Oral Presentation Analysis

     The four skills, listening, reading, speaking and writing should be implemented in an EFL class. My group was in charge of developing the speaking skill, in my case, I performed “Rules of Appropriacy”, which included delivering an understandable message. Thus, I tried to pay attention to eye contact and pronunciation however, I did not take into account the use of visual aids to catch the attention of the audience, and the use of new examples apart from those provided in the material.

     I found the material understandable, useful and practical. I noticed that some of my classmates had some doubts; therefore I tried to make the ideas more clear and repeated the most relevant concepts. Personally, I had the opportunity to prove by myself the principles for communication and Maxims of oral interaction, especially the principle of Quantity. It would have been useful to use this example in my presentation. As regards EFL class,  I could use these principles in class using as words as gestures as necessary to deliver an understandable message and to let students know the importance of learning English for a communicative purpose.

Spanish civil war

                                                                                                               

The calamity of a powerful country

     War has always been one of the worst things in humankind´s history. As a result of war thousands people died, and many other have suffered irreversible damages. The Spanish civil war, which happened from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939, was one of the most disastrous calamities of the 20^th century. The industrial decline and lots of Spanish overseas possessions caused confrontation between the Nationalists and the Republicans, who were in the government at that time. The Nationalists were conservative and catholic,   and had the support of the Church, the Army, the landowners and the industrialists. On the other hand, the Republicans were supported by the liberals, the socialists, the communists and the anarchists. For the Nationalist front the Republicans victory would represent a socialist revolution, on the contrary, for the Popular and Republics, the Right victory would represent the Fascism control. The division of the right and left parties implied the division between the town and the country side, the wealthy landowners and peasants. So, why is it that one of the most powerful countries experienced this calamity?

     Changes were needed in Spain in many areas. The Monarchists did not want to reform the country while people who wanted a republic hoped for reforms in the Spanish society. Some of the reforms were related to the agriculture area, as Spanish was an agricultural country, the south worked by landless laborers, and the north was worked by small farmers in poor economical conditions and starvation. Another aspect that needed to be reformed was related to the Church, many people resented the power and the wealth it had. What Is more, the Church had a monopoly in education and strongly opposed reforms.

     Other changes were needed in areas like the Army. This was over officered and poorly equipped. As regards regionalism, many areas wanted to be independent from the rest of the country. The regions had different languages and traditions. Republicans were for these demands, but conservatives opposed them stating that this could weaken Spain. As a result, the situation became so appalling that war broke out , cities and towns were ruined and Francisco Franco, who lead the nationalities group ruled Spain for 36 years with the support of the most powerful groups which included the Army and other fascist  leaders like Hitler from Germany and Mussolini from Italy.

     I strongly believe that war is the most dreadful thing that human beings have suffered through history. Many things had lead people from Spain to a civil war, such as application of new reforms and differences in personal interests but It is clear that most of the reasons had to do with strong feelings like alienation, animosity, hatred, enmity and envy as long as everyone aimed for their own concern, especially those who had more power.

My writing progress

        One of the major challenges I have faced during the Written Expression course has been to write efficacious essays. I have needed to improve my vocabulary as well as the grammar knowledge in order to succeed in formal language. In previous courses I used to write short paragraphs or compositions based on personal experiences. However, writing an essay requires more production and research for specific information, depending on the type of essay I need to work on.

         One of the types of essays I have written during the course is the argumentative one. It has taken me many times to gather suitable information from the web, and to decide the vision I would like to give to my paper. In addition, choosing the fitting vocabulary and grammar items to make the essay cohesive and coherent has not been an easy task. As a conclusion, I may say that writing an effective essay is far different from writing a simple paragraph, therefore, a paragraph is just the beginning of a convenient essay. So, everything is important and relevant in the world of writing.


New vocabulary items:

convenient: suitable or agreeable to the needs or purpose; well suited with respect to facility or ease i use.

efficacious: capable of having the desired result or effect. Effectve as a means, measure, remedy, etc.

thesis, paragraphs and essays

Art and Inclusion

Art and Inclusion:

Benefits and Barriers

       There are many reasons for people to focus on art. The first reason why art is important is that it provides us with inspiring ideas, symbolize aspects of the world and express meanings for communities, through for example pictures or plays about important events. The second reason is that through art children can develop a range of skills, self confidence and ways to work better with others. In addition, art events bring people together. However, there are also barriers for people to get access to art events, therefore, the state is expected to play an important role in including arts in the society.

     The first things we have to consider are the barriers which prevent people accessing the art such as lack of time, economic costs, family commitments, poor transport, social and psychological barriers. There is also variation in the type of arts events which people attend. People with higher incomes tend to go to classical concerts, plays and art exhibitions. On the other hand, people with lower educational attainment, social class and income are many times less likely to attend a range of art events.

     Fewer people participate in making art such as playing a musical instrument, singing, painting or drawing. In Europe and United States, the position of culture is arrested and being redefined and reset. At a physical level, the pressure arises from the global financial crisis. At a deeper level the breakdown is linked to a more serious disconnect between ordinary people and governmentality. There have to be ways to reset the public value of the arts as a contributor to greater solidarity and equality in families and communities.

     It is essential to point out the role of the state in including arts in society. State funding should provide greater inclusion in several ways. There should be better policy coordination, at national and local level, between art groups or organizations. As regards measures, data and evaluation, there could be outreach programs, public awareness campaigns, data on who is and who is not participating in the arts and statistics to measures the social impact on the art. Finally, there could be support for children, links between schools and artists, specific funding for disadvantaged schools and support for adult education in the art.

      As a conclusion, it is important to bear in mind the reasons we have to get access to theart as members of a society. Apart from the reasons, we have totake into account the benefits for individuals and society. Some of the most important benefits mentioned before are that art bring people together and that it is very important for children and their development at school. Art must be available for the entire society and state must play his important part providing the necessary elements to succeed in breaking the barriers that prevent people enjoy art in every aspect of life.

References

        Eapn,M (2012). Conversations about poverty network in ireland and Europe 
 www.creativecity.ca/database/files/library/eapnireland.wordpress.com
The Arts, Cultural Inclusion and Social Cohesion NESF Report 35 (2007)
    Files.nesc.ie/nesf. 
archive/nesf_reports/nesf_35_nefs_full.pdfreport.pdf

            

graphic organizer

CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH

          It is clear that many of the accidents on the roads are caused by the use of cell phones. So, adequate and  efficient regulation laws are necessary. In places where regulating cell phones use have been achieved, traffic accidents have fallen notoriously. However, there are still countries where regulations are needed, so people should ask authorities for them to be improved. Apart from that,  people must regulate their behaviour when they are driving and bear in mind that they may put their own life in danger.

Inmigration in Argentina

          During the past few years inmigrants from nearby countries have come to Argentina. People from Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay and other countries from South America have arrived Argentina with the hope to find a job, to study or to find a settlement. All of these people share similar socio- economic characteristics, as a result there is not problem in adjustment in Argentinian society, except for some cases of racial discrimination. Most of the inmigrants have found location in Buenos Aires, the capital city thinking about more opportunities to work or to study at Buenos Aires University. As regards employment possibilities in Argentina, it is not so easy to find a profitable job, even though, inmigrants think that here there may be more chances that in their own country.

Paragraph one

Educational alternatives in Argentina

          In my country there are several oportunities for people who procure higher educational degrees. For those who are interested in the educational sector there are many teaching training colleges, placed at states or private school. For those who look for science and technology fulfilment, there are many courses at universities or institutes related to these areas. For those who would like to specialize in medicine fields, there are also many courses at the Buenos Aires University. Finally, those people who are fond of art and design have a lot of opportunities to learn or to improve their talents. To sum up, regarding higher education, universities and institutes offer many chances for people who are looking for high degrees in further education.

Paragraph two

Educational alternatives in Argentina

          In my country, Argentina, many are the graduated students who decide to continue a career and become a professional. Despite of the fact that many courses and places are offered, students find it difficult to determine what and where to study. For those who are interested in the educational sector there are many teaching training colleges, placed at state or private schools. For those who look for science and technology fulfilment, there are many courses at universities or institutes related to these areas. For those who would like to specialize in medicine fields, there are also many courses at the Buenos Aires University. Finally, those people who are fond of art and design have a lot of opportunities to learn or to improve their talents. On the whole, Argentinian educational institutions provide a large number of courses and degrees, so it is up to the student´s choice dcide what and where to study.

Metacognitive analysis

* As regards overol meaning both topic sentences refer to variety of educational opportunities that are given in Argentina.

*I think the topic sentence from first paragraph is more specific and summarize the idea of the educational alternatives. The key words and ideas of the second paragraph are wrote in two sentences. From my perspective,  the paragraph is too short to write the introduction in two sentences, it may be repetitive. As regards conclusion sentences both are very similar.

*I think both topic sentences reflect the content of the paragraph, though the first one is more specific and appropriate because along the paragraph the idea of students doubts about types of courses and places are not specified.

*I have  found some synonyms such as, career-courses-degrees

*In both topic sentences and conclusion sentences ideas are repeated in order to restate the idea of the paragraph

THREE ELEMENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL ACADEMIC WRITING

        

• style
• correct pronunciation
• paragraphing

WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH

• a distinct section in a piece of writing with a number of related sentences
• one main idea or topic

PARTS OF A PARAGRAPH

1. TOPIC SENTENCE: an interesting topic with arguments.

2.BODY: should be organized according to the order of importance or order of chronology

3.CLOSING SENTENCE: which reminds the audience what the writer is talking about (restate the message) and let the audience thinking.

ELEMENTS OF A PARAGRAPH

• each paragraph must be easy to identify and start in a new line
• it must be focused on a main idea
• it must be well organized
• all its sentences must be related (cohesion)

THREE QUALITIES THAT MAKE A SUCCESSFUL PARAGRAPH

• unity that must share all the sentences in the paragraph
• coherence that makes all sentence be related
• development that supports the main idea with elements

UNITY

-The topic sentence states the main idea of the paragraph

-Start the paragraph with the topic sentence , which tells the reader what the paragraph is about

The Topic sentence is made up by two elements:

TOPIC (the subject of the paragragraph)

THE CONTROLLING IDEA (specific comment of the theme based on Wh-questions)

POSITION OF THE TOPIC SENTENCE

• first sentence of the paragraph
• elsewhere in the paragraph

COHERENCE

• sentences related to each other
• all the details in the sentence are fixed

HOW TO ACHIEVE IT?

• creating  logical bridges from one sentence to another (coherence)
• repeating key words
• using synonyms
• using pronouns
• using transition words

DEVELOPMENT

-details and evidence to support the topic

-illustrative points with examples to convince the reader

To structure the development : TEE Rule

T: Topic Sentence

E: Explanation

E: Examples or evidences

                                 

                              INTRODUCING PARAGRAPH

• it states topic of assignment and comment on its importance
• it states main argument to get reader´s attention
• how you intend to answer the question

CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH

• it summarizes the main points
• it states main conclusion
• assures that the question was answered (satisfy the reader)

A CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH MUST NOT :

-INTRODUCE NEW MATERIAL (THIS MUST BE IN THE BODY)

-END WITH A GENERALIZATION

-END WITH A QUOTATION

SOURCES:

Writing Structured Paragraphs. Available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w183qB0KDFg. Retrieved May 30, 2013.

Parts of a paragraph-English Academic Writing. Available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCuExRE6N-4. Retrieved May 30, 2013.

she is a writer

Chimamanda Nogozi Adichie was born Nigeria in 1977. She has received numerous awards and distinctions, including The Orange Broadband Prize For Fiction in 2007, and a Mc Arthur Foundation fellowship in 2008.

Stairway to the stars

      Chimamanda said that books enlarge imagination and that we should see human stories behind stories. This great author lived in a country that used to be an English colony, so, when she was a child she read English stories about white characters and their customs which were very different from Chimamanda´s background. She grew up under a represive and military regimen where African books were not so available, so as she was fond of writing she began to write about the only thing she had read, English stories. After that, when she was 19 years old she went to the university, in America. There, she realized that people like her could exist in literature, not only there were English writers in the world and that when we read as children we are affected by stories. Being in America Chimamda had a roommate who had heard about Africa as a catastrophic country, but that was the single story, not the complete one. The writer said that stories could break and repair dignity so as ecnomic and cultural power could make people believe only the part that powerful people desire. Chimamanda named some things that affected people  in Africa under colonialism, such as, the loss of dignity, of the ancestors land, the language, the story and the way of think. She said that when we write we must think about people and their stories. Once, she was asked about the reasons of being a writer and she answered that she wanted to take all mankind with her in a stairway to the stars.

          the country where Chimamanda grew up

                              

Chimamanda has a non-profit organization stablished to promote reading and culture of social introspection and engagement through the literary art

"farafina trust"

             

sources:

· Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story.(2009) Available at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=D9Ihs241zeg

· Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Commonwealth lecture (2012 ) Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vmsYJDP8g2U. 

                        · Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie´s official website. Available at 

                                                          http://www.l3.ulg.ac.be/adichie/

farafina.org

APA citation rules

APA CITATION RULES

Getting started

According to APA style:

• use an administrator program from Microsoft
• use 12pt. Times New Roman
• doubled spaced through up with Microsoft Word
• set to one inch on all sides (top, bottom, right and left margin)
• headers with a left margin
• organize the paper as follows: title page, abstract, main body and references

References

The basic rules are:

Label the paper as "references" at the top of the page but do not ilalize or use quotation marcs

citing books

First include the author´s name, last name first followed by the initials, include the year of publication between parenthesis, title of the book in italics, in subtitle only capitalize the first word eg;

Rutherfurd, E (1988)SARUM Great Britain: Arrow Books

citing articles from scholarly jourals

First author´s name, last name first, year of publication in parenthesis, title of the article, title of the journal in italics, volume number in italics and pages eg;

Hu, Y. Wood. J. F; Smith, V (2004) Friendships trhough IM: Examining the relationship between instant messaging and intimacy. Journal or Computer-Mediated Comunication,10(1),38-40

citing newspaper

First author´s name, last name first, title of the article in italics, number of pages with double pp: if necesary for more than one pages eg;

Elliot, C (2012; August 29) The skies aren´t always friendship to nursing moms. Buenos Aires Herald, p 13

citing articles from encyclopedias

First author´s name, last name first, title of the encyclopedia in italics with the word IN fists, volume and number of pages in parenthesis, city of publication, state and publisher eg;

Bergman, D. G. (1993). Relativity. In The New Encyclopedia Britanica (vol.26.pp.501-508).Chicago, Il:Encyclopedia Britanica

citing web-sites

First name of the author or authors, last names first, the date in parenthesis, title of the article, title of the journal in italics, volume number and page, indicate the DOI after a colon. If the article has no DOI simply include the URL eg.:

Wooldrige, M.B.,& Shapka, J.(2012). Playing with technology:Mother -Toddler interaction scores lower during playing with electronic toys. Journal of Applied developmental Psychology,33(5), 211-218. 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2012.05.005

Paragraphs

Metacognitive analysis:

First paragraph is an informal phone conversation between two friends
Genre: phone conversation
Register: formal
Context: two friends talking about their holidays

Ana:Hi! Vale, how are you?
Vale: Hi!, fine, how are you?
Ana:ok!, I ´ve been thinking about going holiday togeher, what do you think?
Vale:That would be a great idea, have you talked to Darlene and Jacky?
Ana:No, I haven´t, Darlene is as misserable as ever and Jacky never comes to visit us, I think she is still upset about last summer, you know. I´m sure you don´t want to hear about my problem, so let´s get back to those holidays plans
Vale:Yes!sure, how abou inviting Lisa, she is kind
Ana:good idea I´ll call her and then I tell you, ok? Bye!
Vale:ok! Bye, see you!

Seccond paragraph is an advertisement for any audience
Genre:  bikes shop advertisement
Register: informal
Context: a girl talking about bikes in the street

    I think bikes are very useful nowadays and everybody wants to keep it brilliat. You can go anywhere without spending any money but the necessary to keep them in a good running. I am a bikes fun, yesterday after school I spent the rest of the day watching the cycling on television. Oh! talking about bikes, have you got yours mended yet? If you haven´t come to visit us, in "speedy bikes" you´ll get your bike looks wanderful and comfortable. We´re waiting for you and your bike to come soon! you can buy a new one if you want, as cheaper as ever.

I am a writer (final edition)

"I am a writer"

          I have always dreamed about being a writer as my grandmother was. Never had I believed my dream would become true. By the time I was finishing school I started working on my stories. I have been fond of writers like Alfred Hitchkok and Agatha Christie, apart from my grandmother. As a result of having reading  too many stories about detectives and murderers, I have been writing this type of stories for many years.

          However, I have written successful stories based on real people and cases. One of this happened in my country some years ago and made me feel like a real detective and throughout the case carefuly. The case was about a woman who belonged to a wealthy family, and had been murdered. Many members of her family were involved in the crime and considered suspicious. After years of judgements, the husband was foun guilty and sent to jail. As a result of this, I succeeded in writing the stories I had desired for long time.

          To conclude,  I may say that writing about tragedies that real people suffer is not something desirable. Moreover, I think that being a true stories writer is not an easy subjet and most of the times I speak to the family of the victim before starting the issue.

Nevertheless I know my grandmother would be pride of my works and If I had to say what a life of a writer is like,I would say that writing give the life an especial and marvelous sense.

Pre writing ideas:

• I thought about writing as if I were a real writer, and thouht in real subjects such as writers or real characters
• I collected ideas about things writers say and what I would say as a writer in a formal note for a magazine
• I considered that the audience would be adult people

Drafting:

• I organized the ideas and wrote them
• I revised the language (formal words and expressions)
• I rearranged, added and deleted content

Proofreading and publishing

• I edited and improved the content and wrote the final version

sources:

http://lewis.cpsb.org/faculty_pages/stacey.blanchard/THE%20FIVE%20STEPS%20OF%20THE%20WRITING%20PROCESS.htm

http://library.thinkquest.org/5115/write_process.htm

http://www.dailywritingtips

I am a writer (first draft)

" I am a writer"

          When I was a child I used to listen to my grandmother to say those words every time she had an interview for a famous magazine. As I admired my grandmother and her wanderful works at writing I have always dreamed about sayn those same words "I am a writer"

          As a result of my admiration for some famous writers such as Agatha Cristi and Alfred Hitchckok I became a writer also. I have dedicated my works to suspense and thriller stories. Although I prefer writing fictions stories about crimes and detectives, I have written true stories that had happened in my country. I can mention one inspired in a true case of a wealthy family in which the woman had been murdered and several members  of her family were involved and accused. Some years passed and after several judgements the husband was found guilty and sended to jail.

          As a conclusion I may say that writing is the best job I could have. I feel glad about this, but the best thing is that it was the inspiration of my grandmother my best motivation.

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