Year 3 Number 64 February 6th 2002
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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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Dear SHARERS,
Over the last few weeks we have received a large
number of e-mails asking, and in some cases even demanding, that we used SHARE
to invite our readers to participate in different assemblies and demonstrations or to take part in
various actions like e-mail chains or telephone boycotts or that we should air
our views about the utterly difficult circumstances we all have to go through.
In the face of these demands we have invariably
expressed our deep concern but respectfully refused to use SHARE for purposes
other than those expressed in our mission statement.
Both Marina and I (and unfortunately our children) are
immersed in this terrible crisis like everybody else in this country. And like
everybody else, we have our own political ideas and have taken sides but we
have decided that those ideas should be reserved to the knowledge of our family
and inner circle of friends.
Politics with or without a capital “p” has no place in
a publication like SHARE. We do not mean to offend anyone and hope that our
standpoint is respected as we truly respect everybody else´s.
Let
us finish this brief introduction with a Chinese proverb that our dear SHARER Gabriela Dominguez sent
us:
If
there is righteousness in the heart,
there
will be beauty in the character.
If
there is beauty in the character,
there
will be harmony at home.
If
there is harmony in the home,
there
will be order in the nation.
When
there is order in the nation
There
will be peace in the world.
Love,
Omar
and Marina.
In SHARE 64
1.- The Changing World of ELT in a Nutshell.
2.- Phonetics and Phonology Course at
Centum.
3.- Pretentious
Language Bores.
4.- Curso de Postgrado en Educación a
Distancia.
5.- Three Tiny Drops of Humour
6.- How to help a Dyslexic Student.
7.- The Bs As Players 2002 Play Season.
8.- Bernieh´s Corner : Children´s
Literature.
9.- A Back to School Course in Saavedra.
10- February Courses at ABS International.
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1.- THE CHANGING WORLD OF ELT IN A NUTSHELL
The following is a reflection that Dr M. Bland wrote for
the City University of New York
TESL-List a few days ago. We thought we might all profit from reading what Dr
Bland has got to say about the quest for a “perfect” method.
Subject: Ways to present a conversation exercise
“On the topic of presenting a conversation
exercise, most contemporary language teacher trainers would react with surprise. What? Presenting
conversation exercises? Why that
is so démodé.
It seems that language teaching
methodologies keep changing. In the inter-war period (1920-1950) it
was all grammar-translation.
Next, the fad was ALM -Audio-lingual Method -
(1950-1980), a reaction to grammar-translation. The focus of ALM was the internalization of
"dialogues" or conversations
(I'm afraid your curriculum has retained
this focus).
ALM followed a five-step program (CIRVS):
(1) establish Comprehension,
(2)
provide a model for imitation,
(3)
use Repetition to the point of
memorization,
(4)
Variation, or the substitution of different tenses, vocabulary, etc. into the
original dialogue, and
(5)
Selection, using the memorized fragments to satisfy the user's own
linguistic needs.
Unfortunately, it was the rare teacher who
got to steps 4 and 5.
The last couple of decades have see the rise in popularity of the communicative approach. This seems to focus more on the don'ts than the do's:
(1) Don't use the target language as an object of study; use it as a vehicle of communication.
(2)
Don't teach vocabulary; work with concepts.
(3)
Don't teach grammar (never require the rote memorization of rules), let the student acquire his own
grammar.
(4)
Don't teach pronunciation: the
student's own pronunciation is the best
for him as long as it is comprehensible
to the greatest number of persons not
sharing that accent.
(5)
Don't give tests, scaling is preferred to testing.
(6)
Don't use lesson plans, teach students, not lesson plans.
(7)
Don't use textbooks, you know your own students' needs better
than any publisher.
(8)
Don't teach the microskills as
separate elements; it's a living language and one only performs autopsies on the dead.
(9)
Don't allow any of the native language to creep into the classroom. And
(10)
Don't teach; empower your students to take responsibility for their
own learning.
This last may be the wave of the future:
cooperative learning, but who am I to
say.
Mert
Dr. Merton L. Bland “
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2.- PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY COURSE AT
CENTUM
Our dear SHARER Professor Ana María Rozzi de Bergel sends us this piece of information:
CENTUM
Teacher
Training Department
Announces
its February 2002 Phonetics and Phonology course for Teacher-training College
students, in two modules:
1.
February 4th and 7th: Vowels and
Consonants
2.
February 11th and 14th:
Intonation
From
5:30 to 8:30pm
Tutor:
Leonor Architector
For
information and enrolment, contact:
CENTUM
- T. 4328-2385 - centum@velocom.com.ar
Bartolomé
Mitre 811 - 4th Floor - Buenos Aires
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3.- PRETENTIOUS
LANGUAGE BORES
Our dear friend from Córdoba, Valeria Mapach wants to share this “unpretentious” article with all of us:
by
Martin Wainwright
Guardian
Unlimited (c) Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001
A
guide to the favourite words of pretentious modern Britons was published
yesterday by a linguistics professor.
The
survey says the misuse of 20 keywords denotes an almost certain 21st century
heir to Sheridan's Mrs Malaprop, with her portentous talk of allegories sunning
themselves on the banks of the Nile.
Modern
grandiloquence is much less battily inspired, though, says Larry Trask, who
drew up the list as a sideline to editing Mind the Gaffe, a new Penguin
compilation of common errors in English.
Drearily
rehearsed politicians and PR spokesmen, he argues, have imposed a uniformity of
error whose only advantage is making pretention-spotting a bit easier.
"Anyone
using the phrase 'at this moment in time', for in stance, instead of 'now' or
'today', is instantly suspect," he said.
A
similar jargon disease in the business world had meanwhile made words like
'interface', 'exponential' and - a relative newcomer - 'hegemonic' further sure
signs of people uncertain of what they are saying.
Professor
Trask, who is 57 and teaches at Sussex University's school of cognitive and
computing sciences, said that his concern about errors in English had first
been triggered by designed-to-impress misuses among his students.
Apart
from simple error, he highlights pomposity's unerring ability to find a long,
complicated word where a simple, short one would do.
"Communicate,
for instance, is often used absurdly to mean nothing more than 'say', 'talk' or
'tell'," he observed. Essays by student mini-Malaprops gilded this
particular lily by going to extreme lengths to avoid repeating a word like
'said', with 'added', 'enlarged', 'commented', 'animadverted' and indeed
'observed' among the telltale signs of excessive linguistic thought.
Prof
Trask's own most hated pretentious keyword is "feedback" which he
described as "now almost devoid of meaning". He said: "It is the
number one pretentious word in the language today. No page of bureaucratic
prose can be constructed without it, regardless of the content, and regardless
of whether there is any content.
"This
isn't a trivial problem," he added. "Even graduates with good degrees
often find themselves with a command of standard English that is at best
inadequate and at worst distressing."
Aforementioned
should be banned outside legal use
Albeit
use 'but' or 'though'
At
this moment in time a puffed-up 'now'.
Communicate
use 'say', 'tell' or 'talk'
Empowerment
could mean something but in pretentiousese it never does
Epicentre
only seismologists need the 'epi'
Exponential
maths term, not 'fast' as pretentious think
Feedback
usually used for no reason
Fortuitous
use 'lucky'
Hegemonic
seldom correctly used as unjust domination by one group
Input
feedback's best friend
Interface
even the pretentious now shun this
Ironically
debased to cover even mildest quirks
Linear
should be confined to mathematicians
Octopi
bungled plural
Paradigm
most often used by people who don't know what it means
Peruse
means to study not to glance through
Privileged
now slipping into use as an insult
Synergy
challenge user on its meaning
Utilise
use 'use'
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4.- CURSO DE
POSTGRADO EN EDUACION A DISTANCIA
La Dirección de Educación Continua de la Universidad Nacional del Comahue -
Argentina informa que se encuentra abierta la inscripción para el Curso de
Postgrado en Educación a Distancia que responde a las siguientes
características:
Destinatarios:
Profesionales universitarios, docentes de nivel superior, coordinadores y
miembros de equipos de producción de educación a distancia.
Docentes responsables: Lic. Carlos Duhourq y Lic. Ana M. Schmid
Tipo: Curso de Postgrado (Actualización) - Duración: 280 hs.
Inicio: Octubre de 2001 (la inscripción se reabre mensualmente, del 1 al 10
de cada mes)
Duración: Entre 6 y 12 meses. - Modalidad de cursada: Abierta y a distancia
Lenguas aceptadas: Español y portugués.
Certificación: Universidad Nacional del Comahue Resol. Nros. 381/00 y
040/01.
Unidades modulares:
* Educación a Distancia hoy.
* Diseño de un programa a distancia
* Relación pedagógica y aprendizaje
* Lenguaje y medios
* Organización y adminstración de sistemas a distancia
* Evaluación en educación a distancia
Metodología: Enfoque teórico-práctico que acompaña a cada cursante en el
progresivo diseño y desarrollo de una propuesta propia con metodología a
distancia, evaluada por los docentes responsables del curso.
Materiales: Tres CD Rom, sitios web en Internet.
Servicios de apoyo: Tutoría por e-mail, teléfono, fax, correo convencional.
Una reunión presencial mensual y opcional en cada una de las sedes establecidas
(Neuquén Capital - Ciudad de Buenos Aires)
Aranceles y formas de pago:
El precio total del curso es de $550 que pueden abonarse en uno o varios
pagos.
Se prevén descuentos diferenciados a estudiantes de la UNCOMA, de la
Asociación ORIÓN, estudiantes universitarios e instituciones que presenten a
más de cuatro (4) cursantes.
Informes e inscripción:
* DEC: Dirección de Educación Continua - Universidad Nacional del Comahue,
Buenos Aires 1400 (8300) Neuquén, Argentina.
TE: 0299-449-0301 al 0311. Fax: 0299-449-0309 - e-mail: dec@uncoma.edu.ar
*
CAPTELNET: Av. Medrano 233 - 2º '6' - (1178) Ciudad de Buenos Aires - Telefax: 011-4983-3178 - e-mail: aschmid@fibertel.com.ar
Auspiciado por Asociación Orion:
Abo Akademie University (Finlandia) - Coimbra Group (Bélgica) - Universidad
de Granada (España) - Université de Poitiers (Francia) - Scienter (Italia) -
Universidad Nacional del Comahue (Argentina) - Universidad de Concepción
(Chile) - Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Argentina) - Universidad Nacional de La
Pampa (Argentina) - Universidad Nacional de Patagonia Austral (Argentina) -
Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco (Argentina) - Universidad
de los Lagos (Chile) - Universidad de Santiago (Chile) - Universidad de
Magallanes (Chile) - Universidad Nacional del Sur (Argentina) - Universidad
Nacional de La Plata (Argentina) - Universidad Tecnológica Nacional (Argentina)
- Universidad Autónoma "Juan Misael Saracho" (Bolivia) - Fundación
Patagónica Austral (Argentina).
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5.- THREE TINY DROPS
OF HUMOUR
Our dear
friend and SHARER Natalia
Carbonell sends us three short jokes. As we said three tiny
drops of humour that will surely go a long way these days of twisted faces and
few smiles.
One
summer evening, during a violent thunderstorm, a mother was tucking her small
boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor
in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?"
The
mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. "I can't dear," she
said. "I have to sleep in Daddy's room."
A
long silence was broken at last by a shaken little voice saying, "The big
sissy."
----------------------------------
"How
was your blind date?" a college student asked her roommate.
"Terrible!"
the roommate answered. "He showed up in his 1932 Rolls Royce."
"Wow!
That's a very expensive car. What's so bad about that?"
"He
was the original owner."
------------------------------------
It
was the day of the big sale. Rumors of the sale (and some advertising in the
local paper) were the main reason for the long line that formed in front of the
store by 8:30, the store's opening time.
A
small man pushed his way to the front of the line, only to be pushed back, amid
loud and colorful curses. On the man's second attempt, he was punched square in
the jaw, and knocked around a bit, and
then thrown to the end of the line again.
As
he got up the second time, he said to the person at the end of the line,
"That does it! If they hit me one more time, I'm not opening the
store!"
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6.- HOW TO HELP A DYSLEXIC STUDENT
Some
months ago the subject of Dyslexia cropped up in one of my classes. It was a
very pleasant surprise to find in my mailbox this article that a dear SHARER
Maria José Garfinkel sent me:
Consulted
on how to help a dyslexic EFL student, Myriam Risser from France advised:
First
of all: be patient with this student. For her, the best means to progress is
overlearning. Another students will know a new word when he has encountered it,
let say 10 times. She will need 50 times. She may learn her lesson in the
evening but won't remember half of it in the morning. Or if she does , she
doesn't understand it: just learned it by heart. Her short-term memory doesn't
work like it should while the information are messed up in her long-term
memory.
Else:
try to avoid any situation where her difficulties are put forward, like reading
aloud. She certainly knows or feels that somehow she's different from the
others, that she's unable to do tasks that appear easy to her peers. You don't
say how old she is, but you must be aware that she has certainly seen or felt
the difference since her first year in school.
And
then after a few months, sometimes a
few weeks, the dyslexic child is convinced that he must be very stupid, no
doubt, the most stupid in the class, not to be able to perform as well as his
classmates. Even later when he masters basics such as reading, his self-esteem
will be very low . That's why you have to encourage your dyslexic student, even
if it is for minor achievements. For example when you mark her work, try to put
emphasis on her progress, instead of only underlining what is wrong. Add little
remarks of encouragement.
She
should be given more time to do the same exercise, because she's certainly very
slow. Or she should only have half of the exercise to do while you mark her as
if she had done the whole. Be sure that she understands what she has to do.
Dyslexic people use different pathways in
their brain to carry out the same tasks: its their strengths once they
have learned to compensate their disabilities. A hell of a time in school till
they achieve this stage. Also she should write only what is strictly necessary
in order not to lose time and energy: to copy out is already a tremendous
effort.
Take
time to observe her, you will find out what are her major difficulties and how
to alleviate her every day struggles in the classroom. What works for dyslexic children works also
for the other children, but it's not the other way round. Traditional teaching
doesn't help dyslexics. It has been acknowledged that multisensory methods are
the best methods. With some imagination one is able to introduce little
exercises
on various basis that will be of great benefice to the dyslexics.
I
will send you ( privately) a conference I heard a few months ago on the
subject, but it's too long to join here. If others are interested let me know.
There
would be much more to say about
dyslexic students, how they learn and how to help them. They represent
challenges for teachers, because they are of average or above average
intelligence and on the other hand they are lost when they have to deal with
written tasks.
The
British Dyslexia Association has a good website . There's a leaflet concerning
the learning of modern foreign languages. www.bda-dyslexia.org.uk
Feel
free to contact me if you have further questions. I have no specific training
in dyslexia because it doesn't exist in France for teachers but it isn't possible to summarize years of
interest and reading on the subject in
a brief and concise way.
Myriam
Risser , France - r.myriam@wanadoo.fr
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7.- THE BS AS PLAYERS
2002 PLAY SEASON
Our
dear SHARER and friend Celia Zubiri sends us some information about what the Bs
As Players have in store for us this year. As every year of all these
successful years of your company: Break a leg, Celia!
MOPPYLAND
A 50-minute musical comedy for very young learners. Five successful years on stage! (Back again following
popular demand)
PETER
PAN, the king of Neverland
A
60-minute musical comedy for E.G.B.1. Join Peter Pan's magic world full of full of
adventure, suspense and fun. Help him fight against Captain Hook's new
plot.
FRANKENSTEIN,
a defrosted truth
A
60-minute musical comedy for E.G.B.2. Be Dr. Frankenstein's guest and feel at
home in his mansion but beware of his thrilling Secret!
RADIO
JAM A 60-minute comedy for adolescents. Have you ever been at an amateur
radio
studio run by three adolescents eager to collect money for their graduation trip? The most hilarious radio
backstage full of unexpected conflicts.
TO
BE OR NOT TO BE
A
60-minute comedy for adolescents. To be what?... Not to be what?... Heavy irony
and rapid-fire pace will trap the audience in this avant- garde proposal on stage.
A
MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
A
75-minute comedy for advanced students, based on W. Shakespeare's play in a free version by Celia Zubiri. A
happy comedy embodying innocence, poetic beauty and universal love.
BUTTERFLIES
ARE FREE
A
90-minute comedy by Leonard Gershe. A warm and touching play with a fine comic
sense. The sixties... true love... goodbye to prejudice...freedom!
The
Bs. As. Players Performing Arts branch presents
Abracadabra
- Drama School for Children
Break
Through - Drama School for Adolescents & Adults
The
Bs. As. Players Spanish branch presenta :
HORMIGUELA - Comedia musical para niños de 4 a 8 años.
Por favor, que comenten nuestro proyecto con sus pares de castellano.
Further
information : www.thebsasplayers.com
Teatro Regina. Av.Santa Fé 1235 -5º piso of. 502- C1059ABG- 4812-5307
814-5455
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8.- BERNIEH´S CORNER
: CHILDREN´S LITERATURE
Our
dear friend and SHARER Bernieh is back! This time with some sound advice on
Children´s Literature.
Hello,
dear SHARERS!
Martin
Auer is a renowned author of children books from Austria. His books have won
several Austrian and international awards and have been translated in many
languages. Due to the sad events of September 11th 2001 the U.S.,
nineteen stories from Martin's book "The Strange War" have been put
on the Internet and can be downloaded free of charge for educational purposes,
at:
Language
versions include English, Spanish and many others.
(Bernieh's
note: besides this, each version comes in three "flavours": PDF, RTF,
or
e-book.
Download the three versions, or just the RTF; the latter allows you to open and
manage the book in a regular word processor like Word).
About
his book, Martin writes: "Ever
since I started writing books for children, I have considered it important to
deal with the difficult subject of war and peace in a way that children can
understand. It seems to me that it is not enough to tell children that war is
terrible and that peace is much nicer. . . . But is peace possible? Or is war
an unavoidable destiny that keeps befalling humankind? . . . . Doesn't our
history class, as well as the evening news, teach us that war has always
existed everywhere in the world and is still with us? A culture of peace,
understanding of others, peaceful resolution of conflicts, all of that is well
and good: but what if the
others
do not want to go along?" [...]
“I
try to show how our actions can be interconnected in such a way, that the ones
who do not try their best to further their own interests must perish. But that
on the other hand by each of us trying to further our own interests we may in
fact unintentionally increase the loss or make worse the damage for all of us.
And that we cannot escape this dilemma unless we communicate with each other
and coordinate our actions. . . . the hard thing is to really see through the
complex ways in which the actions of individuals, groups, nations, states on
this planet are interconnected.
I
am trying to teach children to begin to recognize that sort of social
mechanism, and I think that this is a novel approach in children's literature."
Here's
a brief sample of Martin's writing style:
***
Fear ***
Why
is that guy
looking at me like that?
Is he afraid of me?
Why
is that guy
afraid of me?
Does he think that I want to hurt
him?
Why
does he think
that I want to hurt him?
I never hurt anyone!
I never hurt anyone,
unless he wants to hurt me!
So if that guy thinks that I want to
hurt him,
then it's only because he knows:
I hurt everybody
who hurts me.
So: he must want to hurt me!
So I guess I'll go right over there
and bash him in the mouth,
so that he can't hurt me.
Ouch!
His fist was quicker than mine!
Now here I am on the ground.
But didn't I tell you right away
that he wanted to hurt me?
Regards,
Bernieh
- Bernardo Humberto Banega (h) ICQ# 102443771
mailto:bernieh@bernieh.com.ar
/ http://www.bernieh.com.ar
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9.- A
BACK TO SCHOOL COURSE IN SAAVEDRA
Our
dear SHARERS from English and Fun write to us:
Instituto
San Isidro Labrador and English and Fun invite you to the following event to be
held on Tuesday, February 26th from 17:00 - 20:30 at ISIL Av. San Isidro
4640 (Saavedra) - Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Beginning
the year with Creativity and Variety
“Chit
Chat”
The
new topic-based course designed for young learners. A presentation by Miriam D'Amico - Senior ELT Consultant OUP
Successful
play requires involvement of all our faculties : intellect, emotions and motor
skills. Use games as a powerful medium for learning and help students develop
skills and attitudes through play.
by
Ms Patricia Gómez - Lecturer in Language I and in Children's Literature at
INSPT - UTN and IES en Lenguas Vivas.
Do
we really get pleasure from the outing in English with our students, may be the
only one in the whole term ? Let's learn how have a deserved enjoyable outing .
by
The Buenos Aires Players Team directed by Celia Zubiri
Registration:
4957 - 5285 // 4863 - 3648
// englishandfun@hotmail.com
This
event is free of charge but vacancies
are limited
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10- FEBRUARY
COURSES AT ABS INTERNATIONAL
Our dear SHARER , Laura Lewin sends us the schedule of activities of her Institute ABS International for the month of February:
Management
Courses:
all courses 4 meetings . starting 5th February
Coordinating
Successfully I (Tuesdays 10:00 am -12:00)
Coordinating
Successfully II (Tuesdays 12:15 am -14:15)
Marketing
for English Institutions (Tuesdays 14:30 am -16:30)
For
detailed information on these courses, check the previous issue of SHARE.
Teacher
Development: Motivate
yourself!
A
practical course designed to motivate teachers who want to gain new ideas which
will
work in their classroom and broaden their range of options for the future.
Wednesdays
5-26 - 10:00 am - 12:00 pm - (4
meetings)
For
further information, please contact ABS International
New
address: Av Santa Fe 2818 3 E Buenos Aires (011) 4829-0374
lewin@einstein.com.ar / www.abs-international.com.ar
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Time
to say goodbye again. We will be leaving this time with two quotations: one by
Martin Luther King that we received from Laura Lewin and the other from a
message by Pope John Paul II that Bethina Viale sent us.
"The
ultimate measure of a person is not where he/she stands in moments of comfort
and convenience, but where he/she stands at times of challenge and
controversy."
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“There is no peace without justice and there is no justice without forgiveness”
Pope John Paul II – 1st January 2002.
HAVE A
WONDERFUL WEEK !
Omar
and Marina.
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