Happy Halloween!

Hi all. I hope this post finds you well. I just wanted to share a bit about Halloween! On Friday, October 31st, 2014, people all of the U.S. will celebrate Halloween. But what is Halloween? What are its origins? How do people celebrate it? What are the popular costumes this year? 

Below, I've included a few links below to help you answer all your "Halloween 2014"-related questions. Enjoy and have a "Spook-tacular Halloween"! 

1. The Origins of Halloween
2. Classic Halloween Costumes
3. Charlie Brown & The Great Pumpkin
4. A Few "Classic" Halloween Jokes
5. Halloween Music: Rihanna "Disturbia" and "Boris" Pickett "Monster Mash"

BONUS!  Since it's Halloween, here are some obligatory, embarrassing pictures of your teacher in his last Halloween costume. I went as a Zombie teacher! My friends went as other members of a fictional Zombie High School. Enjoy :) 

Day Two: Intercultural Communication, Audience and Purpose

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a nice weekend and is ready to re-engage in our ongoing discussion of the Foundations of Academic Writing. Today we are going to discuss a few foundational considerations: the degree to which culture influences our communication as well as the importance of understanding who we're writing for (our audience) and why we're writing (our purpose). An outline for today's class can be found below: 

Day Two: Intercultural Communication, Audience & Purpose

Objectives: Students will be able to...

1. Understand and explain the role that culture plays in influencing the way we communicate
2. Understand and explain the importance of audience and purpose in the writing process

I. Warm-Up

What did you do over the weekend?

II. Writing Review

We will begin class by reviewing the writing you did for last week. This will include: 

• Reviewing the discussion forum
• Comments on the "Reflection Journals"
• General & specific feedback on the Diagnostic Essay activity

III. Culture & Communication

With a partner, take five minutes and discuss the following questions. You can write your answers or have a free discussion, but be prepared to share with the class. 

1. What is "culture"? Give an example.
2. What role does "culture" play within a society? 
3. How does culture influence the way we communicate? 

We will discuss the answers to these questions as a class and then we will review this short presentation. Finally, you will find a new partner and discuss the answers to these questions. Once again, you will have five minutes and you will be expected to be prepared to share your thoughts with the class.

IV. The Communication Model

Now, a couple of general questions for the class: 

• How does communication work? 
• If you had to draw a picture of the way that communication works, what would it look like? 

Now, let's take a look at this short video from teacher Krista Price about the way communication actually works. As you watch, consider the answers to these. When the video finishes, you'll have a chance to discuss the answers with a new partner. After that, we'll see if it's necessary to watch the video one more time. If so, we will. If not, we'll discuss!

V. Audience & Purpose

Finally, we will discuss a little bit about the concept of audience and purpose and the roles they play in your writing using this worksheet and focusing on the following questions: 

1. When communicating, who is the "audience"? Can there be more than one? Explain.
2. When communicating, what is the "purpose"? Can there be more than one? Explain. 
3. Why is it important to have a clear idea of who your audience is and what your purpose is? 

Homework

For next class, please be sure to do the following assignments: 

• Prepare a response in your reflection journal
• Post an answer to the "Week Two: Forum Discussion" and respond to one of your classmates' posts
• Prepare for a short academic vocabulary quiz 

Day One: Introductions, Class Policy and the Diagnostic Essay

Welcome to "Foundations of Academic Writing". I know everyone has been anxiously awaiting our first class, so let's begin. An outline for our time together can be found below...

Day One: Introductions and the Diagnostic

I. Instructor Introduction
Since we will be spending the next few months working together, I think it is only appropriate that I properly introduce myself. I will do so with the help of this short presentation.

II. Introducing Yourself 
Now, you will have a chance to introduce yourself. I think many of you already know one another, but I don't know anyone yet. Please follow this procedure:

1. Get into groups of three people
2. Introduce yourself using the questions found here
3. Listen and take notes as your partners introduce themselves
4. Be prepared to introduce another member of your group 

III. Introduction to the Class & Website
Now that we all know one another, let's take some time to get go over the class schedule and goals. Also, I would like to explain how the course website works and how to best take advantage of it!

IV. Culture and Communication
Does culture influence communication? If yes, how so? If no, why not? We'll begin with a short discussion about the elements of culture and move on to a presentation that outlines they different way that our culture effects the way we communicate with one another.

V. Diagnostic Essay
Now I would like to get to know your writing! The last part of today's class will be dedicated to a diagnostic essay. This is a way for me to get an idea of the way you write right now (at the beginning of class) and how we can best focus the rest of our time together.

The prompt (based of a CAE "report"-style question) can be found here.

Follow the directions, do your best and remember: this isn't for a grade!

Homework
1). Add a response to the group discussion board for week one AND respond to one of your classmates' posts (by Friday at 11:55pm)
2). Write your response in your reflective journal for week one (by Friday at 11:55pm)
3). Buy and bring a folder to use to store your portfolio work (by next class). 

Welcome to Foundations of Academic Writing!

Welcome to Foundations of Academic Writing (FAW). My name is John Kotnarowski and I will be your instructor and guide this semester as we take a deeper look into the basic skills necessary to write effectively in academic English. Specifically, we will focus on essay organization and structure, academic style and tone and ways to make your writing as clear and effective as possible. I look forward to meeting everyone and getting off to a great start this semester.

A bit about the course website. This is where I'll be posting outlines and links for every class meeting. It is intended to be used as a virtual supplement to our in-class discussions and assignments. To the right, you will find important class information under the "Class Links" list. Just below, you'll find another link list titled, "Helpful Websites". I encourage to take a look at these helpful resources as we make our way through the semester. Hopefully, you'll find them useful in your own writing.

Please feel free to send me an email whenever you need to get in touch. My email address is: jk.esl.uiuc@gmail.com. I'm excited for what should be an engaging and informative semester for everyone involved.