Prepare an essay of 750-1000 words (approximately 3-4 pages) on a topic related to language learning and/or maintenance. Choose one of the two topics or, if you wish, include both in your essay.
•&νβσπ; Attitudes towards the maintenance of immigrants languages and cultures ( interview recent immigrants)
•&νβσπ; Attitudes towards learning a language and a new identity ( interview recent immigrants)
You can work with another student or in a small group to conduct research outside of class for this essay. You can interview your family members, members of the community or your peers from the university or high school. As you know, individuals who belong to different age groups have different attitudes towards maintenance of the heritage language and culture and also towards acquiring the language of the host country. This means that your data will be varied if your interviewees are from different age groups and represent both genders. Be very sensitive when asking culture-related questions.
In your introduction, please summarize what you have learned in the course about second language learning and/or heritage language and culture maintenance. In your conclusion, summarize the data you obtained through the interviews and comment on how the ideas in the introduction were or were not confirmed by your data.
Some sample topic sentences are:
Older immigrants find it very difficult to learn English after they arrive in Canada.
Children under the age of 12 are usually happy to learn English and communicate in their new language.
Immigrant women who do not work outside the house have less motivation to learn English than their spouses.
Young immigrants who have arrived between the ages of 14 and 17 find learning English absolutely necessary fro their future life in Canada.
Your essay should have 3-6 body paragraphs; you should edit and revise your draft several times, paying attention to development of the thesis and topic sentences, coherence of the paragraphs, tense and voice consistency, subject/verb agreement, parallelism, modification etc.
Strategies to help you write better:
Remember that a well-written thesis statement in an argumentative essay:
Is usually one sentence somewhere in your introductory paragraph (often at the end) presenting your complete argument to the reader
Expresses an opinion and three major points supporting this opinion
Is very specific (and not vague or too general)
Gives the reader a sense of how the paper will be organized
When you reread your writing, you can use these questions to help focus your editing:
Are my main points clearly outlined in my topic sentences?
Are my ideas presented logically with my main points first?
Are my ideas and paragraphs connected together – using connecting words/phrases (For example: As a result, In addition, etc.)
Does every paragraph focus on one main point or topic in my argument?
Are my main points supported by concise and rich examples/details?
Is my writing clear, grammatically correct and understandable?
Do I use parallelism to reinforce points?
Does my concluding paragraph leave the reader thinking about the importance of my discussion?
interview Questions
Here are some interview questions used by students in previous years.
Attitudes towards learning a language and a new identity
1. What is your background?
2. How long have you been in Canada?
3. Have you studied English before you came to Canada?
4. Do you think learning a new language is hard?
5. Why do you want to learn a new language? (are you willing or forced to learn?)
6. How much money or time would you want to spend on the language learning?
7. Do you want to be a Canadian and give up your culture?
8. Do you want to have a job in Canada?
9. When you learn a new language, will you feel a loss in your own language?
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC CLICK HERE
•&νβσπ; Attitudes towards the maintenance of immigrants languages and cultures ( interview recent immigrants)
•&νβσπ; Attitudes towards learning a language and a new identity ( interview recent immigrants)
You can work with another student or in a small group to conduct research outside of class for this essay. You can interview your family members, members of the community or your peers from the university or high school. As you know, individuals who belong to different age groups have different attitudes towards maintenance of the heritage language and culture and also towards acquiring the language of the host country. This means that your data will be varied if your interviewees are from different age groups and represent both genders. Be very sensitive when asking culture-related questions.
In your introduction, please summarize what you have learned in the course about second language learning and/or heritage language and culture maintenance. In your conclusion, summarize the data you obtained through the interviews and comment on how the ideas in the introduction were or were not confirmed by your data.
Some sample topic sentences are:
Older immigrants find it very difficult to learn English after they arrive in Canada.
Children under the age of 12 are usually happy to learn English and communicate in their new language.
Immigrant women who do not work outside the house have less motivation to learn English than their spouses.
Young immigrants who have arrived between the ages of 14 and 17 find learning English absolutely necessary fro their future life in Canada.
Your essay should have 3-6 body paragraphs; you should edit and revise your draft several times, paying attention to development of the thesis and topic sentences, coherence of the paragraphs, tense and voice consistency, subject/verb agreement, parallelism, modification etc.
Strategies to help you write better:
Remember that a well-written thesis statement in an argumentative essay:
Is usually one sentence somewhere in your introductory paragraph (often at the end) presenting your complete argument to the reader
Expresses an opinion and three major points supporting this opinion
Is very specific (and not vague or too general)
Gives the reader a sense of how the paper will be organized
When you reread your writing, you can use these questions to help focus your editing:
Are my main points clearly outlined in my topic sentences?
Are my ideas presented logically with my main points first?
Are my ideas and paragraphs connected together – using connecting words/phrases (For example: As a result, In addition, etc.)
Does every paragraph focus on one main point or topic in my argument?
Are my main points supported by concise and rich examples/details?
Is my writing clear, grammatically correct and understandable?
Do I use parallelism to reinforce points?
Does my concluding paragraph leave the reader thinking about the importance of my discussion?
interview Questions
Here are some interview questions used by students in previous years.
Attitudes towards learning a language and a new identity
1. What is your background?
2. How long have you been in Canada?
3. Have you studied English before you came to Canada?
4. Do you think learning a new language is hard?
5. Why do you want to learn a new language? (are you willing or forced to learn?)
6. How much money or time would you want to spend on the language learning?
7. Do you want to be a Canadian and give up your culture?
8. Do you want to have a job in Canada?
9. When you learn a new language, will you feel a loss in your own language?
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC CLICK HERE
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