MSI Press Blog

      Available for download, article from JDLS 8: "Helping Learners Achieve the Distinguished Level of Proficiency" (Dr. James Bernhardt, Foreign Service Institute): Abstract: This article proposes that a task all learners who have attained superior levels of proficiency and who wish to achieve the distinguished level have in common is the need to double the size of their vocabulary. The article suggests that instructional designs for distinguished level training should include massive amounts of input: reading, listening, and watching. It also proposes a number of ways, all vocabulary based, to evaluate whether materials are at-level for learners and advocates for materials that are appropriate to the individual learners’ needs, objectives and interests.  The article takes a close look at the goals of higher-level programs and notes that not all learners working towards distinguished levels of proficiency have the same end goals in mind. Their objectives, at this ...

  (photo by Frank Perez) It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic is about an important understanding that many new authors do not have and that can make a huge difference in the long-term value of their book to them. What is the difference between copyright and rights? Sell the wrong thing, and you lose control over your book. Here is the difference and the importance and implications: - Copyright is what protects your book as being your work and your legal property. Selling the copyright (never do that--if a publisher asks to purchase copyright, run in the other direction) takes your work away from your permanently. While you may have written i...