電気通信大学 ASE II: 1/21 board notes・1月21日のボードノート

Hello! 

How are you? Above are the board notes for our class on 1/21. This is what you should have in your summaries. 

I'll look forward to seeing all of you next week for your final presentations. 

Take care and good luck!

Image: Personal photograph. All rights reserved.

東京理科大学 技術英語: 12/10 board notes・12月10日のボードノート

Hello!

How are you? Here are the board notes for our class on 12/10. 

Once again - if you would like to review the final presentation project, click on this link. 

See you next week with your great presentations!

Image: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

電気通信大学 ASE II: 12/10 board notes・12月10日のボードノート

Hello!

How are you? Here is a short post of the board notes for our class for 12/10. 

Here are the other notes: 

See you next week!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

電気通信大学 AE2Y I: 7/9 board notes・7月9日のボードノート

Hello! 

How are you? Above are the board notes for our classes on 7/9. 

If you want to see the AE2Y I final presentation assignment post again without searching around for it, click here for it.

Here are some more notes below for all of you on summary writing, presenting,  and composition writing: 

I hope these notes can help you as you finish your presentations and compositions. 

See you next week!

Images: Personal photographs and screenshots of original Word documents. All rights reserved.

電気通信大学 ASE & AE2Y I: More review about summaries & notes about outlines・要約、あらすじのレビュー ・ 付記

Hello!

How are you? Here is a review for all of you about summaries, with some new notes about outlines (あらすじ). This review, and these notes, are for both the ASE I and AE2Y I classes. 

If you would like a refresher on what we did in both classes last week on 5/7, click on this link here.

As a preview - look at this example in the screenshot at the top of a completed outline, with a title. While I have not talked much about outlines, I have included notes about it here because I have decided that you may use an outline in your presentation - but with only keywords and key phrases! 

First, let's review about summaries! Then I'll include a few more notes about outlines after. 

Review about summaries

Think of a summary as a statement of purpose (SOP) about your presentation or writing topic. It should be a compacted version of every aspect of your topic. 

First, show some background to the topic:

例えば：There have been many great partnerships, as well as rivalries, in the history of science and technology. Perhaps no rivalry was greater than that between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla.

Next, show a connection between the background and what you will present or write about:

There have been many great partnerships, as well as rivalries, in the history of science and technology. Perhaps no rivalry was greater than that between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. While both figures are crucial in the development of the practical application of electricity to everyday life…

Then, come in with what you will directly present or write about:

There have been many great partnerships, as well as rivalries, in the history of science and technology. Perhaps no rivalry was greater than that between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. While both figures are crucial in the development of the practical application of electricity to everyday life, this presentation/report will show that Edison may have been the greater figure given the numerous applications of electricity he made possible through his inventions.

This summary runs to only 71 words in total. But it shows completely the background to the topic, and the presenter's or writer's purpose with the topic.

This is what you should try for in the final versions of your summary writing. 

Notes on outlines
Now here's a little more about outlines.

Take a look again at the example in the screenshot at the top. While it is a little small, you can expand it on your screen.

I have labeled what each of the sections, main ideas/subheadings, supporting points, and details of supporting points mean, and how they are organized together in the outline. 

The language in an outline should be cut down to the minimum - no complete sentences and only keywords and key phrases. An outline really is a guideline of points for your presentation topic, so it should be as concise (簡明) as possible.

Important note: You do not have to make an outline for this presentation. But you will find that it will be easier to speak on your topic with an outline, as a good outline will show only keywords or key phrases and can help you keep yourself away from reading from lots of notes.

  

This is what the final version of an outline should look like - keywords and key phrases only! 

I hope these notes can help you with your presentation preparation. Good luck!

Image: Screenshot of original Word document. All rights reserved.

東京理科大学 Listening & Speaking 1a: Intro to literary circles - about the United Nations・文学的なディスカション・グループ「国連について」

Hello!

How are you? As I mentioned in class, one important thing we will do with the textbook listening and reading is discuss what we have listened to and read through literary circles (文学的なディスカション・グループ). 

What is a literary circle? It's an idea borrowed from literature (文学) studies, and is a way to know and understand information and content - such as a lecture or a reading - into a way you can more easily know and understand in your own words and ideas. This can be very useful for any science or technology-oriented studies.

Method (方法) 
How does it work? To begin with, literary circles have groups of 3-4 students. Four (4) students make the best circles, but three (3) is possible. 

The literary circle groups in our classes will each have a leader, a summarizer, a details master, and a vocabulary master. 

Leader
One student is chosen as the leader. He or she makes sure that the other members can stay on task and helps them where is needed, and will ask questions to the other members of the group. 

Summarizer
One student is chosen as the summarizer. He or she writes a short summary (要約) about the lecture or reading topic in his or her own words and reads or shares it with the other members. 

Details master
One student is chosen as the details master. (A detail is a 詳細 in Japanese.) He or she comes up with answers in his or her own words to the leader's detailed questions about the lecture or reading. 

Vocabulary master
One student is chosen as the vocabulary master. He or she comes up with definitions (定義) for important words in his or her own terms that are needed to help the group members' understandings of the lecture or reading.  

So let's start! 

Activity
Here is our first literary circle about the United Nations chapter so far in our textbook. (Are you ready?)

Special note: If you only have three (3) members in your group, the leader should also be the vocabulary master. The details master or summarizer should then ask the leader about vocabulary.

Leader questions

For the summarizer

Are you ready to summarize the reading/CD lecture? (Can you give us your summary of the reading/CD lecture?)

For the details master

1. Exactly when was the United Nations created?

2. What are the four (4) goals of the UN?

3. What does the UN Security Council work on?

4. Where is the headquarters of the UN?
* Where are the three (3) other offices of the UN located?

(Leaders - think of two (2) more questions of your own from the lecture or reading to ask the details master!)

For the vocabulary master

1. What does security mean?
2. What is a court?
3. What is a headquarters?
4. What does the secretariat do?

(Leaders - think of two (2) more words of your own from the lecture or reading to ask the vocabulary master!)

I hope this helps all of you with your understanding of this topic. 

See you next week!

Image: By Wilfried Huss/Anonymous - Flag of the United Nations from the Open Clip Art website. Modifications by Denelson83, Zscout370 and Madden. Official construction sheet here.United Nations (1962) The United Nations flag code and regulations, as amended November 11, 1952, New York OCLC: 7548838., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=437460

電気通信大学 ASE & AE2Y I: More notes about summaries & outlines・要約、あらすじの付記

Hello!

How are you? Here are some more notes for all of you about summaries and outlines. 

About summaries

Think of a summary as a statement of purpose (SOP) about your presentation or writing topic. It should be a compacted version of every aspect of your topic. 

First, show some background to the topic:

例えば：There have been many great partnerships, as well as rivalries, in the history of science and technology. Perhaps no rivalry was greater than that between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla.

Next, show a connection between the background and what you will present or write about:

There have been many great partnerships, as well as rivalries, in the history of science and technology. Perhaps no rivalry was greater than that between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. While both figures are crucial in the development of the practical application of electricity to everyday life…

Then, come in with what you will directly present or write about:

There have been many great partnerships, as well as rivalries, in the history of science and technology. Perhaps no rivalry was greater than that between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. While both figures are crucial in the development of the practical application of electricity to everyday life, this presentation/report will show that Edison may have been the greater figure given the numerous applications of electricity he made possible through his inventions.

This summary runs to only 71 words in total, but it captures completely the background to the topic, and the presenter's or writer's purpose with the topic.

This is what you should try for in the final versions of your summary writing.

About outlines
As I mentioned in class, the language in an outline should be cut down to the minimum - no complete sentences and only keywords and key phrases. An outline really is a guideline of points for your presentation topic, so it should be as concise (簡明) as possible.

Look at this example of a completed outline, with a title. This is what you should try for in your outline writing. While this example is a little small, you can expand it on your screen:

I have labeled what each of the sections, main ideas/subheadings, supporting points, and details of supporting points mean, and how they are organized together in the outline. 

This is what the final versions of your outlines should look like - keywords and key phrases only! 

I hope these notes can help you with your summary and outline writing. Good luck!

Image: Copyright-free photograph from Apple Photo Gallery. 

電気通信大学 AE2Y I: Board notes for Topic 1 presentation & writing assignment

Hello! 

How are you? Here are the board notes for today's (5/8) class on preparation for your Topic 1 presentation & writing assignments for next week (5/15). 

While I know many of you took your own pictures of these board notes, I am posting them here as well for anyone who might not have had their Smartphones handy, or had no chance to take their own pictures of the notes. 

Here are more of the notes:

This one is important! A good summary makes the topic clear for yourself - and in turn, will make it clear for the audience when you present. 

Extra note

Here are some variations of language you can use in structuring the beginnings of your summaries. I'll use my example about Bitcoin to show some different ways to start off your summaries.

例：

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are making major news now. This topic centers on the possible effects that I see may happen with the economy, and why we should be concerned…

My topic today focuses on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and my strong concern on the possible negative effects to the economy they represent…

Much is being written and discussed about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies at present. My reaction is that while many are positive about what they may mean for the economy, I am very unsure about how positive their effects are…

My choice for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for my topic today comes from not only how timely they are, but also some problems I believe may develop from adopting them as alternatives to standard currencies such as the U.S. dollar, the euro, and the yen…

Now here are the rest of the notes: 

These were the notes next to the one about the summary. 

These are some notes about the posters.

Here are some notes about Power Point - and how many of you showed that you want to do Power Point displays for your presentations.

I hope these can help you. Good luck for next week! I'm looking forward to seeing you and your great work. 

See you then!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved. 

電気通信大学 AWE II: Supplemental notes for writing assignment 3・作文3の附記

Hello!

How are you? The shot above is one of the board notes for AWE II from Friday's (11/10) class - this one was on examples of research questions.

Here is another set of board notes on summary writing:

Language for two-sided argumentation
Here, I will show some language that could help you in both your summary writing and your assignment writing. 

While there are many words and phrases you can use in setting up two-sided arguments, two common strategies (戦略) that are useful are words and phrases for turning points, and putting a new or different light, or casting doubt on one side in order to present a new, different, or even better side, in an argument.

Turning points – these are words and phrases that signal that you are introducing an idea that is different from the idea before it. It could be at least different to an idea, but possibly also better than it.

However, …
But…
Nonetheless, …
On the other hand, …

Putting a new or different light/casting doubt – these are ways that you can show that:

One argument may be good, but there is another that shows a new, or at least different, side to it. I call this putting new or different light on a subject – this is like turning a light switch on a lamp and shining it on something (“putting new light”) to see it more clearly, then moving it around to see it differently – so, “putting a different light” on it.

But while one argument might be good, there could be another argument that is better. This is casting doubt on something that might be true, but where there might be something else that is better. 

There are many words and phrases that can be used to put cast doubt on one side of a topic or issue, in order to show a different side. Here are a few types of phrasal structures you can use. 

Examples for putting a new or different light on a subject:
While this is true, it is also the case that/it is nevertheless clear that…
However true this is, it is nonetheless true (as well) that…
Even where (A) has its merits, (B) also has strengths in…

Examples for casting doubt on a subject:
There is a point in thinking this/believing that, but…
To a certain extent this is right/correct, but…
When we see (B) more closely, however, we can see where (A) may fall short/may lack… 

I hope these can help you in your writing. 

Good luck! See you next time!

Images: Personal photographs of board notes. All rights reserved.