EAP101
Writing about Language Learning ~ Duke Kunshan University
Class Notes and Assignments
Thurs. Dec. 12
Share arguments from Essay 3
Homework
Finish Essay 3
Optional rewrite
Fill out course evaluation
Tues. Dec. 10
Fill out survey on independent language learning plan
Share ideas for essays, crystallize thesis statements
Homework
Essay 3 due Friday at noon
Bring computer to next class
Prepare 2-3 minute oral summary of your essay
Thurs. Dec. 5
Presentation: Vision and the “L2 Self”
Guided imagery exercise
Intro to Essay 3
Homework
Begin Essay 3
Read TSIS Chapter 7, “Saying Why it Matters”
Tues. Dec. 3
Drive presentations
Homework
Read Essay 3 instructions
Review & reflect on Drive chapters 4, 5, 6
Preview Dornyei & Kubanyiova excerpts
Group 4: prepare presentation
Thurs. Nov. 28
Speakers
Summary of TSIS Chapter 6
Citations and references - review
Homework
Essay 2 due at noon tomorrow
Prepare group presentations
Tues. Nov. 26
Speakers: Share ideas from Essay 2
Austin summarizes Drive Chapter 3
Citations and references (part 1)
Homework
Read your partner’s paper and meet them to talk about it
Read TSIS Chapter 6
Observe citations and references
Thurs. Nov. 21
Share and comment on Essay 2 intros
Speakers + discussion: General reactions to Pink
Homework
Find a source related to your topic
Write as much of Essay 2 as you can
Tues. Nov. 19
Reflections on Essay 1
Speakers & Discussion: Drive Chapter 2
Intro to Essay 2 (and three friendly reminders)
Hand back outlines
Homework
Read Drive Chapter 3
Outline Chapter 3, revise Chapter 2 outline
Write the beginning of Essay 2
Thurs. Nov. 14
Speakers and discussion: Drive Intro + Chapter 1
In-class writing and questions
Homework
Read Drive Chapter 2 (including 2A)
(Optional) Watch Pink’s TED talk
Outline Chapter 2 and 2A
Reading response
TUES. NOV. 12
~ Speakers and discussion
~ Introduction to Drive
~ Introduction to outlining
HOMEWORK
> Read introduction and Chapter 1 of Drive
> Outline introduction and Chapter 1
> Summary your essay in one paragraph
Thurs. Nov. 6
Go over Deliberations essays
Speaking practice: Ideas for Essay 1
Homework
Finish Essay 1
Read Adventures of Johnny Bunko
Tues. Nov. 5
Read responses out loud
History of rhetoric and liberal arts — brief discussion
In-class writing: “They Say”
Begin discussion of Deliberations essays
Homework
Read feedback and save Evernote link
Review TSIS Chapters 1 and 4
Write the beginning of Essay 1
Print the other two Deliberations essays, skim them
Thurs. Oct. 31
Summaries of readings
The School of Athens
Intro to Essay 1
Homework
Sign up for an appointment
Look at my feedback on in-class writing
Read the articles about history of liberal education and rhetoric
Write a paragraph
Choose and read an article from Deliberations
Tues. Oct. 29
Intro to Session 2
Homework
Read “How Class Works”
Review TSIS Intro, read Chapter 4
Watch “All About Essays” (all three parts)
Read (or reread) “Ways of Reasoning”
Thus. Oct. 17
Independent language learning reports
Explain Essay 4
Course evaluations
Homework
Write Essay 4
Tues. Oct. 15
Speakers and discussion: Essay 3
Homework
Write brief report about independent language learning
Prepare 2-minute talk
Thurs. Oct. 10
Speaker summaries: Lin, Mackey, Prentis, TSIS 2
Citations and references
Read Essay 3 beginnings aloud
Homework
Finish Essay 3
Tues. Oct. 8
Speaker summaries: Lahiri, TSIS Chapter 1
Intro to Essay 3
Brainstorm ideas for Essay 3
Homework
Review previous readings
Begin Essay 3
Read Prentis, “Feel More Fun in French”
Read TSIS Chapters 2 + 3
Thurs. Sept. 26
Read Essay 2 intros out loud
TSIS Chapter 3 oral summary
“Quotation sandwich” writing exercise
Homework
Finish Essay 2
Read Lahiri and TSIS Chapter 1
Tues. Sept. 24
Speaker summaries: Gardner & Lambert, Hessler, “What is a good essay?” video
Discussion of “integrative motivation”
Introduction to Essay 2
Homework
Begin Essay 2
Thurs. Apr. 19
Speaker summaries: Mackey, student essays
Citation and references
Discussion and video: What is a good essay?
Homework
Due tomorrow 4pm: Finish essay
Due Tuesday in class: Read Hessler and Gardner & Lambert
Tues. Sept. 17
“Voice” in essays: quoting and paraphrasing
Developing ideas
Homework
Fix problems in your essay
Write two more paragraphs
Read Mackey, “Wanting it Enough”
3 speakers prepare oral summaries
Thurs. Sept. 12
Share first paragraphs of essays
In-class writing: Outline essay
Speaker summaries: “Ways of Reasoning,” TSIS Introduction
Homework
Finish your outline
Write as much of your essay as you can
Tues. Sept. 10
Video: “What is an essay?”
Explain Essay 1
In-class writing
Speaker summaries: Rubin (1975), Machova (2018)
Homework
Rewrite paragraph
Read TSIS Introduction and “Ways of Reasoning”
2 speakers prepare oral summaries
Sign up for one-on-one appointments
Thurs. Sept. 5
“Language is a physical skill”
Read summaries out loud
Discuss and summarize Rubin (1975)
Homework
Read classmates’ summaries and transcripts
Brainstorm ideas for essay
3 speakers prepare to summarize orally
Watch Machova TED Talk
Tues. Sept. 3
Video: “Valerie Catches the Monster”
Share what we learned from interviews
Write interview summary
Homework
Interview summary (typed)
E-copy of transcript
Read Rubin (1975)
Thu. Aug. 29
Share fables
Summarize Angel Lin, “English and Me”
Introduce “successful language learner” project
Homework
Interview a successful language learner
Transcribe the interview
Tues. Aug. 27
In-class writing: “Good at English”
Fable-writing exercise
Homework
Finish fable
Read Angel Lin, “English and Me”
Read “How Class Works: Questions and Answers”
Think of a successful language learner
Course Documents
Due Tues. Oct. 22 at 12 noon (e-copy only)
Based on your and your classmates’ experiences, what is one insight you’ve gained about how to motivate oneself to do independent language study?
Due Tues. Oct. 15 in class
What is one interesting insight that the readings we’ve done this session give us into the nature of success in language learning?
Due Mon. Sept. 30 at 4pm
In a brief essay, attempt to answer the question: Can Gardner and Lambert’s theory of “integrative motivation” help explain Peter Hessler’s success in learning Chinese?
In a brief essay, attempt to answer the question: What do effective language learners have in common? What, in your view, seems to be the key factor or factors in their success?
“Reporting verbs” are verbs used to introduce something someone else says, writes, or believes. This handy sheet gives examples of a few of the most common ones.
The official syllabus for EAP101, with a general description of the course and relevant school policies.
Readings
Based on scientific research on motivation, author Daniel Pink lays out some big ideas about how humans can work more effectively and lead more satisfying lives.
A brief overview of how the idea of a liberal arts education originated and evolved over the years, resulting in the present U.S. institution of a liberal arts college.
A brief history of how rhetoric—communication with the goal of persuasion—became an important field of study in ancient Greece and Rome.
A quirky career advice book written in the form of a manga, by the author of Drive.
Deliberations is a journal of outstanding student essays produced in Writing 101, Duke University’s freshman writing course.
An amateur mini-documentary by Austin Woerner
I asked twelve Duke Kunshan a few basic questions about essays. Here’s what they said.
In this short article published in Quartz, a popular business magazine, Nicola Prentis examines the academic research behind the common observation that people feel like they have different personalities in different languages.
Famed American novelist Jhumpa Lahiri explains her decision to remake herself as a writer—in Italian.
This book, published in 1972, introduced the influential ideas of “integrative” and “instrumental” motivation to learn a language.
In this influential essay first published in 1975, language-learning researcher Joan Rubin explores the question: Is there a particular set of strategies used by good language learners that contributes to their success?
This chapter from the guidebook American Ways analyzes some common ways that Americans think and express themselves.
In this article in The Guardian, Lauren Razavi explores what motivates language learners.
Linguist Angel Lin writes about the role English study played in her life while growing up in Hong Kong.
Language-learning enthusiast Lydia Machova explains what she believes to be the key to success in language learning.
In this article published in the British newspaper The Guardian, linguist Alison Mackey overviews the subject of motivation in language learning.
Rivertown is Peter Hessler's memoir of living and teaching in rural Sichuan province as a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1990s. It is one of the most widely read accounts in the English-speaking world of living in China as a foreigner.
Excerpts from Motivating Learners, Motivating Teachers: Building Vision in the Language Classroom, by Zoltan Dornyei and Magdalena Kubanyiova.
A short personal essay in which author Yiyun Li describes her childhood in 1980s Beijing and the origins of her desire to study English.