FINAL PROJECT

FACULTAD DE FILOSOFÍA, LETRAS Y CIENCIAS 

ESCUELA DE LENGUAS Y LINGUISTICA

CLASS OF 2012 - AMERICAN LITERATURE AND LINGUISTICS  

1.WHO WE ARE

We are students of 5th year and met three years ago when we were on 3rd course. Jennifer, Carmen and Brenda, we separated from Jessenia because of our trip to France, but this year we reunited again. We have shared many experiences this year, working together in groups and we get along well doing it. We decided to work together again to make this Final project a real success of knowledge and show our new vision of it.

*Individual presentations from left to right.

I’m Jennifer Ordóñez. I’m 28 years old. I love Arts and Human Behavior. I think studying languages helps me to develop my comprehension about the others and it is a tool in my life also. I’m impatient for doing my Final project for the University. I’m constantly searching my goal in life. I think I will be happy when I find the manner to help the others. I would like to create a Foundation to promote the study of Arts in young people.

I’m Carmen Cabrera. I’m 23. Since I was in high school I wanted to study languages and teaching. I’ve always established goals in my mind and I work really hard to accomplish them. One of them was to travel to France last year like a Spanish language assistant. My next goal is to do my French and English project to finish my Bachelor’s degree and continue working like a French teacher. Then, I want to pass the Dalf C1 exam and take English lessons to suceed the Toefl exam.

I’m Jessenia Merchan Garcia. I’m 24 years old. I love languages, especially English and Psychology. In my free time I like to read interesting books and to sing English songs. I would like to be a good teacher. My dream in this life is to create a good school. My objectives concern education to help young people and children too. I’ll get it!

My name is Brenda Gutierrez. I’m 23 years old. I like languages. I love travelling and discovering new places, people and their culture. I’m very interested in English culture that is why I study English. One of my short-term goals is to get my Teacher’s Degree, then go to England to get a Master in English Literature and come back to work and help for the development of a new education system in Ecuador.  

 2. MY CITY/COUNTRY. SIGHTSEEING PLACES

Ingapirca “Temple of the Sun”.

Ingapirca (Kichwa: Inkapirka, "Inca wall") is a town in Cañar Province, Ecuador and the name of an Incan archeological site just outside the town. It was named after the Inca palace and temple site. These are the largest known Inca ruins in Ecuador and the most significant building is the temple of the sun, an elliptically shaped building constructed around a large rock. The building and the stones were carefully chiseled to fit together perfectly. The Incas were not the first inhabitants of Ingapirca. It had long been settled by the Cañari indigenous people. It is said that the Inca Túpac Yupanqui during the expansion's campaigns of the Inca-Empire trough south Ecuador, met the Cañari "Hatun Cañar" tribe and had difficulties to conquer them. At Ingapirca they developed a complex underground aqueduct system to provide water to the entire compound.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingapirca )


3.    MY CLASSES
A)   AMERICAN LITERATURE (501 – FIFTH COURSE)

a)    OBJECTIVE

In this course we survey selected American authors representing the major authors, literary movements and  fragments of the most significant works of literature produced in the U.S. since its beginnings to the present date. It also helps  future teachers to improve their reading, communicative and critical thinking skills, letting them express judgments and comments about some chapters and creating  a greater cultural awareness when exposed to essays, poetry, literary or film adaptations of the fragments.

b)    ACTIVITY DURING THE SEMESTER

MODERNISM – CARL SANDBURG

The America that entered the 20^th century faced World War I and II, a dizzing decade of prosperity called the Roaring Twenties and a devastating worldwide depression the Great Depression that marked this era. There were numerous technical advances, radio, automobiles. Movies and jazz became a great event. American women felt liberated and got the right to vote.
(Source: Notebook American Literature MSc. Glenda Morales 2012)

Carl Sandburg (1878–1967) was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He was the recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes. Sandburg was an eminent figure of the “Chicago Renaissance” and the era around World War I and the Great Depression. His work Chicago Poems, and its humanistic picture of urban life, place descriptions, and casual group of character sketches, provide a severe but idealized view of the working class. Sandburg is frequently recognized as one of the innovative American poets of the 20th century.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sandburg)

 

We had a very interesting class presentation about the Modernism and Carl Sandburg. Women started to be viewed differently. We were taught about Sandburg’s work Chicago and his style of writing Personification in which a nonhuman subject is given human traits. Apostrophe is used too, when the author directly addresses to the city Chicago as if it were a person.

Hog Butcher for the World,

Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,

Player with Railroads and the Nation Freight Handler;

Stormy, husky, brawling,

City of Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I

have seen your painted women under the gas

lamps luring the farm boys.

And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it

is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to

kill again……….

                                                                                                               Carl Sandburg

One of the activities that we enjoyed doing in class was to write a poem similar to the Chicago of Carl Sandburg, describing one city of Ecuador.                  

Guayaquil

Powerful, enterprising, crowded
unique and unequalled city
with an amazing sunrise and
evenings full of experiences.

Full of legacies, culture and customs
tourist place, with a different style
full of outgoing and rebel people

          zealous to succeed every day.   

                                                                                                                                       Jessenia Merchán                   

                                                                                                       

     CUENCA

Kindly people who live singing

In old paved streets that remember my ancestors.

Can I forget my Indian roots?

Can I forget who am I?

In your colorful views I find peace

Peace, which I need to forget my hurried life

And put my heart dreaming in your long rivers

Beautiful city, can you make this miracle one more time?

Magic place, look at my soul

And with your exotic odors bewitch me for forever

So, tell me: will I return home? or

 I won’t find the wisdom to live without you.

                                                                                Jennifer Ordoñez

   PLAYAS

City of the never ending summer

relaxing breeze, fearless seamen,
coconut smells, clear water
of a no-problems’ land ‘till the end

City of the wide sand mead,
strong, warm, endless sunset,
seafood banquets, waves shaped streets,
city of a no one else’s dream, no fear, no regret.

                                                                              Brenda Gutierrez

 AZOGUES

Alluring, chilly, sunny city;

Outstanding views from high hills,

Ecuadorian Andes’ peak.

Wooden balconies’ houses, reminded ancestors

Cultural, working, friendly native population.

Hardly worked, marvelous, luxurious crafts,

Affluent architecture, appetizing authentic gastronomy,

Humble, diversity colored race, preserver of folklore

Intriguing, swell, lovely city of the large servers.

                                                                             Carmen Cabrera

c) REFLECTIVE LEARNING

In our American Literature presentation works we had to work in groups and prepare our own knowledge for sharing it with our classmates. As part of our research we found some good links about Working in groups and ways of retaining information.

Dale’s Cone of Experience

Dale’s Cone of Experience is a model that incorporates several theories related to instructional design and learning processes.  During the 1960s, Edgar Dale theorized that learners retain more information by what they “do” as opposed to what is “heard”, “read” or “observed”.  His research led to the development of the Cone of Experience.  Today, this “learning by doing” has become known as “experiential learning” or “action learning”.

http://www.etsu.edu/uged/etsu1000/documents/Dales_Cone_of_Experience.pdf

Developing Interpersonal Skills

Students also benefit from interacting in a situation in which group work really counts. Unlike temporary groups where tough interpersonal issues can be avoided simply by waiting until the end of the class period, students in TL classes cannot really escape the problems they encounter in their groups. As a result, many learn lessons about themselves that allow them to be more effective and productive when they finish school and enter the work force.

For example, students who are intellectually capable but socially unskilled, learn through exposure to more positive role models and through input from peers who have enough at stake that they are willing to give helpful (but not always positive) feedback. In addition, because students have to learn to work together,  they  develop  the  understandings  and  skills  they  need  to  work productively as task group members. Finally, part of effective group work is believing that the benefits of working in groups outweighs the costs. Unlike groups used in a supplementary way, the vast majority of TL groups provide solid evidence of the tremendous potential of effective groups.

The major benefit of TL is that the vast majority of students do, in fact, respond positively to the challenge. Although there are typically some initial struggles, the groups' capabilities steadily increase to the point that students feel more like colleagues than "empty vessels." As a result, students grow in self-confidence and build a sound understanding of both the concepts and ways to use them.

http://teaching.uncc.edu/articles-books/best-practice-articles/instructional-methods/building-learning-teams

Forming Team Learning Groups

There are two key principles to remember in forming Team Learning groups. One is that member assets (e.g., full-time work experience, previous relevant course work, access to perspectives from other cultures, etc.) and also member liabilities (e.g., negative attitudes towards the course, limited fluency in English, etc.) should be evenly spread across the groups. The other is that the groups should not be formed in a way that results in unnecessary barriers to group cohesiveness. For example, one of the greatest barriers to group cohesiveness can be a previously established relationship between a subset of the members in  a  group  (e.g.,  boyfriend/girlfriend,  fraternity brothers, sorority sisters, etc.). Such relationships can form the basis for a cohesive subgroup from which other members are likely to feel excluded for the entirety of a  course.  As a result,  allowing students to form  their own groups practically ensures the existence of potentially disruptive subgroups and creates potential trouble for a variety of other reasons (see Fiechtner & Davis, 1985). The  process  for  making  group  assignments  should  be  as  visible  as possible to the students. This procedure alleviates student concerns about any ulterior motives the instructor may have for assigning students to groups. An effective and practical approach to forming the groups is to gather data orally about students' backgrounds on the dimensions important to group success.

The groups can then be formed by:  1) deciding on the total number of groups desired (I usually have 5 to 7 people per group); 2) asking students possessing a specific asset to stand (taking the rarest important category first); 3) having those standing "count-off" by the total number of groups; and 4) repeating steps #2 and #3 with different categories of students until everyone in the class has been assigned to a group.

Carl Sandburg

                                         Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site

http://www.sandburg.org/

Carl Sandburg College is located in Sandburg's birthplace of Galesburg, Illinois.

http://www.sandburg.edu/

B)   LINGUISTICS (500 – Fifth Course)
      a)    OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this class  is to give students the tools, tips and techniques to speak English clearly and accurately. The variety of activities, authentic audios, students´ presentations make learning innovative, fun and close to reality that they  will  handle in elementary and high school settings in Ecuador. This year we are using Focus on Pronunciation Nbr. 3, from Pearson, Longman, as well as several interactive links.

b)   ACTIVITY DURING THE SEMESTER

One activity that we performed in classroom was “The word endings: past tense pronunciation”, the teacher gave us some copies in class to practice them. We learned about the three different endings pronunciation in regular past tense –ed: /t/, /d/and /id/ sound and when to pronounce it. Everybody practiced every single sound by touching their throat and feeling a vibration in voiced sounds, on the other hand, feeling nothing in voiceless sounds. We practiced all the verbs endings (voice or voiceless sound) to produce the correct past tense pronunciation. To reinforce our pronunciation we did some exercises in copies indentifying the correct sound. Every student said the verb and its past tense using the correct pronunciation of –ed. It has been very useful for us and we realized that we made a lot of mistakes before in pronunciation of regular past tense. But now we put in practice this knowledge to pronounce them correctly.

*Links to practice and to reinforce this knowledge:
http://www.iesarroyohondo.es/Bilingual/Lang/Ing/pronunciation-of-regular-past-tense-verbs.pdf

      http://fr.slideshare.net/guestab0d7d1/past-tense-ending-ed-presentation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7hi-ipU2n0

c)    REFLECTIVE LEARNING 

As 21^st century student-teachers we experienced the work with technology to develop and find out our own knowledge by the use of Internet tools and links.

We have decided to present some important information about ICT’s, a new instrument for studying and getting involved in what we do and with the world we live in.

http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1osbt/ICTinlanguageteachin/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fenglishforteaching.blogspot.com%2Fp%2Fict-in-esl-classroom.html

http://www.slideshare.net/rexcris/icts-in-the-classroomwhy-use-them

What are ICTs?

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are “technological tools and resources that are used to communicate, and to create, disseminate, store and manage information”

                                                                                                                       C. Blurton

They “included hardware, software and netware, as well as institutional, financial, cultural and application-related parameters that determine how ICTs will be shaped and developed by society at large”
                                                                                     The Research Council of Norway

On ICTs and teachers

 “Education technology is not, and never will be, transformative on its own… computers cannot replace teachers. Teachers are the key to whether technology is used appropriately and effectively”.

THANKS !!!

GROUP #4
Jennifer ORDÓÑEZ URGILÉS
Carmen CABRERA CAMPOVERDE
Jessenia  MERCHÁN GARCÍA
Brenda GUTIEREZ FRANCO