那些日子(成果篇) -English Academic Program Sharing

我在EAP的日子,到底做了什麼?

不斷寫..不斷寫..



課程一開始,就是開始訓練如何 寫篇Academic的writing
從Introduction, Body,到 conclusion.
給你個題目,Introduction就像是一篇文章的 "簡單picture"
你要給General Statement,然後再進入你要討論的theisis
明瞭的Structure.然後到你的Body絕對要互相呼應
學到很多Comparison的技巧,如果一個題目要討論 死刑對一個國家的影響
你就要列下pro and con. 然後在conclusion再用 換句話說 "Paraphrasing"
的方式做 Summary.

那時候就考了三篇,把一篇好幾百字的文章寫出Introduction的頭
然後再把好幾百字的Body變成 簡單的Summary.

然後,把Writing寫好,就是要有強大的 Academic Vocabulary 庫存量
那時候老師每個禮拜都會給我們20個單字,去做基底
然後做出自己的vocabulary book (分成 相關類型字,還有V. adj..)
把vocabulary用在每天的寫作上,這是最快記起來的方式

完成第一階段的Writing後,中間還有幾個Reading, Listening的考試
整個五月都在考試... 而且每天都在算那幾分零點幾的差
總分要過 65%才算通過, 代表每次考試都要超過那那個比例的65%
我第一次到第三次的writing考試才考 66%而已..
因為評分很嚴格,那時候就很緊張..

Listening考試, 模擬大學lecture model.

考Listening考試是在一間大教室考的,主要是模擬大學lecture的上課方式
他不斷播放,要學會做 Note,然後再把Note轉成 Summary.
臨場感很高,但是 速度也比IELTS快超多!!

Reading, 速度!

看文章的速度,每個禮拜二早上就要作測量
看你一分鐘可以看幾個字,還有你抓到的main idea有多高
每次在考Reading時,Scan 跟 Skim技巧把速度磨快
魔鬼Assignment訓練/ 放膽做Presentation!

到了五月底,兩個30%決定我們EAP生死的 大作業
Research Assignment!!!!!!
三選一自己愛的topic,然後在網路上圖書館裡找資料去support
等於像是在台灣寫的報告,然後要有文獻去support你的想法
當然不能重新copy書上的內容,要 換句話說

大家差不多花了三個禮拜在找資料,一到兩禮拜在寫
那時候我還在考IELTS,等到要交的前10天我才開始找資料..
沒想到出來成績竟然是班上最高,Ryan Sam幫不少忙
讓我安心度過...上天真的是保佑我..ahh

topic:

Large international corporations are often more economically powerful than medium-sized countries. For this reason, the effect of their investment in developing countries is widely discussed. Are the benefits of multinational companies’ investments in these countries outweighed by the drawbacks? To what extent can governments in developing nations regulate such investments to promote growth and development?


Assignment content:

In recent years, globalization creates strong connections between various nations, making the world into a “small village”. The business sector considers globalization as a significant cornerstone to help sculpt a completely integrated global market. Over the past few decades, international corporations have grown rapidly in size with the capability of operating more lucrative businesses in comparison to small industries in developing countries. For this reason, multinational enterprises have the ability of exchanging welfare with third-world countries through corporate actions. Moreover, foreign investments are highly influential towards both the social and business context changes in developing countries. This essay examines the economic improvements in developing countries due to transnational investments. The economy growth and positive impact on employment rates will firstly be discussed followed by methods in which governments of developing countries reform outwardly-oriented trade policies to promote host advantages in order to attract foreign investments.

Foreign investments contribute towards the economy of developing countries by means of injecting capital into the local stock market and increasing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to Wang and Shen (1999, 1303) writes 1996 IMF annual report, a strong emphasis was placed on the recognition of variable changes caused by foreign investments. Foreign industries highlighted that their major investments follows a sustainable strategy which directs their investments towards new trends. In comparison to local investments, they are more focused on essential stocks. Therefore, long term foreign investments contribute towards a stabilized growth in developing country’s local market, resulting in a significant increase in GDP. In Tarzi’s believes (2005, 498 ), China’s surprisingly economic improvement is motivated by enormously strengthened foreign investments and increased China’s GDP by 5.6% in the 1990s.

In Tarzi (2005, 499) mentions that in another aspect of economy, Bank loan has many negative figures in developing country’s capital. Foreign investment is more desirable than other types of capital funding such as bank loans due to the following reasons. First, foreign investments do not require governments of developing countries to make repayments back to the lender in comparison to bank loans. Hence, governments have to pay back on time disregard on the performance of the economy. Second, this result reflects on their currency rates to be under high risk, and short maturities, also variable interest rates have negative affect on GDP associated with bank loans add additional expenditure to developing countries. Lastly, foreign investments are more advantageous than bank loan. They are less risky than bank loans as the risk is shared between the lender and the host, giving developing countries a short-term horizon to deal with economic issues from time to time. In 2001, developed countries dropped twenty billion of third-world country’s loans by converting them into foreign investment. This is beneficial to many developing countries as foreign investment is the most desirable form of capital for developing countries.

Multinational companies have many competitive advantages in developing countries. Beside the ecomony, it provides positive impact on employment in third–word countries. According to Ratnam’s view (1998, 578), employees in multinational companies have higher average salary compare to domestic industries in India. This means employment own higher payment to enhance living standard. Secondly, Abramovitz ( as cited in Lee, and Vivarelli, 2006, 171) discovered that multinational industries not only provide rapidly growing job opportunities but also contribute towards positive social capabilities in the long term. Examples of this include institutional launching, skill transiting on employees, and technology expansion. All of the above help intensify positive effects on employment of globalize implements in developing countries.

More developing countries are starting to believe the possibility of economic
progress through foreign investments. The governments play a important role to contribute economy successfully. This is segmented into two aspects: policy and promotion. According to, regulation power can perform as a social capability to create qualified environments for globalization purpose (Farazmand and Pinkowski 2007, 236) Furthermore, from Tarzi’s view (2005, 506) developing countries provide certain host country strengths and advantages, which can be employed to attract foreign investors through successful promotional campaigns. Take South Korea as an example of attracting foreign investments through policy, Dahlman and Andersson ( as cited in Farazmand and Pinkowski, 2007,240) stated that Korea’s economic improvement was determined by extensive capital investments. Werlin ( as cited in Farazmand and Pinkowski, 2007,239) also mentions that that in 1969, there is a huge loan granted from the World Bank to the Korean government to build a network of institutions for vocational training purpose located nearby many enterprises. It provided many opportunities for analyzing industries and also for academic corporations to cooperate with these companies. Furthermore, Gibney (as cited in Farazmand and Pinkowski, 2007,239) reported that South Korean government has been taking IT advancement into account. It has been reported by Ihlwan ( as cited in Farazmand and Pinkowski, 2007,239) that 25 million dollars were spend in recent years to invest in electronic tools for small business use. On the other hand, the Chinese government is a good example of attracting foreign investment through promotion. Examples of this as stated by Tarzi (2005,507) include promotion of large local market, stable above median rate of growth, sustainable macro economy and small political risk. According to Tarzi ( 2005, 507) writes that “China has become a model of openness to capital mobility, whether evaluated by abolishing restrictions on remittances of capital and the repatriation of profit”. The Chinese Government constructed Special Export Zones which provided financing efficiency, high-quality communication network and tax incentives to stress China’s strength in location to expand their market. In 2004, it was reported that foreign investments into China have increased to 53.7 billion dollars.

In conclusion, foreign investments from multinational corporations are high value for developing countries. First potential merit is economic improvement, which is determined by foreign investment sustaining the growth of local stock markets and increasing the GDP. Second merit is the benefit on employment by providing higher wages from multinational companies and social expansion implementation. Lastly, foreign investments contribute towards an upward movement in capital, which is essential for developing countries. In the end, governments of developing countries should develop policies to improve status of economy by promoting their advantages. An example of this would be tax-free economic zones for out-oriented sources to attract investors. If governments leverage the development of certain regulation incentives for foreign investments, the economic growth will soon follow, improving the economy of developing countries in a short period of time.