An Electronic Magazine by Omar Villarreal and Marina Kirac ©

Year 4 Number 91 December 15^th 2002

4400 SHARERS are reading this issue of SHARE this week

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Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being SHARED

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Dear SHARERS,

This will be a most awkward issue of SHARE reaching you, as it will, most probably on Monday morning. We know that many of our SHARERS prefer reading SHARE over the weekends when they have more free time at their disposal. To them, our apologies, but this time we couldn´t make it. We had a very quiet but sleepy Saturday and a very busy Sunday at home with friends.

With the beginning of the summer season our house gets quite crowded on Sundays ( and how we

enjoy it!). Why was Saturday sleepy? I had an incredible reunion with a group of former students from my dear all boys´school “Los Molinos”. It was a real reunion as I had not seen some of them for eight or nine years. I was so happy to see how the bonds were still intact and

how the old chemistry still worked but the only problem was we talked about the good old days until five in the morning(!). A great friend of ours and also a former “Los Molinos” teacher, Fernando Armesto, offered his home, dinner and drinks (which in my case was unprecedented amount of light Coke! How much light Coke can you hold from 10:00 p.m to 5:00 a.m? Me? Lots!). That´s why I was so sleepy ( and sleeping!!!) most of my Saturday but very happy.

Before we pass on to the articles I would like to say a few words about last week´s editorial.

One : A big THANK YOU to the many SHARERS who wrote to us.

Two : No, we are not going to publish all the mails we got. You will find only one of them at the

end of this issue.

Three: Last Saturday I was very angry. Marina was not so angry and she said that an outburst

like that would not do anybody any good. In retrospect, and judging from the response that we got, I´m not so sure Marina was right. But she has made me promise I will be more in control in future ( which I promised with my fingers crossed __it was my toes actually)

Four : As we said in our last issue José Luís Garcia from Catamarca IS a dear friend. It was he who coined the concept of “Little House on the Prairie” many years ago to refer to the “perfect life of a perfect family” but not applied to our family. it was something José Luís, Fernando Armesto and I used jokingly to language classrooms.

Five: José Luís did not write the now infamous mail that started it all. And we believed before just as we believe today that the name of this person is of no importance at all and it will remain unknown.

Marina and I want to assure our dear SHARERS that we will continue our inner fight to be a tiny little bit better every day and that we hope that this will be reflected in everything we do.

We hope you see that reflected in the pages of the many issues of SHARE to come.

Love

Omar and Marina

In SHARE 91

1.- A Journey into Constructivism – Part 1.

2.- Exam Action: Coping with cheaters.

3.- Exámenes con Tribunales destruyen neuronas.

4.- 11^th PERUTESOL Convention – Call for Papers.

5.- Calling all Translators.

6.- ASEREJE: An Explanation for a Mystery.

7.- Quotable Quotes by Mark Twain.

8.- English Speakers: 2003 Conference.

9.- Linguistics and Contrastive Linguistics: A recommendation.

10.- Tecnología Educativa: CONTEC 2003

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1.- A JOURNEY INTO CONSTRUCTIVISM – PART 1

Our dear SHARER Maria José Insaurralde from San Miguel de Tucumán sends us a most enlightening article about Constructivism that we are going to publish in two parts:

A journey into Constructivism

by Martin Dougiamas

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

FACES OF CONSTRUCTIVISM

Trivial constructivism

Radical constructivism

Social constructivism

INTRODUCTION

During the past three months, I've been learning about constructivism by reading scholarly texts, discussing them with my class and my friends, journal keeping and personal reflection. Through this interesting time, I feel my understanding has grown considerably and have already proved useful. I've constructed this text in an attempt to demonstrate my current understandings of constructivism, as well as the process by which my knowledge developed.

I had some trouble with the self-referential nature of the material. Since the subject is the "meaning of meaning" at various levels, it's easy to become confused and fall into a "black hole" where text seems meaningless. How can I know from reading texts what authors think, and what works? How can I realise my own understanding? How can I communicate my understandings to you?

Despite this, I feel the struggle to construct this text to try and represent my learning as a result of interacting with a wide diversity of other texts has been a rewarding one. It has helped me develop constructivism in my mind as a referent to apply to my own day-to-day practices and research in communication, teaching and learning.

I hope that reading this will also help you, the reader, reflect critically on your own life, and perhaps increase your own satisfaction with your educational activities.

A word about the writing styles I've chosen to use in this essay. For the most part, I've written in the first-person, since this essay is an expression of my thoughts (Ellis, 1996). However, I often use a third-person style, which is not intended to impart a sense of objectivity, but to make it easier to read passages describing the ideas of others.

BACKGROUND

I signed up for a Masters course to broaden myself in my desire to develop the use of technologies for learning, gained from many years of constant learning with technology and later, teaching it to others.

My youth was spent as an isolated child in small desert towns in central Australia. Much of my school education was undertaken in distance mode via School of the Air, using CB radio. I had half-an-hour contact with a teacher per day, with several hours self-directed study using worksheets and projects. Moving to the city in my teens, I attended a normal high school, followed by seven years of University education. At University, I studied Engineering, Physics and finally Computer Science, and then gained some intensive experience programming visualisation systems for the mining industry.

In the five years since then, I have worked within Curtin University of Technology on Internet technologies: analysing systems, solving problems, educating other users in the technology, helping people to solve their own problems. For the first two years I worked on the help-desk - a demanding job involving an average of ten or twenty wide-ranging consultations a day. Later, I focussed more on the Internet, including the design and operations of Curtin's main web sites.

During much of this time, the same issues kept arising in the way people came to deal with the technology. I tried to distill these issues into an Internet Overview seminar, which I used and developed over a four-year period with a wide variety of adult learners. By monitoring reactions to my experiments in teaching, I kept the parts that seemed to work, and changed the areas that didn't, letting the course evolve each time.

I felt that I knew enough about the technologies, and had an intuitive sense of communicating my enthusiasm and knowledge to others, yet wondered how I could improve the quality of my teaching at a more rapid pace than simply relying on direct feedback. I was also becoming very interested in developing better interfaces to computers to solve many of the problems before they arose, but sensed that I needed a more theoretical foundation than the occasional forays I had already made into cognitive psychology, design, complexity theory and computer science.

After some exploration of options around my University, I decided modern science education theory might offer what I was needing.

After explaining some of this to Dr Peter Taylor, he suggested enrolling in his course on Constructivism, as part of a Masters in Science Education. At the time, I had only a very vague notion of what it was - I actually thought it was something like behaviourism! - but Peter assured me I'd find it interesting.

He was right!

FIRST IMPRESSION

I threw my suitcase on the bed and looked around my Bangkok hotel room. The single room was worn and clean, with a good view of endless dusty buildings. After a few minutes listening to the ancient ceiling fan and honking traffic, I changed my shirt and headed outside to explore.

The first thing I did after enrolling was to go and hunt down a few web pages about constructivism. After reading them, I tried to describe in my own words what constructivism was:

Constructivism is building on knowledge known by the student. Education is student-centred, students have to construct knowledge themselves. Explanations can use metacognition to explain via metaphor. Semiotics, or meanings of words, are important to keep in mind. Constructivism is a theory, a tool, a lens for examining educational practices. (from my journal, July 1998)

Looking back at this now it seems very thin indeed, but it was from this point that I launched into studying constructivism.

FACES OF CONSTRUCTIVISM

I wandered almost randomly along the cracked pavements, keeping one eye on the hotel and the other on the throngs of people all around me.

In this section I'll describe the major "faces of constructivism" separately, because it is more helpful for me to write about them in that way, and hopefully for you to read about them, although perhaps both will be in a non-linear fashion.

Each of these types of constructivism should not be seen as a set of methods, or as a fixed manifesto-like set of beliefs. They are "points of view", perspectives loosely defined by a collection of writings of particular individuals in each case. My research is not comprehensive, and nor could it be, but these sections represent popular labels in constructivist literature used as shorthand to indicate these different groups of ideas. Indeed, you can also say that "constructivist literature" is defined by their use of these labels, since the ideas are related to many other philosophical labels.

The points of contact between these concepts are many, as are the connections they can make within your own life. As I work through these sections, I am endeavouring to point out major relationships as I've seen them in developing my own understanding of constructivism as a referent - a perspective I can apply to a wide variety of situations to help me make choices about my actions and to help reflect on what I've done.

Most importantly, behind all of this are values that are rarely discussed openly in constructivism literature. Why do we even want to create models of learning? Why do we feel we need to improve the quality of education? In constructivism I see a hidden value ascribed to the notions of diversity and adaptability, which in turn promote the root value: survival of our species. Learners who can adapt quickly by learning in a complex world are more likely to adapt to changing conditions and survive as an individual. As an insurance against our future, more capable individuals are also more likely to discover answers to the questions we haven't even thought of asking yet. A diverse population is also more likely to ensure survival in the event of unpredicted disasters, since different people may be affected differently.

Trivial constructivism

So much life! So many people scurrying about their daily business! I've never seen so many sick, scabby dogs. Is that motorbike-thing a taxi? Is that old lady actually cooking in that tiny cart?

The simplest idea in constructivism, and the root of all the other shades of constructivism described later in this text, is what von Glasersfeld (eg 1990) calls trivial constructivism, also known as personal constructivism. The principle has been credited to Jean Piaget, a pioneer of constructivist thought, and can be summed up by the following statement:

Knowledge is actively constructed by the learner, not passively received from the environment.

This reacts against other epistemologies promoting simplistic models of communication as simple transmission of meanings from one person to another. The prior knowledge of the learner is essential to be able to "actively" construct new knowledge.

To me, this seemed obvious, and it seemed to be compatible with most opinions I'd ever read about teaching or science. Learning is work - effective learning requires concentration. There are some things you have to learn before others. The education system has always been built on a progression of ideas from simple to complex. So, so far, nothing really new. Hence, probably, von Glasersfeld's characterisation as "trivial".

Questions arise, however. What is "the environment"? What is "knowledge"? What is the relation of knowledge to "the environment"? What environments are better for learning? Trivial constructivism alone says nothing about these issues, and these are the shortcomings that the other faces of constructivism attempt to address.

Radical constructivism

I approached the old lady, smiled and looked at the foods keeping warm on her tiny gas burner. The chicken pieces looked tasty but no, probably not safe. I decided on a couple of what looked like tiny deep-fried meatballs. Somehow, with a combination of very bad Thai and waving hands I managed to pay for them. She laughed and said something to another woman huddled on the ground beside her, as I retreated to the safe anonymity of the crowded footpath. To my surprise the balls were very sweet and multilayered, not at all what I was expecting. Was that coconut?

Radical constructivism adds a second principle to trivial constructivism (von Glasersfeld, 1990), which can be expressed as:

Coming to know is a process of dynamic adaptation towards viable interpretations of experience. The knower does not necessarily construct knowledge of a "real" world.

What is there to stop an individual from developing any "reality" they like? Taken to extremes, wouldn't we all be living in our own dream worlds, unable to communicate with other people or do anything for ourselves? Well, to some extent, we do all create our own realities. Radical constructivism does not deny an objective reality, but simply states that we have no way of knowing what that reality might be. Mental constructs, constructed from past experience, help to impose order on one's flow of continuing experience. However, when they fail to work, because of external or internal constraints, thus causing a problem, the constructs change to try and accommodate the new experience.

Within the constraints that limit our construction there is room for an infinity of alternatives. "Truth" in traditional epistemologies is replaced by "viability", bounded by social and physical constraints. The large diversity of flourishing public opinions in today's society on nearly every conceivable topic is evidence that a range of viable constructs are possible to allow survival and growth in the world.

So how can people with different world views communicate? From a radical constructivist perspective, communication need not involve identically shared meanings between participants. It is sufficient for their meanings to be compatible (Hardy and Taylor, 1997). If neither of the parties does anything completely unexpected to the other, then their illusions of identically shared meaning are maintained (von Glasersfeld, 1990).

The emphasis here is still clearly on the individual learner as a constructor. Neither trivial nor radical constructivism look closely at the extent to which the human environment affects learning: it is regarded as part of the total environment. These issues are focussed on in more detail by social, cultural and critical constructivism.

Social constructivism

My feet were getting tired. I sat on a bench next to a couple of other travellers, and together we watched the motorbikes swarm like bees at the traffic lights. It turned out the dark guy was Canadian, and the girl Welsh. "Do you know where the main palace is?", I asked them, not knowing the name of it. "Sorry, no", said the guy, "we were going there ourselves. We know it's near the Democracy Monument." "The big pointy one?", I said, shaping it with my hands. "Yep, near the river.", the girl said. I knew where that was - I'd passed it leaving my hotel. "Let's go!", I said.

The social world of a learner includes the people that directly affect that person, including teachers, friends, students, administrators, and participants in all forms of activity. This takes into account the social nature of both the local processes in collaborative learning and in the discussion of wider social collaboration in a given subject, such as science.

Many of the authors that identify with social constructivism trace their ideas back to Vygotsky (e.g., 1978), a pioneering theorist in psychology who focussed on the roles that society played in the development of an individual.

Cobb (1994) examines whether the "mind" is located in the head or in social action, and argues that both perspectives should be used in concert, as they are each as useful as the other. What is seen from one perspective as reasoning of a collection of individuals mutually adapting to each other's actions can be seen in another as the norms and practices of a classroom community (Cobb, 1998).

This dialectic is examined in more detail in a strong paper by Salomon and Perkins (1998), who suggest ways that these "acquisition" and "participation" metaphors of learning interrelate and interact in synergistic ways. They model the social entity as a learner (for example, a football team, a business or a family), compare it with the learning of an individual in a social setting, and identify three main types of relations:

* Individual learning can be less or more socially-mediated learning.

* Individuals can participate in the learning of a collective, sometimes with what is learned distributed throughout the collective more than in the mind of any one individual.

* Individuals and social aspects of learning in both of these senses, can interact over time to strengthen one another in a 'reciprocal spiral relationship'.

Teaching strategies using social constructivism as a referent include teaching in contexts that might be personally meaningful to students, negotiating taken-as-shared meanings with students, class discussion, small-group collaboration, and valuing meaningful activity over correct answers (Wood et al, 1995). Cobb (1994) contrasts the approach of delivering mathematics as "content" against the technique of fostering the emergence of mathematical ideas from the collective practices of the classroom community. Emphasis is growing on the teacher's use of multiple epistemologies, to maintain dialectic tension between teacher guidance and student-initiated exploration, as well as between social learning and individual learning. Constructivism-related strategies such as these are starting to be used more often in science and mathematics classrooms, but perhaps not surprisingly, have been common for a longer time in humanities subjects like social studies and communication.

It's interesting to observe the construction process of the wide community of intellectual publishers: liberal quoting of each other's ideas, combining, arguing, extending and recombining them in order to construct our social and cultural understanding of thought, understanding and ultimately human nature.

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2.- EXAM ACTION : COPING WITH CHEATERS

The following is a reproduction of an article published in Guardian Unlimited - Education Guardian

in March this year.

Exam action

Why positive help works better than threats to deter those tempted to cheat

Keith Morrow

Friday March 22, 2002

Cheating is a dirty word in almost any culture. Yet exams and class assessments are seen as fair game. Cheating to get higher marks is not really cheating at all; it is just a fact of life. Everybody does it. But what can teachers do to dissuade their students from trying to cheat in public exams?

Cheating means submitting work that is not entirely your own. This broad definition includes

everything from handing in an essay that you have downloaded in its entirety from the internet to copying your neighbour's answer to a multiple choice question.

On the way, it goes from making unacknowledged use of someone else's research, via writing model answers on the inside of your leg and wearing a short skirt which you can hitch up discreetly when you need inspiration, to wearing a wireless earpiece and communicating with a colleague - sitting at home with all the books - through a microphone hidden in your pen. (Let me confess that the last two examples are taken from Exam Scams by Professor John Croucher, from MacQuarie University, Australia.)

Who does it? Just about everybody, it seems. In 2001 a survey of 8,600 US high school students by the California-based Josephson Institute of Ethics found 71% admitted cheating in exams. The problem is compounded by the recent rise in many parts of the world in school-based assessment (SBA), in which coursework may be considered as part of the overall assessment package.

Who actually does this coursework is often an open question. Parents? Friends? A paid helper?

The reason for cheating is not hard to find. In today's world, the grade you get is often seen as more important than how you got it. The Centre for Academic Integrity at Duke University in the US quotes Goran Tomic, an 18-year-old freshman from Chicago. "From a selfish point of view, there are more positives than negatives [to cheating]. If you get an A by cheating . . . it could shape your future. If you get a good degree, it could shape your career path. If you get it by conniving, there are more pros than cons."

So what remedies does a teacher have? There are three basic approaches. The first is to frighten students out of cheating. Most national examination boards have regulations that set out the dire consequences of cheating, and your students need to know about these. Last November, the Hindustan Times of India reported that in Rajasthan the sentence for cheating in a public exam was to be increased to seven years in jail.

Unfortunately, there are at least two problems with this approach. The first is that some students will interpret it as a challenge to circumvent the system; the higher the potential penalty, the greater the thrill. The second is that in some cultures it may be difficult for supervisors to confront examples of cheating. In a 1995 edition of the ELT journal Forum, Bruce Sidebotham reported on his experience with what he terms a "face-saving" culture, where cheating in final examinations was tolerated because, for the supervisors, "maintaining peace and harmony is all-important".

The second approach is to use the "let's all be adults about this" tactic: taking students into your confidence, explaining to them why cheating is not going to help them in their future career. Some teachers find that developing an honour code which governs all classroom behaviour is often helpful.

Again, though, there are problems. In many cultures, behaviour regarded as "cheating" in the individualistic west is regarded as normal. The honour code may actually have exactly the opposite of its intended effect as different notions of what is "honourable" come into play.

So we come to the third approach, "learner support and training". It goes beyond the negative (don't do this, you might get caught) to stress the positive (do this, it will help you to learn). Try this:

Support your students

· Engage with them about the test or exam. Don't let it remain "out there" - the great sword hanging over the class whose name is never mentioned. Instead, bring it into the class and discuss it, analyse it, dissect it

· Help them to see exactly what the exam requires of them, and what particular strengths and weaknesses they, as individual learners, have in relation to it.

Train them how to pass an exam

· Don't spend time grinding through past papers in a mechanical way but look at ways of preparing for the exam

· Explore with them: revision strategies (little and often or a concentrated block? On your own or with friends? The importance of recycling and reviewing material); time management (where can you fit revision in if you have a busy schedule?); examination-answering techniques (should you do the difficult questions first? Don't spend all your time on the first question. What to do if you find yourself running out of time).

If we help students to prepare for an exam by "de-demonising" it and giving them positive help and support, they may realise that real preparation is actually easier and more reliable than cheating. You don't have to get up at 5.30 am to write essays on your leg, and you won't be let down by a flat battery in your secret transmitter.

Keith Morrow is a former chief examiner for the Cambridge/RSA certificates in communicative skills in English

© The Guardian Unlimited

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3.- EXÁMENES CON TRIBUNALES DESTRUYEN NEURONAS

Our dear SHARER Alejandra Cacciabue from Catamarca has sent us this article

Estimados docentes universitarios:

Pongo a su consideración un tema expuesto y estudiado por investigadores argentinos. Este articulo apareció en Clarin http://www.clarin.com.ar/diario/hoy/t-485499.htm y espero que lo encuentren de su interés.

Un saludo muy afectuoso

Alejandra

CIENCIA

Un estudio asegura que los examenes finales con tribunal generan tanta tensión que "destruyen las neuronas"

Un grupo de científicos de la Universidad del Litoral sugiere modificar la forma de evaluar a los alumnos. Además, propone achicar el volumen de información a incorporar y enseñarles a estudiar bien.

Un equipo de investigadores de la Universidad del Litoral estudió las reacciones orgánicas que experimentó un grupo de estudiantes de veterinaria antes de un examen final oral, y concluyó que semejante tensión ocasiona alteraciones físicas de todo tipo y hasta destruye neuronas. Los científicos que realizaron la investigación sostuvieron que, por lo tanto, "debería modificarse la modalidad de examen final oral con tribunal por otra que procure no generar temor a los alumnos". Y agregaron: "También es necesario achicar el volumen de información que los estudiantes deben incorporar y suministrarles herramientas para que aprendan a organizar sus horas de estudio y de sueño, además de comprender la necesidad de alimentarse bien y realizar actividad física mientras se preparan para rendir."

La investigación, titulada "Cambios orgánicos asociados al temor durante las evaluaciones universitarias", fue desarrollada por la doctora Eva Moreyra, docente de Fisiología de la Facultad de Veterinaria, y el doctor Osvaldo Panza Doliani, quienes, alertados por las alteraciones que experimentaban sus alumnos, decidieron estudiarlas. Los profesionales estudiaron las distintas alteraciones que sufrían sus alumnos, entre ellas, problemas de piel y disturbios gastrointestinales, trastornos del sueño y del apetito, dolores cervicales y musculares, resfríos y fiebre. Y descubrieron que, ante la inminencia de una examen oral, a los estudiantes les bajaban las defensas y el número de glóbulos rojos, se incrementaban sus frecuencias cardíacas y respiratorias y hasta se destruían neuronas.

Para establecer comparaciones, los investigadores analizaron el comportamiento orgánico de los estudiantes dos semanas antes del examen (final, oral y con tribunal), replicando la observación el mismo día del examen y quince días después. En cada oportunidad, los alumnos se sometieron a un hemograma completo y a una revisación clínica apuntada a establecer su ritmo cardíaco y respiratorio y su estado general de salud. Aunque algunos jóvenes evidenciaron alteraciones más notables que otros, en todos los casos analizados se observaron contundentes cambios orgánicos asociados al temor ocasionado por el examen. "Las variaciones detectadas en sangre demuestran que el cerebro se altera a partir de determinados cambios hormonales", explicó Panza Doliani.

"Las alteraciones permanecen aún después de transcurridas dos semanas del final. El efecto nocivo se vuelve acumulativo y recrudece cuando el alumno rinde más de una materia por fecha de examen," agregó el investigador. Panza Doliani advirtió que, entre los cambios observados, se destaca la alteración de la "hormona del estrés" o cortisol, "cuya producción en exceso, destruye las neuronas". El experto precisó que, "si se expone el organismo a una sucesión de situaciones similares, el daño se potencia. Por eso, nos preguntamos qué estamos haciendo con nuestros alumnos". Panza Doliani explicó que, "cuando la presión se vuelve extrema, el alumno comienza a perder interés y capacidad de asombro. Y como no encuentra gratificación en el aprendizaje, cae en la indiferencia".

Los profesionales aconsejaron seguir un método de estudio disciplinado, que les permita incorporar los conceptos gradualmente sin que intermedie ningún estímulo que distraiga al cerebro. Moreyra y Panza Doliani dijeron que "es necesario excluir de las horas de estudio los episodios afectivos, el consumo de los tóxicos y los deportes agresivos". La razón es sencilla: "Entre que se estudia y el conocimiento se incorpora a la memoria, transcurren tres horas. Si después de haber estudiado, el alumno se somete a estímulos fuertes, el conocimiento queda tomado con alfileres", dijo Panza Doliani. La investigación recibió el premio Profesor Braulio Moyano al mejor trabajo de Neurociencia Cognitiva, que concede la Asociación Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencia.

Fuente: Télam

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4.- 11^th PERUTESOL CONVENTION – CALL FOR PAPERS

Our dear SHARER Nefdy Falcone from URUTESOL sends us this announcement. Omar has been especially invited to participate in the convention as a presenter,

PERU -TESOL CALL FOR PARTICIPATION FOR ITS ELEVENTH CONVENTION

“New Horizons in English Teaching and Learning”

July 31 – August 1 – 2, 2003

Trujillo, Peru

The Annual Convention is the most important event for Peru-TESOL and is an essential element in the professional development of its members. These meetings provide the venue for the reporting of projects and activities as well as the sharing of experiences. All those interested in participating in our Convention are invited to submit one or more session proposals.

WHO CAN PRESENT?

Teachers, teacher trainers, candidates to Master and Ph.D. degrees, researchers, program administrators, materials and curriculum developers, as well as professionals in fields such as education, linguistics, psychology, sociology, translation and communications are welcomed. We especially encourage members of Peru-TESOL and any other TESOL affiliate in the world.

WHAT TOPICS ARE ENCOURAGED?

Innovative proposals on classroom practices, connections between teaching and learning, language interaction, integration of skills, cultural differences and similarities applied to language learning, technology supporting teaching-learning processes, and activities which improve the language skills are solicited. Interactive formats for presenting information to participants are encouraged.

WHAT TYPES OF PROPOSALS ARE POSSIBLE?

Two types of proposals can be submitted: a) workshops, and b) demonstrations. Presentations like plenaries, colloquia, and papers are offered only by invitation.

a) Workshop (90 minutes) A workshop has very little lecturing by the presenter; the emphasis is on the participants’ activity, which is carefully structured by the presenter. The presenter works with the group, helping participants solve a problem or develop a specific teaching technique.

b) Demonstration (45 minutes) in a demonstration, most of the time is used for showing, rather than telling, a technique for teaching or testing. Normally, the presenter's statement of the theory underlying the technique takes no more than five minutes.

In both proposals, the presenter often has handouts and may also use audiovisual aids.

WHAT ARE THE STEPS IN SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL?

1. Complete the Speaker Proposal Form. Such form must be completed for each proposal.

2. One requirement of the form is to provide an abstract that will appear in the program book, if the proposal is accepted. The abstract helps convention participants decide which presentations will be most appropriate to their needs. The abstract must not exceed 100 words; it should be written in the third person present tense; it must avoid all references to published works; it should be carefully edited and proofread.

3. The title of the proposal must accurately reflect the content and be clear to the intended audience; it is limited to nine words.

4. A one-page summary of the presentation content must be sent. It is going to be refereed by the Selection Committee and does not appear in the program book. The title, type of presentation, designated interest section, the target audience, and the audiovisual equipment needed must be printed in the upper left corner of the summary, but not the presenter's name and institution. The presentation's point of view and purpose should be clearly stated; you must be careful when selecting the type of presentation because the material outlined must be covered in the allotted time.

5. Prepare a biographical statement of 30 WORDS to be included in the program book. Such information must include your place of origin, education and tittles, teaching experience, publications, and whatever you consider relevant.

6. You can e-mail your complete proposal (form, summary, abstract, and biographical statement) to the following e-mail address: florentesol@yahoo.com

7. If your proposal is accepted, you will have to mail your photograph (white background, dark clothes, and ID size) for the program book. You can scan it and paste it in Word 97 and e-mail it to us.

8. The Selection Committee will send notifications of acceptance by early-June.

WHAT DISQUALIFIES A PROPOSAL?

1. The presentation promotes commercial interests.

2. The proposal is not complete.

3. The proposal is not received at our e-mail or at Peru-TESOL Central Office or by fax by the deadline.

4. The proposal is not relevant to the needs of English language teaching in Peru or the region.

5. The presenter offers sessions on behalf of exhibitors.

6. The Selection Committee reserves the right to turn down proposals without assigning reasons.

WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS PRESENTER?

1. Register for the convention without expecting us to ask you for doing it. Presenters have a reduced Fee.

2. Do not change the conceptual content of your session once it has been accepted.

3. Please bring enough and additional handouts for your presentation, Presenters are required to leave two copies of each handout in the Coordination Room for participant services. Presenters will be notified five days in advance of the number of participants at his/her presentation.

4. Be sure to request the necessary audiovisual equipment by the deadline. If you change your request later, you will have to pay a charge. We beg you to be aware that equipment is restricted and we would be disappointed if you ask for AV s that you finally do not use.

5. Peru-TESOL expects that you mention sources and copyright material in your handouts.

6. Your presentation/s can be scheduled on one or more convention days. It is strongly recommended that presenters arrive in TRUJILLO – LA LIBERTAD, PERU the day before the start of the convention. If you cannot arrive on time, let us know.

APPLYING FOR LODGING SPONSORSHIP BY PERU-TESOL

Peru-TESOL sponsors presenters with two proposals accepted as an individual that request for it in the application form. Priority will be given to presenters who come from abroad.

Such sponsorship consists of providing lodging in a double or triple room together with another speaker/s at the headquarters hotel, as well as providing breakfast and a snack for lunch. It also provides local transportation in a shuttle at specific times and places only if the school where the convention takes place is far from the hotel. Likewise, presenters are expected to participate in the extracurricular activities specially prepared for a memorable stay.

The Proposal Form can be found in our Website: www.shareeducation.com.ar in the NEWSBOARD section

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5.- CALLING ALL TRANSLATORS

Our dear SHARER Silvana García Calabria from Círculo de Traductores de la Zona Norte www.traductoreszonanorte.org sent us this calendar of courses for translators, interpreters and language lovers.

CURSOS - Primer Semestre del 2003

MARZO

"Seminario de Revisión de Traducciones"

María Cristina Pinto

Traductora Literaria y Técnico Científica en Inglés (IESLV), Presidenta de la Asociación Argentina de Traductores e Intérpretes (AATI),

Parte I: Teórica.

1. La revisión en el proceso de la traducción: por qué, cuándo, qué y cómo revisar.

2. Distintos tipos de revisores. ¿El corrector: un verdugo del traductor?

3. La corrección en el trabajo en equipo, como parte del proceso de control de calidad.

4. Tipificación de errores en general.

II Parte. Práctica

Se trabajará en castellano, con textos periodísticos, literarios y ensayos de las ciencias humanas. En primer lugar se analizarán errores en la lengua término (castellano) y, en segundo lugar, se cotejarán textos breves traducidos del inglés al castellano.

Fecha: Sábado 22 de marzo, de 9:30 a 13:30

Arancel: $35. Consultar descuentos para miembros de la AATI y del CTPZN

"Traducción al inglés: una nueva realidad de nuestra profesión"

Alejandra Rogante

Traductora Técnico científica y Literaria en Inglés (ENSLV) Profesora de Traducción II (IESLV), Profesora de Traducción Inversa y Traducción Técnico Científica II (ENSLV)

Temario: Calidad del original, dificultades semánticas, léxicas y sintácticas, registro, colocaciones, frecuencia de uso.

Se trabajarán básicamente dos formatos de texto: informes especializados y textos discursivos (artículos, ensayos, ponencias).

Fecha: viernes 14, 21 y 28 de marzo y viernes 4, 11 y 25 de abril, de 9 a 12.

Arancel: $ 70 por mes. Consultar descuentos para miembros de la AATI y del CTPZN

ABRIL-JUNIO

"Taller de redacción: Redactar para traducir"

Coordinador: Leandro Wolfson

¿Por qué un taller de redacción para traductores?

Porque la redacción es una de las operaciones componentes básicas del proceso del traducir, pero en los cursos de traducción habituales no puede ejercitársela en la medida necesaria. Porque esta fase del proceso es decisiva para la calidad de una traducción: el dominio de la lengua original no basta para producir una buena traducción si falla la capacidad de redactar en la lengua de destino. Porque varios autores han destacado la conveniencia de separar la etapa de la redacción del conjunto del proceso traductivo, tratándola como una operación intraidiomática aislada. Porque la solvencia en la redacción ayuda a evitar la interferencia del original, principal obstáculo de una traducción natural, en la que no se note la intervención del intermediario. El taller propuesto tiene como propósito practicar, a partir de consignas concretas, diversos ejercicios de "reformulación intraidiomática" en castellano: titulado y subtitulado, síntesis, ampliación, cambio léxico, reestructuración, paráfrasis, adaptación, discurso indirecto (reported speech), etc. Todas ellas apuntan a la transformación de un texto dado manteniendo su contenido esencial, y por lo tanto tienen una analogía conceptual con la operación de traducir.

Fecha: martes 8 y 22 de abril, 6 y 20 de mayo, y 10 de junio, en cinco clases quincenales. Clases de dos horas de duración (martes de 11.00 a 13.00)

LUGAR: CTPZN, Colegio de Abogados de San Isidro, Martín y Omar 339, San Isidro.

INFORMES E INSCRIPCIÓN: martes y viernes de 9 a 12 en la sede San Isidro 4-732-0303 int. 22. Inscripción en Capital: Santa Fe 882 6to E. Te.: 4314-4964 (9 a 17). Descuentos para asociados. Inscripción obligatoria con anterioridad a la fecha de inicio de cada curso, mediante transferencia electrónica, depósito, giro, etc. En todos los cursos confirmar fechas en marzo. Consultas: info@traductoreszonanorte.org . www.traductoreszonanorte.org .

Para más datos contactarse con la TP María Inés Boniver: mib@fibertel.com.ar , a cargo del Área Capacitación.

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6.- ASEREJE : AN EXPLANATION FOR A MYSTERY

The following is a reproduction of an article published by Father Bernardo Shanley in his e-group “Artículos Interesantes” last Sunday. We thought it would be of interest to all our SHARERS

Subject: El misterio del Aserejé

¿Es herética la letra de la canción de moda "Aserejé"? ¿Tiene contenido satánico?

Este informe especial revela la verdad sobre el tema... Equipo de investigaciones Especiales de Encuentra.com

No hay manera de abstraerse de una canción que se oye por la calle, se escucha en la radio a toda hora e incluso es utilizada como música de fondo en programas de Televisión, sin mencionar que en discotecas y bares desde Madrid hasta Finlandia se escucha sin cesar. Sin embargo el ritmo pegajoso encierra un misterio: ¿Qué significa Aserejè ja de jè de jebe tu de jebere sebiunouva majabi an de bugui an de buididipi?

La misteriosa letra levantó preguntas, y comenzaron a circular en Internet mensajes por e-mail condenando la canción como un invitación "a ser hereje": Varios medios informativos (1), publicaron notas acerca de algunos colegios de San Pedro Sula donde religiosos hondureños aconsejaron a los alumnos a estudiar la letra de la canción para "conocer su verdadero contenido". Se decía que la letra podía ser un mensaje diabólico. Según las autoridades escolares algunas de las interpretaciones del famoso "Aserejé" equivalían a una invitación herética y plantearon que "Diego" (el ficticio protagonista de la canción) podía ser el diablo. Se afirmó también en este sentido que la frase "Diego tiene chulería" podía significar "Lucifer es un ángel hermoso".

A partir de estos mensajes que circulan por la red recibimos en Encuentra.com un alud de correos electrónicos solicitando información sobre el tema y decidimos emprender una investigación .

Las opiniones de lingüistas investigadores tuvieron un resultado tan misterioso como desconcertante: En griego, árabe, latín, hebreo y otras lenguas vivas y muertas, "aserejé-dejé-já-etc" no significa nada.

Procesar la canción digitalmente y escucharla al revés arrojó, tras horas de investigación, un resultado similar: el estribillo resultaba igualmente ininteligible al derecho como al revés.

Mientras los lingüistas, filólogos y especialistas en audio digital hacían sus pruebas e investigaciones, la agencia de noticias de origen alemán Deutsche Presse-Agentur -DPA-(2) emitió una nota sobre el tema que ha sido publicada en diferentes medios noticiosos(3). Cabe mencionar que DPA es una fuente sumamente seria y una agencia de noticias de reconocido prestigio. Según su nota DPA declara que "Madrid (DPA).- Cuando Manuel Ruiz, mejor conocido como "Queco", escribió el "Aserejé", difícilmente podía prever el fenómeno en el que iba a convertirse el pegadizo tema interpretado por el grupo español del momento: Las Ketchup...

Con un ritmo sabrosón como aquél, el "Aserejé" al comienzo causó extrañeza por su estribillo, un trabalenguas de sílabas que parecían mezcladas al azar y a las que alguno incluso atribuyó un significado incluso místico... ...Ruiz, en su día un famoso solista de rumbas andaluz que tras un accidente de tránsito cambió el escenario por la consola de sonido, simplemente recicló una de sus canciones preferidas: El "Rapper"s Delight" de Sugarhill Gang, el primer rap y un clásico que puso a bailar a medio planeta en 1979... No se trata, sin embargo, de una simple versión. Consciente de las dificultades que muchos hispanoparlantes tienen con el inglés -y quizás con cierta ironía-, el "Aserejé" es algo así como la transcripción fonética del refrán de aquel tema. Es decir, Lola, Pilar y Lucía lo cantan tal y como suena en lo oídos de aquellos que no dominan la lengua de Shakespeare.

Es así como el "I said a hip hop a hippie the hippie" del original se convierte en el "Aserejé ja de jé de jebe" de Las Ketchup. Lo mismo ocurre con el "the boogie and the boogity beat", que se transforma en "de bugui an de buididipí". Si es cierto que lo genial es en el fondo muy simple, este sin duda es un ejemplo de ello." --Fin de nota

Al conocer esta nota, el siguiente paso evidente fue conseguir la canción "Rapper"s Delight" del grupo Sugar Hill Gang. La canción que es bastante larga nos dio luz sobre el misterio de las Aserejé, pues la letra inicial dice:

I said a hip hop the hippie the hippie

to the hip hip hop, a you dont stop

the rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie

to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat

Al leer esta letra pronunciando el inglés, parece tener una vaga resemblanza a la letra de la canción cantada por "Las Ketchup", sin embargo es necesario hacer notar que Sugar Hill Gang es una agrupación de afroamericanos y que su pronunciación es... bastante peculiar. Tan peculiar, que al escuchar la canción cantada, suena literalmente a "aserejé-já-dejé-dejebe-etc".

La mejor manera de comprobar el origen del "Aserejé" es escuchando la canción que la inspiró. Hemos conseguido el tema Rapper"s Delight que puede bajarse en el siguiente link:

Raper"s Delight : http://www.encuentra.com/imagenes/sugarhillgang.mp3

Por favor ver nota número (4) sobre Copyright y uso de la canción al final del artículo.

Los 6.7Mb de la canción en MP3 valen la pena para obtener luz en el asunto: efectivamente, existe gran similitud entre la primera estrofa (primer y último verso) de Rapper"s Delight y el estribillo de Aserejé. Todo parece indicar que, efectivamente, el autor de la canción de moda (Manuel Ruiz) tomó como modelo original una canción rap-disco y realizó una versión en ritmo ragatanga para el estribillo.

Lo anterior nos da varios hechos concretos para tener una conclusión final:

a) La letra "aserejé-etc-etc-etc" no significa nada, tal y como aparece escrita con esta fonetización en ninguna lengua viva o muerta.

b) Tampoco significa nada cuando se escucha al revés.

c) La letra es una fonetización española del tema en inglés "Rapper"s Delight" de Sugar Hill Gang (1979)

d) De la letra original en inglés nada apunta a un contenido herético o satánico

Todo parece indicar con las evidencias obtenidas que la canción "Aserejé" de Las Ketchup ni invita a ser hereje, ni Diego -a pesar de su chulería y de que aparece a la vuelta de la esquina rumbeando- es Satanás.

En conclusión: Se puede escuchar la canción Aserejé sin que se corra riesgo de ir a parar en el infierno. A los que les guste, que la escuchen cuanto quieran, y a los que no les guste, les recomendamos armarse de paciencia porque será imposible no escuchar la canción aún caminando por la calle.

_____________________________________________________

Referencias

(1) http://www.terra.com.ar/canales/musica/55/55119.html?ddlh_nota_5

(2) DPA, Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH http://www.dpa.de/index.html

(3) Nota de prensa publicada en El mercurio de Antofagasta, Año XCVI - Nro. 34.250 - Sábado 7 de Septiembre de 2002. http://www.mercurioantofagasta.cl/site/edic/20020906213142/pags/20020906221355.html

(4) Esta canción es presentada en el marco de la investigación para este reportaje. Su uso es y debe ser educativo exclusivamente. No puede reproducirse, alterarse ni ser replicada digitalmente sin consentimiento del titular del copyright Sugar Hill Gang. Rapper"s Delight (c) Copyright 1979 by Sugar Hill Gang. Publicada en Encuentra.com sin fines de lucro y para propósitos educativos, exclusivamente. Todos los derechos reservados.

If you wish to subscribe to “Artículos Interesantes”, send an e-mail to:

articulos_interesantes-subscribe@gruposyahoo.com.ar

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7.- QUOTABLE QUOTES BY MARK TWAIN

Our dear friend and SHARER Bethina Viale wants to SHARE these incredible quotes by that incredible American genius Mark Twain:

Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.

Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed.

April 1st is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other 364.

A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain.

The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.

A lie can travel half-way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.

If you don't like the weather in new England, just wait a few minutes.

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

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8.- ENGLISH SPEAKERS : 2003 CONFERENCE

Our dear SHARERS from English Speakers send the following Conference Information:

2003 Conference Information

The information for the events to be held during 2003 will be posted in January.

1. Invitation to Speakers

Applicants who are willing to be speakers in the 2003 conferences may submit proposals to speakers@englishspeakers.com.ar. The Committee meets during February to discuss applications. Every effort will be made to consider proposals as quickly as possible, subject to the conditions below in Section 2 - Submission.

2. Submission

To participate as speakers in the 2003 conferences, applicants shall email the following information:

PART 1

1. Full name

2. Telephone number and email address

3. Profession

4. University studies

5. Further studies (M.A., Ph. D., etc)

6. Courses taught at university-level (duration, seniority, etc.)

7. Post-graduate courses taught

8. Speeches delivered or seminars taught (where, when, topic, number of people in the audience, duration of speech, and additional information)

9. Publications (articles, dictionaries, glossaries, novels, manuals, others)

10. References (stating telephone numbers and email addresses of these contacts)

PART 2

1. Suggested topic

2. Outline and format of speech

3. Target audience of speech (teachers, translators, or interpreters)

4. Support equipment needed

5. Duration of speech (minimum 3 hours)

6. Supplementary material to be used as handouts

The submission deadline is January 31, 2003. Please note that applications which do not meet the abovementioned submission criteria will be discarded.

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9.- LINGUISTICS AND CONTRASTIVE LINGUISTICS : A RECOMMENDATION

Our dear SHARER Sylvia Falchuk from Torre de Papel sends us this recommendation:

Languages in Contrast

International Journal for contrastive linguistics

Languages in Contrast aims to publish contrastive studies of two or more languages. Any aspect of language may be covered, including vocabulary, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, text and discourse, stylistics, sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics.

Languages in Contrast welcomes interdisciplinary studies, particularly those that make links between contrastive linguistics and translation, lexicography, computational linguistics, language teaching, literary and linguistic computing, literary studies and cultural studies.

Languages in Contrast provides a home for contrastive linguistics. It enables advocates of different theoretical linguistic frameworks to publish in a single publication to the benefit of all involved in contrastive research.

Languages in Contrast provides a forum to explore the theoretical status of the field; stimulates research into a wide range of languages; and helps to give the field of contrastive linguistics a distinct identity.

If you are intertested in subscribing this journal, please contact John Benjamins Publishing Company at subscriptions@benjamins.nl

DICCIONARIO DE LINGÜÍSTICA MODERNA

ALCARÁZ VARÓ, Enrique

Este diccionario va dirigido a los profesores, a los estudiantes ya iniciados en el ámbito de la lingüística y a los que acuden por primera vez a esta disciplina. Como bien sabemos, la lingüística constituye con frecuencia el principal obstáculo para la comprensión de los que se estudia o de lo que se analiza.

Es por esto y, fundamentalmente, por el desconcierto que puede producir en el estudioso la inflación de terminología que conviene cada cierto tiempo presentar en forma lexicográfica una panorámica de los términos lingüísticos nuevos, así como de los más utilizados con los distintos sentidos que han ido desarrollando.

Año 1997. 643 Páginas.

For further information contact:

“Torre de Papel” Publishing House & Translation Company - Tte. B. Matienzo 1831 6ºG - C1426DAG - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Tel/Fax: (00-54-11) 4775-2198 - www.torredepapel.com.ar - pedidos@torredepapel.com.ar

Trad. Sylvia Falchuk sfalchuk@torredepapel.com.ar

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10.- TECNOLOGIA EDUCATIVA : CONTEC 2003.

Our dear SHARER Alejandro Santomauro sends us this invitation:

Del 8 y 9 de mayo de 2003 se realizará Contec 2003: Consenso de Tecnología Educativa "Temas posibles para una agenda de discusión acerca del campo de la tecnología educativa". Organizado por el Centro de Diseño, Producción y Evaluación de Recursos Multimediales para el Aprendizaje (Cediproe), la Universidad Nacional de La Plata, y la Universidad Nacional de Luján. Auspiciado por la Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica de la Secretaría para la Tecnología, la Ciencia y la Innovación Productiva de la Nación, y la Unesco.

Más información: Uruguay 766, P.B. "5", Ciudad de Buenos Aires, al tel.: 4371 9083/0544, en la página web: http //www.me.gov.ar/hweb/proy/cediproe, o bien vía e-mail: cedima@ciudad.com.ar

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As we promised today we will say goodbye with one of the many messages that our dear SHARERS sent in relation to our last “editorial”. It was very tough to choose just one message since we felt there were very real friends behind each of them with a real concern for us. By reproducing this one message we pay homage to them all and promise to keep on fighting hard never to let them down… never to let you down, our dear SHARERS.

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

From: "Mary Meyer" <mary@mmail.com.py>

To: "Omar Villarreal" <ShareMagazine-owner@yahoogroups.com>

Sent: Sunday, December 08, 2002 3:51 AM

Subject: Re: thanks always.

Hello Omar and Marina,

I do not know who could have been so pompous as to say such utter nonsense about the beginning of the share magazine! On the contrary, I feel the introduction sets a human tone to the entire magazine. I receive and read it eagerly here in Paraguay, well aware of the effort and love behind the magazine.

I was fortunate enough to see a presentation of Omar´s at a Paratesol conference a few years ago and I was impressed and moved by his approach to teaching, to students, and obviously to life in general.

Each of us have our own style and I believe all styles are valid, as long as they serve the student. Whoever wrote to say such a silly thing is definitely not part of an ELT intelligentsia, my friends, but rather of an old (or even young) guard afraid of letting go. (of losing power). The leadership you have is quite evident in the role you play among many in your own country and beyond. God bless you both and thanks for sharing not only your academic side,but your
wonderfully humane side as well.
Un gran abrazo,
Mary Meyer (Zorrilla)
Asuncion, Paraguay
mailto:mary@mmail.com.py

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!

Omar and Marina.

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SHARE is distributed free of charge. All announcements in this electronic magazine are also absolutely free of charge. We do not endorse any of the services announced or the views expressed by the contributors. For more information about the characteristics and readership of SHARE visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/sharemagazine

VISIT OUR WEBSITE : http://www.shareeducation.com.ar There you can read all past issues of SHARE in the section SHARE ARCHIVES.

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