SHARE
An Electronic Magazine by
Omar Villarreal and Marina Kirac ©
Year
7
Number
169
August 3rd 2006
10,694 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,
The
Twelfth National Congress of Teachers and Students of English is over and if
one just looked at the cold figures and statistics, one could conclude it has
been the biggest ELT event in
A
real celebration if you just looked at the figures. But the most important part
of it all was what was beyond the figures: it was you and more than a thousand
other colleagues celebrating the passion to learn and to teach.
As
an afterword to this editorial, we wanted to reproduce this e-mail
that a dear friend sent us:
Estimado Omar,
Nuevamente te felicito por las palabras de
inauguración del XII Congreso, pese al tono enérgico de tus palabras, se
percibió claramente que salían del corazón y es muy bueno que los colegas
jóvenes tengan hoy referentes que los orienten hacia donde hay que apuntar,
y vos sos uno de ellos. Los "FALSARIOS", como mencionaste, sólo
buscan lucrar y no contribuyen con la capacitación significativa que
necesitamos como docentes para mejorar la calidad educativa de nuestros
compatriotas.
Hago extensivo mi agradecimiento y felicitación a
Un fuerte abrazo.
César Prado
Omar
and Marina
______________________________________________________________________
In SHARE 169
1.- Truths and Half Truths in ELT in
2.-
On Knowledge and Beliefs.
3.- Escasez de
Profesores de Inglés y
4.- The Earlier the Better? Children learning
Languages.
5.- The Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25
Years.
6.- ARTESOL Convention at
Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto
8.- Workshop: Adults as Learners of a Foreign
Language.
9.- Seminario
Internacional d Postgrado sobre los Estados Unidos.
10.- Llamados a selección
de antecedentes.
11.-
III Jornadas Virtuales del Instituto Superior del Profesorado Joaquín V
González.
12.-
Curso de Posgrado a Distancia de
13.-
Curso de Pedagogía de
14.- Forthcoming Activities at ELT Team
Mar del Plata.
15.- The Bs. As. Players in Córdoba.
16.- Online Courses for Teachers of
English.
17.-
Becas Hubert Humphrey 2007.
18.- ELT Advantage: Thomson Online Courses for Teachers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.- TRUTHS AND HALF TRUTHS IN ELT IN
The
following is an article that our dear friend Oriel Eduardo Villagarcía wanted
to SHARE with all of us:
First
of all, let me congratulate you on your courageous, succinct and straight to
the point editorial in SHARE, Issue 167. I am convinced you expressed the views
of many of us who are concerned with the assault to which our profession is
being subjected to.
As
I read your article I couldn’t but feel sad that you had had to undertake the
unpleasant task of exposing those who knowingly or unwittingly prey on the
naiveté of the ones whose primary impulse is to trust that whatever is offered
in the ELT market has a guarantee of respectability. And as I write these lines
I can still hear a voice inside myself saying “Don’t do anything. What’s the
point? Let it be. You will only make enemies” Yet I feel it is part of my moral
obligation to express my ideas in support of your writing and in doing so to
contribute to a healthier development in our profession.
In
what follows, I will refer to these so called brain based and language specialists/consultants,
and to the deceptive—whether purposefully or not—use of language.
In
July last year I picked up a card at a congress being offered by a brain based
consultant. I had to read the card twice, as the words had sent my mind
spinning. I wondered what exactly was a brain based consultant. It would
have been easy to understand a card that read brain specialist, and I
would have thought, “Well, this person probably did serious work at a
university, to at least doctoral (Ph.D.) level. More than likely he or she is a
neurologist, or somebody who can treat stuttering, aphasia, dyslexia, amnesia,
or some many of the ills the brain can suffer. Or perhaps this person’s job is
to seriously study the structure and functioning of the brain in order to advance
a theory of knowledge, or how the brain works or doesn’t work, or the possible
uses to which this highly specialized scientific pursuit can be put.” Names
like Roger Sperry, Michael Gazzaniga, Antonio Damasio or Joseph Ledoux, came to
my mind. But here I was faced with a new category: brain based consultant.
I
started wondering what exactly it is that a brain based consultant does. He or
she is a consultant, I said to myself, but what exactly does she do (the card
had the name of a woman)? She consults by using her brain? If this is the case,
do other consultants not use their brain? An educational consultant, or a
business consultant attends to matters having to do with education or business.
They are not called educational based consultant, or business based consultant.
Why then the word based? I could only come to two conclusions: either
this was an innovative discipline that I had never heard of, or an innovative
use of language. None of them made any sense, and after further reflection I
chose the simplest explanation: this is a bogus appellation that somebody
meaning to impress the unwary has bestowed upon himself/herself (in this case
herself). Only recently did I discover that this person claims that this is
what she calls herself because the
What
is clear is that those congresses never delivered what they promised. For
example, the call for papers for IBEC 2005 (the 2005 Brain and Education Congress) read:
International Brain and Education Congress® brings top
learning experts together in a dynamic forum to share and explore the most
current findings in brain research and translate these findings into practical,
effective strategies that optimize the teaching and learning process. Our
sessions guarantees (sic) participants the newest breakthrough techniques to
accelerate learning for every student. Connect with nearly 1000 participants at
today’s foremost conference on the brain and EFL/ESL teaching and learning.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to present. (http://ibec2005.topcities.com/call_for_presenters.htm)
To begin, with, in view of these claims, i.e. explore the most current
findings in brain research and translate them…etc. you would have expected to
find presenters with Ph.D.’s or at least M.A.’s The truth is that some of
the presenters did not even have a certification as teachers of English from a
tertiary level institution, and that an American lecturer used all of his
time presenting the ideas from his book RADICAL COLLABORATION and not
even once made reference to the most current findings in brain research
presumably because he knew next to nothing on the subject about the brain, as
no information of such studies could be found in his biodata. The other
American presenter gave several workshops on basic educational psychology—by no
means the most current findings in brain research, while our brain
based consultant gave a basic presentation of the so-called triune brain,
once again, by no means the most current findings, as this model which dates
from the 80s has been questioned recently.
This absence of serious qualifications—for this particular job, i.e.
brain research, etc.-- of most presenters at this conference, had apparently
been concealed with verbiage characteristic of the touchy-feely New Ageish
style. Thus some presenters’ biodata read:
Xxxx is a teacher from the heart and has been teaching since always. She
is a loving wife and a mother of three adolescents….
a keen circle dancer,
keen on socializing and working with students of all levels…she loves
being with children and enjoys spending time with her lovable godsons
has a married son, and since February
loves teaching and learning. She is a passionate teacher of English. She
loves music and dancing and has attended workshops on circle dancing…she has
been a yoga practitioner since…
It should be clear that there is nothing wrong in itself about this
information (although to say that somebody has been teaching since always
could do little service to the presenter), and an MC might well add that human
touch when introducing the speaker to his/her audience. Still, within the
context of a serious conference on brain and education as this one was meant to
be, it is clearly inappropriate, particularly because nowhere do we read that
these people have undergraduate and graduate degrees in the specific field
being considered.
It is not surprising then, if within that context, anything might go,
such as the emergence of a brain based consultant, who under no
circumstances could pass for a top notch specialist when she presided over a
congress where most of the speakers were unqualified for the job, and
where no newest real breakthrough techniques to accelerate learning for every
student were presented. Once again this should not be read as a condemnation of
every speaker. It pure and simply points out the fact that their subjects were
not within the framework of what had been announced. What sort of
justification, for instance, could be found for papers like these;
All you need is songs
Drama Brain
Circle Dancing as a Brain-Friendly Tool
There were eighteen presentations at the 2005 IBEC and only five had to
do with brain based learning. One of the abstracts from a specialist had a
weird—to put it mildly--wording:
Summery (sic) Education
has a lot to do with Neuroscience such as (1) developing educational programs
for acquiring neuroscientifical (sic) Contents for educators and neurology
students; (2)working together in rehabilitation of neurological disabled
people… It is shown some examples in which education and neuroscientifical (sic)
Neurology work together…
Just one remark: can the study of neurology be anything but scientific,
or is there, perhaps, a week-end, five day, or at best fifteen day pop
neurology that turns you into a brain based consultant?
Yes. It is painful to have to devote so many words to warn the reader
against those who perhaps—one can only give them the benefit of the doubt—mean
well, but are totally wrong in the way they go about attempting to fulfill what
they believe is their mission.
I would now like to refer to those who call themselves language
specialists. The names that come to mind immediately are Henry Widdowson, David
Crystal, and
We seem to be analyzing language which is used by people who market
their supposed expertise, and this is precisely what we should be doing. Quite
a few of the readers of this e-publication are teachers of English now or will
soon be. If we do not watch the language that we use or that other people use,
a large part of what we studied will have proven totally useless. It is enough
that corrupt politicians, devious journalists, and hucksters use language
deceptively, but it is worrying when the whole profession is submerged in a
deluge of words that should be kept away from educational circles, where
truthfulness should prevail. I am talking here about what can be called half
truths.
An institution recently announced a FIRST CONGRESS FOR TEACHERS OF
ENGLISH. I had to re-read the information twice. Wow, this cannot be
“You idiot,” said a friend of mine to me. “This is this institution’s
first congress. Leave them alone. This is understood.” “No such thing,” I
replied. The proverbial girl around the corner who studied in a language school
and barely made it to an intermediate level but is already teaching in the
garage of her house, may have never heard of FAAPI or the TWELTH CONGRESS
organized by Universidad CAECE this year, and she might legitimately think that
this is in fact a FIRST CONGRESS. Wouldn’t it have been easier to say,
INSTITUTO XXXX organizes its FIRST CONGRESS??? Given the freedom of teaching
prevailing in
Sometimes the absence of explicit language is used to equivocate. as it
gives rise to ambiguities and misunderstandings. In one area of the country, an
event bringing together a number of lecturers has recently been announced and what
could be taken to mean the educational affiliation—that is, the institution
where the presenters work is placed between parentheses. Nowhere is it said
that this is so, or rather that the parentheses only specify where these people
got their degree. Everything is left to the readers’ interpretation, who in
his/her ingenuousness may think that some of these lecturers have come all the
way from abroad, from English universities, while others are teaching at
prestigious academic institutions in
Nitpicking? Making a mountain out of a molehill? Not so. In freshman
English I was taught that the structure of rhetoric requires parallelism, i.e.
I cannot mix dissimilar grammatical or rhetorical structures without confusing
my reader. Why couldn’t the organizers of this conference have indicated where
ALL of the presenters obtained their degree and whether it was a B.A. or an
M.A.? Or where all of them were working? Why the equivocation? However you look
at it, it is at least a sloppy presentation. Our brain based consultant
was part of the presenting staff.
Equivocal language and half truths are insidious. Some time ago in our
country, a conference/congress was announced as being international. It turned
out that a mere handful of speakers--long time residents in
Some two, or three day events make fabulous promises to their
prospective attendees by clothing the announcements in enticing language: they
offer dramatic improvements in language or teaching skills, the
opportunity to become the best teacher you can be, or even that they will have
substantially increased their professionalism just because they attend a
conference. While one can certainly appreciate the effort organizers are making
in some cases to bring together a respectable number of dedicated teachers, and
while it may be true to a certain extent that a conference or a workshop
provides an opportunity to reflect, and thus paves the way for professional
development, the way that some institutions go about advertising their
events lends itself to misinterpretation, and reduces education to a commodity
comparable to soap powders.
Then there is the biodata of some of the presenters, as when they call
themselves teacher trainers, but fail to explain what exactly gives them the
right to call themselves so, or when they offer x number of years of
alleged experience as a qualification, but mislead their readers as
number of years in itself is no guarantee that one has in fact gained
experience, or when they ambiguously claim they studied in an English speaking
country but fail to say whether they completed their studies and obtained a
degree from a reputable institution.
I believe the marketeering trend (i.e. marketing which is
deceptive and aims to sell at all costs) is detrimental to the educational
profession. I believe it has to be stopped. I trust that the reader will
understand the spirit in which my thoughts are put forward. One might perhaps
condone the bad taste of a business sponsor who nonchalantly launches a
campaign saying that ENSUCIARSE HACE BIEN in order to sell soap powder, but to
accept the encroachment of those techniques in the field of education is, I am
persuaded, suicidal.
Next time we receive an announcement dressed in extravagant language,
making fantastic claims let us be wary. Let us analyze the words carefully and
adopt a questioning attitude. Let us inquire where these alleged experts,
specialists, consultants, or gurus have done their studies, what
degrees from higher institutions they obtained. It is not enough if
someone did a week-end or a five day course and got a gold framed
certificate purely and simply because he/she warmed a seat and sometimes x
amount of dollars . Let us not, as it were, buy a pig in a poke just because it
is wrapped up attractively in fancy words which conceal rather than reveal. And
when they offer us dramatic improvements in whatever area of ELT let us
ask ourselves what the starting point is, since if somebody went around
speaking English, for example, unaware of the fact that there exists a bilabial
aspirated plosive, his pronunciation will indeed improve dramatically but this
person most likely never set foot on a teacher training college! And if
somebody claims to offer us the latest findings in neuroscience, once again,
ask what are the real qualifications of this presenter, and then reflect
whether these findings are really relevant to your task as a teacher of
English. Don’t just let anyone fool you with words you may have not heard
before such as triune brain, the reptilian and the neomammalian
brain, brain dominance or hemisphericity, when really if you delve deep down in
many cases these words hide real depth of knowledge on the part of the
presenter who just seeks to impress.
Let us pause, reflect and consider that if we as educators, allow
ourselves to be trampled upon by equivocators and opportunists there is
little hope for genuine progress and the preservation of ethical principles.
Let us then honour our critical powers and rather than being deceived by false
mirrors, earnestly search for the
truth.
© 2006 by Oriel Eduardo Villagarcía
Editor´s
Note: You can access issue 167 of SHARE at http://www.shareeducation.com.ar/past%20issues2/SHARE%20167.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.- ON KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEFS
Our dear SHARER Ana María Rozzi de Bergel has sent us this letter which
we SHARE with all of you:
Dear
Omar,
I
have re-read your message about the virus that was been spread to Share
readers and I really cannot see why Lic. Almeida should think that you were placing
the blame on her. Considering there are so many advocates of brain-based
learning, why would any one of them feel singled out as the culprit?
However,
perhaps we would not feel so puzzled by Lic Almeida's inclination to jump
to conclusions or make unsupported assumptions if we read her message
carefully, reflecting on her attitude towards academic matters. "I believe
in something that you do not" is a statement that places her outside
serious academic life, where there is no room for beliefs. This kind
of discussion should then be held within the religious or metaphysical
domains, where everything is a matter of belief. In academic contexts, we
should talk about facts supported by research and empirical data and that is
why we welcome the work by Fundación Favaloro. If Lic. Almeida has been talking
to us about "something she believes in", we should stop listening to
her at lectures or round tables and invite her to open other forums, outside
academic life, to voice her beliefs.
The
engine of new knowledge is research and research is based on the premise that
it can never be conclusive, but rather, each finding should open the doors
to further research, even that which will prove previous studies wrong. When
people cling to beliefs they do not "keep an open mind"; on the
contrary, they close their minds to new developments. I hope not all
advocates of brain-based learning (a name I question on the grounds that
learning cannot be based on anything else) support their work with
beliefs, but with knowledge.
All
the best,
Ana
María
Clarification:
I
would like to clarify that Lic. Almeida does not work for Universidad CAECE and
should not claim that that is her affiliation (as advertised in a number of
electronic flyers). The colleague does not know that "affiliation"
means where you work, not where you graduated.
Best,
Ana María Rozzi de Bergel
Coordinator - Licenciatura en Enseñanza del Idioma
Inglés
Universidad
CAECE
Editor´s
Note: Ms Almeida´s spontaneous reply to our editorial was published in issue
168 of SHARE and can be accessed at: http://www.shareeducation.com.ar/past%20issues2/SHARE%20168.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.- ESCASEZ DE PROFESORES DE
INGLÉS Y
EDUCACIÓN
Our dear SHARER Patricia Carnicina from
Dear Sharers,
Va este mensaje en castellano por si la lista es
leída por alguien que no sabe inglés, pero que nos puede ayudar. He
recibido el Documento Base para la discusión de la nueva Ley de Educación
y quisiera marcar un punto que nos toca especialmente. El Punto 2.5 del
Cap. 2 (sobre el acceso a una Segunda Lengua) expresa:
“Si bien esta es una situación deseable, solo
podrá ser pensado actualmente como una meta de mediano plazo dada la escasez de profesores formados para la
enseñanza de una segunda lengua, que permitirían extender esta oportunidad
a la totalidad del alumnado del sistema. “
Habría que hacerles notar unas cositas
a los responsables de la discusión. No hay escasez de docentes formados; hay
un sistema que:
1)
Ha hecho creer a los docentes
formados en la tradición positivista de nuestros profesorados que los
conocimientos teóricos que le permitieron acceder a la profesión son
suficientes para desarrollar su actividad durante toda su vida de trabajo, sin
la necesidad de continuar sus estudios porque “ya saben lo que tienen que
saber”. Sin embargo, el cambio paradigmático que conlleva cualquier Reforma
Educativa exige el perfeccionamiento docente continuo. En vez de esto, tenemos
profesores anquilosados en la docencia, evaluados por quienes no tienen
autoridad académica en el tema, y a los que poco les importa los cambios en la
enseñanza (algunos todavía ni han leído los Documentos Curriculares del
área).
2)
Ha permitido el ingreso y
permanencia de no-graduados en el sistema. El título docente debe ser
condición de acceso a la profesión; si no es así, nuestro sistema seguirá
plagado de “pseudo-docentes” que poco y nada ayudan a enfrentar los cambios
necesarios y que hacen que la docencia se aleje cada vez más de ser vista como
una profesión y que quede en el discurso utópico de los círculos académicos.
Hablo con
amplio conocimiento de causa porque a diario me enfrento con estos problemas
durante la residencia pedagógica de mis alumnos de Profesorado. El docente orientador,
el que está a cargo de los cursos a los que van mis alumnos, y que debe ser el
nexo entre el residente y la institución con una función de integración del
alumno -practicante a la escuela y al aula, que debe ofrecer criterios de
selección y jerarquización de contenidos, estrategias de enseñanza propias de
cada nivel y que debe aportar al alumno los conceptos y criterios que
fundamentan sus modos de intervención y de evaluación, es, a menudo, superado
por los saberes y capacidades del alumno-residente. Este docente está ocupando
el lugar de un egresado formado para la enseñanza de una segunda lengua. Lo que
es peor, estas personas sin título habilitante, no tienen ni siquiera interés
de empezar sus estudios, y están más atraídos por cursos de dudosa procedencia
y de alto puntaje que por intentar mejorar su práctica educativa.
Señores responsables de la discusión: no hay escasez de docentes formados en
el área de Lengua Extranjera. Hay falta de decisión por parte de quien
corresponda para erradicar del sistema a quienes están usurpando, sin formación docente en el área, los lugares que le corresponden a los egresados que
sí tienen la formación necesaria, fruto de haber invertido mucho tiempo, dinero
y esfuerzo en completar sus estudios.
Si
alguien quiere el Documento Base, me puede escribir a mi dirección privada y
con gusto se lo mandaré.
Gracias
por leer el mensaje,
Lic.
Patricia Carnicina
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.- THE EARLIER THE BETTER? CHILDREN LEARNING
LANGUAGES
The child as a learner
By Isela Shipton, Alan S. Mackenzie and James Shipton, British Council
This is the first in a two part article which explores how young
children learn languages and what we as teachers can do to help them and their
parents to make this process more enjoyable and positive.
When to start language learning
Most experts believe that when a child is introduced to a second
language at an early age their chances of becoming more proficient in the
target language will be higher. However, it is not necessarily true to say
"the earlier the better". It is suggested that the most efficient
time to learn another language is between 6 and 13.
However, children who learn in pre-to-early teens often catch up very
quickly with children who learn from an earlier age. Also this does not mean
that languages cannot be learnt later in life. The experience and environment
at school and how language is taught and practiced play a vital role in
language acquisition, regardless of how young or old the child is.
Whatever the age, when children learn a second language they develop
skills that will help to create opportunities in their future. They acquire the
lifelong ability to communicate with others under diverse circumstances.
Indeed, regardless of the level of proficiency, learning a second language and
learning about different cultures generally broadens a child's outlook on life.
It also opens up alternative educational and career opportunities.
What stops children from learning
* Feeling uncomfortable, distracted or under pressure
* Feeling confused by abstract concepts of grammar rules and their
application which they cannot easily understand
* Activities which require them to focus attention for a long time
* Boredom
* Being over-corrected
Reading the list above, you may be surprised at the number of items that
remind you of traditional educational practices. In fact, research does suggest
that traditional classroom teaching may have the effect of preventing rather
than helping children to learn better. You cannot force a child to learn. You
can only provide a conducive environment, useful resources, and carefully
structured input and practice opportunities.
How children learn languages
Children learn by:
* Having more opportunities to be exposed to the second language
* Making associations between words, languages, or sentence patterns and
putting things into clear, relatable contexts
* Using all their senses and getting fully involved; by observing and
copying, doing things, watching and listening
* Exploring, experimenting, making mistakes and checking their understanding
* Repetition and feeling a sense of confidence when they have
established routines
* Being motivated, particularly when their peers are also
speaking/learning other languages
Getting parents involved
Children also like their parents to be involved and understand what and
how they are learning. Here are some tips and advice you can give to parents to
help them support their child as a learner.
Tips for parents
How you can help your child to learn another language
* Get involved with their learning
* Be interested in what happens in your child's English lessons
* Even if you do not know any English yourself, there are many things
you can do to support your child's learning
Tips
1. Talk to the teacher to find out how English is taught at school:
* Become familiar with the materials used at school.
* Ask about your child's progress regularly and make sure you attend
your child's parents' day / evening.
* Check what they have to do for homework each day and set up a routine
and regular time for doing homework.
2. Learn more about the language yourself:
* Engage your child in conversations about what they learnt in school
and learn along with them.
* Study English with your child.
* Have them teach you some new language.
3. Motivate them! Make learning fun and stress free.
Here are some language learning games you can play with your child:
Bingo - Use numbers, letters of the alphabet, or word families:
furniture, fruits, sports, jobs, colours, actions
Memory - Put 10 everyday objects on a tray. Say what they are in
English, cover them. Can your child remember what's there and tell you in
English? You can also use photos from magazines or newspapers of different word
families.
Alphabet Game - Say a letter of the alphabet. Can your child find an
animal, something to eat, etc. beginning with that letter? Or ask your child to
write five words beginning with one letter.
I-Spy - Say that you are thinking of something beginning with a letter.
Your child has to guess what it is.
Example. "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with
W." "Is it water?" "No." "Is it Window?"
"Yes!"
Twenty Questions - Think of an object or animal. Your child has to ask
questions to find out what it is.
Example: "Is it big?" "No." "Is it very
small?" "No." etc…
Definition Game - Give your child a definition, they have to guess what
you're defining.
Example: "It is very big and it has a long nose." "Is it
an elephant?" "Yes!"
Treasure Hunt - Your child has to find the things, or follow the clues
you've written in English.
Get to know how your children learn
Each child has their own way of learning. It is a complex mixture of a
number of different personality factors, some of which are explained below.
Research shows that all types of learners can be successful second language
learners. Try to evaluate the methods your children are using, and introduce
them to different ones if they're not working.
Using what you know about your child try to see which styles below would
suit them best.
* Dominant Senses
Some prefer using pictures and reading (Visual learners), some like
listening to explanations and reading aloud (Auditory learners), others need
some kind of physical activity to help them learn (Kinesthetic learners).
* Interaction Preferences
Some children are outgoing and sociable and learn a second language
quickly because they want to be able to communicate quickly (Interpersonal). They
do not worry about mistakes, and are happy being creative with the limited
resources they have acquired.
* Analytical processes
Some children need to have everything clearly explained to them piece by
piece so that they can understand how things work (Deductive). These children like
rules and patterns that are easy to apply to the world they live in. They need
explicit explanations and often ask "Why?" a lot.
Others prefer to work out the rules of what they are learning for
themselves based on their experience (Inductive). These children like asking
questions and having their answers confirmed or corrected. They are more likely
to tell you what they understand to be the truth and then ask you to agree with
them.
The second part of this article will deal with how to handle mistakes
and how to promote a positive classroom environment.
This article published: 19th July, 2006
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/young_learners.shtml
BBC | British Council site, teaching English.
© BBC World Service, Bush House, Strand,
© British Council, 10
5.- THE BEST WORK OF AMERICAN FICTION OF THE LAST 25 YEARS
Our
dear SHARER Delia Sanchez has sent us this article to SHARE:
What Is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years?
May
21, 2006
(New
York Times); Book Review Desk
The Winner: Beloved - Toni
Morrison (1987)
The Runners-up:
Underworld
- Don DeLillo (1997)
Blood
Rabbit
Angstrom: The Four Novels - John Updike (1995)
American
Pastoral - Philip Roth (1997)
The
following books also received multiple votes:
A
Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole (1980)
Housekeeping
- Marilynne Robinson - (1980)
Winter's
Tale - Mark Helprin - (1983)
White
Noise - Don DeLillo (1985)
The
Counterlife - Philip Roth (1986)
Libra
- Don DeLillo (1988)
Where
I'm Calling From - Raymond Carver - (1988)
The
Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien - (1990)
Mating
- Norman Rush (1991)
Jesus'
Son - Denis Johnson (1992)
Operation
Shylock - Philip Roth (1993)
Independence
Day - Richard Ford (1995)
Sabbath's
Theater - Philip Roth (1995)
Border
Trilogy - Cormac McCarthy (1999)
The
Human Stain - Philip Roth (2000)
The
Known World - Edward P. Jones (2003)
The
Plot Against
In Search of the Best
By
A. O. Scott
Published:
May 21, 2006
©
The New York Times
More
than a century ago, Frank Norris wrote that "the Great American Novel is
not extinct like the dodo, but mythical like the hippogriff," an
observation that Philip Roth later used as the epigraph for a spoofy 1973
baseball fantasia called, naturally, "The Great American Novel." It
pointedly isn't - no one counts it among Roth's best novels, though what books
people do place in that category will turn out to be relevant to our purpose
here, which has to do with the eternal hunt for Norris's legendary beast. The
hippogriff, a monstrous hybrid of griffin and horse, is often taken as the very
symbol of fantastical impossibility, a unicorn's unicorn. But the Great
American Novel, while also a hybrid (crossbred of romance and reportage, high
philosophy and low gossip, wishful thinking and hard-nosed skepticism), may be more
like the yeti or the Loch Ness monster - or sasquatch, if we want to keep
things homegrown. It is, in other words, a creature that quite a few people -
not all of them certifiably crazy, some of them bearing impressive
documentation - claim to have seen. The Times Book Review, ever wary of hoaxes
but always eager to test the boundary between empirical science and folk
superstition, has commissioned a survey of recent sightings.
Or
something like that. Early this year, the Book Review's editor, Sam Tanenhaus,
sent out a short letter to a couple of hundred prominent writers, critics,
editors and other literary sages, asking them to please identify "the
single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years." The
results - in some respects quite surprising, in others not at all - provide a
rich, if partial and unscientific, picture of the state of American literature,
a kind of composite self-portrait as interesting perhaps for its blind spots
and distortions as for its details.
And
as interesting, in some cases, for the reasoning behind the choices as for the
choices themselves. Tanenhaus's request, simple and innocuous enough at first
glance, turned out in many cases to be downright treacherous. It certainly
provoked a lot of other questions in response, both overt and implicit.
"What is poetry and if you know what poetry is what is prose?"
Gertrude Stein once asked, and the question "what is the single best work
of American fiction published in the last 25 years?" invites a similar
scrutiny of basic categories and assumptions. Nothing is as simple as it looks.
What do we mean, in an era of cultural as well as economic globalization, by
"American"? Or, in the age of James Frey, reality television and
phantom W.M.D.'s, what do we mean by "fiction"? And if we know what
American fiction is, then what do we mean by "best"?
A
tough question, and one that a number of potential respondents declined to
answer, some silently, others with testy eloquence. There were those who sighed
that they could not possibly select one book to place at the summit of an
edifice with so many potential building blocks - they hadn't read everything,
after all - and also those who railed against the very idea of such a monument.
One famous novelist, unwilling to vote for his own books and reluctant to
consider anyone else's, asked us to "assume you never heard from me."
More
common was the worry that our innocent inquiry, by feeding the deplorable
modern mania for ranking, list-making and fabricated competition, would not
only distract from the serious business of literature but, worse, subject it to
damaging trivialization. To consecrate one work as the best - or even to
establish a short list of near-bests - would be to risk the implication that no
one need bother with the rest, and thus betray the cause of reading. The
determination of literary merit, it was suggested, should properly be a matter
of reasoned judgment and persuasive argument, not mass opinionizing. Criticism
should not cede its prickly, qualitative prerogatives to the quantifying urges
of sociology or market research.
Fair
enough. But there would be no point in proposing such a contest unless it would
be met with quarrels and complaints. (A few respondents, not content to state
their own preferences, pre-emptively attacked what they assumed would be the
thinking of the majority. So we received some explanations of why people were
not voting for "Beloved," the expected winner, and also one Roth
fan's assertion that the presumptive preference for "American
Pastoral" over "Operation Shylock" was self-evidently mistaken.)
Even in cases - the majority - where the premise of the research was accepted,
problems of method and definition buzzed around like persistent mosquitoes.
There were writers who, finding themselves unable to isolate just one
candidate, chose an alternate, or submitted a list. The historical and ethical
parameters turned out to be blurry, since the editor's initial letter had not
elaborated on them. Could you vote for yourself? Of course you could:
amour-propre is as much an entitlement of the literary class as log-rolling,
which means you could also vote for a friend, a lover, a client or a colleague.
But could you vote for, say, "A Confederacy of Dunces," which, though
published in 1980, was written around 20 years earlier? A tricky issue of what
scholars call periodization: is John Kennedy Toole's ragged
THE
question "what do you mean by 'the last 25 years'?" in any case
turned out to be a live one, and surveying the recent past caused a few minds
to wander farther back in time. One best-selling author (whose fat novels seem
to have been campaigning for inclusion in this issue long before the editors
dreamed it up, even though not even he bothered to vote for any of them)
reflected on the poverty of our current literary situation by wondering what
the poll might have looked like in 1940, with Hemingway, Faulkner and
Fitzgerald - to say nothing of Theodore Dreiser, Willa Cather and Sinclair
Lewis - in its lustrous purview. The last time this kind of survey was
conducted, in 1965 (under the auspices of Book Week, the literary supplement of
the soon-to-be-defunct New York Herald Tribune), the winner was Ralph Ellison's
"Invisible Man," which was declared "the most memorable"
work of American fiction published since the end of World War II, and the most
likely to endure. The field back then included "The Adventures of Augie
March," "Herzog," "Lolita," "Catch-22,"
"Naked Lunch," "The Naked and the Dead" and (I'll insist if
no one else will) "The Group." In the gap between that survey and this
one is a decade and a half - the unsurveyed territory from 1965 to 1980 - that
includes Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow" and William Gaddis's
"JR," as well as "Humboldt's Gift," "Portnoy's
Complaint," "Ragtime," "Song of Solomon" and countless
others.
Contemplation
of such glories lent an inevitable undercurrent of nostalgia to some of the
responses. Where are the hippogriffs of yesteryear? Could they have been dodos
all along? Not to worry: late-20th-century American Lit comprises a bustling
menagerie, like Noah's ark or the island of Dr. Moreau, where modernists and
postmodernists consort with fabulists and realists, ghost stories commingle
with domestic dramas, and historical pageantry mutates into metafiction. It is,
gratifyingly if also bewilderingly, a messy and multitudinous affair.
It
is perhaps this babble and ruckus - the polite word is diversity - that breeds
the impulse of which Sam Tanenhaus's question is an _expression: the urge to
isolate, in the midst of it all, a single, comprehensive masterpiece. E
pluribus unum, as it were. We - Americans, writers, American writers - seem
often to be a tribe of mavericks dreaming of consensus. Our mythical book is
the one that will somehow include everything, at once reflecting and by some
linguistic magic dissolving our intractable divisions and stubborn
imperfections. The American literary tradition is relatively young, and it
stands in perpetual doubt of its own coherence and adequacy - even, you might
say, of its own existence. Such anxiety fosters large, even utopian ambitions.
A big country demands big books. To ask for the best work of American fiction,
therefore, is not simply - or not really - to ask for the most beautifully
written or the most enjoyable to read. We all have our personal favorites, but
I suspect that something other than individual taste underwrites most of the
choices here. The best works of fiction, according to our tally, appear to be
those that successfully assume a burden of cultural importance. They attempt
not just the exploration of particular imaginary people and places, but also
the illumination of epochs, communities, of the nation itself.
They
are - the top five, in any case, in ascending order - "American Pastoral,"
with 7 votes; Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian" and Updike's
four-in-one "Rabbit Angstrom," tied with 8 votes each; "Don
DeLillo's "Underworld," with 11; and, solidly ahead of the rest, Toni
Morrison's "Beloved," with 15. (If these numbers seem small, keep in
mind that they are drawn from only 125 votes, and from a pool of potential
candidates equal to the number of books of fiction by American writers
published in 25 years. Sometimes cultural significance can be counted on the
fingers of one hand.)
Any
other outcome would have been startling, since Morrison's novel has inserted
itself into the American canon more completely than any of its potential
rivals. With remarkable speed, "Beloved" has, less than 20 years
after its publication, become a staple of the college literary curriculum,
which is to say a classic. This triumph is commensurate with its ambition,
since it was Morrison's intention in writing it precisely to expand the range
of classic American literature, to enter, as a living black woman, the company
of dead white males like Faulkner, Melville,
It
is worth remarking that the winner of the 1965 Book Week poll, Ralph Ellison's
"Invisible Man," arose from a similar impulse to bring the historical
experience of black Americans, and the expressive traditions this experience
had produced, into the mainstream of American literature. Or, rather, to reveal
that it had been there all along, and that race, far from being a special or
marginal concern, was a central facet of the American story. On the evidence of
Ellison's and Morrison's work, it is also a part of the story that defies the
tenets of realism, or at least demands that they be combined with elements of
allegory, folk tale, Gothic and romance.
The
American masterpieces of the mid-19th century - "Moby-Dick,"
"The Scarlet Letter," the tales of Edgar Allan Poe and, for that
matter, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" - were compounded of precisely these
elements, and nowadays it seems almost impossible to write about that period
without crossing into the realm of the supernatural, or at least the
self-consciously mythic. This is surely what ties "Beloved" to
"Blood
But
the recovery of the past - especially the more recent past - turns out to be
the dominant concern of American writing, at least as reflected in this survey,
over the past quarter-century. Our age is retrospective. One obvious difference
between "Invisible Man" and "Beloved," for instance, is
that Ellison's book, even as it flashes back to the Depression-era South and
the
In
some ways, the mode of fiction McCarthy and Morrison practice is less
historical than pre-historical. It does not involve the reconstruction of
earlier times - the collisions between real and invented characters, the
finicky attention to manners, customs and habits of speech - that usually
defines the genre. But to look again at the top five titles in the survey is to
discover just how heavily the past lies on the minds of contemporary writers
and literary opinion makers. To the extent that the novel can say something
about where we are and where we are going, the American novel at present
chooses to do so above all by examining where we started and how we got here.
IF
"Beloved" and "Blood
The
three novels do what we seem to want novels to do, which is to blend private
destinies with public events, an exercise that the postwar proliferation of
media simultaneously makes more urgent and more difficult. Rabbit Angstrom,
high school basketball star, typesetter-turned-car-dealer, as carelessly loyal
to his country as he is unfaithful to his wife, is an incarnation of the
American ordinary made exemplary by the grace of God and of Updike's prose.
Especially in the later novels, his consciousness becomes the prism through
which the unsettled experience of the nation is refracted. The war in
"Rabbit
Angstrom" is not, strictly speaking, a novel of retrospect; it was written
in the present tense and in real time, each segment composed before the end of
the story could be known. Because of this - because Updike's gift for observing
the present has always outstripped his ability to animate the past -
"Rabbit," like the great Russian and French realist novels of the
19th century, becomes an unequaled repository of historical detail. Next to it,
Updike's attempted multigenerational chronicle of 20th-century American
history, "In the Beauty of the Lilies," looks thin and stagy.
Alongside
Rabbit there is Zuckerman, his near contemporary, and like him the product of a
small, industrial mid-Atlantic city. More pointedly, perhaps, there is Swede Levov,
the hero of "American Pastoral" (Zuckerman being the self-effacing
narrator), who is, like Rabbit, a star athlete in high school and whose
nickname curiously recalls Rabbit's ethnic background. But while Rabbit is, for
all the suffering he endures and inflicts, a fundamentally comic character, his
destiny arcing toward happiness, Swede's trajectory is tragic. Fate has raised
him high in order to see how far he might fall. He contains traces of Job - his
fidelity to
The
agonized question that ripples through "American Pastoral" is
"what happened?" How did the pastoral
A
similar split occurs among DeLillo's partisans, who favor the historical
inquiry of "Underworld" over the contemporaneity of "White
Noise." (There were also two voters who chose "Libra," a more
narrowly focused historical fiction and in some ways a rehearsal for
"Underworld.") Like "American Pastoral,"
"Underworld" is a chronologically fractured story drawn by a powerful
nostalgic undertow back to the redolent streets of a postwar Eastern city.
Baseball and the atom bomb, J. Edgar Hoover and the science of waste disposal
are pulled into its vortex, but whereas Updike and Roth work to establish
connection and coherence in the face of time's chaos, DeLillo is an artist of
diffusion and dispersal, of implication and missing information. But more than
his other books, "Underworld" is concerned with roots, in particular
with ethnicity. Nick Shay, at first glance another one of his tight-lipped,
deracinated postmodern drifters, turns out to be a half-Italian kid from the
old East Bronx, and the characteristic rhythms of DeLillo's prose - the curious
noun-verb inversions, the quick switches from abstraction to earthiness, from
the decorous to the profane - are shown to arise, as surely as Roth's do, from
the polyglot idiom of the old neighborhood.
So
the top five American novels are concerned with history, with origins, to some
extent with nostalgia. They are also the work of a single generation. DeLillo,
born in 1936, is the youngest of the five leading authors. The others were born
within two years of one another: Morrison in 1931, Updike in 1932, Roth and
McCarthy in 1933.
Their
seniority, needless to say, is earned - they have had plenty of time to ripen
and grow - but it is nonetheless startling to see how thoroughly American
writing is dominated by this generation. Startling in part because it reveals
that the baby boom, long ascendant in popular culture and increasingly so in
politics and business, has not produced a great novel. The best writers born
immediately after the war seem almost programmatically to disdain the grand,
synthesizing ambitions of their elders (and also some of their juniors),
trafficking in irony, diffidence and the cultivation of small quirks rather
than large idiosyncrasies. Only two books whose authors were born just after
the war received more than two votes: "Housekeeping," by Marilynne
Robinson, and "The Things They Carried," by Tim O'Brien. These are
brilliant books, but they are also careful, small and precise. They do not
generalize; they document. Ann Beattie, born in 1947, is among the most gifted
and prolific fiction writers of her generation, but her books are nowhere to be
found on this list; not, I would venture, because she fails to live up to the
survey's implicit criterion of importance, but because she steadfastly refuses
to try.
Expand
beyond the immediate parameters of this exercise, and the generational
discrepancy grows even more acute: add Thomas Pynchon and E. L. Doctorow, Anne
Tyler and Cynthia Ozick, John Irving and Joan Didion and Russell Banks and
Joyce Carol Oates and you will have a literary pantheon born almost to a person
during the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt. Further expansion - by means of a
Wolfe here, a Mailer there - is likely to push the median age still higher.
Think back on that 1965 survey; it's hard to find an author on the list of
potential candidates much older than 50.
IS
this quantitative evidence for the decline of American letters - yet another
casualty of the 60's? Or is the American literary establishment the last
redoubt of elder-worship in a culture mad for youth? In sifting through the
responses, I was surprised at how few of the highly praised, boldly ambitious
books by younger writers - by which I mean writers under 50 - were mentioned.
One vote each for "The Corrections" and "The Amazing Adventures
of Kavalier & Clay," none for "Infinite Jest" or "The
Fortress of Solitude," a single vote for Richard Powers, none for William
T. Vollmann, and so on.
But
the thing about mythical beasts is that they don't go extinct; they evolve. The
best American fiction of the past 25 years is concerned, perhaps inordinately,
with sorting out the past, which may be its way of clearing ground for the
literature of the future. So let me end with a message to all you aspiring
hippogriff breeders out there: 2030 is just around the corner. Get to work.
About
the Author: A. O. Scott is a film critic at The Times. He is writing a book on
the American novel since World War II.
Following
are the writers, critics and editors the Book Review asked to choose the best
work of American fiction published in the last 25 years:
Kurt
Andersen, Roger Angell, A. Manette Ansay, James Atlas, Russell Banks, John
Banville, Julian Barnes, Andrea Barrett, Rick Bass, Ann Beattie. Madison Smartt
Bell
Aimee
Bender, Paul Berman, Sven Birkerts, Harold Bloom, Bill Buford, Ethan Canin
Philip
Caputo, Michael Chabon, Susan Choi, Mark Costello, Michael Cunningham, Edwidge
Danticat, Don DeLillo, Pete Dexter, Junot Diaz, Morris Dickstein, Andre Dubus
III, Tony Earley. Richard Eder, Jennifer Egan, Dave Eggers, Lucy Ellmann,
Nathan Englander
Louise
Erdrich, Anne Fadiman, Henry Finder, Jonathan Safran Foer, Paula Fox, Nell
Freudenberger, Carlos Fuentes, David Gates, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Julia Glass,
Nadine Gordimer, Mary Gordon, Robert Gottlieb, Philip Gourevitch, Elizabeth
Graver, Andrew Sean Greer. Allan Gurganus. Jim Harrison. Kathryn Harrison,
Alice Hoffman, A. M. Homes, Maureen Howard. John Irving, Ha Jin, Thom Jones.
Heidi Julavits. Ward Just
Mary
Karr, William Kennedy, Frank Kermode. Stephen
King. Maxine Hong Kingston
Walter
Kirn, Benjamin Kunkel,David Leavitt,Chang-Rae Lee, Brad Leithauser, Frank
Lentricchia, John Leonard. Jonathan Lethem, Alan Lightman, David Lodge, Ralph
Lombreglia,Phillip Lopate, Janet Malcolm,Thomas Mallon,Ben Marcus, Peter
Matthiessen
Ian
McEwan, David Means, Daphne Merkin, Stephen Metcalf, Rick Moody
Lorrie
Moore, Geoffrey O'Brien, Chris Offutt, Stewart O'Nan, David Orr, Cynthia Ozick,
Ann Patchett, Tom Perrotta, Richard Gid Powers, William Pritchard,Francine
Prose, Terrence Rafferty,Marilynne Robinson, Roxana Robinson, Norman Rush,
Richard Russo,George Saunders, Liesl Schillinger,Joanna Scott, Jim Shepard,
Karen Shepard
David
Shields, Gary Shteyngart, Lee Siegel, Curtis Sittenfeld, Jane Smiley, Wole
Soyinka, Scott Spencer, William Styron, Studs Terkel, Deborah Treisman, Anne
Tyler
Mario
Vargas Llosa, William T. Vollmann, Edmund White, Tom Wolfe and Tobias Wolff
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/books/fiction-25-years.html
(c)
2006 by The New York Times.
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6.- ARTESOL CONVENTION AT UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE
Our dear fairy godmother and founding SHARER Elida
Messina has sent us this announcement:
Dear friends and colleagues,
Now you can check more details about our 20th
Convention at our new web page:
www.languageway.com/artesol
ArgentinaTESOL
20th
“English for More Effective Participation in Our Global Society”
Viernes 11 – Sábado 12 de agosto de 2006
Universidad Nacional
de Río Cuarto, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas,
Campus Universitario - Ruta Nacional N°
Costos de
inscripción
$
80 Convención solamente
$
60 Convención + ARTESOL
Membresía
$ 35
cada miembro - Membresía Institucional (mínimo 5
personas)
$
40 Convención para miembros con cuota al
día
Para más
información: e-mail: artesol@bcl.edu.ar o llame (54 11)
5382-1540.
Speakers:
Keynote Speaker: Kathy Koop
M.A. in TESOL. Instructor of English at the English Language Studies Department
of The New
English for More Effective Participation
in Our Global Society
Do teachers’ cognitions affect their
classroom practice?
Rita Aldorino, TESOL MA, specialist in Curriculum and
Instruction.
Language Learning and Testing: An Integrative View
María Edith Chiappello ESP Lecturer UNRC. She is a
Master’s candidate.
Sonia Ruiz ESP Lecturer in the field of Humanities, UNRC.
Reading Strategies in EFL
Iliana A. Martínez has an MA in Applied Linguistics,
María Susana González graduate teacher from the INES
Joaquín V. González and a Licenciada en Letras UBA
Interpersonal meanings in the processing
of research articles in English as a foreign language
María Inés Valsecchi: MA in TEFL from
María Celina Barbeito: MA in EL/L from the
María Edith Chiappello: ESP Lecturer, UNRC
Graciela N. Placci: teacher of ESP in Humanities at U.N.R.C.
Designing a motivational scale for a teenage
population
Overuse of reference items in academic learner corpus
Frigerio, Inés. Currently teaching Language and
Practicum at UNRC.
Di Nardo, Elizabeth: Master’s candidate. Former Fulbright grantee.
Second language writing: the role of the visual image
María Inés de Zabaleta teaches English at the UNMDP and ISFD Balcarce.
Learner-friendly Tasks: Lexis and Grammar Hand in
Hand
María Palmira Massi, M.A.
Escuela Superior de Idiomas. Universidad
Wolves in Sheep´s Clothing? Unmasking
hidden meanings via Critical Analysis
María Inés Valsecchi: Holds an MA in TEFL,
Motivation and cooperative learning in the English
language class at high school level
Carla Perrone pursues an MA in Applied Linguistics.
Reporting verbs: Discoursal conventions in biology
research articles
Mabel Rivero. Associate Professor, UNRC.
Foreign language students’ learning
preferences in technology-mediated learning environments.
Romina Picchio is an MA candidate at UNRC.
Alba Loyo, is a Master of Educational Technology. Full
professor, UNRC.
EFL text and hypertext reading strategies and
comprehension
The language we (should) teach
Vanderlei de Souza is a professor at
Sullivan S. Pouza is the head of the Business Management Department at
Michael Moore, a languages researcher at
Transnational Technology Literacy Perspective and the
challenges to the teaching/learning of English
Luciana Teixeira holds a BA from PUC.
Vander Viana holds a BA in English language and
literature.
Adjectives and the written production of Brazilian
EFL students
Literature for children and teenagers in the
Mariza Riva de Almeida is the director of the Intercultural and Language Centre
of the Federal University of Paraná,
Producing materials using the intercultural
approach in language teaching
We look forward to seeing you in
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our dear SHARERS from Universidad Nacional de
VIII Jornadas del Profesorado de Inglés
Facultad de Humanidades
Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata
8 y 9 de Septiembre, 2006
The "VIII Jornadas
The
organizing committee invites you to submit proposals for presentations on or
before 24th August 2006. Proposals will be considered by the Academic Committee
and candidates will be notified by e-mail by 30th August 2006.
Objectives:
To
discuss the teaching of English in
To
encourage discussion among teachers and aspiring teachers.
To
address questions that arise from our training and teaching experience.
To
promote research as an important area in ELT.
To
share findings that have emerged from UNMdP research projects.
Organizing Committee:
Romina Alvarez Aranguren, Jimena Álvarez Lucero,
Victoria Basualdo, Prof. Karen Cresci. Florencia De Mattey. Nadia Dezzuto,
Silvina Fernandez, Pamela Flores, Prof. Ma.Pía, Gómez Laich, Silvana Herrera,
Sofia Martinez Reumann, Laura Manino, Antonela Mazzola
Jorge Soler. Paula Carolina Suarez.
Academic Committee
Prof. Zelmira Álvarez, Lisa Rose Bradford, PhD,
Ana
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8.- WORKSHOP: ADULTS AS LEARNERS OF A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Our
dear SHARER Maddy Casco has
got an announcement to make:
At
Home-Buenos Aires is running the following 12-hour-workshop on
“Adults
as Learners of a Foreign Language” created and conducted by Lic María Casco
When?
August 12th , August 26th & September 9th
(from 9 to 13)
For
further information: contact info@athome-buenosaires.com / madycasco@netizen.com or call (5411) 4833 -2965
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
9.-
SEMINARIO INTERNACIONAL DE POSTGRADO SOBRE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS
Seminario Internacional De
Posgrado
Estados Unidos, de los
sesenta al presente: política, cultura y movimientos sociales
(con traducción simultánea)
Fecha: 5 al 12 de agosto -
Horario: 9:00 a 16:00hs.
Lugar: Sede Capital -
Universidad de San Andrés - 25 de mayo 586, Capital.
Contacto: Mercedes García
Ferrari: mgferrari@udesa.edu.ar
Melina Ginszparg: mginsz@fulbright.com.ar
Para más información: www.udesa.edu.ar/fulbright
El seminario será dictado
por los profesores Stephen Rabe y Michael Flamm.
Los participantes deberán
asistir al 100 % de las clases y completar un trabajo final para recibir
certificación de su participación en el seminario.
Las clases se llevarán a
cabo todos los días de
Seminario Gratuito. Cupo
Limitado
Se otorgarán 12 becas para
costos de traslado y alojamiento.
Michael Flamm
El Prof. Michael Flamm es
especialista en historia política de Estados Unidos, con énfasis particular en
las décadas de 1960 y 1970. Es
autor de Law and Order: Street Crime Civil Unrest, and the Crisis of Liberalism
in the 1960s (
Stephen Rabe es autor de The Road to OPEC: United States Relations with
Venezuela, 1919-1976 (1982) y Eisenhower and
UdeSA - Universidad de San
Andrés www.udesa.edu.ar
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
10.- LLAMADOS A SELECCIÓN
DE ANTECEDENTES
Escuela Normal Superior en Lenguas Vivas Sofía E.
Braquen de Spangenberg (ex - John Fitzgerald Kennedy)
Traductorado Técnico-Científico-Literario En
Inglés - Turno vespertino
Interinato/ Suplencia (Validez orden de
mérito: 2 años a partir de la decisión del Consejo Consultivo).
Se encuentra abierta la inscripción desde el 14
hasta el 28 de agosto inclusive para cubrir las siguientes instancias:
* Traducción 1 - 4 hs. cátedra
* Traducción 2 - 6 hs. cátedra
Presentar curriculum actualizado y completar la
planilla que se retira en fotocopiadora de la escuela ( subsuelo ).
Nivel Terciario. Juncal 3251 1º piso anexo. De
-----------------------------------------------------------
11.-
III JORNADAS VIRTUALES DEL INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DEL PROFESORADO JOAQUÍN V GONZÁLEZ
III Jornadas Virtuales:
Fecha de realización 1 al 30 de septiembre de 2006
Organiza: Instituto Superior del Profesorado
Joaquín V González (Ciudad de BuenosAires)
Lugar: http://jornadas-virtuales-jvg.buenosaires.edu.ar
Las Jornadas Virtuales son un espacio académico
“on line” de comunicación para acercar la práctica profesional docente de los
nivel Medio y Superior entre pares y con los futuros graduados.Cuenta con
diferentes aulas en donde se alojan las experiencias docentes y foros para
recrear el espíritu de jornadas académicas pero de manera asincrónica.
Qué tipo de trabajos se esperan: experiencias
didácticas en Interdisciplinas y/o Nuevas Tecnologías de
Destinatarios: docentes del nivel Superior y del
nivel Medio y/o equivalente según las jurisdicciones y alumnos de los
Institutos de Formación Docente.
Cómo deben enviarse: la presentación debe hacer en
un documento en Word integrando gráficos, esquemas y los anexos
pertinentes en
A quién: Mónica Rodríguez Larribau y Horacio Busto
Plazos: El cierre de la recepción de trabajos es
el 10 de Agosto y la inscripción como asistentes hasta el 31 de agosto.
Dirección de mail: jornadas_virtuales_jvg@buenosaires.edu
------------------------------------------------------------
12.-
CURSO DE POSGRADO A DISTANCIA DE
Curso de Posgrado a Distancia: Lectocomprensión en
inglés aplicado a las
Ciencias sociales y a las Humanidades (Res.
Nº 73/06)
Dictado por
Dirigido a Maestrandos y Doctorandos de Ciencias
Sociales y Humanidades.
Fechas: Inicio: 4 de setiembre del 2006
Actividades académicas durante los meses de
setiembre, octubre, noviembre (2006) febrero, marzo y abril (2007)
Evaluación: 5 de mayo de 2007 (presencial o
virtual)
Costo: Inscripción: $ 60
Seis cuotas de $
Fecha límite de inscripción: 25 de agosto de 2006
(Cupos limitados)
Informes e inscripción:
Llenar la ficha de inscripción que figura en la
página web de
mail o realizar la
inscripción personalmente en
Email:
secposgrado@fl.unc.edu.ar
http://www.lenguas.unc.edu.ar/secposgrado.html
http://www.lenguas.unc.edu.ar/educacionadistancia.html
------------------------------------------------------------
13.-
CURSO DE PEDAGOGÍA DE
Our
dear SHARERS from CEPEL have got an invitation to make:
“Pedagogía de la fonética” del Ce.P.E.L. de
Conducido por: Prof. Clem Baraldi
Cursada: Encuentros de 4 hs cada uno de
El curso se dicta en Paraná 141, 2do piso- Capital
Federal.
El curso trabaja la fonética desde el punto de
vista de la propia producción, buscando desde el entendimiento de la propia
práctica la manera de ser concientes de los errores que cometen nuestros
alumnos, logrando así el curso su doble objetivo: mejorar la producción propia,
y aprender a corregir a los demás.
Más información: cepel@unsam.edu.ar / 4372-3990 de
------------------------------------------------------------
14.- FORTHCOMING ACTIVITIES AT ELT TEAM
MAR DEL PLATA
Our
dear SHARERS from ELTeam in
Workshop:
“The English Craver’s Session : The Language and Video Combo”
A
video session which will trigger advanced language activities for teachers!!!
We
invite those who seek to keep their English active and powerful to an appealing
and lively encounter designed to empower the English Language Lover with
refreshing and updated words, idioms and expressions.
Venue:
Time:
10:00-13:00hs Date: August 19th
ELTeam
Members: $8
Non
Members: $10
More
ELTeam workshops for those who like planning ahead…
September
16th
Students
Day Workshop for Teen English Students: “Song and Lyrics Recreation for Teens” (time
to be confirmed)
September
23rd - 10:00 – 11:30
Workshop
for EFL educators, translators and advanced learners “Common American Phrases”
------------------------------------------------------------
15.- THE BS. AS. PLAYERS IN
Our
dear SHARER Celia Zubiri has sent this tempting invitation:
The
Bs. As. Players In
Awesome
productions to be enjoyed by everybody.
Choose
the play that suits your students' needs and interests, make the reservations
and get ready to dive into the magic world of theatre led by the hand of a
professional team.
August
2006
Monday,
14th: Villa María
Sales
Representative: Silvana Bastino - 0353-4536089- englishonline@infovia.com.ar
Tuesday,
15th: Córdoba (Capital)
Wednesday,
16th: Córdoba (Capital)
Sales
Representative: Fernanda Garstein - 03543-427873 - fgarstein@arnet.com.ar
THURSDAY,
17th: Rio Tercero
Sales
Representative: Marta Orta - 03571-15541401 - martaorta@arnet.com.ar
Friday, 18th: Rio Cuarto
Sales
Representative: Ma. Cecilia Risatti
0358-4653396 - ceciliarisatti@ciudad.com.ar
The
Sleeping Princess - a 55-minute musical comedy for children
aged 5-8.
Pandora's Box
- a 60-minute musical comedy
for children aged 9-12.
Dead
Buddies - a 60-minute thriller for adolescents and
adults.(Intermediate level)
20hs. Taming Caterina
- a 90-minute comedy for
Advanced students. Based on "The Taming of the Shrew", by William
Shakespeare.*
Scripts
and lyrics by Celia Zubiri - Original music by Marcelo Andino
Due
to the extraordinary demand for our shows, we highly advise to book the
approximate number of seats you need well in advance.
Our
Sales Representatives can provide you with the interactive CD Rom that
comprises the songs, lyrics and activities.
Headquarters
>011- 4812-5307 / 4814-5455
thebap@thebsasplayers.com / thebap@arnet.com.ar - www.thebsasplayers.com
------------------------------------------------------------
16.- ONLINE COURSES FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH
Our
dear SHARER Susana Trabaldo has sent us this invitation for all our SHARERS:
NET-LEARNING
On-line
teacher development courses
Course: New Trends In Student Assessment: Implementing Portfolios.
Tutors:
Liliana B. Luna, Viviana L. Pisani
Starting
date: August 16th - Duration: 5 weeks
Further
information: http://www.net-learning.com.ar/cursos/pa.htm
Fee:
Discount
on early enrolment: 10% (till August 9th)
Course: Aspect In English: The Key To Understanding Tenses... And Much
More.
Tutor:
Aldo Blanco
Starting
date: August 24th - Duration: 5 weeks
Further
information: http://www.net-learning.com.ar/cursos/aspect.htm
Fee:
Discount
on early enrolment: 10% (till August
17th)
Course: Multisensory Teaching And Learning (VAK) With NLP.
Tutors: Jamie Duncan, Laura Szmuch.
Starting
date: September 14th - Duration: 5 weeks
Further
information: http://www.net-learning.com.ar/cursos/nlp-vak.htm
Fee:
Discount
on early enrolment: 10% (till September
7th)
Course: How To Use Video Technology In The ESL/EFL Class.
Tutor:
Mónica Aparicio
Starting
date: September 28th - Duration: 5 weeks
Further
information: http://www.net-learning.com.ar/cursos/video-efl.htm
Fee:
Discount
on early enrolment: 10% (till September
21st)
Course: How To Teach English Via The Internet.
Tutor:
Susana Trabaldo
Starting
date: October 4th - Duration: 5 weeks
Further
information: http://www.net-learning.com.ar/cursos/tevi.htm
Fee:
Discount
on early enrolment: 10% (till September
27th)
Course: Prepositions And Phrasal Verbs: How To Learn Them And How To
Teach Them.
Tutor:
Aldo Blanco
Starting
date: October 17th - Duration: 6 weeks
------------------------------------------------------------
17.-
BECAS HUBERT HUMPHREY 2007
hasta el 1 de septiembre de 2006. El objetivo de
las becas Humphrey es
brindar a profesionales involucrados en el diseño
de políticas para el
desarrollo del país, la posibilidad de realizar un
entrenamiento en Estados
Unidos consistente en cursos académicos y una
pasantía profesional. Los
aspirantes pueden ser profesionales de diversas áreas,
entre ellas:
- Educación
- Enseñanza de Inglés como Lengua Extranjera
- Periodismo y Comunicación,
- Administración de Recursos Humanos
Para más información, dirigirse a: Comisión
Fulbright - Viamonte 1653 2º piso. (1055) Capital. TEL: 4814-3561/62. E-mail: info@fulbright.com.ar – Página Web: http://www.fulbright.edu.ar
------------------------------------------------------------
18.- ELT ADVANTAGE: THOMSON ONLINE COURSES FOR TEACHERS
ELT
Advantage: Online Courses for Teachers
Practical
Professional Development— Online, Anytime.
Choose
from any of our specially designed online courses.
Pursuing Professional Development by Andy Curtis
This
course will discuss what professional development is and why it is important.
It will give practical advice on how you can incorporate professional development
practices into your daily classroom life.
Start
Dates: Jul 19, Aug 16, Sep 20, Oct 18
An Introduction to English Language Teaching by Tom Scovel
This
course will introduce and study basic principles, approaches, and explanations
of English language teaching. It will act as an introduction for those new to
the field or as a review for more experienced teachers. This course will
discuss all aspects of language instruction, including practical ways of
teaching grammar, reading, writing, listening, speaking, and vocabulary. In
addition, it will help teachers become more reflective on their chosen
profession.
Start
Dates: Jul 19, Aug 16, Sep 20, Oct 18
Teaching ESL/EFL Reading by Neil Anderson
This
course will provide practical techniques and methods for teaching reading in
any ESL or EFL environment. It will guide you through key issues related to
teaching reading and will provide practical ways that you can become a more
effective teacher of reading.
Start
Dates: Jul 19, Aug 16, Sep 20, Oct 18
Practical Ideas for the Adult ESL/EFL Classroom by Rob Jenkins
This
course details how to create a meaningful and successful learning environment
for your adult ESL/EFL students. The course will begin by looking at instructor
and student motivation, lesson planning, and the selection of classroom
activities. It will then focus on practical strategies for teaching grammar,
reading, writing, listening, speaking, and pronunciation in the classroom.
Start
Dates: Jul 19, Aug 16, Sep 20, Oct 18
An Introduction to Task-based Teaching by David Nunan
This
course will introduce task-based language teaching and will study what it is,
how it developed and how it fits into a broader curriculum framework. Most
importantly, this course will focus on how task-based language teaching works
in the classroom. It is meant to be practical and will provide many task-based
solutions you can use with your class.
Start
Dates: Jul 19, Aug 16, Sep 20, Oct 18
Teaching Lexically by by Hugh Dellar & Andrew Walkley
This
practical course aims to change the way you think about language by looking at
the relationship between grammar and vocabulary in a new light. It will suggest
innovative ways to teach language and skills, to deal with speaking in class
and to handle student correction.
Start
Dates: Jul 19, Aug 16, Sep 20, Oct 18
You
can pay here in
For
Details and DEMO LESSONS please contact:
Fernando Gonzalez Jaque - ELT Rep. Thomson
Argentina
Rojas 2128, Capital - tels.4582-0601 /07 -
Cel.155714-7479
fgonzalez@thomsonlearning.com.ar
(If
you enroll please let me know and get a present!)
------------------------------------------------------------
We
would like to finish this issue of SHARE with this note from our dear SHARER
Marta
Garay:
Hi
Omar, I'm sending you this about "Georgy" because of his anniversary.
Isn't it a wonderful poem? Isn't he the best writer we've ver had?
Cariños, Marta
http://spaces.msn.com/members/martitagaray/
Jorge
Luis Borges (1899 - June 14, 1986)
Loving
Anticipation
From
“Luna de Enfrente” by Jorge Luís Borges
Translated
by Douglas
Brown
Neither
the intimacy of your face, bright as a celebration,
nor
the candour of your body, so mysterious and quiet and girlish,
nor
the sequences of your life, alternately talkative or silent,
could
be a gift as mysterious
as
seeing your sleep folded
in
the vigil of my arms.
A
virgin once again through sleep's miraculous absolving virtue,
calm
and resplendent like a favourite memory,
you
give me this coast of your life which you yourself don't own.
Cast
into this stillness,
I
can see the ultimate shore of your being
and
see you for the first time, perhaps,
as
God must see you,
free
of the fiction of Time,
without
love, without me.
HAVE
A WONDERFUL WEEK
Omar
and Marina.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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announced or the views expressed by the contributors. For more
information about the characteristics and readership of SHARE visit: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ShareMagazine
VISIT OUR WEBSITE : http://www.ShareEducation.com.ar There you can read all past issues of SHARE in the section SHARE
ARCHIVES.