Task 2: Paraphrase the article “Still Long Way to Go for Culture of Lifelong Learning”

1 Singapore is no more than one-third of the way into its SkillsFuture journey,
and there is a long way more to go in developing a culture of continuous
training and learning, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said.

He said employers have been slow to embrace training, adding that more
5 engagement is needed to help companies see the benefits of investing in their
employees. To speed things up, SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) will focus its
efforts on bringing on board small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),
which are facing challenges adapting to the changes wrought by globalisation
and technological advances.

10 Describing his views on the journey as an "impressionistic statement", he said:

"It's not fast enough and we need to step up the pace. There's a long way to
go, especially to develop that culture among employers." Smaller businesses,
particularly, are impeded by inertia.

SSG chief executive Ng Cher Pong said while many bosses recognise the
15 need to upgrade their workers' skills as they transform their businesses, some
SMEs do not know about training opportunities and funding support available,
or lack the capabilities to draw up and implement training plans for workers.

The tight labour market has also deterred them, as it means workers can easily
leave for another job after money is spent on training them. Mr Tharman said:
20 "But, really, what you want is a culture where even if people are moving, what
goes around comes around. So if every employer is investing in their people,
the quality of the new hires you get will also be higher even if you lose some of
your own."

To better reach out to these companies, SSG is working more closely with
25 trade associations and business chambers, and has set up an enterprise
engagement office. The statutory board is also involved in the industry
transformation maps being rolled out for various industries, to explain to the
firms how training can support their transformation.

Mr Tharman said courses must make sense for employers, and curators are
30 being trained to better curate courses. Mr Ng added that SkillsFuture ultimately
is a movement to change mindsets about lifelong learning.

Mr Tharman concluded that culture has to be nurtured, and will not happen
instantaneously. "Every society has this same problem. We are going about it
much more systematically than most, in a very deliberate fashion. There's no
35 other country with as deliberate a strategy as SkillsFuture," he added.
 Adapted from:
Tham, Y. C. (2018, February 11). Still "long way to go" for culture of lifelong learning. The
Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/still-long-way-to-go-for-
culture-of-lifelong-learning

2.1 Read lines 4-9 and write your paraphrase.

2.2 Read lines 18-23 and write your paraphrase.

Task 3: Summarise the article “Work as You Learn”

1 The expansion of higher education systems in the last decades has entailed a
great differentiation of undergraduate population, with an increase in the
number of students who undertook paid employment during their studies. It
seems to suggest that a university student may decide to work not only to pay
5 tuition fees or to reach financial independence, but also because previous work
experience is positively evaluated by prospective employers, representing an
advantage in the job search process as a graduate.

Several economic and sociological theories indirectly suggest that working

during higher education could be a valuable experience entering the labour
10 market as a graduate. First of all, the labour market value of work experience is
explicitly recognised by the micro human capital theory elaborated by Mincer
(1958) and Becker (1962). According to this theory both education and working
experience enhance skills (human capital), which positively affect individual
productivity on the job and subsequent wage earned. Thus, those who have
15 accumulated working experience while studying may have developed a higher
 number of competencies and therefore, they are expected to be more
productive on the job and to receive higher wages, at least at the beginning of
their career. Since according to human capital theory most of the skills
acquired at work are occupationally-specific, it is likely that individuals who
20 worked in a job related to their field of study are those who mostly benefit from
their work experience.

Another stream of literature has recently advocated the importance of other

types of competencies, the so-called non-cognitive skills, for individual labour
market success (Heckman, Stixrud & Urzua, 2006). Firstly addressed by
25 Bowles and Gintis (1976) in terms of achievement values, from time to time the
concept of non-cognitive skills has been expanded to include many personal
traits weakly correlated with intelligence, such as agreeableness,
conscientiousness, emotional stability, leadership attitude, autonomy and
ability to work with others. A growing number of studies found that non-
30 cognitive skills have a positive impact on several occupational outcomes
(Brunello & Schlotter, 2011). In the current context, job experience during
higher education might modify and develop the interaction with colleagues and
the employer at the workplace, which in turn positively affect perseverance and
conscientiousness, placing these traits in high regard with future employers.
35 Furthermore, employers may anticipate that graduates with previous work
experience have been socialised to work-related values (such as punctuality in
everyday working activities, agreeableness, ability to cooperate with
colleagues), favouring them in the hiring and wage determination processes.

In addition, the signalling and screening/filtering theories (Arrow, 1973;

40 Spence, 1973; Stiglitz, 1975) offer a different explanation. According to these
theories, hiring is an uncertain investment, as employer and candidates cannot
share conceivable information on their reliability. Thus, employers will observe
indices and signal to screen applicants, while candidates will signal their innate
abilities to be best rewarded. In this process, every alterable personal feature
45 which is costly to be acquired (in terms of effort, time, etc.) is negatively
correlated with individuals’ unknown productivity and becomes a signal of
better innate ability. Work experience easily fits this requirement: among
tertiary graduates, when academic performance is equal, having had previous
work experience sends a positive signal to employers, since it testifies the
candidate's ability to successfully manage both work and higher education
50 learning.

In conclusion, graduates with previous work experience have a higher

probability of being employed and higher wages in the short-term compared to
those without any experience. It also diminishes the risk of unemployment and
the time to enter the first job.

Adapted from:
Passaretta, G., & Triventi, M. (2013). Does it pay to work during higher education? A
comparative analysis. Milan, Italy: University of Milan.
3.1 Read lines 8-20 and write your summary in ONE sentence.

3.2 Read lines 21-37 and write your summary in ONE sentence.

Task 4: Writing in-text citations

4.1 Extract: When on the internet, people can become anonymous and assume any identity
they choose. They can also construct virtual communities or societies, or even their own
world.
Source: James Fulcher and John Scott
Year: 2011

Summarise/paraphrase the extract, using a signal phrase:

4.2 Extract: The rise of social networking sites has led to changes in the nature of our social
relationships, as well as how we present and perceive ourselves.
Source: University of North Florida (Author unknown)
Page No: 57
 Year: 2014

Quote directly from the extract, using a parenthetical citation:

4.3 Extract: Google is not clever enough to tell us whether there is life after death but the
word “google” crops up in conversation more often than either “clever” or “death”.
Source: Tim Harford
Paragraph No: 3
Year: 2017

Quote directly from the extract, using a signal phrase:

4.4 Extract: Facebook and other social media companies are under pressure from users and
journalism advocacy groups to combat the proliferation of so-called “fake news”. While the
term has many definitions, one specific type of “fake news” involves stories that are
designed to deceive.
Source: Brian Stelter
Year: 2016

Summarise/paraphrase the extract, using a parenthetical citation:

4.5 Extract: When one thinks of Japan today, technology quickly springs to mind alongside
the images of sushi, cherry blossoms and kimonos. Japan is in fact a technology-driven
country that manufactures millions of high-tech gadgets; however, digital literacy levels
are comparatively low amongst its generation of digital natives.
Source: Parisa Mehran, Mehrasa Alizadeh, Ichiro Koguchi and Haruo Takemura
Year: 2017

Summarise/paraphrase the extract, using a signal phrase:

Task 5: APA style reference list

Beck, M., & Malley, J. (1998). A pedagogy of belonging. Reclaiming children and youth,
7 (3), 133-137.

Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (1993). Inside / Outside: teacher research and
knowledge. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.

Dee, J. R., & Henkin, A. B. (2001). Smart school teams: strengthening skills for
collaboration. New York: University Press of America.

DuFour, R. P. (1991). The principal as staff developer. Bloomington, Indiana: National

Education Service.

Goodlad, J. (1984). A place called school: Prospects for the future. New York: McGraw
Hill.

Lumsden, G., & Lumsden, D. (2000). Communicating in Groups and Teams: Sharing
Leadership (3rd ed). Belmont, California: Wadsworth.

Nolan, J., & Francis, P. (1992). Changing perspectives in curriculum and instruction. In
C. D. Glickman (Ed.), Supervision in transition. USA: Association For Supervision
and Curriculum Development.

Pelster, K. (2005). School connectedness and meaningful student participation.

Retrieved September 4, 2007 from
http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/training/connect/index.html
5.1 How are the 8 sources arranged? ___
5.2 Look at the first entry only. What is capitalised?

5.3 Which entry is a book?

5.4 Which entry is a journal?
5.5 Which is the oldest article?
5.6 Which is the most recent article?
5.7 How many sources from the Internet are there?