• In this module we will learn about listservs. We will subscribe to different listservs and become active members of the group. People don't always agree in discussions and so we will take the time to learn the skills for agreeing and disagreeing in English.

• But let's start with the listserv. First of all what is a listserv? Well when you become a member of a listserv, you are in fact on an e-mail mailing list. You receive all the messages that other members of the group write to the group and you in turn can add to the discussions or start a new topic or thread as it's called in the computer jargon.

  There are thousands of listservs to join on almost any topic imaginable and new groups appear daily. You can find academic, professional or social discussion groups.

• There are listservs for students learning English, some of you joined one of these in the beginning of the course, but I think it will be more interesting if everyone chooses a subject that they are interested in.

• How do you find a discussion group
  How do you subscribe?
  How do you write to the whole group?
  What information can you get from the listserv computer?
  

  In order to find a good discussion group for you, there are a number of places on the Internet where you can search for a listserv that is just right for your needs. For the purpose of this exercise let's do one search together, let's say we want to join a discussion on traveling in Europe.

  ৯ to http://www.liszt.com/ or http://www.nova.edu/Inter-Links/listserv.html and find a discussion on traveling in Europe

  There is information on these sites on how to subscribe to a listserv (or majordomo which is the same type of discussion but a different format), but I'll try and expalin it here as well.

  How do you subscribe?

  Well now you have found a discussion group you now can find out more information about the group. It could be a closed group for example well in our example you are asked to send e-mail to listproc@fc.ul.pt and in the body of the letter write- info eurotrav When you have read the information and seen if you still want to join this group, then you have to subscribe to the group. Let's take our example traveling in Europe. Now each listserv has 2 addresses, one is the computer and this is where you subscribe and the other is where you send messages to other members of the group. In our case we want to join the traveling in Europe group.

You send an e-mail to the listserv - i.e. the computer where the group discussion is. Remember you are writing to a computer so you must make sure that you write according to the rules of the LISTSERV.
leave the SUBJECT line blank
in the body of the message write :
sub name-of list yourfirstname yourlastname

You will then receive a very detailed welcome message via e-mail. Save this and type it out because you might need this information later.

How do you write to the whole group?

You will start to get e-mail messages from other members of the group. Some groups are very active and you will get many messages, while others are quiet. It's a good idea to "lurk" for a while until you know what's going on and then comes the time to join in the fun. To reply to the whole group you can use the reply button on your e-mail program while viewing the message you wish to reply to, or start a new thread. Make sure you write in the subject. You send your letter to a different address and not the same as the computer where we subscribed. Some listservs send your message automatically to the whole group, so be careful! Others go through the manager of the list.

What Information can you get from the Listserv computer?

Here is a list of different pieces of information you can obtain. The way to do this is explained in the welcome letter from the listserv. Try out some of the options. For all these options you do not write anything in the subject line.

1. Most listservs allow you to obtain access to their archives and some have useful files you can get.
2. You can also get a list of all the other members of the listserv
3. You can often obtain your mail in a digest or a few at a time
4. If you are going away you write :
set groupname NoMail
and then change it again when you get back
5. Most important you must know how to unsubscribe!

Your mission is to:
a.search for 3 listservs for the topic you chose in module 3and for the topic you are working on with your partner
b.subscribe to them
c work out from the welcome letter you receive how to unsubscribe, set mail, see who else is on the list and receive archived material, try this out and write to Jeb or myself to explain how you did this and your results.
d. join in the discussions and send a copy of this to us.
e. share your experiences with your partners.

• The Writing and Reading Assignment.

  Find a controversial editorial or article from one of your discussion groups and write an article agreeing or disagreeing with the article. Send it to your partner who will write the opposite. You will then do the same for your partners chosen article. Exchange, peer correct and combine into one article using sentence connectors. Each student is responsible for the article he/she chose. Of course as usual we would like to see your articles here

• In order to stress an opinion or compare two conflicting views when writing we use a number of opinion expressions . Unlike some languages, in English we try to be diplomatic and seem to agree then we add but! for example:
  I agree with ... up to a point, but I ...
  There is another way to look at this issue
  I cannot deny that...., however in my opinion....
  on the other hand...
  The issue is quite complex, however, it seems to me that...
  Although X claims that...., I beg to differ.
  Add to this list and try to use these expressions in your articles
  
  

• Teacher's "module plan" and handouts for this module