THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE CORNER
INSTRUCTOR:
GUSTAVO ZAPATA
JOURNAL (WRITING)
You should
buy yourself a 50-page small size notebook.
Every two
days you should write an entry in your diary, so that by the end of the semester
you will have written about 50-60 entries. An entry can be from half a page to
one page long.
ObecJtive:
To promote general writing
skills, vocabulary power, use of grammar, and in general written communicative
skills.
Methodology:
-
You can write about anything
you feel like writing: something interesting that happened to you in class,
on campus, on the way to school or home; about the weather, your feelings,
your family, your classes, a weird person, your neighborhood, your health,
the landscape, a mishappening, your job, your childhood, something you
forgot, an exam you failed or passed, a new acquaintance, etc.
-
Try to use the vocabulary and
grammar you learned in previous courses and the one your are learnign in
your present courses. This will help
you reinforce your learning.
-
You should pay attention to
spelling, vocabulary and grammar but do not let it interfere with your
writing too much. Concetrate on meaning, on writing and not on the form.
You migh later go back and make some corrections here and there but do not
try to spend too much time on polishing.
-
Try to find the right moment
when you feel at ease with yourself and you feel like putting down your
thoughts.
-
Your journal can be very
private. In this case, you have to let the instructor know and, in this
way, he will arrange things in such a way that he will evaluate your
production without reading your diary, or perhaps parts that you agree can
be accessed by him.
-
You can use your computer or a
notebook, or a combination of both.
I'd rather you used the notebook.
-
What to do with the
notebook:
-
From time to time your
instructor may ask you to bring your notebook to class for a check up or to
share it with the class.
-
Two weeks before classes are
over, you should hand your journal in to your instructor for general
revision and grading, which will be done on the basis of number of entries
written and overall use of grammar and vocabulary.
WARNING ! : Journals
written during the last week in a rush will not be accepted for grading.