Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
What English Profile involves?
English profile is a collaborative programme which is developed by a group of people who are part of differents and several institutions, which mainly are: the University of Cambridge, University of Bedforeshire, the Bristish Council and English UK.
What it is trying to be developed through this collaborative work is to create a objective criteria to establish a set of brenchmarks for the learning process of English as a second language. In other words, English Profile is trying to create a variety of levels to classify the learnning process of English worldwide learners. By classifying the learning process of English learners, it is possible to expect what students should be able to do at certain levels. in this way, it is likely to think in a appropiate curricula and material to work with the variety of students that each level includes.
For all previously mentioned, English Profile is working together with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which is a set of levels that classifies the learning process of English learners, according to their usage of English. It uses letters and numbers (A1 to C2) as a propper name for each level, being in this way, A1 the very basic usage of English and C2 the most advanced usage of English (all the differents levels are: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2). Therefore, the Common Eropean framework of Reference for Languages provides to English Profile a clear and detailed criteria to achieve its goals.
Finally, I think that both of them should be used and inplemented in chilean curricula and teachers' methodology, because, as same as Corpus Linguistics, these tools are extremely useful for the improvement of the learning process of chilean students (whether for schools' or universities' students), because of their characteristics : the Common European framework of Reference for Languages gives us a clear criteria to classify the learning process of chilean English learners; and, English Profile uses this criteria to create a set of material to work with chilean English learners at the differents levels.
For further information:
http://www.englishprofile.org/
What it is trying to be developed through this collaborative work is to create a objective criteria to establish a set of brenchmarks for the learning process of English as a second language. In other words, English Profile is trying to create a variety of levels to classify the learnning process of English worldwide learners. By classifying the learning process of English learners, it is possible to expect what students should be able to do at certain levels. in this way, it is likely to think in a appropiate curricula and material to work with the variety of students that each level includes.
For all previously mentioned, English Profile is working together with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which is a set of levels that classifies the learning process of English learners, according to their usage of English. It uses letters and numbers (A1 to C2) as a propper name for each level, being in this way, A1 the very basic usage of English and C2 the most advanced usage of English (all the differents levels are: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2). Therefore, the Common Eropean framework of Reference for Languages provides to English Profile a clear and detailed criteria to achieve its goals.
Finally, I think that both of them should be used and inplemented in chilean curricula and teachers' methodology, because, as same as Corpus Linguistics, these tools are extremely useful for the improvement of the learning process of chilean students (whether for schools' or universities' students), because of their characteristics : the Common European framework of Reference for Languages gives us a clear criteria to classify the learning process of chilean English learners; and, English Profile uses this criteria to create a set of material to work with chilean English learners at the differents levels.
For further information:
http://www.englishprofile.org/
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
What Corpus and Corpora involves
Corpus linguistics is a large set of texts, which could be written or spoken, then Corpora linguistics is the whole collection of these kind of texts that have been collected worldwide. What corpus linguistics tries to do gathering all these texts is to reveal which patterns follows real language. It is in terms of which type of vocabulary, grammar structures, tenses, collocations, chunks, idioms, etc. are more frequent, at the time when native speakers have some talk or write letters, books, articles and any mean of communication that they may use which demonstrate the usage of real language.
For instance, this database might be used in teaching English as a second language for the students' learning, in other words, to teach the students how real language works or what is thereal usage of English language, having in mind the aim to teach them it for their better and faster understnading of English language, in terms of listening, reading, writing and also speaking skills. As well, it would be useful for them if someday go to any English speaking country or to Europe, where the usage of English language is basic and it would be helpful for them to get a good and well-paid job.
Furthermore, chilean teachers should use Corpus based textbooks to work in classes with the students, since these sort of textbooks contain high-frequent word based on the several linguistics studies which have been included on Corpus Linguistics, which means that those textbooks are strongly backed up and highly recommended for their usage in schools, institutes, universities and any institution which have between its purpose to teach and provide any students with a basic, intermediate or advanced level of English language. For all the previously mentioned reasons and arguments, I think it is very important for chilean teachers to use this extremely helpful and useful linguistic tool.
For further information:
http://www.cambridge.org/elt/corpus/default.htm
For instance, this database might be used in teaching English as a second language for the students' learning, in other words, to teach the students how real language works or what is thereal usage of English language, having in mind the aim to teach them it for their better and faster understnading of English language, in terms of listening, reading, writing and also speaking skills. As well, it would be useful for them if someday go to any English speaking country or to Europe, where the usage of English language is basic and it would be helpful for them to get a good and well-paid job.
Furthermore, chilean teachers should use Corpus based textbooks to work in classes with the students, since these sort of textbooks contain high-frequent word based on the several linguistics studies which have been included on Corpus Linguistics, which means that those textbooks are strongly backed up and highly recommended for their usage in schools, institutes, universities and any institution which have between its purpose to teach and provide any students with a basic, intermediate or advanced level of English language. For all the previously mentioned reasons and arguments, I think it is very important for chilean teachers to use this extremely helpful and useful linguistic tool.
For further information:
http://www.cambridge.org/elt/corpus/default.htm
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
United States, England or Australia?
If I had to choose a city where to live abroad it would bu probably Sydney, because there is where will live my sister with her husban.
Then, due to the reason previously mentioned, I looked for a shared room in Sydney. I found a shared room that I really like, since,firstly, it has fully furnished bedrooms with double beds ($300 per week) , which I consider that I can effort them. Secondly, all bedrooms are cleaned once a week and have a study desk with a television. Thirdly, towels and blankets are provided and there is also Internet accesses availalbe. Finally, it is near the Universities and tourist attractions and business centers.
http://sydney.craigslist.com.au/roo/1232704063.html
On the other hand, I found another place, which in spite of the fact that it is fully furnished, has a fully equipped kitchen, laundry and high speed wireless internet, I did not like metal cabins to sleep. They are apparently freezing, unconfortable and unstable (in terms of standing).
http://sydney.craigslist.com.au/roo/1221641068.html
Then, due to the reason previously mentioned, I looked for a shared room in Sydney. I found a shared room that I really like, since,firstly, it has fully furnished bedrooms with double beds ($300 per week) , which I consider that I can effort them. Secondly, all bedrooms are cleaned once a week and have a study desk with a television. Thirdly, towels and blankets are provided and there is also Internet accesses availalbe. Finally, it is near the Universities and tourist attractions and business centers.
http://sydney.craigslist.com.au/roo/1232704063.html
On the other hand, I found another place, which in spite of the fact that it is fully furnished, has a fully equipped kitchen, laundry and high speed wireless internet, I did not like metal cabins to sleep. They are apparently freezing, unconfortable and unstable (in terms of standing).
http://sydney.craigslist.com.au/roo/1221641068.html
Sunday, May 31, 2009
The most important factor that all the teachers should consider at anytime!
Meanwhile I was reading the article, on my mind was appearing all the pictures and images of my life during elementary school and highschool. Since, some of the situations and factors mentioned in the text were exactly the same things that I passed through during that part of my life. In fact, there were classes that I was very intrerested in and sometimes was not about others (for instance, I quite liked Physical Education and English Language classes, but I certainly did not in the case of Biology, Chemistry and Spanish Language classes). Although, what amazed me the most was the explanation that was given in the article for this type of behavior in children and for my feelings of likes and dislikes related to some subjects in school. In other words, motivation depends on the ability to develop some activities in some subjects, therefore, motivation depends on the level of accomplishment during classes, which is demonstrated on the feedbacks that teachers give to students and on the marks that students get, which, finally, affects the the self-steem of children or teenagers developing some activities in especific subjects. Furthermore, it was absolutely the main reason of why I did and I not like some subjects. Because, I was good at in some subjects and I was not good at in others.
On the other hand, I think that the sources of motivation mentioned in the article could explain almost all the learning problems in Chile and in any part of the world, but there are other factors that may affect the learning process. For example, psychological problems, familiar troubles, personal problems, physical conditions, cultural or religious background, etc. Despite, the strategies stated to fix or to solve those problems possibly might be helpful, if there were ideal conditions to develop the learning process in students. But, pityfully there are not the ideal conditions to introduce this strategies, since teachers do not have enough time to do a reflective analysis of their daily situations, which significates that they just have time to do an objective and cold analysis of their daily classes without considering the those sources of motivation. Thus, it would not be appopiate to implement those solution strategies in the chilean public education system, since there are not the ideal conditions to introduce these.
Littlejohn, Andrew. "Motivation: Where does it come from? Where does it go?". English Teaching Professional, April 2001: 5-8.
On the other hand, I think that the sources of motivation mentioned in the article could explain almost all the learning problems in Chile and in any part of the world, but there are other factors that may affect the learning process. For example, psychological problems, familiar troubles, personal problems, physical conditions, cultural or religious background, etc. Despite, the strategies stated to fix or to solve those problems possibly might be helpful, if there were ideal conditions to develop the learning process in students. But, pityfully there are not the ideal conditions to introduce this strategies, since teachers do not have enough time to do a reflective analysis of their daily situations, which significates that they just have time to do an objective and cold analysis of their daily classes without considering the those sources of motivation. Thus, it would not be appopiate to implement those solution strategies in the chilean public education system, since there are not the ideal conditions to introduce these.
Littlejohn, Andrew. "Motivation: Where does it come from? Where does it go?". English Teaching Professional, April 2001: 5-8.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Notice it or not, you are intrinsically intelligent!!
In a very interesting website (www.ted.com), I watched several videos which showed talks about education and other subjects. Anyhow, one of these videos caught my attention, due to the fact that it was about creativity and intelligence related to our education.
Ken Robinson, the host of the conference, pointed that the world wide education system is focused on teaching to the students that there are centain and few ways to be successful in life. Robinson supported this point stating that around the world, the most worth subjects in every education system are the same ones. In fact, at the top of the most worth subjects is Mathematics, second Languages and third The Humanities. On the other hand, the less worth subject is The Arts which is at the bottom of this type of list that classify the school subjects from the most to the less worth of these subjects. This is proved in the daily life of every school student, when he/she is having a talk with his/her father o parents about their future and wath they would like to be or to study. It is common that parents tell their children that being a musician or something ralted to The Arts is not a safe way to be successful in life. But being a lawyer, an engineer, an architect or a doctor is a safe one.
Robinson stated related to the previously mentioned that 'very crative and brilliant people think they are not intelligent, because they were stigmatized at elementary and highschool, since they were not good enough in some subjects. So, we were born as creative people, but we grow as no creative people, because of tendency to educate people to study those validated successful carrers'. Furthermore, he mentioned that,' human beings has focused just on their heads, on their brains, on their minds, forgetting that they have got a body which needs movement to live. This is the case of some people that need more than their minds to think, in fact, they need to move to think which is the case of dancers, sportsmen/women, artists or musicians. In the end, if we want to get an original idea we have to be prepared to be wrong in some moment of our lives, since we can learn, because commit mistakes. Thus, nowadays, the children are growing frightened to make mistakes, which means no original ideas, no creativity, no learning process and waste of their intelligence'.
Afterward, he mentioned that what he was stated previously proves that there are many type of intelligence, and that intelligence has three main characteristics: Diverse, which means we can think, because we receive differente stimulus, from the enviroment where we live in, that we perceive through our senses; Dynamic, we can get ideas from different sources of information and mix them to build a new concept; Distinct, which significates that there are different and several type of intelligence and knowledge, and every type of intelligence is valid to be considered as a souce of success.
Finally, Ken Robinson told that 'we should think about how to improve our learning process and how we could better use the intelligence human capacity to try to find out the way to improve our life quality without damaging the ecosystem, because if we keep living in this way the entire human race would probably disappear from the Earth'.
In conclusion, I fiercely believe, this video shows what we should try to do as teachers to-be. Due to the fact that in our society we can daily see many children and teenagers wasting their lives in dishonest activities (for instance, commiting crimes) or doing some activities that do not make them happy at all (for example, when they must work, because they have not found out what really fulfill themselves or when they have to study something that they do not like completely or at all, since they got no more choices). In other words, we should help children to find out their own path, and also letting them to be creative, respecting their thinking, their tastes, their learning processes, their original ideas and their skills. This should be the real purpose of a teacher, to let flow the creativity of students, to guide the students, helping them to find out their essence and to take advantage of their essence, helping them to be successful and happy.
Robinson, Ken. "Schools kill creativity". TED(2006). Online. 23 May 2009.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
Ken Robinson, the host of the conference, pointed that the world wide education system is focused on teaching to the students that there are centain and few ways to be successful in life. Robinson supported this point stating that around the world, the most worth subjects in every education system are the same ones. In fact, at the top of the most worth subjects is Mathematics, second Languages and third The Humanities. On the other hand, the less worth subject is The Arts which is at the bottom of this type of list that classify the school subjects from the most to the less worth of these subjects. This is proved in the daily life of every school student, when he/she is having a talk with his/her father o parents about their future and wath they would like to be or to study. It is common that parents tell their children that being a musician or something ralted to The Arts is not a safe way to be successful in life. But being a lawyer, an engineer, an architect or a doctor is a safe one.
Robinson stated related to the previously mentioned that 'very crative and brilliant people think they are not intelligent, because they were stigmatized at elementary and highschool, since they were not good enough in some subjects. So, we were born as creative people, but we grow as no creative people, because of tendency to educate people to study those validated successful carrers'. Furthermore, he mentioned that,' human beings has focused just on their heads, on their brains, on their minds, forgetting that they have got a body which needs movement to live. This is the case of some people that need more than their minds to think, in fact, they need to move to think which is the case of dancers, sportsmen/women, artists or musicians. In the end, if we want to get an original idea we have to be prepared to be wrong in some moment of our lives, since we can learn, because commit mistakes. Thus, nowadays, the children are growing frightened to make mistakes, which means no original ideas, no creativity, no learning process and waste of their intelligence'.
Afterward, he mentioned that what he was stated previously proves that there are many type of intelligence, and that intelligence has three main characteristics: Diverse, which means we can think, because we receive differente stimulus, from the enviroment where we live in, that we perceive through our senses; Dynamic, we can get ideas from different sources of information and mix them to build a new concept; Distinct, which significates that there are different and several type of intelligence and knowledge, and every type of intelligence is valid to be considered as a souce of success.
Finally, Ken Robinson told that 'we should think about how to improve our learning process and how we could better use the intelligence human capacity to try to find out the way to improve our life quality without damaging the ecosystem, because if we keep living in this way the entire human race would probably disappear from the Earth'.
In conclusion, I fiercely believe, this video shows what we should try to do as teachers to-be. Due to the fact that in our society we can daily see many children and teenagers wasting their lives in dishonest activities (for instance, commiting crimes) or doing some activities that do not make them happy at all (for example, when they must work, because they have not found out what really fulfill themselves or when they have to study something that they do not like completely or at all, since they got no more choices). In other words, we should help children to find out their own path, and also letting them to be creative, respecting their thinking, their tastes, their learning processes, their original ideas and their skills. This should be the real purpose of a teacher, to let flow the creativity of students, to guide the students, helping them to find out their essence and to take advantage of their essence, helping them to be successful and happy.
Robinson, Ken. "Schools kill creativity". TED(2006). Online.
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