End-of-ESP course self-assessment

WRITING (summaries) - In my opinion I performed quite well in this task, much better than it was last year. I finally learned how to find the main points of the article and how to write a good restatement summary.

WRITING ESP VOCABULARY TESTS- I think my performance was quite good although sometimes I failed to write few definitions. But generally I think I succeeded in this task because I wrote most of definitions in my own words and they were correct so I think that it shows that my knowledge of vocabulary has improved.

WRITING CLASS DICTATIONS (comprehension questions before the listening practice) - That task was quite difficult because some of words were unknown for me and sometimes I had some difficulties with spelling. Although in my opinion my skills in writing dictations have improved this term.

LISTENING COMPREHENSION IN CLASS- That task was one of the easiest for me this term. I don't think my skills changed a lot.

LISTENING TO PEER'S POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS- I found it quite difficult to listen to a person who reads all text from a handout. But generally speaking this task was quite easy and I think my knowledge on ESP themes became better after listening to my classmates' presentations.

MAKING POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS- This task wasn’t very easy because talking in front of the class is quite stressful for me. Nevertheless I think my performance was quite good and I have improved my speaking skills during preparation for this task.

SPEAKING ON ESP THEMES IN CLASS- I haven’t talked a lot during the lessons this term so I don’t think my speaking skills changed much this term.

Psychology of kleptomania

Kleptomania is a complex disorder characterized by repeated, failed attempts to stop stealing. Detection of it is difficult and the disorder often proceeds undetected. Theory is that stealing gives person a thrill which helps to alleviate symptoms in person with depression. Studies suggest that 0,6% of population have this disorder. Diagnosing is usually difficult since patients do not seek medical help, it usually get diagnosed when people seek help for other reasons. Once the disorder is noticed therapy is usually focused on impulse control. Not much solid information is known about his disorder since is not usually the presenting problem or a major complaint that's why it is frequently not even diagnosed. Kleptomania has several different treatments, even medication are used in order to suppress urge to steal. Prozac and Seroxat is used as a basic mood-altering drugs in the US, on the presumption that desire of stealing things could be triggered by changes in the levels of serotonin in the brain, much like depression. However Psychological counseling is viewed as more long-term cure then drugs. Similar to Alcoholics Anonymous organizations talking with others having same problem with desire to steal can also be helpful.

References:
http://www.minddisorders.com/Kau-Nu/Kleptomania.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleptomania
http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/rjo0606l.jpg

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is both the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science which aims to create it. Artificial Intelligence is a combination of cognitive science, linguistics, ontology, physiology, psychology, philosophy, operations research, economics, control theory, neuroscience, computer science, probability, optimization and logic. AI is a very large subject-matter. It consists of many different fields, from machine vision to expert systems.

The aim of all the fields is the creation of machines that can "think". Researches hope that AI machines will be capable of reasoning, knowledge, learning, communication, planning, perception and the ability to move and manipulate objects.

R. Kurzweil has calculated that desktop computers will have the same processing power as human brains by the year 2029, and that by 2045 artificial intelligence will reach a point where it is able to improve itself.

Self-assessment of ESP learning

WRITING SKILLS

Summaries. I think my performance in writing summaries has improved during this term. I've learned a lot from my mistakes. Recent summary I've performed really well, I've done only one mistake and I'm really happy with that.
ESP vocabulary tests. My knowledge of ESP vocabulary became better because I've spent much more time preparing myself for tests.
Self-designed tests. It was one of the most fascinating tasks and in my opinion I've done it as good as possible, on my level of linguistic sophistication. I've studied reading material much more profoundly and I've received more information while making tests than I've found out while reading it at home.
Dictations. I find my performance during dictations quite poor, since I've made lots of mistakes. I realize that I should concentrate more on spelling.
Contributions to webblogs. I don't think my skills changed this term.

SPEAKING SKILLS

Participation in class discussions. I don't think that my discussion skills has changed this term since I haven't participated much in class discussions.
Presentations. My knowledge on the topic I've made presentation about became better. However my speaking skills haven't became better because I haven't presented my presentation in the class.
Speaking in pairs. My speaking skills became better because of this task. We spoke on a lot of different topics this term and it also helped me understand reading material better.

LISTENING SKILLS

Listening activities in class. My performance on this task hasn't changed a lot this term. It was quite good before too.
Listening to podcasts. It was a quite difficult task. I had to listen to podcast for a several times in order to understand it all. I think that my skills on this task became better.
Listening outside the class if any. In order to improve my listening skills I've tried to listen to BBC radio programs and also to watch English movies without reading subtitles.

READING SKILLS

Home reading. I've paid a lot of attention to this task this term. Reading material for a few times helped me learn topics better. My knowledge on ESP vocabulary has increased.
Class reading. This task wasn’t very easy. I had to read material twice to understand it all. Thanks to this task I've learned new words and phrases.
Reading comprehension exercises. I can not say that my reading comprehension skills have changed, because I had always been good at exercises of this kind.
Computer tasks. This task was quite easy. I don't think that my skills of this task changed this term.

Body language

Body language is a very important part of communication. If we pay enought attention to how a person conducts himself we could say a lot about he's emotions and what does he truly think. Here are few examples of how we should understand some signals and postures:

Gesture: Brisk, erect walk
Meaning: Confidence

Gesture: Standing with hands on hips
Meaning: Readiness, aggression

Gesture: Sitting with legs crossed, foot kicking slightly
Meaning: Boredom

Gesture: Sitting, legs apart
Meaning: Open, relaxed

Gesture: Arms crossed on chest
Meaning: Defensiveness

Gesture: Walking with hands in pockets, shoulders hunched
Meaning: Dejection

Gesture: Hand to cheek
Meaning: Evaluation, thinking

Gesture: Touching, slightly rubbing nose
Meaning: Rejection, doubt, lying

Gesture: Rubbing the eye
Meaning: Doubt, disbelief

Gesture: Hands clasped behind back
Meaning: Anger, frustration, apprehension

Chimps beat humans in memory tests (restatement summary)

Research made in Japan showed that chimpanzees have better memory than human.

The task for chimps and humans was to remember the location of numbers on the screen and to recall the sequence correctly. Young chimps completed this task better and faster than their mothers and adult humans.


Researchers believe that young chimps have photographic memory and it helps them to memorise a complex scene or pattern at a glance. Sometimes human children also have this memory but it declines with age.

Dr Lisa Parr said that this research is "ground-breaking". In her opinion this research gives us much information of understanding the skills necessary for the evolution of modern humanity.

Dreaming

What was your dream? All of us hear this question quite often through out our life. Why are dreams so important? And what are dreams at all?

We spend 1/3 of our life on sleeping. 20% of this time we are dreaming. We have 2-3 dreams for one hour when we are dreaming. If we spend so much time on dreaming it means that it’s very important for us.

When we are dreaming we process the daily information. Without dreaming information couldn’t go from short-term to long-term memory. So we can’t learn without dreaming. Dreams are also extremely important for our instincts’ perfection. The majority of our dreams are unpleasant, we are dreaming about mean situations. Nervous system is working like when we are not sleeping while we’re dreaming. After that when extreme situation recures in the real life we can react faster.

Dreams are very important part of our life. So pay attention if you are sleeping enough and.. sweet dreams. :)