Time to stop avoiding grammar rules

The evidence is now in: the explicit teaching of grammar rules leads to better learning

The straightforward, pre-planned teaching of grammar in English language teaching has been under attack for years. Various alternatives have been proposed: to expose learners to language that is just a bit more advanced than what they currently produce; to wait until a communicative situation demands a certain structure before introducing it; to let the grammar emerge naturally from vocabulary learning, or from the lived context of the classroom. Each approach has been defended with carefully structured arguments, and some approaches have been embraced enthusiastically by ministries of education around the world.

However, evidence trumps argument, and the evidence is now in. Rigorously conducted meta-analyses of a wide range of studies have shown that, within a generally communicative approach, explicit teaching of grammar rules leads to better learning and to unconscious knowledge, and this knowledge lasts over time.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/sep/18/teach-grammar-rules 

Business needs help with English language test selection

Companies and organisations that want to know more about the English language skills of their workforce or select candidates for jobs can now turn to the British Council's new Aptis language test.

The launch of the test last month has taken many in the English language testing community by surprise, and as the Council's ambitions for Aptis become clear the test is likely to generate more questions.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/oct/06/business-english-testing 

Viewpoint: More women needed in technology

Lost in stereotypes in this image from her book, Belinda Parmar wants a change in attitude towards women in technology

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19884720 

LISTEN: The Five Worst Sounds in the Universe

Prepare to cringe. Nails on a chalkboard has company.

Researchers from Newcastle University endured the most spine-tingling sounds to determine the five worst offenders to the human ear. Based on the way our brains and bodies react, the scientists found that nails on a blackboard is only the fifth-worst sound in existence, according to a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

And while chalkboards are no longer commonplace in our society, the worst transgressors—a knife and a bottle—certainly are.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/11/listen-the-five-worst-sounds-in-the-universe/

Nine tips for young job hunters

In the past few months I have been deluged with recent graduates bemoaning the tough job market.

Although they are poised, and sophisticated in their general understanding of the job search process, they are often naive about the mechanics and etiquette that underlie an effective search.

For example, they know how to network, write a résumé, and prepare for an interview. But they don’t understand subtle details or basics, such as how to behave in a networking situation, follow up with a potential contact, or present themselves in the best possible light.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/career-advice/nine-tips-for-young-job-hunters/article4621499/ 

Romney’s Binders: The Meme Women Love to Hate

Thank you Mitt Romney for your “binders full of women” gaffe. Surely you weren’t intending to be condescending at the second presidential debate, but it turned out to be a perfect metaphor for the obstacles so many women face in the workplace. The image of women in binders is so good, so visually acute, it might just replace the shopworn “glass ceiling.” After all, you can’t dress up for Halloween as a glass ceiling. Something about women in binders is both disturbing and funny. That’s useful because there’s nothing less popular these days than a humorless feminist. It’s no wonder that binders have become a kind of exquisitely evocative shorthand the way that hoodies were after the death of Trayvon Martin.

http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/19/romneys-binders-the-meme-women-love-to-hate/?iid=op-main-lede 

Damn Yankees: Is Texas Losing Its Twang?

Kathleen Phillips hustles around the Donut Chef in Van Alstyne, Texas, on a pair of bad knees, pouring coffee, taking orders, frying eggs and manning the register, much like she’s done for the last 38 years. The hole-in-the-wall joint in this small town north of Dallas has been in the family since it opened in 1974. She greets customers by name with her syrupy Texas drawl and pulls three syllables out of the word “yeah.” When patrons get testy she fires back with her favorite one-liner: “Kiss my grits.”

Phillips hopes the restaurant will stay in the family for another four decades. Even if it survives, however, University of Texas researchers say her Texas accent won’t. Indeed, it may just become something of a social strategy.

http://nation.time.com/2012/10/24/damn-yankees-is-texas-losing-its-twang/

Can This Bra Detect Cancer?

That’s the claim for First Warning Systems new bra, equipped with a series of sensors embedded in the cups that pick up temperature changes in breast tissue and, says the Reno, Nev.-based company, provide a thermal fingerprint that can alert doctors to the presence of malignant cells

http://style.time.com/2012/10/18/cancer-bra/

What does your sleeping position say about you?

The way you sleep can give startling insights into your personality, even giving away how stubborn, bossy or stressed you are, a body language expert has claimed. 

Robert Phipps, a body language expert, has studied the four most common sleeping positions to determine how it reflects a person's personality and outlook on life.

The results, he claims, can identify how stressful your day was, how much you worry and how much control you have over your life.

It is said to reveal traits such as stubbornness, bossiness and fanciful dreaming, as well as how self-critical a person is or whether they feel in control of life. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9617122/What-does-your-sleeping-position-say-about-you.html 

 

A Turn of the Page for Newsweek

We are announcing this morning an important development at Newsweek and The Daily Beast. Newsweek will transition to an all-digital format in early 2013. As part of this transition, the last print edition in the United States will be our Dec. 31 issue.

Meanwhile, Newsweek will expand its rapidly growing tablet and online presence, as well as its successful global partnerships and events business.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/18/a-turn-of-the-page-for-newsweek.html

Why Long Lectures Are Ineffective

If students can only focus for 15-minute intervals, shouldn't we devote precious class time to something more engaging?

Each school day, millions of students move in unison from classroom to classroom where they listen to 50- to 90-minute lectures. Despite there being anywhere from 20 to 300 humans in the room, there is little actual interaction. This model of education is so commonplace that we have accepted it as a given. For centuries, it has been the most economical way to “educate” a large number of students. Today, however, we know about the limitations of the class lecture, so why does it remain the most common format?

 

http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/02/why-lectures-are-ineffective/ 

Margreet de Heer, The Oxford Experience

http://margreetdeheer.com/eng/oxford.html

Putting a mobile phone on the restaurant table will ruin your meal

Two studies showed that if a mobile is visible during a conversation it causes people to feel less positive towards the person with whom they are chatting.

The findings suggest that fiddling with your mobile or simply leaving it in view during a romantic dinner or a meeting with a friend could be a serious social faux pas. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9589232/Putting-a-mobile-phone-on-the-restaurant-table-will-ruin-your-meal.html 

Be Happier: 10 Things to Stop Doing Right Now

Sometimes the route to happiness depends more on what you don't do.

Happiness--in your business life and your personal life--is often a matter of subtraction, not addition.

Consider, for example, what happens when you stop doing the following 10 things:

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-to-be-happier-work-10-things-stop-doing.html?nav=pop 

Already a Decent Speaker? Here Are 5 Expert Tips

Every great leader must be adept at making presentations. Here's how to perfect yours.

http://www.inc.com/eric-v-holtzclaw/public-speaking-leadership-expert-tips.html?nav=pop 

10 Dumb Sales Tactics to Avoid

These big mistakes seem to be shockingly common. Make sure you're not guilty of any of them.

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/10-dumb-sales-tactics-to-avoid.html?nav=pop 

Cold-Calling Trick: 16 Ways to Start a Conversation

The most effective way to open a conversation is to connect your call to one of these "trigger events." Here's how.

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/cold-calling-16-ways-to-start-sales-conversation.html?nav=pop 

Best Way to Introduce Yourself

Who is the most important audience? Hint: It's not the people you meet.

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/a-great-way-to-introduce-yourself.html?nav=pop 

The 15-minute rule for buying cars

Fifteen minutes. That’s how long most new vehicle buyers (60 per cent) want to spend on price negotiations, once the test drive is complete, reports a recent J. D Power and Associates online survey.

“This is likely due to the overwhelming majority of shoppers who build and price their vehicle online before arriving at a dealership,” reports J.D Power in a research note. “In fact, 63 per cent of shoppers say they knew the exact vehicle they wanted (including colour and options) before they set foot in a showroom.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/new-cars/auto-news/the-15-minute-rule-for-buying-cars/article4575909/ 

End work-life balance anxiety: How to make a change

In April, as University of Victoria English professor Janelle Jenstad prepared to make the best use of her coming summer break from teaching, she came across Globe Careers’ online Balance scorecard and questionnaire, and decided to give it whirl.

As she edged through the step-by-step questions about her work-life balance, it crystallized her thinking, prodding her to focus on the most important factors and pick between them on what to emphasize in each of the next thee months. Now, her summer over and in retrospect quite successful, she plans to share the questionnaire with her new graduate students in the time management class she always gives to those recruits as they flow from the relatively structured life of undergraduates to the more unstructured, and thus potentially thorny, life of a graduate student.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/career-advice/life-at-work/end-work-life-balance-anxiety-how-to-make-a-change/article4564117/ 

Geschäftsmodelle für 3D-Drucker gesucht

Was passiert, wenn 3D-Drucker alltäglich werden? Was werden die Menschen drucken wollen? Und wie kann man damit Geld verdienen? Erste Firmen bringen sich in Stellung.

http://www.zeit.de/digital/internet/2012-09/3d-drucker-geschaeftsmodelle