More Advice for Beginners

I'm new | Laura McLean | October 21st, 2001

Hello, everyone. I just wanted to introduce myself to the group. I moved to Italy from the USA over ten years ago, and have been working as an ESL teacher in various schools and at the local university ever since. Like some of you, I also do some freelance work as a translator and writer.

I've just started work on the FND module. Can any of you remember back to when you had just begun the course? Is there anything you wish you know now about the course/studying/yourself that you wish you could have known then? For example, another participant in Italy suggested keeping a list of articles received and ordered through the library. It may seem silly to you now, but any words of support would mean a lot to me.

I look forward to joining in the discussions here. Are there any rules about what is considered fair game for topics? Are trivial or controversial issues politely avoided? By the way, I seem to receive only about a message or two a day from the group. Is that about right? How many course participants are active list members?

Cheers,

Laura

Re: I'm new | Jerry Talandis Jr. | October 21st, 2001

Hi Laura,

Nice to have you on board. My name is Jerry Talandis, and I live and work in Toyama, Japan. I've recently finished FND, and just started MET yesterday.

Yes, there are a few points that I know now that I wish I knew when I started. One is not to stress out over the portfolio tasks. For example, it took me over one month to do the MET one. What a waste of time. I recommend jotting down notes and ideas, or perhaps making a rough draft of each task as you come to it, then once you've gone through the whole course, going back to polish everything up.

Another point I learned was to get organized about my study habits. There was a real good discussion on this list soon after I joined; that helped me a lot. Basically, you have to find the way in which you work best. For me, that means doing all the tasks and writing on a computer.

Also, I found it a great shock to not know half the words in some of the readings. I felt like a dunce. It took a while to get back into study mode. You may experience similar things. Hopefully, it will pass.

As for this list, I was really surprised at how little it is used. In the Study Companion, they talk about how each course has its own list, but in reality, that is not the case. When you send in a message related to a certain module, usually people preface it with the module's code (ex: FND, MET, TDA, etc). This helps people weed through messages they are not interested in. In reality however, I always read all the messages, because 1. there aren't that many of them, and 2. you never know when you can help someone out. As long as you can offer something positive, I think almost anything goes. It doesn't have to be all hard-core academic stuff, although that is fine.

Good luck with FND! It's very interesting once you get going. I hope we can discuss some of the tasks here on this list.

Jerry

Welcome Laura | Francesca Michalski | October 21st, 2001

Dear Laura,

Welcome to the course and our on-line discussion group. I agree with pretty much everything that Jerry has said particularly your getting organised in terms of study skills. You could try reading a book on this area.

This group has phases of more or less contributions depending on the topic that is being discussed. I think that what you put into it you'll certainly get out of it and I've never written to the group and not had a reply.

I've been doing the course almost two years now and have completed nearly four double modules and a single one aside from FND. One thing I wish I'd known at the beginning of the course is that the single modules* are not half the work of the double ones. This is a controversial statement and one about which I'd like to hear the opinion of others, but the one single module I took had an assignment of equal length (3-4,000 words) and two files to read. The module file had half the number of units (5 rather than 10) and the articles' file about two thirds of a double module in terms of reading. It took me nearly as long to complete the module, as it would have to have done a double one. This can be seen as a plus if you are interested in the topic, because you will probably go deeper into it than you had imagined. However, if you are looking at things in terms of the time you spend and the points you are awarded, it would make more sense to do only double modules the way things stand at the moment. Other CPs, have you had similar experiences? I believe I read somewhere on this list that assessment of the single modules is due to change. Does anyone know how?

Good luck on the course, Laura, you are not alone.

Francesca
Brazil

*Editor's note: Single modules were discontinued in the fall of 2004.

Laura & the list | Raymond Sheehan | October 23rd, 2001

Hi Laura:

Welcome to the list. Some of the responses to your "advent" made me think about what the list and indeed what the FND module meant to me.

First, the list is a crucial connection point. Time and again, I see names such as Pinkie, Jerry, Norman, Francecsa crop up and I get the feeling of a dedicated band of CPs forging on, exchanging their bits of wisdom, frustration, insight and researched knowledge with the rest of us. I feel that I'm in good company. I feel disappointed that I am not in a class with such lively spirits, but such are the demerits of distance learning. I would dearly love to see a return (or progress?) to a more narrowly focused seminar-type list where participants within a given module shared their joys and woes. However, I do open every message on the list--presuming that it is of current interest, may be of future interest, or may ask a question to which I can give some limited answer, having been in a similar quandary myself.

Second. let me say that I think the FND module is stunningly good. I feel certain that every step I take and every move I make through the subsequent modules will be informed by the practical and cognitive and empathetic demands of the FND module. Do every small task in the module, as well as the big ones. They really do have value.

If you put a huge amount of time into a particular task, it will pay off in dividends in future assignments. It means you need to reflect seriously upon your preconceptions of e.g. methodology or to come to terms with lexical/grammatical distinctions in a principled way. If your intuition compels you to spend less time on another given task, that may be OK too. The FND Module has elements that may be comfortingly familiar and others that (albeit seemingly familiar) are challengingly new by taking things one more step forward beyond the familiar into the seriously investigative. And therin lie the beginnings of action research, the terminology and foci of applied linguistics ...and the pathway towards becoming a reflective teacher???

No matter what your time-plan is, spend as much time as you need to on the FND module. It's at the very heart of things (in terms of concepts, rhetorical structures, areas for investigative research, investigative methodology). Enjoy the module. Enjoy where it takes you. It will engage you in a process of discovery about yourself as a teacher, your teaching context, your linguistic and methodological assumptions, and cultural assumptions... It will also show you how to create a pathway through the next few years of your MSc. It really does succeed in doing that.

Raymond Sheehan
UAE

FND advice | Karen Masatsugu | October 23rd, 2001

Hello again everyone,

I've been away from the list for a couple of months because I was somehow deleted (has this happened to anyone else?) and it's good to be back.

I'm just trying to finish my FDN portfolio tasks and agree with what's been said so far in response to Laura. I'd also like to add my hard-earned wisdom: if you have a problem, contact someone, don't sit and worry about it. Send in a task for some feedback, and check through the summary of the tasks at the back of the Foundation module so that you can plan ahead. I got to the IIC unit in August and realised that I needed tape recordings of classroom interactions but we were on holiday for two months....

I've found the e-mail list to be an excellent source of support and forum for reflection.

Good luck and enjoy.

Karen

Thanks for your tips | Laura McLean | October 23rd, 2001

Thanks to all of you for sharing your ideas... and for helping me get off on the right foot. I look forward to getting to know each of you better, and am pleased to be in contact with people on the course from all over the world. Now, to work!

Cheers!