|
View previous topic :: View next topic
|
| Author |
Message |
emcreyno
Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 2
|
 Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 8:02 am Post subject: ESL Student needs Help! |
    |
|
I work with English as a Second Language (ESL) students in a high school in rural Tennessee. In order to graduate they must complete a senior project. One of them chose the subject of skyscrapers, and one of the requirements is an interview with someone who knows about the subject. There are no skyscrapers or skyscraper experts in our area, so I was hoping that someone on this forum could help us out and answer these questions. If you could, please include your name so that my student can properly cite the interview as a source for his project. Thanks for all your help!
1. Why are there not a lot of skyscrapers in Tennessee?
2. How are skyscraper structures different from wood-frame structures?
3. What kind of materials do you use to build the structure of a skyscraper?
4. What kind of training do you think is needed to be able to work on a skyscraper?
5. What are the differences between building a highrise and a supertall skyscraper?
6. How long does it take to build and design a skyscraper?
7. What is the future of skyscrapers?
8. What are some safety tips for people who work on skyscrapers?
9. What are some of the problems that architects had when designing a building?
10. How is the failing economy going to affect the building of skyscrapers? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
nanrehvasconez
Joined: 25 Feb 2008
Posts: 126
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:12 am Post subject: |
|
|
google "skyscrapers" and you will find an enormous amount of information, general and specific.
A pictorial book by Antonino Terranova is available , it shows the most famous skyscrapers in the world. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lekizz
millennium club
Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 1044
Location: UK
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 2:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
So if I understand this correctly, you teach ESL students and one of the graduation tests is for you to conduct an interview on their behalf on a specialist subject that noone has any knowledge about in the local state 
You may want to rethink some of the questions, for example Q's 7 & 10 ask the same thing. Q's 2 & 5 seem rather simple (Answers are 2-"they are not made of wood" and 5-"One is taller than the other"). Most of the remainder are far too general and need to be more direct/focused e.g. who does Q.8 refer to - architects, steel contractors, project managers, welders, glaziers, carpet layers etc etc?? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
emcreyno
Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 2
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 10:43 am Post subject: |
|
|
No... the student wrote the questions and I posted them. And yes, I'm sure there are skyscraper experts in my state, but we live in a very rural area where it is highly unlikely there are skyscraper experts here. Moreover, the students with whom I work come from low income, immigrant families that have few opportunities and little time to go around the state for an interview. We hoped that by using technology we would be able to do this interview more efficiently, but this was clearly a waste of time.
Questions 7 and 10 are absolutely different. Seven asked about the future of skyscrapers in general. 10 asked about the effects of current economic trends on the building of skyscrapers. I don't see the similarity between the effects of present economic trends and the future of skyscrapers... Since you're an expert in skyscrapers and question asking, maybe you could point it out to me. As far as questions two and five are concerned, if they were so simple it should have only taken you a moment or so to reply to them. To a high school student who doesn't know anything about skyscrapers they aren't simple. And simple never denotes simplicity. On question five, though I don't know the answers, I see several ways this question could have been answered.
Finally, I was hoping that, by posting this on a student forum, I would encounter students who were passionate about skyscrapers who would be willing to help a student learn more about that passion. What I've found here is a critique of interview questions that were written by a student who is not 100% fluent (and who shouldn't be expected to ask questions of Earth-shattering depth not only because he is using his second language, but because of his age and current knowledge) and a severe case of pass-the-buck-itis.
Thank you for your help. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
blogger
del.icio.us
digg
slashdot
