Oh, Lord! This has been one of those weeks…indeed it has. Omar was down with the most horrible flu on Saturday. High temperature, abominable cough, stomachache but not the typical running nose and the like. The “new” kind of flue we are having these days, the doctor said. No antibiotics either. And Omar in bed looking like the most destitute puppy on the face of the earth… for a few days. As he regained his stamina the huggable puppy turned into a lion and our bedroom into his den. It was useless to try to tie him down to bed and on top of that he lost his appetite (normally voracious) so there was not resorting to “I´ll cook that old favourite if you promise not to get up” ! Result: he´s been up for the whole day today and he threatens to go back to work tomorrow (I pity his students!). So he´ll probably edit this issue of SHARE and Sebas will send it through Yahoo! Before dinner. And tomorrow with the Lion King up and around and in a jacket and tie again, God help us.

Love
Omar and Marina

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1.- Insights from a Learning Diary.

2.- Drama for Pronunciation Practice.

3.- A Question of Language and Culture.
4.- English Today: Diversity and Globalization.

5.- Cancellation of FAAPI 2004.

6.- From the National Congress of Teachers and Students of English.

7.- Towards More Creative English.

8.-    Seminar on Correcting Errors.
9.-    ARPI National Conference.
10.-   Seminars at Advice Prep School

12.- Fourth Annual Seminar at Colegio Ward.

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Our dear friend and SHARER Douglas Town has sent us this article that he has recently written to SHARE with all of you. Douglas will be presenting a workshop on “Promoting self-directed learning: a strategic approach” as a special guest of the Organizing Committee of the Tenth National Congress of Teachers and Students of English to be held in Bahía Blanca in July.

Studies of successful learners show that ‘good’ learners organize their learning, set their own goals and objectives, seek practice opportunities and monitor and evaluate themselves effectively (Oxford 1990: 137). But learners cannot develop these strategies unless they become aware of themselves as learners and of the factors that influence their learning. One way to raise awareness is by keeping a learning diary. Diary keeping not only encourages introspection and preserves valuable insights, but may also reveal negative attitudes and beliefs that are hindering the learning process.

The diary analysed here was written by a mature student from Spain following a beginners’ course in German at a south London college and shows how he develops over some two and a half months from an initial stage in which he overestimates his ability as a learner – and suffers anxiety and disappointment as a result – to a stage in which he has a far more realistic appraisal of his strengths and weaknesses and has actually started to enjoy the course despite poor teaching. To what extent keeping a diary contributed to this change is not clear. At any rate, he seems to have found the experience rewarding since he writes: “Next time I’ll write my diary AUF DEUTSCH (in German)”.

Methodological problems

Rubin (in Wenden and Rubin 1987) defines learning strategies as “any set of operations, steps, plans or routines used by the learner to facilitate the obtaining, storage, retrieval and use of information”. However, as Ellis (1993:9) points out, there is no agreement on exactly what (…) learning strategies are, how many of them there are, what they consist of, etc.” For example, while Ellis and Sinclair consider keeping a diary to be a primarily metacognitive strategy (1989: 151), Oxford regards it as an affective strategy. In fact, it could be either. Nevertheless, most writers do agree in making a distinction between direct and indirect strategies, i.e. between those that “require mental processing of the language” (Oxford 1990:37) and those that provide indirect support for language learning “without (in many instances) directly involving the target language” (ibid: 135).

This particular diary mainly reflects the writer’s use of indirect strategies and there are good reasons for this. Firstly, many direct strategies (e.g. cognitive and memory strategies) are difficult to observe since they are mental processes with little external behaviour. The learner himself may not be aware of using them. To study direct strategies, concurrent methods (e.g. “think-aloud” protocols) rather than retrospective methods (e.g. questionnaires, interviews, diary studies) are generally preferred. Secondly, some strategies such as compensation strategies, which are observable, may not be valued by the learner if, as in this case, he conceives of language mainly in terms of formal accuracy.

On the other hand, indirect strategies are the most difficult to classify. Because our ideas may affect our feelings and interactions with others, what might be seen metacognitively as “seeking practice opportunities”, might also be classed affectively as “taking risks wisely” or socially as “cooperating with proficient users of L2” depending on whether we wish to emphasise rational planning, subjective emotion or social interaction.

The diary itself is handwritten on 19 pages of A4 and so is too long to reproduce here. In any case, I do not have the author's permission to do so. However, I shall quote short extracts from it to give a sense of the author’s voice .

Although the diarist seems to be an “authority-oriented learner” in that he would prefer teachers to explain everything, correct him constantly and set goals and objectives for him (see Nunan 1991:170) - his only objective for after the course is to keep his next diary in German - , he does attempt both to monitor and evaluate himself from the very beginning (“terribly disappointed with the language skills that I supposedly have”) (p.1) and understand his learning difficulties (“my listening skills have never been good at all”) (p.1) and also to solve them by resorting to alternative cognitive strategies in class (“have a look at my book”) (p.1) and outside the classroom (“a few hours on the train”) (p.1.). Later, he goes on to evaluate such things as the teaching methods and procedures used in the classroom, the quality of the teaching, the underlying view of language in the course book (functional/notional) and the workbook (structural) as well as the relative difficulty of the lessons for himself and his classmates.

At the same time, his desire to understand his learning difficulties drives him, at one point, to consult not only his teachers but also his wife in order to discover “whether German is a phonetic language or not” (p.2). Once he comes to realise that “German is a fairly structured language, therefore a systematic approach to teaching it would work” (p.3), he is only a small step from realising that “a systematic approach to learning would also help” (p.3). Indeed, he soon shows initiative in this respect (“I can do the exercises and then look up the answers”) (p.4) and he seems to be fairly well organised (“I study a minimum of 45 mins. most days at least 4 days a week…”) (p.5). However, perhaps his most valuable insight is when he realises that he is “the type of character that goes up and down” (p.14) and that this affects the way he learns German. Presumably, this insight helped him to become more independent and less disheartened each time he went through a ‘down” period (“German is really beginning to click in even though the teaching hasn’t improved very much”) (p.15).

As mentioned earlier, ideas affect feelings and relationships with others, and this can be seen clearly in the diary. Indeed, most of the learner’s affective problems can be traced to three underlying assumptions:

that he is a gifted learner;

that learning is a competitive activity; and

that language learning is mainly about achieving formal accuracy.

His mistaken notion that he is a gifted learner causes him much disappointment when put to the test and even prevents him, occasionally, from writing his diary (“I didn’t feel I would sit down and write that I’m not doing very well”) (p.2). Although he tries to be honest, one suspects that he would like to be seen as average (if not gifted) and so tends to dwell upon negative experiences in class (self-justification). Interestingly, he only quotes his classmates when they make negative comments about the teaching. The social desirability factor is always a danger in introspective studies of this kind.

People that need to impress others are often impressionable themselves. At one point, the diarist remarks: “I like translation exercises and I particularly like to do them with the Head of German who seems to be … very knowledgeable (educated)” (p.7). What her education has to do with her ability to teach elementary level German is not specified, but one suspects that the diarist rejects other teachers because they cannot satisfy his need for an authority figure. Interestingly, when his wife plays this role for him, his opinion of the Head of German changes: “She’s got no proper teaching techniques” (p.12). Typical of insecure people, his view of others is as variable as that of himself.

The diarist’s need to compete is a major source of anxiety for him (“every time we do something new I feel lost … they’ve done German before”) (p.3). He attempts to compensate for his feelings of inadequacy with fantasies about an alleged superiority in grammar (“I’ve got an advantage over my classmates and that is that I know some grammar”) (p.5). He does not seem to know much, however, since he admits: “I still don’t understand … the words accusative, dative, nominative, etc.” (p.8). Also, he seems to have certain prejudices against German, at least initially. He finds the sound of the language “like barking dogs” (p.8) and complains of “long words with lots of consonants” (p.1) even though, at this stage, he has only learnt “how to introduce myself and ask someone else’s name” and “to spell my name” (p.1).

Low self-esteem is a problem that besets many learners and results from the learner placing the locus of control outside him or herself. Low self-esteem seems to be at the root of this diarist’s mood swings, his competitiveness, anxiety, disparagement of teachers - and the German language - and his need to compensate for perceived inadequacies in himself through fantasies about superiority in grammar (compensatory fantasies about control). As such, it works against the development of effective (i.e. realistic) metacognitive, social and affective strategies. Teachers are often surprised that what is taught is often so different from what is learnt or that learners seem to be following their own agenda. Diary studies such as this bring home the principle (accepted more in theory than in practice) that the learner is central to the learning process.

Obviously teachers need to set clear learning goals, explain the purpose of activities to students and help them to organise their learning. But this is not enough. Even if learners do not keep learning diaries, they need regular opportunities to discuss difficulties and feelings about learning (in their L1 if necessary) with teachers and other learners, to set realistic goals for themselves and to experiment with different ways of achieving them. The basis of self-esteem inside and outside the classroom lies in positive interactions with others. Thus, learners may also need explicit training in communication strategies (e.g. asking for repetition and clarification; confirming guesses) before undertaking extensive pairwork and groupwork activities.

Finally, I strongly recommend that trainee teachers keep a diary and discuss their insights and problems with colleagues for at least part of their course. We cannot teach others in any real sense what we have not learnt for ourselves.

Ellis, R. (1993). ‘Second language acquisition research: how does it help teachers? An interview with Rod Ellis’. ELT Journal Jan. 1993. Oxford: O.U.P.

Ellis, G. and Sinclair, B. (1989). Learning to learn English. Cambridge: C.U.P.

Nunan, D. (1991). Language Teaching Methodology. Prentice Hall (U.K.).

Oxford, R. (1990). Language Learning Strategies. New York: Newbury House Publishers.

Wenden, A.L. and Rubin, J. (1987) (Eds.) (1987). Learner strategies in language training. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

They also are given the opportunity to examine a number of different plays and characters so that they have a CHOICE as to the play and character that they will perform. This may appear to be a simple issue, but it is an important one, for this is a point that demarcates the professional from the educational or developmental theater. The professional actor is chosen for a role because she or he is thought to be the best to express the play’s message or point of view and balance the total aesthetic of a particular production. In creative or developmental or educational theater, the drama is FOR the ACTOR and should serve as a vehicle for the student’s BECOMING. This is why the selection of the character by the student is important. The selection of a particular character by a student is based, usually, consciously or unconsciously, on perceived satisfaction of a need. For example, the shy boy may select the character of an aggressive businessman, the tomboyish girl may select a delicate, dainty part. Or, students may choose characters that further develop traits they already have, but wish to develop further. Whatever the situation, there is a reason – psychological, emotional, or developmental, for their choice. This principle of selection of character provides motivation to get things right at rehearsals and to deliver a strong performance. The student is in the process of becoming and that becoming can be satisfied by his/her character’s traits.

The second issue, the need for the student actor to choose the play or story, is another principle of creative drama. Unlike professional theater, where the actor is paid to project the author’s message in context of the play, the actor here chooses the play because s/he wishes to project the concept of the play. The play is important as a commitment in and of itself. The association of the student actor with the concepts communicated by the play can supply motivation for performance and energy for the work of rehearsal. The student actors are vested in the product.

Thus, the selection of characters and plays is an important early step in the rehearsal process. In reading through a series of plays, the teacher can select students to read parts that s/he suspects may be right for the student in a creative or developmental way. In these read-throughs, we clarify vocabulary and character traits and objectives, that is, what a character wants in a scene and in the play. Descriptive terms used in stage directions are clarified at this time and the general theme or concept that the play suggests will be discussed. Trying to do more at this point would blur the goal of the effort: to define which characters and plays are going to be best for the students.

At this point, the plays have been cast and the class divides into small groups to work on their individual plays. The plays are divided into sections so that each section can be worked on and rehearsed one section at a time. The student’s first task is to read through their entire play to determine where the stress should be placed in their lines. To do this, they need to discuss the plays super-objective and the objective of each scene and finally, each character’s objective. After having discussed these objectives, the students highlight their character’s speeches and underline in pencil what they determine to be the stressed words. Then, I go from group to group checking with the students, not only their understanding of objectives, but also working with their pronunciation and stress one section at a time. Where the pronunciation of a vowel or consonant is not standard, I have the student circle it to be worked on. The placement for the sound is modeled for the student and drills for the sound’s proper production are assigned from SPEAK WITH DISTINCTION, but could be drawn from any other comparable text that has accompanying tapes that the student can work with alone at home or in a language lab.

The next step is to go through each section of each play with the students reading for intonation. But before they do this and as preparation for the exercise, they are asked to write in their scripts between the lines, a subtext of their character’s thoughts that accompany not only their speeches but the moments that they are listening to the speeches of other characters. In other words, they must develop a pattern of thought in English that coincides with their speeches and the speeches of others in each scene that they are acting in. This helps them to arrive at the proper intonation or, at least, gives them opportunity to precisely understand what their characters want to express. The students come to terms with the intention of each character’s speech in this process. It is the teacher’s job sometimes, to show them the intonation that best reflects the character’s intention.

Much of the work here may draw us into cultural discussion, as students will need to understand the cultural dimension of what motivates their characters. As an aid to this, I often make the assignment of the writing of a character autobiography at this point, so that the student actors can fill in all the details of their character’s lives. If there is time in the rehearsal schedule, one can take the characterizations thus developed and put students in improvisations that will explore how their characters would interact in different situations outside the context of their plays, thus allowing for further interesting and creative communicative practice.

So, as build up to framing intonation, we develop character autobiographies, determine character objectives, and systematically develop “inner dialogue” speech by speech. Of course, those of you who have studied acting will see the hand of Constantine Stanislavski behind all of these techniques and it is he whom we credit for all of these techniques still used in the professional theater by professional actors. Little did he think, I am sure, that his techniques would be so readily useful in the teaching of the English language. But it is, after all, the thinking in the language that produces successful results both on and off the stage. We try to instill this pattern in rehearsal, in performance, and, hopefully it carries off stage as well.

In step five, the memorization process is begun. This process incorporates the approach as set forth in Richard Via’s “Talk and Listen” system. The students are taught not to read their lines, but to look first at their character’s speech, then, to take as much of the speech as they can hold in their minds, be it a phrase, a sentence, or several sentences and, while looking at their fellow player, to speak the speech according to the character’s intention. They will, of course, need to keep the intonation pattern already established and maintain eye contact while speaking with the person to whom they are talking. In this fashion, they are actually drilling their pronunciation while practicing intonation, as well as memorizing their lines in a communicative way.

How does this rehearsal help the language acquisition process? By linking the intention with the spoken word, it gives functional vocabulary to the students at the same time that it trains them to listen to what others have to say to them, not only for meaning, but also for their own cue to reply. Often, those cues come from the intonation and stress patterns already established in an earlier rehearsal. Thus, students are taught that meaning is communicated as much or more through intonation as it is through words. It is the teacher’s job as director to check, one section at a time, each group’s work to make sure that pronunciation, intonation, and stress is clear and accurate and expresses the character’s and the play’s objectives. Where there is discrepancy between the character objectives and the voice and speech production of the student actors, the teacher needs to coach, exhort, and sometimes act as model to point the students toward clear and accurate expression. The work of the fifth step in rehearsal is finished when each group is able to exchange the dialogue clearly, accurately, with feeling and good timing. The completed work should sound like a radio play. In fact, it is always a good idea to audio tape the results of the work at this point so that students can get some feedback and to let them know what needs to be worked on in future rehearsals for the spoken elements.

The sixth step in the rehearsal process is when the movement for each character is arranged. The teacher/director needs to have planned (from the directions given in the scripts) the basic moves of each character. To do this, the teacher needs to have a basic floor plan (either one given in the script or one that has been drawn up from the directions in the script) that indicates where doors, windows, furniture placement, and anything else that will appear on the set or needs to be imagined in the setting. Many plays will indicate the need for hand props (guns, briefcases, notebooks, etc.) or set properties (telephones, TVs, tables, etc.). Try to keep these to a bare minimum and use suggestion rather than trying to achieve full realism. Again the focus should be on the speech and movement of actors, not stage realism. If the student actors are involved in what they are doing, the audience will see the rest!

The language value during this process may not appear to be obvious. But, the language value is actually twofold. First, students need to follow precise commands similar to Total Physical Response exercises. Students must listen for, “turn left on this word,” “walk downstage, turn, and sit down in the chair on this line,” etc. Second, the student actors must incorporate another culture’s non-verbal behaviors including spatial proximity, gesture, and physical contact. As they physicalize their roles, they also develop the characters they will become and, at the same time, accustom themselves to the physical behavioral manners of the English speaking culture they are performing in.

In the sixth step in the rehearsal process, students spend time integrating the movement with the spoken word. Students in the play, but not in the scene, will have to “hold book” for the students that are not rehearsing in each group. This means that they will hold the script of the play for the students that are rehearsing and when those rehearsing can’t remember their lines, they will shout, “Line!’ and the students holding book will read the actor’s line to them. The students holding book will also need to check the actor’s movements to make sure that they are in the right place for a certain line. The stage movement thus, needs to have been clearly recorded in both the director/teacher’s script and that of each student actor. Students will also benefit from reading each other’s scripts and giving lines and movement in this way as they help each other. This exercise builds unity in the working group and empowers the students. It trains them to become vested in their work as a creative unit.

Once each section has been worked on intensively, and students can remember the movement and most of the lines, it is time to start letting them run through the entire play. As a director, the teacher should watch them run through once, then, go back and stop and start, fixing things which were not right the first time through. Then, have students run through a third time with the adjustments and then, leave them to rehearse while going on to do the same things with another group. This process continues until each group has a fairly complete sense of the delivery of speeches, timing of movement, and the flow of the total action.

The properties to be used in the play should be introduced next. To keep the focus on the language and movement, introduction has been postponed till this point. Once, the movement and the language is all intact, the teacher can add the hand props, such as notebooks, telephones, guns, briefcases and so forth to let students make adjustments for handling them. Once again, the groups should run through using the new props, making adjustments with the director’s input, and run through again till the use of the props are incorporated smoothly with the action. The teacher/director needs to help with the timing of the small movements that the use of the hand props entails. Any other larger set properties that are necessary should be also introduced at this point.

By the dress rehearsal, everything should be in place. The students should have their character’s developed, their lines learned, their movement well practiced, and be ready for performance in front of an audience. They next need to rehearse with their costumes on to get used to using their costumes in character, and also to check that the costumes won’t interfere with their timing and movement. This process should not be rushed, but students should be given plenty of time to get to feel “at home” in their costumes. As directors, we need to sit back, watch the rehearsal as an audience member would while taking notes about anything that jars or doesn’t seem right about the speech, movement, props, or general pacing of the performance. Once these notes are given to the student actors and incorporated into their performances the play is ready to show.

Finally, the performance. By this time, students should feel confident that they are clear in their speech, articulate in their movement, and comfortable in their characters. With prop tables set up on the left and right walls of the classroom, and with basic furniture pieces in place, students can perform to an audience of fifty to five hundred. Be sure to prompt them to hold for the laughs and to enjoy themselves as they perform within their characters. If they hold onto their character’s objectives and play out the desires of their characters in the action of the lines, they won’t miss a word or a beat and the audience and the players will know they have achieved a new level of ability to communicate in their new language. Such practice and confidence should continue in their regular speech.

3.- A QUESTION OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

We wanted to SHARE this reflection on language use with all of you:

----- Original Message -----

From: "Anthea Tillyer" <ABTHC@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>

To: <TESL-L@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>

Sent: Monday, May 03, 2004 4:22 PM

I heard Sandra Cisneros (author of _House on Mango Street_) on the radio this morning. She is of Mexican descent, but was born and brought up in Chicago. She was trying to explain how she faces the challenge of writing dialog in English while making sure the reader understands that the speaker is actually speaking Spanish! She mentioned that there is really no way that you can express yourself clearly in English as though you were speaking Spanish! One example she gave was that her father (who had lived all but the first 10 years of his life in the USA) refused to speak English, and whenever he had to speak it, he felt that he was being rude. He cursed the directness of English and was offended that people don't add "God willing" to the end of a description of their future plans "as if they are arrogant enough to think that they can make their own plans without God". He couldn't stand asking strangers questions without introductory flourishes. Ms Cisneros's father tried to add things to his English to make it more acceptable to him, thereby confusing all his interlocutors and embarrassing his children.

In short, Ms. Cisneros's father was a prisoner of his own upbringing and simply couldn't see that there are various ways of being rude (and polite).
Presumably, we all have students who worry about their "rudeness" and who perhaps become tongue-tied rather than speak in a way that seems unacceptable to them. What can we do about this? Is there a painless way of getting our students to accept a lack of flourishes and references to God as perfectly polite and correct in English?

City University of New York

abthc@cunyvm.cuny.edu

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4.- ENGLISH TODAY: DIVERSITY AND GLOBALIZATION

Today English is widely regarded as having become the global language. This article examines two central issues that are subject of heated debate: diversity and change (of the English language), and its global or international status.

English: Diversity and Change

David Crystal states that “English speakers can be separated by the barrier of a common language.” (Crystal 1997:131). This means that simply being speakers of English is no guarantee of mutual understanding. Given the global role of English -with a “middle-of-the-road” estimate of 1,200 to 1,500 million speakers (Crystal, 1997: 61)- it would be surprising if such diversity of English users weren´t separated as well as united by their common language. If we accept this view, what is it that creates the barrier? And can the barrier be overcome?

Let us begin with Kachru´s classification of English as a World language as consisting of three circles (Kachru, 1985):

1. The inner circle refers to the traditional bases of English, where it is the primary language. Included in this circle are the USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The varieties of English used here are, in Kachru´s scheme, “norm providing.”

2. The outer or extended circle involves the earlier phases of the spread of English in non-native settings, where the language has become part of a country´s chief institutions, and plays an important “second-language” role in a multilingual setting. Singapore, India, Malawi and over fifty other territories are included in this circle.

3. The expanding circle includes those nations which acknowledge the importance of English as an International language.

In fact, Graddol (1997:10) suggests that the three circles of English overlap, with the “centre of gravity” shifting towards L2 English speakers at the start of the 21st century so that by this time, “those who speak English alongside other languages will outnumber first-language speakers and, increasingly, will decide the global future of the language.” The unprecedented expansion of English, with the consequent growth of different varieties, has given rise to a concern with the maintenance of mutual intelligibility, largely defined in linguistic terms. Intelligibility has traditionally been regarded as the criterion to classify different languages but it has proved to be inadequate in that it leaves out of consideration linguistic attitudes and in particular the criterion of identity: “If intelligibility were the only criterion, then we would have to say that people from Norway, Sweden and Denmark spoke a single language with several regional varieties” (Crystal, 1999: 11). However, the issue that concerns us here is whether such expansion could lead to the eventual disintegration of the English language in a number of distinct varieties which were mutually unintelligible. It might be interesting to notice that this is already the case of Tok Pisin, the language of Papua New Guinea, which achieved official status together with English in 1981. If so, the idea of English as the global language would become unattainable.

It is at this point that the notion of “Standard English” comes into play. The Oxford Companion to the English Language defines “Standard English” as “a widely used term that resists easy definition but is used as if most educated people nonetheless know precisely what it refers to:...it is both the usage and the ideal of “good” or “educated” users of English.” Furthermore, it goes on to give different favourable, neutral, and unfavourable interpretations of the term. It is not surprising that such controversy give rise to a heated debate over standards in English as an international language. Traditionally, the concept of standard English has been associated with standard British English with RP pronunciation. However, leading language experts in the UK view standard English as being represented by two varieties, British English and standard American English. If one perceives the language from an international point of view, it is apparent that these as well as other commonly held notions of language beg to be refuted. David Crystal reports that “a great deal of attention is being paid to devising standards of language use which will trascend regional differences and guarantee intelligibility when people from different English-speaking parts of the world communicate with each other.” (Crystal, 1988: 262). In this respect, Marko Modiano (1999a: 27) argues that as English is envisioned as the language for the global village, it is imperative that new educational standards for the teaching of the language be established. At a 1984 conference to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the British Council, two key figures in the debate over standards were Randolph Quirk and Braj Kachru. Quirk argued for the need to uphold standards in the use of English in both inner circle countries and those outside the inner circle. He maintained that tolerance for variation in language use was educationally damaging in inner circle countries and that “the relatively narrow range of purposes for which the non-native needs to use English...is arguably well catered for by a single monochrome standard form that looks as good on paper as it sounds in speech.” (Quirk 1985:6). Kachru (1985: 11-30), on the other hand, argued for a recognition of norms based on the manner in which English is used within particular speech communities, both native-speaking communities and those in the outer circle. He maintained that allowing for a variety of norms would not lead to a lack of intelligibility among varieties of English; rather what would emerge from this situation would be an educated variety that would be intelligible across the others. As Widdowson (1994) notes,

As soon as you accept that English serves the communicative and communal needs of different communities, it follows logically that it must be diverse. An international language has to be an independent language. It does not follow logically, however, that the language will disperse into mutually unintelligible varieties. For it will naturally stabilize into standard form to the extent required to meet the needs of the communities concerned. Thus it is clearly vital to the interests of the international community...that they should preserve a common standard of English in order to keep up standards of communicative effectiveness. (Widdowson 1994:385, cited in McKay, S. 2002: 53 New York: OUP)

English as a Global Language

At present there are hardly any arguments to deny the global status of the English language. Let us consider now some important factors that have rendered English as the global language possible. Statistics show that nearly a quarter of the world´s population speaks English to a certain degree of competence. But the sole number of speakers does not make a language become global. According to David Crystal, (Crystal, 1997: 7) “A language becomes an international language for one chief reason: the political power of its people -especially their military power.” But mere military power does not make a language become global either. A language might be established through military action but it takes economic power to maintain and expand it (Crystal, 1988: 7-8). The political consolidation of English took place in the period between the two world wars. The League of Nations was the first of many modern international alliances to give a special place to English (English was one of the two official languages, the other was French). When the League of Nations was replaced by the United Nations in 1945, the role of the English language became more critical. In other spheres, the number of organizations (by no means restricted to the field of politics or science) which use only English to carry on their affairs is of particular importance: there are sporting organizations, such as the Asian Amateur Athletic Association, as well as other bodies such as the Buddhist Conference for Peace (Crystal, 1997: 80).

In fact, the status of English is usually taken for granted in most domains, to the extent that wherever in the world an organization is based, English is the chief auxiliary language. Such situation is likely to bring about problems in meetings where a large number of nations each has the right to participate using its own language. In the European Union, for example, eleven member states in 1995 presented a situation in which as many as 110 pairs of languages required translation services. The impossibility to find expert translators for all language pairs demanded that efforts be made to find alternative procedures that do not imply asking some of the countries to give up their official status. One interesting solution in these cases is the use of a “relay” system where English is used as an “intermediary” or “interlingua” language: one person would translate a speech from Finnish (to give an arbitrary example) into English and another would translate the result from English into Greek (again, an arbitrary example) (Crystal, 1997: 81).

But politics is not the sole field where English emerged victorious. In so varied and dissimilar “worlds” as those of popular music, international travel, international safety (international aircraft control), communications, and education, English has also taken the lead. It might only be fair to argue that these last two domains should be considered as second in importance after politics since the spread of English would have been seriously impaired with poor communications and no teachers to teach the language to foreigners, for example. It is clear, thus, that the position of English today is the result of the British colonial expansion and the economic supremacy of the United States (Graddol, 1997: 9). The question arousing controversy is, however, whether such position and future development is viewed in a favourable light or not. At first sight, it might even sound ridiculous to question the idea of a global language (be it English or any other) in an age when globalization has come to be widely accepted even in unlikely quarters. President Fidel Castro of Cuba felt comfortable in proclaiming at a conference of Caribbean Heads of State and Government held in the Dominican Republic in 1998 that “Globalization is an inevitable process. It would be pointless to oppose a law of history.” (Bamgbose, 2001: 357).

Notwithstanding the benefits that could be derived from the existence of a global language, we cannot fail to notice some possible risks. In this respect, the first issue that comes to our minds is that of social inequality. It must be noted that this is a valid and present concern as shown in the drafting of The Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights. The main objective of this document is the achievement of a successful balance between the linguistic rights of communities, groups and persons who share the same space. The definition of equitable linguistic rights cannot be dependent on the political or administrative status of languages or on irrelevant or insufficiently objective criteria such as their level of codification or number of speakers. The proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights on 6 June 1996 marked the end of one process and the start of another. On that date a new phase got underway which was to give rise to an International Convention of the United Nations. Another important aspect of social inequality is that of inequality of opportunities, the creation of a social elite who has access to a bilingual education and the subsequent marginalization of those groups who do not. Robert Phillipson (1992:47) states “A working definition of English linguistic imperialism is that the dominance of English is asserted and maintained by the establishment and continuous reconstitution of structural and cultural inequalities between English and other languages.”

Phillipson (1992: 35-36) discerns the imposition of the language on the outer circle by inner circle interests. His is a deterministic view of linguistic imperialism which largely overlooks local cultural politics and which tends to cast members of the outer circle in the role of helpless and largely unconscious victims of a linguistic hegemony in which they are persuaded to connive. Like Phillipson, Pennycook (1994: 75-80) also proposes a link between the English language, colonialism and global capitalism. He describes the tension which exists between English, on the one hand, seen as a neutral, pragmatic language, essential for national development, but on the other, seen as a language tied to undesirable forms of Western culture, values and knowledge which threaten local cultural identities. He also makes the point, overlooked by Phillipson, that using English does not necessarily imply a deterministic imposition of cultural and discursive frameworks, since English can be used and appropriated in different ways. In short, English is taken over and employed by outer circle users as a way of asserting cultural and political independence from inner circle interests. Pennycook sees the teacher´s role as giving learners access to those standard forms of the language linked to social and economic prestige as a step towards encouraging them “to find ways of using the language that they feel are expressive of their own needs and desires... so that they can start to claim and negotiate a voice in English.” (Pennycook, 1994:317).

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5.- CANCELLATION OF FAAPI 2004

We reproduce a relevant section of the last FAAPI Newsletter that we received via APIBA. In it, Mrs Boetsch, FAAPI´s President officially announces the cancellation of the Annual Conference of the Federation that was to be held in the city of San Nicolás this year.

“…All the news is not good since APISN- Asociacion de Profesores de Inglés de San Nicolás- finally confirmed they would not be up to the challenge they had initially undertaken ( of organizing FAAPI 2004) for their Executive Committee was decimated by some of their members’ need to move to other cities, and the poor response their Assembly summons received. So, this year we will not have the great event we had expected (…) Our hearts go to APISN wishing them a prompt recovery.

On the other hand, ASPI- Asociación Santafesina de Profesores de Inglés- have already started to work towards the Conference to be held there in 2005.

Our hearts, and we are sure those of most SHARERS, are with the big FAAPI family and very especially with the Asociación de San Nicolás at the same time that we offer our humble support to ASPI, the organizers of FAAPI 2005.

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6.- FROM THE NATIONAL CONGRESS OF TEACHERS AND STUDENTS OF ENGLISH

1.-Prof. Magdalena Zinkgraf M.A.
Escuela Superior de Idiomas de la Universidad Nacional del Comahue.
"...Then you wouldn´t need to say that you love me ´cause I´d already know..."
Multi-word units and collocations in Love Songs.

2.-Prof. Silvina Riccio de Bottino M.A.
Prof. Melina Barbero de Amado & Prof. Juan Ignacio Palacio.
Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires
Proposing Human Rights Education in Pre-Service Training

3.-Prof. Maria Carolina Orgnero M.A.
University of Connecticut, USA.
Effective Feedback to Enhance Learning in Composition Classes.

4.-Lic. Nancy Cortell M.A.
Info English Belgrano
Effective Marketing for Language Schools.

5.-Prof. Mónica Rodriguez Sanmartino & Prof. Maria Inés Zabaleta
Instituto Superior de Formación Docente Nro 32
Prof. Gabriela Gonzalez
Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata
Anchoring Multi-Word Units in Memory: Vocabulary Learning Strategies

6.-Prof. Silvina Lizé Rodriguez M.A. & Prof. Analía Castro
Escuela Superior de Idiomas de la Universidad Nacional del Comahue.
Seek and you shall find. Action Research in the Classroom.

7.-Lic. Maria Fernanda Guerra & Lic. Jessica Vidal
Universidad del Salvador
Intérprete se nace o se hace? Un aporte a la Educación Bilingüe.

8.-Lic. Maria Laura Capello.
Instituto Superior del Profesorado "Ward"
Literature in the English Class.

9.-Prof. Patricia Galazzo, Prof. Maria Teresa Abelaira & Prof. Jorge Trujillo.
ICANA - Instituto de Intercambio Cultural Argentino Norteamericano.
A Sample Video Discussion Class

10.-Prof. Nora Muñoz Maradona and Sandra Brizuela
Universidad Nacional de San Juan
Prof. Mariela Busleimán; Prof. Marisa Montoro and Prof. Nuria Busleimán
Ministerio de Educación de la Pcia. de San Juan
Lively Activities and Lots of Ideas to use the DVD in the EFL Classroom.

11.-Prof. Maria del Pilar Martinez
Instituto Superior de Formación Docente Nro 5
Singing along the road to effective learning.

12.-Prof. Mónica Coni de Reggini
ICANA- Instituto de Intercambio Cultural Argentino Norteamericano
Content Based Learning and a "Call" from the Past..

13.-Lic. Aurea Obesso
Instituto Superior del Profesorado "Ward"
The Lexical Approach: A New Vision of Lexis

14.-Prof. Patricia A. Verano
TPRS - Total Physical Response Storytelling :
Would you like to learn some Japanese through a TPRS lesson?

For more information about the Tenth National Congress of Teachers and Students of English, double click on this link:

7- TOWARDS MORE CREATIVE ENGLISH

Our dear SHARER Alfred Hopkins writes to us:

"Just a word," said a word.

"Silence!" barked his companion.

Hello! How are things cooking?

Below you will find info about an activity I am organizing with Dr. Alicia Ramasco.

The first of a three module storytelling and creative writing event will take the Castelar hotel by surprise on the Holiday Monday of June 21st.

"It's going to be great fun," said Mr. Alfred Hopkins, co-organizer of the event and a sometimes journalist, sometimes English teacher and sometimes actor.

"It's not only about how to write but how to learn by writing," added Dr. Alicia Ramasco, an Argentine teacher specialized in writing skills.

The hotel is located at 1152 Avenida de Mayo and at the door you might encounter one of those guys in a monkey suit asking you where you're headed. "Al encuentro en inglès," you can say, to avoid untidy hassles. Then up you tread over the red carpeted stairs and there you are!

Participants are invited to think of a story they like the night before, or--why not?--bring their own latest production!

The cost? Just $50 for the all day event, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oh, there's a lunch break in the middle and for those with a taste for the good things in life you can enjoy a belly warming at the hotel for just $10 pesos.

Want to find out more about the event? Call Alicia at 4334-2674, Alfred at 4334-156l, write aliciaramasco@sinectis.com.ar or check http://www.a-hopkins.com

In the beginning was the word. Teachers, storytellers and actors belong to the same family. Since the dawn of history they have been handing down shared basic knowledge, although the precise role of each has also been undergoing profound changes in line with the social, economic and technological transformations experimented by society. Hence, it is not surprising nowadays to see teachers turning to actors for techniques related to "stage presence"; actors borrowing modern methods of research from teachers or storytellers providing both with voice techniques aimed at enriching the ability to communicate ideas, emotions and feelings. Storytellers and language teachers must discovers tools enabling them to induce spectators or students into a world of flowing logic, reason, emotion, grace of expression, clarity, ambiguity and nuance of meaning This first of three creative language modules will explore and open up some aspects of writing and storytelling which can greatly enhance the learning process. The second module, at a date to be determined, will venture into the field of journalism: how to write articles, prepare radio and TV shows. The third model will deal with the use of poetry and music in the classroom.

° Alfred Hopkins is a native of Los Angeles, California. After receiving his B.A. in journalism and social science from the University of California at Berkeley he worked on several newspapers in the U.S.A. As a free lance journalist, he traveled throughout Latin America. He studied theatre in Buenos Aires under Toni Barquet and Ricardo Bartis, and has acted in numerous shows in Spanish and in English. Founder of the Living Lab of Drama and Communication, dedicated to the teaching of applied drama and storytelling, he has also presented workshops on drama, storytelling, diction and journalism-combined with solo performances of shows including "Hamlet, "The Telltale Heart," "Knock-Knock"-to schools here and in the provinces. He taught diction at the Instituto superior en Lenguas Vivas "J.R. Fernandez" from 1989 to 2000 and since 1992 has been directing acting and storytelling workshops at the institute. He has published numerous articles, stories and poems and directs an online magazine, "The Buenos Airres Journal," at http://www.a-hopkins.com

° Alicia Ramasco is a PhD in English graduated from Univ. del Salvador. She was a Fulbrighter and an American Field Service scholar. She has got an Honours Diploma in American History from Mesa State College, Grand Junction, Co, USA. She has been teaching EFL for 25 years at different schools and institutions. In 1997-1998 she worked as Secretary to the English Department at UCA. The title of her doctoral thesis is: "An Exploration into the development of Writing Skills in the EFL class" .Currently, she teaches US History at UCA and works as an on-line English teacher at Instituto R. Scalabrini Ortiz. She is also the co-author of the "Performance" series,3 textbooks for TEFL published by Editorial Stella, Buenos Aires.

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8.- SEMINAR ON CORRECTING ERRORS

It is a pleasure for both of us this Workshop from Tools for Teachers given by Oriel Villagarcia:

Correcting Errors: a different perspective

Attitudes towards errors in second/foreign language learning have changed considerably in the past twenty five years as a result of studies in second language acquisition. This presentation will offer, however, a humanistic-- rather than a linguistic --perspective, which will hopefully assist both teachers and students not only in the foreign language teaching or learning process, but also in the art of living.

Thursday, June 17, 17:00 to 19:00

SBS Belgrano, Ciudad de la Paz 1804, Ciudad de Buenos Aires

Registrations at SBS Belgrano, phone 4 788 1963, belgrano@sbs.com.ar

Saturday, June 19, 10:00 to 12:00

SBS Palermo, Coronel Diaz 1747, Ciudad de Buenos Aires

Registrations at SBS Palermo, phone 4 821 0206, palermo@sbs.com.ar

Prof. Oriel Villagarcía is a graduate from the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Magna Cum Laude, Fulbright and British Council Scholar. Post graduate studies at the University of Texas, Master of Arts from the University of Lancaster. Master Practitioner of NLP, Certificate of Completion, NLP University, California. Certified Administrator of the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator, CAPT, Florida. Has taught linguistics at the University of Rio Cuarto and NLP at the University of Santiago del Estero. Certified practitioner of Breema. Founder of TOOLS FOR TEACHERS.

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9.- ARPI NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Our dear SHARERS from ARPI –Asociación Riocuartense de Profesores de Inglés- invite us to:

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10.- SEMINARS AT ADVICE PREP SCHOOL

"The Newspaper: an effective teaching resource" by Pablo Toledo

Newspapers are highly motivational and relevant to learners of all ages. Students using newspapers in their classrooms develop the ability to identify and deal with real life situations while becoming involved with the world around them. This workshop is designed to provide EFL/ESL teachers with the skills necessary to apply and integrate the newspaper into their daily lessons and expose students to the world outside the classroom. It will feature hands-on activities infused with teacher tips, lesson ideas and outline materials.

Pablo Toledo is the Head of Educational Services at the Buenos Aires Herald. He is the editor of Write On! magazine, the weekly Education section and the Herald Learner Booklets series. He lectures on English Literature at ISP «Joaquín V. González».He is also a novelist - his first novel ("Se esconde tras los ojos", Clarín-Aguilar, 2000) has won the Premio Clarín de Novela 2000.

" Vocabulary & Young learners: a topic to tackle tactfully by Patricia Romanow & Viviana Zenklussen

The purpose of this workshop is to explore the different vocabulary areas so as to be able to apply this knowledge to teaching young learners. The emphasis is set on how to deal with vocabulary rather than what to teach as most course books provide good selection of vocabulary generally following a spiral approach..

Considering learning a foreign language for young learners is anything but dealing with grammatical explanations, then it can be assumed vocabulary is of great importance

Patricia Romanow graduated from Instituto Superior N.1 "Estela Guinle de Cervera". She holds a diploma in TESOL – Canterbury Christ Church University college, UK: Her currect research area: Cross – linguistic influence at vocabulary level (dissertation topic aiming at MA in TESOL). Teacher of Lengua Inglesa I, Taller de Docencia III y Didáctica Específica II (Inicial, EGB 1 & 2) at Instituto superior Profesorado N.1. Designer of "Planificaciones" for "Let’s go for EGB2" – Longman.

Viviana Guadalupe Zenklussen is a graduate teachers from Profesorado N.1 Estela G.de Cervera. Currently working at Advice Prep School, teaching students of all levels and ages. Studying Licenciatura en Educación at Universidad de Quilmes.

Venue: San Jerónimo 3127 - 3000 - Santa Fe - Argentina

Enrollment: adviceprepschool@arnet.com.ar / TE 0342-4563130

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11- “DEVELOPING RAPPORT” WITH JAMIE AND LAURA.

Our dear SHARER Rosana Fernandez announces:

Working Wonders with Rapport

with Laura Szmuch and Jamie Duncan

Saturday 26 June 10.00 - 13.00

Establishing rapport is the basis of good communication, which in turn leads to creating a more effective learning atmosphere. What exactly is the key to successful rapport? How can we establish it with all our students whenever we desire? This practical workshop will explore the power of non-verbal communication and its role in facilitating teaching and learning.

Laura Szmuch is a graduate of INSP "J V González". She applies NLP to her English teaching in her studio in Capital Federal. She has written "Aprendiendo Inglés, y disfrutando el proceso" published in 2003, and is the co-author of "Really Thriving" an NLP-based handbook for teacher development, also for imminent publication.

Jamie Duncan teaches at the Profesorado, INSP Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Buenos Aires and privately. He published "Passionfruit" in 2000 and is co-author of "Really Thriving".

As Master Practitioners and trainers in NLP, they run courses for teachers under the name Resourceful Teaching and produce a fortnightly e-zine called RTNews.

Venue: William Shakespeare, School of English, Pichincha 143, Boulogne, San Isidro.

Registration Fee: $70,00

Group Fees: 10% discount on the registration fee for 3 people or more enrolling together.

Further Information from: Phone: 4765-9606 - e-mail: info@schoolofenglish.com.ar

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12- FOURTH ANNUAL SEMINAR AT COLEGIO WARD

Our dear SHARERS from Colegio Ward invite us all to:

Laura Renart holds an MA in Education and Professional Development from the University of East Anglia, UK. She is a teacher trainer at ISP "Dr Saenz", Buenos Aires and a tutor at Universidad Argentina de la Empresa and Universidad Virtual de Quilmes. She is EFL coordinator at T.S. Eliot Bilingual Studies, educational representative and trainer for Norwich Institute for Language Education and UCLES Oral Examiner. She has trained teachers both in Argentina and abroad - UK, Uruguay, Colombia, Ireland and China. She has presented extensively at conventions in Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Spain, USA and UK as well as in local educational events. Her main research interest has to do with bilingualism in the local context.