電気通信大学 AWE II: Citing, quoting, & referencing in academic writing・書き、作文の引用と参照

Hello!

How are you? As promised, here are the slides for the presentation today on citing, quoting, and referencing in academic writing. 

The slide above is the title slide. Now here are the rest of the slides. Look at these to refresh yourselves on this important point of academic writing: 

I hope these can help you. Good luck - and take care. See you in two weeks!

If you go to the student festival - have a good time!

Images: Screenshots of personal Power Point slideshow. 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. 

電気通信大学 AWE I: Spring semester final writing assignment・前期末作文

Hello!

How are you? Today I will post about our spring final writing assignment.

The assignment will be your choice! I have given you the handout about the assignment, but I am posting it here again to help remind you about what you have to do.

Semester topic review

Here is a review of the topics of this semester:

•        Unique, interesting, or special people
•        Refugees

Plus our current topic:

•       Immigration

Deadline (締め切り)

You will hand these in on July 28th (7/28), so you have two (2) weeks to draft these. I would like to see a summary of your topic, plus a first draft next week (7/21).

Guidelines

You are free to choose any one (1) of these topics, but with these guidelines:

1. Unique, interesting, or special people

You must write on a different person than what you did before – do not write the same thing on the same topic that you did already! But you can write on someone from any field – not only science.

Like our two assignments we have done this semester, you must write a one-sided argument about the person and the impact or influence about the achievements, fame, success, or notoriety the person has had.

2. Refugees

To write about a different point to this topic, two (2) suggestions I have for you are these (choose one):

• An argument about the effectiveness of relief agencies that work with refugees
• Difficulties that certain countries have had in absorbing and settling refugees (choose one (1) country for this) 

You must write a one-sided argument for – or against – the points of the topic you choose.

3. Immigration

This is our current topic. You must write on the merits – or demerits – of immigration to Japan. What are the benefits to Japan of mass immigration? What are the demerits? Who should be let in – and perhaps, who should not? You must write a one-sided argument about the topic. 

How much to write

Try to write as much as you can. I suggest you aim for at least three (3) paragraphs, but I encourage you to go longer – 4-5 paragraphs at least.

I will collect your writing into the books I have talked about in class – The Small Book of Big People, Places & Traces, and Leaving Home, Going Home. 

Good luck! I will look forward to reading your great writing – and please relax over the summer for a job well done!

Image: Personal photograph. All rights reserved.

電気通信大学 ASE & AWE I: Japanese-Brazilian education・日系ブラジルの教育

Hello!

How are you? Today, let's look more on our topic about immigrants (移民).

Let's look at Japanese-Brazilians (日系ブラジール人) and some problems they have living in Japan. The poster above is one some students of mine at another university did about Japanese-Brazilians and their communities in Japan. What do you know about Japanese-Brazilians? Do you know any famous Japanese-Brazilians?

Here is a picture of an educational center for Japanese-Brazilian people:

There are many Japanese-Brazilians living in Japan. They have their own businesses, and even their own schools.

Homework

Here is a video about the problems that many Brazilians have in Japan, especially with education. Watch this video. What do you think? Make some notes about the video. When you are finished, answer these questions in your notebooks:

1. When did Japanese first begin leaving Japan for Brazil?

2. When did Japan first begin letting Japanese-Brazilians to come to Japan to work?

3. What is the name of the Japanese-Brazilian school in Toyoda?

4. What does the school do for the children’s parents who do not have jobs?

5. In 2009 how many Brazilians did Francisco Freitas say were in Japan?

6. What percentage of Brazilian children are not in Brazilian schools?

7. What problems do some Brazilian children have when going to Japanese schools?
8. What did Rodney Freitas say about how Japanese-Brazilians are treated in Brazil?

I hope this will be interesting for you!

Take care!

Images: Top - photograph of student poster presentation. All rights reserved to the student presenters/Building - By English: Abasaa 日本語: あばさー (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Japanese_Brazilian_Center_Educational_Institute_in_Oizumi.JPG
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. 

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. Uploaded for educational purposes only. All rights reserved to the owner(s).