An Electronic Magazine by Omar
Villarreal and Marina Kirac ©
Year
7
Number 155 November
8th 2005
9210
SHARERS are reading this issue of SHARE this
week
__________________________________________________________
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,
This issue marks the beginning of the seventh year of SHARE. Indeed, a
very good opportunity for celebrating. And, as you very well know, there are
many ways to celebrate. We could have run a “special issue” with big names in
the ELT scene at home and abroad (as we did some other times in the past) or to
publish congratulatory messages from some of our best known
friends.
Instead, we chose to do it quietly this time. To have a warm and intimate
celebration with our more than
9,000 dear SHARERS. To think back of our first SHARES when we defined ourselves
as “an ideas page” (and in fact SHARE was not bigger than two screens long!) that reached a small group of barely forty or so colleagues and to
think of the long road we have walked together and to hope for the many more
miles of our road through life and the profession that we are sure we want to
SHARE with all of you.
As we have said many times before, a big thank you for your unfailing loyalty, for your support, for spreading the word about SHARE, in shat, for being part of this big and blessed family of educators.
Love
Omar and Marina
______________________________________________________________________
In
SHARE
155
1.-
How to teach Abstractions using TPR.
2.- If You Can Teach Teenagers, You Can Teach
Anyone!
3.- Reading Aloud in the
Classroom.
4.- The Maltese Falcon: Ways of looking and
walking.
5.-
Hornby School 2006 in Brazil
6.- Scholarships
2006-2008 from Escuelas del Mundo Unido.
7.- Concurso
Docente.
8.- Richmond
Publishing : Professional Development
Session
9.- Lecture on National Identity
in Literature
10.- News From MF Business
English
11.- Children´s
Literature Discussion Group.
12.-
A Message from AQA´s JET-SET.
13.- On-Line Teacher
Development Courses by Net Learning.
14.- Columna
De “Idiomas, Arte y Cultura”
15.- Forthcoming Events by Apple
Consultancy.
16.- Postgraduate Studies at
Universidad Torcuato Di Tella
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.- HOW
TO TEACH ABSTRACTIONS USING TPR.
Our dear SHARER Myriam Hirshfeld from Asunción, Paraguay wants to
SHARE this article with all of us:
How to TPR Abstractions:
The critical role of imagination
By Dr. James
J. Asher, Ph.D.
Professor of
English
Dept. de Linguas Estrangeiras
Universidade do Amazonas, Manaus,
Brazil
e-mail:
steve@argo.com.br
In a short
documentary film* produced in the 1970's, I coined the term Total Physical
Response (which is now known worldwide as TPR). The film shows the complexity of
spoken Japanese that three 12 year-old American boys could understand in only 20
minutes of training. Then, we located one of the boys a year later and after a
few warm-up trials, his retention of Japanese was an extraordinary 90
percent.
Since that
groundbreaking motion picture, I explored the parameters of TPR over a ten year
period of time in a series of experiments supported by many agencies including
the Office of Education, the Office of Naval Research, the Department of
Defense, and the State of California. The research was published in academic
journals such as: The International Review of Applied Linguistics, Child
Development, The Modern Language Journal, The Journal of Special Education, The
Journal of General Psychology, The Journal of Humanistic Psychology, SPEAQ
Journal, and in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. For a review of
this body of research and a complete bibliography, please see my book, Learning
Another Language Through Actions, (6th
edition).
The bottom
line of my research can be summarized in one or two sentence: Acquiring any
language from one's native language to other languages does not begin with
production. It begins with a long period of silence, which for an infant, lasts
for months. During this silent period, the child is decoding the noises coming
from the mouths of caretakers. The decoding is not achieved with "translation"
from one language into another but with what I call "language-body"
conversations.
One of the
very first language-body conversation goes like this: The newborn hears someone
say: "Look at daddy! Look at Daddy!" and she turns her head in the direction of
the voice. The caretaker exclaims: "She's looking at me! She's looking at
me!"
Spoken
directions continue with the caretakers speaking and the infant responding with
body movements. The caretaker utters a stream of directions that become more and
more complex and convoluted. The physical response of the child signals that a
direction is understood.
Simple
Directions:
Stand
Walk
Sit
Smile
Don't
cry
Take my
hand
Complex
Directions:
Walk to Daddy!
Sit quietly in
your chair.
Don't spit up
on your shirt.
Let's go for a
ride in the car.
When I clap my
hands, you clap your hands.
Where is your
cap?
Go find your
cap in your bedroom.
Before the
infant is able to utter "Mommy" or "Daddy" with clarity, the child can easily
give an appropriate response to a complex direction such as: "Pick up your truck
and your doll and put them on the bed in your
room."
At some point
in the decoding process, when enough of the linguistic map, showing how the
target language works, has been internalized, production is triggered. Of
course, speaking will not be perfect. There will be many, many distortions, but
gradually, the child's utterances will match the native
speaker.
From hundreds
of classrooms where second languages are taught around the world, we now know
that most students of all ages including adults can rapidly acquire
understanding of a huge chunk of any target language if the instruction begins
with language-body conversations called TPR. Since older children and adults are
able to respond to directions in the target language with physical movements in
a range that vastly outnumbers the infant's limited repertoire, decoding that
requires months for the infant can be accelerated to only
days.
Caution: Watch
out for adaptation!
TPR is a
powerful linguistic tool that results in instant success for students and the
teacher. That is a heady experience that can become addictive. The instructor is
so thrilled by the excitement of students learning in chunks rather than
word-by-word that TPR becomes an all-purpose tool that is used continually day
after day.
Students
become exhausted and mutiny with comments such as: "Please, don't ask me to do
anything today!" and "Can't we do something else today-please, please,
please...!"
To neutralize
adaptation, switch activities frequently.
The powerful
tool of TPR is best applied to introduce new vocabulary and new grammatical
features at any level. Then make a switch by using the new items in a different
activity such as storytelling, dialogues, games, or a pattern drill. Again,
start by playing to each student's right brain using language-body
conversations. Then switch to the left brain with activities involving speaking,
reading or writing. For more on this, read Contee Seely's book: TPR Is More
Than Commands At All Levels and Ramiro Garcia's book: Instructor's
Notebook: How to apply TPR for best
results.
First, I
believe the linguists are on the right track when they affirm that the 4 or 5
year-old child is a fluent speaker of the native language, even though the
child's vocabulary is not rich in abstractions. One can achieve "fluency" at a
concrete level of communication.
However, as
the student progresses, one needs more abstractions to communicate. So how do we
accomplish this with TPR? We will demonstrate next that with imagination, almost
any abstraction can be communicated without
"translating."
After
twenty-five years of successfully teaching English with TPR to children and
adults in the Amazon, Professor Silvers has written: The Command Book: How to
TPR 2,000 vocabulary items. I asked him to TPR some abstractions to illustrate
how the creative process works:
How to TPR the
abstraction "later"
Abstract terms
always present a small problem. It is one thing to say "Touch your nose" and
demonstrate this and another thing to try to put the meaning across for a term
like "later". The first is readily understandable, or at least not so likely to
cause confusion. But a term like "later" is much more difficult to present. So,
in the first place I would probably not use it until the students have
internalized a lot of the "easily presentable
vocabulary."
I might want
to use a little more verbal context, to make sure that the students really get
the concept of "later" like this:
Teacher: ER is
on TV tonight. What time?
Student: 9
p.m.
Teacher: What
time is it now?
Student: 3
p.m.
Teacher: Is ER
on TV now?
Student: No.
Teacher: So,
it's on TV later tonight, not now. If you are going to watch TV later, raise
your hand.
In this case
my suggestion used a little more teacher talking time before putting the term in
a TPR command.
Another
suggestion:
Teacher:
Everybody, stand up. Wait don't do it now. Do it later. Wait a few seconds.
(pause) OK, Now do it.
I would then
ask the students in English: "How do you say LATER in Portuguese?
"
I used to be
totally against any translation, but now I view it as an excellent tool when
used properly. In my example, I asked the question in English (How do you
say...?) Even though the students used a translation, they did it within an
English-speaking context, and it involved just a single
word.
More
options
The
abstraction can then be used in different TPR commands such
as:
If you are
going to go to a movie later, raise your hand. Shake hands with the student who
says that he is going to go bowling later
today.
How to TPR the
abstraction: "from time to time"
I presume that
the students are not beginners. So I will explain in the target language of
English like this:
Teacher: There
are some things I do regularly. For example, I take a shower every day. I go to
class every day.
There are some
things I do not do regularly. I do them "from time to time". I do them
occasionally. For example: I go to the movies from time to
time.
Notice that
not only have I explained the new vocabulary item "from time to time" but, as an
instructional bonus, I have included the synonym of
"occasionally."
Now let's
practice the new vocabulary using classic
TPR
Teacher:
During this class from time to time I am going to stop and clap three times. Now
I want you all to work in pairs for five minutes and choose an action that you
will do from time to time during this
class.
Another
option
Ask each
student to write on a card something that he or she does from time to time. The
students hold up their cards and the teacher can utter directions in English
such as this:
Teacher: Juan,
Shake hands with the student who plays tennis from time to
time.
Maria, pinch
the student who goes to a disco from time to
time.
Still another
option
Instead of
asking students to write on a card, ask a number of students to state in English
what they do from time to time. Then say in
English:
Eduardo, wave
at the person who likes to go dancing from time to
time.
Elaine, pass a
note to the person who likes to cook from time to
time.
Notice that we
are not using TPR to convey meaning of the new vocabulary. Rather, we are using
TPR to add excitement to the class with a change of pace that doesn't take up
much time, and encourages a group interaction that breaks down inhibitions that
students often experience in their fear of speaking in front of their
classmates.
The first step
is to convey the meaning of the words. This can be done quite easily using a
combination of simple drawings, symbols, gestures and facial
expressions.
1. First
divide the board into three sections.
2. In the
first section, draw some carrots; in the middle section, some bananas; and in
the third section, some apples.
3. Under the
bananas, draw a happy face, and label it "Tom." Then smile, face the class, say:
"Tom likes bananas," and write the sentence on the board under the drawing. (As
another option, you can ask your students to repeat the
sentence.)
4. Under the
carrots, draw a sad face with a conversational balloon from its mouth saying
"Ugh!" Label the drawing "Bill," make a facial gesture showing disgust, say:
"Bill hates carrots," and write the sentence on the
board.
5. Under the
apples, draw a face in the shape of a heart with curly hair and label it "Mary."
Face the class with a wide smile, say: "Mary loves apples," and write the
sentence on the board.
Next, practice
new vocabulary with classic TPR
Put up a wall
chart with pictures or drawings of different fruits and vegetables. Call two
students to the front of the class and ask them "to point to" or "touch" the
pictures by following the sequence of the chart. Do it again except in random
order to be sure that they have made the connection between the spoken forms and
the visual representations. Here are some
examples:
Rosa, point to
the onions.
Marcos, touch
the beans.
Ideally the
students at their seats would also perform these actions on worksheets with
pictures.
Further TPR commands:
Everyone who
likes carrots, stand up.
Everyone who
hates onions, walk to the door.
If you love
apples, raise your hand.
Go to the
chalkboard and draw a vegetable you hate.
If Anita hates
beans, you (either an individual or the whole class) will point to the ceiling.
If not, you will touch the floor.
Personalize
the exercise for your students
Each student
completes in writing the following sentence stems with fruits or vegetables,
which can be from those taught or any other words they know or would like to
learn.
I
hate
I
like
I
love
The students
then read their sentences to the class. After several students have read their
sentence, ask the class (or individuals) questions such as the following about
what the students heard.
Who likes
apples? Who loves oranges? Who hates
spinach?
What (fruit)
does Carla love?
What
(vegetable) does Roberto hate?
Does Anita
like cabbage?
Does Carlos
hate strawberries?
You are not
limited to simple questions. Since comprehension precedes production, you can
and should use more complex structures which the students will easily
understand, but will not be able to produce immediately. This exposure to
linguistic forms is important as it helps the students internalize a cognitive
map of the language which will trigger future production when each student is
ready. Here are some examples of more complex
forms:
Can anyone
tell me who likes apples?
Can anyone
tell me who said that she likes apples?
Does anyone
remember the name of the person who likes
apples?
Does anyone
remember if Susana hates grapes or
mushrooms?
Does anyone
remember what Ricardo hates?
Encourage your
students to have fun socializing in the target language with a "TPR
mixer"
The object of
this activity is for the students to form pairs by finding someone who loves the
same fruit or vegetable. Each student writes on a slip of paper the name of a
fruit or vegetable that he or she loves. The students then stand up and walk
around the room trying to find another person who loves the same fruit or
vegetable, using the following simple
interchange.
A: I love
bananas. What about you?
B: Me too. I
love bananas, too. or... Not me, I love
strawberries.
When most of
the students have found a partner and are seated, the teacher stops the activity
and brings the class together. The pairs then tell the class what they love, for
example:
Pedro and
Jorge: "We both love peaches."
Roberto and
Maria: "We both love grapes."
Understanding
abstractions (without translating) is a fascinating challenge. We recommend
several strategies that will work to help your students internalize abstractions
for long-term retention using TPR.
First, delay
the introduction of the abstraction (and idioms, too) until your students are
further downstream in their language training. The advantage: You can explain
the abstraction in the target language using words students already know. We do
this all the time with children who are acquiring their native language.
Examples:
Student: "What
does it mean, 'He hit the roof?'"
Instructor:
"It means, he was angry."
Student: "What
does it mean when someone asks a hotel clerk, 'What are the rooms running
for?'"
Instructor:
"It means, What do the rooms cost?"
Another
strategy is to use your imagination to TPR the abstractions which we illustrated
in this article. There are also books available with ready-made TPR exercises
for abstractions (The Command Book: How to TPR 2,000 vocabulary items in any
language by Stephen M. Silvers.). For grammar, you will find ready-made TPR
exercises in English Grammar Through Actions: How to TPR 50 grammatical features
by Eric Schessler (also available in Spanish or
French).
Almost any
abstraction (including idioms), can be presented to students using TPR. It does,
however, require creative thinking from the instructor, but there are huge
rewards: Student understanding is internalized for long-term retention which
prepares your students for self-confident speaking, reading and
writing.
Note
*Documentary
video entitled, "Demonstration of a New Strategy in Second Language Learning".
Shows complexity of understanding for spoken Japanese acquired by three American
children in only 20 minutes of TPR instruction (available through Sky Oaks
Productions, Inc.).
References
Asher, James
J. Learning Another Language Through Actions*, Triple-Expanded Sixth Edition,
Year 2000. Sky Oaks Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 1102, Los Gatos, California,
95031.
Asher, James
J. The Super School of the 21st Century*.
Demonstrates
how students of all ages enjoy fast, stress-free learning on the right side of
the brain for any subject or skill. Sky Oaks Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 1102,
Los Gatos, California, 95031.
Asher, James
J. "Year 2000 Update for the Total Physical Response, known worldwide as TPR."
You can read this article on the web at:
www.tpr-world.com
Asher, James
J. "Year 2001 Update for the Total Physical Response, known worldwide as TPR."
You can read this article on the web at:
www.tpr-world.com
Cabello,
Francisco. The Total Physical Response in First Year*. (Can be ordered in
English, Spanish, or French.) 2001, Sky Oaks Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 1102,
Los Gatos, California, 95031.
Garcia,
Ramiro. Instructor's Notebook: How To Apply TPR For Best Results*. Fifth
Edition, 2001, Sky Oaks Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 1102, Los Gatos, California
95031.
Krashen, Stephen D.
"TPR: Still a Very Good Idea." Novelty, Volume 5, Number 4. December
1998.
Márquez,
Nancy. Learning with Movements*: Total
Physical Response English for Children, 1999. Sky Oaks
Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 1102, Los Gatos, California,
95031.
Márquez, Nancy. Apprendiendo con Movimientos*: Método TPR Español, 1999.
Sky Oaks Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 1102, Los Gatos, California,
95031.
Márquez,
Nancy. L'Enseignement Par Le Mouvement*,
1999. Sky Oaks Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 1102, Los Gatos, California,
95031.
McKay, Todd.
TPR Storytelling: Especially for Students in Elementary and Middle School*,
2001. Available in English, Spanish, or French. Sky Oaks Productions, Inc., P.O.
Box 1102, Los Gatos, California, 95031.
Ray, Blaine
and Contee Seely. Fluency Through TPR Storytelling*. Sky Oaks Productions, Inc.,
P.O. Box 1102, Los Gatos, California,
95031.)
Ray, Blaine.
Look, I Can Talk!* (level 1). Look, I Can Talk More!* (level 2). Look, I'm Still
Talking!* (level 3). Available in English, Spanish, French, or German. Sky Oaks
Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 1102, Los Gatos, California,
95031)
Schessler,
Eric J. English Grammar Through Actions*.
How to TPR 50
grammatical features in English. Sky Oaks Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 1102, Los
Gatos, California, 95031.
Schessler,
Eric J. Spanish Grammar Through Actions*.
How to TPR 50
grammatical features in Spanish. Sky Oaks Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 1102, Los
Gatos, California, 95031.
Schessler,
Eric J. French Grammar Through Actions*.
How to TPR 50
grammatical features in French. Sky Oaks Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 1102, Los
Gatos, California, 95031.
Seely, Contee
TPR Is More Than Commands At All Levels*. Sky Oaks Productions, Inc., P.O. Box
1102, Los Gatos, California, 95031.
Silvers,
Stephen M. Listen and Perform: TPR for Elementary and Middle School Children*.
(You can order this book in English, Spanish or French.) Sky Oaks Productions,
Inc.,
P.O. Box 1102, Los Gatos, California,
95031.
Silvers,
Stephen M. Listen and Perform: Teacher's Guidebook*. Sky Oaks Productions, Inc.,
P.O. Box 1102, Los Gatos, California,
95031.
Silvers,
Stephen M. The Command Book: How to TPR 2,000 Vocabulary Items in Any Language*.
Sky Oaks Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 1102, Los Gatos, California,
95031.
Wolfe, David
and G. Jones. 1982. "Integrating Total Physical Response strategy in a level 1
Spanish class." Foreign Language Annals
14:273-80.
Woodruff-Wieding, Margaret S. and Laura J. Ayala. Favorite Games for
FL-ESL Classes*. Sky Oaks Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 1102, Los Gatos,
California, 95031
This article
is to be published in: The Journal of the Imagination in Language
Learning
A publication
for language teachers at all levels, K-12 through College
Clyde Coreil,
Ph.D. Editor, Program in English as a Second
Language.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.- IF
YOU CAN TEACH TEENAGERS, YOU CAN TEACH
ANYONE!
Teaching English to Young Learners
-Part 2.
By NUTESA's Academic Consultants.
1.
Introduction:
It has been said several times that 'language
teaching is teaching language.' We certainly could not disagree with that. It is
and has to be the first and foremost objective of our profession to ensure that
our students get up-to-date and high quality professional language training that
helps them to achieve good language proficiency.
As teachers of
teenage students, however, some of us may occasionally feel that they don't
quite get to the point of teaching language properly.
2. Angels or Monsters??
As teachers, we have felt more
than once that students couldn't care less about the English class, and it does
not mean they are ugly people or terrible kids- they're just too busy growing
up! Anyone who has ever taught teenagers will possibly agree that teaching
teenagers is quite a challenge! So we probably also agree with Michael Grinder
who says that 'If you can teach teenagers, you can teach anyone!' Or, as a
teacher recently put it: 'They're angels when you first meet them, and then they
gradually turn into monsters!'
For English language teachers the
question is 'Why?' The answer is certainly not that they hate their teachers.
Quite the contrary: they often quite like their teachers, but of course they
cannot show that. They have to be indifferent. They have to act cool. They can't
or don't want to show their feelings. They're so busy growing up that they are
often not even aware of the social implications of their behaviour - and it is
often behaviour, or rather lack of it, that we are talking about when we
complain about the difficulty of teaching teenage
students.
3. The need of self-esteem
recognition
We have to discuss the issue of teenage
behaviour, by looking at some of the powerful forces behind that behaviour. Earl
Stevick claims that "success depends less on materials, techniques and
linguistic analyses, and more on what goes on inside and between the people in
the classroom" (1980: 4). This implies that there is a wide range of factors
that influence the outcomes of the teaching / learning process.
Whereas Stevick does not maintain that materials and the skills and techniques
that teacher training generally tends to focus on are insignificant, he stresses
the even greater importance of less obvious processes in language learning. As
we will see, these less obvious processes play a vital role - especially in the
teenage classroom.
We have to recognise the focal role that the
development of the students' sense of self, or identity, has on their learning
outcomes because of its determination of their motivation and the way it
influences their self esteem, together with their positive and negative beliefs
about themselves and their learning capabilities.
As mentioned
earlier, the key problems in teenage classrooms are most often noticeable in the
form of behavioural symptoms. Students show lack of interest, indifference,
provocative and / or disruptive behaviour, they try to ridicule their classmates
or their teachers; they are sometimes at least verbally aggressive towards their
peers or their teachers. They show a limited concentration span, refuse to do
their homework, forget to learn for tests - you name it!
Obviously, it is these behavioural symptoms that frequently hinder us from doing
our real job, that is teaching language properly. But we also know that telling
them to stop their behaviour is not enough. It's a negative imperative, and
psychologists convincingly tell us these are a tricky tool to use in behaviour
modification. In many teenage classrooms, they have the same powerful effect
that I would achieve if I told you 'Don't think of a red apple now!' It doesn't
work. If you say to a teenage group 'Don't do that', all they hear is 'Do
that!'. We know that, in adolescence, quite a few boys and girls show polarity
responses to such teacher intervention. They hear what you say, and do the
opposite!
4. Teenage
behaviour
In order to understand more about teenage
behaviour, we need to consider the complexity of human thinking from a systemic
point of view. Following on from the work of the anthropologist Gregory Bateson,
Robert Dilts developed a model that specifies the different levels of influences
on the human thinking process and shows how these different levels organically
influence one another. Dilts claims that human thinking is organised on five
different logical levels. The basic level of influence on an individual's
thinking is his or her environment.
What are the factors that can
be regarded as 'environment' in the English class? Examples include the seating
arrangement, the size of the classroom, the number of students, the availability
and quality of technical equipment, the teaching materials, the structure of the
timetable, and so on.
These are all important factors, although
some may be more influential than others. The teacher and the students
(inter)act in that classroom environment through their behaviour. Behaviour, in
this case, does not mean only disciplinary behaviour, although any teacher of
teenage students will certainly agree that this is an important element that
does have a serious impact on learning outcomes. Behaviour implies more - it
implies everything that the teacher and students do in the English language
class. It also implies all the teaching and learning routines. We know that they
are important. Does it, for example, take you ten minutes every lesson to
collect the homework books from your laid back and reluctant students, or have
you established a routine by which the students put their homework books on your
desk at the beginning of the lesson without you having to beg for it every time?
Well established behavioural routines that are accepted by students do make a
difference!
The students' behaviour is, to a certain degree,
influenced by their capabilities, their mental maps. A student who has efficient
learning strategies will learn better and faster than a student who lacks them.
Students who have learnt to accept and understand that people do not only act in
different ways, but also think in different ways, that it is absolutely normal
for humans to have individual strengths and weaknesses in their learning
capacities, that people are intelligent in different ways, are less likely to
give up when they come to impasses in their learning. Once they have learnt to
appreciate where their own cognitive strengths lie and how they can draw on them
in the best possible ways, and where their potential weaknesses lie and what
they can do to improve in those areas, they are far less likely to develop
negative beliefs about their capabilities or their
identity.
5. Beliefs and Motivation
Beliefs are on the same psychological level as motivation, and
that is why they are so powerful. Have you ever tried to successfully teach a
class of students who were completely de-motivated? It's not impossible, but
it's hard work! We have to start working on their beliefs first, and
respectfully try to influence them so that the might become ready to change
their beliefs, before we can even start thinking of doing our job as language
teachers properly. And that might take a long time - or we might even fail!
Beliefs are strong perceptual filters. They serve as explanations for what has
happened and they give us a basis for future behaviour. This is why sports
professionals, for example, regularly work on the development of positive
beliefs. Picture the state of concentration of professional skiers before the
start of a run. They engage in meditative mental routines, visualisation
techniques and positive affirmation exercises aimed at releasing as much of
their resources as possible.
The effect of learner beliefs on
learning outcomes, often materialising in negative or positive self-talk, has
been discussed in various studies, for example by Seligman (1991), Oxford &
Shearin (1994), Ehrmann (1996), and, most recently, Arnold (1999). The latter
stresses the impact that such negative belief patterns exert, without students
(and teachers I may add) being aware of the power that such beliefs commonly
have. "Many learners, especially low-achievers, have been strongly affected by
years of negative self-talk, much of it on a semi-unconscious level." (1999:
17).
What is important for us is the question of how beliefs are
formed and maintained. Beliefs have an important function because they serve as
our guiding principles. They are generalisations about cause and effect, and
they influence our inner representation of the world around us. They help us to
make sense of that world, and they determine how we think and how we act. There
are certain beliefs that have a high level of testability and stability. These
are beliefs about the physical world. They are based on laws of nature. We do
not need to find out every day anew that we need to look right and left (or left
and right) before we cross a road, for example. Beliefs like that are learned at
a very early age, and we can trust them and rely on them. However, there are
other beliefs, for example, beliefs about identity or capability, where the
evidence we use in order to form them can be much less reliable. And yet, once
we have formed such beliefs, we take them as reality.
When we
believe something, we act as if it is true. And this makes it difficult to
disprove. Beliefs are strong perceptual filters of reality. They make us
interpret events from the perspective of the belief, and exceptions are
interpreted as evidence and further confirmation of the belief. In contrast to
the conclusions we draw about the laws of nature, however, many limiting beliefs
are not based on reality. How then are they formed? Primarily through the
modelling of significant others, especially when we are young, and through
conclusions we draw from repetitive experiences.
6. How teachers face teenage
students.
Teachers have certain belief systems, and these
belief systems influence their expectations. If a teacher is to teach a class
that she has strong and positive beliefs about, her expectations will be
different from those she will have for a class that she does not think very
highly of. The next step in the pattern is that we do not leave our expectations
in the staffroom. We take them with us into the classroom, just as we take with
us the teaching materials that we need. And we communicate our expectations to
our learners. Some of this communication is done verbally, but most of it works
on an unconscious or semi-conscious level, because it is carried out in
non-verbal ways. This communication in turn evokes certain behaviour on the
students' side. If this process is repeated, over time what we get is that the
students' actual behaviour comes close to what we initially expected. If we look
at how expectations are communicated to students at the micro level, various
studies show the following pattern of interaction between teachers and so-called
'Lows' (students of whom we expect little), on the one hand, and 'Highs'
(students of whom we have a high level of expectation), on the
other:
a.. We tend to smile more often and have more
eye contact when we interact with Highs than with Lows.
b.. Lows get less time to answer a question, whereas we tend to give Highs more
time to think. While we wait for an answer, we tend to send out non-verbal
signals to the Highs that are perceived as supportive - for example, we nod our
head or smile. Lows often do not get any non-verbal communication in this phase
at all, or they get signals that can be interpreted to mean that the teacher is
impatient or is sceptical that the student can provide a good answer.
c.. When a High gives a wrong answer, the teacher tends
to reframe it. For example, "That's an interesting answer. It's not quite
correct, but..." Or the teacher repeats the question, and gives hints that
enable the student to self-correct the answer. Or the teacher asks another
question. When Lows give wrong answers, they more frequently get negative
feedback from the teacher, often followed by a reprimand.
d.. When Lows give a correct answer, teachers frequently do not react at all.
They call upon the next student without giving the learner previously called
upon any feedback at all.
e.. Lows generally get less
challenging tasks. It often seems we have given up on them. Interestingly, Highs
not only get the more challenging tasks, they also seem to get more support from
the teachers in solving them.
7. How can I become a "cool"
teacher?
For linguists,
there are some especially interesting aspects of how teens express themselves.
Language is of course another way of belonging to a group.
As
James Banner has observed, some speech patterns that are real cool and young
include:
1) The frequent and varied use of "so" as a intensifying
adverb (especially in a negative context):
It's so uncool!.
I am so not looking forward to Christmas!
I heard a
young girl complaining about Penelope Cruz "getting off with" (starting a
relationship with, starting dating) Tom Cruise - "She is so not good enough for
him!"
This can also be used ironically: I am so looking forward to
Christmas, I don't think!
2) Question formation, usually ending in
"that", as intensifiers:
He still lives at home with his parents.
How sad is that?! (meaning: How pitiful! How inadequate!)
How mean
is that?!
How cool is that?!
How dumb is
that?!
3) The use of "like" to introduce speech or as sign
posting, rather than as a comparative:
He is so, like,
uncool.
I was, like, wow, man, that's cool.
My teacher was,
like, no, you can't do that.
He said, like, that's real sweet.
(cool)
Everybody was having, like, such a wicked time. (a good
time)
4) Ironic contradictory statements:
I am so
looking forward to Christmas - I don't think!
You look so cool in
those straights - I don't think
8.
Conclusion:
Let's finish by making
two suggestions. The first one is not new, but forms the basis of any successful
classroom culture. The second one is a consequence of findings related to
'romantic understanding', and shows how we can utilise the key concepts of
romantic understanding in order to maximise on our teaching.
1.
Firstly, we should stress the need to establish a classroom culture of rapport
and mutual trust.
This is certainly not a new demand, but one that
I believe awaits implementation in many teenage classrooms. And that is small
wonder, given the fact that teachers are often under enormous pressure in
dealing adequately with the challenges they are faced with. When the students
are accepted not only as learners but also as individuals, and when the
classroom culture is one that allows for the strengthening of the students'
self-esteem and confidence, there is less danger of confusion of logical levels.
Then errors are more likely to be seen as what they are, signs of learning, and
not messages about one's capabilities or one's identity.
2.
Secondly, we should consider the key concepts of romantic understanding when
choosing the content and determining the organisation of your students'
learning.
When we choose content, we need to keep in mind that
romantic learners
a.. seek out the limits of the real
world, looking for binary opposites within which reality exists. Thus, they are
fascinated with extremes.
b.. are fascinated by realistic
details - the more different from their own world, the better.
c.. prefer stories and story forms that incorporate
realistic detail, and heroes and heroines with whom they can identify, who
embody the qualities necessary to succeed in a threatening world.
When we decide on the organisation of our students' learning, we need to keep in
mind that
a.. learning can be successfully organised
by starting with something far away from the students' experience, but connected
to them by some transcendent quality with which they can associate.
All this is especially important for the choice of text. Adolescents do not
always and only and mainly want to read about Eminem, Inspiral Carpets, Brittney
Spears, and System of the Down in their English lessons. Such an approach might
soon become pretty boring, and might be interpreted as a weak attempt by the
teacher to make himself or herself popular. The approach could fail, and we
might thus achieve the opposite reaction to what we want to achieve. They do
want to explore texts that have the qualities mentioned above, though, and they
do want to read about and deal with people and the life experiences of people
who they can associate with .
Remember:
"It is not what we
do with our students; it is who we are. No great teaching method will be enough
if we ourselves are not 'at home'. We are all students and learners; educators
can educate only if they are willing to put themselves into question as well.
The answer does not lie in better classrooms, more equipment, new tools and
methods, although these things may help. It lies in YOU!" (Diana
Whitmore)
© 2005 by NUTESA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.- READING
ALOUD IN THE CLASSROOM
Our dear SHARER Kenton Sutherland has sent us this short reflection to
SHARE with all of you. Kenton and his charming young daughter were in Bahía
Blanca for the Tenth National Congress of Teachers and Students of English in
2004. He is well-known and well-loved by those colleagues that attended that
Congress.
TO READ ALOUD OR NOT TO READ ALOUD is a battle that has been fought
several times previously on this list. Teachers who favor the technique
sometimes give quite specious reasons for using the technique: "It's a
good way to teach reading." "I use it to teach pronunciation." In
fact, it has little to do with the reading process and very little to do with
active pronunciation skills. Students who read aloud usually can't answer
questions about what they have just read because they are so busy sorting out
word-by-word pronunciation that the whole doesn't make any sense to
them even though it might (or might not) make some sense to the listeners as
does Joan Sutherland's Italian arias to Italian
speakers.
In a nutshell, there seems to be general agreement among TEFL-TESL-TESOL
professionals that reading aloud has little or no place in English language
classrooms. Even as far back as the 1950's, Earl Stevick called reading
aloud a "blind alley." Thank you, Earl, for beginning this discussion
fifty years ago!
Just why the technique continues to hang on so tenaciously is a mystery
that is probably related to using the technique to teach native English speakers
to read. "If it works for native speakers, then of course it will work for
non-native speakers as well" seems to be its pedagogical justification by
untrained ESOL professionals. Whether or not it is a valid technique to
use with native speakers is questionnable, of course, but this forum is not the
place to air this thorny question.
Even though we in-the-know, sophisticated English-language teachers
avoid having students read aloud, a curious fact is
that students seem to like to do it, perhaps from carrying pedagogical baggage
along from previous instruction, perhaps because the instructor stresses it (and
teachers are always right, n'est-ce pas?), or perhaps because the the students
just want to show off a little. This last reason might provide some
psychological motivation, so maybe letting students read aloud from time to time
for motivational purposes might not do any
harm.
One way to accomplish this is to have students occasionally read a
sentence -- one sentence -- for example, the first sentence of a paragraph and
have the class talk about what they think will follow in the paragraph (with
books closed). In this way, a student gets a psycholigal/motivational
reward from reading the sentence aloud, the class gets to contribute orally
(using active pronunciation skills, of course), and we engage the students in
reading and listening comprehension. After the classroom discussion, the
students read the paragraph silently to see which of the discussion points
were correct. Isn't this what learning English is supposed to be all
about?
Kenton Sutherland, Menlo Park, California,
USA
© 2005 by Kenton Sutherland
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.- THE
MALTESE FALCON: WAYS OF LOOKING AND
WALKING.
Our dear SHARER Mariana Meltzer has sent us these exercises for publication:
The Maltese
Falcon is both a book and a movie. It is a novel written by Dashiel Hammett in
1929, featuring the unforgettable private detective Sam Spade. Several film
versions of this novel were made, but the one that is remembered as a classic of
"film noir" is John Huston's 1941 masterpiece with Humphrey Bogart and Mary
Astor in the starring roles.
Ways of
Looking
A vocabulary
exercise based on situations from The Maltese
Falcon
Use the
context provided below to choose the correct verb for each sentence. Note that
the situations are in the past.
frown, stare,
peep, wink, glance,
blink, squint,
glare, gaze, glimpse
(a) Spade at
Iva with bulging eyes. He was shocked.
(b) Wilmer at
Spade and O'Shaughnessy through the window of a parked
car.
(c)
O'Shaughnessy her eyes several times as if she'd gotten something in
them.
(d) Gutman at
the shiny black figure of the falcon with wonder and
amazement.
(e) The two
detectives were really annoying him. Spade at them
darkly.
(f) Archer
scarcely the gun before it killed him.
(g) Gutman
laughed and at Spade to show that he was only
joking.
(h) Cairo into
the dark appartment, but there wasn't enough light to see where things
were.
(i) Spade
suggested turning Wilmer over to the police, and the young man furiously at
him.
(j) Spade
quickly out the window to see if the man were still there watching
him.
To complete
the exercise, you should define all of the words according to the way of looking
they represent. For example:
"To peep"
means to look at something from hiding, as through a hole or a
window.
"To gaze"
means to look longingly or lovingly at something that is beautiful or
amazing.
Now try to
define the rest of these words, based on the examples given
above.
A vocabulary
exercise based on situations from The Maltese
Falcon
Use the
context provided below to choose the correct verb for each sentence. Note that
the situations are in the past.
crawl, trip,
dash, trudge, slip, creep,
limp, stagger,
wander, stroll, march
(a) Captain
Jacobi, weak from loss of blood, into the
room.
(b) Spade
slowly down the busy street, pretending he didn't notice the man following
him.
(c) Wilmer's
foot had been injured in the struggle with Spade, and he over to the
sofa.
(d) Archer
stepped back, on the loose gravel, and fell over the
embankment.
(e) Cairo into
Spade's room so that no one would hear
him.
(f) On his
hands and knees, Spade towards the door.
(g) Wilmer
caught his foot on the chair and over it.
(h) Spade down
the stairs in a hurry so that the man wouldn't see
him.
(i) Captain
Jacobi, mortally wounded, through the trash and litter in the alley to reach
Spade's office.
(j)
O'Shaughnessy around the city for hours, uncertain where to go for
help.
(k) The
policemen apprehended Wilmer and him down to the
station.
To complete
the exercise, you should define all of the words according to the way of walking
they represent. For example:
"To dash"
means to walk or run somewhere very
quickly.
"To wander"
means to walk aimlessly, without knowing or caring about your
destination.
Now try to
define the rest of these words, based on the examples given
above.
© by The
English Multiverse
The English
Multiverse is a resource site for students and teachers of English as a Second
Language (ESL/EFL). For additional information about these sites, please contact
the webmaster, Philip Benz. You can contact me at Philip.Benz@ac-grenoble.fr
-----------------------------------------------------------
5.- HORNBY SCHOOL 2006 IN BRAZIL
Our dear SHARER Telma Gimenez has sent us this announcement:
Hornby School 2006 in Brazil -
8 to 18 January 2006
Location:
Sorocaba (Sao Paulo State), Brazil
English is now used across the world
as the preferred language for international communication. The purposes for
learning English in the classrooms of 2005 are much less to fit into a native
speaker context and much more for improving our own world and learning about
others.
Around the world educators are using materials in English to
achieve a much broader range of objectives from teaching civic duties and
responsibilities to examining their own society and discovering
others.
The theme of the Brazil 2006 Hornby School is: English as Global
Language: Implications for Innovation in teaching and learning.
This
Hornby Summer School will look at the ways in which English is being used in the
world today and will examine the implications that this has for teachers and
learners in schools, colleges and universities.
What is the Hornby Summer
School?
It is a 10-day event for professionals involved in the teaching of
English at all levels and in the private and public sectors. The event is an
opportunity to network to build stronger ties across Brazil and Latin American
and Caribbean region for the development in English Language Teaching. There
will be lectures,workshops, seminars and lots of
opportunity for informal
exchange of ideas.
Hornby Schools are held regionally every year bringing
together leading practitioners in ELT around a topical theme.
The
programme was developed in collaboration with Hornby Educational Trust, which is
funded by A.S.Hornby, the creator of the Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary
and supports the improvement of the teaching and learning of English as a
Foreign Language.
English Language Teaching Professionals interested in
participating in this event should contact Karen Halley and request an
application form and return it to the British Council Sao Paulo.
Deadline
to receipt of application is November 15,2005.
There will be a course fee
of R$1000,00 (um mil reais) for all participants to contribute to costs
including accommodation, meals and transport. The payment of the fee will be
subject to your application being accepted.
Criteria for Participants
Professionals in the field of
education from both public and private sectors with:
- a competent command of
English, able to interact professionally and over a sustained period in English;
- a degree in education, Modern Languages and Literature, or similar;
-
at least 2 years of teaching experience;
who have:
- demonstrated a
high degree of commitment to the Teaching profession in either school or higher
levels;
- used initiative and determination to develop their own and their
students' language abilities;
- worked on a project in ELT which has brought
professional benefit to a group of teachers;
- and who are potential 'movers
and shakers' in ELT!
The Hornby Summer School Brazil Committee consists
of:
- Sara Walker (Brasilia)
- Ana Falcao (Recife)
- Telma Gimenez
(Londrina)
- Mariza Almeida (Curitiba)
- Andrea Calvozo (Sao Paulo)
-
Mike Thornton (Sao Paulo)
For more information contact:
Karen Halley,
Creativity and Learning Officer,
British Council, Sao Paulo, Brazil - +55
(11) 2126-7522 - karen.halley@britishcouncil.org.br
------------------------------------------------------------
6.- SCHOLARSHIPS 2006-2008 FROM ESCUELAS DEL MUNDO
UNIDO
Our dear SHARER Bernieh Banegas has sent sent us this announcement:
La Asociación Civil Colegios del Mundo Unido de
Argentina (ACCMUA) informa que ha
abierto la inscripción para las BECAS
2006-2008, destinadas a estudiantes interesados en
terminar los 2 últimos
años del secundario en el exterior.
United World Colleges (Colegios del
Mundo Unido) brinda esta oportunidad a jóvenes sin
distinción de raza, credo,
orientación política o situación económica, en la creencia de que
esta
experiencia educativa contribuirá a levantar las barreras construidas sobre
prejuicios
étnicos, religiosos, sociales o políticos.
Los requisitos
para postularse son:
• Ser argentino nativo o haber vivido 8 de los últimos
10 años en el país
• Tener 3er año del secundario (1er año del Polimodal)
totalmente aprobado al
09/04/2006
• Ser menor de 18 años al 1 de julio de
2006
Los interesados en postularse pueden descargar el formulario de
inscripción desde nuestra
página web www.ar.uwc.org y enviarlo a info@ar.uwc.org hasta el 12 de abril de
2006
inclusive.
United World Colleges es una fundación internacional
dedicada a promover la paz a través de
la educación. Para ello, cuenta con
diez colegios especialmente diseñados para recibir,
durante dos años, a
estudiantes seleccionados y becados de MÁS DE 150 PAÍSES, para que estudien y
convivan en un ambiente multicultural único. Los diez colegios están ubicados
en: Gales, Gran Bretaña; Italia; Canadá; Estados Unidos; Hong Kong; Noruega;
India; Singapur; Venezuela y Swazilandia. Actualmente, la presidencia de United
World Colleges es compartida por la Reina Noor de Jordania y Nelson Mandela
(Presidente Honorario).
Para mayor información los invitamos a visitar
www.ar.uwc.org o escribir a info@ar.uwc.org
------------------------------------------------------------
7.- CONCURSO DOCENTE
El Instituto Superior del Profesorado "Dr. Joaquín V. González" llama a
selección docente para designar profesor suplente en la siguiente cátedra para
el ciclo 2006:
Diplomatura
en Ciencias del Lenguaje.
Taller de preparación de material didáctico - 8
hs
Inscripción: en la secretaria del Instituto (av. Rivadavia 3577. Ciudad
de Buenos Aires) desde el 02/11 al 10/11/05 finalizando a las 21 hs. Ver
reglamento de selección docente
------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.- RICHMOND PUBLISHING : PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
SESSION
Our dear
SHARER Miriam Dámico has an invitation for all of
us:
Workshop: "THE
REAL ISSUE"
by Susan
Hillyard
Organized by
Richmond Publishing and Quilmes High
School.
Exploring the
meaning of content area subjects in the language
classroom.
Susan was
awarded a B.Ed.in Educational Drama from Warwick University (U.K.) in 1972 and
has lived and worked, since then, as a classroom teacher, a coordinator or Head
of sector in five different countries. She was Director of the ESSARP Centre for
five years, was Secondary Headmistress of a number of bilingual schools and is
now a freelance Educational Consultant.
Venue: Quilmes High
School - Rivadavia
460 - Quilmes
Date:
Saturday, November 12th
Time: 10:00 am
to 12:30 p.m
Enrolment:
(011) 4119-5000 ext 3066 - inform@richmond.com.ar
Certificates
of Attendance will be issued
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
9.-
LECTURE ON NATIONAL IDENTITY IN
LITERATURE
Our dear SHARER María Teresa Fernández,
Information Assistant - British Council, has sent us this invitation to
publish:
Patrick
Williams,
Professor
of Literary and Cultural Studies, Nottingham Trent University, will be
delivering a presentation on National identity: language and
representation,
this
contrasts Kipling's formulation of ' proper'/improper Britishness with a
contemporary re-working of Kipling in Billy Bragg's songs of the 80s and
90s.
Venue:
Instituto de Enseñanza Superior en Lenguas Vivas “Juan R. Fernández”
Date: 16
November 2005 - Time: 10:30
–
12:00
Registration:
British Council - 011 4311 9814 /
info@britishcouncil.org.ar
Patrick
Williams will also be working with postgraduate students at the Universidad
Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza and will be opening the Jornadas Nacionales de
Poscolonialismo en la Literatura Anglofona at the Universidad Nacional de
Tucumán.
María
Teresa Fernández
Information Assistant
British Council
Marcelo T. de
Alvear 590 - Piso 4 - C1058AAF - Buenos Aires –Argentina
T +54 (0)11 4311
9814 - F +54 (0)11 4311 7747 -
teresa.fernandez@britishcouncil.org.ar
-
www.britishcouncil.org.ar
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
10.-
NEWS FROM MF BUSINESS
ENGLISH
Our dear SHARER Matilde Fabrello has sent us this
message:
Estimadas/os traductoras/es:
MF BUSINESS ENGLISH inaugura hoy una nueva etapa. Con motivo de la
apertura de nuestro portal en Internet, hemos trabajado para poder brindarles no
sólo la posibilidad de los cursos y jornadas presenciales que Uds. ya conocen
sino también una modalidad a distancia. Con el objetivo de lograr el nivel
académico que acostumbramos a ofrecerles, nos pusimos en contacto con la Lic.
Ana María Andrada, especialista en el área de Tecnología y Educación, quien
trabaja en múltiples proyectos educativos para instituciones tales como UCA,
Duke University, NASA, etc. Con su valiosa ayuda, hemos diseñado cursos a
distancia nacidos para la Web, que llevarán al participante a poder adquirir
conocimientos del tema específico y a la vez, a manejar las herramientas propias
de un ámbito virtual.
También integra nuestro grupo de trabajo el Ing. Martín Parselis, quien
ha desarrollado la plataforma C-learn, de iGnisis, que hemos elegido por ser
poderosa y flexible en cuanto a las prestaciones educativas que
brinda.
Los invitamos a visitar nuestro sitio web en
www.mfbizenglish.com . Esperamos
que les guste nuestro nuevo ámbito, así como también seguir construyendo con
Uds. un espacio de comunicación. Por eso, son siempre bienvenidos sus
comentarios y consultas.
Cordiales saludos.
Matilde L. Fabrello
Traductora Pública Inglés
Directora MF
Business English
mfbuseng@ciudad.com.ar / mfbuseng@arnet.com.ar
25 de Mayo 758, 4º F (1002)
Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Phone/Fax: (54
11) 4311 9988 - info@mfbizenglish.com
-----------------------------------------------------------
11.-
CHILDREN´S LITERATURE DISCUSSION
GROUP
Affective Methods in the Teaching of Reading &
Writing
Children's Literature Discussion
Group
Facilitated by Maria Teresa Manteo
NLP and Literature
Aimed at teachers of EGB1, 2 &
3
Saturday, November 19th from AM 10 to
12
The session will include:
Literature that can help us create a better world and build repair
gestures in our kids: picture books, novels and
poems.
Strategies to draw on this vast and rich literary
treasury.
Language suitable for the generation of discussion and
thought.
The use of the metaphor and some forms of writing most sensitive to
promote self awareness and change.
María Teresa Manteo
Language and Literature Teacher at IGCSE & IB levels
Former Scholastic Literacy Consultant
NLP Practitioner
Fee: 30$ - Groups of teachers 25$ each
participant
Venue:
Zeal-School of English Av 25
de Mayo 349 - San
Isidro Tel: 4747- 3037
For
enrolment, contact us at: info@supportlearning.com.ar -
4503
0605
www.supportlearning.com.ar - Visit us and learn about Touch the
Author , Outreach Educational Programme for Children. Book dates for
2006!
------------------------------------------------------------
12.- A MESSAGE FROM AQA´S
JET-SET
Our dear SHARER
Fabián Wallace has sent us these
lines:
Dear
SHARERS,
This is a short
message to keep you up to date with news on our Certificate in English Skills
(ESOL)- JET SET.
The 2005 exam season
is drawing near and I would like to invite you to contact the JET SET TEAM to
ask for guidance if you are planning to enroll your students for the end-of-year
sessions at the approved centres in all the provinces. We will be glad to help
you out so the registration is done smoothly.
Let us remind you of some issues on our
flexible system of qualifications.
If you have already
decided the levels your students will apply, contact us and we will send you the
right specimen papers. If
you have any doubts regarding the level your students can apply, let us know the
course books you are using and the ages. We will send you the details
shortly.
Remember JET SET do
not intend to assess exam courses. You teach English, we accredit your students´
achievement with international standards!
If you would like to
know the current fees, administration guidelines, etc. , contact
us.
Make sure you have the Administration guidelines and specifications. If
you do not, you can download both
documents from the link http://www.aqa.org.uk/qual/esol.html
If you would like know
what the nearest approved centre is, give us the following details and we will
send you the local contact and the date they are planning to administer their
exams. The JET SET members will be willing to receive your
registrations.
Name / City/ Province/
Telephone Number/ Estimate number of students
Setting Standards
Around The World!
Mr. Fabian
Wallace
AQA Representative for
JET SET
011 15 5402 3247 - 011
4481 2555
jetset@argentina.com
- Visit us: www.aqa.org.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------
13.- ON-LINE TEACHER DEVELOPMENT COURSES BY NET
LEARNING
Our dear SHARER
Susana Trabaldo writes to us:
Topic: English teachers' and translators' development courses
Course: From Creative Learning to Creative Teaching
Tutor: Susan Hillyard - Starting date: November, 8th - Duration: 6 weeks
Further information: http://www.net-learning.com.ar/cursos/clct.htm
Fee: AR$ 160 – US$ 100
Certified by Asociación de Ex
Alumnos del Lenguas Vivas
Topic: Distance education (in
Spanish)
Course: Diseño Didáctico de Materiales para el Entorno
Virtual
Starting date: November, 18th - Duration: 4 weeks
Further information: http://www.net-learning.com.ar/cursos/dmev.htm
Fee: AR$ 160 – US$ 90
Certified by UTN FRBA
-------------------------------------------------------------
14- COLUMNA DE “IDIOMAS, ARTE Y
CULTURA”
Columna de "Idiomas, Arte y Cultura"
de Analía
Kandel
Tercer sábado de cada mes a las 15.30 hs.
en "Bureau de Arte"
www.bureaudearte.com.ar
Sábados de 15.30 a 17 hs. por
Radio Argentina AM 570
On-line en www.am570radioargentina.com.ar
Sábado 19 de Noviembre,
15.30 Hs.
1.
Ben Goldstein, Autor del libro de texto Framework
(Editorial Richmond, 2005)
Ben Goldstein estima que en una década la
mitad de la población mundial
hablará inglés, y se pregunta, ¿qué inglés
escucharemos? El autor de
Framework defiende lo que él llama ILF (Inglés como
Lengua Franca) en
contraposición a ILE (Inglés como Lengua
Extranjera).
2.
Informe Especial: Programa De Escuelas Plurilingües
de la Secretaría de Educación del Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos
Aires
Con testimonios de
- Lucila Gassó, Coordinadora del Programa de
Política Plurilingüe
- Laura Castillo, Coordinadora General del Programa de
Escuelas Plurilingües
- Gabriela Gasquet, Coordinadora de Italiano
-
Directora, docentes y alumnos de la Escuela N° 14, Distrito Escolar
2,
Sábado 17 de Diciembre, 15.30 hs.
Roberto Arias, Periodista y
capacitador de la Radio Comunitaria Mapuche- FM Pocahullo
Reciente e
histórico otorgamiento por parte del Comfer de una licencia a una radio
comunitaria aborigen: FM Pocahullo (98.5 MHz, Aucapán,Neuquén). Sus objetivos.
Su rol en la preservación del mapudungun, la lengua mapuche.
Columna
anteriores: En www.analiakandel.com.ar podés escuchar fragmentos de las
entrevistas más recientes
E-mail: akandel@arnet.com.ar
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15.- FORTHCOMING EVENTS BY APPLE
CONSULTANCY
Our dear SHARERS Valeria
Goluza & Gabriela Diaz have sent us this
invitatoion:
November 17th: 'Using Authentic Assessment in your Classroom' at Colegio del Libertador – Capital Federal.
November 18th: End of the Year Celebration at Instituto Superior Grilli . Monte Grande.
Registration is essential!
For further information and registration, please contact : Apple Consultancy- Valeria Goluza & Gabriela Diaz : appleconsultancy@uolsinectis.com.ar
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16.-
POSTGRADUATE STUDIES AT UNIVERSIDAD TORCUATO DI TELLA
Our dear SHARE María
Gracia Arzani writes to us:
Queríamos comunicarle que ya está abierta la inscripción tanto para la
Especialización en Políticas Educativas, como para la Especialización en
Administración de la Educación que dicta la Universidad Di Tella para el ciclo
que comienza en marzo de 2006.
A continuación, encontrará el calendario de la
misma,
Reuniones Informativas:
* miércoles 23 de noviembre, 18.00 hs
* miércoles 22 de febrero, 18.30 hs.
* martes 7 de marzo, 18.30 hs.
Cierre de Inscripción: lunes 13 de
marzo
Comienzo de clases: jueves 23 de marzo, 18
hs
Asimismo, de querer mayor información acerca de alguno de los programas o
para la solicitud de formularios, contáctese con
nosotros.
Saluda atentamente,
María Gracia Arzani
Contacto: Maria Gracia Arzani
Tel. (54.11) 4784.0084 / Fax:
4784.5055
E-mail:
posgradosditella@utdt.edu
Miñones 2177, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Today we would like to finish this
issue of SHARE with a “glamorous” reflection about Grammar by Richard Lederer
“Believe it or
not, grammar and glamor are historically the same word. Back in the eighteenth
century, one of the meanings of grammar was "magic, enchantment"; the Scots let
the r slip into an l, and lo, came forth glamor. In the popular mind, however,
grammar is anything but glamorous. Whatever magic resides in the subject is felt
to be a sort of black magic, a mysterious caldron bubbling with creepy, crawly
creatures.”
HAVE A WONDERFUL
WEEK
Omar and
Marina.
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