NEWS. The Learning Center. W inter 2017 Issue 7

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1 W inter 2017 Issue 7 The Learning Center NEWS Th e Lear n in g Cen ter 's fir st En gl ish Qu iz even t was a sm ash h it! Stu den ts com peted in 3 team s of 4 to com pl ete wor d & sen ten ce-bu il din g activities, an swer qu estion s abou t vocabu l ar y an d l isten in g com pr eh en sion, an d win IELP LC swag!

2 LCUPDATES:NEWStaff Meet our new Lab Assistants! M y n am e is Kom al Vin ch h i. I am f r om In dia, an d I h ave been livin g in Por t lan d f or t h r ee an d a h alf year s. I h ave a t ech n ical back gr ou n d w it h an u n der gr adu at e degr ee in Com pu t er Scien ce an d am cu r r en t ly com plet in g a M ast er s in En gin eer in g an d Tech n ology M an agem en t. I possess a diver se sk ill set w h ich in clu des t ech n ical sk ills, r esear ch, plan n in g, an alysis an d pr esen t at ion sk ills. I am en t h u siast ic an d m ot ivat ed t o pu t m y sk ills t o best u se. It is a pleasu r e t o w or k w it h t h e Lear n in g Cen t er t eam as I h ave h ad an in t er est in En glish lear n in g sin ce h igh sch ool. I h ave t each in g exper ien ce in En glish w h ich h elps m e in assist in g st u den t s at t h e Lear n in g Cen t er. M y h obbies ar e t r avelin g, w r it in g, an d cook in g. My name is Lucas Lim Kai Xuan, and I am thrilled and honored to part of this wonderful and exciting team. I am from Malaysia. I have been here since September 2015 till today. Currently, I am a junior majoring in Marketing. I have 3-4 years of working experience dealing with suppliers and customers from the local region and abroad. I really enjoy socializing, networking and building relationships with people from different backgrounds because they are part of my marketing skills. Having all these skills will help me to broaden my business network opportunities in the future. I am an athletic person who loves to play soccer, table tennis, badminton, and other sports. I am looking forward to understanding, leveraging, and supporting IELP students and the LC team during this challenging year.

3 LCUPDATES:NEWStaff Meet our new Lab Assistants! Othman Murad is an undergraduate student majoring in electrical engineering at Portland State University, and he also holds a diploma in applied science technology in bio-medical equipment. He was born on January 15th, 1985 and grew up in Kuwait. He graduated from high school in 2002 and then in 2006 he has got a diploma in applied science technology from a college of technological studies in Kuwait was a year of transition in his life from a student to an employee. He worked as a customer service agent at X-Cite, the biggest electronics company in Kuwait, and then he worked as an engineer?s assistant at the ministry of health. In 2014 he decided to return back to school as a student to get a bachelor 's degree in electrical engineering. Othman is a supportive person and is always willing to help others. He likes playing tennis, photography, and traveling. In addition, being away from home, and as a foodie person, recently cooking was added to his list of hobbies. Recently, he was selected to be a part of IELP LC team, and he proudly serves as a LC Lab Assistant. Being a fulltime student is kind of hard work and being a student employee is kind of a challenge. This gives Othman the ability to manage and balance his time. Also, he believes in working hard and doing the best to achieve goals is better than achieving them with doing nothing because he will never taste the success unless he did his best. My name is Zainab Kamal. I am a passionate student from Kuwait majoring in Civil Engineering at Portland State University. I have lived in Portland for three years, and the City of Roses has been my second home. I have joined the team this term, and I am really happy and proud that I am working as a lab assistant in the IELP Learning Center. Being a former IELP student gives me the ability to walk in the student?s shoes and the ability to understand how they think as I have been in their place before. I have 6 years' working experience with autistic individuals and other people with special needs. I think of myself as an outgoing person, dog lover, piano player, and traveler. I love experiencing and exploring new things in life, and I am looking forward to getting to help and support the new IELP students!

4 As a writer, a Learning Center Tutor, and a student in the Applied Linguistics program at Portland State University, I?ve become interested in language and writing from many different angles. LCUPDATES Because I grew up speaking and eventually writing English, I became accustomed to using English What happened in the Learning Center this term? without always knowing what I was doing. That is, I had an implicit knowledge about English and how it should sound, but I did not have an explicit knowledge of grammatical functions, features, or terms. When I began teaching English in Thailand, I became more aware of names for different grammar features, and more aware of the ways English could be difficult for those learning it as a second or third language. My awareness of and curiosity about language has continued to grow as I?ve studied in PSU?s Applied Linguistics Program and as I?ve worked as with multilingual students in the IELP Learning Center. As a writer, (I was in an MFA writing program before I began studying in the Applied Linguistics program), I?ve also become increasingly interested in how language works at the sentence level. TUTORPROJECTHIGHLIGHT BYSONYATHAYER My interest in writing and my background in tutoring led me to my current project: developing training materials for Writing Center Consultants who work with multilingual writers. Although Writing Center Consultants spend a lot of time working with multilingual students, they may have less experience, especially when new, working with multilingual writers specifically on grammar. Like me, before I began teaching and tutoring multilingual students, consultants may have an implicit and intuitive knowledge of English, but lack that explicit knowledge that will enable them to discuss grammar This term, for the first time, a group of LC tutors met with tutors from the PSU Writing Center to share experiences with and strategies for working with international students. The tutors discussed their approaches to various writing scenarios and challenges, and collaborated to give feedback and make corrections on sample student papers. The workshop included several tutors from the both the Learning Center and the Writing Center, as well as LC manager Sheila Mullooly and IELP instructor Linnea Spitzer, who is working to train Writing Center consultants about how best to work with multilingual writers. We hope to continue this collaboration in future terms! WRITINGCENTERWORKSHOP

5 RESOURCES Click on the link to go to the site! Helpful resources for IELP instructors and students EX ENGLI SH English is an online, Friends-style sitcom designed specifically for high-school language classes. There are 30 episodes, each roughly 20 minutes long, and they are all available for free on LinkEngPark.com. The episodes include features such as clearly articulated dialogue, optional subtitles, lots of repetition, and visual/text reinforcement of plot points to make them more digestible for language learners. Each episode also includes a paragraph summary of the plot that students can use to preview or check understanding before or after viewing the episode. Por tland ESL Netw or k The Portland ESL Network is a brand-new Facebook group where teachers, volunteers, and tutors in the Portland area can share advice, resources, and job opportunities. You can join the group by searching for Portland ESL Network Group on Facebook, or by clicking the link below.

6 WINTERWORKSHOPS PSU L i b r ar y Resear ch Sk i l l s I ELT S L i st en i n g (Par t 2) T u esd ay, Jan u ar y 24th, 3:30 p m Pr esen t er : K i m ber l ey W i l l son - St. Cl ai r Par ti ci p an t s: 8 st u d en t s T h u r sd ay, Febr u ar y 16 t h, 4:0 0 p m Pr esen ter : A n esa Bu r k i c Par ti ci p an ts: 17 stu d en ts T i m e M an agem en t & St u d y Sk i l l s Q u i z Ev en t T u esd ay, Jan u ar y 31st, 4:0 0 p m Pr esen t er : Bet t y B r i ck son Par ti ci p an t s: 11 st u d en ts W ed n esd ay, Febr u ar y 22 n d, 3:30 p m H osted by Kom al V i n ch h i & Son y a T h ay er Par ti ci p an ts: 11 stu d en ts, 1 staf f St u d en t Pan el : I EL P t o Sch o o l o f B u si n ess CALENDAR T h u r sd ay, Febr u ar y 2 n d, 3:30 p m Pr esen t er : L u cas L i m Par ti ci p an t s: 15 st u d en t s, 1 f acu l t y, 1 st af f I ELT S L i st en i n g T h u r sd ay, Febr u ar y 2 n d, 5:0 0 p m Pr esen t er : A n esa Bu r k i c Par ti ci p an t s: 6 st u d en ts I ELT S W r i t i n g: T ask 1 T h u r sd ay, Febr u ar y 9 th, 4:0 0 p m Pr esen t er : Gai l Z h an g Par ti ci p an t s: 24 st u d en t s I n t er v i ew Sk i l l s M on d ay, Febr u ar y 13 th, 4:0 0 p m Pr esen t er : M ar y H u n n i cu t t Par ti ci p an t s: 5 st u d en ts MARCH17TH All LC m ater ials not needed for finals DUE MARCH22ND Final deadline for LC m ater ials at 12pm MARCH23RD-31ST LC closed for Spr ing Br eak MARCH31ST9-4 APRIL1ST LC open for IELP staff LC open for spr ing ter m Newsletter contributers: Noel Conrad, Zainab Kamal, Lucas Lim, Sheila Mullooly, Othman Murad, Sonya Thayer, & Komal Vinchhi