Queridos Alunos,
Depois dessas semanas de férias no USA, vamos reiniciar nossos trabalhos com muita alegria e energia!
Trouxe materiais bastante interessantes para animar nossas aulas e facilitar a compreensão dos conteúdos aprendidos.
Para quem não reservou seu horário, ainda há vagas disponíveis pela manhã, porém a tarde já estão esgotadas.
Agradeço o carinho de sempre e aguardo por todos com um sorriso.
XOXOXOXO – Traduzindo – Beijos e abraços
Há muitos benefícios de estudar para os alunos idosos, como o aumento da auto-confiança, aumento das sensações de saúde e bem-estar, redução de sentimentos de isolamento e maior envolvimento na comunidade.
Muitos idosos desejam estudar uma língua estrangeira e agora há provas substanciais de que eles podem aprender um novo idioma de forma eficaz. Minha experiência é que os alunos seniores são excelentes alunos de idiomas para uma série de razões.
Experiência de vida
alunos idosos têm uma riqueza de experiência de vida e quando trazem isso para a sala de aula, enriquecem a experiência de aprendizagem de toda a classe. Professores comentam que os alunos mais velhos são excelentes na sala de aula, pois estão sempre dispostos a falar sobre suas experiências e dar as suas opiniões sobre uma vasta gama de tópicos.
Grande motivação
Alunos seniores normalmente não precisa de um certificado, diploma ou crédito universidade; sua motivação é intrínseca. Eles podem estudar por prazer intelectual, para socializar com seus pares ou porque é algo que sempre quiseram fazer. Na verdade, os alunos seniores são muitas vezes mais altamente motivados do que os estudantes mais jovens. O nível elevado de motivação é uma grande vantagem que foi identificada como um dos factores mais importantes na determinação de aprendizagem de línguas. A motivação dos alunos seniores é refletida pelo fato de que eles raramente perdem uma aula, participam de forma muito ativa na sala de aula e sempre fazem sua lição de casa.
Elemento social
Descobrimos que existe uma forte componente social em idosos que frequentam aulas de inglês. Eles costumam assistir às aulas para se misturar com os seus pares, formando amizades muito fortes e socializando depois da aula e até mesmo em seu tempo livre.
Atitude
Nossa experiência é que os alunos seniores têm uma atitude extremamente positiva em relação à aprendizagem de línguas e da vida em geral. Eles tratam ambos os seus professores e seus colegas com o maior respeito e cortesia. Professores costumam comentar sobre alunos seniores como gentis, atenciosos e trabalhadores e que é um prazer.
Portanto, a nossa experiência é que a experiência de vida, a motivação para aprender, e atitude positiva dos alunos seniores proporcionam -lhes muitas vantagens como estudantes de línguas.
No entanto, existem fatores cognitivos, afetivos e fisiológicos que podem afetar a aprendizagem de línguas depois da 3a idade e a isso precisamos ficar atentos.
Autor:
Kieran Donaghy
© BBC World Service, Bush House, Strand, Londres WC2B 4PH, UK
Atualmente, na área da Educação, a expressão educação bilíngue está em alta e, infelizmente, muitas escolas utilizam o termo inadequadamente por desconhecimento ou tática de marketing, afinal, qual é o pai que não gostaria de ter um filho fluente em dois idiomas?
Entretanto, não basta uma escola intitular-se bilíngue para, de fato, ser. Como atualmente não existe uma legislação específica que determine se uma escola é bilíngue, é importante que pais estejam cientes sobre como identificar se a escola se enquadra na definição.
1- Não basta escolas aumentarem a carga horária.
O ensino bilíngue consiste no ensino EM um segundo idioma e não DE um idioma, em diferentes graus de imersão. Ou seja, não basta a escola ter aulas de inglês todos os dias da semana para considerar-se bilíngue.
2- Não há tradução em educação bilíngue.
Quem faz tradução são cursos de idioma ou aulas de idiomas dentro de uma escola tradicional. Se seu filho demonstrar sempre que aprendeu que apple é maçã, que car é carro e que tree é árvore, pode tratar-se de um sinal de alerta. Em uma aula bilíngue, mesmo que as crianças que estejam em processo inicial de aprendizado perguntem à professora ou professor “mas o que é apple?”, o professor nunca responderá “maçã”. Ele poderá mostrar uma maçã e dizer: “This is an apple!” ou então “Apple is a delicious red fruit every child loves!”
3- A formação dos professores é diferenciada.
Outros fatores que os pais devem analisar são o currículo e a experiência dos professores. Em qualquer profissão isso é importante, mas escolas bilíngues sérias, além de recrutarem profissionais capacitados e experientes, investem na carreira de seus funcionários, com cursos de especialização, palestras e participação em convenções para atualização e aprimoramento no nível do ensino.
Professores bilíngues geralmente têm vivência no exterior, podem ou não ser nativos, mas são profissionais atualizados, que possuem não somente fluência no idioma, mas amplo conhecimento nas características sócio-culturais do país origem do idioma, conforme já mencionei aqui.
4- Não somente aulas são em Inglês, mas o ambiente como um todo.
Os melhores resultados na educação bilíngue são vistos quando instituições transformam a escola em um ambiente bilíngue, ou seja, não importa qual o nível de imersão utilizado, perguntas e respostas entre alunos e professores são feitas em inglês.
Inclusive quando professores conversam com pais, geralmente eles perguntam se os pais falam inglês e, caso a resposta seja positiva, as conversas também são em inglês.
Apesar de não ser uma regra, quando a própria equipe conversa em inglês entre si – e não somente na frente dos alunos – o processo de aprendizado é melhorado e o nível da qualidade do inglês dos professores aumenta. A regra é simples: quanto maior a utilização do idioma, melhor será sua qualidade.
5- Escolas são transparentes e não escondem seus métodos.
Geralmente as escolas genuinamente bilíngues oferecem um tour aos pais para averiguarem os itens citados acima, desta forma, em uma visita pela instituição é possível ver como as crianças conversam entre si, como funcionários conversam entre si e se os professores utilizam um nível mínimo de imersão.
Caso esta iniciativa não parta da escola, cabe aos pais solicitarem esta visita de observação e também buscar referências externas, como avaliações na Internet, opiniões de outros pais que tenham alunos na escola e conversas com crianças que estudem há alguns anos na escola. Crianças com um ou dois anos de estudo em escola bilíngue, mesmo que tenham apenas três anos de idade, já despertam espanto em adultos pela fluência com que falam neste segundo idioma.
Afinal, nenhuma propaganda fala mais alto que uma criança bilíngue.
Texto adaptado da Autora: Letícia Pimentel
Emotional intelligence is a huge driver of success. It is the “something” in each of us that is a bit intangible. It affects how we manage behavior, navigate social complexities, and make personal decisions to achieve positive results.
1. You have a robust emotional vocabulary
All people experience emotions, but it is a select few who can accurately identify them as they occur. Our research shows that only 36 percent of people can do this, which is problematic because unlabeled emotions often go misunderstood, which leads to irrational choices and counterproductive actions.
2. You’re curious about people
It doesn’t matter if they’re introverted or extroverted, emotionally intelligent people are curious about everyone around them. This curiosity is the product of empathy, one of the most significant gateways to a high EQ. The more you care about other people and what they’re going through, the more curiosity you’re going to have about them.
3. You embrace change
Emotionally intelligent people are flexible and are constantly adapting. They know that fear of change is paralyzing and a major threat to their success and happiness. They look for change that is lurking just around the corner, and they form a plan of action should these changes occur.
4. You know your strengths and weaknesses
Emotionally intelligent people don’t just understand emotions; they know what they’re good at and what they’re terrible at. They also know who pushes their buttons and the environments (both situations and people) that enable them to succeed. Having a high EQ means you know your strengths and how to lean into and use them to your full advantage while keeping your weaknesses from holding you back.
5. You’re a good judge of character
Much of emotional intelligence comes down to social awareness; the ability to read other people, know what they’re about, and understand what they’re going through. Over time, this skill makes you an exceptional judge of character. People are no mystery to you. You know what they’re all about and understand their motivations, even those that lie hidden beneath the surface.
6. You are difficult to offend
If you have a firm grasp of who you are, it’s difficult for someone to say or do something that gets your goat. Emotionally intelligent people are self-confident and open-minded, which creates a pretty thick skin. You may even poke fun at yourself or let other people make jokes about you because you are able to mentally draw the line between humor and degradation.
7. You know how to say no (to yourself and others)
Emotional intelligence means knowing how to exert self-control. You delay gratification and avoid impulsive action. Research conducted at the University of California, San Francisco, shows that the more difficulty that you have saying no, the more likely you are to experience stress, burnout, and even depression. Saying no is a major self-control challenge for many people, but “No” is a powerful word that you should unafraid to wield. When it’s time to say no, emotionally intelligent people avoid phrases such as “I don’t think I can” or “I’m not certain.” Saying no to a new commitment honors your existing commitments and gives you the opportunity to successfully fulfill them.
8. You let go of mistakes
Emotionally intelligent people distance themselves from their mistakes, but do so without forgetting them. By keeping their mistakes at a safe distance, yet still handy enough to refer to, they are able to adapt and adjust for future success. It takes refined self-awareness to walk this tightrope between dwelling and remembering. Dwelling too long on your mistakes makes you anxious and gun shy, while forgetting about them completely makes you bound to repeat them. The key to balance lies in your ability to transform failures into nuggets of improvement. This creates the tendency to get right back up every time you fall down.
9. You give and expect nothing in return
When someone gives you something spontaneously, without expecting anything in return, this leaves a powerful impression. For example, you might have an interesting conversation with someone about a book, and when you see them again a month later, you show up with the book in hand. Emotionally intelligent people build strong relationships because they are constantly thinking about others.
10. You don’t hold grudges
The negative emotions that come with holding onto a grudge are actually a stress response. Just thinking about the event sends your body into fight-or-flight mode, a survival mechanism that forces you to stand up and fight or run for the hills when faced with a threat. When the threat is imminent, this reaction is essential to your survival, but when the threat is ancient history, holding onto that stress wreaks havoc on your body and can have devastating health consequences over time. In fact, researchers at Emory University have shown that holding onto stress contributes to high blood pressure and heart disease. Holding onto a grudge means you’re holding onto stress, and emotionally intelligent people know to avoid this at all costs. Letting go of a grudge not only makes you feel better now but can also improve your health.
11. You neutralize toxic people
Dealing with difficult people is frustrating and exhausting for most. But high-EQ individuals control their interactions with toxic people by keeping their feelings in check. When they need to confront a toxic person, they approach the situation rationally. They identify their own emotions and don’t allow anger or frustration to fuel the chaos. They also consider the difficult person’s standpoint and are able to find solutions and common ground. Even when things completely derail, emotionally intelligent people are able to take the toxic person with a grain of salt to avoid letting him or her bring them down.
12. You don’t seek perfection
Emotionally intelligent people won’t set perfection as their target because they know that it doesn’t exist. Human beings, by our very nature, are fallible. When perfection is your goal, you’re always left with a nagging sense of failure that makes you want to give up or reduce your effort. You end up spending time lamenting what you failed to accomplish and should have done differently instead of moving forward, excited about what you’ve achieved and what you will accomplish in the future.
13. You appreciate what you have
Taking time to contemplate what you’re grateful for isn’t merely the right thing to do; it also improves your mood by reducing the stress hormone cortisol (in some cases by 23 percent). Research conducted at the University of California, Davis, found that people who work daily to cultivate an attitude of gratitude experience improved mood, energy, and physical well-being. It’s likely that lower levels of cortisol play a major role in this.
14. You disconnect
Taking regular time off the grid is a sign of a high EQ because it helps you to keep your stress under control and to live in the moment. When you make yourself available to your work 24/7, you expose yourself to a constant barrage of stressors. Forcing yourself offline and even–gulp!–turning off your phone gives your body and mind a break. Studies have shown that something as simple as an email break can lower stress levels. Technology enables constant communication and the expectation that you should be available 24/7. It is extremely difficult to enjoy a stress-free moment outside of work when an email with the power to bring your thinking (read: stressing) back to work can drop onto your phone at any moment.
15. You limit your caffeine intake
Drinking excessive amounts of caffeine triggers the release of adrenaline, which is the primary source of a fight-or-flight response. The fight-or-flight mechanism sidesteps rational thinking in favor of a faster response to ensure survival. This is great when a bear is chasing you, but not so great when you’re responding to a curt email. When caffeine puts your brain and body into this hyper-aroused state of stress, your emotions overrun your behavior. Caffeine’s long half-life ensures you stay this way as it takes its sweet time working its way out of your body. High-EQ individuals know that caffeine is trouble, and they don’t let it get the better of them.
16. You get enough sleep
It’s difficult to overstate the importance of sleep to increasing your emotional intelligence and managing your stress levels. When you sleep, your brain literally recharges, shuffling through the day’s memories and storing or discarding them (which causes dreams) so that you wake up alert and clearheaded. High-EQ individuals know that their self-control, attention, and memory are all reduced when they don’t get enough–or the right kind–of sleep. So, they make sleep a top priority.
17. You stop negative self-talk in its tracks
The more you ruminate on negative thoughts, the more power you give them. Most of our negative thoughts are just that–thoughts, not facts. When it feels like something always or never happens, this is just your brain’s natural tendency to perceive threats (inflating the frequency or severity of an event). Emotionally intelligent people separate their thoughts from the facts in order to escape the cycle of negativity and move toward a positive, new outlook.
18. You won’t let anyone limit your joy
When your sense of pleasure and satisfaction are derived from the opinions of other people, you are no longer the master of your own happiness. When emotionally intelligent people feel good about something they’ve done, they won’t let anyone’s opinions or snide remarks take that away from them. While it’s impossible to turn off your reactions to what others think, you don’t have to compare yourself to others, and you can always take people’s opinions with a grain of salt. That way, no matter what other people are thinking or doing, your self-worth comes from within.
Time magazine – Feb. 16
Today there is another one of Shakespeare´s most famous play, Hamlet.
There have been more than fifty film versions of Hamlet since 1900. A few of the most famous are:
Hamlet (1948)
This version was directed by and starred the famous English actor, Sir Laurence Olivier and was the first British film to win an Oscar. Olivier adapted the play and reduced its length to about two hours.
Hamlet (1990)
Director Franco Zeffirelli made the decision to cast Mel Gibson, better known for his roles in action films like Mad Max and Lethal Weapon, as Hamlet. Again, the film adapted the play to make it an acceptable length for cinema.
Hamlet (1996)
Actor/director Kenneth Branagh assembled an all-star cast for thisunabridged version of the play. The film is often mentioned as one of the best Shakespeare film versions ever made.
As well as filmed versions of the play, there have been several films based on the story of Hamlet.
The Bad Sleep Well (Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru) (1960)
Famous Japanese director Akira Kurosawa directed this story of a young man joining a powerful company to try to expose the men responsible for the death of his father.
The Lion King (1994)
The king is murdered by his brother. The king’s ghost tells his son to challenge the wicked uncle. Does this sound familiar? Of course this Disney version does not have Hamlet’s tragic ending.
Watch the video
Here is a link to watch the video with subtitles about the story
https://view.vzaar.com/5655672/download
THE MAIN CHARACTERS
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Hamlet discovers that his father, the old King of Denmark, was murdered by his uncle, Claudius. Hamlet plans to kill Claudius in revenge, which he does at the end of the play. But Hamlet is wounded in the fight, and dies as well.
Claudius
Claudius murders his brother, the old king of Denmark, by putting poison in his ear. Claudius marries his dead brother’s wife, the queen. Claudius becomes king of Denmark himself. But Hamlet, Claudius’s nephew, finds out what he has done, and kills him.
Hamlet’s mother
Hamlet’s mother, the queen of Denmark, marries her brother-in-law, Claudius. She does not realise that Claudius murdered her husband. She dies by drinking poisoned wine.
Ophelia
Ophelia is Hamlet’s girlfriend. But Hamlet rejects her, and she kills herself.
Polonius
Polonius is King Claudius’s adviser, and is asked to spy on Hamlet. Hamlet kills him by accident.
Laertes
Laertes is Ophelia’s brother. He blames Hamlet for Ophelia’s suicide. At the end of the play, he fights and kills Hamlet. But he is wounded in the fight, and also dies.
© British Council
I hope you have enjoyed learning about it.
Thank you.
Here is a long but good text from an online course I am taking at University of Southampton. It is about the changes in English as a Lingua Franca and what to expect in the future.
What are your expectations Share with us.
A piece in the EL Gazette in October 2001 (p. 3) under the heading ‘It’s now official: English is hard’ announced: ‘you can now motivate your students by telling them that English is the hardest European language to learn’. It went on to report a study carried out at the University of Dundee, Scotland, which compared the literacy levels of British primary school children with those from fourteen European countries (Finland, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark). Children with one year’s schooling had been presented with lists of common words in the mother tongue. It was found that all but the native English speakers were able to read 90 per cent of the word correctly, while the British children could only manage 30 per cent. The researchers concluded that the gap between the English-speaking children and those from the other fourteen countries was the result of difficulties intrinsic to the English language. And at a conference of the Spelling Society, held at Coventry University in the UK in June 2008, in which new research by the literacy scholar Marsha Bell was reported, the same point was made again, with English being described as the worst of all the alphabetical languages for children to learn.
Rather than ‘motivate’ learners, such difficulties could, if widely publicised, discourage them from attempting to learn the language at all. The difficulties divide into three main categories: orthographic, phonological, and grammatical. Spelling difficulties are of various kinds although all relate to the fact that English orthography can often not be predicted from the way in which a word is pronounced. There are, for example, several ways of pronouncing the sequences ‘ea’ (e.g. as in ‘bead’, ‘head’, ‘bear’, ‘fear’, ‘pearl’), and ‘ough’ (e.g. as in ‘cough’, ‘bough’, ‘tough’, ‘dough’, ‘through’, ‘thorough’). A large number of words contain silent letters, such as those which begin with a silent ‘p’ or ‘k’ (‘psychology’, ‘pneumonia’, ‘pseud’, ‘knife’, ‘know’, etc.), another group which end with silent ‘b’ (‘comb’, ‘thumb’, ‘limb’, ‘climb’, etc.), and a third with a silent medial letter (e.g. ‘whistle’, ‘castle’, ‘fasten’, ‘muscle’). Other problems are doubled consonants (e.g. ‘committee’, ‘accommodation’, ‘occasional’, ‘parallel’), and the spelling of unstressed vowels (e.g. the underlined vowels in ‘woman’, ‘persuade’, ‘condition’, ‘success’, ‘infinity’, all of which are pronounced as schwa in RP and many other, but not all, native accents.
As regards pronunciation, difficulties relate particularly to English vowels. Not only does native English have more vowel phonemes than many other languages (twenty in RP as compared with, for instance, five in Spanish and Italian), but it has a particularly large number of diphthongs (eight in RP) and makes extensive use of the central vowel, schwa, in unstressed syllables regardless of the spelling – as was demonstrated in the previous paragraph. In addition, many accent varieties of English including RP andGeneral American (GA) make copious use of weak forms in connected speech. That is, schwa replaces the vowel quality in words such as prepositions (‘to’, ‘of’, ‘from’), pronouns (‘her’, ‘them’, etc.), auxiliaries (‘was’, ‘are, ‘has’, etc.), articles (‘a’, ‘the’) and the like. There are also several other features of connected speech such as elision (loss of sounds), assimilation (modifications to sounds), and liaision (linking of sounds across words). All these aspects of English pronunciation conspire to make it more difficult both to produce and to understand than the pronunciation of many other languages.
Grammatically, difficulties relate very particularly to verb forms and functions. Firstly, English has a large number of tenses all of which have both simple and continuous aspect (present, past, perfect, past perfect, future, future perfect) and none of which have a straightforward link with time reference. Second, there are many modal verbs (‘may’, ‘will’, ‘can’, ‘should’, ‘ought to’, etc.) each with its own problems of form and function. Third, one of the most problematic areas for learner of English is that ofmulti-word (or phrasal) verbs such as ‘get’ (‘get up’, ‘get down’, ‘get on’, ‘get off’, ‘get over’, ‘get through’, etc.) and ‘take’ (‘take up’, ‘take on’, ‘take off’, ‘take out’, etc.). Each has several meanings both literal and metaphorical, along with complicated rules as to whether the verb and particle can or must be separated for an object, depending on whether the verb is classed as adverbial or prepositional.
Because of these difficulties, it would not be surprising if there was eventually a move to abandon English in favour of an international language with fewer complicating linguistic factors along with a slightly les obvious colonialist discourse attached to it (although we see strand 6 [in the book] for another possibility, i.e. that users of ELF will adapt English to suit their own lingua franca purposes rather than accept that they should acquire and use a native version). Spanish appears to be a major contender, with its simpler pronunciation, spelling and verb systems, and its increasing influence in both the EU and America. As Moreno-Fernandez and Otero (2008: 81) point out
The sum of native Spanish speakers and non-native Spanish speakers plus those learning the language gives a total figure of 438.9 million Spanish speakers according to the estimations based on the latest consolidated census information and on other sources such as the Cervantes Institute.
And according to an article in the Times Higher Education Supplement (14 December 2001, p.23), ‘Spanish is … the second international language of business as its importance in the United States grows’. In Europe, there is a massive increase in demand for Spanish, with the number of people travelling to Spain and sitting Spanish-language examinations rising by 15 per cent a year, according to the Instituto Cervantes (Spanish equivalent of the British Council). In addition, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Mexico are becoming increasingly popular tourist destinations, while the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language is spreading to many parts of the world. In this process, it is being ‘overtly promoted by the Spanish government as part of its aim to strengthen and enhance a pan-Hispanic community across the world’ as well as ‘a desire to consolidate a power bloc with some claim to compete with the overwhelming march of global English’ (Mar-Molinero 2006: 82). As Mar-Molinero continues, ‘[t]he Spanish language learning/teaching industry is thus a flourishing and expanding one’ and ‘whilst smaller in scale, in many senses it resembles the enormous EFL/ELT industry’.
Meanwhile, in the US there were found to be 50.5 million native speakers of Spanish in the 2010 census (see unit C1 [in the book]), making this the second largest L1 group in the US after English, and comprising almost a fifth of the total population. Already non-Hispanic whites are in a minority in California and there are also particularly large numbers of Hispanics in Arizona and Texas. However, it is not only a case of numerical increase: the US Hispanic community appears also to be experiencing ‘a resurgence of cultural pride and confidence’ (The Guardian, 8 March 2001, p.12), while politicians are beginning to pay far greater attention to the Hispanic community’s needs than they have done hitherto. Meanwhile, Latinos such as the Puerto Rican Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez have, respectively, topped world pop music charts and won important film awards, and still more recently, the Latin music of artists such as Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, and Molotov has been achieving worldwide popularity (see Mar-Molinero 2008: 39-40).
Further evidence that English may eventually give way to another language as the world’s lingua franca is provided by the internet. As Crystal (2006: 229-231) points out
[The Web] was originally a totally English medium – as was the Internet as a whole, given its US origins. But with the Internet’s globalization, the presence of other languages has steadily risen. In the mid-1990s, a widely quoted figure was that just over 80 per cent of the Net was in English.
However, as he goes on to say,
The estimates for languages other than English have steadily risen since then, with some commentators predicting that before long the Web (and the Internet as a whole) will be predominantly non-English, as communications infrastructure develops in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America.
He also cites a 2004 Global Reach survey which found that 64.8 per cent of a total online population of 801.4 million was in countries where English is not the mother tongue, and notes that Chinese is expected by most sources to become the majority language of internet users. And a few years later, this seems even more probable. In a table showing the top ten internet languages at the start of 2010 (Internet World Stats 2010, in Crystal 2011: 79), although English still has the largest number of internet users (496 million users, 27.5 per cent of all internet users), Chinese is catching up fast (408 million users, 22.6 per cent of all internet users).
The rapid increase in the amount of Chinese on the internet (1,162 per cent growth between 2000 and 2009, as contrasted with English’s 252 per cent growth) leads Crystal to believe it will soon replace English in the leading position on the internet. On the other hand, Graddol’s earlier point that ‘there remains more English than is proportionate to the first languages of users’ (2006:44) is still true. In other worls, a large amount of internet use in English is by NNESs [non-native English speakers] rather than NESs [native English speakers]. And we cannot discount the possibility that a sizeable proportion of NNESs may continue to use English on the internet as well as, or instead of, their L1, especially for intercultural communication.
Thus, although it is possible that English-medium internet use has passed its peak, it is by no means certain. Meanwhile, the implications for both the spread and type of English used in other forms of communication are as yet far from clear.
Crystal, D. (2006) Language and the Internet. 2nd edition. Cambridge: CUP
Crystal, D. (2011) Internet Linguistics. London: Routledge.
Mar-Molinero, C. (2006) ‘The European Linguistic legacy in a global era: linguistic imperialism, Spanish, and the Instituto Cervantes,’ in Mar-Molinero, C. and Stevenson, P. (eds) Language Ideologies, Policies and Practices. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mar-Molinero, C. (2008) ‘Subverting Cervantes: language authority in global Spanish,’ International Multilingual Research Journal 2: 27-47
Moreno-Fernandez, F. and Otero, J. (2008) ‘The status and future of Spanish among the main international languages: quantitative dimensions,’ International Multi-lingual Research Journal 2: 67-83
Jenkins, J. (2015) Global Englishes. A resource book for students, 3rd edition, Abingdon, GB: Routledge
Further free resources from ‘Global Englishes’ by Jennifer Jenkins
Find this book (with a discount of 20% for users of this course, enter codeGEFL1 at checkout) on the Routledge website
© University of Southampton / British Council 2015
Don’t panic!
by Bethan Morgan
It has suddenly hit me that this year I will sit my last ever exams. I don’t know if that has helped with the stress, or just made it worse.
I have always struggled with the stress of exams, and the horrible nervousness that happens on the day itself. Even if I have revised as much as possible, my nerves still take over. And I know I’m not the only one. So I’ve made a list of a few of my personal tips for dealing with exam stress.
1 Keep Calm and drink tea
Or coffee. Or water. Or whatever it is you like to drink. It provides a quick break, so you can just stop for a second while the kettle is boiling and think about something different for a couple of minutes. Although perhaps I should cut down on the amount of tea I make, otherwise my whole day will be one big revision break!
2 Socialize
I find that it’s really easy to shut yourself away for hours on end, going over your notes by yourself and not see anyone all day. That’s fine for a short amount of time, especially if that’s how you revise best, but I think it’s equally as important to make sure you spend time with other people too, whether you revise together or simply meet up for a chat. I’ve realised this year that when we all graduate, it is unlikely that we will see each other much, so I’m definitely making the most of seeing as many friends as possible now!
3 Exercise
I love running. I find that it makes a perfect revision break, because you can focus on something else for an hour or so, you can listen to some great music, or even socialise, if you prefer exercising with someone else. You get to spend time outside in the fresh air, which helps your brain recover from all those hours of studying. Plus it’s good for you, which is always a bonus!
4 Sharing is Caring
Sometimes it helps to get together with other people taking the same exams as you to share ideas and talk things over, especially if there is a certain aspect you are struggling with. You can make sure that you understand everything properly, as well as picking up new ideas that maybe you hadn’t thought of before. And it means you get to spend extra time with your friends, too!
Everyone has their own ways of coping with exam time, or maybe you don’t suffer from stress (in which case I am very jealous!) I’ll definitely be sticking to the tips above this year, and perhaps you could share your advice with us all too. If any of you are sitting exams this year, I wish you the best of luck!
Have you ever suffered from exam stress? What advice would you offer to someone who is preparing for an exam?https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/understanding-ielts/2/steps/41186
1 Não tenha vergonha do sotaque
“As pessoas se preocupam muito, principalmente, as mais tímidas e reservadas. Elas tendem a procurar desculpas para não falar”, diz Simões. Uma das justificativas para o bloqueio é o sotaque forte, segundo o professor do Berlitz.
Na opinião dele, a vergonha por não ter a pronúncia de um nativo é reflexo do perfeccionismo. Mas, antes de ficar mudo ao menor sinal de uma conversa em outra língua, leve em consideração que o importante é transmitir a mensagem e ser compreendido. “Hoje em dia não se censura a regionalidade, até se valoriza que traços locais sejam conservados”, diz Simões.
2 Fale sem medo de errar
Autocrítica muito elevada é um dos fatores limitantes para o aprendizado, diz Rosângela Souza, fundadora e sócia-diretora da Companhia de Idiomas e do ProfCerto.
A exposição ao idioma e o erro são fundamentais para o aprendizado, afirma a especialista. “É como aprender a dirigir. Se só estudar o livrinho, não sai dirigindo. Se tiver medo de pegar o carro ou de deixar o carro morrer, não aprenderá”, explica.
“Só se aprende começando a falar”, concorda Simões. Errar é importante durante o processo de aprendizado, explica. “É ótimo acertar, mas a pessoa não esquece os erros especialmente quando são corrigidos”, diz o professor do Berlitz.
3 Não tenha receio de ser corrigido
A não ser que você peça para um estrangeiro corrigi-lo, ele não o fará, afirma categoricamente, Luis Simões. “Nunca vi isso acontecer”, diz.
É comum o receio de que o estrangeiro vai agir com dureza ao ouvir seu interlocutor cometendo um erro. “Muito pelo contrário, ao perceber o interesse em aprender a sua língua, o estrangeiro fica feliz e valoriza o esforço”, diz Simões.
Por isso, é raro que façam qualquer correção espontaneamente. “Seria uma grosseria”, diz o professor do Berlitz.
4 Aproveite as oportunidades para praticar
Não fuja, pratique. Procure pessoas que estudem ou já falem a língua e com quem tenha mais intimidade para conversar, indica Simões.
Para os mais tímidos, é uma boa forma ir “soltando a língua” em situações mais informais, primeiro.
Quem frequenta cursos regulares do idioma deve entender que aquele é o momento certo para se esforçar e tentar, de fato, falar na outra língua.
“Dificilmente as pessoas saem da escola e vão buscar sozinhas situações em que vão praticar o idioma. Por isso, é importante praticar em sala de aula”, diz.
5 Equilibre habilidades de compreensão, leitura, escrita e fala
O ideal é ter o equilíbrio na prática das quatro habilidades, defende Rosângela. “Só que a mais difícil é a conversação”, ressalta.
E a especialista alerta: “Monteiro Lobato disse: quem não lê, mal ouve, mal fala, mal vê. A leitura constante nos dá vocabulário, consolidação de estruturas gramaticais e milhões de ideias de como se expressar”. Por isso lembre-se, ler e ouvir são essenciais também para destravar a fala.
“A leitura no aprendizado do inglês ou de outros idiomas muito diferentes do português acontece de forma gradativa, pois o aluno precisa ter um nível pré-intermediário para começar a ler temas variados e conteúdo mais densos”, lembra a especialista. Comece aos poucos e escolha textos adequados ao seu nível de conhecimento.
Ficar traduzindo palavra por palavra de um texto, além de chato e demorado, é um perigo, diz Simões. “As palavras têm significado cultural”, lembra Simões. Ele cita a expressão “chá de cadeira”, em português. Nesse caso, fica claro que a tradução literal não funcionaria.
“O importante é perceber quais são as palavras mais importantes e se está sendo possível acompanhar a história. Se não está, é hora de parar e procurar o significado das palavras”, diz Simões.
6 Assista filmes com legendas no idioma original
Para níveis a partir do intermediário, Simões indica assistir a séries ou filmes com legendas no idioma original. “Para acompanhar juntamente com o áudio”, diz o professor.
Comece com filmes que você já viu e conhece a história para testar sua capacidade compreensão. Ou aposte em filmes de ação, que têm frases mais curtas e objetivas. “As comédias têm muita gíria e romances épicos trazem vocabulário de difícil compreensão“, lembra Simões.
7 Ouça músicas acompanhando a letra
Mais uma forma de usar o interesse a favor do aprendizado do idioma. Escolha músicas de que gosta e pesquise a letra.
“Música ajuda muito e acrescenta vocabulário. Mas é importante ter em mente que trata-se de uma poesia, portanto quem manda é a harmonia”, diz Simões se referindo às gírias e à linguagem mais distante do padrão de algumas canções.
Warm up
A warm up activity can be used in a number of ways. It can get your students thinking about material that will be used later on in the class, review material from a previous class, or simply get your students thinking in English, moving around, or awake. This activity should only take up a small portion of your lesson, perhaps five minutes.
Introduction
A good introduction will create a need for students to learn the material you are going to present and get them interested in the day’s topic. This is the part of the lesson where the teacher does the most talking so try to get students involved and use choral repetition to keep students talking about half the time. Depending on how complex the topic is or how much new vocabulary there is, the introduction could take some time but in most cases, about ten minutes should be sufficient.
Practice
The practice activity would normally be about ten minutes and have students working individually or in pairs. Practicing model dialogues, completing worksheets, and doing short activities would be appropriate. This may take about ten minutes including going over the answers or having some demonstrations.
Production
In the production activity students should have to produce material on their own. Rather than reading sentences, perhaps they have to answer questions or make their own sentences. Longer activities such as board games, which can be played in groups, or activities for the whole class, where students work in teams, would be best. The remaining class time can be devoted to this activity.
Review
It is a good idea to plan another five minute activity that can be done at the end of class as a review or used as the warm up in the following lesson. If the production activity does not take up the remaining portion of the class period, you have a backup plan.
Read the full article at http://busyteacher.org/3753-how-to-write-a-lesson-plan-5-secrets.html
It’s important for any to have an overview and scheme of work for the whole course. Otherwise, you’ll end up working from day to day, and it’ll be hard to see whether you’re covering everything that needs to be covered.
What do you need to consider when planning your course? First of all, there are lots of ‘external’ factors. You’ll definitely need to think about the syllabus and the end of course exam, if there is one. You may have a textbook which you have to use. Last but not least, there are the learners; you need to consider their needs, interests and motivations.
There will certainly need to be variety, both in terms of topic and in terms of language skills. For example, across the course is there enough listening, writing, vocabulary input overall? Are the lessons too heavily biased towards grammar? In short, you have to think carefully about these two questions:
You might then go on to include the resources and materials you will use, for example coursebook pages or additional materials.
Now we’d like to hear your ideas on course planning:
© British Council
Watch the full article at
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/english-language-teaching/1/steps/45544
Paula Lyra ELT School 