Tu, Shih Hua (Alice)

ESL 33B
LDP 1
12 September 2016
Introduction
My options are vocabulary log and error log because I realized that vocabulary and
grammar both are the basic elements of writing an essay. They are able to allow readers
to understand what writers meaning and perspectives are because wrong sentence
structures and wrong verb tenses can lead to a misunderstanding. For instance, since the
ESL 33B, which I took but withdrawn last semester, I have been aware of these problems
of my essay because the comment from the professor was always she could not
understand what I wrote.
Additionally, from the in-class diagnostic essay, in a time-limited condition, I could
not write my ideas rapidly with the correct grammar and appropriate word choices
because I was nervous and the limited time caused my brain to shut down without any
ideas. Eventually, I had no time to recheck my grammar errors. Then the diagnostic result
from the professor was the same idea as mine, which I should work on verb tenses and
clauses.
Perhaps after I am familiar with the sentence structures and verb tenses, my writing
will not end in chaos. Thus, I think language development project must be a good
opportunity for me to revise my problems little by little and rebuild the English
foundation. I hope I can see a good result in my next essay.
Entry 1

Option 1 - vocabulary log

Item #1:
Word
Source
Sentence

Ghetto
College by Anzia Yezierska (P.37)
If I could only lose myself body and
soul in the serenity of this new world,
the hunger and the turmoil of my ghetto
years would drop away from me, and I ,
too, would know the beauty of stillness

General meaning

and peace.
It is a poor district occupied by a

Specific meaning
Grammatical info
Sample sentence

minority.
A particular area is inhabited by Jews.
Noun
I am curious why Jews was restricted
and compelled to live in a ghetto
because it was totally unfair.

Item #2:
Word
Source
Sentence

Shut up
College by Anzia Yezierska (P.37)
All the young people I had ever seen

General meaning
Specific meaning

were shut up in factories.

Stop talking and keep quiet.
Put someone into a place where they

Grammatical info
Sample sentence

cannot escape and limit their freedom.

Verb (Transitive)
Once my cousin was naughty, he would
be shut up in a restroom by my uncle.

Item #3:
Word
Source

Inscrutable
Intercultural communication stumbling

Sentence

blocks by LaRay M. Barna (P. 70)

If the label inscrutable has preceded
the Japanese guest, it is thus we explain

General meaning

his constant and inappropriate smile.

To explain someone or something is

Specific meaning

mysterious and hard to understand.

His strange smile and manner cause
people use the word inscrutable to

Grammatical info
Sample sentence

describe him.
Adjective
We still think the movie Inception is
inscrutable even though we have
watched it for several times.

Option 2: Error Log

Topic Verb tenses
Activity 1: Analysis
Error and Source

Explanation of the

Solution/Correction/Strate

1. I have studied

Problem
The present perfect tense

gy
I think my problem was I

is formed by has or have

needed to use since, to

English when I was

in elementary school, + past participle. It refers represent the beginning

so there were a lot of

to an activity or situation

point, when I stated an

good memory in my

repeated in the past that

experience in present perfect

English learning

still affects the present

tense. Also, I wrote a lot of

process. (Diagnostic

and is likely to be

with the word memory,

Essay)

repeated in the future.

which should be used in

Note: the works since

plural.

and for are often used

Thus, the revised sentence

with present perfect or

should be: I have studied

past perfect forms to

English since I was in

indicate the beginning

elementary school, so there

point or span of an

were a lot of good memories

event. Use since to

in my English learning

indicate the beginning

process.

point of the event.

.

Also, I learned how

(Guidelines P.312)
This sentence was the

I should use present perfect

to overcome the

same problem of verb

tense to indicate an

obstacle and fixed

tenses. Present perfect

experience in a period of

the problem.

tense refers to a

time. If I use past tense in

(Diagnostic Essay)

completed activity or

this sentence, it would

situation that occurred at

misunderstand the meaning

an unspecified time in

into my experience only

the past and that might

happened in the past and

continue. (Guidelines

now it doesnt happen.

P.312)

Thus, the revised sentence

should be: Also, I have
learned how to overcome the
obstacle and fixed the
problem.

Activity 2: Online verb tense exercise

http://a4esl.org/q/j/vm/fb-facts.html
1.

The Washington Monument was built (build) in honor of George Washington, the
first president of the United States.

2.

The Mississippi River, which is the chief river of the United States, flows (flow) to
the Gulf of Mexico.

3.

The telephone was invented (invent) by the Scottish-born American inventor

Alexander Graham Bell in 1876.

4.

Queen Victoria was (be) the first sovereign to reside in Buckingham Palace.

5.

If you visit the Lincoln Memorial, you will see a giant statue of Lincoln dominating
(dominate) the center of the Memorial.

6.

Abraham Lincoln's famous speeches were engraved (engrave) on the interior walls
of the Lincoln Memorial.

7.

The Oval Office, situated (situate) in the White House, is the office of the President
of the United States.

8.

Lake Michigan, the third largest of the Great Lakes, is (be) the only one of the lakes
entirely within the United States.

9.

Ernest Hemingway was a famous American writer who won (win) the 1954 Nobel
Prize for literature.

10. Do you know that Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, is headed
(head) by a mayor?
11. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly (fly) solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

12. Mount Everest, the highest elevation in the world, was first scaled (first scale) in
1953 by members of an expedition including Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing
Norgay.
13. The Air and Space Museum is dedicated (dedicate) to the history and development
of air and space technology.
14. Broadway is the longest street in the world. It extends (extend) from the southern tip
of Manhattan to Albany.
15. The first heart transplant was performed (perform) on December 3, 1967 by Dr.
Christian Barnard in Cape Town, South Africa.