SHARE

An Electronic Magazine by Omar Villarreal and Marina Kirac (c)

Year 2          Number 35      September 1st   2000

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.
________________________________________________________                                                                                   

Dear SHARERS,

Another special week. Probably all weeks are special when you are busy doing exciting things. We certainly are ! And we are very happy about what we are doing. it´s less than a week now that the news about the Necochea Congress were made public and we already have some “very” early bird enrolments and plenty of requests for more information about hotels and transportation. Omar is traveling to Necochea on Saturday 2nd ,   as he says, “to see for himself” and by mid-week, we will be able to offer you a list with hotels and restaurants ( Omar says he will try them all over the weekend”) and …more importantly, prices for these services.  The organizers in Necochea are simply working wonders and they have a number of surprises in store for all the teachers and students that will be visiting their city.

So now  enjoy your SHARE of this week ! We will be getting back to you during the week with more information about the Congress.. We would like to start with a note and a poem that two dear friends from Neuquén sent us. They are Maria Elena Cabral and Susana Nogueira from Centro Cambridge de Idioma Inglés :

Dear Omar and Marina
Thanks a lot for all the nice things you SHARE with us . We didn't know what
to share with you  and .... suddenly we remembered this wonderful poem.
 
You Deserve the Best
 
This life is yours
Take the power
to choose what you want to do
and do it well
Take the power
to love what you want in life
and love it honestly
Take the power
to walk in the forest
and be a part of nature
Take the power
to control your own life
No one else can do it for you
Nothing is too good for you
You deserve the best
Take the power
to make your life
healthy
exciting
worthwhile
and very happy
Take the power
to reach for your dreams.
 
Poem by Susan Polis Schutz

 

In SHARE 35
 
1.- Omar keeps on Rocking the Country
2.- Message from Brazil 
3.- Seminar on First Certificate Paper 2
4.- Bernieh´s Corner : Broken Telephones and Language Change
5.- Cards you´ll never see in Hallmark.
6.- Tomato or To/mei/to ?
7.- Macmillan Heinemann moves house 
8.- The SHARE Documents.  
9.- Estrategias de Lectura : Primera Lengua y Segunda Lengua. 
10- APIBA SIG´s : An Update
11- Overcoming Fear. 
12- Dunn  and Stapley announce.
13- Your opinion requested  
14- Who´s afraid of Doctors ? Linguists.
15- A Lesson for Life
16- A SHARER and a Story-teller.
17- Silvia´s Corner : The Spice of Life.  
18- Coming Events at Interaction   
19.-Laura Renart in San Pedro

(1) OMAR KEEPS ON ROCKING THE COUNTRY

Just a quick notice to say that Omar will be visiting several cities in Provincia de Buenos Aires and La Pampa in the next few weeks  with his celebrated

THE NEW ROCK ´N POP 2000 IN THE CLASSROOM

CHACABUCO :

Saturday 9th September from 9:30 to 13:00 hours
Venue : Brighton Bookshop - Primera Junta 73 - Chacabuco
Registration : at Brighton Bookshop- cell phone : 02352- 15502976 OR
02352- 431235 OR e-mail to rock_pop_registration@hotmail.com  
 
CHIVILCOY
Tuesday 12th September  18:30 to 21:30 hours
Registration and Additional Information : whole day by phone
at 011-4244-2798 or 011-4243-1972 or e-mail to : spbooks@pinos.com
 
TRENQUE LAUQUEN
Friday 19th September  18:30 to 21:30 hours
Registration and Additional Information : e-mail Cecilia Lahite : lahitren@teletel.com.ar  or  phone at 011-4244-2798 or 011-4243-1972
or e-mail to : spbooks@pinos.com
 
GRAL PICO, LA PAMPA
Saturday 16th September from 9:00 to 12:30 hours
Registration : Escuela_Cultura@ciudad.com.ar  Calle 15 Nro 744-
02302- 431444 
 
SANTA ROSA: LA PAMPA
Saturday 16th September from 15:00  to 18:30 hours
Registration : e-mail perezhabiaga@hotmail.com
 
9 DE JULIO
Tuesday 19th September  18:30 to 21:30 hours
Registration and Additional Information : personally or by phone at ISFD
Nro 4 TE: 02317-422222 from  18.30 a 22.00 hours or whole day by phone
at 011-4244-2798 or 011-4243-1972 or e-mail to : spbooks@pinos.com or Analía Poratti analiapo@infovia.com.ar
 
OMAR  IN  FAAPI , COMODORO RIVADAVIA 
 
On Friday 22nd  of September Omar will deliver a presentation called
“Teaching 40 in 40 Minutes” and on Saturday 23rd of September he will
lecture on  “The Match of the Century : The Applied Linguist VS The
Classroom Teacher : Applied Linguistics and VERY Applied Linguistics” .
Both Presentations within  FAAPI 2000 in Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut.
 
(2) A MESSAGE FROM BRAZIL
 
A dear SHARER from Brazil, Maria Nilce Martinelli Pontes,
mnil@mednet.com.br sends us all this invitation :
 
Dear Omar and Mariana,
 
I´d like to ask you to announce an event that will be hosted by my school :
Cultura Inglesa - one of over 40 schools in Brazil, which have the UCLES
exams in common, and also we have our association for 10 years, now. It´s
called ABCI - Associação Brasileira de Culturas Inglesas.
We have annual meetings with the directors, and every two years we have a
National Conference - a congress for Teachers of Culturas.Also annually, we
have a seminar for the Secretaries who work in our schools´offices. This is
the event that will happen in my school:
 
From 7 - 10 September, 2000 here in Uberaba, at The Tamaeiras Hotel,
and we expect there will be about 80 participants from all over Brasil. There
will be 4 speakers, from the Cultura Inglesa São Paulo, and the subject will be
about the Clientele - and Management of office work, and reception of clients, etc.
This is the first time we host the event in the interland of Brasil,
because Uberaba is in Minas Gerais, very central in the country, 500 km
from both são Paulo and Brasília, our capital city.
 
I am looking forward to receiving the Brazilian secretaries, not only
because it will be  a wonderful event, but also because it´s an
opportunity to meet those people who make the school run. The name of the
event is very appealing: VIII Cha Cha Cha das/os Secretárias/os.
So if you could display  this information in  SHARE  we will be sharing
news around the globe.
 
Yours, truly
 
Maria Nilce Martinelli Pontes, MA   
Superintendent of education - Cultura Inglesa
Uberaba MG – Brasil 

(3) SEMINAR ON FIRST CERTIFICATE PAPER 2

Our dear friend and SHARER, Litty Mora , UCLES Support Officer for Argentina info@uclesrep.com.ar writes to us :

Dear Omar and Marina

I would like to share that there are still a few places for those teachers wishing to attend the FCE Paper 2 seminar by Annie Broadhead (Cambridge-EFL) at the ESSARP centre on Tuesday, September 5 from 17.00-20.00.

Enrolment is free of charge but registration is needed by phone, fax or e-mail.

Many thanks!

Litty Mora , UCLES Support Officer for Argentina
Registration : ESSARP Centre – Esmeralda 672 Piso 7 - 1007 Capital
tel: 4322-2480 - fax: 4322 9203 -  centre@essarp.org.ar
 
(4) BERNIEH´S CORNER : BROKEN TELEPHONES AND
      LANGUAGE CHANGE
 
Our Internet advisor, Bernieh Banega buck@mail.pccp.com.ar sends us some interesting material for reflection on Language :
 
“ Have you stopped to think WHY language changes? I mean, besides
incorporating new words, a language evolves and changes by itself: sounds
are pronounced in different ways and words are written in different ways as
time goes by. Read below an interesting excerpt on this, from a book by
Steven Pinker (excerpt that, by the way, I have "stolen" from today's
NewsScan):
 
Author Steven Pinker writes:
 
        "In the game known as Broken Telephone (or Chinese Whispers) a
child whispers a phrase into the ear of a second child, who whispers it
into the ear of a third child, and so one.  Distortions accumulate, and
when the last child announces the phrase, it is comically different from
the original. The game works because each child does not merely degrade the
phrase, which would culminate in a mumble, but reanalyzes it, making a best
guess about the words the preceding child had in mind."
 
         "All languages change through the centuries.  We do not speak like
Shakespeare (1564-1616), who did not speak like Chaucer (1343-1400), who
did not speak like the author of Beowulf (around 750-800).  As the changes
take place, people feel the ground eroding under their feet and in every
era have predicted the imminent demise of the language.  Yet the twelve
hundred years of changes since Beowulf have not left us grunting like
Tarzan, and that is because language change is a game of Broken Telephone."
 
         "A generation of speakers uses their lexicon and grammar to
produce sentences.  The younger generation listens to the sentences and
tries to infer the lexicon and grammar, the remarkable feat we call
language acquisition.  The transmission of a lexicon and grammar in
language acquisition is fairly high in fidelity -- you probably can
communicate well with your parents and your children -- but it is never
perfect.  Words rise and fall in popularity, as the needs of daily life
change, and also as the hip try to sound different from the dweebs and
graybeards.  Speakers swallow or warp some sounds to save effort, and
enunciate or shift others to make themselves understood.  Immigrants or
conquerors with regional or foreign accents may swamp the locals and change
the pool of speech available to children."
 
"Children, for their part, do not mimic sentences like parrots but try to
make sense of them in terms of underlying words and rules. They may hear a
mumbled consonant as no consonant at all, or a drawn-out or mispronounced
vowel as a different vowel. They may fail to discern the rationale for a
rule and simply memorize its outputs as a list. Or they may latch on to
some habitual way of ordering words and hypothesize a new rule to make
sense of it.  The language of their generation will have changed, though it
need not have deteriorated.  Then the process is repeated with their
children.  Each change may be small, but as changes accumulate over
centuries they reshape the language just as erosion and sedimentation
imperceptibly sculpt the earth."
 
See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0465072690/newsscancom/ for  Steven Pinker's "Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language."
Cheers!,
Bernieh.
 
 
(5) CARDS YOU'LL NEVER SEE IN HALLMARK:
 
A dear friend and SHARER from Montevideo, Uruguay, Alfredo Muñoz sends
us this list of cards for different purposes. Thank you Freddie for your
sense of humour.
 
"Looking back over the years that we've been together,
I can't help but wonder:.............  What was I thinking?"
 
"Congratulations on your wedding day!.............
Too bad no one likes your wife."
 
"How could two people as beautiful you............
have such an ugly baby?"
 
"I've always wanted to have someone to hold,
someone to love......... After having met you, I've changed my mind."
 
"I must admit, you brought Religion in my life...........
I never believed in Hell until I met you."
 
"As the days go by, I think of how lucky I am.......
that you're not here to ruin it for me."
 
"As you grow older, Mum, I think of all the gifts you've given me. 
Like the need for therapy..."
 
"Thanks for being a part of my life!!!..........
I never knew what evil was before this!"
 
"Before you go,......... I would like you to take this knife out of my back.
You'll probably need it again."
 
"Someday I hope to get married............
but not to you."
 
"You look great for your age.......
Almost Lifelike!"
 
"When we were together, you always said you'd die for
me.........
Now that we've broken up, I think it's time you kept your promise."
 
"I knew the day would come when you would leave me for my best
friend.......
So here's his leash, water bowl and chew toys."
 
"We have been friends for a very long time...........
What do you say we call it quits?"
 
"I'm so miserable without you..................
It's almost like you're here."
 
"Congratulations on your new bundle of joy...............
Did you ever find out who the father was ?"
 
"You are such a good friend that if we were on a sinking ship
and there was only one life jacket....
I'd miss you heaps and think of you often."
 
(6) TOMATO OR TO/ MEI/TO ?
 
Our dear friend and Sharer from Salto, Provincia de Buenos Aires writes
to us to invite all SHARERS to two superb seminars to be held in Salto
on  Saturday September l6th- from 9:00 to l7:30 hours .
 
Morning Session :     Tomato or To/mei/to ?
                                An analysis of Bitish and American Pronunciation         
                                 by Ms. Patricia Salvador with two native speakers,
                                 British and American.
 
Afternon Session :    Creative Techniques for short texts
                                 by Marta Crespo & Cristina Speranza
 
There will be a presentation of the magazine TOP ENGLISH by its editor.
Enrolment at : Highway English Institute - Telefax : 02474 - 422604
 
(7) MACMILLAN HEINEMANN MOVES HOUSE
 
Our dear friend and SHARER , Mary Anne Warburton, informs us that as
from  Friday 1st of September Macmillan Heinemann´s new address will be
Díaz Vélez 1546 – (B1636EED )- Olivos - Buenos Aires
Their new telephone number will be Tel.: +54 11-  4711-5111.
Their e- mail address remains info@machelt.com.ar 
We wish our friends the very best in their new home.
 
(8) THE SHARE DOCUMENTS
 
We would like to remind our dear SHARERS that Issue 1 of “The SHARE
Documents” is available upon request. Issue 1 on the “Nuevo Pacto Federal Educativo  II” includes the complete text of  proposal by the Minister
of Education José Llach , together with an article by Inés Aguerondo and
interviews to Daniel Filmus.
This new Pact that is supposed to be signed next September 11th would bring a number of major changes to the Educational policy of our country.
This Issue of “The SHARE Documents” is distributed via e-mail absolutely
free of charge.
Our dear friend and SHARER from Universidad de Misiones, Ms Cristina
Mayol received our documents and writes :
 
“As to “the Share documents”, I don´t know what to say. I found
Aguerrondo´s article quite reasonable. Don´t teachers stick to the Estatuto del Docente more than they should ?
I find teachers (some at least ) act as civil servants, and as to that the Pacto
is OK. But where is the money for teacher development? If there isn´t any,
how could education standards be optimised ?
Wouldn´t it be reasonable for secondary teachers to have "cargos" as at the University?  How could that be implemented “fairly” ?
How to avoid teachers being threatened by changes?
What is the future of our profession? My plight is to consider ours as a profession, am I right?
Do authorities consider us as professionals? Are conditions given for us to act as professionals? God knows!
Whenever I tackle these issues, I end with more questions than answers!
All the very best,
 
Cristina Emilia Mayol
Universidad Nacional de Misiones
cmayol@arnet.com.ar
cmayol@fceqyn.unam.edu.ar
 

(9) ESTRATEGIAS DE LECTURA : PRIMERA Y SEGUNDA LENGUA

 Me llamo Ana Robles y soy profesora de educación secundaria. Enseño Inglés en un instituto público en la provincia de Lugo, Galicia. Si quieres ver mi pueblo, esta es la dirección: http://nosnet.com/guia/foz.

Enseño Inglés como lengua extranjera desde hace 15 años

Me apasiona ayudar a otros a aprender y aprender yo a ayudarles mejor. Eso supone entender mejor que es lo que hace que unos alumnos aprendan más rápido y con más facilidad que otros. Uno de los resultados de ese interés es esta página web.

http://www.galeon.com/aprenderaaprender/index.html

ESTRATEGIAS DE LECTURA EN LENGUA MATERNA Y LENGUA EXTRANJERA

LECTURA EN LENGUA MATERNA

Lee este texto

El viejo monje estaba sentado junto al camino, con su escudilla al lado. El viejo monje de la cara arrugada meditaba con los ojos cerrados. De pronto, la voz áspera e imperiosa de un guerrero samurai interrumpió su serena meditación. "Viejo, enséñame ahora mismo qué es el cielo y qué es el infierno".

En un primer momento pareció que el viejo monje no había oído la orden del guerrero, pero poco a poco, abrió los ojos, con la sombra de una sonrisa irónica en las comisuras de los labios.

"¿Quieres saber que es el cielo y que es el infierno? ¿Tú? Tan sucio, tan descuidado, despeinado, con mal aliento ¿Tú? Vestido con ropa manchada y con una espada oxidada y vieja ¿Tu? ¿Te atreves a preguntarme a mi qué es el cielo y qué es el infierno?"

El samurai enfurecido lanzó una maldición y, con la cara roja de furia y rabia, levantó su espada para matar al viejo.

"Eso es el infierno", le dijo el viejo monje suavemente al tiempo que la espada empezaba a descender hacia él.

El samurai bajó la espada y le miró lleno de admiración y agradecimiento por aquel viejo monje que había arriesgado su vida para contestar su pregunta.

"Y eso es el cielo", terminó el monje.

Contesta ahora estas preguntas. Si no sabes como contestar, vuélvelo a leer fijándote en cómo lo haces para poder contestarlas.

1.¿Lees palabra por palabra o lees frases enteras?
2.-.Cuándo lees ¿cómo haces para entender lo que lees?
* te oyes a ti mismo repetir las palabras
* vas "viendo" imágenes
* formas impresiones del texto
* varias de esas cosas a la vez (dime cuales y en que orden):
3. Cuándo te encuentras palabras que no entiendes ¿qué haces?
* te las saltas y sigues leyendo sin prestarles más atención
* te paras y no sigues leyendo porque no te enteras bien si no entiendes todas las palabras, preguntas, buscas en un diccionario, etc.
* te paras a pensar y deduces más o menos el significado utilizando lo que entendiste del texto
* cualquier otra cosa ¿cual?
 
4. ¿Te vas imaginando lo que estás leyendo a la vez que lees o paras de vez en cuando y entonces piensas en lo que has leído?
 
5.  Cuándo te pones a imaginar lo que estás leyendo, ¿cómo te lo imaginas? (subraya la respuesta)
* ¿en colores o en blanco y negro?
* ¿imágenes quietas o con movimiento?
* ¿con sonido o como cine mudo?
* ¿te lo imaginas de forma vaga y general o con muchos detalles?
* ¿te imaginas cosas que no están escritas, como por ejemplo, la cara de Edison, el fuego, el ruido de las llamas, etc.
* no ves imagines sino que oyes a los personajes hablar y contarse la historia unos a otros, o una única voz que la cuenta.
* ¿te emocionas con lo que lees y sientes lo que sienten los personajes?
 
6. Subraya lo que prefieres: libros con mucho dialogo, libros de acción, cualquier cosa, te encanta leer.
 
ESTRATEGIAS DE LECTURA EN LENGUA EXTRANJERA
 
Ahora vamos a repetir el experimento con un texto en Inglés. Léelo las veces que te haga falta, prestándole atención a tu manera de pensar para entender el texto.
 
My name is Peter, and I am 15 years old. I'm a Scorpio and my birthday is in November. I have got brown, long, curly hair, and green eyes. I am very tall for my age and I've also got huge feet. My mother says I'll have to walk barefooted soon if I don't stop growing.
My parents are divorced and I live in a small cottage with my mother and sisters. The garden is quite small, but I like it because it is full of flowers and I like the colours and their smell.
Mum works in a bank, she likes her job, but sometimes she gets home very late and then, I have to prepare dinner for my sisters. I don't particularly like cooking, it is boring. 
I love sport and I am in the school basket team, because I am so tall. When we play for the school we always wear a blue and orange t-shirt with blue shorts.
Contesta ahora estas preguntas. Si no sabes como contestar, vuélvelo a leer fijándote en cómo lo haces para poder contestarlas.
 
1.¿lees palabra por palabra o lees frases enteras?
 
2. Cuándo lees ¿cómo haces para entender lo que lees?
* te oyes a ti mismo repetir las palabras en inglés y después en castellano o gallego
* repites las palabras oralmente y vas "viendo" imágenes
* ves imagines directamente, sin repetir las palabras
* formas impresiones del texto, pero sin ver ni oír nada.
* arias de esas cosas a la vez (dime cuales y en que orden)
 
3. Cuándo te encuentras palabras que no entiendes, ¿qué haces? :
* te las saltas y sigues leyendo sin prestarles más atención
* te paras y no sigues leyendo porque no te enteras bien si no entiendes todas las palabras, preguntas, buscas en un diccionario, etc.
* te paras a pensar y deduces más o menos el significado utilizando lo que entendiste del texto
* cualquier otra cosa ¿cual?
 
4. ¿te vas imaginando lo que estás leyendo a la vez que lees? ¿O paras de vez en cuando y entonces piensas en lo que has leído?
 
5. Cuándo te pones a imaginar lo que estás leyendo, ¿cómo te lo imaginas? (subraya la respuesta)
* ¿en colores o en blanco y negro?
* ¿imágenes quietas o con movimiento?
* ¿con sonido o como cine mudo?
* ¿te lo imaginas de forma vaga y general o con muchos detalles?
* ¿te imaginas cosas que no están escritas, como por ejemplo, la cara de Brad Pitt?.
* no ves imágenes, sino que oyes a los personajes hablar y contarse la historia unos a otros, o una única voz que la cuenta.
* ¿te emocionas con lo que lees y sientes lo que sienten los personajes?
 
RESPUESTAS AL CUESTIONARIO SOBRE ESTRATEGIAS DE LECTURA
La primera pregunta 
o palabra por palabra es una estrategia típica de lectores auditivos
o frases enteras es una estrategia típica de lectores visuales
La pregunta dos
o Auditivo + Auditivo + significado
o Auditivo + Visual (significado)
o Visual (significado)
o Kinestésico (significado)
o 
La pregunta tres
o Visual (va formando una idea general del texto que le permite 'rellenar huecos)
o Auditivo (trabaja el texto secuencialmente y se pierde si le falta un paso)
o Preferentemente auditivo con capacidad de visualizar en caso necesario
La pregunta cuatro
o Imaginarse el texto directamente indica visualización directa, irse parando normalmente indica lectura auditiva
La pregunta cinco nos da información sobre la riqueza de la representación mental del texto y, una vez más, sobre el sistema de representación preferido. Cuantos más sistemas se utilicen más rica es la representación interna del texto.
La pregunta seis: los alumnos más kinestésicos prefieren libros de acción, los auditivos libros con mucho diálogo y a los visuales les gusta leer cualquier cosa.
Un alumno con estrategias de lectura visuales en los dos idiomas no tendrá problemas al leer en lengua extranjera. Los alumnos con estrategias visuales en lengua materna que tengan estrategias auditivo-kinestésicas en lengua extranjera desarrollarán sin problemas las estrategias visuales. Los alumnos con estrategias de lectura auditivas o kinestésicas en lengua materna necesitarán más tiempo y atención.
 
Referencias: si eres profesor de EFL tal vez te interesen alguno de estos artículos sobre estrategias.
Sobre estrategias de escritura
http://www.hltmag.co.uk/jun99/sart.htm
Sobre estrategias de aprendizaje de vocabulario
http://www.hltmag.co.uk/nov99/sart.htm
 
(10) APIBA SIG´S : AN UPDATE
 
Our dear SHARER, Analía Kandel, Liason Officer for APIBA SIG´s
sends us this update of the calendar of the future meetings of the SIG´s
 
Grammar / Linguistics SIG
Co-ordinators: Patricia Jacobs - Fernanda Velazquez
Date: Friday, September 8 -- Time: 18.30 to 20.50
Venue: IES LV "J.R.Fernandez", Av. Carlos Pellegrini 1515, Room 23
Agenda:
1.- Workshop: Analysing problem sentences together.
2. Sharing videos: "The Language Instinct", a series of three videos, will be passed round
3. Discussion of the following article: Hale, K. & S. Keyser (1993) Argument Structure. In The View from Building 20. The MIT Press, pp. 52-109. Copies available from the photocopy shop at IES LV.
 
Language SIG
Co-ordinators: Viviana Myslicki - Daniel Reznik
Date: Saturday, September 9 -- Time: 10 - 13
Venue: Cultural Inglesa de Buenos Aires, Viamonte 1475, Buenos Aires
Agenda:
1. Language enrichment through authentic video By  Daniel Reznik.
2. Tolerability of grammatically deviant forms. Theoretical presentation by Lucrecia Puppo and Mara Mussini followed by group discussion based on previous reading of Chapter 1 (pp 1- 30) from Wright, T. (1994) Investigating English. Edward Arnold Publications. Copies available from Secretaría in CIBA.
 
Literature SIG
Co-ordinators: María Valeria Artigue - Alfredo Jaeger
Date: Saturday, September 9 -- Time: 10.30 - 13
Venue: SBS Palermo, Av. Cnel. Diaz 1745, Buenos Aires
Agenda:
1.- "Literary Theory in Action".
2.- Group work: SIG members will analyse a wide range of texts illustrating various aspects of literary theory
 
History / Civilisation SIG
Co-ordinators: Cristina Bardeci - Paula Lopez Cano
Date: Thursday, September 14 -- Time: 19 to 21