Descriptive paragraph
Do you want to rest and be far away from the city? Well you can visit a beautiful and relaxing place. This place is really beautiful in where you can see the endless turquoise reef that reflects the sunbeams in the clear and lively water at the same time that the ripples pass through the dock and make a harmonious sound. At the middle of the reef, there is the amazing dock composed by diverse types of cabins that are lovely connected by long creaking wood bridges from where you can appreciate the colorful school of fish swimming freely from one place to another ,or just to perceive the dark blue sky that combines perfectly with the fluffy and white clouds that move slowly through the humid wind. After you can appreciate all the things that this pleasant place has for you, you would not want to return.
Compare-contrast essay
Face to face Teaching and Online Teaching: Remarkable Differences
"Seventy seven percent of educators believe that online learning is just as good as traditional learning" (University of the Potomac, 2016). The typical face-to-face class has been the most common over the years because it was the only way that students could learn new information, but now the internet is available and it contains a lot of sites in which students take classes. Teaching online became a different way to impart knowledge and also gives the chance for educators to teach in a distinct environment in where they develop new techniques to carry out their classes (Scagnoli, Buki, and Johnson, 2009). Nowadays online institutions can offer degrees and certificates in a language, but many educators has been debating about the quality and benefits that online classes provide. Teaching a language either face-to-face or online has both similarities and differences regarding the roles of the instructor, the possible problems that can occur, and the type of activities the teacher can develop.
The role of the instructor in a class tends to change during the teaching process. The roles of the instructor in both face-to-face and online classes help the teacher to guide the students to improve their learning journey and engage students with their learning outcomes (Redmond, 2011). Both face-to-face and online classes have similar roles such as a facilitator, tutor, evaluator, guide, mentor, monitor, supporter, etc. because it depends on not only in the instructor personality, but also in the method they decide to use in their classes, teaching styles, and the learning theories that the teachers follow. The instructor has the capacity to create an appropriate class' environment in order to have a good rapport in which their students develop their knowledge and enjoy the stages of the lesson; that is why the roles can be so similar each other because both of them have a general objective that is the understanding and the usage of what is taught. The changes of the instructor's role help to avoid some problems while learning a language.
Certain problems within the class create a barrier in the students' learning process. The kind of problems that teachers have to face in the schools (e.i., Environmental, behavioral, and money problems) tend to be dangerous because it affect the learning process most of the time (Al-amarat, 2011). The most common problems that the instructor have to face in face-to-face classes include the inability of maintain the good behavior in the class, the environment in the class is inadequate or exist meaningful problems that affect the students interaction, and lack of proper funding that includes the size of the classroom, the equipment and material that the classroom needs (Al-amarat, 2011), and so on. On the other hand, in online courses occur different types of difficulties such as technical problems, flexibility of study schedules, and the inability to involve the whole group (Roberts & McInnerney, 2007) because in this type of classes most of the time has students from different parts of the world and it is difficult for them to organize their times, also, because as they have different ages, intelligences, personal objectives, they will not learn at the same time and at the same way.
The type of activities that the teacher develops in order to motivate students to continue learning exert a big change in the students' language development. The creative and fun activities let students to learn more because “they shape learners’ interest and enthusiasm” (Dornyey, 2003, as cited in Carpio, 2013, p. 33). The type of activities face-to-face and online classes have a lot of similarities, inasmuch as the instructors have an enormous variety of resources in the internet and books, or even they can adapt activities from the online to face-to-face classes or vice versa. What is different with these kind of classes is the way in which the teacher performs the activities because in face-to-face classes have the opportunity to involve more students in the exercises than in online classes because of the proximity that teachers have with their students; although online classes have been criticized, many online sites are available for learners to have the opportunity to interact with each other in real time. That is why teachers have to develop their creativity when preparing their activities to pay attention to the effect they are going to cause on the students' behavior and motivation, the effectiveness in participation, and duration.
Not only face-to-face and online classes are two great ways of teaching, but they both also share differences and similarities in the role of the instructor, the possible problems that a teacher face in a class, and the different activities that each provide. These previous aspects have a big impact on the effective development of a class and in the learners’ preferences, so both teachers and students have the opportunity to decide whether to choose face-to-face classes or online ones considering their positive and negative aspects. Nowadays, these two types of teaching provide a big variety of forms that we take advantage to learn considering our needs and objectives, but also teachers have to take into account that the education is constantly changing and that they need to be adapting their resources with the purpose of having effective classes. Now it is easier to compare the two kinds of teaching, but through out the years would it be the same?
The role of the instructor in a class tends to change during the teaching process. The roles of the instructor in both face-to-face and online classes help the teacher to guide the students to improve their learning journey and engage students with their learning outcomes (Redmond, 2011). Both face-to-face and online classes have similar roles such as a facilitator, tutor, evaluator, guide, mentor, monitor, supporter, etc. because it depends on not only in the instructor personality, but also in the method they decide to use in their classes, teaching styles, and the learning theories that the teachers follow. The instructor has the capacity to create an appropriate class' environment in order to have a good rapport in which their students develop their knowledge and enjoy the stages of the lesson; that is why the roles can be so similar each other because both of them have a general objective that is the understanding and the usage of what is taught. The changes of the instructor's role help to avoid some problems while learning a language.
Certain problems within the class create a barrier in the students' learning process. The kind of problems that teachers have to face in the schools (e.i., Environmental, behavioral, and money problems) tend to be dangerous because it affect the learning process most of the time (Al-amarat, 2011). The most common problems that the instructor have to face in face-to-face classes include the inability of maintain the good behavior in the class, the environment in the class is inadequate or exist meaningful problems that affect the students interaction, and lack of proper funding that includes the size of the classroom, the equipment and material that the classroom needs (Al-amarat, 2011), and so on. On the other hand, in online courses occur different types of difficulties such as technical problems, flexibility of study schedules, and the inability to involve the whole group (Roberts & McInnerney, 2007) because in this type of classes most of the time has students from different parts of the world and it is difficult for them to organize their times, also, because as they have different ages, intelligences, personal objectives, they will not learn at the same time and at the same way.
The type of activities that the teacher develops in order to motivate students to continue learning exert a big change in the students' language development. The creative and fun activities let students to learn more because “they shape learners’ interest and enthusiasm” (Dornyey, 2003, as cited in Carpio, 2013, p. 33). The type of activities face-to-face and online classes have a lot of similarities, inasmuch as the instructors have an enormous variety of resources in the internet and books, or even they can adapt activities from the online to face-to-face classes or vice versa. What is different with these kind of classes is the way in which the teacher performs the activities because in face-to-face classes have the opportunity to involve more students in the exercises than in online classes because of the proximity that teachers have with their students; although online classes have been criticized, many online sites are available for learners to have the opportunity to interact with each other in real time. That is why teachers have to develop their creativity when preparing their activities to pay attention to the effect they are going to cause on the students' behavior and motivation, the effectiveness in participation, and duration.
Not only face-to-face and online classes are two great ways of teaching, but they both also share differences and similarities in the role of the instructor, the possible problems that a teacher face in a class, and the different activities that each provide. These previous aspects have a big impact on the effective development of a class and in the learners’ preferences, so both teachers and students have the opportunity to decide whether to choose face-to-face classes or online ones considering their positive and negative aspects. Nowadays, these two types of teaching provide a big variety of forms that we take advantage to learn considering our needs and objectives, but also teachers have to take into account that the education is constantly changing and that they need to be adapting their resources with the purpose of having effective classes. Now it is easier to compare the two kinds of teaching, but through out the years would it be the same?
References
Al-amarat, M. (2011). The classroom problems faced teachers at the public schools in tafila province, and proposed solutions. Journal of Faculty of Education, 3(1), 37-48. Retrieved from http://krepublishers.com/02-Journals/IJES/IJES-03-0-000-11-Web/IJES-03-1-000-11-Abst-PDF/IJES-3-1-037-11-041-Al-Amarat-M-S/IJES-3-1-037-11-041-Al-Amarat-M-S-Tt.pdf
Carpio, K. (2013). The language teacher and students’ motivation: Let’s use different types of activities in the classroom. Journal of Encuentro, 22, 29-37. Retrieved from http://www.encuentrojournal.org/textos/Del%20Carpio_Motivation.pdf
Redmond, P. (2011). From face to face teaching to online teaching: Pedagogical transitions. Proceedings of ascilite 2011: Changing demands, changing directions, 1050-1060.
Roberts, T., & McInnerney, J. (2007). Seven problems of online group learning ( and their solutions). Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 10(4), 257-268. Retrieved from http://www.ifets.info/journals/10_4/22.pdf
Scagnoli, N., Buki, L., & Johnson, S. (2009). The influence of online teaching on face to face teaching practices. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 13(2), 115-128. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ862351.pdf
University of the Potomac. (2016). Retrieved from https://potomac.edu/learning/online-learning-vs-traditional-learning/
Carpio, K. (2013). The language teacher and students’ motivation: Let’s use different types of activities in the classroom. Journal of Encuentro, 22, 29-37. Retrieved from http://www.encuentrojournal.org/textos/Del%20Carpio_Motivation.pdf
Redmond, P. (2011). From face to face teaching to online teaching: Pedagogical transitions. Proceedings of ascilite 2011: Changing demands, changing directions, 1050-1060.
Roberts, T., & McInnerney, J. (2007). Seven problems of online group learning ( and their solutions). Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 10(4), 257-268. Retrieved from http://www.ifets.info/journals/10_4/22.pdf
Scagnoli, N., Buki, L., & Johnson, S. (2009). The influence of online teaching on face to face teaching practices. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 13(2), 115-128. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ862351.pdf
University of the Potomac. (2016). Retrieved from https://potomac.edu/learning/online-learning-vs-traditional-learning/
My purpose statement
My ideal job is to teach English to foreign learners in England because the students there have the necessity to learn the language in order to does not have problems during their stay. I also want to teach Spanish there because many students are interested in this language, and it gives me the opportunity to share my knowledge and the culture. Taking this into account, I would like a job which allows me to grow both personally and professionally in different levels of education, so I will work on my professional training to be constantly increasing my knowledge. Also, I would like to work in an institution in which I am able to elaborate my own planning in order to challenge my students according to their expectations, objectives, and the level they are in. To accomplish previous points, I would work on adapting activities to each type and level of students in order for them to be interested and motivated to learn and to develop their critical thinking. I would like a job that pays me what I deserve for what I do, taking into account my skills and knowledge that I have about education. Considering this I would be respectful with my co-workers and help them when having problems to plan a class. Lastly, I would like to work on an institution where students are constantly challenged in their learning process because it promotes quality in the educational system.
Recommendation letter
September 13, 2016
Jhon Brown, PhD
Carleton University
112 Colonel By Dr, Ottawa
Canada, OM H4S 7C9
813-520-3498
Dear Mr. Brown,
My name is Brenda Elizabeth López Gómez, an student on Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, I am studying a BA in English language teaching, and I would like to recommend Vannessie Green Jhonson for English teacher at the Carleton University. She has been my friend for three years; we met each other at the university.
Vannessie has demonstrated that she is responsible, honest, and hard-working during the years that I have knowing her. Moreover, she has vast knowledge in the subject of English language teaching specifically in practical subjects. She had have some years studying and on providing classes to kids. The classes where in a "Jean Piaget" in where she demonstrated their knowledge and abilities on working with kids. Also she is really good at planning, and has the ability to control classrooms with a big number of students. Furthermore, Vannessie is a patient, respectful, and tolerant person; she likes to help others, so I think she would be a good element for your institution and a good friend.
For the previous reasons I entirely recommend Vannessie Green Jhonson to join to the prestigious university of Carleton. As a dedicated and hard-working person, I am sure that she will be a good complement in your work team. Please feel free to contact me for any way of contact if you want additional information about her.
Sincerely,
Brenda Elizabeth López Gómez
Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes
567 Atequiza street, Aguascalientes
Aguascalientes, 209876
[email protected]
449-675-9856
Jhon Brown, PhD
Carleton University
112 Colonel By Dr, Ottawa
Canada, OM H4S 7C9
813-520-3498
Dear Mr. Brown,
My name is Brenda Elizabeth López Gómez, an student on Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, I am studying a BA in English language teaching, and I would like to recommend Vannessie Green Jhonson for English teacher at the Carleton University. She has been my friend for three years; we met each other at the university.
Vannessie has demonstrated that she is responsible, honest, and hard-working during the years that I have knowing her. Moreover, she has vast knowledge in the subject of English language teaching specifically in practical subjects. She had have some years studying and on providing classes to kids. The classes where in a "Jean Piaget" in where she demonstrated their knowledge and abilities on working with kids. Also she is really good at planning, and has the ability to control classrooms with a big number of students. Furthermore, Vannessie is a patient, respectful, and tolerant person; she likes to help others, so I think she would be a good element for your institution and a good friend.
For the previous reasons I entirely recommend Vannessie Green Jhonson to join to the prestigious university of Carleton. As a dedicated and hard-working person, I am sure that she will be a good complement in your work team. Please feel free to contact me for any way of contact if you want additional information about her.
Sincerely,
Brenda Elizabeth López Gómez
Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes
567 Atequiza street, Aguascalientes
Aguascalientes, 209876
[email protected]
449-675-9856
Re: Meeting Ms. McCurdy to bring the documentation
Dear Ms. McCurdy:
First of all, I want to thank you for accepting the meeting last Monday, September 12 about the possibility of doing my professional practices in your institution Convención de Aguascalientes. I am sending this e-mail to confirm my request about giving my professional practices during the current semester February-July, 2016. Also to arrange a second meeting to bring all the documentation that is necessary for this.
If you agree, we could meet either next Monday, September 26 or Tuesday, September 27 if there is not an inconvenience.
I am also sending to you an attachment with the university certificate, and will send the confirmation from the university that approves my professional practices in your institution in case you need them after.
I look forward to seeing you soon.
Sincerely,
Brenda Elizabeth López Gómez
[email protected]
449-675-9856
Dear Ms. McCurdy:
First of all, I want to thank you for accepting the meeting last Monday, September 12 about the possibility of doing my professional practices in your institution Convención de Aguascalientes. I am sending this e-mail to confirm my request about giving my professional practices during the current semester February-July, 2016. Also to arrange a second meeting to bring all the documentation that is necessary for this.
If you agree, we could meet either next Monday, September 26 or Tuesday, September 27 if there is not an inconvenience.
I am also sending to you an attachment with the university certificate, and will send the confirmation from the university that approves my professional practices in your institution in case you need them after.
I look forward to seeing you soon.
Sincerely,
Brenda Elizabeth López Gómez
[email protected]
449-675-9856
My educational philosophy
My educational philosophy is to achieve the objectives that the school set as well as my students' objectives in order to help them in their personal and educational development and also to prepare students for the next stage in their lives. I teach English to children using a variety of activities and projects to involve every students' styles taking into account their needs and likes as well as to balance the needs of my students by doing both individual and group work that let them the opportunity to develop their strengths and not only share with others what they know but also to get support from others. I define community of learners as a group of people who want to learn something new, that need to be involve in the group as a team, and a group that have different learning styles that have to be exploited to have quality in education. I teach children because I like how they work because they want to learn something new every day, and they are not scare of making mistakes. Children learn playing or doing activities that are quick and motivating. In that way they learn, interact with others, and develop their personality. My role as an educator is to guide students to construct their knowledge, help them in their process, and promote values among them. My relationship with the parents is essential because my students depend entirely on their parents, so I will try to have direct communication with them to discuss their children's performances, difficulties, and behaviors. As a future instructor to take into account the way of providing to my students the knowledge, the students' needs, and their values because I have the opportunity to make a big change in the education. Teaching is a satisfaction of knowing that your students are learning and enjoying the class, and it is about constructing all together knowledge, attitude, personality and values to grow as part of a whole.
Argumentative essay
The Overt Approach: The Best Approach to Teach a Language
Why should English language teachers use overt grammar in the classroom? Since the covert and overt approach started being used in the classrooms, teachers have been discussing about what approach is the most appropriate to teach grammar for students to develop the language faster and more accurate. Both approaches have a variety of benefits that provide in a language classroom; they have their own procedures and characteristics which different teachers may find appropriate. Also, some teachers are against communicative approaches because learners most of the time have problems achieving high grammar levels, even if they have abundant contact with the target language (Pawlak, 2004, as cited in Abdullah, 2015). Therefore, the overt approach should be used by teachers in the classrooms because it gives explicit explanations that some students need to understand the target language, it enables students to monitor their own learning process, and it helps them understand how to use the language to convey meaning and use.
Teachers should use the overt approach because some students need specific explanations to understand the language. Learning a new language is not a natural process, so if some students that are learning a second language (L2) and have a certain level of proficiency in English, but do not study grammar, they will not probably write or speak accurately (Abdullah, 2015). Because it is not their first language (L1), students at the beginning compare the L1 with the L2 in lexical and grammatical aspects (words, rules, and grammar structures). Teachers should explain explicit grammar for students to know some differences and similarities between the languages and to avoid fossilizations and misinterpretations. Moreover, certain groups of students prefer analyzing and processing the new information at the basic levels (Skehan, 1992, as cited in Cuesta, 2016). When students analyze the structure of the language, they satisfy their language curiosity as happens mainly with adults and adolescents in the basic levels. It is normal to commit mistakes when learning a new language, but it is necessary to know how to fix them.
The overt approach enables students to monitor their own learning process because they master the grammatical rules. Explicit knowledge simplifies the understanding and development of language; for that reason, it is easy and useful to be aware of the production of the language. (Ellis, 2004, as cited in, Widodo, 2006). This knowledge lets students think about the structure of the language because it becomes easier for them to realize the mistakes and to solve them in an accurate way. Besides, explicit knowledge allows them to correct themselves, and facilitates the process for learners to experiment with the language. As a result, students acquire an extensive language knowledge because they know how words work. On the other hand, even though the students know grammar, they are not able to communicate in daily life (Ling, 2015). Some teachers disagree with this approach because they say that in the overt approach students are not interacting among them. Also, with the covert approach students develop the grammatical structures implicitly, they imply hypotheses, and the language becomes automatic (Wilson, 2005). However, in the overt approach students not only analyze the new language, but also recognize patterns of the language, create hypotheses of the structures, and revise them. Furthermore, through repeated practice language becomes automatic as it does with babies when they are acquiring their first language (Hedge, 2000). In this case both students and teachers obtain benefits because as learners realize what the mistakes are, they are able to solve them more easily and they acquire the language faster as well as the teachers save time in order to teach many other topics that their students require. Students not only are experts in solving their mistakes, but also conveying meaning and use.
The overt approach helps students understand how to use the language to convey meaning and use. Grammar has three dimensions form (structure), semantics (meaning), and pragmatics (use) (Larsen-Freeman, 2000). The overt approach impacts the ways in which the grammatical structures are presented as well as the ideas they have in order to convey meaning (Hedge, 2000). Overt grammar lets students to recognize these changes and to convey meaning in order to express what they want without misunderstandings and as suitable as possible. Moreover, knowing how to use grammar is another benefit from the overt approach in which it involves distinct styles, characteristics for comprehension, and a good interaction in different situations (Leech and Svartvik,1975, as cited in, Hedge, 2000). When students learn with explicit grammar, they internalize better the concepts including their meanings and uses, so they are able to expand their proficiency in the L2. Semantics like pragmatics are two key concepts that make language become unique as well as understandable for the interlocutor.
To sum up, the overt approach is the most appropriate approach to teach a language in the classroom because students have several benefits. One of them is to provide explicit explanation to those students who need them because they possess a more analytical thinking, and it helps better in the learning process. Another benefit is that students have the ability to correct themselves because it facilitates the acquisition of the target language. Teaching explicit grammar helps students use language adequately to convey meaning and use. Both the overt and the covert approach are useful because they have different purposes depending on the necessities of the students, but the overt approach is most helpful because it covers more advantages than the other. Now, what approach would you use to teach a language?
References
Abdullah, H. (2015). Enhancing competency in English: The covert approach a complementary to the overt approach in teaching grammar. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 4(1), 191-197. Retrieved from http://www.journals.aiac.org.au/index.php/IJALEL/article/view/1252/1242
Cuesta, M. (2016). The teaching of grammar. Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies,16, 1-15 Retrieved from http://www.miscelaneajournal.net/images/stories/articulos/vol16/cuesta16.pdf
Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and learning in the language classroom. UK: Oxford university press.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques and principles in language teaching: second edition. UK: Oxford university press.
Ling, Z. (2015). Explicit grammar and implicit grammar teaching for English major students in university. Journal of David Publishing, 12(8), 556-560. Retrieved from http://www.davidpublisher.org/Public/uploads/Contribute/55d44b4a89ed9.pdf
Widodo, H. (2006). Approaches and procedures for teaching grammar. Journal of English Teaching: Practice and Critique. 5(1), p. 122-141. Retrieved from https://education.waikato.ac.nz/research/files/etpc/2006v5n1nar1.pdf
Wilson, H. (2005). Testing the covert method of grammar teaching: A pilot study. Proceedings of the CATESOL State Conference, 1-8.
Cuesta, M. (2016). The teaching of grammar. Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies,16, 1-15 Retrieved from http://www.miscelaneajournal.net/images/stories/articulos/vol16/cuesta16.pdf
Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and learning in the language classroom. UK: Oxford university press.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques and principles in language teaching: second edition. UK: Oxford university press.
Ling, Z. (2015). Explicit grammar and implicit grammar teaching for English major students in university. Journal of David Publishing, 12(8), 556-560. Retrieved from http://www.davidpublisher.org/Public/uploads/Contribute/55d44b4a89ed9.pdf
Widodo, H. (2006). Approaches and procedures for teaching grammar. Journal of English Teaching: Practice and Critique. 5(1), p. 122-141. Retrieved from https://education.waikato.ac.nz/research/files/etpc/2006v5n1nar1.pdf
Wilson, H. (2005). Testing the covert method of grammar teaching: A pilot study. Proceedings of the CATESOL State Conference, 1-8.
Limerick
Tanka
Cinquain
Shakespearean Sonnet
Eclipse
At night the moon was sad as everyday So dark and far it seemed to cry alone Because it saw the sun just walk away Alone she sang a song and saw a stone The time has passed so slow in everywhere With every night and day throughout the years The stars agreed the sky is quite unfair That night she thought she won't be shedding tears But, wow! The sun appeared behind the sea He ran and jumped to give the moon a hug And said "hello my dear please marry me" She said "for long ago you've been my drug" So they will meet again with pink champaigne The story proved that love relieves the pain. |
Elizabeth, my love
Every time I do not Look into your eyes, I imagine myself in the dark Zero feelings invade my soul After I said - Good bye my love- Bitter teardrops invade my face, and no one Ever can make me forget. Totally destroyed, totally broken in every way Hence, my life after being your mother, will never be the same. |