ESL READING (LEVEL 8 ACADEMIC)
READING ASSIGNMENTS (ESL 5961 & ESL 0019)
These assignments are to be completed during the hour that is spent with your teacher in the Multimedia Lab (B453). There will be six (6) assignments outlined below. They are numbered from (1) to (6). Some of the assignments may take longer than the hour that is assigned in the computer lab. They may be completed at another time in the lab or from home. The additional two (2) weeks are to be spent improving your reading speed using The Ultimate Speed Reader (computer software). You may alternate the computer assignments with the speed reading activities or complete the 2 reading assignments first and then work on your speed reading.
Your six (6) reading assignments will be e-mailed to me each week at gaffneg@algonquincollege.com Include the assignment number and name with each one.
Completion of these assignments will make up 5% of your reading mark. The mark will be determined by the completeness of the assignments.
I think you will enjoy these activities and I hope you learn a lot from doing them. Happy Surfing!
| Assignment #1 | Assignment #3 | Assignment #4 | |
| Assignment #5 | Assignment #6 |
ASSIGNMENT #1: Algonquin College Learning Resource Centre Library Webpage
This page is a wonderful introduction to finding information on the Internet. Browse the site in as much detail as you want. The address is http://www.algonquincollege.org/lrc/ Check out the following sections:
Search the Web
Searching Tools (also try Other Links Related to Searching. Click Help for some excellent tutorials on Searching)
Research Help
Reference Sites
Databases
Click on Humanities and Social Sciences: then on Master File elite or Canadian MAS. Under Ebsco Host, key in your topic.
Send me your comments on what you have learned from this page. You might want to take notes as you go to help you remember what you found.
ASSIGNMENT #2: Gathering Information from the Web
Go to the Vanier Institute of the Family web page. The address is www.vifamily.ca. There are links to many different articles on this topic. Read some of the articles and send me your comments on what you learned. Did anything surprise you? What did you learn that you did not know before?
ASSIGNMENT #3: News on the Web
There is a great variety of news sources on the Web. You will have time to look at just a few by using different search engines. Their addresses are below:
Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com » Click on News & Media (Click on Newspapers or type the name of a story into search).
Yahoo News http://dailynews.yahoo.com
Lycos News http://www.lycos.com
News and Newspapers Online http://library.uncg.edu/news/
The Ecola Newstand at http://www.ecola.com/ » Click on Browse Newspapers
Task
Have a general look at what is available on these news sites.
Choose a news topic that you are interested in. Check out 2 or 3 of the news sources above to see where you get the best information on this topic.
Send me your comments telling me what you discovered.
Which site is most helpful for you as a news source?
ASSIGNMENT #4: Magazines on the Internet
Many print magazines are now available on the Internet. In addition, there are a number of magazines or e-zines that are available only on-line. These can be found by using a search engine or an index of magazine sites.
The Ecola Newstand at http://www.ecola.com/ has a list of 2800+ magazines. » Click on Browse Magazines
Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com » Click on News & Media » Click on Magazines (under Categories)
Type in the name of the magazine and Search OR Click on the type of magazine
HotBot http://www.hotbot.lycos.com » Click on News and Media » Click on Magazines
(A long list of magazines will appear as you scroll down)
Task
Find 2 or 3 of your favourite magazines e.g. Macleans, Sports Illustrated, Readers Digest, National Geographic, Chatelaine, TV Guide
Send me some of the information that you learned:
Are the magazines free on the net?
What does the site offer?
What new magazines did you discover that might interest you?
ASSIGNMENT #5: Evaluating a web site
See the attached handout.
Task
Have a look at 2 or 3 of the following sites on the topic of Smoking in Public Places. Using information below (at the end of these assignments) entitled, Is this web site a reliable source? send me your comments on which of these sites is/are reliable and effective and explain why. If you want to find other sites on this topic, any of the search engines will yield a long list.
http://www.doh.gov.uk/public/scoth.htm
http://rex.nci.nih.gov/NCI_Pub_Interface/I_mind_if_you_smoke/mindsmo.html
http://www.livingsmokefree.com
ASSIGNMENT #6: Comparing articles for objectivity and credibility
The following web site on the topic of Gay Marriages has an article on this topic written by the web page owner. At the end of the article is a list of other Internet sources for and against the concept of gay marriages.
http://www.bidstrup.com/marriage.htm
Task
Read at least 2 of these articles (either from the list at the end of the author's article or including the author's article). Using the information below, Is this web site a reliable source? send me your comments on these articles. Would you choose them as sources for a research paper? Why or why not? Is the information provided authoritative and reliable? Is it accurate? Try to be objective -- your own opinion on this topic is not relevant to this assignment.
Evaluating Web Sites
Is this web site a reliable source?
As with all sources of information used for essays and research papers, those found on the World Wide web must be critically evaluated. Whereas materials found in textbooks, journals and reputable magazines and newspapers are edited or reviewed, there are no restrictions on what may be put on the WWW. therefore, it is even more important to critically assess those materials. You want to consider the source and the content of the information. Here are some questions to guide your analysis:
Source
* Who is the author or contact person?
* What institution is responsible for this site?
* What authority does the author or institution have on this subject?
* When was the article produced or last revised?
* Can the author/institution be contacted/
* Do you think there is bias in the information?
Content
* What is the purpose of this site (to inform, to entertain, to persuade)?
* How complete is the information: are links provided to related sites?
* Does the information seem complete and accurate?
Design
* Is the web page well designed and easy to read?
* Does it use effective graphics?
In general
* Based on your assessment of the source and content of this web site, is it a good source of information for a researched assignment?
For further information on website evaluation, have a look at the following:
How to Critically Analyze Information Sources (Cornell University)
http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/skill26.htm
Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources by Esther Grassian, UCLA College Library
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/instruct/web/critical.html