Hypertext Narratives Arranged by Field of Study

French speaking students here in Quebec are required to take two English courses at junior college (CEGEP). The first is a general, competency-based course matched to their proficiency-level. We have four proficiency levels, which I call false-beginner, low-intermediate, high-intermediate, and advanced. The second English course at the same proficiency level is intended to build on the first course by having the students read, write, listen and speak with a link to their fields of study. To that end, I have been asking my low-intermediates to write listicles, glossaries, new-top summaries,  and hypertext narratives. I also ask them to create a YouTube walkthrough of a field-related website and a walkthrough of  their own hypertext narratives. The tasks and supporting readings and listenings can be found in Actively Engaged Online (Walker, 2015). If you are interested in using any of these tasks with your students, leave a comment and I will be happy to share some resources with you.

Hypertext Narratives for College ESL Digital Literacy

A hypertext narrative is a cross between a computer game and a story. The reader is invited to make choices that influence the outcome of the story. I provided learners with a template, and they filled in the blanks. Some decided to simplify the structure of the story and write longer passages. In every case, there should be a story and hyperlinks that lead to different outcomes.

Some of my colleagues view the learning needs of their students as being similar to their own first language learning needs 20 or more years ago. In my view, not only are the needs of second language learners strikingly different from their first language counterparts, but the need for digital literacy and lifelong learning strategies must be integrated into all four skills. If they don't learn digital literacy from us, who is going to teach them? Their 17th Century French Literature teachers? Their Philosophy teachers?

English is the language of the internet, and teaching students how to write and speak online will provide learners with a chance to continue developing their English skills beyond the confines of our courses. To that end, I ask students to create Blogger and Youtube accounts, and use the VirtualWritingTutor.com and FieldRelated.com to help them get feedback on their errors and vocabulary.

Examples of Hypertext Narratives Arranged by Field of Study

Here are a few examples of hypertext narratives written by students. I asked them to work cooperatively to share ideas and help each other integrate workplace and field related vocabulary into at least one branch of their stories. The links to the stories are organized below by field of study. I created 3D book covers to make navigating the various fields of study easier. Leave a comment, share, or like this blog post if the mood takes you.

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Accounting and Management #1 Accounting and Management #2 Accounting and Management #3 Accounting and Management #4 Accounting and Management #5 Accounting and Management #6 (very weird and innovative!) Accounting and Management #7

Business Management #1 Business Management #2 Business Management #3 Business Management #4 Business Management #5 Business Management #6

Geomatics

Criminology 1 Criminology 2

Diagnostic Imaging #1 Diagnostic Imaging #2 Diagnostic Imaging #3 Diagnostic Imaging #4 Diagnostic Imaging #5 Diagnostic Imaging #6

Business Management #1

International Relations

Literary Studies

Paralegal Technology 1 Paralegal Technology 2 Paralegal Technology 3

Policing #1 Policing #2

Prehospital Emergency Care 1 Prehospital Emergency Care 2

Psychology (very simple but still a hypertext narrative) Psychology (very simple but still a hypertext narrative) Psychology (44 scenes) Psychology (44 scenes) Psychology (3 scenes)

Youth and Adult Correctional Intervention 1 Youth and Adult Correctional Intervention 2 Youth and Adult Correctional Intervention 3 Youth and Adult Correctional Intervention 4 *

How to Create a Blog on Blogger: Getting Started

How to Create a Blog on Blogger

Step 1

The first step to creating your own blog for language learning is to go to Blogger.com. You will need to create an account if you don't have a Gmail account already. It is easy and takes seconds. 

Step 2

The next step is a little more complicated. You will need to create a title and address for your blog. The title should be related to your field of study or the thing that you expect to be writing about most. If you are not sure what topic you want to blog about, consider creating a title and address related to your name. If your name is "Helen," name your blog Helen's Blog (title) at helens-blog.blogspot.com (address). You will also have to choose a template. Choose something simple because this part is easy to change later. 

Step 3

Once you have created your blog title and address, click "New post" under the word "My blogs" on the left. If your blog is in another language you can change the language setting here by clicking the "cog" icon in the top right.

Step 4

When you click "New post" you will see a blank page. Give your blog post a title, like "About Me" and write something about who you are and what you do.  Click "Save" and "Publish" on the right and click "View blog" on the left. Now, you are a blogger. 

Step 5

You can leave your first blog post as it is, but serious writers look for feedback on their writing. Copy your first blog post and paste it into the VirtualWritingTutor.com and click "Check grammar" to see if it can detect any errors. If there are errors in your text, the VirtualWritingTutor will show you how to correct them.   

Step 6

Simply edit your post, make the necessary corrections, and click "Update." Now, you are ready to promote your blog. Why not join us a https://www.facebook.com/groups/learn.English.by.blogging and share your first blog post. The other members of this group would love to meet you and help you improve your writing. 

Find out more about blogging and digital literacy in ESL.

Facebook Group to Learn English by Blogging

Nicholas Walker

So, you want to learn English.  That's great! Maybe, you want to improve ability to communicate in your field, or maybe you want to improve your chances of finding a job. I want to help you.

My name is Nicholas Walker. I teach college English as a Second Language in Montreal, Canada, and I develop websites related to ESL in my spare time. Not only do I have many years of experience teaching English in South Korea and Canada, I also have an M.A. in Applied Linguistics and a B.A. in English Literature. I know English, and I know how to teach it.

I want to help you improve your English, but you have to help me.

Here's how:

1. Be active. 

I want to work with people who are serious about improving their English. You can demonstrate that you are serious about learning English in the following ways.

• Join my Facebook group: Learn English by Blogging. This is where we exchange links and advice to help each other. Promote your blog to other group members here.
• Visit the group page every week, liking and responding to the activity there.
• Arrange for video and audio chat conversations with other group members. 
• Do the exercises and blog writing assignments. Don't stop.  
• Create a blog on Blogger.com related to your field of study or passion. Make sure that your blog address and title contain words related to your field of study or interest. 

2. Help the other group members. 

There are a number of ways that you can be helpful to the other members of the  Learn English by Blogging Facebook group. Some ways are easy. Some take an extra effort. 

• Easy: start by being supportive. Everyone likes to hear encouraging remarks about their efforts to learn and express themselves. Click the like button when someone shares a link to a blog post they have written. 
• More difficult: write helpful comments. If you see a problem with someone's blog post, write a three part comment. 1) Thank that person for sharing. Say, "Thanks for sharing your blog post." 2) Tell the group member how to improve his or her blogpost with specific advice. For example, you could say, "You should write shorter paragraphs." 3) End with a specific positive comment, "I really like your title. Very catchy." Comments like these help writers feel good about the help they receive from others. 

3. Help the teacher.

You want to learn English. I want to promote my websites. In return for the opportunity to improve your English, I would like your help. Copy and paste the following links into your blog posts:

References

• Check your grammar with the best ESL grammar checker VirtualWritingTutor.com
• Check your vocabulary with FieldRelated.com
• Learn CEGEP ESL with BokomaruPublications.com
• Correct more, better, and faster with CorrectiveFeedback.com, an ESL power tool for teachers

4. Write blog posts

Create a blog on Blogger, and start writing blog posts with titles, images, text, and links. Here are some blog post writing assignments I recommend:

1. Introduction: write a paragraph about yourself and a paragraph about your professional goals for your blog. Explain why you are writing a blog and how you think it will help you.
2. Listicle: write a numbered list of items related to a theme. Click here to see an example of a listicle. Make sure to include an introductory paragraph (no heading) and 3 or more paragraphs with numbered headings.
3. Walkthrough: record yourself on YouTube giving a guided tour of a website related to your field of study or passion. Show your listener how to achieve a specific goal.  Embed your video on your blog with a short introductory paragraph. 
4. Summary: write a summary of an article related to your field of study or passion. Do not copy and paste. Say why you chose the article and how it relates to your field. Add a link to the original article. 
5. Glossary: Make a list of some technical or semi-technical terms related to your field of study or passion. Go to FieldRelated.com for examples. Do not copy paste a glossary entries. Make your own. Use Google and do a search using the the search term define + the word you wish to define. 

Once you have written each of these blog posts, share your link on the  Learn English by Blogging Facebook group. We will give you the encouragement and support you need to keep learning. 

The Science of Absenteeism

by Nicholas Walker

There are plenty of good reasons to skip class: if you have a contagious disease or have a doctor’s appointment that you cannot reschedule, if car trouble or bad weather interferes with your commute, or if you are flat broke and need to work an extra shift to make rent and avoid eviction. Most people would understand if you had to miss a lesson under these circumstances.

Surprisingly, these are not the reasons most university students give for cutting class. Students at one university rated low-quality lectures as the most important reason, followed by deadlines for other academic work, the lecturer’s inability to entertain, a lack of sleep, and attendance being unnecessary due to the availability of lecture notes outside of class (Clay & Breslow, 2006). These are the reasons students will admit to. But what about hidden reasons?

Read more...