END of the term self-assessment

ESP Vocabulary tests:
I think that I write ESP Vocabulary tests well enough, but not always.To my mind, it depends on how much time do you spend to prepare for tests at home.


Writing summaries:
It is quite difficult for me to write summaries. I do vocabulary and grammar mistakes. Also, I have to be more attentive, because I make sometimes quite simple mistakes.

Feldman's online Exercises - Multiple Choice & Filling in Blanks:
I think I am good enough in this activity. If I don't know the right answer, I can scan all text and to find it. Also, it is good opportunity to repeat the material, which I read at home and to understand better whole meaning of text.


Moodle tests on Mruni Website:
This task is similar to Feldman's online exercises. So, it was not difficult for me do it.


Online listening in class:
This activity is not quite simple for me. Sometimes listening tasks are easy and I don't have problem to understand the main idea and to write the right answer. However, I have difficulty to understand when speakers talk very fast, use unknown words and phrases. Also, it isn't easy for me when I have to answer on plenty of questions. Much better when I can listen and read at the same time.


Traditional listening to cassettes:
It is similar to online listeting. So, I have same difficilties. Also, I can add that record is not high-quality.


Power Point Presentations:
I enjoy that type of work, because making presentation let me collect a lot of useful information and to share it with peers. Also, it is very creative work. I can realize myself when I choose the topic for a presentation, search and process information, make a report and think about the design. I have enough time and have possibility to prepare for the presentation at home, my speech could be evaluated as good enough .This activity improve my language skills and knowledge.


Speaking Impromptu:
It is difficult activity for me. Firstly, I can't speak English fluently. I need time to think that can I say. I often feel the lack of words or I have insufficient information.


Short Talks:
This activity quite easy for me, because I can prepare my talk at home. So, I have enough time to think about text and what I want to say.

Richard Wiseman

                           Experiment of happiness

   This project lasted 4 days, and was conducted by psychologist Richard Wiseman. Over 26,000 people signed up for the project.
     

   In one part of the study participants were randomly assigned to one of five groups. People in each group watched a video describing one of four techniques commonly used to boost happiness – expressing gratitude, smiling, recalling a pleasant event from the day before and carrying out an act of kindness. The fifth control group was simply asked to think about what had happened the day before. This latter group was very important, because it helped assess the degree to which any reported changes in happiness were due to a placebo effect.

 

   All of the techniques, including the control, resulted a rise in reported happiness. However, participants who had been asked to think about one positive thing that had happened the day before reported the greatest increase.
  
   In another part of the project the researchers carried out two national surveys (one before and one after the study). The results showed a 7% increase in cheerfulness after the experiment. However, it is impossible to say if this rise was due to the happiness project as it might be caused by many different factors, including world events or changes in the weather.

Time in a Bottle

                                         Summary

   Drinking alcohol among young people is one of the most serious problems in the 21st century. When a young man turns 21 years old he has a legal access to use alcoholic drinks. Owing to this, for some people drinking alcohol become a great opportunity to signify their adulthood.

  

    It is a quite unusual fact that alcohol use among students has a tendency to rise up after leaving a high school and going to study in a college. In this case, students began to drink much more than their non- college bound- peers. It is because of students motivation to surpass them and be the first.

   

    Research shows that about 40 percent of American college learners are alcohol dependent people. Getting addicted to alcohol is an easy thing. For many of them using alcohol has become a part of their daily life. Regrettably, it is rather difficult to recover from its addiction.

      

    Investigators found some factors that might stimulate drinking among college students.

  It is known, that peers make a great influence on college students. However, researchers found, that those, who are under peer pressure, tend to drink less than those who drink by themselves. Another fact shows that people in communities tend to drink more.

    There are other reasons that stimulate drinking among college students. With the help of alcohol some of them try to solve their own problems and to cope with stress.

   Anyway, the biggest problem is an excessive drinking. College students think it is fun, but regrettably, many of them forget, that such an innocent amusement may lead to  negative consequences.

Psychology of Internet

    With the development of computer, Internet is widely used in the world. Everyday thousands of people surf the Internet scanning the latest news, chatting with others, playing online games and so on. But  I think it will isolate us in one way. There is always a generation gap, but nowadays many children spend lots of time playing and chatting online which results in the reduction of the communication between their parents and them, so that the gap widen day by day. Not only the children but some adults will be affected in the same way. As days go by, they will be used to chatting online and fell an aversion to the outside forms of socializing. They just feel intolerable once communicating face to face.
   
    At the same time, does chatting online mean bringing us closer? Certainly not. As I’ve told before – the Internet will isolate us completely one day if we don't pay enough attention to it.

You are how you wait: Queue Psychology

                                                  Summary
   People spend billions of hours a year waiting in lines. Waiting in queue began to emerge in Britain during World Wars I and II, then in the United States, Canada and in some parts of Europe. There are two the most common kinds of lines known as multi-server queue and "snake" line.
   
   The researcher Jacob Hornik has carried out an experiment and has drawn a conclusion that it is less important how long person has to wait in queue, but how long he thinks he had to wait. This obvious principle has helped some businesses to mislead the public. Businesses have discovered that they can improve customer satisfaction by concentrating as much or more on reducing perceived waiting time than on reducing actual waiting time.

   In conclusion, this research is useful for busunesses to deal with customer's complaints and do not lose their reputation.

My future profession

Centuries ago there were only a few jobs: people were farmers, bakers, butchers or salesmen. Today there are thousands of different kinds of jobs, and new ones are constantly appearing. And the problem of choosing the future profession has always been very important and difficult matter because it determines our future life in many ways. It is one of the most important decisions for every person.

 

 As for me, I had decided to be a psychologist, so this year I entered Vilnius Mykolo Romerio University. There are many reasons why I chose this profession, but the most important are two.

   Firstly, I chose to be a psychologist because it will be a chance to fulfill my dream of helping people with their psychological problems. Many people are afraid to confess to itself in that their have problems or they have nobody to talk about it. I am a humanist therefore I want to help people.

   Another reason is I think I possess the qualities necessary for being a good psychologist. I am hard-working, sociable, and patient. Moreover, this profession similarly will help me to know myself rather better.

   All things considered, I think I will be a good psychologist and I have made the right choice.