CL&W 2010 Paper accepted

Our paper titled "A Toolkit to Assist L2 Learners Become Independent Writers" has been accepted as full paper to appear at "Workshop on Computational Linguistics and Writing: Writing Processes and Authoring Aids at NAACL-HLT 2010" (CL&W 2010)

How We Walk the Talk: Symposium on Assessment for Learning

We gave a talk at the Hong Kong Productivity Council ( Kowloon Tong) on "How We Walk the Talk: Symposium on Assessment for Learning" on 26 March 2010.

Link


Title / 講題:
My Words: An English Vocabulary-learning Portfolio for the 21st Century
My Words – 廿一世紀的英語字詞學習歷程檔案

Objectives / 目標:
This workshop will introduce an exciting approach to vocabulary acquisition, assessment and portfolio management and will give participants an opportunity to experience the enjoyable and user-friendly way of improving students’ vocabulary that this comprehensive learning environment provides.
這次講座將會探討教師採用新的中小學英語字詞表面對的挑戰。
工作坊將會介紹一個有趣的字詞學習、評估和管理學習歷程檔的工具。另外，參加者可運用一個方便使用的軟件，透過綜合學習環境親身體驗能讓學生提升英語字詞的愉快學習歷程。


Abstracts /簡介:
Until now, methods of vocabulary learning and assessment have been largely haphazard, lacking in any empirical basis and not very attractive for learners of English. My Words (for upper secondary, tertiary and adult learners) and Junior My Words (for upper primary and lower secondary) provide a systematic and comprehensive method for learning, revising, remembering, and using the most important words for learners at each grade level.

These web-based programs are easily accessible from anywhere, require little or no setup and are very user-friendly. They have been extensively tested with teachers and with learners at various levels and are in line with the latest EDB guidelines for curriculum development and e-learning.

目前為止，英語字詞學習和評估都是較隨意的，既沒有記錄學習者進度，又未能吸引英語學習者。My Words (適合高中及成年人) 和 初級My Words (適合高小和初中程度人士) 提供一個學習、複習、記憶，及運用學習階段中重點字詞的全面而有系統的方法。
這個網上字詞學習工具只需簡單的設定步驟，便可在任何地方使用電腦進入，十分方便。這工具得到老師和不同階段英語學習者的驗證，同時配合教育局最新的課程指引和電子學習的需要。

Discovering different word forms in English

Words in English take different forms in different contexts.

For example,the word assemble(verb) has the following word forms:

• assemble: I will assemble a complete list of creditors and outstanding balances.
• assembled: I assembled a complete list of creditors and outstanding balances.
• assembles: He assembles the list of creditors and outstanding balances.
• assembling: He is assembling the list of creditors and outstanding balances.

Download this Excel file to review all the word forms extracted from the British National Corpus (BNC). If you are using Check My Words, you can simply click on the "Word Family" button to see all the word forms.

Collocation page updated in the EGG

You can see more examples in the English Grammar Guide's Collocation page.