Academic English

ACADEMIC WORD A stimulus is something that produces a response. So, for example, if the government reduces interest rates, this stimulus may encourage investment and growth, because it becomes easier for businesses to borrow money. According to behaviourist theories of learning, people learn how to behave by responding to stimuli, learning to do things which give them a reward and to avoid doing things which are unpleasant. Stimulus is a Latin word and has an irregular plural, stimuli. TEST Here are FOUR sentences with the word of the day. But only THREE are correct. Which is the Odd One Out? The experiment measures the response of participants to a range of visual, kinaesthetic and audio stimulus. I hope that my presentation will prove to be a stimulus for discussion regarding practical improvements. The participants were presented with one stimulus in their central visual field and a range of other simultaneous audio and visual stimuli. This meta-analysis explores research into the value of classroom reading as a stimulus for vocabulary development at intermediate school level. PRACTICE What were the main stimuli for your choice of subject area, school or university? What kinds of economic stimulus are used by governments? KIWI QUIZ Which New Zealand resident, originally from Germany, but now living near Massey’s Albany campus, is facing legal charges in the US related to his internet company, Megaupload? VIDEO https://archive.org/details/PatriciaKuhl_2010XThis is a talk by Patricia Kuhl about how children learn languages. In particular, she discusses her research into how babies learn to recognise the sounds of a particular language – this is known as the phonology of a language.  1) The Indian language Koro could be described as ___ developing critical endangered 2) According to the 'Critical Period of Acquisition' theory, a person’s ability to learn a language begins to decline at the age of ___ 3 7 17 3) Patricia Kuhl points out that her research may contribute to our knowledge of how  people ___ develop a range of knowledge and skills in early childhood can improve their accent in foreign languages can memorise new vocabulary more effectively 4) Patricia’s research project has produced  evidence that babies, up to the age of 12months,  ____ are better at discriminating between sounds in their own language can be conditioned to distinguish between sounds in a laboratory setting can tell the difference between sounds in any language 5) What does Patricia Kuhl describe as the key factor about the sounds of a language that babies notice in ‘motherese’ (the language spoken to them by their caregiver? volume distribution stimuli 6) How did they make sure that simply taking part in the experiment didn’t help the babies improve their perception of Mandarin sounds? There was a control group Some of the children had Chinese lessons at home Only bilingual mothers took part in the experiment 7) The experiment in which babies were exposed to language input on audio and TV, showed that interaction with a real person is ________ for a child’s phonological development. optional inefficient essential 8) The MEG device allows researchers to analyse ____ brain activity during tasks cognitive content during tasks motivational factors in language learning You can read an academic paper on this topic by Patricia Kuhl at: http://www.pnas.org/content/97/22/11850.full#sec-11

KIWI PHOTO Palmerston North ACADEMIC WORD A homogenous (or homogeneous) population has little variation between members. So that means that each member is quite similar to the others. ‘Homo’ means ‘same’ and ‘genus’ means ‘type’ in Greek. The opposite is ‘heterogenous’, which means ‘different types’. So a heterogenous population has a lot of variety. The nouns are ‘homogeneity’ and ‘heterogeneity’, which means ‘sameness’ and ‘diversity’. TEST Here are FOUR sentences with the word of the day. But only THREE are correct. Which is the Odd One Out? The custom of rubbing noses is more or less homogenous to handshakes and embraces in Western cultures. The students in the class were far from homogenous, which made it difficult to decide on what they knew and needed to know, as well as how best to help them learn it. The term ‘Asian’ gives the mistaken impression that Chinese, Koreans, Japanese etc form a single, homogenous community. The model assumes homogenous capital markets, which does limit its application to complex real world contexts. PRACTICE Do you find your classes to be homogenous in terms of levels of background knowledge among the different students? Is the main community you belong to more homogenous or heterogenous? Why? Here are some other podcasts featuring words related to today’s programme: (dimension)       http://tinyurl.com/ma3ygf (manipulate)      http://tinyurl.com/lbtowc KIWI QUIZ  What is the name of the show featuring New Zealand comedians Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement?VIDEO Today’s video is about an exciting new development in technology  – the possibility of designing a house on a computer and having it automatically built, using a kind of three-dimensional (3D) printing, called ‘contour crafting’.  Pause on the podomatic player and click on the video to watch and answer the questions below. When it’s over, click on ‘play’ again on the podomatic player to hear me give the answers to the questions. 1) The presenter relates his project to Maslow’s hierarchy of ________ wants needs ideas 2) Current building construction methods are ________ cost-effective risk-averse labour-intensive 3) How many people are injured in the American building industry every year? 400, 000 40, 000 4000 4) CAM stands for computer-aided ______ measurement manufacturing manipulation 5) Contour crafting is an application of ________ 3D printing Sustainable design Intermediate Technology 6) Compared with current building methods, the new approach offers much improved ______ Design Size Flexibility 7) How long is an average house likely to take to build using this new approach? 20 hours 12 days 2 weeks 8) The presenter shows an old Iranian building to illustrate _____ the need to use natural materials in earthquake-prone zones The superior insulation properties of white-walled buildings the benefits of rounded building design 9) Which of these does the presenter believe will be a feature of buildings constructed using contour crafting? Synchronicity Heterogeneity Homogeneity  

KIWI PHOTO Massey Albany Waiata Group ACADEMIC WORD Longevity means being able to live or exist for a long time. TEST Here are FOUR sentences with the word of the day. But only THREE are correct. Which is the Odd One Out? The Fresian cow has long been popular among dairy farmers on account of its mild temperament and productive longevity. The belief that the longevity of the Cuban Government depended on the personality of Fidel Castro has proven to be somewhat mistaken. The reduced longevity, width and thickness of the new model represent a significant advance in portability. Peach blossoms are a traditional symbol of health and longevity. PRACTICE What are the key factors in the longevity of … a sport / a brand / a career? KIWI QUIZ What is the average life expectancy for men and women in New Zealand? VIDEO Today’s video is another from the Ted-Ed series. This one is about Astrobiology – the search for life outside Planet Earth. Pause on the podomatic player and click on the video to watch and answer the questions below. When it’s over, click on ‘play’ again on the podomatic player to hear me give the answers to the questions. 1) Astrobiologists are looking for life on which of these planets? Mars Saturn Jupiter 2) The Drake equation estimates the likelihood of finding ___ microbial life on Mars extraterrestrial life on Earth intelligent life elsewhere in the universe 3) N in the Drake Equation stands for the number of civilisations we could make contact with in ____ the universe our galaxy our solar system 4) Which item in the equation represents the average number of planets which are capable of supporting life in an average planetary system? Fc R Ne 5) L represents the longevity of ______ the operation of transmitters from other planets the planetary systems within the Milky Way astrobiologists working on the SETI project 6) Discovery of life elsewhere in the Solar System will mean that life in the Milky Way as a whole  is ________ microbial abundant transitory 7) So far, estimates based on the Drake Equation have been _____ complex crude rare 8) What is the approximate relationship between N and L in the Drake equation? proportional inversely proportional equivalent 9) Detecting signals from distant civilisations gives us an indirect indication of the longevity of ________ the SETI project astrophysics human life on Earth ______________________________________________________________

KIWI PHOTO Toy Train, New Plymouth ACADEMIC WORD Determine can have different meanings – one important meaning is to make something happen. So, if certain factors determine an outcome, it means they control the outcome. For instance, in a free market, prices are determined by supply and demand. The grades which students receive for academic work are determined by arange of factors – most importantly, the amount of effort the students put into their research and writing, of course. TEST Here are FOUR sentences with the word of the day. But only THREE are correct. Which is the Odd One Out? A player’s ranking is determined by their performance in tournaments during the last 12 months. The court decided that the employees were not acting independently, but were directly determined by management. It was realized that eye colour is not a matter of chance but is a genetically-determined phenomenon. It appears that, to a large extent, educational achievement continues to be determined by social class. PRACTICE What factors determine … a person’s attractiveness? / the amount of rainfall? sporting success? For another podcast featuring the word ‘determine’ go to: http://tinyurl.com/68jkyd KIWI QUIZ Christianity is the religion with the largest number of followers in New Zealand, covering approximately half of the population. What religion has the second highest number of followers? VIDEO Today’s video looks at the processes of sex determination in a number of different  animals.  Click on pause on your podomatic player and click on play to watch the video and answer the questions below. When it’s over, click on ‘play’ again on the podomatic player to hear me give the answers to the questions.   1) In humans, sex of the baby is determined by whether they inherit Y chromosomes from  ______ each parent the father the mother 2) Like humans, sex is determined in birds _____ by Z chromosomes by the father genetically 3) Male ants have no _______ chromosomes genetic material male parent 4) The haplodiploid process of reproduction is characteristic of _______ insects social all intelligent 5) The sex of embryonic alligators is determined by ______ temperature location age 6) In clown fish, gender is largely determined by _____ age location temperature 7) When the dominant female dies in a colony of clown fish, which one takes her place in the hierarchy? the subdominant female the subdominant male the dominant male 8) In the green spoon worm, sex is determined by the ________ of the larvae on the ocean floor location temperature age

KIWI PHOTO Street scene, New Plymouth, New Zealand ACADEMIC WORD If you shuffle playing cards, you rearrange them in, usually a random order. Many digital music players have a shuffle function, which allows you to hear your tracks in a random order. A Cabinet Reshuffle is when the Cabinet – the part of Government made up of senior Ministers, is changed by the Prime Minister, with some Ministers losing their jobs and others moving to different jobs. And shuffle can also be used for a slow way of walking, in which the feet don’t leave the ground. TEST Here are FOUR sentences with the word of the day. But only THREE are correct. Which is the Odd One Out? Remember to shuffle the pack before you hand out the cards to everyone. She lost her job in the Cabinet shuffle and decided to retire from politics altogether. She sat at her desk, nervously shuffling her papers while she waited for the interview. We’ll need to shuffle people around to cover the gaps while you are away. PRACTICE Do you ever use the shuffle function on your music player? When do people shuffle along, instead of walking normally? KIWI QUIZ Professor Mason Durie is well-known in New Zealand for his ‘House with four walls’ (Whare Tapa Wha) model of _____ health / leadership / research VIDEO Today’s video looks at evolution. Click on pause on your podomatic player and click on play to watch the video and answer the questions below. When it’s over, click on ‘play’ again on the podomatic player to hear me give the answers to the questions. 1) How many processes are there which can lead to evolution? one five ten 2) If the gene pool remains constant _______ the population cannot increase hair colour remains the same evolution has not occurred 3) What metaphor is used to represent the rearrangement of the gene pool over time? playing cards the tree of life a stone dropped into a pond 4) Which driver of evolution is represented by the ring finger? variable health non-random mating unpredictable disaster 5) People with red hair ____ have low levels of vitamin D have increased levels of fertility can absorb more light 6) Speciation is also known as _____ micro-evolution meso-evolution macro-evolution