We know that this year is unlike any we've had before. You are learning from your own home, in front of a computer. In this context, academic integrity can be even more challenging than usual. It is also even more important.
Participate in academic integrity week to learn more about how to complete your work with integrity, and to celebrate the ways you already approach your learning and your work with honesty and integrity.
Former SLC English as Additional Language Peer Bessie W. returns with tips and tricks for writing a professional email. Just in time to help you reach out to your professor or TA to get clarification on those first assignments...
Former SLC English as Additional Language Peer, Trina Lal, shares reflections on the benefits of participating in the Conversation Partners program. The program continues online during SFU's remote instruction. Sign up to participate here.
Former Writing and Learning Peer Deeya B. returns with another post to help you do well in your writing courses this semester.
In this post, Deeya debunks myths about "flowery language' and the value of such language in academic writing.
As Deeya explains, flowery language occurs when elaborate words are substituted for simple ones and longer sentences are used to try to convey multiple ideas. However, flowery language often backfires and makes students sound less confident in their understanding of a subject.
In this post, Deeya will explain more about what flowery language is, why students choose to use it, and why it often has the reverse of the intended outcome.
Imagine this: you’re typing away ferociously with the little time left for you to hand in your term paper. It’s due tonight, and although you had three weeks to write it, there were other more important assignments on your plate. It’s not that you didn’t know you had to write this paper too, but you were pretty confident you knew what you wanted to say and could put all of your ideas into words in one afternoon. It is now the afternoon of your paper’s due date. You’re scrambling, fumbling over the keyboard, ideas circling in your head but all of them sounding like a thought vomit on paper. You’re tired, overwhelmed and unable to comprehend your own words. You rush to the SLC for a drop-in session, praying that your peer educator can work a miracle and save your grade...
In this post, Writing and Learning Peer Deeya B. shares pro tips to help you get your writing done this semester and get the most out of the Student Learning Commons.
It isn't a miracle, a magic spell, or a silver bullet, but if you follow these steps, you may find that your writing process this semester is that much easier (or, at the very least, slightly less painful).
Does this word need an "s"? An apostrophe? An apostrophe "s"?
If you often find yourself asking such questions, you've come to the right place.
And what better time to get those answer than when you are stuck inside between (the strangest) spring term and the forthcoming (entirely remote) summer term?
Here to finally complete the promised three part series on common expression errors, it is Apostrophe Angst!
If you want to review the previous two posts, you can read them here:
By Dr. Timothy Mossman, SLC EAL Services Coordinator
In this post, Dr. Timothy Mossman introduces and invites submissions to the new Multilingual Students' Story Hub. The Story Hub is a forum for multilingual students to share their stories about events or critical incidents that occurred while learning or using English.
Are you a multilingual student who would like to improve your English conversation skills in a one-to-one setting with a student volunteer?
The Conversation Partners Program is for English as an Additional Language (EAL) undergraduate and graduate Simon Fraser University students who wish to be paired with a student volunteer to practice and improve their conversational English in a friendly, supportive environment.
The Conversation Partners Program is accepting registrations for the Fall 2019 semester. Only a few spots still remain, so register today to secure your spot!
In this Grammar Camp post, Dr. Amanda Goldrick-Jones, SLC Writing Coordinator, provides an overview of 4 basic parts of speech. There are 8 basic parts of speech, so stay tuned for next week's post about the last 4, and for two self-test quizzes for you to test out your newly acquired grammar know-how!
