Saturday 24 December 2016

L. Activity 5.2. Self-Assessment grid descriptors


-Using the self-assessment grid, look at the descriptors below (taken from the CEFR) and decide where they belong in the boxes:

1. Can introduce himself/herself, asking and answering questions about personal details, such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has. 

This statement belongs to A2 level in terms of spoken interaction.

2.Can summarise information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. 

This subject must have at least a B1 level in reading, listening and writing.
3. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help. 

This statement belongs to A1 level of spoken interaction.
4. Can express himself / herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex situations. 

This subject must have a C2 level in terms of spoken interaction.

Friday 23 December 2016

Group presentations (2/12/16)



Today we have dedicated our whole lesson to the group presentations about the collaborative project that all of us have done. As it has been reflected on previous entries, this group focused its presentation on the Swiss linguist Saussure. 

All of us were sitting in circle in the middle of the classroom, so the atmosphere of the class was more relaxed and not that formal. We were the first ones to present, but it was not a problem for us because we were perfectly ready for it. The most difficult thing was adapting all the information that we had to the 5 minutes that the presentation should last. We tried to summarize all the content to the timing without leaving anything important out. 

And finally, we did it!!! 


Then, the rest of our peers expose their projects as well. Each group had to assess two groups’ presentation so that we could evaluate reciprocally. We all did it very good and the results can be seen in the assessment sheets. Maybe there were some mistakes of content, timing or organization, but we are very sure that in the next projects they would disappear and the presentations will be better. 

In general, all the presentations were very interesting and we all were very concentrated on the content in order to learn many things about linguists like Chomsky, Piaget and Vygotsky. We hope that our peers would have learnt about our beloved linguist, Saussure.

On smarties, linguistics and understanding each other (25/11/16)


25/11/2016

On smarties, linguistics, and learning to work with each other



SCENE ONE

(A big, classroom. High ceiling. Walls painted a faded white. Windows can’t be opened, neither can shades. Students sit around hexagonal tables. They look worried and their conversation creates an agitated background murmur) 

(The spotlight focuses on five students at the table in the middle, next to the “windows”)

Alba: Do you have the pptx. presentation?

Maria: Yeah, of course I do.

Andrea: Ok. Anyway, I uploaded it to Drive, just in case”. (They all nod in agreement). And, Kike, you’ll be doing Maria’s part, right? (Maria looks up, questioning). The other Maria.

(Maria, the teacher, enters the scene)

Maria T:
Hello, guys. Thank you all so much for the wonderful presentations you’ve sent me. They were great. However, they weren’t quite what I asked for: they were too long. I think you worked too much.

All: (An astonished murmur) Worked too much?

(End of scene one)






SCENE TWO

(The same table, but the teacher is sat in it too. Two laptops on it. Kike’s eating handful of smarties Maria the teacher has given them)

Alba: So, do we have to redo it all over again?

Maria T: No, no. It is very good, just try to make it shorter so that it can be explained and understood in around five minutes.

Kike: But, it’d be a pity for all that work to not be shown. Besides, I can’t really decide on the slides. I like the cat one. (He looks at his hand, where the smarties had been. He then looks expectantly at Andrea’s. She hands him a couple).

Maria T: And so do I. It’s funny, but the video is too long. Try to summarise it, please.

Maria: We could put the first two slides together. You know, the ones in which we talk about his life and all that.

Andrea: Yes, and maybe also the ones where we talk about his predecessors and the people he influenced.

Maria T: Aha. That’s what I meant. You’ll see, we’ll get used to working with each other in no time. Things will go more smoothly then.

Kike: Yes, it’s that we didn’t really understand what we had to do, so we did what we are used to doing.

Maria T: I understand. It’s alright. We’ll just go with it and see what happens.



(End of scene two)

Sunday 18 December 2016

L. Activity 1.3 & 2.3. English as a Global Language & English Varieties



1.3. English as a Global Language


1. What is a global language?

It is a language spoken around the world. It is learnt by many people as a second language so as to be able to communicate with individuals from all over the world. Moreover, it is used by international organisations such as UNESCO in order to reach a mundial audience.

1.1 Is it the same as a “lingua franca”?

It is a sort of “brige language” which is used by speakers from all over the world in order to be able to communicate. It does not have to be their native language, but rather a language they learnt as their second one and that is used as a vehicular language to communicate within different languages. It is related to economic and trading interests as well as to administrative and diplomatic ones


2. Do you think that English can be considered as a “lingua fraca”?

Yes, similar to Latin in the Roman Empire, English is used widely as a means of communication when it comes to a wide range of areas such as education, sciences, economics, etc. It is the main tool of communication when you are in a foreign country, when applying for scholarships, when transmitting any piece of information with the aim that everyone understands all over the world, no matter what their native languages are.

3. Name other languages, from present or past times, which you think are, or were, global languages.

Latin in the times of the Roman Empire and in Medieval Times. French in the late ninetweenth and early twentieth century.

4. In your opinión, what factors make a language become a global language?

Socio-economic factors, power (mostly economic), science, knowledge. For instance, Latin in the M.A.was the language to register any kind of formal knowledge, similarly t what happens in English nowadays.





 Activity 2. 3: English varieties

1. What English varieties can you think of?

British/ American
Irish
East-Midlands
Wales
Scotland
Australian
South African
Indian

2. Provide a brief account of the main differences between British and American English.

-/t/ sounds
-/s/-/z/
-Intonation
-More opens vowels

Spelling: British vs American

colour       Vs     color
honour      Vs     honor
labour        Vs   labor

Vocabulary: British vs American

bonnet                Vs         hood
go on holidays   Vs         go on vacation
flat                     
 Vs    apartment         

COLLABORATIVE PROJECT



LET’S COLLABORATE!

Today we are presenting our first collaborative project!!! We had never done any collaborative task like this one and we were a bit confused at the beginning. We all prepared very long projects which would take half a lesson to be explained… Yet, once we understood what it was about, we went straight down to work! Basically, the class was divided among groups of five people and each group had to make a very short presentation about a linguist. We got to choose, and for us, Saussure was THE ONE. This way, the whole lesson was taught by us, the students, who learnt from all the other groups.

THE MAKING OF...

Here are two of us, trying to get Genially to work… Yes, we did not want to use power point, since we thought we might engage our peers’ attention better with this new tool. It took a while, but the results were worth it!

We got to revise our previous knowledge about Saussure’s dualism. We talked about language being structural, and thus a system of signs which were composed by a signifier and a signified. We reflected upon the properties of such signs: arbitrariness, linearity and value. We discussed the difference between “langue” and “parole”. And we learnt about his influence on several other linguists and artists! We loved the famous picture… “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” So we decided to wink at Saussure, the linguist who united our group, and name our blog: “This is not a blog”.



Ferdinand de Saussure and Structural Linguistics

This is us just before the presentation!




WE LEARNT

After doing this project, we actually understood the importance that collaborative teaching and learning entailed. The lesson was completely student-centered. All students had an active role: they were either presenters or evaluators of their classmates’ work. We all learnt from each other since we all shared similar funds of knowledge which allowed us to explain the key contents in a way that we knew the rest would understand.

We have decided to do some research and we have learnt a bit more about collaborative learning:

It bases on the fact that knowledge is a social construct and thus it should be approached from a social point of view. This is why learners are encouraged to work both peer-to-peer, which involves students working in pairs to solve problems, and group-to-group, which can be activities done in one class or projects that may take a week, a month, or even a whole semester.

Every day after class, students will enter a society where they will have to interact and cooperate with many different people from many different backgrounds. Thus, collaborative learning is essential not only in terms of teaching a given subject, but also in terms of teaching about life, society and culture. Moreover, they learn and are encouraged to develop schemata for real-life problems’ solving. 

L. Activity 4. European Languages Portfolio.


1. What is the ELP?

It is a complex instrument for self-assessment of languages competences in accordance with the reference levels introduces by the Council of Europe. In other words, it is a record based on positive recognition of what one can do.

2. Which three components are included in the ELP?

  • Language passport
  • Language biography
  • Dossier


3. What are the main aims of the ELP?

  • To allow learners to present their languages skills certifications in any language and any level.
  • To provide a basis for consistent self-assessment.
  • To estimulate lifelong language learning (with tolerance and respect).
  • To empower learners by transferring the responsibility to them.


4. How would you implement a portfolio system in a secondary EFL classroom?

We propose to link the European Portfolio with educational projects that are already carried out in Spanish secondary classrooms, as for example, the “Proyecto educativo de centro (PEC)” or the “Proyecto lingüístico de centro (PLC). This way is easier to implement it, since they are more familiar with this kind of projects.

L. Activity 3. CEFR


Activity 3.-Common European Framework of Reference for languages

1.-What is the CEFR?

The CFR is a set of standards, a guide, which is common to all European countries. It was published in 2001 and it develops language policies, it coordinates European members’ language policies and it promotes dialogue.

It has 3 main dimensions (language activities, domains and competences), 4 types of language activities (reception, production, mediation and interaction) and 4 domains of language use (public, personal, educational and professional).

2.-What are the main aims of the CEFR?

The main aims of the CEFR are to have a common list of levels to unify language proficiency when it comes to teaching and learning. It also covers assessment, goals, competences, skills, etc. since it establishes a series of guidelines.

3.-How many levels are described in the CEFR?

6 levels are described: A1, A2 (basic), B1, B2 (intermediate) and C2, C2 (advanced). They define the students' proficiency.

4.-How would you implement the CEFR descriptors in your classroom?

It can be implemented by projects in which students can show their receptive and productive skills. They can be used to support the design of curricula, teaching programmes and learning materials.

THE POWER OF EDUCATION (28/11/16)





First impressions are always important. Particularly in education. That explains why we all were so anxious during the first lesson of this module, because we had no previous ideas of what was it about. However, deep inside us we all had a strong feeling that it was somehow related to our maturing as teachers

Then came in the new teacher, Maria, with a bag full of energy and refreshing proposals. At first we were shocked by her methodological strategies. She wanted us to take an active role in the course which is what we are supposed to do, though, but sadly enough, throughout our academic life, we have been offered this opportunity in very few occasions. As always, the vast majority of us were afraid of speaking in front of the class. But from the very beginning, she stated clear that what she expected for us was hearing our voices, our real opinions, not how excellent (or not) our level of English was. Thus, step by step, we started to understand her personal vision of education, as well as what was the real meaning of this module based on collaborative tasks


We all know that our educational system is not perfect. We have experienced first-hand its failures and shortages. But now we have a real chance to improve it. To begin with, we need to understand that education shouldn't be a fossilized institution -as it has become in the last decades. Just the contrary, it is a field in constant change. As so, we as educators should become a sort of chameleons, individuals able to completely adapt ourselves to any unexpected situations. I don't mean just adapting our teaching to the needs of individual students, but being able to adapt the contents and the materials to the changes of the real world. In our globalized society, technological advances, multiculturalism and international conflicts are going to affect (or disturb) somehow the atmosphere of our classroom, and we need to be ready to cope with that. As teachers, we shouldn't shut the real world out of the classroom, but on the contrary, we need to learn to make the most of the information and the resources available for us. My point here is that if we want to create a significant connection with our students (who are technological-natives), we need to teach them how their reality is directly connected to the content they are studying at school. In a way, we need to make the world and the class itself comprehensible to their young minds. By doing so, we will help them mature both as learners and as individuals. 


On the other hand, we consider that education as a whole shouldn't be taught only at schools. It is a social issue, and as so, we all -teachers, parents, friends, family- have a certain amount of responsibility on it. Education goes beyond books and the basic principles of a successful classroom atmosphere -staying silent when a peer is talking, showing respect to the opinion of others, even if they differ from our own- as long as these principles are also valid for social interactions in the real world. Besides the academic content of each subject, education also means being a good citizen, in the sense of giving your sit up to old people on the bus, saying hello when we cross someone on the street or just respecting the order of a queue and avoid cheating. Small gestures like those make the life of all of us much easier. We all know so, but however, not all of us have been really taught into those principles. Our view is that if we really want to change education, we shouldn't focus only on the structure of the educative system, but also on the structure of society itself. 


After all, education is at the basis of a healthy society. Consequently, if we really want to improve it, we should ask ourselves two sorts of questions: ones directly related to the structure and contents of the educational paradigm nowadays (Which schools are successful and why? What do our students really learn? Is there a coherent succession between the different educative levels?) and others directed to our personal vision as individuals of the role of education in our daily lives (How much do I value education and the role of teachers as instructors? Is there anything I can do to improve it? What sort of changes should I expect from our political leaders?). Only by asking the right questions in both dimensions we will find the solutions to our current problems.





All in all, there are no magic solutions. The answer to our damaged system doesn't consist on importing a successful educational system from a different country (as many people try to do with the Finnish model). Neither we, as future teachers, have all the answers yet. 

But we have the good will and the energy to work hard and to find them! 

P.S, If you want to know more about this issue, here are some useful links:




Education and Creativity. Noam Chomsky. 


L. Activity 1. EU Language Policies - Group work




1. What do you think is the role of the EU Policies in Education?

  • Develop quality education
  • Promote life-long learning
  • Encourage educational cooperation between UE members
  • Foster the mobility of citizens
  • Develop educational programmes


2. What do you understand by EU Language Policies?

The European Commission has established language policy papers whose aims are fostering the importance of education in EU state members and caring about particular areas of their education and training policy.

3. Can you name any EU initiative related to Language Learning?


  • EU Portfolio
  • Erasmus + Programme
  • Erasmus + Internships Programme

4. In your opinion:

- What are the main factors that drive EU Language Policies?

  • The educational responsibility of the EU member states.
  • The objective to create a European education area.

- What are the main factors that make people want to learn a language?

Some people learn languages to learn new cultures and travel to other countries, but the majority of people do it for academic and work purposes.


- What are the main factors that make people interested in defending any specific Language Policy?

Speaking many languages is really important nowadays. Everything is globalized and so are we. We need to be able to speak in, at least, another language because it let us open our minds to the world. Fortunately, the policies support language investments and programmes.

Welcome!



Hello! We are Maria Jiménez, Alba Bodí, Enrique Maldonado, Maria Calabuig and Andrea Fachina and we are really happy to welcome you to our blog. First of all, we are going to tell you who we are. At first, it seems that we have a lot of things in common, but we are different in many ways. Maria, Alba, Enrique and Maria studied English Studies at Universitat de Valencia, so they knew each other when they started this master course. On the other hand, Andrea studied Translating and Interpreting at Universitat Jaume I. She didn’t know anybody at the very first day, but a few days later she became part of a wonderful group of people.







We have different backgrounds and ambitions, but we all love linguistics and teaching. We are here because we want to enter into the amazing and challenging field of education, since we believe that it is the most powerful key for shaping a better world.