Author Archives: steve neufeld

Just the Word & WORDLE…a match made in [lexical] heaven..

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Just the Word (http://193.133.140.102/JustTheWord/) is gaining popularity with practitioners as well as researchers.  WORDLE is a wonderful graphic interface to illustrate corpus frequency statistics.  Few people are aware of the ADVANCED feature on WORDLE and how to ‘mash up’ input from a site like Just the Word.

Here is an example WORDLE based on high frequency collocates of RESEARCH using the pattern analysis of the BNC from Just the Word.  I replaced the root RESEARCH with a bullet to make it less cluttered.

Wordle: Research collocates

And here is how I did this:

WORDLE has an ‘advanced’ button (top right) that takes you to http://www.wordle.net/advanced – from here, you can specify not only the ‘size’ of the words, but also the colour.

For example, from Just the Word I generated the collocates of ‘RESEARCH’.  I then did a little Excel ‘magic’ and sorted all the collocates by pattern, and filtered within the frequency range of 100 to 1000 (to produce a reasonable wordle not dominated by one or two really high frequency items).  I then selected a different colour for each PATTERN.  Because RESEARCH was the common root, I replaced it with a ‘bullet’ to make the graphic less dominated by the repeated word.  I then put the data into the ADVANCED feature.  See http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/2168943/Research_collocates

Here is the original filtered data from JTW.  (I copied the JTW output, put it into EXCEL and then executed a few formulae to repeat the PATTERN and cluster data.)

research FREQUENCY cluster PATTERN
carry out research 155 cluster 1 V obj *research*
conduct research 132 cluster 1 V obj *research*
undertake research 122 cluster 2 V obj *research*
do research 358 cluster 3 V obj *research*
research show 380 cluster 1 *research* subj V
research suggest 131 cluster 1 *research* subj V
research have 745 cluster 4 *research* subj V
recent research 171 cluster 1 ADJ *research*
further research 190 cluster 9 ADJ *research*
more research 115 cluster 9 ADJ *research*
medical research 242 cluster 9 ADJ *research*
much research 102 cluster 9 ADJ *research*
own research 153 cluster 9 ADJ *research*
scientific research 240 cluster 9 ADJ *research*
social research 182 cluster 9 ADJ *research*
such research 111 cluster 9 ADJ *research*
market research 425 cluster 1 N *research*
Cancer research 114 cluster 2 N *research*
research into 708 cluster 2 *research* PREP
research on 644 cluster 2 *research* PREP
research in 840 cluster 2 *research* PREP
research by 164 cluster 2 *research* PREP
research at 151 cluster 2 *research* PREP
research department 103 cluster 1 *research* N
research group 205 cluster 1 *research* N
research institute 214 cluster 1 *research* N
research team 151 cluster 1 *research* N
research unit 178 cluster 1 *research* N
research study 135 cluster 2 *research* N
research work 132 cluster 2 *research* N
research method 141 cluster 3 *research* N
research programme 316 cluster 3 *research* N
research project 482 cluster 3 *research* N
research grant 185 cluster 5 *research* N
research council 446 cluster 7 *research* N
research center 344 cluster 7 *research* N
research finding 128 cluster 7 *research* N
research laboratory 189 cluster 7 *research* N
research student 137 cluster 7 *research* N
result of research 117 cluster 4 N PREP *research*
center for research 109 cluster 5 N PREP *research*
research and development 359 cluster 1 *research* and N
our research 148 cluster 1 article *research*
some research 140 cluster 1 article *research*
this research 262 cluster 1 article *research*
their research 171 cluster 1 article *research*
my research 111 cluster 1 article *research*

Here is the data coded for WORDLE (which I pasted into the ADVANCED feature of WORDLE–the number is the FREQUENCY, and the HEX value is the HTML colour code.)  Note that I’ve replaced the word RESEARCH with a bullet.

carry out•:155:4411AA
conduct•:132:4411AA
undertake•:122:4411AA
do•:358:4411AA
•show:380:00FF48
•suggest:131:00FF48
•have:745:00FF48
recent•:171:6280AA
further•:190:6280AA
more•:115:6280AA
medical•:242:6280AA
much•:102:6280AA
own•:153:6280AA
scientific•:240:6280AA
social•:182:6280AA
such•:111:6280AA
market•:425:62FF48
Cancer•:114:62FF48
•into:708:6280FF
•on:644:6280FF
•in:840:6280FF
•by:164:6280FF
•at:151:6280FF
•department:103:0080FF
•group:205:0080FF
•institute:214:0080FF
•team:151:0080FF
•unit:178:0080FF
•study:135:0080FF
•work:132:0080FF
•method:141:0080FF
•programme:316:0080FF
•project:482:0080FF
•grant:185:0080FF
•council:446:0080FF
•center:344:0080FF
•finding:128:0080FF
•laboratory:189:0080FF
•student:137:0080FF

Neat, eh?

Reversyntaxing

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I was really amazed at the Lost Generation ‘play on syntax’.  Thanks to my EMU colleague Filiz Bodi for passing that on to me.  Watch this video from beginning to end…don’t stop half way through! (Visit http://www.youtube.com/v/42E2fAWM6rA if the embedded video doesn’t load.)

I wondered how difficult it would be to do, so I made a couple to try it out using the theme of ‘success’….it is an interesting language development activity:

============
Everyone knows it
is the secret to success
to know the right people
not
to be good at what you do
=============

Here is the second:

=============
Success is a state of mind
with the proper education and training
the wealthy and educated
are destined to rise above
the poor and the impoverished
===============

If you read these from the top down they have the opposite message as when you start reading from the bottom up.  Writing this as prose would demonstrate the function of punctuation.   Maybe there is some term for this in creative writing? I was in the maths and sciences stream, so I know little about such things.   I don’t know what to call it so I will coin a phrase: reversyntax.

  • It might be interesting to have an competition between students to see who can create the most memorable reversyntax?  The winner could get ‘published’ in the class blog. Maybe it could be turned into a rap song by other students? Even put to music an published on YouTube. Talk about creating an audience to write for! 🙂
  • Might be nice to challenge the really able students to do something creative with English–and it is probably something that even a lower level student could do with some simple structures.   A interesting twist on teaching the concept of inversion.

Make a wish on a wall…

Why I want to be an English teacher

Why I want to be an English teacher

Just wanted to share a concrete application of Web2.0 in ‘blended learning’ to perhaps show you where I am coming from when I look at applying a Web2.0 tool to the notion of blending learning in the class to a web resource.

  • The idea is not to duplicate what you do in either medium (which is the key downfall of many approaches and most publishers) but to accentuate or augment the language learning experience in different ways appropriate to each media.
  • And it doesn’t have to be a long or complicated task or activity. It can be very simple and short in scope, but with the potential to exploit in many ways.

Here is my take on ‘blending learning’ via Web2.0–thanks to the people in my EFL252 course at METU. It is based on using a very simple Web2.o tool called WALLWISHER.  Thanks guys!!

Here is a WALL I built for the people working with me in the METU EFL252 course: http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/2bateacher

Here is how this developed:

  1. First I got them to produce a short ANIMOTO about why they want to be a teacher–in pictures and music.
  2. They posted this in the MOODLE with a discussion task to look at two of their peers ANIOMTOs and comment about the main reasons for becoming a teacher.
  3. I then extended this by asking them to produce a ‘gallery’ of the ANIOMOTOs in a wall on WALLWISHER as a ‘multimedia’ poster. Here they had to produce e a really concise and simple summary of their ANIMOTO–and they had already read their peers comments in the MOODLE so that helped focus them by seeing how their peers viewed their videos.
  4. This is something that simply is not possible to do in a f2f mode. And it is totally free and ever so easy to do. And it only took a few minutes of my time to set up, but involved the students in learning the tool, thinking creatively about a topic, and actually creating something they are happy to share on the web.

In WALLWISHER, they do have the chance to enter 160 characters, with a link to their ANIOMOTO. The link can be to anything…a web page, a video, a picture, etc.

Could such a wall could be something that you could get your students to use in a variety of ways? Would love to hear of any projects you come up with and links to your WALLWISHER walls.

Greetings!

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Great to part of the METU family, if only as a part-time instructor.  I’ll use this blog to explore my interest, experience and growth in applying blended learning in the courses I’m involved with at METU-NCC.

“keep a blog” or “have a blog”

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Ever wonder about which phrase or word is more commonly used? Let GOOGLEFIGHT sort it out for you.

See which is the most common: “keep a blog” or “have a blog”.

Neat, eh? Has some interesting applications with students.

NOTE: If you compare phrases that have different numbers of words, then you will need to put the phrases in quotes.  Thanks to Gavin Dudeney for this little gem.

Parallel corpora

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The name sounds fancy, but really the concept is simple. Most corpora are monolingual, but with parallel corpora, the texts have been translated so when you search for a term in one language, you can see the way that word has been translated into the other language(s).

If you want to play around with this, the link is http://www.let.rug.nl/~tiedeman/OPUS/.

Here is an example of searching for the English word ‘honey’ in TURkish:

tur
220 tatlım
29 hayatım
17 canım
14 Tatlım
5 Hayatım
4 bal

Now, if you click on a number beside the term you are interested in, you will get a listing of the original English text with ‘HONEY’ and the translation of that text.  In this case, I clicked on ’14’ to see how ‘Tatlim’ appeared with the English translations (from movie subtitles):
12162141 Oh , honey , you were incredible .
tur – Tatlım , müthiştin .
14931248 – Honey , honey .
tur – Tatlım , tatlım .
15944691 – honey , let’ s go .
tur Tatlım , hadi gidelim , hadi gidelim , hadi gidelim .
16975602 Oh , honey , he was trying to save his pet .
tur Tatlım , hayvanını kurtarmaya çalışıyordu .
16983418 Hey , honey .
tur Hey , Tatlım !
16988175 That was sweet , honey .
tur Tatlım bu çok hoş .
17994433 Honey , honey , here .
tur Tatlım , tatlım , buraya koy .
25470953 I’ m so proud of you , honey … being out in the world like this .
tur Tatlım , seninle gurur duyuyorum — böyle bir dünyaya çıkışınla .
25471594 I’ m just waiting for you , honey .
tur Tatlım , ben sadece seni bekliyordum .
28966134 Honey , honey .
tur Tatlım , tatlım .

Also, if you click on any word in one of the foreign languages, you’ll see a list of the possible translations in English.  In this case, this is how Tatlim maps into English:

eng
220 honey
56 sweetheart
51 dear
51 sweetie
14 darling
8 baby
7 Honey
7 hon
2 now
2 Sweetheart

An introduction to vocabulary profiling

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Tom Cobb’s Compleat Lexical Tutor site has got a wide range of tools that are indespensible aides to teaching. It has most everything you’ll need when it comes to data driven learning.

  1. The BNL2709 vocabulary profiler is a great tool to use in conjunction with the BNL2709 book.
  2. The Colour of Words blog has a series of short ’slidecasts’ that provide more information about vocabulary development using wordlists and vocabulary profiling.

The first tool to get to know is vocabulary profiling–how to look at the black and white world of words through a prism and see the colour of words according to the frequency of use.

  1. Here is a short video on vocabulary profiling…it will open in a new window.
    It is about 2MB to download and lasts aout two and half minutes. You can stop, rewind and fast forward while you try out the techniques for yourself.

eReader

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metu.nccStudents at METU.NCC now have a chance to take part in an innovative approach to vocabulary development by participating in the eReader community.

  • The first twenty students to create accounts at the METU.NCC MOODLE at http://polaris.ncc.metu.edu.tr/moodle/ will be able to participate in the community for free.
  • The course designers, John Eldridge, Senior Instructor at EMU and Steve Neufeld, former Instructor at METU.NCC, will be part of the community of eReaders, and will help and advise members of the community of learners.
  • The course will be open for the month of May, and it will provide a great opportunity to practice skills and vocabulary knowledge for proficiency in English
  • The deadline for creating accounts will be midnight, Sunday, 4th of May.
  • An orientation to the eReader will be given on Monday afternoon at 15:00, 16:00 and 15:00 for students from different levels.
  • Students who successfully complete the course will receive a certificate of participation.