5920 SHARERS are reading this issue of SHARE this week
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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
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Back from our holidays. Is it too pretentious to say that everything was perfect? But, it was! We had sunshine every single day of January with the exception of the last two days when it turned cold and rainy ( a big storm on 31^st). But we were already heading back and the fact that the weather was going lousy was, in a way, a blessing : we were not so sad to leave the beach. Claromecó being a beautiful but tiny seaside town on the Argentine coast, we thought Martin and Sebas might not find it very appealing now that they are fully grown fun-seeking teenagers but, to our surprise, they seemed to enjoy it as much as we (older, but still fun-seeking!) did. They “imported” a number of friends from Lomas, who stayed at our house, and made a number of new friends on the beach and at the disco. The sun shinning and the whole family together. Who could ask for more?

Back from our holidays also meant Marina taking over her new position as Head of English of a much larger school in Lomas and me starting my tour of the big cities in Argentina to talk about “Top Teens”, our latest book. Last Saturday I was in Neuquén at big event with about 150 teachers. I met Maria Elena and her husband from “Roots” Bookshop and Sylvia Mc Kenzie (from my neighbourhood!! ) who was also organizing the event. I also had a most pleasant surprise: I saw Rita Jonas, an old friend of mine I had not seen for about 10 years. Is all this important? Well it means a lot to me and,as usual, I just wanted to SHARE it with you.

Love
Omar and Marina

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1.- Florence Chaudet: A Tribute.

2.- The Thinking Approach.

3.- TPRS: Total Physical Response Storytelling.

4.-    On Language: Necking it down.
5.-    What Professors really mean.
6.-    Macmillan Teacher Development Courses.

7.- Third OUP Back to School Seminar.

8.- APIBA´s New Executive Committee.

9.-    Job Openings.
10.-   Centros de Idiomas: Estrategias de Promoción y Ventas.
11.-   The Buenos Aires Players: Previews 2004.

12.- Tools for Teachers: Two Seminars.

13.- Acting out songs Workshop.

14.- On the Road: Season 2004.

15.- Internet Courses on Language and E-learning.

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1.- FLORENCE CHAUDET : A TRIBUTE

Florence graduated as a teacher from Universidad Nacional de Córdoba where she taught English Literature until her retirement. A knowledgeable and dedicated teacher, a committed teacher trainer, Florence will probably best be remembered as a pioneer and leader of ELT professional organizations in our country.

In the early sixties, together with other colleagues from Córdoba she founded the Asociación Argentina de Profesores de Inglés. This Association, the first one of its kind in our country, was later to become the Asociación Cordobesa de Profesores de Inglés which, at the end of 1970, together with the Tucumán and Salta Associations convened teacher associations from the different provinces to Córdoba to set the bases for a nationwide organization. From the those meetings in the city of Córdoba, the Federación Argentina de Asociaciones de Profesores de Inglés (FAAPI) was born in 1971. Florence worked tirelessly and unhesitantly at the helm of FAAPI for almost two decades defending the standards of a profession she was proud of.

Today, on the fifth anniversary of her death we want to join the ranks of all those colleagues and friends throughout country who will say a prayer for her today and humbly want to dedicate this issue of SHARE to her loving memory .

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2.- THE THINKING APPROACH

It has already become a common place to say that we are living in the time of rapid changes. Language teaching is hardly an exception. Changes are often associated with problems arising from the necessity to adapt to the new situation. Traditionally, we try to avoid problems as the word itself usually causes negative connotations. It is even more so when another word - contradiction - is used in reference to problems. Contradictions are often associated with a situation without an exit and must be avoided at all costs.

According to the principles of the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) contradictions underlie every problematic situation. Contradiction is defined as a situation when two incompatible requirements are set to one element (both material and immaterial). In order to find a solution to the problem, it is necessary to identify and resolve one or several contradictions.

The Key Contradiction underlies the development of a class of systems. In the process of its resolution the system is growing and improving. The resolution of the key contradiction leads to the appearance of a new class or generation of systems.

Attempts at resolution of the key contradictions underlying language teaching appear to be one of the major educational issues for language teaching in the knowledge society.

Present Situation in Education

Language learning does not exist in vacuum. It is a part of education in general and its development depends to a certain extent on the tendencies in this field. The rapid pace of development of modern civilization is causing knowledge to become out of date very fast . It may happen that the knowledge students acquired in the process of studies is no longer useful when they graduate as the world has changed.

Key Contradiction of Education

Education must impart valuable knowledge in order to prepare students (and society in general) for the life in the future and education cannot impart valuable knowledge as it is becoming out of date faster than a teacher realises what and how should be given to students.

According to the rules of TRIZ, it is necessary to intensify the contradiction to make a step closer to its resolution. Then, the key problem of education will look as follows:

At present teachers must prepare their students to live in the world they both know nothing of.

Unfortunately, none of the currently used approaches in language teaching brings us to the solution of the above problem. (Littlejohn, 1998b). Any new approach to language teaching must provide the resolution of the contradiction formulated above. This need is supported by leading ELT methodologists. (Littlejohn, 1998b; Maley 1999 and others)

Specifying the problem (Language Teaching)

Taking into consideration the key contradiction of education formulated above, let us look at the key contradictions of language teaching. Following the distinction made my Michael Lewis (Lewis, 1993), we will describe these contradictions at three levels, namely why we teach something or the level of approach, what we teach or the level of method, and how we teach it or the level of procedure.

Problems at this level deal with reasons for choosing this or that approach to language teaching. If we accept that language teaching is a part of education, the language teacher is no longer responsible for just 'language competence' of his or her students. As well as teachers of other subjects, we have to cope with the problems facing education as such. Thus, the key contradiction at this level may look as follows:

Key Contradiction of Language Learning 1

Language teachers have to spend most of their time on teaching language as it is their primary subject, and they should not spend most of the time on language, as language competence is not sufficient to prepare students for the future life, which is the purpose of education.

When we speak we always choose from a great number of variants of the language those we find optimal for expressing our ideas. It is not just the matter of choosing the right grammar form - the situation is much more complex. We simultaneously solve problems at different levels - phonological (articulation, intonation, stresses), morphological (endings, verb forms, prepositions), lexical (synonyms), syntactical (word order), etc. We must find the optimal solution to all these problems in that very specific situation we encounter them. And this is absolutely necessary if we want to communicate the language fluently. The ability to find those solutions quickly means fluency. However, it never happens that we solve, for instance, a grammar problem itself. It always occurs, sometimes subconsciously though, that at the same time we deal with many other problems. In linguistic terms, we deal with paradigmatic choices at each level and, at the same time, interaction of language levels.

Key Contradiction of Language Learning 2

We must learn to solve problems of various aspects of the language separately in order to understand how they may work together, but we must understand how all parts work together if we want to find the optimal solution to every separate problem.

If we bring the contradiction to the standard form, it will look as follows:

In order to communicate fluently a student should be able to know all the aspects of the language (i.e. to possess all the necessary skills in all the aspects at once, to understand how they all work together), but in order to understand how they all work together a student needs to know peculiarities of each aspect and thus deal with every aspect separately.

The Level of Procedure

At this level we deal primarily with methodological aspects of teaching. The key contradiction may look as follows:

Key Contradiction of Language Learning 3

The content of the language course should be given in a linear way to make it easier to plan and conduct teaching (gradation, sequencing, evaluation, etc) and it should be given in a non-linear way as the nature of both language and learning (and our life in general) is non-linear and students need to learn to deal with real problems.

According to the rules of TRIZ, the ideal solution gives us a guiding line in problem solving. It helps us understand what kind of solution we eventually aim at. Thus, given the contradictions formulated above, we can define the features of the Ideal Approach to language teaching, i.e. the one which provides the resolution of the contradictions without causing unnecessary changes and complications to the system of teaching.
The Ideal Approach must allow us to do the following:

Lead students to the highest level of language competence and at the same time develop all the other necessary skills for the future life of students.

Make it possible for students to understand peculiarities of each aspect of the language separately and at the same time see how the aspects interact with each other.

Provide an opportunity for both teachers and students to deal with real world problems and at the same time to make it possible to plan the content of teaching

Here we do not conduct a thorough analysis of various approaches to language teaching. Our purpose is different. We would like to know what the currently used approaches can offer us for the resolution of the key contradictions of language teaching and education.

Structural (Grammar Based) Syllabus

It is one of the oldest currently used approaches to language teaching, however still popular among quite a number of teachers. The structural syllabus presupposes the “inventories of grammatical items and grading them as to the level of difficulty. The assumption behind most grammatical syllabuses seems to be that language consists of a finite set of rules which can be combined in various ways to make meaning. It is further assumed that these rules can be learned one by one, in an additive fashion, each item being mastered on its own before being incorporated into the learner’s pre-existing stock of knowledge.” (Nunan 1991, p.29)

Unfortunately, despite the seeming feeling of progress the students may have when completing a grammar exercise on a certain theme, the given approach leads us very far aside from the key problem. It does not even resolve the initial contradiction at the level of grammar as being able to use each grammatical item separately does not equal grammar competence as a whole.

Moreover, instead of preparing students for the future, the structural syllabus often pulls them back to the past forcing to acquire the language models which have been dated since Latin stopped being the first foreign language taught in Europe. (see Lewis 1986)

Functional-Notional Syllabus

The functional-notional syllabus appeared as an alternative to the structural syllabus. Its basic principles to syllabus design are described in Threshold level English (van Ek and Alexander 1980):

Components of the syllabus:

The situations in which the foreign language will be used, including topics which will be dealt with;

The language activities in which the learner will engage;

The language functions which the learner will perform;

Topics, and what the learner will be able to do with these;

The general notions which the learner will be able to handle;

The specific (topic related) notions which the learner will be able to handle;

The language forms the learner will be able to use;

The degree of skill the learner will be required to display

We may see that we again have a description of what should be learnt. Inventories of functions in functional-notional syllabuses are not different from inventories of grammar items. Thus, the problems are the same – being able to perform a certain function does not equal language competence as a whole.

Moreover, functions themselves are often trivialised. "The content of most materials is devoid of all the aspects of our lives which make them real: sex, violence, disagreement, real negotiation between opposed viewpoints, misunderstandings, etc. (…) English language teaching materials present a largely non-problematic, bland, uncontroversial view of life." (Maley 1999, p.3)

Does it help to prepare our students for the future?

Learner-Centered Curriculum

"Ideally, in a learner-centered system, content should be derived through a process of consultation and negotiations with the learners, the principal consideration being the communicative needs of the learners."

Agreeing that learners needs are essential to any teaching, there nevertheless arises a question if learners are always able to identify their future needs. Even supposing that they are, it is obvious that the variability of language situations even under identified topics is almost unlimited and what is important will largely depend on the situation. Thus, we come to the initial contradiction again:

In order to guarantee an ability to deal with every language situation we must teach students all possible functions/real world tasks as no transfer of skills may be guaranteed, but we cannot teach them all possible functions for it would be an impossibility as lists of common everyday tasks are endless.

Moreover, if we follow an almost sacred attitude to learners' wishes, will it ever be possible to create a ‘futures curriculum’ in our largely consumer society where hardly anyone is inclined to make long-term investments in the future?

Comprehensive Input (Natural Approach) by Krashen and Comprehensive Output Hypotheses

"A central article of faith in Krashen’s model is the belief that comprehension is the only factor necessary for successful acquisition."

An alternative to the comprehensive-input hypothesis is the ‘the comprehensive-output’ hypothesis by Swain, which stresses the importance of giving learners the opportunity of practising the target language.

Unlike the previous strategies, both of the above approaches are not aimed at grading the curriculum trying to find ‘the most important’ language to teach. They also make the classroom communication much more real. However, there is another extreme – almost no attention is paid to smaller elements of the language system as they are not considered to be essential for successful language acquisition. Thus, students are deprived of the knowledge of language resources they may need to employ to find a better solution to this or that language problem.

Neither of the approaches is concerned with the content of the material used for teaching. Language acquisition is the only purpose stated. It does not lead us aside from the initial contradiction of education, nor, however, brings us closer to its resolution.

Task Based Syllabus

Despite the original emphasis on the process of performing the task rather than the result, the task syllabus often fails to be an alternative to functional-notional syllabus it tends to replace.

"Examples of tasks – painting a fence, dressing a child, filling out a form, buying a pair of shoes, making an airline reservation. In other words, by “task” is meant hundred and one thing people do in everyday life."

It claims that classroom tasks are close to real world tasks. However, real-world tasks seem to be understood in a rather narrow way – just functional use of language in certain circumstances. And even if students master to do hundred and one everyday thing, it does not prevent them from getting stuck on one hundred and the second. Thus, the initial contradiction remains unresolved again.

3.- TPRS: TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE STORYTELLING

Our dear SHARER Ludmila del Valle Fraccia has sent us this article in which James Asher, creator of TPR, refers to research on TPRS, a further development of his well-known methodology.

First published in Learning Another Language Through Actions, 6th Edition-Year 2000 by James J. Asher. Also reprinted by permission of the publisher, Sky Oaks Productions, Inc., in Todd McKay's TPR Storytelling: Teacher's Guidebook in English, Spanish, and French.

Is there any research to support the effectiveness of TPR Storytelling?

Yes, there is. Todd McKay developed new products called TPR Storytelling. McKay furnished me with data from his students and asked me for a statistical analysis to determine the effectiveness of the storytelling approach.

A class of 30 middle school students who experienced TPR Storytelling (TPRS) were compared with a class of 30 students in a traditional Audio-Lingual Method (ALM) class. Both classes were exposed to the same set of vocabulary. Then both classes listened to a story none of the students had heard before, but the story contained familiar vocabulary.

On a ten item true-false test to assess student comprehension of the "novel" story (one they had never heard before) the TPRS students had significantly higher comprehension compared with the ALM students. The TPRS students had a mean of 7.6 and a standard deviation of 1.83 compared with the ALM students who had a mean of 5.83 and a standard deviation of 1.88. A t test for independent samples yielded a t of 3.69, which was significant at p < .001 for 58 df. (Note: p < .001 means that there is less than one chance in a thousand that we made a mistake in concluding that in the "population," the average performance of the TPRS students will be higher than the average performance of the ALM students.)

Jacob Cohen from New York University published through Academic Press, the book: Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, 1969. According to Cohen, "effect size" is the variance in the dependent variable that is "explained" by the independent variable. Remember that a "significance" test merely tells us that one group on the average is different from a comparison group. Effect size (r2) gives us an indication as to the magnitude of the difference. For data collected on human subjects, a small ES is .02, a medium ES is .12 and a large ES is .25. For my students in statistics, I recommend that if the significance test is "significant," always follow-up by finding the effect size and reporting this information to the reader.

In the McKay study, the independent variable was the instructional strategy of TPRS compared with ALM. The dependent variable was the true-false test for understanding a "novel" story. The effect size of r2 = .19 tells us that the independent variable of TPRS had a substantial impact on the dependent variable which was student performance on the ten item true- false test. Since the dependent variable had a low ceiling (of only ten items), it seems to me that the ES would be dramatically larger if the true-false test was administered for multiple stories instead of just one story.

Recommendations for follow-up studies

For graduate students who would like to expand upon this pilot study to create an exciting master's thesis or doctoral dissertation, here are some suggestions:

Be sure that the students in each group are comparable in age, aptitude and hours of exposure to instruction in a language program.

Use multiple stories rather than only one story so that the ceiling is high enough for differences in performance to show up between the groups. I recommend that the stories be "novel"-ones that the students have not heard before but contain familiar vocabulary that they have experienced in their classroom instruction.

McKay's books for Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3 have built in "novel" stories called Main Stories which would be ideal in future research studies. McKay prepares students for a "Main Story" with four short stories illustrated with cartoons that contain all the vocabulary the student will hear in the Main Story.

After students hear a Main Story for the first time, measure their listening comprehension with the ten item true-false questions which McKay provides. There are nine Main Stories. Plot a curve showing the performance of your students on each of the nine Main Stories. This is an impressive display to show parents and administrators.

Assess listening comprehension by playing either to the left brain or to the right brain. Here is how to do it: For the left brain, ask a set of true and false questions about each story. For the right brain, ask the students in the experimental and comparison groups to draw some pictures that illustrate what happened in each story. Code the drawings in some way so you know which group they came from.

Recruit two impartial judges who independently look at a drawing selected from the experimental group and another drawing selected from the comparison group.

Instruct the judges: "Is Drawing A compared with Drawing B better on "story understanding" or is B better than A?"

Next, have the two judges look at two more drawing without consulting each other. For example, they compare Drawing A and Drawing C. Then they look at Drawing A and Drawing D, and so forth. Deciding between only two items at a time is the simplest decision-making one can ask of a judge.

Scoring "story understanding" is simple: Which group (experimental or comparison) had the most drawings selected? To interpret the results, I recommend a statistical procedure called 2 x 2 chi square (in which the expected frequencies by chance are 50:50).

Students either listen to a Main Story for the first time or they read it. I suggest that every other story is for listening or reading. Either way, measure listening and reading using the left and right brain testing procedures I recommend above.

Assessing writing skill

Each student is given a printed set of familiar vocabulary items in the target language. They are asked to write an original story (the wilder and crazier the better) in a limited time period.

The assessment is a double-blind procedure. Two or more impartial language teachers shall look at each story. They shall not know which instructional group the student was in and they shall not know the identity of each student.

Ask the teachers independently to compare the stories two at a time ( i.e., A with B, A with C... etc. and make a simple decision such as which of the two is better on spelling? Then, compare the stories again for originality. Then compare again for grammar, and so forth.

Give each student a list of familiar vocabulary in the target language and record on video each student telling a story that they made up in the target language using the list.

Again in a double-blind procedure ask two more impartial language teachers (who do not know the students) to compare two students at a time. Compare first on fluency. Then view the videos again and compare for originality, and so forth.

After you score the stories for each student, determine the reliability of the teachers' judgements. This is usually a Pearson Product Moment Correlation for two judges (teachers) who independently evaluate each student in a group. This is critical because if reliability is unacceptable (i.e., r =.69 or less) then you should not take the next step which is to apply a "significance" test that will show which group excelled on a particular measurement. Every measurement must have acceptable reliability.

As a rule of thumb, if your dependent variable (that is, your assessment) is continuous, then apply a t test if you only have two groups. The assessments I have suggested are continuous. If you matched students on age, aptitude and other variables, then use the t test for correlated samples. If you did not match, then use the t test for independent samples.

If you are comparing two or more groups, you may use analysis of variance if the samples are independent or analysis of covariance if the samples are correlated. Your left brain may be complaining that, "This looks complicated! I don't understand it! What is this all about?"

Your professors can advise you. If I can be of assistance with a specific question, please let me know. My e-mail is tprworld@aol.com

The Office of Education would be an ideal place to submit for a research grant to support this worthwhile project.

A note to graduate students from the editor

I receive many inquiries from graduate students who want to explore TPR in a master's thesis or a doctoral dissertation. The basic research showing the effectiveness of TPR has been thoroughly established years ago. I did this work in a series of research projects supported by grants awarded from the U.S. Office of Education, The U.S. Office of Naval Research, The Defense Department, the State of California, and San Jose State University. For a summary of this work, see my book, Learning Another Language Through Actions.

What remains to be explored are the parameters of TPR Storytelling (TPRS). We need carefully designed research studies to answer fundamental questions such as:

Is there a significant difference in storytelling performance between students who acquire vocabulary with classic TPR compared with students who acquire vocabulary with gestures only?

Is there a significant difference in performance between students who experience stories that are exaggerated, bizarre, and surprising compared with stories that are mundane?

Is there a significant difference in performance for stories that are non-goal-directed compared with stories that are goal-directed, such as:

How to give directions to a taxi driver.

How to buy a ticket on the train.

How to find your way to the hotel, restaurant, police station, etc.

Is there a significant difference in storytelling performance between students in elementary, high school and college?

Is there a significant difference in performance between students who experience mini-stories compared with a standard length story?

How many stories are optimal before adaptation sets in? (Adaptation may be measured by student resistance as indicated by remarks such as, "Please, not another story?" "Can't we do something else today?" etc.

What is the optimal mix between classical TPR, storytelling and other linguistic tools such as grammar explanations, patterned drills, etc.?

How do storytelling students perform on standardized proficiency tests? Do they outperform students in traditional classes? If so, by how much?

What are the correlations between predictors such as academic aptitude, school grades, age, socio-economic status, etc., and the criterion of performance as a result of storytelling?

Note: Performance can be measured in short-term retention, long-term retention, and attitude ratings by students. Performance can also be assessed by ratings of proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing by teachers who do not know what kind of training each student has experienced.

I can see scores of exciting research projects for a master's thesis or a doctoral dissertation focused on developing scientific answers to these important questions about TPR Storytelling.

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4.- ON LANGUAGE: NECKING IT DOWN

Our dear SHARER Juan Pablo Souto has sent us this interesting article about “revolutionary” (?) changes in every day English.

By William Safire

Alexander Haig was the last four-star general to run for a presidential nomination. His campaign introduced two military locutions to political discourse: one was nuancal, ''subtly shaded,'' which did not last. But I still hear the useful phrasal verb to snake-check, which many veterans know means ''to examine closely.'' Before closing down his campaign headquarters, Al explained its origin: when awakening from a night out on bivouac, a soldier must snake-check his boots, which may have provided a warm home for a small snake during the night. To this day, candidates with military backgrounds like to say to aides, ''Have you snake-checked this speech?''

We have another retired general and another intriguing verb. Wesley Clark, during a debate in Arizona, was criticized by Senator Joe Lieberman for saying at first that he would have voted for the Congressional resolution that authorized the attack on Saddam Hussein's regime and later saying the opposite.

Clark denied flip-flopping, explaining that he ''would have voted for a resolution that took the problem to the United Nations.'' Pressed by the moderator, CNN's Judy Woodruff, Clark explained, ''At every stage as we walked down through this resolution . . . I took the situation as it was and necked it down to look for the least worst choice.''

I took note of the unusual locution when punditizing on Jim Lehrer's ''NewsHour'' on PBS and asked viewers for its meaning. Keith Babberney of Austin, Tex., e-mailed his definition: ''I have heard it used in reference to reducing the diameter of plumbing, automotive exhaust pipes and shotgun barrels. More broadly, I've heard usage along the lines of 'necked down his speed as he neared the policeman's radar trap.' ''

''It refers to ammunition,'' volunteered another viewer, Freeman Dennis. ''Usually the bullet and the casing are the same size. However, if one wanted to put a smaller bullet on the same-size casing, it would be necessary to close the neck of the shell casing to accommodate the smaller bullet -- to 'neck it down.' This is done to increase the velocity of the bullet or improve its ballistics. I don't see how this fits the general's comment, but this is what it means.''

Though some respondents in the metals industry said it described a coil of steel whose width is reduced beyond the point of utility, most zeroed in on the firearms application. ''The neck of a brass cartridge case is made smaller, or necked down,'' noted Peter Lindsay of Madison, Wis., ''to accommodate a smaller caliber, lighter-weight bullet. In this way the powder charge remains the same, packing more punch behind the projectile and (hopefully but not always) improving performance.''

The ammo usage has been extended metaphorically. When a road in Brooklyn was narrowed to allow room for a bicycle path, The Brooklyn Skyline led its story with ''Oriental Boulevard has officially been 'necked' down.''

Is this what Clark had in mind? When I queried his campaign, the general was too hoarse to talk to me, but a spokeswoman to whom he whispered his explanation of his reaction to the Congressional resolution had an answer. ''What he meant by necking down was this: at every stage he was faced with an already-made decision, and he reacted to that already-made decision. Necking down means tracking as the decisions evolve and coming up with your reaction. He is saying, 'Here is my reaction at this stage.' ''

General Clark was kind enough to draw a diagram of this fascinating process that brings the definition to life with what mathematicians and physicists would find to be graphic clarity, but I am unable to share it with readers because a copy was vouchsafed to me on background. It has nothing to do with hyping a bullet. After close snake-checking, I can report only that the diagram of necking it down looks more like a staircase.

TWIT

Paul Ignatius of The Washington Post, who writes a serious column about foreign affairs, departed from his usual style this month to describe Britain's Prince Charles in a recent photo as ''wearing a carnation, carrying a furled umbrella and looking particularly like a twit.''

He concluded his critical commentary about ''poor Prince Charles'' by noting unforgivingly that ''he blew off one of the world's most beautiful women for fellow upper-class twit Camilla Parker-Bowles.''

The word is not familiar to most Americans and is sometimes misused. A sportswriter for The Newport News Daily Press in Virginia reported that the great Redskins defensive end Bruce Smith ''was in a twit because Regan Upshaw started.'' (He meant snit, a huffy stage of irritation.)

A twit was originally an insult; the verb to twit meant ''to taunt, to annoy.'' Although the great British slanguist Eric Partridge speculated that it may have been influenced by twerp, deeper etymological research finds it rooted in the Middle English atwiten, ''to reproach.''

As a modern noun, however, it has been used mainly in Britain since the 1920's to lightly censure someone as ''a bothersome or feckless person.'' It is more of a mild derogation than an insult.

PIFFLE

Rallying to the side of the Prince of Wales was Boris Johnson, the editor of The Spectator. Writing in his column in Britain's Daily Telegraph, Johnson characterized the current wave of gossip that has engulfed the poor prince as no business of the rest of us and an inverted pyramid of piffle.

The inverted pyramid, familiar to journalists around the world, is a reference to the classic form of a news story: the meatiest, most newsworthy portion at the top in the lead, and less important matter toward the bottom, where an editor short of space can easily chop it off without affecting the import of the report.

In an original alliteration, Johnson married the pyramid to piffle. This onomatopoeic locution was originally a verb meaning to act feebly, as in Rudyard Kipling's 1896 use, ''They piddled and piffled with iron; I'd given my orders for steel!'' Piffle has since become a noun, usually uttered as an exclamation, meaning ''twaddle,'' nonsense in Britain, and in the United States -- when not exclaimed as an overly familiar barnyard epithet -- meaning baloney, malarkey.

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5.- WHAT PROFESSORS REALLY MEAN

Our dear SHARER and friend Graciela Cuello from Rosario has sent us this contribution of “special” interest to some “very special” scholars writing their theses or the infamous “tesinas”:

"This paper will omit a review of the more recent literature in favor of..."

Translation "I don't know if anything has been written on this since my dissertation."

"Various authorities agree..."

Translation "I overheard this in the hall."

"It is well established in the literature..."

Translation "I can't find the original reference."

"It is suggested that..."

Translation "I wonder if..."

"The implications are clear."

Translation "The implications are not clear (or I would have specified what they are)."

"It was observed that..."

Translation "One of my students noticed that..."

"No discussion would be complete without reference to the contributions of..."

Translation "I need another footnote on this page."

"Of great theoretical and practical importance..."

Translation "Of interest to me..."

"Further research will be necessary for a complete understanding of the implications..."

Translation "I can get another publication out of this."

"This research has left many questions unanswered."

Translation "I didn't find anything of significance."

"The typical results are shown."

Translation "The best results are shown."

"It is believed that..."

Translation "I think..."

"It is generally believed that..."

Translation "A couple of other folks think so too."

"Correct within an order of magnitude..."

Translation "Wrong."

"Thanks are due to John Doe for assistance with data and to Mary Smith for her valuable consultation..."

Translation "Doe did the work, and Smith explained to me what it meant."

"This finding has not yet been incorporated into general theory..."

Translation "Perhaps my next graduate student will make sense of it."

"A statistical projection based on these results."

Translation "A wild guess."

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6.- MACMILLAN TEACHER DEVELOPMENT COURSES

Macmillan invites you and your colleagues to take part in the following courses.

All events are free of charge but enrolment is essential as seats are limited.

Certificates of attendance will be given out at the end of the sessions.

Friday, 20 February - 09:00hs to 12:00hs

Enrolment: Librería San Francisco

Tel. (0387) 4318456 / 4310892 - E-mail: sanfrancisco@arnet.com.ar

Teaching Pre-Teens and Teens: Planning for effective learning

Come and Meet ¨Top Teens¨

Do you want your teenagers "to think in English" rather than "to think about English"?

Do you want to give your students a sound grammatical foundation? At the same time, do you want to move away from purely grammatical exercises and to get your students to communicate? Do you want your students to deal with real world characters in real life situations?

In this talk, Omar will present his model for teaching teenagers and his latest series for 11 + students : TOP TEENS published by Macmillan.

Stay Tuned to Your Secondary Students´ Needs

by Pablo Jorge Labandeira

On many occasions there seems to be a sort of bad connection between our pedagogical aims and what our secondary students want to hear and talk about in class.

A new Macmillan course for secondary students that offers unconventional and innovative ways to connect!.

Saturday, 21 February - 10:00hs to 13:00hs

Hotel Carlos V -Salón Emperador- 25 de Mayo 330, San Miguel de Tucumán

Enrolment: Librería San Francisco - Tel. (0381) 4228822 –

E-mail: sanfrancisco_tuc@arnet.com.ar

Teaching Pre-Teens and Teens: Planning for effective learning

Come and Meet ¨Top Teens¨

Stay Tuned to Your Secondary Students´ Needs

by Pablo Jorge Labandeira

Thursday, 26 February - 16:00hs to 20:00hs

Universidad Abierta Interamericana - Av. Pellegrini 1618, Rosario

Enrolment: SBS Tel. (0341) 4261276 E.mail: rosario@sbs.com.ar

Grammar What Matters

by Vaughan Jones ,author of INSIDE OUT, in his second visit to ARGENTINA...

It has been suggested - notably by Scott Thornbury - that we use grammar to cover distances. The distances can be either social or contextual and the greater the distance the more grammar we need to cover it. In the first instance we might try to cover the distance through gesture. If gesture won't do it then we'll use words. If words alone won't suffice then we'll use grammar. The basic point is that in the real world we use grammar when it matters: that is, when the social or contextual distance to be covered requires it. It's a simple idea but a very powerful one. In this session I will demonstrate classroom activities that are designed to make students aware of why grammar matters. Activities that will help them convey meanings in a more socially acceptable and/or communicatively competent way. The talk will be illustrated with exercises from Inside Out.

Teaching Pre-Teens and Teens: Planning for effective learning

Come and Meet ¨Top Teens¨

Stay Tuned to Your Secondary Students´ Needs

Pablo Jorge Labandeira

Friday, 27 February - 09:30hs to 15:00hs

Salón Auditorium de la Universidad Católica de Córdoba - Obispo Trejo 323, Córdoba Capital

Enrolment: SBS Tel. (0351) 4236448 E.mail: cordoba@sbs.com.ar

Grammar What Matters

Teaching Pre-Teens and Teens: Planning for effective learning

Come and Meet ¨Top Teens¨

Stay Tuned to Your Secondary Students´ Needs

Pablo Jorge Labandeira

Saturday, 28 February - 09:00hs to 12:00hs

Instituto I.P.E.I - Calle 46 Nº 421, La Plata

Enrolment: The House Booksellers - Tel. (0221) 4214396 - segui@net-alliance.net.ar

Teaching Pre-Teens and Teens:

Planning for effective learning

Come and Meet ¨Top Teens¨

Stay Tuned to Your Secondary Students´ Needs

by Marcela Marianelli

Saturday, 28 February - 09:00hs to 15:30hs

Instituto Marianista - Av. Rivadavia 5652, Capital Federal

Enrolment: MACMILLAN Tel./Fax (011) 4717 0088 Int.131 E.mail: eltinfo@macmillan.com.ar

Grammar What Matters

Stay Tuned to Your Secondary Students´ Needs

Pablo Jorge Labandeira & Silvia Tiberio

The Macmillan Essential Dictionary

The perfect tool to decode and encode language

The new trend in lexicography is to produce reference material that not only helps students to decode but also to encode language. Lots of gift boxes in this dictionary for intermediate students offer juicy information on grammar patterns, collocations, word formation, confusibles and other ways of saying. These boxes plus a very clear and attractive lay-out make this dictionary an essential tool for the development of the four macro skills. An optional accompanying CD ROM provides animated cartoons to illustrate the meaning of those words the intermediate students find difficult to grasp and also lots of colourful pictures and interactive games and pronunciation work for self-study.

Teaching Pre-Teens and Teens: Planning for effective learning

Come and Meet ¨Top Teens¨

Licenciado en Ciencias de la Educación (UCALP) Licenciado en Tecnología Educativa (FRA-UTN). Lecturer in the Area of Applied Linguistics at Universidad Tecnológica Nacional and ISFD Nro 41 de la Pcia de Buenos Aires. Lecturer in Didactics of ESP at Licenciatura en Inglés Universidad Católica de La Plata. He has lectured extensively in all Argentinian provinces as well as in Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Perú. He is the author and co-author of more than 20 textbooks, among them: "Polimodal English", "Resource Files", "Grammar Explorer" and "Top Teens" published by Macmillan.

Pablo is co-author of the series Connect! for Macmillan. He graduated from ISFD Nº 21 in 1993 and holds a university degree in language teaching from Universidad CAECE. He has been a teacher at upper primary and secondary schools since 1992. At higher level, he has taught at English teacher training colleges since 1994 and at ISFD Nº 29 since July 2003. He has also been a university teacher since 1995 and a speaker at regional and national congresses on pedagogy in ELT.

Vaughan has been involved in ELT for over 20 years as a teacher, teacher trainer and in ELT materials development. He has taught and trained teachers in the UK, France, Spain and Japan and given workshops to teachers all over the world. Since 1997, he has been involved in writing ELT materials. He is co-author with Sue Kay of Inside Out (Macmillan)

Marcela graduated as a teacher of English at St. Catherine´s Teacher Training College in Belgrano, 1982.

She has a vast teaching experience in both state and semibilingual schools.

Former FCE and CAE teacher at St.Trinnean´s School in San Isidro.

Former Regente de estudios at Instituto Superior Santa Trinidad.

ELT Consultant for MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS since 1988.

Gabriel Mohr has over 12 years' experience teaching EFL. He has taught general English to pre-adolescents and adults at prestigious language schools and in-company business English courses in Buenos Aires. Gabriel has also lectured on EFL methodology in many Latin American countries in the past four year. He is a Pitman Qualifications & City and Guilds International examiner as well as a Macmillan Academic Consultant .

Mrs. Tiberio is a writer and teacher with over 15 years' experience in teaching English to Spanish-speaking students. She has taught all levels and different age groups, and she graduated from Instituto Nacional del Profesorado en Lenguas Vivas Juan Ramón Fernández.

She has written Sailing, Explorer and Connect!, and she's currently writing a wide range of games and grammar-based activities for online use for Macmillan UK.

She also studied law. She graduated with honours from Facultad de Derecho (UBA).

For information on forthcoming events contact:

Our new numbers: Tel. (011) 4717-0088 / 0810-5555-111

E.mail: eltinfo@macmillan.com.ar

Website: www.macmillan.com.ar

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7.- THIRD OUP BACK TO SCHOOL SEMINAR

Come and join OUP and 6 well-known, top speakers who have been specially invited to this, the 3rd OUP Back to School Seminar. Share with us a day full of interesting talks and workshops. There will be something for everyone including some useful material and information to help you prepare for your next set of classes.

Date: February 21st , 2004

Time: 9:00am to 5:00pm

Where: UADE - Universidad Argentina de la Empresa - Lima 717 - Capital Federal - Auditoriums 2nd Basement.

Guest Speakers: Professor Aldo Blanco, Professor Silvana Sinkim, Professor Marisa Perazzo, Professor Mónica Marinakis, Professor María Silvia Laclau, Professor Susan Hillyard, and Profesor Claudia Bourda .

For more information on this event please contact the OUP Call Centre NOW:

Tel: (011) 4302-8000 ext. 222

email: callcentre.ar@oup.com

* $10 per teacher (to cover the cost of materials to be used at the seminar)

* in person from the Oxford University Press, California 2000, piso 3, oficina 315, Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Monday to Friday from 10.00-17.00, OR

* at the seminar on February 21st, from 8.30-9.00

Learning and teaching vocabulary out of the dictionary in a systematic way

It is easy to say that football is a game, an elephant is an animal, and fish is food. But what is a fountain, a frill, a feather, a dart, a dimension? Answering the latter questions requires the development of a skill which can be triggered by learning to use the dictionary in search of general, classificatory words. General words, or categories, are an essential part of definitions, and defining concepts is an ability that can be developed: learn it first yourself and then teach it! And you will see what large chunks of new vocabulary you come across in the process!

Collocations are another big chunk in every day language. They are not productive patterns and they are not idioms. They are in between these, and feature largely in natural near-native use of English. Collocations are a relatively new study area, and there are now useful materials to learn them and teach them.

There are several other techniques we can use to learn a foreign language straight from the dictionary in a systematic way: pictures, notes, and also techniques that we can introduce ourselves. But more on that, on February 21, 2004.

This workshop is about reading strategies applied to the reading material in Matrix. There will first be some theoretical background to reading, with special emphasis on reasons for reading, text types and how to approach them. I will go on to give some helpful tips to develop reading strategies related to the various approaches to texts mentioned before.

There will be a brief overview of FCE reading task types and a focus on the materials in Matrix. The theoretical aspects of reading will be applied to selected extracts from Matrix, together with suggestions for classroom activities.

This workshop will attempt to define humanism, holism and humanistic practice with a view to exploring the teaching/learning process and the underlying belief systems which create effective relationships. Participants will be expected to work through a series of activities related to humanizing the ELT classroom in order to take these activities into school on Monday. Practical activities include: vocabulary enrichment, presentation of new language, listening, feedback, speaking, teaching phonemic script, role-play including rehearsal.

In this workshop we will reflect on the role of teachers and some of their deep-rooted beliefs which may influence the teaching and learning process. Participants will engage in reflective tasks and learn about Action Research as a means to carry out research in the classroom. Instruments for data collection will be discussed and practical ideas provided.

Exploring the Language, Explore the World by Mónica Marinakis

When acquiring their first language, children pick up the language system as they explore the world and enlarge their knowledge of it. In this talk we will look at ways of providing children with a genuine context and purpose both for their language learning and for their learning in general. We will also focus on how language development and skill integration can be stimulated.

The development of oral skills by Professor Silvana Sinkim.

This workshop has been designed to raise awareness of the importance of creativity in the language classroom at all levels, with particular emphasis on the role of songs, rhymes and sound acquisition. Let's see how we can make the teaching of English interesting and participatory from the very start in the learning process.

Can all students be expected to be active participants in the learning process? More often than not there is a vast group of learners who will approach this task certainly ill-equipped. The best they can be offered is the opportunity to develop positive attitudes towards the foreign language and acquire effective strategies for self-training.

Pacesetter, a series which has been conceived with these objectives as guiding principles, becomes instrumental in providing awareness-raising activities and skill training practice. Hence, it is an invaluable tool to see students through the fulfilling process of learning to learn.

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8- APIBA´S NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The following is a reproduction of the communiqué that you can read in APIBA´s Website:

“Los siguientes socios resultaron electos en la Asamblea Anual Ordinaria que tuviera lugar el 9 de noviembre de 2002 en el Instituto Nacional de Enseñanza Superior en Lenguas Vivas "Juan Ramón Fernández".

Comisión Directiva de APIBA - 2004 - 2005

Presidente: Sandra Revale

Vice-Presidente: Laura Renart

Secretaria: Valeria Artigue

Tesorera: Silvia Rettaroli

Pro-Tesorera: Luciana Fernández

Vocal Titular 1ra: Isabel Onetti de Mora

Vocal Titular 2do: Corine Arguimbau

Vocal Suplente 1ra: Romina Nulhem

Vocal Suplente 2da: Cristina Banfi”

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Our dear SHARER Guillermo Biancotti has sent us this information:

Concurso para el Instituto de Formación Docente Continua de la ciudad de San Luis

Plazo: 27 de febrero de 2004

Cargos titulares:

3 cargos para Lengua Inglesa - 20 hs semanales

1 cargo para Cultura de los Pueblos de Habla Inglesa - 20 hs semanales

2 cargos para Inglés como Lengua Extanjera y Gramática Inglesa - 20 hs semanales

Los cargos se concursan por un año.

Poseer título de Profesor, Licenciado o Traductor de nivel superior

Presentar CV y proyecto relacionado con las tres funciones del Instituto (a quienes estén interesados, les puedo enviar el PEI del Instituto para que conozcan las tres funciones)

1 cargo para Lengua Inglesa 2 - 20 hs semanales

1 cargo para Lengua Inglesa 4 - 12 hs semanales

1 cargo para Lengua Inglesa 6 - 12 hs semanales

1 cargo para Cultura de los Pueblos de Habla Inglesa 1 - 12 hs semanales

1 cargo para Didáctica de la Lengua Inglesa 1 - 12 hs semanales

Para estos cargos, es necesario facturar

Poseer título de Profesor, Licenciado o Traductor de nivel superior

Presentar CV y desarrollar por escrito un clase (consultar a las coordinadoras del Departamento acerca del tema)

A quienes estén interesados, por favor comunicarse con Andrea Arellano: andreaarellano@hotmail.com

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Our dear SHARER Leticia Yulita from Bahía Blanca offers this position at her Institute:

Helen Keler Institute

Applicants should hold an official teaching degree (tertiary or university level) or be about to graduate.

The successful applicant will be eager to develop professionally and be a committed EFL teacher.

excellent working conditions

If you wish to apply, please submit your CV in Spanish with a copy of your analítico and a covering letter in English explaining why you would like to work for HK and why we should consider you for the job.

Please either post, deliver by hand or email your CV to:

Helen Keller Institute

Necochea 354 - 8000 Bahía Blanca - Pcia. de Buenos Aires

hk_institute@yahoo.com.ar and leticiayulita@hotmail.com

The closing date for applications is 20^th February 2004.

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10.- CENTROS DE IDIOMAS: ESTRATEGIAS DE PROMOCIÓN Y VENTAS

Our dear SHARERS from SEA (Asociación de Centros de Idiomas) send us this information about the course they are organizing:

Profesor: Lic. Juan Manuel Manes

Dirigido a Directivos, Secretarias, Recepcionistas y Personal de Venta de Centros de Idiomas

Módulo 1: promoción y venta de cursos de idiomas

* La promoción activa como estrategia de captación de alumnos.

* La venta de los cursos de idioma: características, beneficios y ventajas.

* Comprender las necesidades del cliente.

* Cómo son los clientes y cómo tratarlos.

* Cómo mejorar el cierre de la venta.

* Uso del telemarketing y el marketing digital como servicio de postventa.

Módulo 2: Taller de Aplicación

Estudio de caso y resolución en grupos.

Conclusiones grupales.

En el Módulo 1 se presentarán los fundamentos conceptuales del tema ilustrados con ejemplos concretos de la praxis en Institutos de Idioma. En el Módulo 2, se realizará la transposición de los conceptos a la práctica mediante un taller de aplicación.

Licenciado en Comercialización (Universidad Argentina de la Empresa), Update in Marketing Certificate (University of California, Berkeley), Strategic Management Certificate (University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School), miembro de la Asociación Argentina de Marketing y de la American Marketing Association, profesor universitario de Marketing de Servicios, consultor especializado en marketing y management para instituciones educativas, y director de Market Masters Consultores.

Miércoles 18 de febrero de 2004 - 09:00 a 16:30

Auditorio UMSA Av. Corrientes 1723, Ciudad de Buenos Aires

Aranceles NO Socios: $80

Informes e Inscripción: Tel/Fax: (011) 4516-0427 e-mail: info@seaweb.org.ar

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11.- THE BS AS PLAYERS: PREVIEWS 2004

All teachers are invited to the following performances at Teatro Santamaría - Montevideo 842 - Buenos Aires

Saturday 28 > 11:30 am

Please confirm your attendance to the different shows only if you are sure you will come.

For further information, visit: www.thebsasplayers.com or contact: thebap@thebsasplayers.com / thebap@arnet.com.ar or 4812-5307 / 4814-5455

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12- TOOLS FOR TEACHERS: TWO SEMINARS

“Tools for Teachers” announce:

Bring you hands to chest level in prayer position and as you take a deep breath raise your arms so that... In this workshop we will analyze how the language of instructions used to give commands for movement can be used as an extremely good source of accurate language with students at different levels of proficiency. This workshop shows a highly extended version of the Total Physical Response approach to language teaching. Come and enjoy a mind opening experience which will benefit your students as it adds to the repertoire of techniques that you can have at your disposal.

19 February, 10:00 to 12:30, SBS Belgrano, Ciudad de la Paz 1804, Phone 4 788 1963, Fee: $15

Visualization, the technique of making pictures in your mind, is usually associated with mind control, new ageish therapies or metaphysics. Strictly speaking, practically all of us visualize at one time or another. Visualization can be put to good use in the English Language classroom to teach vocabulary, grammatical structures, and to provide opportunities for conversation, among other things. Visualization is extremely useful to implement and can really help students become better learners. This workshop will tell you HOW.

20 February, 10:00 to 12:30, SBS Palermo, Cnel Diaz 1745, Phone 4821 0206, Fee: $15

About Tools for Teachers

Tools for Teachers, an organization recently started by Oriel E. Villagarcia, formerly with SBS, aims to bring teachers insights from fields not often associated with ELT. Oriel has been studying mind-body therapies for the past few years, and firmly believes that English language teachers stand to gain from activities such as meditation, mind calming exercices, energy work, etc., which might seem remote and strange to teachers who are busily looking for the "latest" technique or the latest approach.

Tools for Teachers will offer sessions on focussing (meditation), visualization, stretching and movement as Resources that teachers can use for themselves and also with their students.

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13- ACTING OUT SONGS WORKSHOP

Back in town? Our acting out songs workshop is refreshed after a nice summer break and ready to sing, act, and play...See you Saturday at 2 p.m., Bolívar 898. Don't forget to bring a song so you can invent the characters and imagine a daring plot! And, please, put on something sporty because we will be doing breathing drills, body expression, drama games and lots of other fun things.

Got a question? Call us at 4334-1561 write alfred@a-hopkins.com

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14- ON THE ROAD: SEASON 2004

Our dear SHARER Ximena Faralla has got an invitation to make:

On the Road is proud to present its Season 2004

Teachers are invited to the Previews of our Productions:

1 pm Hansel & Gretel

2 pm Red Riding Hood & her Robin

11 am Shakespeare Upclose , featuring adaptations of 'Macbeth' and 'Romeo & Juliet'.

About the shows: This year, we are offering new choices for our students to enjoy at their schools. On the Road takes the shows over to your school, adapting the plays to any kind of room at your Institution. The classroom, the playground, a hall, the school theatre... virtually, any place is a potential stage when there´s a story to perfom.

Aladdin - a Prince invisible to the eye. An adaptation of the adventurous fairy tale for all Primary School.

Hansel & Gretel - a mini play for the little ones. On the Road has turned the famous Grimm brothers' story into this yummy 35 minute play for Kindergarten and EGB 1.

Red Riding Hood and her Robin - The story of Little Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood. A 25 minute long enacted storytelling session in which we join these two classics with an unexpected turn!

Shakespeare Upclose - The possibility of enjoying two of William Shakespeare´s most famous plays with a variety of settings in time:

* Macbeth. Set in Shakespearean times, a 45 minute version of one of his most famous tragedies. Intense, real and precise, this production of Macbeth deals with the main character´s ambition, particularly enhancing the witches´ influence over his fate. Breaking the traditional rule for tragedies holding murders offstage, the reality of this show brings audiences closer to Macbeth´s tormented ambition and Lady Macbeth´s insanity.

* Romeo & Juliet- Set in the present, our half hour production of this unique, star-crossed love story aims at the adolescents in the audience identifying with the ones in the play, bridging over to them through the carefully designed music and songs.

All previews at "The Playhouse" - Moreno 80 , San Isidro.

Limited seats! Bookings & info --> 4568-7125 / info@ontheroadonline.com

All the best for this 2004,

Director - On the Road - www.ontheroadonline.com

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15- INTERNET COURSES ON LANGUAGE AND E- LEARNING

Our dear SHARER Susana Trabaldo has sent us this information about her forthcoming courses:

Prepositions and Phrasal Verbs. How to teach them and how to learn them.

Starting date: Tuesday, 24 February

Tutor: Prof Aldo Blanco M.A.

Duration : 6 weeks -

Fee: AR$ 160.- (Argentina) /US$110 (abroad)

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We would like to finish this issue of SHARE with a message that our dear SHARER Lilly Alpert sent us:

Today I went to church and i would like to share the meditation of the day with you:
'the grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for´'
Joseph Addison.

The very best for the coming new year,
Lilly

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!
Omar and Marina.

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SHARE is distributed free of charge. All announcements in this electronic magazine are also absolutely free of charge. We do not endorse any of the services 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.