason why I didn't learn how to speak Japanese while I was in Japan is because most of my friends spoke English. I had a lot of American friends, and naturally we spoke English together. Also, I only spoke English with my Japanese friends as well! As a result, after two years, I hardly spoke any Japanese. In contrast, whenever I go to Quebec, I speak French all the time. In fact, I even speak French with a lot of my English speaking friends. When I lived in Quebec the first time, I went to college for a six week French program, and we were forbidden from speaking English. As you can imagine, I soon learned how to at least communicate.

Anyway, now that I am finished my PhD, I really want to work on my Japanese again. I go to Japanese school every Friday night for two hours, and I have a Japanese tutor who comes to my house for two hours a week. On top of all of that, my friends and I have have just started a new activity. Once a week, we meet in a cafe and we only speak Japanese for half an hour. We call it Nihongo Half Hour. I came up with the idea because I'm always telling my students they need to practice speaking their English more. However, they always complain that they don't have any native English speaking friends to practice with. No problem! Practice with each other!! Anyway, I decided to talk my own language learning advice to heart, and now we are doing Nihongo Half Hour. It's hard! Our conversations are really basic - mostly we just talk about our hobbies and food, but for 30 minutes, it's nothing but Japanese. After the 30 minutes are over, I think some of us are relieved! However, we do it, and I think we are getting more fluent in Japanese. I totally recommend my students do the same thing in English. I hope they can find a coffee shop that they like, and time themselves for 30 minutes so that they only speak English for half an hour. If I can do it in Japanese my English speaking friends, they can do it in English with their non-native English speaking friends!

Good Luck!!

Midterm Exams!

Here is a funny cartoon I found at this website: http://girlsbydesign.com/blog/2009/08/17/study-hacks/

Mid-terms are over, and I’m sure my students are sitting anxiously at home waiting for the results. I’m in the middle of marking them all right now, but I thought I’d procrastinate a bit and write in my blog.

Mid-term week is a busy week in the EAP program. It started off with the writing and grammar midterm. This year, I gave the students almost three hours to complete their writing and grammar midterm. It started off with 60 multiple choice grammar questions and the different grammar points that we studied in class, and then we had the writing section. I really wanted to see if the students were comfortable with the writing process, so I included the brainstorming, outlining, and rough draft in the exam before the students started writing a good copy. I hope that they understand that when they are writing paragraph, there are a number of steps they have to take before they get around to writing the final copy.

After the writing and grammar midterm, there was the reading midterm, which was also about three hours long. The hardest part on this midterm seemed to be the vocabulary. Actually, it was very interesting because usually I expect a few students to do really well, and a few students to do really badly, with the majority of the students doing average or okay. However, this midterm it seemed like their were definitely two groups of students. Students who did amazingly well (almost 100% on the vocabulary) or amazingly badly (almost 0% on the vocabulary)! I bet I know which students were the ones who studied their vocabulary really hard!

I also did oral exams with the students for these midterms. I really enjoy the opportunity to speak with the students one-on-one in these types of situations. I do always get the change to talk to each student in class, so it is a nice opportunity for me. Also, it was again obvious who studied! The students who studied had lots to say, but the students who didn’t open their books looked a bit shocked with I asked them some of the questions!

To end it all off, there was the listening midterm. This midterm wasn’t as long as the others, and I think some of the students really enjoyed it. Again, you could tell who studied!

Now, it’s time to finish marking the midterms, and start thinking about the final exams in December!

Turkey with my Parents`

I had such a great long weekend! I went to Olds on Monday for Thanksgiving Day, and I ate Turkey with my parents. My mum tried to roast the smallest turkey she could find in the grocery store, but it was still huge. The turkey was cooked just the way I like it. Nice and crispy on the outside, but still juicy on the inside. Along with the turkey, my mum also made quite a few side dishes. Naturally, there was stuffing, but we also had brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, mashed turnip, carrots, broccoli, and a delicious turkey gravy to cover everything. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it again! After that we ate some pumpkin pie, which was really good.

It was nice seeing my parents on the weekend, and it was especially great seeing their two dogs as well. I think I must have fed them about half of the turkey off of my plate! Anyway, I can’t wait to eat turkey again. I think I’ll cook another one just for fun in November for no special reason!

I went shopping with my PhD supervisor!

The other day, I went to a one day conference on reading with my PhD supervisor, and afterwards we went to Value Village in North East Calgary. I wonder if any of my students have ever been there. Value Village is a giant thrift shop that sells second hand clothes and other sorts of things. My PhD supervisor loves looking for treasures in this shop. She often finds name brand clothes and other high quality things for bargain prices. The only problem is that the place is so huge, it takes hours to find the treasures in the middle of all the other stuff. While my supervisor was shopping in the ladies' clothing section, I had a look around the books, and I ended up buying seven used books for only $4 each. I also bought a glass mug for $2. They were a bargain! If you are ever bored, Value Village can be a fun place to poke around in on the weekend if you are looking for fun second hand stuff. Also, if you want to get rid of your old things, you can donate your no longer wanted stuff to Value Village and they will give money to charity when they sell your old stuff. Here is their link: http://www.valuevillage.ca

Welcome to EAP 1

It's a new semester at the University of Calgary, and I am teaching a wonderful new group of students in the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Program in the Faculty of Education. The program is very intense. There is a lot of homework, but the good news is that I do believe that people who go through the program come out on the other side with the English they need to be successful in their studies.

My students this semester are a really great mix of people, and I think a lot of new friendships are going to be made in the class that are going to last a lifetime. I'm very excited to start this new blogging project with them, and I can't wait to read what they have to say about life, the universe and everything! As for myself, I've been blogging for almost six years now. It is still my favourite writing project, and I love blogging with my students. I hope they are going to enjoy it as much as I do.

By the way, this blog post is 198 words. That's about how much my students have to write every week!

Happy Blogging!

Link to my PhD Thesis

I’m finished! I had my Doctoral Thesis Oral Defence on August 24, 2010, and I survived! In fact, I even passed with no revisions necessary. In the end, it was actually a great experience. My doctoral committee consisted of my supervisor, Dr. Hetty Roessingh, the Chair for English as an Additional Language (EAL) at the University of Calgary, Dr. Thomas Ricento, the former Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Calgary, Dr. Bruce Clark, Dr. Tania Smith from the Department of Communication and Culture at the U of C, and Dr. Leila Ranta from the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. They asked some pretty hard hitting questions, and at first I was quite nervous, but I soon warmed up to the topic. After all, I had been living and breathing the study of vocabulary in terms of lexical breadth and depth for four years! After passing my oral examination, we all went to the Grad Lounge for my free bottle of champagne. I think I was in a bit of shock after the exam. It hadn’t really hit me yet that I was finished. However, when I got home and realised that I didn’t need to lock myself in my office (which is in the garage) and work on my thesis for three or four hours, I just started to cry. I don’t know if they were tears of relief or happiness or angst, but I think I sat on my couch and wept for almost two hours. I have to be honest. It was so hard writing that thesis and teaching full time. However, now it’s over and after all is said and done, it was all worth it. Here is the link to my thesis:

https://dspace.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/48195

I've handed in my PhD thesis!

I've handed in my thesis! In the end, it was 254 pages long. I've sent it out to my committee, and now all I have to do is wait for my Oral Defence on August 24th. I know that there could still be changes recommended to be done on my thesis by my committee after my defence, but here is the abstract for you to read in the meantime. Enjoy!

Thesis Abstract for

Non-Native English Speaking Students at University: Lexical Richness and Academic Success

Increasing numbers of students in both the K-12 and Post-Secondary educational systems in Alberta do not speak English as their first language. However, immigrants face multiple challenges to taking full advantage of the educational opportunities afforded by their new home. This study focuses on one period of those educational opportunities, undergraduate university education, and one set of challenges, vocabulary and academic writing. The main objective of this study was to measure the lexical richness non-native English speaking (NNES) and native English speaking (NS) undergraduate students bring with them to university in terms of lexical breadth and depth of knowledge, and compare these measures to eventual undergraduate academic outcomes. To carry this out, the Effective Writing Test (EWT) was used to compile a corpus of novice academic writing. The NNES students in the study were academically competent, as shown by their Grade 12 math marks. Nevertheless, the results showed that NNES students came to university with less robust measures of lexical richness compared to their NS counterparts. While NNES students eventually graduated from university in higher numbers, they were faced with diminished academic outcomes in terms of Grade Point Averages, Length of Program, Courses Attempted and Not Earned, and Academic Standing. Using hierarchical regression analysis, a line was traced from the initial measures of lexical richness, through EWT, and on to the academic outcomes. Measures of lexical richness strongly predicted performance on the EWT, and EWT results predicted eventual academic outcomes. The conclusion of this study is that lexical richness plays a strong role in general undergraduate writing assessment, and university level writing competence plays an important part in academic success.

ACLA 2010

Here is my slide show from the ACLA 2010 Conference (Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics).

It was a great conference this year in an amazing city. I have really enjoyed my time in Montreal so far, and I have the added bonus of having uncles, aunts, cousins and my granny here too!

The main thrust of my presentation at this year’s conference was the connection between measures of lexical richness and large scale writing assessments, and the concomitant connection between large scale writing assessments and eventual academic outcomes at the undergraduate level. From this I conclude that lexical richness is an underlying variable of academic success in higher education.

It was very interesting for me to find significant correlations between measures of lexical richness taken in the first year of university studies and the Grade 12 English 30 Diploma Exam as well as the Effective Writing Test. I was then further intrigued by the correlations I found between the English 30 Diploma exam and the Effective Writing Test with GPA at university as well as other measures such as academic probation and length of program. All of this is in my presentation which you can have a look at here:

http://people.ucalgary.ca/~sdouglas/ACLA2010.pdf

Now I just have to write all of this up, along with my other findings, and I'll have a thesis . . . . . .

Busy Writing My Thesis

I just noticed it has been a while since I blogged. I'm not blogging with my students this semester. I thought I'd take a break from blogging with my students while I focus on finishing my PhD Thesis. It's starting to get close now! I just recently did a presentation on some of my PhD research at the BC TEAL Conference in Vancouver at the beginning of May. As always, BC TEAL was a great conference, and I went to some really amazing presentations. I'm always impressed!

My presentation was entitled: Taking Stock of the Depth of NNES Undergraduate Vocabulary. Here is the abstract of my presentation from the program book:

Part of a doctoral research project on non-native English speaking (NNES) university students and the relationship between lexical richness and academic success, this report focuses on the vocabulary errors that persist in NNES undergraduate writing for students who have fulfilled university English language proficiency requirements. Word use is analyzed in both native English (NS) and NNES writing samples from the archives of an effective writing test at a western Canadian university. This report looks at the results of the marking process and analyses the vocabulary errors made by students in the areas of meaning, appropriacy, derivation, form, omission, and style. Preliminary results show that while NS students do make word use errors, NNES students make almost three times more word errors in their essays and the errors differ in kind and seriousness. The word errors made by NNES students affect the readability of their essays, and ultimately the final marks. Participants in this session will leave with a clearer picture of the lexical errors that persist in NNES writing at the undergraduate level. The implications of the report?s findings for the teaching and assessing of NNES students who are bound for higher education are also explored.

Also, here is a link to my presentation slides - enjoy!

http://people.ucalgary.ca/~sdouglas/SRD%20BCTEAL%202010.pdf