Pay attention to the following points as well

§ Continuity.Admission committees are looking for some continuity in what you have done, what you want to do in the near future and what you hope to do in the distant future. So, connect them.

§ Commitment and Motivation.Rather than simply saying ‘I am committed’, find a way of inferring that you are indeed highly committed and motivated to your proposed field of study.

§ Communication Skills. They will be looking at your writing skills - how well you can present yourself clearly and intelligently when writing, hence the importance of spending considerable time on the statement.

Writing style

§ Write simply, not in a flowery and complicated manner.

§ Write in a straightforward way.In other words don’t be subtle or cute. Write in a clear and logical manner. If you have to be creative, that is fine, but do so in a straightforward way. These people are really interested in your vocation. They don’t want to read something that is in the form of one act plays nor do they want to read three adjectives per noun. They want you to be direct and straightforward.

§

§ Be clear in what you are saying. Make sure you are logical. Explain yourself with great clarity. Finally, most important of all, be specific, not vague. Don’t say - ‘My grades were quite good’ but say ‘I belonged to the top 5% of my class’. Don’t say - ‘I am interested in sports’. Say ‘I was captain of my hockey team’. Don’t say ‘I like poetry’. Say ‘I did a study of Shakespeare’s sonnets and wrote a twelve-page bachelor’s degree dissertation on Imagery’.

3. HOME ASSIGNMENT

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

1. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about the higher education issues all over the world. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

1. Write a magazine article about critical issues of higher education in Kazakhstan.

1. The research team is conducting a survey among students from different countries on the education system in their country. You are also asked to write a report on the pros and cons of the educational system in your country.

PROJECT MODELLING

In groups of four people conduct a SWOT analysis for shifting to 12-year schooling system using the tips below.

Before conducting a SWOT analysis search for some information about the 12-year education program in Kazakhstan and critically discuss it with your partners

A SWOT analysis for educationis a tool that can provide prompts to the top officials, education staff and management teachers involved in the analysis of what is effective and less effective in the schools systems and procedures, in preparation for a plan of some form.

Definitions

• Strengths – Factors that are likely to have a positive effect on (or be an enabler to) achieving the objectives of the 12-year schooling system (project)
• Weaknesses – Factors that are likely to have a negative effect on (or be a barrier to) achieving the objectives
• Opportunities – External Factors that are likely to have a positive effect on achieving or exceeding the objectives, or goals not previously considered
• Threats – External Factors and conditions that are likely to have a negative effect on achieving the objectives, or making the objective redundant or un-achievable.

UNIT 2. EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

Communication area: social