With October almost upon us it's time to think about, and plan, for Spring 2016 courses!

If you are a matriculated student, you will be receiving an email from the Registrar's office for Spring 2016 registration, and you might be eager to register, but you cannot yet because you probably have holds. You also need to meet with your advisor before you can sign-up for courses.

In this blog you will find out a bit more about the Spring 2016 advising timeline and when certain things will happen.  As new information is available, this blog post will be updated, so keep it in mind when you have questions :-)  If your questions are not answered by this blog post, please see the following discussion forum where you can post a question, and we will do our best to answer ---> Q&A Forum for Spring 2016: http://umasslinguistics.com/group/classroom/forum/topics/advising-spring-2016-advising-registration-q-a-forum

PREPARATORY WORK:

Before meeting your with advisor, please log into WISER (http://wiser.umb.edu) and make sure you don't have any holds on your account!  This is really important! The only hold that we (applied linguistics) can remove is the "Advising Hold." If you have other holds on your account you need to get those resolved ASAP with the appropriate departments otherwise we will not be able to register you for courses. 

Immunization Hold:

If you are an online student you can apply for the immunization exemption. You will need to fill out the form and mail it to University Health Services so that the immunization hold can be removed. The form can be found here: http://www.umb.edu/healthservices/forms . Both campus and online students should check their WISER accounts to see if they have a hold on their account. If you do, please get in contact with University Health Services (immunizations@umb.edu) ASAP to get the hold removed - otherwise we cannot register you :-)

Note for new students (On-campus & Online):

Even though new students will not be registered right away (since all of your information probably has not been processed yet) no need to worry. There will be spots available in introductory courses for you! We will be registering you for APLING 601 and APLING 605 (our two introductory courses) if you are on-campus. 

COURSES:

The tentative list of courses has been posted in the Classroom Group for quite some time :-).  Instructions, as well as days and times of courses (for on-campus courses) will be posted here as they become available. 

SPRING Online courses

Core courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics - Section 1: MIKROS, George
• APLING 603: Cross Cultural Perspectives - Section 1: BECKMAN, Kristina
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching - KISS, Kate
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics - O'BRYAN, Anne
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics - BARTOLOME, Lilia
• APLING 698: Field Experience - KISS, Kate

Concentration Courses

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum (Foreign Language Track) - ETIENNE, Corinne
• APLING 618: Methods & Approaches in ESL (ESL/K-12 Licensure Track) - CARHILL-POZA, Avary

Elective Courses

• APLING 697(a): Usage Based Linguistic Analysis **NEW COURSE** (only offered this semester) - MEYER, Chuck
• APLING 697(b): Forensic Linguistics **NEW COURSE** (only offered this semester) - BECKMAN, Kristina
• APLING 678: Technology in the Language Classroom - COMPTON, Lily

SPRING On-Campus Courses

Core Courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics (W @ 4pm) - MEYER, Chuck
• APLING 603: Cross-Cultural Perspectices (Thu @ 4pm) - MATSUMOTO, Yumi
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching (M @ 4pm) - MATSUMOTO, Yumi
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics - (Tu @ 4pm) - GOUNARI, Panagiota
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics (Th @ 7pm) - MACEDO, Donaldo
• APLING 698-1: Practicum (Licensure) (BY ARRG) - STAFF
• APLING 698-2: Field Experience (non-licensure) (BY ARRG) - STAFF

Concentration Courses

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum (Foreign Language Track) (M @ 7pm) - ETIENNE, CORINNE
• APLING 618: Methods & Approaches in ESL (ESL/K-12 Licensure Track) (Tu @ 7pm) - CARHILL-POZA, AVARY

Elective Courses

• APLING 673: Teaching Reading in the ESL Classroom (W @ 7pm) - BARTOLOME, Lilia

TIMELINE:

October 10 – October 15: Your advisors will be contacting you via email. Please check both your UMass Boston student email and any emails you've given to us as part of your application process. Your advisor will contact you to setup an appointment to meet with you.  You can meet by phone, by email, by skype, or if you are local you can meet in person! :-)  Be prepared to discuss your goals, and what courses you might be interested in signing up for. In consultation with your advisor you will pick 2 or 3 courses for next semester. Your advisors will tell us (AK & Evy) which courses you decided to sign up for and we will sign you up.

Please note that you advisor is not listed on WISER. We keep an internal departmental database to keep advisors and advisees :-)

Student Checklist Item:If you haven't heard from your advisor by October 19 (Monday), please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and let us know :-)

November 15 – December 10: During this period of time we will be going through and registering all students for courses. This is true for both online and on-campus students. If you log into WISER and you are not registered for a course yet, don't panic!  By December 20th you will be :-) We will be monitoring this forum to make sure everything's going well and answering questions as they come up. If, for some reason, you aren't registered December 10 – December 20 will be a catch-up and correction week for registrations.

Student Checklist Item: On December 15, please check your WISER account to make sure that you are registered for courses, and that you are registered for the courses you and you advisor agreed upon. If you are not registered for courses, please go into the appropriate Registration Q&A forum. 

December 10 - 20: Book Lists will be posted, for Spring Semester courses, in the Classroom group. Please be patient until then and refrain from emailing us about book lists :-)

January 2 - January 30 Non-Degree Registration period (for spring semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to January 2nd we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a Spring 2016 course, please check in on January 2nd to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is :-)  )

FAQ

1. Who is my advisor?
   Please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu to inquire about your advisor's contact information if you have not heard from your advisor by October 19.
2. WISER does not show my advisor, what's up with that?
   The WISER system is setup for undergraduate advisors.  Unfortunately we do not have access to change this, so graduate students will show a blank advisor.  Rest assured that you have an advisor , they just don't show up in WISER :-)
3. Can I change advisors?
   Of course! If you would like to change advisor, please read this blog post for information, and then email applied.linguistics@umb.edu.
4. Can I register without meeting my advisor?
   You will not be able to register without meeting your advisor.
5. I have a hold, can you register me?
   We can only override the "Advising" hold if you've met with your advisor.  We cannot override other holds, so we cannot register you if you have holds.

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As always, if you find this blog post helpful, please click the "like" button so that others know to look for it :-)

Sometimes you may have a look at the electives offered and they may not quite apply to you.  You may, however, have this brilliant idea for a topic you'd love to explore and that we don't offer a class in.  In some cases you might be able to take the course in another department and have it transferred in.  If you want to pursue this route, you need to get the course pre-approved by your advisor, before you sign up for that other course.

If you work well on your own, if you are the master of your own schedule and learning topics, and like to plan your own work, and, of course, thrive in such an environment, an independent study could be another for you!

The independent study will provide opportunities for students to work independently in one of the following areas: Applied Linguistics, Psycholinguistics, Sociolinguistics, Second Language and Bilingual Methodology, and Cross-Cultural Studies. Students who wish to do an independent study should submit a study plan which should include: a brief description of their area of interest and an outline of the topic they plan to research in terms of content, time and the structure of their project.

Students eligible to take an Independent study course should be at the end of their course work for their M.A. and have at least a 3.5 GPA. All research plans for an Independent Study are subject to approval by their advisor, the supervising faculty, and the Department Chair. An Independent Study cannot be used to substitute a required APLING course.

Independent studies require a lot of planning on your part, but here is a what you should do to be able to get an independent study approved:

Keep an eye on this post - additional info will be posted as it becomes available!

~AK

Hello everyone!

I know that there are many who have been eager to find out more about this May's comprehensive exam, and to submit their RSVP forms. The snow storms at the beginning of the semester, and school closures has pushed us back a little bit, so I will be posting information in this post, and updating is as I go through and confirm all of the information. Please refer back to this post for more info over time.

The Comprehensive Exam is scheduled for May 18, 2015, which is a Monday.

If you have questions relating to the comprehensive exam that are not covered in this post, please post them here: http://umasslinguistics.com/group/comprehensiveexam/forum/topics/may-2015-comprehensive-exam-questions

As a companion to this blog post, please download and read the Comp Exam handout which contains the scoring rubric and some sample questions (this is the same as last semester)

DATE & LOCATION OF THE EXAM

The date of the exam is May 18th, 2015 for both campus and online students.

For campus students, the exam will take place in Healey Library, Blue Lab (Healey-Upper Level). The exam will take place from Noon to 4pm.  Please arrive by 11:30. 

For online students, the exam takes place at a location of your own choosing. Proctoring will be provided by a service called ProctorU (more down below).

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

In order to take the comprehensive exam you need to do two things:

1. Please complete the RSVP form for taking the comprehensive exam (PDF) and return it to the department by email (applied.linguistics@umb.edu), by fax (+1 617-287-5403) or in person (W-6-98).
   • This form is due by APRIL 1, 2015
2. Please complete your graduation request paperwork. You should have received a letter from the registrar's office in late September if you are potentially eligible to graduate.

As soon as we have processed your paperwork, you will be given access to a Blackboard course (http://umb.umassonline.net) where the information session will take place, and where you will be taking your exam.

EXIT EVALUATION FORM

Both online and on-campus students will be emailed an online survey by, or on, Friday April 17, 2015.

You will have until Friday May 8, 2015 to complete this survey.You must complete the survey before taking the comprehensive exam. Please follow the link to the survey as you will be unable to take the exam until it is completed. This survey is anonymous and evaluations will be opened and analyzed only after comprehensive exam results are in and grades submitted.

COMPREHENSIVE EXAM INFORMATION SESSION 

Online

No synchronous online  sessions are scheduled for this semester. Please read the comprehensive exam handout (see above), and if you have questions please post to the discussion forum. Professor Etienne and other faculty of the Applied Linguistics program will be monitoring and answering :)

On-Campus

The on-campus face to face comprehensive exam information session is Tuesday March 31 at 6:30pm.  Before you attend, please read the Comprehensive Exam Handout (see above) and use the Discussion forum Q&A to ask questions you might have about the comprehensive exam.  If you are planning on attending please RSVP to this event so that we know how many are attending: http://umasslinguistics.com/events/campus-based-comp-exam-info-session

PROCTORING

Online students: You can take the exam at (almost) any location you'd like! It seems that over the past few semesters most students taking the exam do so at home or at their office. To provide proctoring we are working with a company called ProctorU to make sure that each and every one of you has a proctor. It is really important to work out the time zone information correctly; all times are referenced in Eastern Standard Time (Boston time). Online students can choose to take the exam online, or on-campus.

Please see this Student Handout (PDF file) to see what the system requirements are for proctoring the exam remotely.

A common question that has been asked is whether or not you can go to a testing center, or find your own proctor, instead of using ProctorU.  The answer is that you cannot use any other proctoring service other than ProctorU.  ProctorU is the only option :)

On-campus students: Faculty members from the department of Applied Linguistics will be proctoring the exam on May 18th.  On-campus students cannot take the exam online. The only option for on-campus students is on-campus.

Exam Material

Students are examined on material from their FIVE core and TWO required courses in their concentration (ESL or Foreign Language).  Questions which appear on the exam are taken from exams, paper topics, and assignments in core and required courses and are periodically updated by faculty to reflect new course materials. Questions may also be submitted to the Comprehensive Exam Committee by students and will be considered for inclusion on the exam. If you are interested to do so, please email your questions to the coordinator of the Comprehensive Exam at applied.linguistics@umb.edu

Exam Structure

Questions on the exam are arranged into THREE areas of study. Two questions are asked in
each area. Students must answer ONE question in each area, thus THREE questions in FOUR
hours.
In each area, we suggest in parentheses possible themes questions might address. However, this
is NOT an exhaustive list.
Students are responsible for preparing to answer questions in each area by referring to course
syllabi where main content and goals are highlighted. Materials from one specific course may be
helpful and used to answer questions in more than one area.
All answers to exam questions should be informed by theory and research and  include a detailed linguistic analysis when required. The content of all core and  concentration courses will be tested on the exam (601, 603, 605, 621, 623, 611 or 618, 612 or 614)

Grading

The exams are graded by a committee of Applied Linguistics faculty.  Exams are graded “blind;”  no names are recorded on the printouts of the exams.  Students are assigned a letter code and the list which identifies letters with student names is sealed until grading is completed.

Each exam is read by at least two faculty members.  If the first reader and the second reader agree that the exam is a “Pass,” then the student is passed.  If the first and second reader disagree, or if there is any uncertainty in their evaluation, then a third reader is enlisted. 

Each answer is assigned a grade of High Pass, Pass, or Fail. No exam can be deemed as a Pass if one of the three required questions is not answered or has been assigned a failing grade.

Given the high number of students taking the exam, it may take up to two weeks for results to be sent out. Exam results are emailed when all grading has been completed.  Students should not email or call the office about results. Faculty always complete evaluations by graduation date. Students who pass the exam don’t have access to their exam answers.

Readers use the same comprehensive exam evaluation rubric to evaluate exams. You are encouraged to familiarize yourself with this rubric before the exam.  The rubric includes the following criteria:

1. Does student answer the question asked?
2. Are all parts of the question answered?
3. Does the student answer the question in sufficient depth?  Are there important issues not covered?
4. Does the student make repeated or gross misstatements that would lead you to believe that they do not understand the relevant material?
5. Is the material presented coherently organized?  Can you follow the student’s argument without having to do a lot of “interpreting” or “filling in the blanks”?
6. Are technical terms used clearly and appropriately?  Are terms defined where necessary?
7. Are references made to course content and material where obvious/necessary?  (If, for example, you teach a course which addresses the question posed, does the student mention those aspects of the issue covered in your course?)
8. Does the student cite relevant sources?  Does the student link theories or methods to particular individuals?  (In other words, if s/he is clearly referring to a particular author’s work, does s/he cite the author?)
9. If the student draws on personal experiences to answer a question, is that experience linked in some way to theoretical issues, relevant literature, or coursework?
10. Does the student merely repeat the same material, references, and arguments in one or more of his or her responses or does s/he demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the field?

Strategies for preparing for and taking the exam:

Preparing:

• Carefully review your course syllabi paying attention to the course objectives and the main headings of weekly sessions. These headings outline important topics and issues; you should know the literature related to these themes and topics. You should be able to formulate basic questions about these themes and issues that could be exam questions.
• In general, exam questions ask you to define and discuss an issue, its context and origins; to support your discussion referring to scholars who contributed to the discussion of the issue, and to draw some classroom implications.
• Knowing the literature means being able to summarize the main ideas of a given scholar and assess her/his contribution to the field of applied linguistics. You are not expected to quote in the exam but you should spell scholars’ names properly, know the decade in which they contributed to the field, and present and summarize scholar’s ideas using and defining the terminology and connecting these ideas to the questions asked.
• If you like working in groups, it is a good idea to meet online with classmates.
• Advice for group work
  • Form a small group with 3-5 other students
  • Commit to each other to a meeting schedule, time and mode
  • Individually list the major theories that you remember
    (Do this before you open the books to see how much you already know!)
  • Include the key theorists’ name and dates.
  • Write a paragraph or two from memory with the key details.
  • Meet with your group to compare notes.
  • Revise your summaries as needed
  • Make a timeline of key theorists and dates.
    Include ONLY names and dates for a “clean” visual memory support.
    Use colors if you are a visual learner.
• Practice timed essays with each other:
  • Familiarize yourself with the evaluation rubric used by comprehensive exam graders
  • Write and exchange your questions
  • Assess each other’s essays using the comprehension evaluation rubric
  • Suggested: two “assessors” read and grade independently, THEN compare grades and feedback.
  • Give feedback in terms of the rubric and what the question asks

• You may consult any of the faculty members if you have doubt or questions about some concept or issue.

Taking the Exam

• Set up a document in word before you access the exam so you are ready to write as soon as you access the questions. SAVE it! Remember to hit save regularly as you write, or set it up to autosave every 5 minutes. Make sure you give yourself 5-10 minutes at the end to copy/paste your answers to Bb.
• Do not worry about formatting. It will disappear when you copy to Bb. Try to insert a blank line or two between paragraphs. Don’t worry about indenting.
• Copy the key phrases that you must answer in each question. Enter spaces between each phrase before you start to write. This will create a structure and help you remember what you have to answer. The last line of each question will ALWAYS tell you to support your answer with relevant literature. It is not necessary to copy this phrase—you are doing this throughout each answer.
• It is very important that you mark clearly by number each of the questions you choose to answer. The area designator and question number is sufficient. You do not have to copy the entire question. (e.g., A3)
• You should not waste time making detailed notes, extensive outlines, or rewriting your answers.  The exam committee realizes this is a timed exam and you are under considerable pressure; therefore, we do not grade on language mechanics or expository prose -- so long as your argument and meaning are clear.
• You should not spend more than an hour on each question.
• You should run a spell check before uploading your exam.

Failing the Exam

Students who fail the exam on the first attempt can take the exam a second time.  Before retaking the exam, the student should set up a phone, skype, or chat appointment with the Comprehensive Exam Coordinator to discuss the reasons for the failure.  Students who fail the exam will be given the comments of readers and be shown parts of their exam in light of the readers’ evaluations.

Students who fail the exam can retake the exam only once.  In preparing to retake the exam, students are encouraged to discuss with their advisors or other faculty how they might strengthen their performance.  If a student feels he or she has been unjustly evaluated, an appeal procedure exists and may be discussed with the comprehensive exam chair.

Students who take their coursework seriously, seek and obtain the guidance of their faculty advisor periodically throughout their program of study, and prepare conscientiously for the comprehensive exam, usually have no difficulties passing. 

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As always, if you find this blog post helpful, please hit the "like" button :-)

This came in the mail today

---------------------------------

Dear Readers,

International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET) has just
published its latest issue at --> http://www.i-jet.org. We invite you to
have a look at the Table of Contents here and then visit our web site to
read articles and items of interest.

Thanks for the continuing interest in our work,
Michael E. Auer
m.auer@ieee.org

*International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET)*
Volume 10, Issue 1 (2015)

*Table of Contents*
-------------------

*Papers*

***Incidental Lexicon Acquisition through Playful Interaction
(Lukas Wilhelm Ansteeg)
--> http://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jet/article/view/4156
--> http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v10i1.4156

***Prediction of Student Dropout in E-Learning Program Through the Use of
Machine Learning Method
(Mingjie Tan, Peiji Shao)
--> http://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jet/article/view/4189
--> http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v10i1.4189

***The Effect of Achievement Badges on Students’ Behavior: An Empirical
Study in a University-Level Computer Science Course
(Lasse Hakulinen, Tapio Auvinen, Ari Korhonen)
--> http://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jet/article/view/4221
--> http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v10i1.4221

***Engaging Students through Blogs:  Using Blogs to Boost a Course
Experience
(Zuhrieh A Shana, Enas S Abulibdehb)
--> http://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jet/article/view/4240
--> http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v10i1.4240

***Cogent：A Case Study of Meaningful Gamification in Education with
Virtual Currency
(Yang Chen, Terry Burton, Mihaela Vorvoreanu, David M Whittinghill)
--> http://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jet/article/view/4247
--> http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v10i1.4247

***How Jordanian University Students Perceive the Opportunities and
Challenges of Using Facebook as a Supplementary Learning Resource?
(Yousef Arouri)
--> http://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jet/article/view/4265
--> http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v10i1.4265

***Intelligent Cloud Learning Model  for Online Overseas Chinese Education
(Yidong Chen, Zhehuang Huang, Xiaodong Shi)
--> http://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jet/article/view/4284
--> http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v10i1.4284

***Student Engagement with Online Tutorial: A Perspective on Flow Theory
(Paulus Insap Santosa)
--> http://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jet/article/view/4348
--> http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v10i1.4348

*Short Papers*

***Causal Relationship Model of the Information and Communication Technology
Skill Affect the Technology Acceptance Process in the  21ST Century for
Undergraduate Students
(Thanyatorn Amornkitpinyo, Pallop Piriyasurawong)
--> http://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jet/article/view/4185
--> http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v10i1.4185

***Dramatization at Extracurricular Activities as a Means to Enhance Foreign
Language Teaching
(Marina Valeryevna Kuimova, Denis Alexandrovich Polyushko)
--> http://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jet/article/view/4243
--> http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v10i1.4243

***Empirical Study on the Application of CALL in Writing Classroom
(Fenglong Cao)
--> http://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jet/article/view/4297
--> http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v10i1.4297

*Report*

***An Exploration Study of RimbaIlmu: A Qualitative Evaluation of Shared
Single Display Groupware in Sarawak, Malaysia
(Cheah Waishiang, Edwin Mit, Marlene Lu)
--> http://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jet/article/view/4195
--> http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v10i1.4195

*Call*

***18th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning -
ICL2015
(Call For Papers)
--> http://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jet/article/view/4486
________________________________________________________________________
International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET)
http://www.i-jet.org

As some of you may know I am an alumnus of this program.  I started in the spring of 2008 and graduated in December of 2010. I had a lot of fun with in the program, but I think the one thing I never really took proper advantage of was advising!  So, in writing this info-post to my slightly younger self, I hope that it helps you reframe advising :-)

Near the end of my first semester, on-campus, I was asked to sign-up for an advisor in class.  Back then the selection was pretty blind, six sheets of paper with lines, six different names.  I honestly had not looked at the who was teaching and what their expertise were - I just knew I liked languages and I wanted to learn more about them - hence I applied to this program.  I selected Dr. Etienne because out of all of the faculty I knew she did work on French Linguistics and that was an interest of mine at the time.  I loved both of my advisors, Dr. Etienne as my main advisor, and Dr. Leistyna as the person who filled in while Dr. Etienne was on sabbatical, however I approached advising purely in the "these are the courses I want to take" mentality. I never really showed up at the advising session prepared to ask questions beyond the curriculum or what I was going to take next semester.  

So, what advice would I give to my younger self?  Well, first I would say look at the tentative schedule of courses and prepare a tentative study plan for yourself (the tentative schedule is in the classroom group). Back then I didn't have the luxury of a tentative schedule, but now we have it, so why not use it?  The truth is that most of curriculum is set (5-6 core courses, 2 concentration courses, and 2-3 elective courses), so it might seem like your course choices are limited, but there are choices to make.  For example, why are you pursuing the track that you are pursuing (ESL & Bilingual Studies or Foreign Language)? What is the goal?  Look at the elective courses that we have (for a list see our website) - what fascinates you and why?  What electives would you love to take? Is there anything that you'd love to take but we don't have?  You can transfer up to 2 courses from another institution or department if your advisor pre-approved them!

Armed with this knowledge of what you might be interested and why, another thing that I would consider developing some questions around is "what next".  It is important to savor the moment, but there ought to be some larger goal.  What are you, a student in applied linguistics, aiming toward? What will you do after you graduate?  It's definitely OK to not know the answer to this! If you don't know the answer, or if the answer might be to scary to contemplate, then think about some things that you enjoy doing and how applied linguistics might fit into this!  For some a PhD or EdD is of interest after the MA in Applied Linguistics, in such a case perhaps some types of elective courses make more sense than others. This is something you can discuss with your advisor.

This brings me to my third point.  When I was a student I picked an advisor blindly. You don't have to!  Even though you are assigned an initial advisor at the beginning of your studies, you can change your advisor as your interests change or further develop.  To find out how to change your advisor please read this info post. While I loved my advisors, had I followed my advice, I probably would have also picked Dr. Meyer's brain a little more because I discovered that I was interested in Corpus Linguistics and would probably have liked to pursue that a little more as a student.

So, what now? How often do you meet with your advisor?  Well, that's negotiable between you and your advisor.  At the very least you need to meet at least 2 times per year otherwise you can't sign up for courses.  However, if you develop rapport very strong with your advisor and you want to get their opinion more often than average, I am sure that our faculty would love to have those conversations.  

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As always, if you find this post useful give it a "like" :-)

Watch this space for details  and updates!

~AK

Advising Period is almost upon us! We are still catching up from all of the snow we got, so we will be updating this infopost as information becomes available :) In this infopost you will find out a bit more about the Summer and Fall 2015 advising timeline and when certain things will happen.  As new information is available, this blog post will be updated, so keep it in mind, and check back, when you have questions!  If your questions are not answered by this blog post, please see the following discussion forums where you can post a question, and we will do our best to answer :-)

• On-campus students go post your questions here: http://umasslinguistics.com/group/classroom/forum/topics/campus-fall-course-advising-sign-up-questions
  
• Online students post your questions here: http://umasslinguistics.com/group/classroom/forum/topics/online-summer-and-fall-course-advising-and-registration-q-a
  

PREPARATORY WORK:

Before meeting your with advisor, please log into WISER (http://wiser.umb.edu) and make sure you don't have any holds on your account!  The only hold that we (applied linguistics) can remove is the "Advising Hold." If you have other holds on your account you need to get those resolved ASAP with the appropriate departments. An immunization hold, or hold of any other sort, means that we are not going to be able to register you!  Please make sure to take care of all holds on your account as soon as possible.

Immunization Hold:

If you are an online student, and you opt to apply for the immunization exemption, then you have to fill out the form every semester and mail it to University Health Services so that the immunization hold can be removed.  If you are an on-campus student you will need to make sure that all immunizations are in order.  Please see the University Health Services website for more information: http://www.umb.edu/healthservices/information_for_new_students. 

Note for new students (On-campus & Online):

Even though new students will not be registered right away (since your paperwork for admissions may not have been fully processed yet) no need to worry. There will be spots available in introductory courses for you! We will be registering you for APLING 601 and APLING 605 (our two introductory courses). If you would like to register for a 3rd course, please contact applied.linguistics@umb.edu for more information. Please see your welcome letter, sent by email, for more information.

COURSES:

The tentative list of courses has been posted in the Classroom Group for quite some time :-).  Instructions, as well as days and times of courses (for on-campus courses) will be posted here as they become available. 

SUMMER Online courses

Electives courses

• APLING 670: Testing in the ESL Classroom - MARTINEZ, LUIS (12 week summer course)
• APLING 697: Global & Digital Technologies for Linguistically Diverse Classrooms - GOUNARI & CARHILL-POZA (6 week intensive, May-June)

FALL ONLINE courses

Core courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics - MIKROS, George
• APLING 603: Cross-Cultural Perspectives - BECKMAN-BRITTO, Kristina
• APLING 605.1: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching -  KISS, Kate
• APLING 605.2: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching -  COMPTON, Lily
• APLING 623.1: Sociolinguistics  - BECKMAN-BRITTO, Kristina
• APLING 623.2: Sociolinguistics  - BECKMAN-BRITTO, Kristina

Concentration Courses

• APLING 611: Methods and Material in Foreign Language Pedagogy - KISS, Kate
• APLING 614: Foundations of Bilingual and Multicultural Education - MATSUMOTO, Yumi

Elective Courses

• APLING 633: Discourse Analysis - CARHILL-POZA, Avary
• APLING 635: Literacy & Culture - BARTOLOME, Lilia
• APLING 669: Writing Theories - MITSIKOPOULOU, Bessy

FALL CAMPUS Courses

Core Courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics (T @ 4pm) - ETIENNE, CORINNE
• APLING 603: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (M @ 4pm) - MATSUMOTO, Yumi
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching (W @ 4pm) - MATSUMOTO, Yumi
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics - (Th @ 4pm) - GOUNARI, PANAGIOTA
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics (Tu @ 7pm) - MACEDO, DONALDO
• APLING 698: Field Experience (non-licensure) (BY ARRG)  CARHILL-POZA, AVARY
• APLING 698: Practicum (licensure) (BY ARRG)  CARHILL-POZA, AVARY

Concentration Courses

• APLING 611: Methods and Material in Foreign Language Pedagogy (M @ 7pm) - ETIENNE, CORINNE
• APLING 614: Foundations of Bilingual and Multicultural Education (W @ 7pm) - TBA

Elective Courses

• APLING 637: Ethnography of Language, Culture, and Learning (Th @ 7pm) - BARTOLOME, LILIA

TEXTBOOKS:

Please do not ask for textbooks :-)  As soon as we have a list of textbooks for each course, we will post a notice on the Announcements box (top center of umasslinguistics.com). We expect textbooks to be posted by May 15th.

TIMELINE:

March 10 – March 30: 

Your advisors will be contacting you via email. Please check both your UMass Boston student email and any emails you've given to us as part of your application process. Your advisor will contact you to set up an appointment to meet with you. You can meet by phone, by email, by skype, or if you are local you can meet in person! :-)  Be prepared to discuss your goals, and what courses you might be interested in signing up for. In consultation with your advisor you will pick 2 or 3 courses for next semester. Your advisors will tell us (AK or Evy) which courses you decided to sign up for and we will sign you up.

Please note that you advisor is not listed on WISER. We keep an internal departmental database to keep advisors and advisees :-)

Student Checklist Item:If you haven't heard from your advisor by March 15 (Saturday), please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and let us know :-)

If you have not received advising by March 30, please contact Applied.Linguistics@umb.edu.

April 1 – April 30: During this period of time we will be going through and registering all students for courses. This is true for both online and on-campus students. If you log into WISER and you are not registered for a course yet, don't panic!  By May 1st you will be :-) We will be monitoring this forum to make sure everything's going well and answering questions as they come up. If, for some reason, you aren't registered May 1 – May 10 will be a catch-up and correction week for registrations.

Student Checklist Item: On May 10, please check your WISER account to make sure that you are registered for courses, and that you are registered for the courses you and you advisor agreed upon. If you are not registered for courses, please go into the appropriate Registration Q&A forum. 

May 5 - May 20 Non-Degree Registration period (for summer semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to May 5 we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a Summer 2015 course, please check in on May 5th to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is :-)  )

May 20: Book Lists will be posted, for Fall Semester courses, in the Classroom group. Please be patient until then and refrain from emailing us or asking questions about book lists :-) 

August 10 - September 1 Non-Degree Registration period (for fall semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to August 20th we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a fall 2015 course, please check in on August 10 to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is)

FAQ

1. Who is my advisor?
   Your advisor is not listed on WISER (this is only an undergraduate advising feature :(  ). If you don't hear from your advisor by March 15th please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and we'll get you in touch with them :).
2. WISER does not show my advisor, what's up with that?
   The WISER system is setup for undergraduate advisors.  Unfortunately we do not have access to change this, so graduate students will show a blank advisor.  Rest assured that you have an advisor , they just don't show up in WISER :-)
3. Can I change advisors?
   Of course! If you would like to change advisor, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu. Please include your UMS number in the request, and the reason you would like to change advisors.
4. Can I register without meeting my advisor?
   You will not be able to register without meeting your advisor
5. I have a hold, can you register me?
   We can only override the "Advising" hold if you've met with your advisor.  We cannot override other holds, so we cannot register you if you have holds.
6. I met with my advisor, and I was told I was "all set" but I don't see courses in WISER. What's the deal?
   When you meet with your advisor you are placed in a queue to be registered by either AK or Evy.  We usually register students in the queue on Thursdays and Fridays.  We will not begin registering students until April 1st. If it's before 4/1 it's normal that you aren't registered.  If it's after 4/1 and you are not registered there might be a hold on your account preventing us from registering you - please check to see if there is a hold and have it removed :).  Finally, if you have no holds, and it's past 4/1, and you're still not registered, please contact applied.linguistics@umb.edu and we can sort it out :)

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As always, if you find this infopost helpful, please hit the "like" button :)

Hello students in Applied Linguistics!

If you are interested in attending the 2015 International TESOL Conference in Toronto (see here for schedule) the applied linguistics department is able to take care of the registration fees for a small number of students!  In order for us to register you we need to following:

Send us an email to applied.linguistics@umb.edu ASAP (by Wednesday February 18th at the latest).  Please include your full name, and a preferred email address.  Also please provide us with a brief summary (300 words or less) on why you would like to attend TESOL and what you hope to get out of it! 

Please note that this is only for conference registration.  You are still responsible for transportation and lodging.

If there are questions, please leave a comment :)

AK

For those of you interested in technology in language teaching:

Volume 19 Number 1 of Language Learning & Technology is Now Available

FEATURE ARTICLES

COLUMNS AND COMMENTARIES

REVIEWS

ANNOUNCEMENTS, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, & CALL FOR PAPERS

Congrats on commencing your first semester in the Applied Linguistics Online Program! :-)

This info-post has been a long time coming, but before I wrote it I wanted to collect some frequently asked questions from you, and your fellow peers that came before you, in order to get a more comprehensive write-up!

in your first semester the Applied Linguistics program signed you up for two introductory courses, so you don't have to worry about registration.  So, what's next you might ask?  Well, the fact that you are reading this means that you are on a good path!  The first thing that you should do is to read the main posting located in the New Online Student Information group.  The information there deals mostly with administrative  aspects of the program. This post is meant to address the more academic related matters of studying in Applied Linguistics.

One big thing to do, before classes start, is to order your books. We usually aim to have textbook information for Spring semester available by December 20th, and Summer and Fall course information available by May 1st.  We usually post an announcement in the Announcements Block of this site (if you click on the Homepage menu item, you will see announcements top and center). By providing you with textbook lists early on you have an opportunity to find the cheapest prices, and to also thumb through the books to get a feel for the material.  When I was a student (campus program) I took the opportunity to read texts over the summer for fall courses, this made my fall semesters feel a little less compact :)  

Once you have textbooks ordered, the next big thing is to make sure you are able to log into your student email, into WISER, and into Blackboard.  The credentials for logging on are the same across all three systems are the same (UMB email and password).  In the New Student Information Group there are instructions for accessing email.  Just log in once to make sure things are working.  Once you check this out you should also get a library barcode (instructions are in a discussion in the New Student Info group).  OK. With all this prep-work done, what about classes? W1hat should you do to get prepared for classes?  First we have  some answers from our FAQ! Secondly, a number professors (but not necessarily all) send a quick introduction email (check you UMB emails!) the week before classes begin to welcome them to the course and make them aware of any class specific tips and strategies. If you can think of more questions - please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and let us know!

I thought I was signed up, but I don't see anything in Blackboard yet. What's going on?

If the semester has not begun yet, it's normal not to see anything in Blackboard.  Courses do not show up there until the first day of the semester.  If the semester has begun, and you still don't see courses there yet - do contact us to troubleshoot!  As always our email is applied.linguistics@umb.edu.

How much interaction is there with professors?

The greatest concern of students that are studying online is that would be an isolating experience. One thing that is important to learners is the ability to collaborate with classmates and make connections with professors. How is this achieved when studying online? Just like in on-campus courses, there are different methods and styles of teaching. We have some professors that take the "hands off" approach, so that they don't stifle meaningful student interactions, and we have other professors that get really involved in classroom discussions. This depends, in large part, on the learners themselves and the group dynamics in the classroom. Students get feedback in their assessments and have contact with the faculty that way, but participation in discussion boards varies on a course-by-course basis. Learners connect with one another through weekly discussions, group projects, and through our community on this website

Are there online lectures or is it simply watching videos/reading books independently?

Again, this depends on a course-by-course basis. There are asynchronous videos where students watch short lectures and read materials independently, and then convene in online discussions forums and group projects in order to discuss and go over the material. Our program doesn't use "live" lectures because we have students distributed in all US time zones, as well as Europe and Asia. This would make live lectures with the entire class an impossibility :-) Most interactivity is achieved via assignments and discussions on discussion forums between fellow learners and the faculty member teaching the course.

What does an average class look like?

It's hard to really pinpoint an "average" class. Different subjects lend themselves to different formats in terms of how each class unfolds. The only real constant is that our courses are about 14 weeks in length in the fall and spring semesters.  Classes usually are setup as weekly modules and students usually have one week to undertake the activities that are associated with that module, which usually includes readings, discussion forum postings, and assignments.

One of the things that I see as a pitfall for new online students is that they leave the "online" component until the last moment. They usually read the textbook materials, they work on the assignments, but they don't participate in the forums throughout the week. Then they log in on Friday (a day or two before the module ends) and they are confronted with 100+ forum posts (and then they freak out a bit) :-) The key to successful forum participation is to make time, every day, to check the forums. I think that 30 minutes in the morning and 30-45 minutes in the evening should be more than enough. This way you can read what you classmates have posted, you can respond to them, and you can keep up with the discussion. You don't have to respond to everything that is posted by your classmates, so if you log in one time, read everything, and decide that you don't have anything to write back in that session it's perfectly fine.

What is the outcome of this program? I want to know what this program would prepare me for. Is it more theoretical or practical?
Broadly speaking, our entire curriculum revolves around language and literacy and is very much anchored in the discipline of applied linguistics. We do cover methodology for teaching language, but we don't go in depth for classroom management techniques, or tackle specific content (i.e. social studies curriculum, teaching math to ESL students, etc.). So, our program is somewhere in the middle of the road, between theoretical and practical. I am an alumnus of the program (on-campus) and from my own experiences, some courses go more toward the theoretical, and some go more toward the practical. In recent years we've also expanded our research options, so if research is something you think you might want to pursue, do contact our Research Coordinator!

How is assessment done? What methods of evaluation do the professors use? Do students receive GPA/letter grades as in other programs?
Just like with on-campus courses, this depends. Participation in class is a common factor in all of our courses. Beyond that there are exams, papers, groups projects, presentations, annotated bibliographies and many more methods. This really depends on the subject matter of the course. Students do receive letter grades (and they have a calculated GPA) like all other programs.

How much time of studying does it take per course?
Every class is definitely a bit different and the amount of time spent per week per class really depends on the learner. Each course is 3 credits. The usual formula, for a regular online asynchronous 15-week semester, is that students study/prepare for 4-5 hours for each credit, each week. So, if a student is taking 1 course, the student can expect to spend 12-15 hours each week working on materials for that course (readings, videos, discussion boards, papers, etc.). Not every week is a carbon copy of the previous week, and not every student is the same. Keeping that in mind, some weeks will be (or feel) lighter than others, and some weeks will be heavier depending on the topic or what assignment is due. Also, some people are faster readers than others, or may have prior knowledge that helps them progress a little faster. These are just general guidelines to help you plan your weekly schedule. Three courses per semester can be considered a full time (40hrs/week) job.

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As always, if you found this post useful, please click on "like".

If you have questions not addressed by this info post, do send us an email at applied.linguistics@umb.edu and we'll address those, and add to the FAQ as necessary.

UPDATE 12/11/2014: Online comp exam will be available on Blackboard http://umb.umassonline.net :) You should already be able to see the comp-exam "course" in your list of courses :)

UPDATE 12/8/2014: Campus exam will take place from Noon to 4pm on Monday December 15th

UPDATE 11/21/2014: You should be able to sign up for a Proctor now at: http://proctoru.com/portal/umb

UPDATE 11/21/2014: We are a little behind our estimates for when Exit Evaluations would be available. We expect that exit evaluations will be sent out by 12/5

Hello everyone!

I know that there are many who have been eager to find out more about the December comprehensive exam, and to submit their RSVP forms.  We've been awaiting confirmation from the computer labs (on-campus) to  confirm dates with you.  At the moment (confirmation still pending) the Comprehensive Exam is scheduled for December 15, 2014.

Any updates will be posted in this info-post.

If you have questions relating to the comprehensive exam that are not covered in this post, please post them here: http://umasslinguistics.com/group/comprehensiveexam/forum/topics/official-thread-december-2014-comprehensive-exam-q-a

As a companion to this blog post, please download and read the Comp Exam handout which contains the scoring rubric and some sample questions (this is the same as last semester)

DATE & LOCATION OF THE EXAM

The date of the exam is December 15th, 2014 for both campus and online students.

For campus students, the exam will take place in Healey Library, Purple Lab (Healey-Upper Level-Room 42).

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

In order to take the comprehensive exam you need to do two things:

1. Please complete the RSVP for December 2014 Comprehensive Exam (PDF) and return it to the department by email (applied.linguistics@umb.edu), by fax (+1 617-287-5403) or in person (W-6-98).
   • This form is due by November 3rd
2. Please complete your graduation request paperwork. You should have received a letter from the registrar's office in late September if you are potentially eligible to graduate.

As soon as we have processed your paperwork, you will be given access to a Blackboard course (http://umb.umassonline.net) where the information session will take place, and where you will be taking your exam.

EXIT EVALUATION FORM

Both online and on-campus students will be emailed an online survey by, or on, Friday November 21, 2014.

You will have until Friday December 12, 2014 to complete this survey.You must complete the survey before taking the comprehensive exam. Please follow the link to the survey as you will be unable to take the exam until it is completed. This survey is anonymous and evaluations will be opened and analyzed only after comprehensive exam results are in and grades submitted.

COMPREHENSIVE EXAM INFORMATION SESSION 

Online

No synchronous online  sessions are scheduled for this semester. Please read the comprehensive exam handout (see above), and if you have questions please post to the discussion forum. Professor Etienne and other faculty of the Applied Linguistics program will be monitoring and answering :)

On-Campus

Information TBA.  Until then, please read the Comprehensive Exam Handout (see above) and use the Discussion forum Q&A to ask questions you might have about the comprehensive exam.

PROCTORING

Online students: In years past we had asked students to find their own proctors, and this wasn't always easy.  We will be working with a company called ProctorU to make sure that each and every one of you has a proctor. It is really important to work out the time zone information correctly; all times are referenced in Eastern Standard Time (Boston time). Online students can choose to take the exam online, or on-campus.

Please see this Student Handout (PDF file) to see what the system requirements are for proctoring the exam remotely.

A common question that has been asked is whether or not you can go to a testing center, or find your own proctor, instead of using ProctorU.  The answer is that you cannot use any other proctoring service other than ProctorU.  ProctorU is the only option :)

On-campus students: Faculty members from the department of Applied Linguistics will be proctoring the exam on December 15th.  On-campus students cannot take the exam online. The only option for on-campus students is on-campus.

Exam Material

Students are examined on material from their FIVE core and TWO required courses in their concentration (ESL or Foreign Language).  Questions which appear on the exam are taken from exams, paper topics, and assignments in core and required courses and are periodically updated by faculty to reflect new course materials. Questions may also be submitted to the Comprehensive Exam Committee by students and will be considered for inclusion on the exam. If you are interested to do so, please email your questions to the coordinator of the Comprehensive Exam at applied.linguistics@umb.edu

Exam Structure

Questions on the exam are arranged into THREE areas of study. Two questions are asked in
each area. Students must answer ONE question in each area, thus THREE questions in FOUR
hours.
In each area, we suggest in parentheses possible themes questions might address. However, this
is NOT an exhaustive list.
Students are responsible for preparing to answer questions in each area by referring to course
syllabi where main content and goals are highlighted. Materials from one specific course may be
helpful and used to answer questions in more than one area.
All answers to exam questions should be informed by theory and research and  include a detailed linguistic analysis when required. The content of all core and  concentration courses will be tested on the exam (601, 603, 605, 621, 623, 611 or 618, 612 or 614)

Grading

The exams are graded by a committee of Applied Linguistics faculty.  Exams are graded “blind;”  no names are recorded on the printouts of the exams.  Students are assigned a letter code and the list which identifies letters with student names is sealed until grading is completed.

Each exam is read by at least two faculty members.  If the first reader and the second reader agree that the exam is a “Pass,” then the student is passed.  If the first and second reader disagree, or if there is any uncertainty in their evaluation, then a third reader is enlisted. 

Each answer is assigned a grade of High Pass, Pass, or Fail. No exam can be deemed as a Pass if one of the three required questions is not answered or has been assigned a failing grade.

Given the high number of students taking the exam, it may take up to two weeks for results to be sent out. Exam results are emailed when all grading has been completed.  Students should not email or call the office about results. Faculty always complete evaluations by graduation date. Students who pass the exam don’t have access to their exam answers.

Readers use the same comprehensive exam evaluation rubric to evaluate exams. You are encouraged to familiarize yourself with this rubric before the exam. It is available online in APLING Comprehensive Exam Preparation Session in Blackboard and at http://umasslinguistics.com/. The rubric includes the following criteria:

1. Does student answer the question asked?
2. Are all parts of the question answered?
3. Does the student answer the question in sufficient depth?  Are there important issues not covered?
4. Does the student make repeated or gross misstatements that would lead you to believe that they do not understand the relevant material?
5. Is the material presented coherently organized?  Can you follow the student’s argument without having to do a lot of “interpreting” or “filling in the blanks”?
6. Are technical terms used clearly and appropriately?  Are terms defined where necessary?
7. Are references made to course content and material where obvious/necessary?  (If, for example, you teach a course which addresses the question posed, does the student mention those aspects of the issue covered in your course?)
8. Does the student cite relevant sources?  Does the student link theories or methods to particular individuals?  (In other words, if s/he is clearly referring to a particular author’s work, does s/he cite the author?)
9. If the student draws on personal experiences to answer a question, is that experience linked in some way to theoretical issues, relevant literature, or coursework?
10. Does the student merely repeat the same material, references, and arguments in one or more of his or her responses or does s/he demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the field?

Strategies for preparing for and taking the exam:

Preparing:

• Carefully review your course syllabi paying attention to the course objectives and the main headings of weekly sessions. These headings outline important topics and issues; you should know the literature related to these themes and topics. You should be able to formulate basic questions about these themes and issues that could be exam questions.
• In general, exam questions ask you to define and discuss an issue, its context and origins; to support your discussion referring to scholars who contributed to the discussion of the issue, and to draw some classroom implications.
• Knowing the literature means being able to summarize the main ideas of a given scholar and assess her/his contribution to the field of applied linguistics. You are not expected to quote in the exam but you should spell scholars’ names properly, know the decade in which they contributed to the field, and present and summarize scholar’s ideas using and defining the terminology and connecting these ideas to the questions asked.
• If you like working in groups, it is a good idea to meet online with classmates.
• Advice for group work
  • Form a small group with 3-5 other students
  • Commit to each other to a meeting schedule, time and mode
  • Individually list the major theories that you remember
    (Do this before you open the books to see how much you already know!)
  • Include the key theorists’ name and dates.
  • Write a paragraph or two from memory with the key details.
  • Meet with your group to compare notes.
  • Revise your summaries as needed
  • Make a timeline of key theorists and dates.
    Include ONLY names and dates for a “clean” visual memory support.
    Use colors if you are a visual learner.
• Practice timed essays with each other:
  • Familiarize yourself with the evaluation rubric used by comprehensive exam graders
  • Write and exchange your questions
  • Assess each other’s essays using the comprehension evaluation rubric
  • Suggested: two “assessors” read and grade independently, THEN compare grades and feedback.
  • Give feedback in terms of the rubric and what the question asks

• You may consult any of the faculty members if you have doubt or questions about some concept or issue.

Taking the Exam

• Set up a document in word before you access the exam so you are ready to write as soon as you access the questions. SAVE it! Remember to hit save regularly as you write, or set it up to autosave every 5 minutes. Make sure you give yourself 5-10 minutes at the end to copy/paste your answers to Bb.
• Do not worry about formatting. It will disappear when you copy to Bb. Try to insert a blank line or two between paragraphs. Don’t worry about indenting.
• Copy the key phrases that you must answer in each question. Enter spaces between each phrase before you start to write. This will create a structure and help you remember what you have to answer. The last line of each question will ALWAYS tell you to support your answer with relevant literature. It is not necessary to copy this phrase—you are doing this throughout each answer.
• It is very important that you mark clearly by number each of the questions you choose to answer. The area designator and question number is sufficient. You do not have to copy the entire question. (e.g., A3)
• You should not waste time making detailed notes, extensive outlines, or rewriting your answers.  The exam committee realizes this is a timed exam and you are under considerable pressure; therefore, we do not grade on language mechanics or expository prose -- so long as your argument and meaning are clear.
• You should not spend more than an hour on each question.
• You should run a spell check before uploading your exam.

Failing the Exam

Students who fail the exam on the first attempt can take the exam a second time.  Before retaking the exam, the student should set up a phone, Wimba, or chat appointment with the Comprehensive Exam Coordinator to discuss the reasons for the failure.  Students who fail the exam will be given the comments of readers and be shown parts of their exam in light of the readers’ evaluations.

Students who fail the exam can retake the exam only once.  In preparing to retake the exam, students are encouraged to discuss with their advisors or other faculty how they might strengthen their performance.  If a student feels he or she has been unjustly evaluated, an appeal procedure exists and may be discussed with the comprehensive exam chair.

Students who take their coursework seriously, seek and obtain the guidance of their faculty advisor periodically throughout their program of study, and prepare conscientiously for the comprehensive exam, usually have no difficulties passing. 

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As always, if you find this blog post helpful, please hit the "like" button :-)

I know it seems like we just started the Fall 2014 semester, but it is almost time for Spring 2015 course registration! Time sure does fly :-)

If you are a matriculated student, you will be receiving an email from the Registrar's office for Spring 2015 registration, and you might be eager to register, but you cannot yet because you probably have holds. You also need to meet with your advisor before you can sign-up for courses.

In this blog you will find out a bit more about the Spring 2015 advising timeline and when certain things will happen.  As new information is available, this blog post will be updated, so keep it in mind when you have questions :-)  If your questions are not answered by this blog post, please see the following discussion forums where you can post a question, and we will do our best to answer :-)

• On-campus students go post your questions here: http://umasslinguistics.com/group/classroom/forum/topics/campus-spring-2015-course-registration-q-a
  
• Online students post your questions here: http://umasslinguistics.com/group/classroom/forum/topics/online-spring-2015-course-registration-q-a ;
  

PREPARATORY WORK:

Before meeting your with advisor, please log into WISER (http://wiser.umb.edu) and make sure you don't have any holds on your account!  This is really important! The only hold that we (applied linguistics) can remove is the "Advising Hold." If you have other holds on your account you need to get those resolved ASAP with the appropriate departments otherwise we will not be able to register you for courses. 

Immunization Hold:

If you are an online student, and you opt to apply for the immunization exemption. You will need to fill out the form and mail it to University Health Services so that the immunization hold can be removed. The form can be found here: http://www.umb.edu/healthservices/forms

Note for new students (On-campus & Online):

Even though new students will not be registered right away (since all of your information probably has not been processed yet) no need to worry. There will be spots available in introductory courses for you! We will be registering you for APLING 601 and APLING 605 (our two introductory courses) if you are on-campus. 

COURSES:

The tentative list of courses has been posted in the Classroom Group for quite some time :-).  Instructions, as well as days and times of courses (for on-campus courses) will be posted here as they become available. 

SPRING Online courses

Core courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics - Section 1: MIKROS, GEORGE
• APLING 603: Cross Cultural Perspectives - Section 1: BECKMAN, KRISTINA
• APLING 603: Cross Cultural Perspectives - Section 2: BECKMAN, KRISTINA
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching - Section 1: COMPTON, LILY
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics - Section 1: O'BRYAN, ANNE
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics - Section 2: O'BRYAN, ANNE
• APLING 698: Field Experience - KISS, KATHERINE

Concentration Courses

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum (Foreign Language Track) - KISS, KATHERINE
• APLING 618: Methods & Approaches in ESL (ESL/K-12 Licensure Track) - COMPTON, LILY

Elective Courses

• APLING 616: Curriculum Development in Bilingual Education - GOUNARI, PANAGIOTA **RECENTLY COMPLETELY REVAMPED COURSE!**
• APLING 673: Teaching Reading in the ESL Classroom - NIETO, DAVID 

SPRING On-Campus Courses

Core Courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics (Tu @ 4pm) - ETIENNE, CORINNE
• APLING 603: Cross-Cultural Perspectices (M @ 4pm) - LEISTYNA, PEPI
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching (W @ 4pm) - LEISTYNA, PEPI
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics - (W @ 7pm) - GOUNARI, PANAGIOTA
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics (Th @ 4pm) - BARTOLOME, LILIA
• APLING 698: Field Experience (non-licensure) (BY ARRG)  CARHILL-POZA, AVARY

Concentration Courses

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum (Foreign Language Track) (M @ 7pm) - ETIENNE, CORINNE
• APLING 618: Methods & Approaches in ESL (ESL/K-12 Licensure Track) (Tu @ 7pm) - CARHILL-POZA, AVARY

Elective Courses

• APLING 629: Structure of the English Language (Th @ 7pm) - MEYER, CHARLES

TIMELINE:

October 10 – October 15: Your advisors will be contacting you via email. Please check both your UMass Boston student email and any emails you've given to us as part of your application process. Your advisor will contact you to setup an appointment to meet with you.  You can meet by phone, by email, by skype, or if you are local you can meet in person! :-)  Be prepared to discuss your goals, and what courses you might be interested in signing up for. In consultation with your advisor you will pick 2 or 3 courses for next semester. Your advisors will tell us (AK & Evy) which courses you decided to sign up for and we will sign you up.

Please note that you advisor is not listed on WISER. We keep an internal departmental database to keep advisors and advisees :-)

Student Checklist Item:If you haven't heard from your advisor by October 20 (Monday), please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and let us know :-)

November 1 – December 10: During this period of time we will be going through and registering all students for courses. This is true for both online and on-campus students. If you log into WISER and you are not registered for a course yet, don't panic!  By December 20th you will be :-) We will be monitoring this forum to make sure everything's going well and answering questions as they come up. If, for some reason, you aren't registered December 10 – December 20 will be a catch-up and correction week for registrations.

Student Checklist Item: On December 15, please check your WISER account to make sure that you are registered for courses, and that you are registered for the courses you and you advisor agreed upon. If you are not registered for courses, please go into the appropriate Registration Q&A forum. 

December 10 - 20: Book Lists will be posted, for Spring Semester courses, in the Classroom group. Please be patient until then and refrain from emailing us about book lists :-)

January 2 - January 30 Non-Degree Registration period (for summer semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to January 2nd we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a Spring 2014 course, please check in on January 2nd to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is :-)  )

FAQ

1. Who is my advisor?
   Please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu to inquire about your advisor's contact information if you have not heard from your advisor by October 20.
2. WISER does not show my advisor, what's up with that?
   The WISER system is setup for undergraduate advisors.  Unfortunately we do not have access to change this, so graduate students will show a blank advisor.  Rest assured that you have an advisor , they just don't show up in WISER :-)
3. Can I change advisors?
   Of course! If you would like to change advisor, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu. Please include your UMS number in the request, and the reason you would like to change advisors.
4. Can I register without meeting my advisor?
   You will not be able to register without meeting your advisor
5. I have a hold, can you register me?
   We can only override the "Advising" hold if you've met with your advisor.  We cannot override other holds, so we cannot register you if you have holds.

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As always, if you find this blog post helpful, please click the "like" button so that others know to look for it :-)

Volume 18, Number 1 of LLT is now available!

We are happy to announce that Volume 18, Number 1, of Language Learning & Technology is now available at http://llt.msu.edu. The contents are listed below.

Please visit the LLT Web site and be sure to sign up to receive your free subscription if you have not already done so (http://llt.msu.edu/subscribe/). Also, we welcome your contributions for future issues, which should be done online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/llt. If you have questions about this process, check our guidelines for submission at: http://llt.msu.edu/guidelines/index.html

Sincerely,

Dorothy Chun and Mark Warschauer, Editors Language Learning & Technology (http://llt.msu.edu)

----- FEATURE ARTICLES -----

Fostering Foreign Language Learning Through Technology-Enhanced Intercultural Projects
by Jen Jun Chen & Shu Ching Yang

Using Peer Computer-Mediated Corrective Feedback to Support EFL Learners' Writing
by Ali AbuSeileek and Awatif Abualsha'r

Direct and Indirect Access to Corpora: An Exploratory Case Study Comparing Students’ Error Correction and Learning Strategy Use in L2 Writing
by Hyunsook Yoon and JungWon Jo

Effects of Captioning on Video Comprehension and Incidental Vocabulary Learning
by Maribel Montero Perez, Elke Peters, Geraldine Clarebout, and Piet Desmet

Ecological Affordance and Anxiety in an Oral Asynchronous Computer-Mediated Environment
by Levi McNeil

Use of Wikis to Promote Collaborative Writing in EF
by Zelilha Aydin and Senem Yildiz

----- COLUMNS AND COMMENTARIES -----

Emerging Technologies
Edited by Robert Godwin-Jones

Towards Transparent Computing: Content Authoring Using Open Standards
by Robert Godwin-Jones

Action Research
Edited by Greg Kessler

Can a Web-Based Course Improve Communicative Competence of Foreign-Born Nurses?
by Eileen Van Schaik, Emily Lynch, Susan Stoner, and Lorna Sikorski

Exploring how Collaborative Dialogues Facilitate Synchronous Collaborative Writing
by Hui-Chin Yeh

----- REVIEWS -----

Edited by Paige Ware

Researching Online Foreign Language Interaction and Exchange
Dooly, M., & O'Dowd, R.
Reviewed by Linda Bradley

Language Learning with Technology: Ideas for Integrating Technology in the Classroom
Stanley, G.
Reviewed by Nancy Montgomery

Encounters: Chinese Language and Culture
Ning, C. Y., & Montanaro, J. S.
Reviewed by Yaqiong Cui

Technology in Interlanguage Pragmatics Research and Teaching
Naoko, T., & Sykes, J.
Reviewed by Feng Xiao

----- ANNOUNCEMENTS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -----

Announcements
2013 Reviewer Acknowledgements

I know everyone has been wanting information about our May 2014 comprehensive exam.  :-)

We have just received confirmation that we have locked down the computer lab, so we can now inform you about what you need to know for the exam :-).  As  more information becomes available, I will be updating this blog post, so keep an eye on this space!

If you have questions relating to the comprehensive exam that are not covered in this post, please post them here: http://umasslinguistics.com/group/comprehensiveexam/forum/topics/official-thread-may-2014-comprehensive-exam-q-a

As a companion to this blog post, please download and read the Comp Exam handout which contains the scoring rubric and some sample questions (this is the same as last semester)

DATE & LOCATION OF THE EXAM

The date of the exam is Monday May 19th, 2014 for both campus and online students.

For campus students, the exam will take place in Healey Library, 3rd FLoor, Blue Lab.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

In order to take the comprehensive exam you need to do two things:

1. Please complete the Comprehensive Exam RSVP Form for May 2014 (PDF) and return it to the department by email (aplingonline@umb.edu), by fax (+1 617-287-5403) or in person (W-6-98).
   • This form is due by March 15
2. Please complete your graduation request paperwork. You should have received a letter from the registrar's office in late September if you are potentially eligible to graduate.

As soon as we have processed your paperwork, you will be given access to a Blackboard course (http://umb.umassonline.net) where the information session will take place, and where you will be taking your exam.

EXIT EVALUATION FORM

Both online and on-campus students will be emailed an online survey by, or on, May 1, 2014.

You will have until May 15, 2014 to complete this survey.You must complete the survey before taking the comprehensive exam. Please follow the link to the survey as you will be unable to take the exam until it is completed. This survey is anonymous and evaluations will be opened and analyzed only after comprehensive exam results are in and grades submitted.

COMPREHENSIVE EXAM INFORMATION SESSION

Because of the recent changes in the structure of the exam, all exam takers are REQUIRED to attend one information session (on campus for on-campus test takers, or on WIMBA for online test takers)

Online

None scheduled for this semester. Please read the comp exam handout (see above), and if you have questions please post to the discussion forum. Professor Etienne will be monitoring and answering :)

On-Campus

A comp exam info session will be held on Tuesday, April 29th at 6:00pm in the Applied Linguistics conference room (W-6-98).

PROCTORING

Online students: In years past we had asked students to find their own proctors, and this wasn't always easy.  We will be working with a company called ProctorU to make sure that each and every one of you has a proctor. It is really important to work out the time zone information correctly; all times are referenced in Eastern Standard Time (Boston time). Online students can choose to take the exam online, or on-campus.

Please see this Student Handout (PDF file) to see what the system requirements are for proctoring the exam remotely.

A common question that has been asked is whether or not you can go to a testing center, or find your own proctor, instead of using ProctorU.  The answer is that you cannot use any other proctoring service other than ProctorU.  ProctorU is the only option :)

On-campus students: Faculty members from the department of Applied Linguistics will be proctoring the exam on Monday May 19th.  On-campus students cannot take the exam online. The only option for on-campus students is on-campus.

DAY OF EXAM

more tips and information coming soon

Exam Material

Students are examined on material from their FIVE core and TWO required courses in their concentration (ESL or Foreign Language).  Questions which appear on the exam are taken from exams, paper topics, and assignments in core and required courses and are periodically updated by faculty to reflect new course materials. Questions may also be submitted to the Comprehensive Exam Committee by students and will be considered for inclusion on the exam. If you are interested to do so, please email your questions to the coordinator of the Comprehensive Exam at applied.linguistics@umb.edu

Exam Structure

Questions on the exam are arranged into THREE areas of study. Two questions are asked in
each area. Students must answer ONE question in each area, thus THREE questions in FOUR
hours.
In each area, we suggest in parentheses possible themes questions might address. However, this
is NOT an exhaustive list.
Students are responsible for preparing to answer questions in each area by referring to course
syllabi where main content and goals are highlighted. Materials from one specific course may be
helpful and used to answer questions in more than one area.
All answers to exam questions should be informed by theory and research and  include a detailed linguistic analysis when required. The content of all core and  concentration courses will be tested on the exam (601, 603, 605, 621, 623, 611 or 618, 612 or 614)

Grading

The exams are graded by a committee of Applied Linguistics faculty.  Exams are graded “blind;”  no names are recorded on the printouts of the exams.  Students are assigned a letter code and the list which identifies letters with student names is sealed until grading is completed.

Each exam is read by at least two faculty members.  If the first reader and the second reader agree that the exam is a “Pass,” then the student is passed.  If the first and second reader disagree, or if there is any uncertainty in their evaluation, then a third reader is enlisted. 

Each answer is assigned a grade of High Pass, Pass, or Fail. No exam can be deemed as a Pass if one of the three required questions is not answered or has been assigned a failing grade.

Given the high number of students taking the exam, it may take up to two weeks for results to be sent out. Exam results are emailed when all grading has been completed.  Students should not email or call the office about results. Faculty always complete evaluations by graduation date. Students who pass the exam don’t have access to their exam answers.

Readers use the same comprehensive exam evaluation rubric to evaluate exams. You are encouraged to familiarize yourself with this rubric before the exam. It is available online in APLING Comprehensive Exam Preparation Session in Blackboard and at http://umasslinguistics.com/. The rubric includes the following criteria:

1. Does student answer the question asked?
2. Are all parts of the question answered?
3. Does the student answer the question in sufficient depth?  Are there important issues not covered?
4. Does the student make repeated or gross misstatements that would lead you to believe that they do not understand the relevant material?
5. Is the material presented coherently organized?  Can you follow the student’s argument without having to do a lot of “interpreting” or “filling in the blanks”?
6. Are technical terms used clearly and appropriately?  Are terms defined where necessary?
7. Are references made to course content and material where obvious/necessary?  (If, for example, you teach a course which addresses the question posed, does the student mention those aspects of the issue covered in your course?)
8. Does the student cite relevant sources?  Does the student link theories or methods to particular individuals?  (In other words, if s/he is clearly referring to a particular author’s work, does s/he cite the author?)
9. If the student draws on personal experiences to answer a question, is that experience linked in some way to theoretical issues, relevant literature, or coursework?
10. Does the student merely repeat the same material, references, and arguments in one or more of his or her responses or does s/he demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the field?

Strategies for preparing for and taking the exam:

Preparing:

• Carefully review your course syllabi paying attention to the course objectives and the main headings of weekly sessions. These headings outline important topics and issues; you should know the literature related to these themes and topics. You should be able to formulate basic questions about these themes and issues that could be exam questions.
• In general, exam questions ask you to define and discuss an issue, its context and origins; to support your discussion referring to scholars who contributed to the discussion of the issue, and to draw some classroom implications.
• Knowing the literature means being able to summarize the main ideas of a given scholar and assess her/his contribution to the field of applied linguistics. You are not expected to quote in the exam but you should spell scholars’ names properly, know the decade in which they contributed to the field, and present and summarize scholar’s ideas using and defining the terminology and connecting these ideas to the questions asked.
• If you like working in groups, it is a good idea to meet online with classmates.
• Advice for group work
  • Form a small group with 3-5 other students
  • Commit to each other to a meeting schedule, time and mode
  • Individually list the major theories that you remember
    (Do this before you open the books to see how much you already know!)
  • Include the key theorists’ name and dates.
  • Write a paragraph or two from memory with the key details.
  • Meet with your group to compare notes.
  • Revise your summaries as needed
  • Make a timeline of key theorists and dates.
    Include ONLY names and dates for a “clean” visual memory support.
    Use colors if you are a visual learner.
• Practice timed essays with each other:
  • Familiarize yourself with the evaluation rubric used by comprehensive exam graders
  • Write and exchange your questions
  • Assess each other’s essays using the comprehension evaluation rubric
  • Suggested: two “assessors” read and grade independently, THEN compare grades and feedback.
  • Give feedback in terms of the rubric and what the question asks

• You may consult any of the faculty members if you have doubt or questions about some concept or issue.

Taking the Exam

• Set up a document in word before you access the exam so you are ready to write as soon as you access the questions. SAVE it! Remember to hit save regularly as you write, or set it up to autosave every 5 minutes. Make sure you give yourself 5-10 minutes at the end to copy/paste your answers to Bb.
• Do not worry about formatting. It will disappear when you copy to Bb. Try to insert a blank line or two between paragraphs. Don’t worry about indenting.
• Copy the key phrases that you must answer in each question. Enter spaces between each phrase before you start to write. This will create a structure and help you remember what you have to answer. The last line of each question will ALWAYS tell you to support your answer with relevant literature. It is not necessary to copy this phrase—you are doing this throughout each answer.
• It is very important that you mark clearly by number each of the questions you choose to answer. The area designator and question number is sufficient. You do not have to copy the entire question. (e.g., A3)
• You should not waste time making detailed notes, extensive outlines, or rewriting your answers.  The exam committee realizes this is a timed exam and you are under considerable pressure; therefore, we do not grade on language mechanics or expository prose -- so long as your argument and meaning are clear.
• You should not spend more than an hour on each question.
• You should run a spell check before uploading your exam.

Failing the Exam

Students who fail the exam on the first attempt can take the exam a second time.  Before retaking the exam, the student should set up a phone, Wimba, or chat appointment with the Comprehensive Exam Coordinator to discuss the reasons for the failure.  Students who fail the exam will be given the comments of readers and be shown parts of their exam in light of the readers’ evaluations.

Students who fail the exam can retake the exam only once.  In preparing to retake the exam, students are encouraged to discuss with their advisors or other faculty how they might strengthen their performance.  If a student feels he or she has been unjustly evaluated, an appeal procedure exists and may be discussed with the comprehensive exam chair.

Students who take their coursework seriously, seek and obtain the guidance of their faculty advisor periodically throughout their program of study, and prepare conscientiously for the comprehensive exam, usually have no difficulties passing. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As always, if you find this blog post helpful, please hit the "like" button :-)

This may seem a little early, but you will be receiving letters from the registrar's office soon giving you information about when you are able to register for Summer and Fall courses.

Now, you might be eager to register, but you cannot yet because you probably have holds. You also have, most likely, not met with your advisor.

In this blog you will find out a bit more about the Summer and Fall 2014 advising timeline and when certain things will happen.  As new information is available, this blog post will be updated, so keep it in mind, and check back, when you have questions!  If your questions are not answered by this blog post, please see the following discussion forums where you can post a question, and we will do our best to answer :-)

• On-campus students go post your questions here: http://umasslinguistics.com/group/classroom/forum/topics/campus-summer-fall-2015-advising-and-registration-q-a
  
• Online students post your questions here: http://umasslinguistics.com/group/classroom/forum/topics/online-summer-fall-2015-q-a
  

PREPARATORY WORK:

Before meeting your with advisor, please log into WISER (http://wiser.umb.edu) and make sure you don't have any holds on your account!  The only hold that we (applied linguistics) can remove is the "Advising Hold." If you have other holds on your account you need to get those resolved ASAP with the appropriate departments otherwise we will not be able to register you for courses. 

Immunization Hold:

If you are an online student, and you opt to apply for the immunization exemption, then you have to fill out the form every semester and mail it to University Health Services so that the immunization hold can be removed. The form can be found here: http://cdn.umb.edu/images/healthservices/Immunization_Form_Updated_...

If you complete the immunization form, and provide proof of immunization, University Health Services will not bug you again! (until some specific immunization expires)

Note for new students (On-campus & Online):

Even though new students will not be registered right away (since you probably have not been admitted yet :-) ) no need to worry. There will be spots available in introductory courses for you! We will be registering you for APLING 601 and APLING 605 (our two introductory courses). If you would like to register for a 3rd course, please contact applied.linguistics@umb.edu for more information.

COURSES:

The tentative list of courses has been posted in the Classroom Group for quite some time :-).  Instructions, as well as days and times of courses (for on-campus courses) will be posted here as they become available. 

SUMMER Online courses

Electives courses

• APLING 615: Methods and Materials in Bilingual Education (May - June, 6 week intensive) - GOUNARI, PANAGIOTA
• APLING 665: Immigration & Education (July - August,  6 week intensive) - CARHILL-POZA, AVARY
• APLING 673: Teaching Reading in the ESL Classroom (May - August) - BARTOLOME, LILIA 

FALL Online courses

Core courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics - Section 1 - MIKROS, GEORGE
• APLING 601: Linguistics - Section 2 - MIKROS, GEORGE
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching - Section 1 - KISS, KATE
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching - Section 2  - COMPTON, LILY
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics - Section 1 - BECKMAN, KRISTINA
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics - Section 2 - BECKMAN, KRISTINA

Concentration Courses

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum - KISS, KATE
• APLING 614: Foundations of Bilingual and Multicultural Education - GOUNARI, PANAGIOTA

Elective Courses

• APLING 627: Phonetics & Phonemics - MIKROS, GEORGE
• APLING 637: Ethnography - BARTOLOME, LILIA
• APLING 670: Testing in the ESL Classroom - MARTINEZ, LUIS 

FALL On-Campus Courses

Core Courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics (W @ 7pm) - MEYER, CHUCK
• APLING 603: Cross-Cultural Perspectices (W @ 4pm) - LEISTYNA, PEPI
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching (M @ 4pm) - LEISTYNA, PEPI
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics - (Tu @ 4pm) - ETIENNE, CORINNE
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics (Tu @ 7pm) - MACEDO, DONALDO
• APLING 698: Field Experience (non-licensure) (BY ARRG)  CARHILL-POZA, AVARY
• APLING 698: Practicum (licensure) (BY ARRG)  CARHILL-POZA, AVARY

Concentration Courses

• APLING 611: Methods and Material in Foreign Language Pedagogy (M @ 7pm) - ETIENNE, CORINNE
• APLING 614: Foundations of Bilingual and Multicultural Education (Th @ 4pm) - GOUNARI, PANAGIOTA

Elective Courses

• APLING 635: Literacy and Culture (Th @ 7pm) - BARTOLOME, LILIA

TEXTBOOKS:

Please do not ask for textbooks :-)  As soon as we have a list of textbooks for each course, we will post a notice on the Announcements box (top center of umasslinguistics.com). We expect textbooks to be posted by April 30th.

TIMELINE:

March 10 – March 30: Your advisors will be contacting you via email. Please check both your UMass Boston student email and any emails you've given to us as part of your application process. Your advisor will contact you to set up an appointment to meet with you. You can meet by phone, by email, by skype, or if you are local you can meet in person! :-)  Be prepared to discuss your goals, and what courses you might be interested in signing up for. In consultation with your advisor you will pick 2 or 3 courses for next semester. Your advisors will tell us (AK or Evy) which courses you decided to sign up for and we will sign you up.

Please note that you advisor is not listed on WISER. We keep an internal departmental database to keep advisors and advisees :-)

Student Checklist Item:If you haven't heard from your advisor by March 15 (Saturday), please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and let us know :-)

If you have not received advising by March 30, please contact Applied.Linguistics@umb.edu.

April 1 – April 30: During this period of time we will be going through and registering all students for courses. This is true for both online and on-campus students. If you log into WISER and you are not registered for a course yet, don't panic!  By May 1st you will be :-) We will be monitoring this forum to make sure everything's going well and answering questions as they come up. If, for some reason, you aren't registered May 1 – May 10 will be a catch-up and correction week for registrations.

Student Checklist Item: On May 10, please check your WISER account to make sure that you are registered for courses, and that you are registered for the courses you and you advisor agreed upon. If you are not registered for courses, please go into the appropriate Registration Q&A forum. 

May 5 - May 20 Non-Degree Registration period (for summer semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to May 5 we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a Summer 2014 course, please check in on May 5th to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is :-)  )

May 20: Book Lists will be posted, for Fall Semester courses, in the Classroom group. Please be patient until then and refrain from emailing us or asking questions about book lists :-) 

August 20 - September 1 Non-Degree Registration period (for fall semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to August 20th we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a fall 2014 course, please check in on August 20th to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is :-)  )

FAQ

1. Who is my advisor?
   Please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu to inquire about your advisor's contact information if you have not heard from your advisor by March 30th.
2. Can I change advisors?
   Of course! If you would like to change advisor, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu. Please include your UMS number in the request, and the reason you would like to change advisors.
3. Can I register without meeting my advisor?
   You will not be able to register without meeting your advisor
4. I have a hold, can you register me?
   We can only override the "Advising" hold if you've met with your advisor.  We cannot override other holds, so we cannot register you if you have holds.

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As always, if you find this blog post helpful, please click the "like" button so that others know to look for it :-)

Wow, it seems like it's that time again! (I feel like we just finished registrations ;-) )

If you are a matriculated student, you will be receiving an email from the Registrar's office for Spring 2014 registration, and you might be eager to register, but you cannot yet because you probably have holds. You also have, most likely, not met with your advisor.

In this blog you will find out a bit more about the Spring 2014 advising timeline and when certain things will happen.  As new information is available, this blog post will be updated, so keep it in mind when you have questions :-)  If your questions are not answered by this blog post, please see the following discussion forums where you can post a question, and we will do our best to answer :-)

• On-campus students go post your questions here:  http://umasslinguistics.com/group/classroom/forum/topics/campus-spring-2014-advising-registration-q-a
  
• Online students post your questions here: http://umasslinguistics.com/group/classroom/forum/topics/online-spring-2014-advising-and-registration
  

PREPARATORY WORK:

Before meeting your with advisor, please log into WISER (http://wiser.umb.edu) and make sure you don't have any holds on your account!  The only hold that we (applied linguistics) can remove is the "Advising Hold." If you have other holds on your account you need to get those resolved ASAP with the appropriate departments otherwise we will not be able to register you for courses. 

Immunization Hold:

If you are an online student, and you opt to apply for the immunization exemption, then you have to fill out the form every semester and mail it to University Health Services so that the immunization hold can be removed. The form can be found here: http://cdn.umb.edu/images/healthservices/Immunization_Form_Updated_...

If you complete the immunization form, and provide proof of immunization, University Health Services will not bug you again! (until some specific immunization expires)

Note for new students (On-campus & Online):

Even though new students will not be registered right away (since you probably have not been admitted yet :-) ) no need to worry. There will be spots available in introductory courses for you! We will be registering you for APLING 601 and APLING 605 (our two introductory courses) if you are on-campus. If you are an online student we will register you for 603 and an elective of your choice! If you would like to register for a 3rd course, please contact applied.linguistics@umb.edu for more information.

COURSES:

The tentative list of courses has been posted in the Classroom Group for quite some time :-).  Instructions, as well as days and times of courses (for on-campus courses) will be posted here as they become available. 

SPRING Online courses

Core courses

• APLING 603: Cross Cultural Perspectives - Section 1: BECKMAN, KRISTINA
• APLING 603: Cross Cultural Perspectives - Section 2: BECKMAN, KRISTINA
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics - Section 1: GOUNARI, PANAGIOTA
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics - Section 2: O'BRYAN, ANNE
• APLING 698: Field Experience - KISS, KATHERINE

Concentration Courses

• APLING 611: Methods & Materials in Foreign Language Pedagogy (Foreign Language Track) - SMITH, SARA
• APLING 618: Methods & Approaches in ESL (ESL/K-12 Licensure Track) - CLARK-GARECA, BETH

Elective Courses

• APLING 629: Structure of the English Language - MEYER, CHARLES
• APLING 635: Literacy and Culture - BARTOLOME, LILIA
• APLING 669: Writing Theories - KISS, KATHERINE
• APLING 678: Technology in Language Education - COMPTON, LILY

SPRING On-Campus Courses

Core Courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics (Tu @ 7pm) - ETIENNE, CORINNE
• APLING 603: Cross-Cultural Perspectices (W @ 4pm) - LEISTYNA, PEPI
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching (M @ 7pm) - LEISTYNA, PEPI
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics - (Th @ 4pm) - GOUNARI, PANAGIOTA
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics (Tu @ 4pm) - MACEDO, DONALDO
• APLING 698: Field Experience (non-licensure) (BY ARRG)  CARHILL-POZA, AVARY

Concentration Courses

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum (Foreign Language Track) (M @ 4pm) - ETIENNE, CORINNE
• APLING 618: Methods & Approaches in ESL (ESL/K-12 Licensure Track) (W @ 7pm) - CARHILL-POZA, AVARY

TIMELINE:

October 1 – October 15: Your advisors will be contacting you via email. Please check both your UMass Boston student email and any emails you've given to us as part of your application process. Your advisor will contact you to setup an appointment to meet with you.  You can meet by phone, by email, by skype, or if you are local you can meet in person! :-)  Be prepared to discuss your goals, and what courses you might be interested in signing up for. In consultation with your advisor you will pick 2 or 3 courses for next semester. Your advisors will tell us (AK, Evy, Beth) which courses you decided to sign up for and we will sign you up.

Please note that you advisor is not listed on WISER. We keep an internal departmental database to keep advisors and advisees :-)

Student Checklist Item:If you haven't heard from your advisor by October 10 (Wednesday), please email aplingonline@umb.edu and let us know :-)

November 1 – December 10: During this period of time we will be going through and registering all students for courses. This is true for both online and on-campus students. If you log into WISER and you are not registered for a course yet, don't panic!  By May 1st you will be :-) We will be monitoring this forum to make sure everything's going well and answering questions as they come up. If, for some reason, you aren't registered December 10 – December 20 will be a catch-up and correction week for registrations.

Student Checklist Item: On December 10, please check your WISER account to make sure that you are registered for courses, and that you are registered for the courses you and you advisor agreed upon. If you are not registered for courses, please go into the appropriate Registration Q&A forum. 

December 10 - 20: Book Lists will be posted, for Spring Semester courses, in the Classroom group. Please be patient until then and refrain from emailing us about book lists :-)

January 2 - January 30 Non-Degree Registration period (for summer semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to January 2nd we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a Spring 2014 course, please check in on January 2nd to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is :-)  )

FAQ

1. Who is my advisor?
   Please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu to inquire about your advisor's contact information if you have not heard from your advisor by October 15.
2. Can I change advisors?
   Of course! If you would like to change advisor, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu. Please include your UMS number in the request, and the reason you would like to change advisors.
3. Can I register without meeting my advisor?
   You will not be able to register without meeting your advisor
4. I have a hold, can you register me?
   We can only override the "Advising" hold if you've met with your advisor.  We cannot override other holds, so we cannot register you if you have holds.

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As always, if you find this blog post helpful, please click the "like" button so that others know to look for it :-)

Hello everyone!

OK! Information about the comprehensive exam is slowly starting to crystallize.  As  more information becomes available, I will be updating this blog post, so keep an eye on this space!

If you have questions relating to the comprehensive exam that are not covered in this post, please post them here: http://umasslinguistics.com/group/comprehensiveexam/forum/topics/december-2013-comprehensive-exam-q-a

As a companion to this blog post, please download and read the Comp Exam handout which contains the scoring rubric and some sample questions

DATE & LOCATION OF THE EXAM

The date of the exam is Friday December 20th for both campus and online students.

For campus students, the exam will take place in Healey Library, 3rd Floor, White Lab.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

In order to take the comprehensive exam you need to do two things:

1. Please complete the Comprehensive Exam RSVP form (PDF) and return it to the department by email (aplingonline@umb.edu), by fax (+1 617-287-5403) or in person (W-6-98).
   • This form is due by October 15
2. Please complete your graduation request paperwork. You should have received a letter from the registrar's office in late September if you are potentially eligible to graduate.

As soon as we have processed your paperwork, you will be given access to a Blackboard course (http://umb.umassonline.net) where the information session will take place, and where you will be taking your exam.

EXIT EVALUATION FORM

Both online and on-campus students will be emailed an online survey by, or on, November 15, 2013.

You will have until December 1, 2013 to complete this survey.You must complete the survey before taking the comprehensive exam. Please follow the link to the survey as you will be unable to take the exam until it is completed. This survey is anonymous and evaluations will be opened and analyzed only after comprehensive exam results are in and grades submitted.

COMPREHENSIVE EXAM INFORMATION SESSION

Because of the recent changes in the structure of the exam, all exam takers are REQUIRED to attend one information session (on campus for on-campus test takers, or on WIMBA for online test takers)

Online

Wednesday November 13th --> RSVP here

On-Campus

Monday November 4 at 6pm --> RSVP here

Tuesday November 12 at 6:30pm --> RSVP here

PROCTORING

Online students: In years past we had asked students to find their own proctors, and this wasn't always easy.  We will be working with a company called ProctorU to make sure that each and every one of you has a proctor. It is really important to work out the time zone information correctly; all times are referenced in Eastern Standard Time (Boston time). Online students can choose to take the exam online, or on-campus.

Please see this Student Handout (PDF file) to see what the system requirements are for proctoring the exam remotely.

A common question that has been asked is whether or not you can go to a testing center, or find your own proctor, instead of using ProctorU.  The answer is that you cannot use any other proctoring service other than ProctorU.  ProctorU is the only option :)

On-campus students: Faculty members from the department of Applied Linguistics will be proctoring the exam on Friday December 20th.  On-campus students cannot take the exam online. The only option for on-campus students is on-campus.

DAY OF EXAM

more tips and information coming soon

Exam Material

Students are examined on material from their FIVE core and TWO required courses in their concentration (ESL or Foreign Language).  Questions which appear on the exam are taken from exams, paper topics, and assignments in core and required courses and are periodically updated by faculty to reflect new course materials. Questions may also be submitted to the Comprehensive Exam Committee by students and will be considered for inclusion on the exam. If you are interested to do so, please email your questions to the coordinator of the Comprehensive Exam at applied.linguistics@umb.edu

Exam Structure

Questions on the exam are arranged into THREE areas of study. Two questions are asked in
each area. Students must answer ONE question in each area, thus THREE questions in FOUR
hours.
In each area, we suggest in parentheses possible themes questions might address. However, this
is NOT an exhaustive list.
Students are responsible for preparing to answer questions in each area by referring to course
syllabi where main content and goals are highlighted. Materials from one specific course may be
helpful and used to answer questions in more than one area.
All answers to exam questions should be informed by theory and research and  include a detailed linguistic analysis when required. The content of all core and  concentration courses will be tested on the exam (601, 603, 605, 621, 623, 611 or 618, 612 or 614)

Grading

The exams are graded by a committee of Applied Linguistics faculty.  Exams are graded “blind;”  no names are recorded on the printouts of the exams.  Students are assigned a letter code and the list which identifies letters with student names is sealed until grading is completed.

Each exam is read by at least two faculty members.  If the first reader and the second reader agree that the exam is a “Pass,” then the student is passed.  If the first and second reader disagree, or if there is any uncertainty in their evaluation, then a third reader is enlisted. 

Each answer is assigned a grade of High Pass, Pass, or Fail. No exam can be deemed as a Pass if one of the three required questions is not answered or has been assigned a failing grade.

Given the high number of students taking the exam, it may take up to two weeks for results to be sent out. Exam results are emailed when all grading has been completed.  Students should not email or call the office about results. Faculty always complete evaluations by graduation date. Students who pass the exam don’t have access to their exam answers.

Readers use the same comprehensive exam evaluation rubric to evaluate exams. You are encouraged to familiarize yourself with this rubric before the exam. It is available online in APLING Comprehensive Exam Preparation Session in Blackboard and at http://umasslinguistics.com/. The rubric includes the following criteria:

1. Does student answer the question asked?
2. Are all parts of the question answered?
3. Does the student answer the question in sufficient depth?  Are there important issues not covered?
4. Does the student make repeated or gross misstatements that would lead you to believe that they do not understand the relevant material?
5. Is the material presented coherently organized?  Can you follow the student’s argument without having to do a lot of “interpreting” or “filling in the blanks”?
6. Are technical terms used clearly and appropriately?  Are terms defined where necessary?
7. Are references made to course content and material where obvious/necessary?  (If, for example, you teach a course which addresses the question posed, does the student mention those aspects of the issue covered in your course?)
8. Does the student cite relevant sources?  Does the student link theories or methods to particular individuals?  (In other words, if s/he is clearly referring to a particular author’s work, does s/he cite the author?)
9. If the student draws on personal experiences to answer a question, is that experience linked in some way to theoretical issues, relevant literature, or coursework?
10. Does the student merely repeat the same material, references, and arguments in one or more of his or her responses or does s/he demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the field?

Strategies for preparing for and taking the exam:

Preparing:

• Carefully review your course syllabi paying attention to the course objectives and the main headings of weekly sessions. These headings outline important topics and issues; you should know the literature related to these themes and topics. You should be able to formulate basic questions about these themes and issues that could be exam questions.
• In general, exam questions ask you to define and discuss an issue, its context and origins; to support your discussion referring to scholars who contributed to the discussion of the issue, and to draw some classroom implications.
• Knowing the literature means being able to summarize the main ideas of a given scholar and assess her/his contribution to the field of applied linguistics. You are not expected to quote in the exam but you should spell scholars’ names properly, know the decade in which they contributed to the field, and present and summarize scholar’s ideas using and defining the terminology and connecting these ideas to the questions asked.
• If you like working in groups, it is a good idea to meet online with classmates.
• Advice for group work
  • Form a small group with 3-5 other students
  • Commit to each other to a meeting schedule, time and mode
  • Individually list the major theories that you remember
    (Do this before you open the books to see how much you already know!)
  • Include the key theorists’ name and dates.
  • Write a paragraph or two from memory with the key details.
  • Meet with your group to compare notes.
  • Revise your summaries as needed
  • Make a timeline of key theorists and dates.
    Include ONLY names and dates for a “clean” visual memory support.
    Use colors if you are a visual learner.
• Practice timed essays with each other:
  • Familiarize yourself with the evaluation rubric used by comprehensive exam graders
  • Write and exchange your questions
  • Assess each other’s essays using the comprehension evaluation rubric
  • Suggested: two “assessors” read and grade independently, THEN compare grades and feedback.
  • Give feedback in terms of the rubric and what the question asks

• You may consult any of the faculty members if you have doubt or questions about some concept or issue.

Taking the Exam

• Set up a document in word before you access the exam so you are ready to write as soon as you access the questions. SAVE it! Remember to hit save regularly as you write, or set it up to autosave every 5 minutes. Make sure you give yourself 5-10 minutes at the end to copy/paste your answers to Bb.
• Do not worry about formatting. It will disappear when you copy to Bb. Try to insert a blank line or two between paragraphs. Don’t worry about indenting.
• Copy the key phrases that you must answer in each question. Enter spaces between each phrase before you start to write. This will create a structure and help you remember what you have to answer. The last line of each question will ALWAYS tell you to support your answer with relevant literature. It is not necessary to copy this phrase—you are doing this throughout each answer.
• It is very important that you mark clearly by number each of the questions you choose to answer. The area designator and question number is sufficient. You do not have to copy the entire question. (e.g., A3)
• You should not waste time making detailed notes, extensive outlines, or rewriting your answers.  The exam committee realizes this is a timed exam and you are under considerable pressure; therefore, we do not grade on language mechanics or expository prose -- so long as your argument and meaning are clear.
• You should not spend more than an hour on each question.
• You should run a spell check before uploading your exam.

Failing the Exam

Students who fail the exam on the first attempt can take the exam a second time.  Before retaking the exam, the student should set up a phone, Wimba, or chat appointment with the Comprehensive Exam Coordinator to discuss the reasons for the failure.  Students who fail the exam will be given the comments of readers and be shown parts of their exam in light of the readers’ evaluations.

Students who fail the exam can retake the exam only once.  In preparing to retake the exam, students are encouraged to discuss with their advisors or other faculty how they might strengthen their performance.  If a student feels he or she has been unjustly evaluated, an appeal procedure exists and may be discussed with the comprehensive exam chair.

Students who take their coursework seriously, seek and obtain the guidance of their faculty advisor periodically throughout their program of study, and prepare conscientiously for the comprehensive exam, usually have no difficulties passing. 

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As always, if you find this blog post helpful, please hit the "like" button :-)

ESL Licensure Information Session

Wednesday September 18th, 5-6pm, ITCConference Room (Healey Library, Lower Level, ITC Conference Room)

Campus APLING students interested in ESL licensure are invited to attend a licensure information session (offered once each semester). The information session will help you determine if you need ESL licensure and what steps to take in order to obtain your initial license in ESL. We will also discuss required coursework, pre-practicum, practicum and answer your questions.

Hello everyone in UMassLinguistics.com!

I hope the last 7 weeks have been good for all of you :)  I have been out of the office on vacation. I must admit that this was a bit of a long vacation, but I hadn't taken one in 8 years, so my family overseas was ready to come and abduct me in order to see me ;-)

That said, if you emailed me (a.koutropoulos@umb.edu) at some point over the past 7 weeks, you got an out-of-office reply that stated that I won't be reading any email received between May 18 and July 8.  Over the next few days I will be:

• going through the backlog of emails
• meeting with my colleagues (Evy, Beth and Tori) to catch up on what happened while I was gone
• see what's still a pending issue

If you have any questions, or believe that there is some issue unresolved, please email me at aplingonline@umb.edu (the department account), so I can inquire with my colleagues to see what's going on. I will then get back to you as soon as I can :)

One thing to keep in ming is this: I have forgotten both my own email password and the department's email password, so I will need to head over to the IT department to reset both. The only password I remembered was for umasslinguistics.com since it's tied to my Twitter account. 

See you all on here, and I hope all was well while I was gone :)

AK