| Education: A.B. 1996 Augustana College (English and Latin American Studies) M.A. 2005 University of Illinois at Chicago (Applied Linguistics & TESOL) |
Teaching Background: I have taught ESL/EFL since 1996 in a variety of settings including (but not limited to) high schools, two-year colleges, vocational colleges, universities, and adult education programs |
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| Courses (Previously Taught or Currently
Teaching): Writing Reading Speaking Listening Integrated Skills American Literature U.S. History Diploma Seminar |
Professional Interests: Composition Theory Bilingualism Immigration and Second Language Issues, CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) |
Feel
free to contact me: wildphelps1@yahoo.com |
Summer Activities
Just because the summer holidays have arrived, you do not have to neglect your language skills.
You will find a variety of suggestions, links, and bits of information to keep up with your English. Enjoy!
| This Week's Corny Language Joke A: Why was Ten scared of Seven? B: I don't know. Why? A: Because Seven ate Nine! |
Grammar Rule of the Week Remember days of the week and months are proper nouns and need to be capitalized. We also need to capitalize adjectives and nouns that indicate national origin or language: polish = what I put on my shoes Polish = things that come from Poland or a langauge spoken in Poland |
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Practice Your Writing! Join a
Forum!
Forums and discussion groups are a
great way to practice your writing skills; you only have to respond to
the topics (called "threads") that interest you, your response (called
a "post") can be as long or as short as you want, and you will receive
a wide range of comments on what you have said (and sometimes how you
said it).
Forums are usually organized around a topic or theme. Below you can find links to some popular English language forums focusing on life, work, and language in Poland. Here is your chance to see what others think of Poland and to share your opinions with others. |
Keep Up
With Your Listening Skills! Podcasts
are digital sound files that can be listened to online or that can be
downloaded to an .mp3 player. There are hundreds of podcasts for
English language learners. Like everything on the Interent, some are
of quite high quality, some are dull. The links below are divided into
podcasts that include exercises (usually to be downloaded though some
are online) and podcasts that include the transcript of the recording.
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Summer
Reading
As many
of your teachers have told you, one of the best ways to improve your
vocabulary in to read. Reading will be more enjoyable if you read
something your are geniunely insterested in. Below are some links that
might be of interest to you.
* Hint: To make it easier to read an article, choose the "Print Article option. The article should appear on one page with fewer advertisements. |
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Attention Third Year Students!
Get a jump start on your Diploma Papers. Start thinking about possible topics. Check out the following pre-approved online journals for ideas. Internet TESL Journal Reading in a Foreign Language Language Learning & Technology TESL Electronic Journal CALL EJ-Online |
Recipe Corner!
 Brownies are a popular American
dessert/snack. Not quite a cookie and not quite a cake, there are so
many different recipes one can happily sample brownies from friends, restaurants, and
bakeries and go months without eating the same thing twice.
Recipe ExerciseBelow you will find links to a listening exercise and an .mp3 file with Bill's favorite brownie recipe. You can try the exercise, but the truly brave people will do the exercises and try making the brownies. Good luck. Recipe Sound File |