Level+4+Grammar+Outcomes+&+SL+Assignments

=Lessons for Advanced Language Classes=

On this page, I've posted links to assignments that can be used in advanced language classes. Specifically, in this case, the assignments are designed for ESL, but they could easily be adapted to other developmental language or foreign language classes.

Context
In the case of developmental classes, the virtual world presents a rich context for using language in context. While we may not have the freedom to take a field trip and experience something that would elicit the target language in written or spoken form, we can share an experience in SecondLife that we then write or speak about--all without leaving campus.

Critical Thinking
In today's world, technology tools are proliferating rapidly. Both on the job and in our personal lives, we are presented with an always-evolving array of tools to accomplish a task. By using selected Web 2.0 and other technology in the classroom, teaching the students how to use them, presenting them with a task, and then allowing them to select their preferred tool for completing the task, we are training them in critical thinking skills that will be essential for them to be competitive in their future professional lives.

Activities
The lessons below are designed to address the EAP 94 (Advanced Grammar) learning outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to


 * 1) Use the verb tense system of English (COM)
 * 2) Demonstrate understanding of the use of modals (COM)
 * 3) Use the passive voice in all tenses (COM)
 * 4) Understand when to use gerunds and when to use infinitives (COM)
 * 5) Demonstrate improvement in listening skills (COM)
 * 6) Give a three-minute speech (COM)

Modals Lesson 2: Guessing the identity or function of objects in SecondLife
===Class: EAP 94 (Advanced) Grammar: [|EAP 94 SL and alternative writing assn_Modals for Guessing.doc] ===

Description:
Writing about an object or situation using modals for expressing different levels of certainty (modals for "guessing about a situation").

**EAP 94 Outcomes Addressed:** "Demonstrate understanding of the use of modals"

**Note for Teachers:** This assignment includes an alternative assignment for students who prefer not to use SecondLife.

Description:
Writing about an object or situation using modals for giving advice or talking about intentions (past or present). Students get new clothes for their avatar at the Orientation area on Evergreen Island, learn how to change their clothes and then get together with a group for a "fashion party." They give advice to each other on what they should or shouldn't do (or shouldn't have done!) with their clothing or hairstyle.

The follow-up writing assignment asks students to have a conversation about their experience in SL and then write about it using the target modals.

**EAP 94 Outcomes Addressed:** "Demonstrate understanding of the use of modals"

**Note for Teachers:** You can have students form a group with the people who are sitting around them in the RL (Real Life) classroom. They have to find each other in SecondLife and, when they are done with their fashion party, go somewhere on the Island and take a group photo, which they send to the teacher.