Total Physical Response or TPR

This is the topic we talked about in one of our English IV class presentations. On this post we show you a video made for us which contains some important information about this teaching method. I hope you like it, so see it and enjoy it!
Ana and Cristina


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3voYLmcqTcQ

The direct method

The direct method´s goal of instruction is to learn how to use a foreing language to communicate.
The direct method has just one basic rule: no translation is allowed, the meaning is to be conveyed directly in the target language through the use of demostration and visual aids.
The students can not use their native language in the classroom.
The teacher should demostrate not explain or translate.
Lessons should contain some conversational activity.
Grammar should be taught inductively.
The syllabus is based on situations or topics.
Some of the typical activities are:
1) Reading Aloud/(Reading sections of passages, plays or dialogs out loud)
(2) Question and Answer Exercise/(Asking questions in the target language and having students answer in full sentences)
(3) Student Self-Correctio/(Teacher facilitates opportunities for students to self correct using follow-up questions, tone, etc)
(4) Conversation Practice/(Teacher asks students and students ask students questions using the target language)
(5) Fill-in-the-blank Exercise(Items use target language only and inductive rather than explicit grammar rules).
(6) Dictation/(Teacher reads passage aloud various amount of times at various tempos, students writing down what they hear)
(7) Paragraph Writing /(Students write paragraphs in their own words using the target language and various models)
This principle was presented and applied in our class for a group of our classmates they aplyed the method and them presented the theory that supported this method use in ESL classrooms.

The grammar translation method

Also called The Classical Method has been used by language teachers for many years. The classes developed with this method are based on translating information from one language to another, literature reading and the target language grammar comprehension.
The primary skills to be developed are reading and writing.
The teacher is the authority in the classroom the students should be conscious of the grammatical rules of the target language. This method leaves behind the communication practice.
According to Prator and Celce-Murcia (1979:3), the key features of the Grammar Translation Method are as follows:
1)Classes are taught in the mother tongue, with little active use of the target language.
(2)Much vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words.
(3)Long elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar are given.
(4)Grammar provides the rules for putting words together, and instruction often focuses on the form and inflection of words.
(5)Reading of difficult classical texts is begun early.
(6)Little attention is paid to the content of texts, which are treated as exercises in in grammatical analysis.
(7)Often the only drills are exercises in translating disconnected sentences from the target language into the mother tongue.
(8) Little or no attention is given to pronunciation.

Diane Larsen-Freeman, in her book Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (1986:13) provides expanded descriptions of some common/typical techniques closely associated with the Grammar Translation Method. The listing here is in summary form only.
(1)Translation of a Literary Passage/(Translating target language to native language)
(2)Reading Comprehension Questions/(Finding information in a passage, making inferences and relating to personal experience)
(3)Antonyms/Synonyms /(Finding antonyms and synonyms for words or sets of words).
(4) Cognates(Learning spelling/sound patterns that correspond between L1 and the target language)
(5)Deductive Application of Rule/(Understanding grammar rules and their exceptions, then applying them to new examples))
(6)Fill-in-the-blanks/(Filling in gaps in sentences with new words or items of a particular grammar type).
(7) Memorization/(Memorizing vocabulary lists, grammatical rules and grammatical paradigms)
(8)Use Words in Sentences/(Students create sentences to illustrate they know the meaning and use of new words)
(9)Composition/(Students write about a topic using the target language

HOW THE HUMAN BRAIN IS IN EVERYTHING.

(Essay)
CREATED BY:
LAGOS C. ANA E.
MORALES S. DELIA C.
SAN CRISTÓBAL, MARCH 2010
The world and the people living in it is always changing, every day there are more questions to be answered and more ways to get those answers, on the medical area the brain has been an eternal mystery, but resent investigations have revealed tons of new information apliable in many knowledge areas including education and the teaching and learning proccesses involved in them.
First of all, Ph. D. Diamond M. (2003) in one of her lectures called “male and female brains” talked about her research on the brain´s structural diferences between male and female, this research was made on lab rats because there were not many human being able to aply it on them, but she explains that the brain´s structure of these little animals is very similar to the human one, that is why the results can be use to compare men and women´s brain constitution and funtioning, Diamond explains in her lecture the way our brain is comformed, its main parts and how those parts development and funtions get affected by factors like the birth, enviromental conditions, age, hormones, sex and the things every being has to do according to his instincts or natural duties.
For example, Diamond M. (2003), says that one area called the cortex including the cortical morphology and thickness are “a key factor” in the proccess of knowing and understanding how female or male act, specifically when “ for the female animal, the main funtions are to bear, protect and raise her offspring, these roles challenge her to go in many directions,
both geographical and conceptual, something that may be more accessible and readily achieved with a symmetrical brain” on the opossite the “male behavior involves finding and defending his territory and finding his female, all rather focused funtions, possibly benefiting form an asymmetrical cortex.” Diamond M. (2003).
The statements previously written may indicate that in some how the diversity of the female funtions or the specifical male funtions may be determinating factors on the brain´s constitution. The author makes clear that there are many other factors related to this and that the researchers on this area still have a lot to dicover and to work with.
If we walk appart from the structure and focus more on “ What are the deterninants of children´s academic successes and dificulties” acorrding to Diamond (n/d) since long time ago in places like China, there has been a culture destinated to proportion a good care of the baby´s mind and general development even before they were born these old principles adviced women to “ behave favorable during pregancy so that their offspring would be bright and survive well.” Nowadays, exists a concept called “ Intrauterine education” which mean to provide the best stimulus to the babies groing by taking “ into consideration pre- as well as postnatal conditions for forming healthy children and their precious brains.”
Diamond explains that “ parents and teachers should create a climate for enchanted minds to obtain information, stimulate imagination, develop an atmosphere to enhance motivation and creativity and discover the value of a work ethic.” Some of Diamond´s advices to accomplish these vital mission are to provide:
...a steady source of positive emotional suport-love encouragement... nutritious diet with enouf protein, vitamins, mineral and calories...stimulate all sences, but not necessarily all at once...present a series of novel challenges that neither too easy nor too difficult for the child at his or her stage of development... enjoyable atmosphere that promotes exploration and the fun of learning...

This between others might lead to many benefits to the children development and academical success as the author explains but also she calls our attention because the lack of this support or the presence of a significant amount of the opposite behavior on parents and/ or teachers may cause difficulties to the children on their academical and personal life, she wants to make clear too that “ the cerebral cortex does not show significant growth with too much stimulation as it does with a moderate amount... Do not over stimulate.” Some parents may incurred in this kind of mistakes thinking than more stimulus would be better for their children without knowing that it won´t be good for them, the chidren may get tired or even get upset for living in so much pressure and this later may cause a rejection on everything related with education or the activities he was force to do without wanting them.
As a personal experience, Diamond mentions what one of her dauthers said once to her: “you gave us the freedom to choose what we wanted to do; you served as a role model showing if we worked hard we could succeed.” This ment a lot to her, but how many parents can quote as beautiful words as she does? Many could say that, not many have this priviledge. But what about if these norms are taken form that contex and are brought to be applied in another country as Venezuela for example would they work? Are there the neccesary conditions?
Apparently it may not, social conditions, medical care or even the basic information is not set for most o the country population, how can we expect for “ Intrauterine education” when sometimes many women don´t even have basic prenatal care? How can we expect for parents to be role models when they are not with their children, when they have to work all day trying to, at least, get the neccesary for their support, or when for personal reasons the children are formed by other menbers of the family different from their parents or worse complete extrangers? This scenery doesn´t seem to be too hopefull because teachers are not only expected to do their job facilitaning teaching and learning proccesses but also complemeting or trying to do as a whole the work, these children´s parents should have been doing.

The previous may be an extreme vission of how the life of some is, but there are so many factors that seem to be working againts the achievement of a good learning including the children changing itself, Willis J. (n/d) in words of Gardner ( 1999) exposes that there are “three current dominat intelligence styles of Linguistic, Visual-spatial, and Tactile Kinesthetic...” and in previous years the linguistic was the predominant, and that´s how the teachers learned and may teach but as the author also explains in the resent years the percentages on the kind of learning has changed too, making sometimes their teaching stile obsolite or less effective.
Most students have something called “learning strengths” and these are related to their intelligence style, by improving the teaching tecniques the learning activities can become more effective and even enjoyable for students allowing them to get a realliy meaninful learning taking advantage of all their personal potential, and being more successful in every area of their life.

REFERENCES:
Diamond M., (2003) “Male and female brains” summary of the lecture for women´s forum west annual meeting.
Diamond M., (n/d) “What are the determinats of children´s academic successes and dificulties?”
Willis J., (n/d) “More About neuroscience and learning”

MOVIES: WHAT CAN OR CAN NOT WE TAKE FORM THEM?

THE GROUP:
LAGOS, ANA.
MORALES, DELIA.
TEACHER:
JHONNY ANGOLA.
SAN CRISTÓBAL, JANUARY 2010.
Learning about another country´s culture
might be a challenging experience specially if you don`t have the chance of travelling to the specific place you want to know. Most people want to have kwonledge about the world arround them, but if you are a person who is studing to be an english teacher that knowledge is not just for fun, it may become a useful tool in side of the classsroom. All humman being, generally create for themselves a picture about foreing people´s life style, but where are most of those ideas taken from? The media and the art forms related to it.
Based on the previous statement a profesor in our university desinged some activities to led us live and analize the experience of watching a movie and the role that the elements presented there, play in the creation of a cultural image. The current paper narrates the development of some class activities at the University of Los Andes in San Cristóbal Venezuela in 2009, specificaly a subject call English IV. Those activities were made in these order, first, the reading of some research articles, second the viewing of a movie call “Borat”, the discussion of the movie and article`s topics and the writing of a class report.
First of all, the reading asigment was about two articles, one of them called “Intercultural Moments in Teaching English through Film” written by Zoreda and published in 2006, this paper describes an EFL course in Mexico and the way they used films to try to understand people´s behavior on the situations shown in the film, making a selection of movies that may present a useful scene to that course students. It also talks about how people take the afirmations made in movies, tv series, music and so on, as irrefutable truth without thinking that most of these creations are made to a specific audience and show just the information that their producer wants. That is the reason why the viewer can not take these information as a fact to understand or judge an entire society. The second article is a little older, it contains tips about aspects that can be worked with a movie in class, manage the movie analysis form a depeer perspective, taking into account its scrip, dialogues, scenery, between others.
On the other hand, the movie Borat,
tells the story of a man, Borat interpretated by Sacha Baron , he is form a place called Kazajistán, the movie presents the events lived by Borat, from his birth place, Kuçzek, Kazajistán, showing his family, hobbies, community and plans to go to The United States of America with a camera man and his documentary producer called Vassilli. As he arrives to U.S.A., he gets himself involved in embarrasing situations with different people during a journey from Washington D.C to California where he expcts to find Pamela Anderson, the actress who he fells in love when he saw her in a TV program. Sadly his travel through the country becomes really hard, when his producer discovers he has been foolishing him, he leaves him alone without his passport or money. His producer only left him a plane ticket, a chicken, and a special magazine with pictures of Borat´s love: Pamela.
Now on, waching this movie was a little fun sometimes, but also there were things that leave the viewers stunned,
because of the images shown, the people´s reactions to Borat´s behavior, and the believes he expresed he has, about women, sex, racism, even war and world politic. I think he played with diferent situations and the people involved in them, because sometimes he insulted them and maybe as he was a foreing man he was able to get out of them with less problems than a native man with plenty knowledge about the U.S.A. culture could have get into in the same situations, I wish I could know which were his intentions when he decided to do this, for me it seems to be made just for entertainment. On the other hand, if we try to see in it a message, according to this movie I wouldn´t like to visit the U.S.A. or Kazajistán if I`m arabian or jew! The movie makes us think that they are really hated in some parts of those countries.
Watching this from an out side point, this film may aware us about the extreme care we have to have when we choose a movie to present to our students in class, because they may get the wrong idea or its content might not be appropriate for that specific audience.
Adding to these statements, to prepare and apply activities of previewing and post viewing, can make the experience more productive, the students may have more time to think about what they saw and the teacher may have feed back and also learn from it, for future references, and on these way improve his teaching.
Finally, as students or teachers, we have to be aware that “an image worth more than thousand words”, being careful to evoid missunderstandings and the spread of incorrect information, most human being get more impresed by pictures or movies than for written infromation, that is why movies can become an excellent tool to try to teach and learn about the world and its inhabitans, movies and other visual aids are small windows to little worlds but as their perspective may be deeply subjective, we have to be concious about it, but most of all enjoy them.