Highlights of English Language Fellow at Beijing Foreign Studies University
Fellow Presents at SLA Conference in Hawaii
Senior Fellow Jeff Thompson presented a poster entitled A Comprehensive Progressive Writing Rubric for Chinese University EFL Students at the Second Language Research Forum 2008 Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii in October 2008.
After meeting with the Second Language Studies (SLS) department chair and faculty, Professor Thompson was invited to a pre-conference lecture by Rosa Manchon, University of Murcia, Spain, who spoke about “writing to learn” v. “learning to write”. She presented her research that stated writing instruction can be used to help students improve their language usage instead of just improving organization, grammar, mechanics, etc. This provided new insights into Professor Thompson’s work with writing students and confirmation of his work, primarily regarding correction feedback.
The biggest awakening experienced involved Professor Thompson’s rediscovering the value SLS research. The conference provided plenary and other sessions strictly devoted to SLS research. This reminded him of the importance of framing and evaluating the results of classroom teaching and research in a framework of current SLS and ESL/EFL theory.
English Language Fellow Aides Beijing Government in Olympics Preparations
During the month of July 2008, English Language Fellow Jeffrey Thompson served as an English Language Inspector for Beijing’s Capital International Airport’s newly-opened Terminal 3. Designed by famed British architect Norman Foster, Terminal 3 is considered one of the most important air transportation projects in recent years and became the world’s largest air port building immediately upon completion. Just weeks before Beijing received millions of visitors for the 2008 Summer Olympics, Thompson was responsible for inspecting that signs accurately and clearly presented information in English for visitors. His work as an English Language Inspector was part of Thompson’s on-going collaboration with Chinese colleagues in the establishment of general specifications for English-language signage in all Olympic venues, including public and private spaces and roadways.
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