Juvenile delinquency

Over the recent years, the number of crimes committed by young people has dramatically grown. Although some citizens may claim that our area still remains a safe one, I personally believe that there are two main social issues that need to be addressed.
One of the biggest problems is vandalism. This may be because there is a high density of population, especially in shantytowns, and when people live too close together they can become angry and frustrated. As a consequence, young people may take this aggression out of vandalism. I would suggest that this problem could be solved through video surveillance. Cameras should be set up in affected areas, enabling the vandals to be identified.
Another serious issue is the quickness at which proliferation of crime among young people is spreading. Even schoolchildren are being lured into crime by older children. However, a great deal of crime is actually caused out of boredom. As there is little for young people to do in the evenings around here, I´d propose that money be set aside to provide leisure activities for teenagers .
In contrast, there are some people who claim that the problem of juvenile delinquency does not exist in our region. They point out that our area is not as affected by crime carried out by youngsters as others . In addition, they state that the percentage of idle teenagers does not surpass the 5 % and that the local government is keeping the situation under control.
Even though some may think that vandals are not prominent in our area, I believe that more and more youngsters are nowadays turning into crime. I am convinced that if the measures I proposed here or any other effective ones were to be implemented, there would be a noticeable reduction in crime across the whole community.

Poem: "maggie and milly and molly and may"

maggie and milly and molly and may by e.e cummings

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach (to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles, and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles: and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
It’s always ourselves we find in the sea



I believe the four girls refer to only one person and that the trip to the beach symbolizes different life experiences from childhood to adulthood, either pleasant or not. The sea is a metaphor for life. Each girl experienced the beach in very distinctive ways, which represent the ways in which we go through different moments in our lives, how we experience them and how we feel about them. Similarly, we discover something new and challenging every day, no matter how bad or good that would be.

The message the writer wants to convey is that if we are lost in life we should reflect upon our experiences in order to have a picture of who we are. The last two lines constitute a violation of syntactic contiguity, realized by change of tense (from past simple to present simple) and voice. The voice is 3rd person except in the last two lines, in which the writer speaks. While the first part of the poem is quite childish, in the last stanza the writer’s attitude becomes serious and he makes us reflect upon the impact of life experiences on us.

Affective language teaching

Teaching and learning are based on communication and this involves much more tan the mere transmission and reception of a message. It implies connecting with the others through gestures, eye contact and body language as well as moving away form the self-centre to become aware there is much more than a student sitting in your class-there lies a human being, someone who has interests, needs, feelings and ideas to share with others. An affective language teaching approach generally produces an effective learning outcome basically because the teacher manages to go beyond the student and focuses on the human as a whole.
Knitting humanistic activities into the classroom allows teachers to create a relaxing and stress-free atmosphere. This is ideal for the teaching and learning process because it helps students to lower their affective filter and acquire language in a more relaxed way, since their self-confidence and self-esteem are enhanced in a non-threatening atmosphere. The flow of these positive emotions reduces anxiety and increases motivation and optimism.
Although nobody can deny the relevance of resorting to these activities from time to time, greater benefits will only be obtained if they were included in the annual plan. Some teachers are reluctant to include them in their classes due to lack of preparation time, the size of the classes or the lack of flexibility of their syllabi.
Whatever reason, a class will only become a teaching-learning community if members are educated and respected, decisions are shared and cooperation is favored over competition. Humanistic activities can only be carried out in non-threatening environments, where the concept of “team” outweighs that of “individual”. In these classes, communication flows naturally, values are respected and balance between reason and emotion are the stepping stones to reach a successful end.

Short story: “The revolt of the Evil fairies” by Ted Poston

The short story is about a young African American boy who attempts on, at least, two separate occasions to win the role of Prince Charming in the school's annual play. Each attempt to win the part brings him heart break since the role is awarded to "yarrlers," light-skinned African Americans. After Sarah Williams, his unrequited love since kindergarten, wins the part of Sleeping Beauty, the narrator goes all out to win the role of Prince Charming. Despite his efforts, Leonardius Wright, a "yarrler," wins the role of Prince Charming, and he once again assumed the role of the Head Evil Fairy.
On the night of the production, all proceeds as planned except for two instances. In the second act of the play, Leonardius raps the narrator over the head with his sword. Although the act was not in the script, Miss LaPrade quiets the narrator by telling him that it was a nice little touch. The second incident occurs in the third act when the vanquishing of the Head Evil Fairy is to occur. Just as Leonardius begins to take his sword to dismiss the Evil Fairy, the narrator cut loose with a right to the chin. Initially, the audience sees the fist fight as a new addition to the play until it fails to relent. Peace is finally restored after the curtains are closed, and when they are raised fifteen minutes later, the play continues as planned.
The theme of colour-based divisions within the black community itself is integral to Ted Poston’s “The revolt of the evil fairies”. The common held belief at that time was that lighter-skinned people were superior to the darker ones as the former group was thought to have some white features such as straight hair and white complexion. As a consequence of all this, lighter-skinned people had more opportunities in life and received a more favourable treatment.
At first sight, the Revolt of the Evil Fairies seemed to have a simple plot about a school annual play. However, after further reading, I came to realize that this short story is highly ideologically invested. Through the context of the play we learn that the colour based divisions within the black community itself are deeply engrained. The author in not merely narrating, but instead he is trying to raise consciousness about the harsh reality of the most disadvantaged members of the black community. He does all this through the use of rich vocabulary, wording of meanings, cohesive devices and humour.

How to survive in the twenty first century? Finding a way out...

The clock rules our lives. The more we try to save time, the less time we seem to have. In every area of our lives we are doing things faster. And many of us live in towns and cities which are getting nosier and more stressful as each day passes. Do you feel like there are too many pressures and demands on you? Do you often loose sleep worrying about tests and schoolwork? Do you eat on the run because your schedule is just too busy? If you experience these symptoms, you are probably suffering from stress.
But what can we do to handle stress? The best solution is to treat you body well. Experts agree that getting regular exercise helps people manage stress and eating healthily helps your body to get the right fuel to function at its best. It's easy when you're stressed out to eat on the run or eat junk food or fast food. But under stressful conditions, the body needs its vitamins and minerals more than ever.
In order to counter this rise of fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat the Slow Food movement was founded in 1989. Slow Food is a global, grassroots organization with supporters in 150 countries around the world who are linking the pleasure of good food with a commitment to their community and the environment. It all started when an Italian journalist, Carlo Petrini, saw that McDonald´s had opened a restaurant in piazza Di Spagna, the beautiful square in Rome. He thought it was tragic that many people today live too quickly to sit down for a proper meal.
I´ll give some tips that may help you reduce stress. Take a few deep breaths. This makes you breathe slower and your muscles relax. Exercise and try to think positive remember the good things in your life. Massage the tense muscles. The muscles in the back in the neck and upper back usually get tense when you are stressed. A massage will help them to relax. A hot bath or shower will also be useful to relax your muscles. Talk to tour family and friends about your feelings, it is important for them to know how you feel so hey can help you.
Personally, I enjoyed exploring this new way of making presentations. I believe that Pecha Kucha format can help you to make your presentation more vivid. But at the same time, I found the experience really challenging since to you have to compress a lot of information in only twenty seconds! I think it is also a tool which can help to develop visual literacy and ,in my opinion students, would get motivated exploring this new way of dealing with a topic.

When television is good, nothing is better; but when television is bad, nothing is worse

Television today is considered to be one of the most important and the most respected form of transmitting information. Its easy accessibility means that it has the largest audience of all forms of media and therefore the greatest impact. However, this powerful tool can be used for good and bad.

Firstly, the main aim of television is to entertain people. For most viewers, television is an escape from reality in a fantasyland of sitcoms and game shows. Through television people can fulfil their desires as well as witness a vast amount of experiences they would not have the opportunity to go through in real
life. In addition to this, television can take viewers across time and space to explore the world and life without actually travelling; it can be a window on the world.

Secondly, television is an excellent educational instrument, it can teach lessons in different subjects from Geography to Mathematics. Schools often use television as a way of educating students because on TV, they can demonstrate many things that cannot be done in the classroom.

On the other hand, violence on television affects children negatively. Studies at the University of Illinois found that children who watched many hours of television violence when they were at elementary school tended to show a higher level of aggressive behaviour when they became teenagers. By observing these youngsters until they were thirty years old, researchers found that the ones who had watched a lot of TV when they were eight years old were more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for criminal acts as adults.

Moreover, people strive to be as beautiful and intelligent as their favourite TV characters. This is, of course, impossible as their lives are false. Therefore, the unsatisfied desire to achieve this perfect “TV” life often leaves viewers feeling disappointed and with low self-esteem.

In conclusion, television can have both beneficial and harmful effects. It can be used to educate and allow people to see a world they might never have a chance to see in reality, but at the same time, it shows a mall, distorted view of reality, which can damage people’s view of the real world, and this can influence
how people think and behave.

Cosumerism

Consumerism is the equating of personal happiness with the purchasing of material possessions and consumptions. On the one hand, consumerism can help to develop the manufacturing industry as well as to reduce unemployment. But on the other, it only leads to personal short- term satisfaction and to environmental damages.

One of the main advantages of consumerism is that it stimulates the manufacturing industry. Manufactures are responsible for satisfying consumers’ desires for material possessions. Therefore, the more products people buy, the more products factories produce. Another benefit of consumerism is that it creates opportunities for those in need of employment. The insatiable demand for industrial products evidenced in today’s society implies that more staff is recruited by industries.

However, the main drawback of consumerism is that it leads to short- term happiness. For western society members, material objects prove to be an escape from issues of the real word. It seems as if compulsive buying was the solution to job, family or personal dissatisfaction. The problem is that people fail to recognize that this feeling of completeness is only temporary.

Critics to consumerism point out that consumerist societies are more prone to damage the environment, to contribute to climate change and to use up resources at a higher rate than other societies. For example, in 2002, a person in the United States used ten times more energy than a person in China and over twenty five times more than someone in China.

Consumerism can have both beneficial and harmful effects on society. It can have economic benefits on industries and on those who are in need of a job. However, it can damage both our mental health and our physical environment. If we continue to think that a feeling of well-being is dependent upon what we have, we will be encouraged to become, as Peter Russell points out: “human havings rather than human beings”.

Are zoos the right places for animals?

Zoos have not only been important sources of recreation in modern times, but they have been a part of human culture for thousands of years. What began as places of entertainment for certain privileged individuals have become places of recreation, education and research for everyone. However, it has been recently found that in zoos the oldest animals are being sold and killed and that these institutions also supply animals for laboratory experiments.

One of the main purposes of zoos is to entertain people. Amusement was certainly an important reason for the establishment of the earliest zoos, and it remains an important function of contemporary zoos as well. Most people visit zoos in order to spend an enjoyable time and any zoo that wishes to remain financially sound must cater to this desire.


On the other hand, zoos also have a negative side. It was found that they supply animals for experiments in laboratories In 1990, a zoo research institute was party to experiments on primates and wallabies. An experiment was carried out on marmoset monkeys in which their sense of smell was destroyed using surgical burning and chemical techniques. The object of the research was to discover whether the breeding rates of the monkeys improved.

Another bad aspect of zoo is that they sell and kill surplus animals. Some animals breed well in captivity and their babies are always appealing; but what happens to them when they get older? The biggest and oldest animals in zoos, such as lions and waterbuck, have simply been destroyed. Other animals may be disposed to the pet trade.

Are zoos exploiting animals for their own profit? Are they prisons for wild animals? Although providing amusement for people is viewed by the general public as a very important function of zoos, it is hard to see how providing such amusement could possibly justify keeping wild animals in captivity.

Scientific development

The Plain of La Crau, 1888- Vincent Van Gogh
I have chosen this picture because it portrays how life in the past was. And it can help us to think about all the scientific developments that have taken place in the last decades that make our lives much easier.
Now, let´s think about electricity. You walk into your house today, flick a switch and you expect a light to come on. You press a button on the remote control and you expect the TV to turn on. There are many things you depend on electricity to do each day, from washing and drying your clothes to working in your computer. So, how did people get by before they got electricity? If you wanted a light you would get a match, go over to the kerosene lamp, lift the globe off, strike the match, light the wick, put the globe back on and adjust the flame for the best light.
For entertainment people had a record player or a battery operated radio. You could not run the radio too much or you would run the battery down too soon. There were not very many radio stations then and most of them were at very distant locations.
If we take into account means of transport, we may say that the first form of transport was, of course, the human foot. However people eventually learned to use animals for transport. Donkeys, horses and camels were the most commonly used for transportation.
In the mid 19th century transport was revolutionized by railways. They made travel much faster. The Stockton and Darlington railway opened in 1825. However the first major railway was from Liverpool to Manchester. Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler made the first cars in 1885 and 1886. Meanwhile, at sea transport was revolutionized by the steam ship. By 1815, steamships were crossing the English Channel.
Farming methods have also progressed through history and this development of agricultural techniques has steadily increased agricultural productivity. A remarkable shift in agricultural practices has occurred over the past century in response to new technologies.

Mobile phones: a must in modern society?

Mobile phones are considered by many as an essential part of modern life, from the businessperson who uses the mobile phone as a vital link with the office, to the teenager or child who has the phone for recreational use. However, due to the vast number of new users, cell phones companies are not able to offer the standard service.


Many mobile phones users claim that one of the main advantages of ownership is the ability to contact friends or family in the event of an emergency. Most women who travel alone feel more secure knowing that in an emergency or breakdown they can summon help without leaving the security of the car.

Furthermore, mobile phones can allow a whole network of employees or offices to communicate each other no matter where they are. Even if each employee has their own land number, when they are away from that location they normally become unreachable. Thus, the effective use of mobile phones can help to improve both employer to employee and employee to employee communications.


On the other hand, the reduction in costs associated with owing and using a mobile phone means that many more people are now able to afford a mobile phone. The main disadvantage of this is that networks can become overcrowded making it extremely difficult to connect. The consequences of this could be disastrous, mobile phones owners are lead to believe that they can contact people in the event of an emergency when, in effect the overcrowded network may make it impossible.


To sum up, it may be said that mobile phones have improved personal and business life by letting users communicate at any time, at any place and at low prices. Nonetheless, cellular phones companies should take the necessary measures to provide all mobile phones users with an adequate service.

Organic food

A growing desire for quality of foodstuffs and a concern for the future of our environment have led to an increased demand for organic produce.
Organic farming involves producing food without the use of agrochemicals and in a way that does least damage to the environment. Organic farmers build up natural fertility on their farms by recycling manure and compost and by rotating their crops. Weeds and pests are controlled without using herbicides and pesticides.
In the UK there is programme that promotes organic farming. The Organic Farming scheme gives financial help to change from conventional farming methods to organic ones. About 425,000 hectares of land have already been converted. This represents about 2.5 per cent of agricultural land in the UK:
In 1946, a group of scientists, farmers and nutritionists founded the Soil Association in Bristol. They started this project when they realized that there was a connection between farming practices and the health of plants, animals, humans and our environment. The association aims to promote organic agriculture as a sustainable alternative to intensive farming. If you are interested, you can find more information in this website: http://www.soilassociation.org/.
In general, organic food consumers, manufactures and farmers strongly believe that organic food tastes better than non organic food. The prominent reason for this belief is that it is produced using organic means of production. Another benefit of organic food is that it doesn´t damage the environment. As harmful chemicals are not used in organic farming, there is minimal soil, air and water pollution; thus ensuring a safe world for future generations to live in.
Here in Rosario, there are some greengrocer´s shops which sell organic fruit and vegetables and there are some street markets which also sell them. If you try them, you definitely notice the difference in taste and quality.

Being a cartoonist

I found the experience of being a cartoonist quite amazing but at the same time rather difficult. In my opinion, it was not an easy task because you don´t have too much space to write people’ speeches so you have to resort to brevity principle, but at the same time, you have to create a humorous effect on the reader. I happened to me that when I finished making my cartoon and saw the final strip I felt a sense of achievement and I couldn’t believe that I had been able to make that cartoon all myself.
I chose this topic because I think that women and men have different views of reality and that there are some aspects they don´t agree at all; for instance, when it comes to shopping, men try to do it as soon as possible in order to get rid of it and without no one who accompanies them. On the other hand, women need to try on at least ten different shirts, visit three clothing stores and have someone who tells them whether it suits them or not.
While women always remember birthdays, anniversaries and appointments, men do not seem to care about them. However, they´ll never forget football matches! And some men even prefer staying at home watching their team matches instead of going out to celebrate an important occasion. That´s why the man in the cartoon looks surprised when his wife makes that proposal.
All in all, it is worthwhile having a try and believing that you are an artist at least for a while. In my opinion, this website could be a useful tool in the second language classrooms, especially with children. I think they’ll enjoy choosing the characters and emotions, seeing the final product and sharing it with their partners.

The reading process

During my intensive training, I became interested in the reading skill and I read some books related to it such as: From Reader to Reading Teacher: Issues and strategies for second language classrooms by Aebersold ; Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language by Nuttall and The transactional theory of reading and writing by Rosenblatt. Here´s a brief outline of what I´ve learnt in those books.

The study of the reading skill in the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) has undergone significant changes over the last century. In fact, the conceptual history of the reading skill can be traced back from its early role in the Grammar-Translation method to its current position in the latest approaches to TEFL. While in the past, the reading process was taken as a passive one, nowadays reading is considered to be inherently interactive.

Researchers in an attempt to describe the interaction between the reader and the text,have created models that account for what happens when people read. Three main models have been proposed: the bottom-up, the top-down and the interactive approach.

The bottom-up theory argues that the reader constructs the text from the smallest units i.e. from letters to words, from words to phrases. The top-down theory states that readers fit the text into the knowledge they already possess and that they check back when new or unexpected information appears. Finally, the interactive theory claims that both top-down and bottom-up processes occur, depending on the type of text as well as on the reader’s background knowledge, motivation and strategy used.

Not only did researchers create different models on reading comprehension, but they also attempted to identify the mental activities that readers use in order to construct meaning from a text. These activities are generally referred to as reading strategies.

Making sense of a text is facilitated not only by activating relevant schemata, but also by employing cognitive reading strategies which are determined by the type of text, the purpose for reading and the information that we need to obtain from the text.

From the teacher’s and learner’s point of view, the reading strategies proposed by
Harmer (1983) seem to be the most useful since he classifies them into two categories according to the students’ familiarity with a text.

Harmer classifies L2 comprehension skills into two types: Type 1 skills and Type 2 skills. Harmer stated that: “Type 1 skills are those operations that students perform when they tackle a text for the first time”. They include: predictive skills, skimming and scanning.

Type 2 skills imply detailed comprehension of a text and are used after students have performed Type 1 skills. They include extracting detailed information, recognizing functions and discourse patterns and deducing meaning from context.

“Yet it is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes comes to the to top” Virginia Woolf

Some time ago I realized that almost every night I have a different dream and that the dreams I have during the night always influenced the following the day in some way. So, I started thinking that dreams may have an importance in our daily life and it would be really necessary to learn to “read” them. As a result, I began finding out about the meanings of dreams and the implications they can have in our life.

Each dream is a mixture of our biological instincts, our cultural assumptions and our own personal experience. As we dream, our brains create stories from these ingredients. These stories are occasionally laced with complicated plots, and sometimes populated with elaborate visual images that help us unlock their meaning.

But, do you remember your dreams? It is said that five minutes after the end of a dream, we have forgotten fifty percent of the dream's content. Ten minutes later, we've forgotten ninety percent of its content. Why is that? We don't forget our daily actions that quickly. As they are very hard to remember and recall we sometimes do not give them much importance. However, as Virginia Wolf stated dreams can help us discover hidden feelings and emotions.

Here are some common dreams with their interpretation:

* You fail a test or perform poorly: you feel unprepared for something.

* You fall, fall and then wake up: it symbolizes insecurities and anxiety.

*You are being chased : you are running away from your problems.

*You teeth fall out: you are going to be set back financially.

*You lose your hair: you may be worried about your self-image

* You find a treasure: you are rediscovering a part of yourself.

* You are lost:it symbolises the beginning of a new phase of life and expresses the anxiety of leaving behind the familiar.

British pubs

The pub is a place to for a convivial night out. You can meet people, enjoy good food and drink and even join in a game of darts or snooker, a game similar to billiards.

The word “pub” is a shortened of public house; at one time ale houses were private homes where the occupant brewed ale and sold it at the front door. Poles were topped with evergreen branches were hung outside public houses so customers could easily find them. These were the earliest pub signs. Today there is an amazing selection of pub names depicted on colorful signs. Some of them refer to historical events or local landmarks while others include references to animals, many with their origins in heraldry, such as the “White Hart” and the “Red Lion”.

Another popular pub name: “The Coach and Horses” reminds us that many pubs were once coaching inns where travelers would stop for refreshments, a night´s sleep and to rest or change the horses pulling their stage coach. There were many coaching inns in London, with stage coach services to villages and towns.

Although it is possible to buy most drinks in a pub, beer is the mainstay of the trade. Until the sixteenth century, the UK´s favourite drink was ale made with fermented malt from barley. Then hops, were introduced. Their dried flowers were used to flavor and preserve the ale and ale became beer, although the two names are used interchangeably today.

Over twenty seven million of pints of beer are sold in the UK every day. Although breweries are mainly run by big national groups, there are many microbreweries serving a smaller area and a few publicans still brew their beers.

Tourism: blessing or curse?

Tourism is a profitable business that contributes to the economic development and wealth of a country and its people. Although various negative effects regarding tourism have to be acknowledged, the positive aspects cannot be left out.

Two of the main disadvantages of the tourist industry are the damage that excursionists cause to the natural environment and the threat they pose to the culture of local people. Excessive urbanisations as well as the construction of infrastructure are the root causes of many environmental problems such as the destruction of natural areas to build holiday resorts. As for the cultural aspect, it has been proved that local residents suffer greatly from tourism as their cultures and historical heritage are being destroyed by visitors.

However, it cannot be denied that tourism generates major financial benefits. The tourist industry is an important source of revenue to different regions as travellers spend their money not only on hotels and meals, but also on entertainment and recreational facilities. Furthermore, tourism stimulates employment. Owing to the fact that jobs in the tourist industry often do not require advanced training, local residents with few skills can readily work as food servers, retail clerks and hospitality workers. Tourism not only offers business opportunities to local residents, but it can also serve as a vehicle for marketing a place to potential residents and firms, as today’s tourists may retire or start a business in the place they are visiting in the future.

To conclude, tourism has some negative aspects such as the environmental damage to natural areas and the destruction of the local culture. However, it also has the significant advantage of promoting economic growth in an area.

Cutural background

Teaching English is not the same as teaching any other school subject since it is a second language. Thus, apart from teaching grammar, vocabulary, listening, reading, writing, speaking and pronunciation, we should also bear in mind the cultural aspect.

Different cultures have different manners and if we want to make a request in England we have to take into account than the British are much more polite than Latin American people.

The postcard on the top shows this in a very funny way. The man is about to drown but the gentleman only throws him the life belt when he asks for it in a polite way. In this website: /www.lgpcards.com/ you can find more postcards about how to be British.
Here are some useful tips that you could teach to your students about English customs:


* Visiting people in their houses:
When you are invited at someone's home it is nice to take a gift for the host and hostess. A bottle of wine, bunch of flowers or chocolates are all acceptable. Sending a thank you note is also considered appropriate.

* Say "Please" and "Thank you":
It is very good manners to say "please" and "thank you". It is considered rude if you don't.

* Say "Sorry":
If you accidentally bump into someone, say 'sorry'. They probably will too, even if it was your fault!

* Smile:
A smiling face is a welcoming face.

* Do not greet people with a kiss:
They only kiss people who are close friends and relatives. A handshake is the most common form of greeting among the English and British people and it is customary when you are introduced to somebody new.

* Avoid doing gestures such as backslapping and hugging:
This is only done among close friends.

Teaching ICT

Nowadays, it is quite clear that technology is everywhere. It influences the way we perform daily tasks such as banking, shopping, selling, communicating, among others. Therefore, we cannot avoid the fact that teaching and learning are also affected by technology. We must bear in mind that students are in permanent contact with technology at home. However, some teachers seem to disregard the significance of ICT.

As a teaching tool, the Internet has much to offer to both teachers and students. It can allow students to practise productive as well as receptive skills. They can practise English inside and outside the classroom. Students have also the chance to interact with real material such as videos, TV programmes, and on-line newspapers and magazines. These realia engage students in the learning process and contributes to the achievement of teaching goals.

Thanks to ICT, we can provide students with the necessary skills to explore new ways of working. This method could also be used in order to integrate English with other school subjects. For example, a project with a geography teacher could be carried out in which students have to find out about the UK. If you visit this website: www.nationalgeographic.com you can find very useful information about countries, animals and the environment.

But are we prepared to face this challenge? For those of us who lack experience with technology, this approach presents some difficulties as we may feel intimidated by thousands of sites, links and new terminology. Nevertheless, it is important to point out that it is not necessary for us to be experts in order to introduce ICT in the classroom. We just need to be competent users of the tools we are trying to apply in the classroom.

ICT has expanded the options for teaching English as a foreign language and it is makes learning easier and funnier. Now, it is our task to acknowledge this increasing influence of technologies in every day life, and therefore, their necessary implementation in the classroom.

In this site: http://http//www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/course/ there are guides that help you to share information online and there is also a useful dictionary to get acquainted with the Internet jargon (jargon buster).

Pepsi Ad

I´ve just come across this ad and I think it could be an example of the topic we dealt with last class. Watch this video and think what David Beckham presupposes.
As we have discussed in class, presupposition is what the speaker assumes to be the case prior to making an utterance and entailment is a relation between sentence meanings, or propositions. Presupposition can also be seen as a relation between propositions, although many linguists see this term as strictly pragmatic.
Presuppositions and entailments play an important role in determining the meaning of an utterance. They can be derived from appropriate logical representations of the uttered sentence, real world knowledge, and knowledge concerning conversational principles. Presuppositions are conjectural whereas entailments are deductive.
In this case, David Beckham presupposes that Jennifer López recognizes him and that she is going to say something like:"You are David Beckham, the famous footballer!” However, his presupposition is wrong since she tells him that he is sitting on her bag. Thus, we may assume that he is a bit conceited! Anyway. his beauty outweighs his vanity!
Have you ever made a wrong presupposition? Well, to tell you the truth I´ve made wrong assumptions thousands of times. I often anticipate to what the other person is going to ask me and I start my answer before the speaker finishes his question. Usually, this results in a communication breakdown.
Once I was at hospital waiting for a remiss - as I always travel with this company, I know most of the drivers- and a saw a bald man approaching to me and I thought to myself : “he can´t be the remiss driver, I´ve never seen him before”. He looked at me and asked: “Are you…?” and before he finished his question I replied:"No". After that, he made the question again: “”Are you Glenda?” So, I had to apologize and assert that I was his passenger!

Welcome to my blog!

Hi, everyone! I created this blog in order to post useful information as well as to comment about our learning and teaching experience. Besides, it´d be interesting to give examples of the topics we have been discussing in class.

This experience is totally new for me and I find it really interesting. I think it is a great opportunity for knowing each other a bit more and also for learning new things. Thanks to journaling we can feel free to express our feelings about our learning experience at the teacher training college. Besides, we can share teaching tips and activities. It is also a great chance to get acquainted with ICT.