Thursday, December 08, 2005

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

speech class video






























embedding video trial

This is a trial. I'm pasting the url code available from grouper video hoping that the video will be embedded on blogger.

It works!

And, if video is played on my blog, then what I have here is a VLOG!

Interesting.






























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Sunday, December 04, 2005

Forum for on-demand lecture circulation


What should be our professional stance as an educator and as an applied linguist? Posted by Picasa

Shown on the photo: Our dept chair- Isabel Chuo (speaking), on the panel from left: Dean- Dr. Bosco Lee, and Prof. Nakano

Invited guest speaker: Professor Nakano

I would consider Prof. Nakano's on-demand class system as an enlarged version of blended learning activities that I (and many webheads' educators)have done and still doing in my own classroom. The only difference, in my opinion, is the diversity of people who are participating and contributing their time and effort to this project. The list of universities is rather impressive. I wasn't relly surprised to see my sister's and brother's alma matter (De la Salle University) on the list. To take part in this project will somehow promote the school- so I understand why wen Zao wants to join this project. I have volunteered to participate and contribute my lecture materials and I am hoping that our dept. chair will call on me when the time comes.

The principle behind this distance learning project is rather simple and counts on the same blended learning theories (vygostky, gagne, etc) as the backbone of its pedagogical foundation. What Prof. Nakano described in her lecture is practically the same as to what webheads do. She made use of her own terms, i.e. on-demand internet course, or to what many CALL educators would classify as CMC (both synchronous and asynchronous). The platform they use is a combination of various virtual learning environment (VLEs) that webheads have been using, MOOs, Moodle, Yahoogroups, etc.

I was thrilled to know that many of the topics that they've used in their fora are the same with the topics and issues I covered in my Language and culture class.

I was given a few minutes to show Dr. Nakano my website and my projects and she was impressed (I would like to think that she was anyway ;-) ) She was optimistic about our school joining her project and I would be very much willing to participate in it.

aiden

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Re: Bonnie's greeting

Check out these books from your library:
 
These articles may also help:
 
 
 
 
 
Remember, semiotic texts carry different meanings in different contexts. Be clear as to what context you are referring to.
 
I hope this helps.
 
aiden

Bonnie Fu <norhan.tw@yahoo.com.tw> wrote:
Dear Aiden,

Actually, I do hope I can get some help from you at
this moment...it is about my essay I had to hand in on
16th this month.

I'm not sure if you have time to help me, but maybe
you could give me some direction for finding info?

Here is my topic: What social semiotic information can
texts convey? How can, or should, this information be
translated?

I borrowed some books titled 'social semiotics' but it
came out that finding a non-existing needle in a hay,
no clue at all. My teacher said they could not help
any students since it would be like favouring students
and till now I didn't find any classmates who is doing
the same topic :(

I hope I didn't sound too abrupt to throw questions to
you right after the greeting letter, though it really
seemed like so.

Thank you for taking time looking at me letter.

Have a nice day,

Bonnie


--- Aiden Yeh »¡¡G

> Hi Bonnie,
>
> It's nice to hear from you.
>
> No, I didn't receive your email :-( but thanks
> anyway. It's the thought that counts.
>
> How's your studies coming along?
>
> aiden
>
> Bonnie Fu wrote:
> Dear Aiden,
> How are you? I wrote to you long time ago, around
> Teacher's Day. Maybe I send to another e-mail
> account.
>
> The weather in Leeds is really amazing, sunshine,
> rain, wind all together in a day...soon there will
> be
> some snow I guess
>
> Hope everything goes well,
>
> Bonnie (YE5A, studies in UK now)
>
>


Yahoo! DSL Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Distance learning universities in Taiwan?

I have always been critical about the Taiwanese government's policy on crediting degrees received by distance learning. Despite the fact that many universities are now offering blended courses and Taiwan's first Open University is now operational, I still feel that there is still a huge number of educators who wants to preserve their status quos and maintain double standards when it comes to online learning. Are they really prepared to go all out? If this is the case, shoudn't they credit those degrees received online from accredited universities in the UK and US (or even Australia)?

Mind boggling really...

Anyway, I have been invited to attend a conference at our school this Friday on Distance Learning, and the speaker will be talking about the various projects that have been implemented by both private and gov't institutions so far. Interesting- but my question still remains, if we advocate for the validity of learning conducted online (given the existing projects/plan above) then shouldn't the government look at their policies concerning the accreditation of degrees received by DL (through accredited universities worldwide)?

12月2日南區英語教學資源中心邀請了早稻田大學遠距教學中心所長中野美知子教授到校發表專題演講。由於中野教授在遠距教學研究已深耕多年,擬請中野教授於上午與校內教師分享「培育亞太菁英合作計畫」,以及了解本校如何加入其中的網路大學聯盟計劃。


時間:12月2日(五) 10:00am~11:00am
地點:行政大樓二樓會議室
與會教師預計邀請:國事系劉俊裕主任、外教系王昱鈞老師、資訊與教學科技中心謝琇薇小姐、英文系林秀珍老師、張純華老師、葉佰賢老師
會議主持人:英文系卓惇慧主任


「培育亞太菁英合作計畫」簡介:(Collaborative Efforts to Create Asian-Pacific Intelligence)分為三個階段執行:
第一階段:加強日本學生的英語能力,其中包括鼓勵學生修習「Tutorial English」。
第二階段:進入跨文化遠距學習(Cross-Culture Distance Learning,簡稱CCDL)。在此階段,亞洲各國學生以英語為共通語言,利用網路教學與視訊會議等遠距教學系統,以認識、探討各國語言、歷史、風俗、宗教等議題為出發點,進而培養了解、接受、尊重異文化之視野與胸襟。
第三階段:網路大學聯盟計畫(Cyber University Consortium Projects)。現有全球二十多所大學提供遠距課程,供學生選修,學生亦可透過視訊會議進行多地遠距研討會。此階段以第二階段跨文化學習為基礎,開設更深入之課程,並加強專業課程的訓練。

Wednesday, November 23, 2005


Potentially good blog site form Tagworld. Still in its Beta version, but the server offers plenty of goodies. If blogger allows you to upload texts, photos, audio, etc. Tagworld allows you to upload files, creates Bookmarks, photos (ala Flickr), guestbook, etc. It serves as your own website. I'm leaving my site open so I don't need to enrol all 40 of my studnets! I just hope that it's gonna be free of spam. Posted by Picasa

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Links for postgrad studies for Nina

M.A. in Mass Communication
University of Minnesota
California State University, Fresno
Texas State University
Or choose the University you like to study in and see whether they have the course that you like.
US Universities by Sate

MSc in Marketing Management
MBA

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Michael Coghlan's presentation


The Role of Technology in Language Teaching: Alternative Delivery or Mainstream?  Posted by Picasa

Date: Sun, 02 Oct 2005 23:30:33 +0930
Subject: [evonline2002_webheads] Presentation Now Online


Hi everyone.

The text of the presentation from last Friday, The Role of Technology
in Language Teaching: Alternative Delivery or Mainstream? (in which
Chris J and Aiden and Bee joined in) is now on the web at
click here
Archive also available via LearningTimes at
click here
Enjoy ( hopefully) :)

- Michael.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

A message from Claire

Wednesday morning.

I received an IM (Yahoo Instant Message) from Claire, a former student of mine. Before the semester ended, she asked me if I could write a recommendation letter for her. I naturally obliged and extended my wishes hoping that she would get the job that she's aspiring for. Well, she did, and I'm so happy for her.
Here's what she wrote:

a70420 (2005/6/26 上午 11:27:14): Dear Aiden, How are you doing? I'm Claire from YE4A . I want to say thank you for writing me the reference for my job. I got the job! I'm now working in Novartis in Taipei, which is a foreign pharmaceutical company with about 200 employees. I've worked for 2 weeks, I'm still learning and adjusting my life style, it's totally different from my life as being a student. I learned a lot from your class, it gave me more in-depth perspective toward things. You are a great teacher and thank you so much. Wish you all the best, Claire

Friday, June 24, 2005

Links to News Videos

2nd year, Listening to News

[1] Higher salaries for Iraqi professionals

Won't play? Click here to go to BBC

[2] Chinese: The New French or Spanish

[3] Nike openness, BBC Listen to the report.

[4] Non-Japanese heads Sony Corporation, BBC Listen to the report here.

[5] Students Redo Civil Rights History, Watch the video, click here.

[6] Peacocks Swarm Couple's Fla. Home, Direct link to video

Monday, May 23, 2005

Links to News Videos

MSNBC's The Abrams Report on Scott Peterson, click here.

MSNBC's report on Identity Theft, click here.

CBS's report on Etiquette, click here.

BBC's report on Sony, click here.

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

CJ's response to Tere's students in Portugal (2)

Click here to listen to CJ!

In this voice file, CJ greets his portuguese friends with Ola! and continues to introduce his name, I'm CJ (Wo Shr CJ). He then asks, "What's your name?" and translates it in Chinese, "Ni Chao Sha Ma Ming Tz". He ends his recording with, Adios.

Cj was excited in doing this recording. He had to practice 3 times ;-) and he's definitely looking forward to the next audio recording.

Aiden

From Teresa and her students:
Dear CJ,

Here's a voice message that your Portuguese friends in 6G recorded for you this morning in class. They heard your message and said each of the three words in Chinese, English and Portuguese. It's not crystal clear because they recorded it in chorus, but it shows you how they enjoyed your message.

I love listening to you play La Cucaracha on the flute! Way to go!

Hope all is well with you and your family!

Hugs,

Teresa

Saturday, April 30, 2005

My voice translation


Teresa's 6th graders sent me voice messages, asking me how to translate Hello, Good Morning and Goodbye. This is the reason why I asked my son, CJ, to do the Chinese translation for me. I also did my translation and I used my old Avatar to do it. I think, looking at an animated character while listening is far interesting to kids than to simply listen to my voice.

 Posted by Hello

Here's Tere's email message:
Dear Aiden,

Here are the messages that my students wrote and recorded in class this morning with HandyBits. Pedro G. represents 6F and Teresa represents 6G. I hope you enjoy them!

They heard your message twice and understood most everything. Then I showed them the text and had them think about a reply. They really enjoyed learning the new words. In fact, they enjoyed the whole class. You can see what they had to do at
http://wwwin.malhatlantica.pt/teresadeca/school/call-lessons04-05.htm

Thanks for your reply in YM.

Hugs,

Teresa


I'll try to upload their voice files and link them here.

aiden

CJ's got his own avatar from sitepal!


CJ's Avatar Posted by Hello

This is CJ's avatar from Site Pal. I asked him to record his voice translating 3 basic Chinese greetings, Hello, Good Morning, and Good bye. He thinks that it's fun recording his voice and teaching other children (Tere's students in Portugal) some basic Chinese words. I also think that this is a good way for CJ to brush up his English, which is really getting rusty.

This is what we did today. Click here to see and listen to CJ translate!

Cj is now learning how to play "Fur Elise". Posted by Hello

CJ plays the flute

Click here to listen to CJ, my eldest son, playing 'La Curacha'.

Click here to listen to CJ play the theme song from a Chinese Kung Fu Movie.

Thursday, April 14, 2005

SitePal.Com

I've created an avatar at SitePal.com. It has audio capability and I could record my voice. If I paid the monthly fee, I could also copy and paste the html code and host my avatar on my own site. But, this paid service will have to wait until it fits in the budget- as of now- it's definitely out!

Here's my welcome message to Chrissan which I create a day prior to our online discussion. It is available at http://tinyurl.com/5xwll

I'll be creating another message for Teresa and her 6th grades for giving me the inspiration to create my own avatar in SitePal.

OK, after 5 minutes, here's the url http://tinyurl.com/4sup8

aiden

Text to Speech Software

http://www.naturalreaders.com/download.htm
Natural Voice Reader free version provides you a good chance to read any text on screen with Microsoft Mary voices.

Text to Speech
http://www.nextup.com/

Monday, April 11, 2005


Uncle B, Wai and auntie Glenn in Goldilocks, C.A. Posted by Hello

Wai in C.A. about to watch the Angels. Posted by Hello

Kinship Terminology

URL Links

[1] Representing Anthropological Knowledge: Calculating Kinship

Analyzing and Understanding Cultural Codes

Michael D. Fischer
http://era.anthropology.ac.uk/Era_Resources/Era/Kinship/


[2] Calculating Kin: Analyzing and Understanding Cultural Codes http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/Kinship/Kinship/kinCodes.html

Kinship Terminology from

http://www.britannica.com/search?miid=1182105&query=kinship+terminology

[3] Kinship Terminology from Wikipedia

http://www.encyclopedia-online.info/Family#Kinship_terminology


[4] Kinship and Marriage http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/kinship/index.shtml

[5] FORMAL ANALYSIS OF KINSHIP TERMINOLOGIES AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO WHAT CONSTITUTES KINSHIP (COMPLETE TEXT)
Dwight W. Read, University of California, Los Angeles Published in Mathematical Anthropology and Cultural Theory: An International Journal Vol 1 No. 1 http://repositories.cdlib.org/hcs/MACT/1100DWR/


[6] Kinship and Social Organization {great link} http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/kintitle.html

Monday, April 04, 2005

Man Made Language

URL LINKS

Man Made LanguageSource: Man Made Language (1980) publ. Routledge & Kegan Paul. Just the Introduction reproduced here.

Non-discriminatory language


-learn the meaning of the terms 'non-discriminatory language' and 'discriminatory language'

- learn to recognise discriminatory messages

- practise rectifying sentences that are discriminatory

- learn to recognise sexist language

- learn how to avoid sexist language and

- learn how to use pronouns in non-discriminatory ways


Non-Sexist LanguageFrom Purdue University

Language Matters - Guidelines for the Use of Non-Discriminatory Language at UTS

My former student won the NSYSU's speech competition

A former student of mine sent me an email informing me of her recent academic achievement. She won the university's speech competition and she will be representing the school during the National competition in three weeks. In her email she was also requesting for my help. I feel honored that she even thought of me during this special moment of her student life. Here's what she wrote:
------------

Dear Aiden,
How have you been? Hope everything is going on well and smoothly.
Last week, the school held a speech competition, and I won, and hence I'll be representing NSYSU to attend the sppech contest of the southern part of Taiwan in 3 weeks. However, I don't know how to prepare it, and would like to ask you if there's any website about speech preperation. It will be an instant speech, and no topic will be given beforehand.
Therefore, if you have time, please tell me some links you know. However, if you have been busy, it's alright as well.
Hope it doesn't bother you and thank you. : )
Best Wishes
Sincerely,
Orin
------------

And here's my letter to her. I asked her if I could post my email to her on this blog and she granted me permission:
------------

Hi Orin,

Congratulations! I'm so proud of you. Representing NSYSU must be pretty overwhelming and I won't be surprised if the pressure is starting to build up. It's OK to feel nervous. Just remember one thing "Mind over matter". Believe in yourself. Believe in your faith. You have three weeks to prepare and get ready. Since you don't really know what topics will be given I suggest that you start getting familiar with news and current events, both local and international news. Take into consideration major issues concerning health, politics and society.

I found these URL links on Impromptu Speeches:

Developing Effective Speeches: The logic behind the scenes http://grove.ufl.edu/~swebster/lecture1.htm

Impromptu Speech Tips
http://www.thebeckoning.com/acadec/impromptu/speech-tips.html
Some guidelines for impromptu speaking from Toastmasters International
http://www.fisherhouse.com/bsu/comm101/impromptu.html

How Toastmasters can benefit you
http://www.doncaster.toastmasters.org.au/how%20toastmasters%20can%20benefit%20you.htm [copy and paste if you get a broken link]


Check out CNN student news at http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com and take note of some highly sensationalized issues. For example:

1. The Terry Schiavo Case [Living or Existing?] When do we let go? Is mercy killing unethical?

2. The Minnesota shooting. Troubled-teenagers. Shooting rampage in school. Gun ownership.

There are many other issues behind the news. When you read or watch these news, look at the moral, political, religious issues that go with them. Remember there are always two sides of a coin, the pros and cons. minimize saying, "I believe..." or "in my opinion..." In impromptu speeches, it's about convincing your audience to believe in what you say and where you stand on an issue. It is very important to show credibility at the begining, middle and end of your speech. You want to show them that you're knowledgeable about the issue that you're talking about. You will need to elaborate in your speech your references or sources or people whom you're quoting from- this is the reason why you need to know current events. It is more than just your opinion.

I have lecture notes on Persuasive speech but the file is in my office in wen Zao. I'll send it to you on Wednesday.

I hope this helps, Orin. I wish you luck.

Godspeed,

Aiden

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Vance Stevens 2005 TESOL presentation


From top left to right:

1st row: Audience 1, Elizabeth, Deborah Healy and Jim Duber, Johanna Katchen

2nd row from left: Deborah Healy, Susan Gear, Mercedes, Michael Coghlan

3rd row from left: Aiden, Bee, Audience 2, Audience 3 [foreground: Elizabeth on the left, and Dustin (Vance's son) on the extreme right] Posted by Hello

Thursday, March 31, 2005

2005 Internet Fair


I was supposed to present at TESOL's EV 2005 Internet Fair. unfortunately due to financial reasons, I won't be able to attend :-( Posted by Hello

Here's what's posted on EV's CALL-IS website:

“Listening and Speaking” will be represented by Aiden Yeh, who will show various online videos such as commercials, video trailers, and video résumés that can be used to enhance discussion on language and culture-related topics. Lesson plans, task requirements, and samples of students’ projects will be included. Vino Reardon will demonstrate the use of Internet sites for additional listening practice and background information for a content-based speaking and understanding course. URLs of useful sites and sample worksheets will be provided.

http://tinyurl.com/4tbud

Monday, March 28, 2005

How CMC tools for professional development enhance learning environments for students


Online presence at TESOL conference with Vance Stevens. Michael and I will be joining Vance online. We'll be talking about my blended leanring project, Happy online.  Posted by Hello

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Difficulties in using your first and second language

If you speak more than one language, describe any difficulties you experienced learning and using your second language (both languages?). Have any of your experiences been similar to Tan’s and/or Kingston's? What are some of the difficulties you encountered when translating from one language to another? Post your answers on the forum at http://languageculture.forumsplace.com/message-5.html



Click play to listen

"In this 1989 interview with Don Swaim, Maxine Hong Kingston, author of China Men, Woman Warrior, and The Fifth Book of Peace loves the English language. She talks about how any language can be translated into English and any non-translating word will become incorporated into the English language. This is why English is almost a universal world language. Kingston explains how she will think in Chinese about what she wants to write and then she will write it in English." From Wiredforbooks.com website

Maxine Hong Kingston After the Fire
Miel Alegre and Dave Weich, Powells.com



Click play to listen

"Author of The Bonesetter's Daughter, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, and Moon Lady, Amy Tan talks with Don Swaim about growing up as the child of immigrants, working with disabled children, participating in a writers' group, and "becoming Chinese" on her first visit to China in this 1989 interview." From Wiredforbooks.com website

Amy Tan's Biography

BBC's article on Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter

Note:

The above audio links are from Wiredforbooks.com. They are linked here for educational purposes only. Taiwanese students in Aiden Yeh's Language and Culture class will be using them as part of their in-class discussion and activities on Kingston's 'Misery of Silence' and Tan's "Mother Tongue".

Monday, March 21, 2005


I asked my brother who happens to run an ad agency to come up with logo studies for my 'dream' restaurant/take-out place. I've been toiling with this idea for some weeks now and I'm not sure whether I should give it a go. It's the fear of not making it that makes me quiver. But I really need the money to support my studies and at the rate I'm going I'd end up burried in debt if I don't do anything now. So, which logo is better? Which name is better? Posted by Hello

Language and Bicultural Identity

Links to readings on Language and Bicultural Identity

Excellent Find! Language and Identity

Why Bilingual Education? ERIC Digest.
by Krashen, Stephen

Immigrants Suffer from Losing Their Identity by Howard Kim

language and identity in twentieth-century Ireland

Rights and Responsibilities of Educators of Bilingual-Bicultural Children, Jim Cummins, University of Toronto

Friday, March 11, 2005

capturing audio

What I thought was going to be a good session turned out to be a huge frustration. All the preparations I did last night, the online vocabulary quizzes, cloze tests, all went down the drain when the audio/video material from my online source [CNN] did not work properly. It kept on buffering affecting the students' listening motivation. It was really difficult listening to the material and concentrating on getting the details was becoming a pain.

After class, I went to the office hoping to catch Mr. Tsai, our tech-support guy. He was there alright and I poured out all my frustrations. He suggested that I record the audio but will have to sacrifce the video. At this stage, I have no choice but give up video. He mentioned Total recorder which I have at home, and if it doesn't work, he can lend me a new software that does mp3 recording. I can't wait till monday- my class is on Monday!

Anyway, the moment I got home, I tried recording using Total recorder. It worked alright but I could not get rid of the noise. I think TR has done purposely injected noise so member will add the noise reduction feature which you need to purchase. This isn't an option for me. It's a good thing that BENQ has audio recorder built in so I used it instead. It worked fine but I will have to try this in class to see how clear the audio is if played in the classroom.


sigh. what an exhausting day.

aiden

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Wai and her new RAV


My sister, Wai, showing off her new RAV. Wai is an Information Architect at a Media company in California. She helped in designing the Webheads logo. She's very smart, creative, and witty. I think she has found the man of her dreams and I hope that this one's for real. Posted by Hello

Showing bio page


Showing the students the BIO page I created. Screenshot was taken by Vance Stevens Posted by Hello