Hi Ali

Here's that document about setting up a Digital Language Lab. It looks very useful!

CALL Course

What is CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning)? Read a definition and history here.

You can also find a lot of information about using ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) on this website. The link will take you to the CALL section.

Read Mark Prensky's article about what he calls 'digital natives' here. It has some difficult vocabulary but interesting ideas.

How to use what your read in your academic writing...

Today we looked at how to integrate other people's ideas into your writing. This is a large and complex area which involves knowing how to summarise, paraphrase, quote, use appropriate referencing conventions, use correct reporting structures, be aware of plagiarism etc. It is a difficult skill and one which most students (whether they are native speakers or not) find quite hard to master.

1. Have a look at some examples of academic writing and notice how referencing techniques are used. Here's one example. At London Met the system used is usually called the 'Harvard' system as it originated at Harvard university. There are, however, a number of different systems in use. A good description of the Harvard system can be found here. There is another excellent guide here.

We'll be looking a bit more at summarising and paraphrasing for the rest of this week, then in more detail at referencing techniques early next week.

Postgraduate writing

Today we looked at the importance of carefully analysing the essay question and some of the most common words used in essay questions. We also looked at the various stages of planning an essay and started thinking about brainstorming your subject. I also asked you to brainstorm ideas related to globalisation and your own subject matter and post some thoughts on your blog.
Here is a link to something we looked at in class today. There is some really good advice about writing here and well worth spending some time on.