Breaking Boundaries magazine BA in English Universidad del Tolima 1st issue 2013 by Andres Mauricio Potes Morales

JOSÉ HERMAN MUÑOZ ÑUNGO Principal DAVID BENITEZ MOJICA Academic Vice-Chancellor ANDRÉS FELIPE VELÁSQUEZ MOSQUERA Dean School of Education MIGUEL EDUARDO HUERTAS MENESES Academic Unit Director

Breaking

Boundaries

ISSN: 2346-2698 Editorial Director: Diego Cárdenas Urquíza Editorial Coordinator: Marta Faride Estefan Upegui Editorial Comittee: Diego Cárdenas Urquíza Cesar Augusto García Rudy Andrés Galeano Andersson Smith García

Cover Assembly: Carolina Leal Layout: Carolina Leal Printed by: Colors Editores Periodicity: Annual Circulation: 500 copies

The opinions expressed within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the school of education and/or the University’s beliefs. Total or partial reproduction with strict academic purposes is authorized if referencing source and authors.

4 CONTENTS 8. Ecology and communicative competence among foreign language learners………………………... Luis A. Avila

Editorial Andrés Felipe Velásquez Mosquera Introduction Diego Cárdenas Urquíza

9. ¿ Are teachers born or made?...........................................................................................………… Juan Pablo Puentes Betancur

FRAMEWORKING 1. Preparing L2 learners to write. …………………………………………………………………............................... Félix Anderson Martinez Ticora

2. The Socio Cultural Theory and the situation of bilingualism in Colombia ………………………........

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Juan Gabriel Murcia Perdomo 3. ¿When and how should we correct our student’s mistakes? What a pickle in our foreign language classroom!…......................................................................

Kelly Johanna Corrales Cuellar

4. Metacognition awareness………………………………………………….………………………..............................

Rudy Andrés Galeano

5. A critical review of Krisnawati: Pragmatic competence in the spoken English classroom………

Yisbeth López Bermeo

6. Encouraging writing in the foreign language classroom …………………………………………...............

IN THE CONTEXT 10. A great opportunity for your professional future: Social service as a graduation option....... Edgar Omar Orozco

11. This is me as a world citizen student ………………………………………………………............................... Rudy Andrés Galeano

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THE QUILL 12. Sophie’s adolescence ..........………………………………………………………………………………......... Cesar García

13. The graveyard crow in love .................……………………………………………………………………… Julián Forero Cruz

14. Muddy Honor.........…………………………….............…………………………………………….…………… Diego Cárdenas Urquíza

38 40 43

VIEWS AND REVIEWS

15. Dystopian Worlds…………….........…………………….............…………………………….………………… César Augusto García

Diana Marcela Manchola Jara INTERCULTURAL AWARENESS 7. Diversity Awareness …………………………………................................................................................ Andersson García

16. The Sun also rises…..……..........……………………………………............………………………………….. Rudy Andrés Galeano

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Editorial Comprehensive education, research, production, systematization and divulgation of scientific, technologic and artistic knowledge as well as environmental commitment are undoubtedly missionary pillars at Universidad del Tolima, pillars that the school of education promotes by means of the editorial project that is presented today. Nowadays, editorial developments are a priority, as stated by teacher Fabio Jurado Valencia, from the literature department of Universidad de Colombia: “Written tradition has taken on a relevant meaning and huge enthusiasm towards reading is evident”. Conversely, it is essential that the university focuses its attention in first source material, as it is the case of the magazine of every B.A. program of the aforementioned school. This editorial project aims to be a formal diffusion instrument, where every program presents its progresses, achievements, strengths and interests; pedagogical and didactic reflections and in general, all its relevant written production. In each one of these magazines, students, professors, undergraduates and guests will be communicators who using writing as a tool, will connect with related programs and people in the country and abroad. In this way, the university creates new opportunities for academic dialogue and reasoned argumentation about topics susceptible to be reflected upon from different perspectives.

Breaking

Boundaries

APUNTACIONES magazine of the program of B.A. in Spanish language, LICIENSO magazine of the program of B.A. in Social Studies, BREAKING BOUNDARIES magazine of the program of B.A. in English, CULTURA DEL MOVIMIENTO magazine of the program of B.A. in Physical Education, Sports and Recreation, DO-CIENCIA magazine of the program of B.A. in Natural Science and Environmental Education and EJES magazine of the program of B.A. in Mathematics, are the publications that compose this editorial enterprise which final goal is to contribute with the education of citizens able to provide relevant assistance in the construction of a better country.

Andrés Felipe Velásquez Mosquera Dean, School of Education Universidad del Tolima

Introduction Academic writing is a brick. As much as this statement can be controversial and endlessly debated among frowning colleagues and concerned pupils one thing is certain: all people interested in education have been hit full in the face at some point with such brick. From Piaget and Kolb, to the current trends in education, it is undeniable that many authors have been, at least once, “the stuff dreams are made of “ for many readers, not necessarily for the inspiring quality of their work per se, but simply because they fall asleep while reading it. Essential, meaningful and useful as it is, traditional academic writing often struggles with sustaining reader’s attention and providing a pleasant reading experience , especially when dealing with teenagers and young adults. Athalya Brenner delivers a witty vision into this issue: “Scholarly discourse, especially written scholarly discourse, has a certain format. It is supposed to be factual and dry, “objective,” or at least relatively clean of personal influence. It is supposed to contain extensive references to previous and current chains of learning. It is supposed to ignore political (in the wider sense of the term) realities. It is supposed to display the writer’s knowledge to advantage. Notes are expected, and the more the better, so that a text and a subtext run concurrently. A certain degree of originality is demanded, even when it is the result of hair-splitting, but it should not come at the expense of “depth.” Literary style, when too personal, is frowned upon. A clear distinction is made between “literary” discourse and academic or scholarly discourse. And thus, and increasingly so, academic/scholarly so-called research, in its written forms, is becoming more and more boring and less and less aesthetically pleasing.”1 ¿What is the alternative then? The answer for such a secular problem is –ironically- almost religious: faith. This magazine was created with the profound belief that educators – both service and pre-service ones- LOVE (yes, in capitals) reading and precisely because of that, will go to great lengths to make their writing as enjoyable and compelling as possible. Our dream with this project, as naïve as it can be, is that somebody (preferably some of our students or teachers) somewhere (preferably in our own university), reads BREAKING BOUNDARIES from cover to cover and feels encouraged enough to write. Maybe because our written production is so amazingly captivating that the reader wants to participate with a personal contribution for the next issue, maybe because we are so terribly boring that he/she wants to shows us how it is done. The motivation becomes unimportant if the result is the same. 1

I Am…Biblical Women Tell Their Own Stories, (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005) 99-100.

In this sense, the very existence of the first issue of this magazine represents indisputable proof that educators are interested in writing: 14 out of 16 articles were written by students or recently graduated teachers, not to mention the material that was not published because of space and time constraints. This amount of participation is both gratifying and reassuring, mainly when taking into account that not all contributions were limited to the academic spectrum, but also expanded into cultural manifestation, literary production and personal experiences, which provides evidence that educators can and want to use the language in context. Cleary, there is good reason to be hopeful. There is good reason to believe that educators feel the need to innovate, to explore, to propose and surely scholarly writing is susceptible of being positively affected by these necessities. Certainly there is much yet to be learned and this first issue is far from perfect. We apologize in advance for the many mistakes we may have not even noticed yet. However we strongly believe that the proverbial spark has been lit, and this space has the potential to become an excuse to navigate the beautiful, sometimes treacherous, ocean of words. Academic writing is a brick yes, but you can decide if you want to stumble on it …or use it to construct the staircase that will take you to higher ground.

DIEGO CÁRDENAS URQUÍZA HEAD OF THE PROGRAM B.A. IN ENGLISH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION UNIVERSIDAD DEL TOLIMA

Magazine Breaking Boundaries B. A in English

FRAMEWORKING PREPARING L2 LEARNERS TO WRITE By Félix Martinez Ticora

Taken from: http://www.discardedimage.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/writing.jpg (3 instant writing improvements)

lthough there is a great deal of authors referring to the way of writing, it is an area that must be explored deeply to determine the parameters that teachers must follow to guarantee an appropriate style in their learners. This issue is full of pros and cons but it depends on the teachers’ point of view and their personal beliefs and assumptions. What I want to define is how to prepare learners to write. Nowadays, students do not like writing in their native language; as a result, learners do not show interest in doing written assignments. Students prefer short activities in which there is not a lot of responsibility. This situation generates uneasiness among teachers who want to enhance their student’s writing. However, teachers must look for the way of encouraging students to write. In doing this, learners’ attitude towards writing, hopefully, will change and the classroom environment will be seen as suitable to create papers. Unquestionably, learners show a lot of creativity in their written assignments and their vocabulary is evolving progressively with the internet availability. This condition makes easier students’ guide to reach a better understanding of writing. Once teachers have the raw material, creativity and vocabulary, the additional requirements to write high quality writing will be a matter of practice. According to my experience, students display different problems related to the lack of clarification in concepts.

Magazine Breaking Boundaries B. A in English

First of all, learners show confusion between narrative and descriptive ideas. Instead of telling a story in a narrative writing, learners describe an event and forget to share their own experiences. In addition, most of the students lose sight of concessions to convince their audience in persuasive writings. Second, learners show problems to build a suitable paragraph. Students write different topics simultaneously, straying the reader’s attention and creating confusion in their meaning. Furthermore, some students write irrelevant sentences and that confusion becomes bigger. I personally believe that teachers must do a lot of exercises in which students focus on just an idea. Otherwise, learners will write disorganized thoughts and evidently will increase revision on the side of teachers. Third, students write long sentences causing problems to read and comprehend their intention. This is evidenced in learners who transfer their writing skills from Spanish to English. Therefore, teachers must remind them the importance of being clear and concise in sentences. In some cases, I have found expressions translated literally from one language to the other linked by commas. This trend makes teachers reflect on the way of teaching writing and allow exploring other possibilities to teach learners how to focus on concrete ideas. Nevertheless, teachers have a powerful way to enhance their learners’ way of writing. This solution is well-known as ‘feedback’ and determines students’ reaction facing written assignments. Making feedback is a matter of style. If teachers focus on grammar correction, it will not have effect on learners. Responding to the content is the key to catch students’ attention. When learners realize that their teachers are interested in their stories, students’ reaction will be positive and the level of writing

“For example, if a student receives feedback indicating that a lack of supporting evidence made his or her paper less convincing than it could have been, the student is likely at least to attempt to provide supporting evidence in subsequent papers because the student’s awareness of the importance of this supporting evidence has been heightened.” Thus, this awareness allows students create more possibilities to improve their papers. Teachers should take into consideration that nor only negative feedback is required in this process but also a positive feedback that encourages learners to continue to write. Although this is a demanding task for teachers, this change would show better outcomes at the end of the writing process. It is important to recognize that changing is not easy. However, the benefit to teachers and students is definitely worth the effort. Each student has a different level and consequently each student requires a different feedback. This feedback will give positive results but teachers must show patience to see the progress in each learner. Besides, trying errors in writing takes a lot of time and teachers may feel frustrated if expected results are not good. As Ferris stated (2002), “For many ESL writing instructors, the prospect of responding to student’s errors (chap, 4) or providing strategy training and grammar instruction (chapter, 5) may appear rather daunting.” This process is time consuming and teachers are very affected for the time invested in checking papers. Nevertheless, students will thank the interest that teachers give to their written assignments. Finally, learners will feel better when teachers explain how to become better writers by giving positive and constructive feedback. Although much remains to be done, it would be worth exploring deeply the learners’ individual skills and the pressure of time to cover topics in classrooms.

References Bates, L., Lane, J. & Lange, E. (1993). Writing clearly: Responding to ESL compositions. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. Ferris, D. (2002). Treatment of error in second language student writing. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

Magazine Breaking Boundaries B. A in English

THE SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY AND THE SITUATION OF BILINGUALISM IN COLOMBIA By Juan Gabriel Murcia Perdomo

hrough the foreign language learning process, it is very important - or perhaps mandatory - to construct significant experiences to develop better communicative competences and build more complex and defined structures to reinforce those competences and also to make that process easier and more meaningful. The use of language implies communicating ideas that a language user owns and receiving information from other people of sources, in a constant way and performed in specific contexts, making the language not only an ability but also a useful tool. This has a very important influence on how foreign language is taught in our schools and educational centres. Currently it has become even more necessary when government has implemented policies and goals in order to improve and strengthen economic and educational aspects. Thus, it is compulsory to learn and realize that we cannot be at a disadvantage when competing in such aspects.

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One of the strategies proposed to crystalize these pretentions is the National Bilingualism Program which contains some stages and policies to make people more competent when using the English language through a solid evaluation system, a better syllabus responding to the requirements that were established by the government, referring to educational and socio-cultural aims. Although there has been evolution in how English language is being taught and learned, it does not mean that English use is extended at present. Actually, high levels of bilingualism are concentrated in principal territories of Colombia according to a study made by Andres Sanchez Jabba, which demonstrates that Bogota has the highest number of students with a high score on English test from ICFES examination. Moreover, Caribbean region has a significant number, compared to Andean and Orinoquia regions.

Magazine Breaking Boundaries B. A in English

That study excludes the Archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina, where English language is widely used because it was the first language employed before they belonged to Colombian territory. Taking into account those aspects, we can consider there is not a huge development of bilingualism in Colombia, and the cause is not a failure of syllabus or policies. In my opinion, the main failure in foreign language learning, concerning public schools and educational centres, is related to a lack of interaction between potential foreign language users. Concretely, in most public schools, English teachers do not emphasize making true interaction with students because, occasionally, there is not enough time to perform classes in which they can reach completely the objectives proposed for English language lessons, and sometimes because teachers give assignments just to preserve the order in classroom instead of having students achieve actual competencies. This could carry several troubles in future performance, making students insecure when they have to use the language, taking into account that “the specifically human capacity for language enables children to provide for auxiliary tools in the solution of difficult tasks, to overcome impulsive action, to plan a solution to a problem prior to its execution, and to master their own behavior” (Vygotsky, 1978.). Language can help the user deal with plenty of situations and activities, and it influences his/her behaviour. If there is a good management of linguistic skills there is more confidence and the language user will be able to express, argue and communicate ideas and feelings.

Besides, “human learning presupposes a specific social nature and a process by which children grow into the intellectual life of those around them” (Vygotsky, 1978); this statement supports the idea about the importance of interaction to fortify communicative competences. But this does not always happen in public schools. Some of them, from towns or small cities, do not have real access to resources which can be useful for the development of foreign language learning. This can be evident in the general conception about English learning at universities in other fields different from those related to humanistic ones. Some students, however, are concerned about the importance of English language. They may have some difficulties when they start their first class completely in English because the process that they had at schools consisted on doing some task/exercises and the teacher gave instructions generally in Spanish. Exceptions in such regard may well occur when a student has studied in a bilingual school, studied with an emphasis in humanities, taken an English course or simply been interested in the language, preparing for it in his or her own. Jabba (2012) says in his study that, in fact, there is a significant low level of bilingualism in Colombia, and the best performances come from those pupils who study in private schools. One of his conclusions suggest that “it is imperative to work on closing the gap in the level of English among students of public and private schools, as the results suggest that the first, who represent the majority of Colombian high school students, reach a significant level of English low, while the latter continue achieving comparatively high scores”.

Magazine Breaking Boundaries B. A in English

However, although resources are important instruments to achieve goals, the main way to improve and learn much more a language is through practice, and it becomes more meaningful through the establishment of roles inside classrooms, starting in crucial levels for study. The teacher, as a model, is followed by students, making and acquiring the same structures; at the same time, the teacher gives some assistance to students until they start to perform their abilities without any help. In our case in terms of bilingualism, that happening, defined as “Zone of Proximal Development” by Vygotsky, requires a collaborative process between teacher and students making guidance, or between students and other students establishing an interpersonal interaction developing tasks in which the speech is involved to promote communication and expression and contributing to a better performance. To conclude, we realize that is not easy to increase levels of bilingualism in a short term, since there are some conceptions and paradigms to change about the use and the importance of a foreign language. Yet, the labour of English teaching and learning bears the performance of the teacher at classrooms as a base. We must consider which role we are playing, and in which way we can contribute to get aims and execute policies referred to English language learning. Practicing and establishing relationships through the use of English contributes to significant learning for language users and they are a guarantee of good performance in future situations, either in educational or professional stages.

Magazine Breaking Boundaries B. A in English

When and how should we correct our student’s mistakes? What a pickle in our foreign language classes! By Kelly Johanna Corrales Gutierrez Before I start speaking about how a child might get rid of mistakes without being corrected by others, I consider important to mention that mistakes are an inseparable part of the process. As Corder (1974) stated, they should be viewed as a part of the learning progress and undoubtedly they can learn from their own errors. It is not a secret that when we are exposed to a language, it is easier to acquire it than when we are not, because we have a permanent contact with it and we receive meaningful input, which is significant in our process, because if we are not exposed to a language at all, we will never be able to gain “native” mastery of it. In that case, exposure, language is acquired but learned According to Corder, S. P. (1967) and Krashen, S. (1985) , before we start speaking, we have to understand the language. We know that children produce sounds, utterances or words not produced by adults, in order to try to convey a meaning since there is a need to mention that they have to face a process in which some stages are found and overcome through the months. Parents actually do not correct children’s grammar mistakes; because they understand that they are facing a process. Parents understand that children are learning. For example, if one of them says “Ivan goed to the park yesterday’, parents most of the time respond “Yes, he did” without bothering to correct the incorrect verb. I do not imply that parents never try to correct their children’s errors. Taking into account my experience with my brother and cousins, even when we correct them, there is not a great effect on the language development of children. Sometimes, they seem determined to continue producing incorrect forms in spite of the correction from adults. I consider that children get rid of errors without being corrected by others taking into account the learning theory which claims that the brain of human beings is genetically predisposed for language. This is called the Innateness Theory which was developed in late eighties by Noam Chomsky as cited in the book “A Cognitive Approach to Language Learning”. The latter suggests as we are made to have two arms and are designed to walk, we are made to talk.

References Sanchez Jabba, A. (2012). El bilingualismo en bachilleres colombianos. Documentos de trabajos sobre economía regional, 159. Bogotá: Banco de la República. Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

According to Chomsky, kids acquire language in a systematical fashion. He mentions that there is a critical period in which language acquisition is possible and easier, because it has particular consequences for brain development and if the period is missed, the brain will never develop the same structures later. It is important to mention, that first, children do not use language like adults as children simply are not adults. Acquiring a language is a lengthy and gradual process, which involves a lot of apparent ‘errors’ which are in fact not errors at all but a necessary part of the process of language acquisition. That is, errors should not be corrected, because they will disappear in time or just once the child is ready to learn the next rule or to go beyond. For that reason, they do not need to be corrected because the environment is going to be the best teacher

Magazine Breaking Boundaries B. A in English

In our case, taking into account the information that has been mentioned, in the field of teaching a foreign language, we need to provide our students with meaningful input (Krashen, 1982; 1985; among others) all the time. Actually, we know that it is not enough because the students are just going to be exposed to the language in the classroom or in the place where classes are given, somehow it helps a lot in their learning process. At the same time, Stoller (2002) argues that students need exposure to input from various content sources, representing diverse perspectives. According to what he says, finding appropriate materials is a huge challenge. However, nowadays we have a lot of tools and sources which can help us to find the appropriate material to teach in a different way.

we can motivate our students. Moreover, their affective filter is going to be low and they are going to feel free and comfortable to learn another language. We cannot forget that the correction of students’ errors in a classroom depends on a set of individual factors such as the student’s age, aptitude, proficiency level, motivation, learning styles and learning strategies. I think we, as future teachers, should bear in mind, on the first hand, students’ reaction to error correction because some of them like being corrected and others do not. For that reason, I reckon it is extremely important to establish a good rapport with our students and to know a little bit more about them.

It is important to bear in mind that when we are learning our native language, we are exposed to it all the time, we need to use it in order to be able to interact with other people and convey meaning. Learning a foreign language, however, is a totally different experience, because the learner does not have the opportunity to have a permanent input and a constant communication with people who speak the language that they have been learning at school so as to practice and improve it.

Finally, it is important to bear in mind that students’ attitude towards correction is sometimes positive, especially in advanced levels in which students want to be corrected in order to improve their language and avoid errors to be fossilized. Still, it is important to subscribe that it is probably more effective and meaningful for students to correct their own mistakes at their own rate.

The environment has to support our students because if it is not going to help them to improve, we as teachers have to do our best in the classroom. In addition, we play an important role, because we need to comprehend and support our students in their process so that we can help them correct and overcome their difficulties. Taking into account what Ur (1996) states, error corrections need to be done with sensitivity to avoid embarrassment and demotivation, and that is exactly what we have to do, and in that way, References

Magazine Breaking Boundaries B. A in English

TAKEN FROM: http://www.multilingualliving. com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ thinking_1-e1275353044381.jpg (Does bilingualism cause language delay?)

Metacognition Awareness By Rudi Andrés Galeano

e engage in metacognitive activities everyday - being aware of and monitoring our learning. Although related, cognition and metacognition differ: Cognitive skills are those needed to perform a task whereas metacognitive skills are necessary to understand how it was performed. Successful adult learners employ a range of metacognitive skills, and effective teachers of adults attend to the development of these skills.

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Corder, S. P. (1967). The significance of learners’ errors. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 5, 160-170. Krashen, S. (1985). The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. NY: Longman. Skehan, P. (1998). A cognitive approach to language learning .Oxford University press, Applied linguistics, 220-240. Stoller, F. (2002, March). Content-Based Instruction: A Shell for Language Teaching or a Framework for Strategic Language and Content Learning? Keynote presented at the annual meeting of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Salt Lake City. Ur, P. (1996). A course in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Metacognition is essential to successful learning as it enables our students and ourselves as practitioners to manage cognitive skills and to determine weaknesses that can be corrected by constructing new cognitive skills, particularly when we foster students cognitive skills like problem solving or raising determination for when skimming and scanning are appropriate for reading comprehension. Almost anyone who can perform a learning skill (in our case in language teaching the receptive ones reading and listening, and the productive ones speaking and writing) is capable of metacognition, i.e., thinking about how they perform that skill. Promoting metacognition begins with building an awareness among learners that metacognition exists, differs from cognition, and increases academic success. The next step is to teach some learning strategies alike to their individual preferences and needs, and more importantly, to help students construct explicit knowledge about when and where to use strategies. A flexible strategy suite can be used afterwards for having careful regulatory decisions that allow students planning, monitoring, and evaluating their own learning.

Magazine Breaking Boundaries B. A in English

According to the piece of reading given, BENSON, P. (2001) indicates ‘metacognitively’ aware learners are more strategic and perform better than unaware learners, allowing individuals to plan, sequence, and monitor their learning in a way that directly improves performance. Metacognition is separate from other cognitive constraints on learning such as aptitude and domain knowledge – the latter has to do with MI (Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences and mandatory intelligences in an individual). We can say that metacognition is supported and made by knowledge about and regulation of cognition. Knowledge about cognition refers to what students know about themselves, strategies, and conditions under which strategies are most useful (i.e. recognising their own learning needs and preferences). Declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge can be thought of as the building blocks of conceptual knowledge. Regulation of cognition is to knowledge about the way students plan, apply strategies, monitor, correct comprehension mistakes, and evaluate their learning. If these two components/factors work flawlessly, we can have students be self-regulated learners. If students are taught metacognitive awareness concerning the purpose and usefulness of a strategy as they are taught the strategy, they are more likely to generalise the strategy to new situations. Given the importance of high-stakes accountability and the use of standards (especially in language world as there is a great deal of proficiency tests like First certificate or PET, Standards for Language Teaching and Learning based on the CEFR), it is imperative to teach metacognitive skills in the language classroom. Metacognition is, all in all, etymologically, “cognition about cognition”, being aware of the strengths and weaknesses of oneself in learning terms and how we can improve one’s learning by applying strategically metacognitive skills. Here, we teachers have the role to foster as being facilitators, having students conscious of their own learning. In language classrooms, the application of portfolios and/or reflective journals are vital to have students keep on such metacognition awareness and integral learning by way of autonomous learning. Metacognition is the combination of the reflective and controlling aspect of learning, indeed: knowledge and regulation.

References

BENSON, P. (2001). Teaching and Researching Autonomy in Language Teaching (Applied Linguistics in Action). London: Longman IMEL, S. (2002). “Metacognitive Skills for Adult Learning”. Trends and Issues Alert No. 39. Retrieved on September, 2009 on http://www.cete.org/acve/docs/tia00107.pdf

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A critical review of Krisnawati E. (2011). Pragmatic Competence in the Spoken English Classroom. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, Vol. I No. 1 .July 2011. By Yisbeth López Bermeo

kaning Krisnawati (2011) presented an article about the development of pragmatic competence in learners of English. This article discusses some aspects that should be taken into account when conducting a spoken English class in relation to raising pragmatic awareness through the inclusion of pragmatic instruction in the classroom. This research aimed to support the pragmatic instruction in the classroom in order to develop pragmatic competence in English learners, since results from previous research have recommended integrating the teaching of pragmatics in the classroom. It is based on learners’ needs to communicate effectively. This article intends to be a practical compilation to support communicative activities, pragmatic instruction and pragmatic competence. In her article, based on concepts, Krisnawati explained the definition of pragmatics as the study of communicative action in its sociocultural context, based on Cristal (2001) and Kasper (2001), she included the two components of pragmatics (pragmalinguistics and sociopragmatics) and communicative acts, based on Leech and Thomas (2001). Krisnawati quotes many authors to support speech acts. She argued that speech acts are verbal actions

Magazine Breaking Boundaries B. A in English

Another major topic is the spoken English classroom where the author takes into account the conversational discourse its features, and the types of classroom speaking perfomances; in this part she explained six categories of oral production (imitative, intensive, responsive, transactional, interpersonal and extensive). Then she talked about the principles for designing speaking techniques and communicative and pragmatic competence and finally she argued about pragmatic competence and pragmatic instruction in the spoken English classroom. At the end she wrote a general conclusion. The author’s point of view is centred in the inclusion of pragmatic instruction in the classroom. One has the impression that Krisnawati is interested in helping to solve some problems which are presented in the English class when learners try to speak. Normally, foreign language learners do not frequently have experiences with native English speakers. For this reason, teachers need to develop the communicative and pragmatic competence in their students. Teaching pragmatic competence is widely regarded as an integral part of learning and teaching a language, according to (Bardovi-Harlig 1996; Bardovi-Harlig and Griffin 2005). Krisnawati argues that English Learners tend to have difficulties understanding the intended meaning communicated by a speech act, or producing a speech act using appropriate language and manner in the language being learned. According to Ainani’s research it has been found that classroom instruction on speech acts can help learners to improve their performance of speech acts and thus their interactions with native speakers. In summary, Krisnawati ’s article is an interesting support and a compilations of concepts, theories and principles that pretend to develop pragmatic competence through pragmatic instruction in the classroom. Also, she argues some principles and strategies to develop communicative and pragmatic competence. I recommend this article to expand the teachers’ perspective when they need to improve their students’ oral production.

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ENCOURAGING WRITING IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS

By Diana Marcela Manchola

owadays, writing has become one of the most important aspects to develop in foreign language learners. This skill is very difficult construct, because it demands time, effort, linguistic knowledge and coherence. Thus, through this essay I will try to define the relevance of improving that ability in students of a foreign language, as well as to identify the role of the teacher in this process and describe several strategies that teachers can use to stimulate this activity in the classrooms. As we know, writing is another way to communicate ideas, to express emotions, thoughts, and convey messages with others. Hence, throughout history we have observed different types of writing systems in the whole world, which belong to distinct cultures and societies. Consequently, writing is permanent and it has been the mean to immortalize civilizations and an effective manner to transmit knowledge through generations.

References

Bardovi-Harlig, K. (1996). Pragmatics and language teaching: Bringing pragmatics and pedagogy together. Pragmatics and Language Learning, 7, 21–39. Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Griffin, r. (2005). l2 pragmatic awareness: evidence from the esl classroom. System, 33, 401–415. Ainani, N. (2012). The analyses of classroom speech acts produced in the teaching and learning of english as a foreign language. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, taken from http://repository.upi.edu/operator/upload/paps_2012_ani_analyses_of_ classroom_speech_acts_produced.pdf

Likewise, writing expresses who you are as an individual, making your reasoning tangible; “the written material is the product of the learning process, it is concrete and visible and permits review, manipulation and modification of knowledge as it is <learned> and put into framework” Tomlinson, (1990).

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Due to the fact that you must enhance your ability to illustrate a complex perspective, solidifying your ideas and placing among opinions, assumptions and facts without confusing your reader or yourself. Also, writing gives you the tools to improve the communication and critical thinking skills you need to support your points of view; similarly, when you write down your ideas you can be provided with feedback from others which helps you to evaluate the accuracy of your arguments and to reflect upon them later. Concerning foreign language contexts, teachers play crucial role in the extent in which they promote the habit to write in their students. Therefore, an effective instruction gives as a result a good production; teachers should teach writing as a process, Fulwiler (1980) asserted that “writing is an active process of discovering and reinforcement”. It means, something that you build little by little, encouraging learners to write every day and without worrying about correctness, showing them that mistakes are normal in every learning process and it will be form those errors where students could recognize their weaknesses and monitor their own progress. Indeed, educators should create spaces in their classes in which they can guide the work of children, becoming editors who tend to ask questions that help writers to clarify thoughts and listening to ideas in order to provide them with opinions that enrich the written materials. “every time students write, they individualize instruction; the act of silent writing, even for five minutes, generates ideas, observations, emotions… regular writing makes it harder for students to remain passive” Fulwiler (1980).

Certainly, teachers should offer learners the opportunities to revise their texts, as well as the necessary resources to broad their perceptions and go beyond the mundane impressions. According to Olson, (1977) “writing is a specialized tool of analytic thinking”. So, teachers should stimulate students to increase their level of reflection through writing, improving their capacity of analysis and communicative skills in the target language. For that reason, teachers should ask young learners to write about things that they know pretty well, like their own lives and anecdotes; experiences that permit them to express feelings, to re-live emotions and write freely. Although, it is advisable that there is a balance between guidance and choice; since, children need to follow a framework, to have some limits that keep them concentrated and to know what exactly the teacher expects from them. Monroe (2003) claims that “all meaningful acts of writing are unavoidably complex negotiations with particular contexts, purposes and audiences”. Thus, teachers should promote all kinds of writing such as: poems, comics, stories, songs, letters and so on; with the aim at taking into account the different likes and interests of the students, engaging them in a variety of ways to expand their knowledge and inviting them to be creative. In fact, writing must be conceived as the source of the imagination, the creativity and the authenticity; where children could immerse to find their own style, their own voice. Olson (1977) argues that “writing is an instrument for the exploration of new ideas”. Hence, teachers should be open to every imaginable sort of writing that let

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originally; because creative writing is not about inventing something perfect or profound. Creative writing is what gives the learners the moment to express everything that they have in mind, even though it seems impossible or surreal.

the importance of writing, not only as a fundamental communicative skill, but also as a means for personal learning and development”.

Third, the implementation of a portfolio. It is an interesting technique that teachers can adopt to evaluate both the topics studied in classes Furthermore, foreign language teachers should and the quality of the students’ production; be aware that there are countless ways of through written reactions which reflect if they assessing students’ work; so, it is not vital to understand and what are the principles and mark up or grade each assignment, but it is the implications that they internalized. Fourth, more important to focus on the message to be taking advantage of the new technologies; communicated, the ability to demonstrate the educators can use blogs and web sites in general, intellectual flexibility and the interpretation in order to make the writing in young learners of the truth established. Actually, linguistic more appealing. These virtual resources are aspects are elements of language that will be more dynamic and enjoyable for them; after learned by the students through the process all, they can give their points of view in short itself. comments about themes that are relevant and current for their lives. Though, approaching writing in language classrooms could be a complicated task and “the Finally, publishing students’ work; if learners implementation of a successful, site-specific write with a clear purpose, in this case to get approach to writing and writing instruction is that their papers could be read in newspapers, bound up with the disciplinary investments magazines, books or school publications; it will and curricular vision that are particular to each contribute for children to feel motivated to college and university” Monroe (2003). There make a good effort, because they will see all are some strategies that teachers can use to their work and dedication rewarded. encourage learners to feel comfortable with it. First of all, involving young writers in short Evidently, writing is a process that requires burst of writing; this brief writing exercise in cognitive and physical abilities that individuals classes is a good activity to observe if children should develop if they want to write coherently write or not, similarly, to identify their styles and efficiently. Nevertheless, the teacher and facilitate them the practice that they need must ensure to make the process pleasurable to improve their skills in the foreign language. for learners, a process in which they are not concerned about doing everything perfect, but Second, stimulating students to express their they can feel secure to express themselves and feelings and experiences in journals or diaries; to experiment with the language at the same owing to it is the chance that they have for time. writing in the most free-way, and to link personal situations with the reality that surrounds them. So that, teachers should be the models of Yinger (1985) says that “Connections between enthusiasm by writing and sharing their own the act of writing and learning and suggests creative stories, publishing them in educational that involving children and adults with magazines or web sites where students can meaningful writing occasions such as journal read them, following their examples and taking writing may be one method to communicate writing as an indispensable job skill.

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To conclude, I can say that educators have to look for ways to motivate children to write purposefully and to learn through meaningful writing. “Writing represents a unique mode of learning – not merely valuable, not merely special, but unique” Emig (1977).

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INTERCULTURAL AWARENESS DIVERSITY AWARENESS By Andersson García

BIBLIOGRAPHY Emig, J. (1977). Writing as a mode of learning. College composition and communication, 28, 122. Retrieved from http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/archive/cl1/cl/doingcl/writing.htm Fulwiler, T. (1980). Journals across the disciplines. English Journal, 69 (12), 14. Retrieved from http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/archive/cl1/cl/doingcl/writing.htm Monroe, J. (2003). Writing and the disciplines. Analysis. Retrieved from http://www.aacu.org/peerreview/pr-fa03/PRFall03Feature1.pdf Olson, D. (1977). Journal of Second Language Writing. In Glen, N. J. (Eds.), Writing in Elementary school science: Factors that influence teacher beliefs and practices. (p.17) United States: UMI. Tomlinson, S. (1990). Writing to learn: Back to another basic. In SVINICKI, M. D. (Eds.), The changing face of college teaching, New Directions for Teaching and Learning, No. 42. Retrieved from http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/archive/cl1/cl/doingcl/writing.htm Yinger, R. (1985). Journal writing as a learning tool. The Volta Review, 87. 21-33

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anguage and culture are definitively two terms we cannot separate when talking about language teaching, the communicative purpose of language learning supposes a cultural knowledge, as cultural aspects play a key role in a successful communication. Language cannot be seen as a code, it is evident that it goes beyond that; learning a language implies learning many other things referring to the speech community in which it is spoken, and so, cultural aspects of the language and context are important in order to be able to negotiate meaning with the members of the community. Even if speakers use the same language, the lack of cultural background may arise some communication problems. A student may have learnt all the grammatical aspects of the language, but still it will be difficult for him/her to communicate efficiently if he/she doesn’t have a sound basis of cultural aspects of the target speech community. To solve the communication problems in the target language in the EFL classrooms, the learners need to learn about culture and the teachers should provide a good input for students to be able to take advantage of it and understand how to communicate in a foreign context. But, what would be a good input?

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Teaching culture sounds like very difficult to achieve, culture implies many different things, and it is difficult to transmit so much knowledge to the students, but, the truth of the matter is that we cannot separate language from culture; therefore some questions arise: What aspects of language are the ones we need to know? Is it possible to talk a bout a foreign culture in a classroom? Do we have to imitate? Which culture should we learn from? among many others. First of all, we have to understand that nobody could ever manage completely and perfectly a language, no one could say that he/she speaks perfect Spanish or English; languages evolve in the natural course of time and use (Kachru & Nelson, 2001) and nowadays that evolution process happens faster than ever. The influence of British or American English has in our learning process is undeniable, because they are maybe the main sources of English today, I mean many feed their languages form the sources they provide, so their influence is obvious; but there are many other different kinds of English, Accents or Dialects, which we should refer as Varieties, as the words Accent and Dialect may have some negative implications for many (Kachru & Nelson, 2001) These Varieties of English may not be less important than the first two. Having as a reference a specific target variety of language is restrictive; the target language is always someone else’s mother tongue. The learner is constructed as a linguistic tourist – allowed to visit, but without rights of residence and required always to respect the superior authority of native speakers. (Graddol, 2006). English is spoken everywhere today

and in each place differences arise as languages feed from each other, we cannot expect English to be perfectly British in Colombia or in India; varieties of all kind arise everywhere, and these varieties also have a great influence in the evolution of British or American English. Language cannot be preserved, maybe people who want to keep it as a matter of identity or as an artistic issue, may try to keep the language as pure as possible, although we know that there’s no one single modern language we can call pure; and that’s fine, but as for people trying to communicate, language evolves everyday, improving communication around the world and we cannot avoid getting away from any point in the development of the language that some people called “standard”. Some people may consider, that as the different languages around the world, and the varieties of English influence English itself in England or in America or Australia, or wherever, English itself is being destroyed, however, I consider we are not destroying the language, we are building it, improving it for everybody; differences and influences are welcome, as far as it helps us communicate with each other at any place of the world. In fifty years’ time, we could find ourselves with an English language which contains within itself vocabulary borrowed from such languages as Malay or Chinese (Crystal, 2003) or any other language speakers may use to make themselves understood better in English. Anyways, I think that although English, is considered a global language and it’s being fed by many different cultures and languages, we will never see a perfect Global English, I consider it is impossible the evolution process of the language can come to an end, the differences among people,

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cultures, and languages are always going to be there, and English is not ever going to be a language everybody can speak in the same way; and that’s good. That there are differences does not automatically imply that someone is wrong (Kachru & Nelson, 2001); Differences are beautiful, varieties of English, an accent or dialect which doesn’t sound like ours is just beautiful, we shouldn’t expect to lose that; we don’t need to imitate anybody else consciously; it’s ridiculous, as we face the community in which the language is spoken, we start understanding and acting as the language and cultures requires, but before, trying to act like people we don’t know sounds useless for me. No matter how “good” our English is, we cannot perfectly understand and be understood in a certain community, we have to deal with all the cultural background of their community, and we cannot simply acquire it in a classroom, neither could we acquire all varieties of English backgrounds. As far as we have the necessary basis to understand and be understood sufficiently, we are fine. We cannot expect to learn everything and be perfectly communicative before we arrive to the target community; language changes and evolves everyday; we can’t either, centralize our teaching in one single culture, British English or American, what if our students go to Australia? As far as there is not such a thing called Standard English, and as culture cannot be separated from language, what can we do in order to learn English and be communicative? For us to be able to be perfectly communicative in foreign language, I consider it is important to interact directly with the context, and as most of the people do not know what is their target community language, I think, it is not necessary to saturate our classrooms with cultural aspects of one specific variety of language, I think, that rather than teaching culture itself on the classroom what we have to do is to provide students with important tools for them to

be critical about all cultural aspects involved in language learning, that is to say, not giving them everything, but giving them general basis for them to develop a communicative competence. What I consider more important than the specific area of cultural behavior is the awareness of the learners of the importance of these aspects in communication. Being opened and critical towards the cultural aspects of language is for me more important than studying the culture itself, of course there are many important things we need to know about language and culture, it is part of the basis we need, but after that it is the learners responsibility to be able to acquire all what is needed in the moment it is needed. Finally, it is very difficult to learn everything even in the context itself, making mistakes and learning from them is also part of the process of learning, which by the way, never ends.

Bibliography Crystal, D. (2003). English as a global language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Graddol, D. (2006). English Next. British Council. Kachru, B., & Nelson, C. (2001). World Englishes. In Analysing English in a global context: a reader (pp. 71-102). London: Macquire University.

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Ecology and Communicative Competence Among Foreign Language Learners.

In common usage, ‘environment’ refers to nonhuman influences on humanity. Like ‘nature’, it is shorthand for the biophysical context, the ‘natural world’ in which we live. Less obviously is it linked with *nature/ culture dualism, and is intrinsically anthropocentric in its cosmological image of humanity surrounded by relevant biophysical factors. (Barnad & Spencer, 2002, pág. 283)

By Luis A. Avila ABSTRACT

e are going to explore a set of characteristics that are definitely new in the language teaching field. These characteristics are new for the reason that they approach the foreign language learning from the point of view of Environment, Intercultural Competence and Ecology, these terms, provide learners with new tools to improve specially their communicative competence, which is the point that teachers have to address in every single class they have. From that perspective, it seems like teachers have to change in a dramatically way their teaching styles which is not the purpose of this article, the real and genuine purpose is just to call teachers attention to re-invent and adapt their classes and also to shape and be careful with the materials, activities and approaches they use in the class. Finally, there are some guidelines or tips which will help teachers to set this new approach to language teaching, which are just an overview of what will work or not in a class, but also a new tool to make students able to use the language. Learning a language is the way learners change their status of students to proficient user of the language. We can analyze this process with an instrument called language socialization (Ochs, 2002). The aspects analyzed by this tool are the ones who we are interested in (use of codes, identities and multilingual communities) which are the key aspect of being proficient using a language. These aspects and the ability they will have using them is link with the opportunities learners could have to use what they have learnt with more skillful users of the language. If this occurs among learners, we can say that learners now language users have social interaction for the reason that they are sharing a flow, rules and codes that are proper of Natives. Inside this practice there is something called dimension of the social context (Ochs, 2002) what describes in a brief but precise way the components of interaction actions: it has to do with the performance and behavior goals, stances: psychological perspective and feelings; identities: the social role; activities: relations with people. The relationship and link among these four aspects is described in fig. 1.1 (Ochs, 2002). What I really want to explore is how teachers can enable their students to be immersed in a normal environment. I mean the different opportunities they have in classes are not enough for them use the language, which means look for a strategy which can empower the classroom environment, but here there is an important deal, what environment is? And the best answer to this question is here;

But this does not mean that we have just to think in biophysical factors, but in its relationship to human interaction and the context users provide. Foreign language learners built codes (and decode others) to make easier their flow in a specific environment. First of all, face to face interaction makes L2 learners able to, for instance: they will have plenty of opportunities to interact in a foreign language environment (the one is created in the classroom) from that improvised context students should take elements which help them to continue their adaptation to the new environment. In this way, learners implement and assume a set of codes which they can use to make their performance more ‘natural’ which is the objective of being exposed to a foreign environment; these codes appear to supply learner’s needs, a need of being a successful user of the language in terms of fluency and accuracy, which are some of the goals of the communicative competence. In this point, we are dealing with communicative competence, a concept which is not the most adequate one for the issues we are dealing with at this moment, for the reason that we are combining two things knowledge of the language and attitude towards the language, and as a result appear Intercultural competence (IC):

(IC) has to be understood as a complex combination of knowledge, SKILLS and attitudes held together by a critical engagement with the foreign culture under consideration and one’s own (Byram, 2000, pág. 46)

Teachers are centered on didactics, and the way they use to provide language to students with ‘cultural elements’ (not intercultural) are supposed to be inside or connect with the materials and activities they use. But the real link to make students achieve Intercultural Competence are learner’s relationships, roles, and behavior, and these three aspects are associated with a linguistic competence, as well as the learning process they had. These issues were not an important issue for teachers, in this case there was more attention to grammar and accuracy rather than the setting in which teachers should provide the elements to make learners able to identify and establish a “foreign identity” (IC) that obviously is not real, but provide learners with enough tools to use the language in a more natural way; a vehicle to negotiate meaning as an intercultural speaker. In this point we have to point out some of the main issues of this article, because they are really important to the last one, Ecology. It is because it works as an umbrella term for both of them and articulate each other perfectly. Now we will have a look to a definition which I consider very descriptive;

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According to Haugen (1985), the ecology of language can be defined as ‘interactions between any given language and its language ecology may be defined as the study of environment’. The term ‘language ecology’, like ‘language family’, is a metaphor derived from the study of living beings. (Muhlhausler, 1996, pág. 1) Ecology from the point of view of pronunciation, situations and culture does not guarantee Intercultural Competence to foreign language learners. For example, real mundane practices from a foreign culture are good examples for a learner, because ‘authentic’, ‘real’ and ‘genuine’ samples from a culture which is not yours, what your learners need, also identifying what are you speaking on, recognizing what are you talking about and ‘be’ as the ones you are speaking about. For that reason, imitating is an option to learn but is not an option to be Intercultural competent in a foreign ecology.

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competent as the user is not taking into account sociocultural rules from the ecology he or she is surrounded by. These set of laws are applied in the different situations like speaking, writing, reading and listening, because each culture in terms of language has its own settings in which the user must have a ‘flow’ in his/her way to be communicative. Finally, we must identify the elements in the situation we are interacting with people such as: age, social hierarchy, speech styles, vocabulary use and movements. With such aspects covered we have enough elements to start discovering how to ‘go with the flow’ in a specific context which mean be communicative competent. Anyway this is just a matter of be acquainted with a set of social rules since there are other aspects like grammar and pronunciation that depend on the practice and effort the learner put at the learning stage, but having learners output a decision making between be accurate or being communicative.

This is the case. The social background from a native country, I mean the one which has been chosen by a native who really know what are the situations and the elements entailed in each one of the speech situations provided in a course book, sometimes are good options to start telling students about cultural facts from a foreign country (Muhlhausler, 1996, pág. 3), but it would change into a routine for the language class. Seen in this light there are some rules of speech that learners should follow, these rules are the ones people use to interact with others, without grammar aspects and here is when the ‘big issue’ of a language learning start, because grammar make learners complex users of a language, they are so aware of what they are talking in terms of syntax but they tend to forget making sense of what they are talking about regardless cultural aspects. Ecology requires two types of competences to be competent. To know what you are talking about. We know that grammar is an important aspect to learn a language for that reason it has to be taught, and with this huge aspect we will assume that we have learnt a language. Also to know facts about a culture by course books do not guarantee that a learner must be as a native in a native Ecology. On the other hand, knowing how are you are you talking about is the opposite, for example understand a context, patterns in a conversation recognize typical aspects from a culture, in other words; identify the components and subcomponents of a language and the associations that they have when we are giving a written or oral message, and in this part teacher have to take an important role in the class, because he will be the only one who can explore this topic using different disciplines like linguistics, demography, sociolinguistics, ethnography and anthropology. (Muhlhausler, 1996, págs. 3,4). In addition, performing as an active participant in an ecology doesn’t mean you are communicatively competent. The appropriate use of vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and syntax are some characteristics of using a language, but there is not a reason to believe that people who know by heart all the aspects above mentioned will be communicatively

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References

Barnad, A., & Spencer, J. (2002). Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Antropology. En Environment (pág. 283). United States: Taylor & Francis Routledge. Byram, M. (2000). Routledged Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning. En Intercultural Competence in foreign Language Education (pág. 46). United States and Canada: Taylor & Francis Routledge. Erickson, F. (s.f.). Ethnographic Microanalysis. En Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching Muhlhausler, P. (1996). Linguistic Ecology. En The changing Linguistic Ecolgy of the Pacific Region (pág. 1). United States and Canada: Taylor & Francis Routledge. Ochs, E. (2002). Becoming a Speaker of Culture. En C. Kramsch, Language Aquisition and Language Socialization (págs. 106-109). Great Britain: Continuum.

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fter knowing the reasons and arguments mentioned above, it is not possible to affirm that good teachers are born neither they are made. Nevertheless, we may think that despite a person is born with some singular characteristics and with a noticeable love for teaching, it is essential training and preparation to perform a successful work. So, what we need to know is: to what extend a teacher who was born have a better class development than a teacher who was just trained? It is evident that not all the teachers have a successful class development. Some of them are fully equipped of love and patience, getting good results in their profession. In this case we are talking about vocation. Etymologically, vocation comes from vocation: a call. It is an occupation to which a person is specially drawn or for which he or she is suited or qualified (Wikipedia).

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ARE TEACHERS BORN OR MADE? T BY Juan Pablo Puentes

here has been known many different positions and opinions around this topic. Some people tend to explain that some teachers were born, because of their attitudes in front of the class and their successful class development. Some others argue that teachers have not a specific genetic information that make them behave in a certain way and even they say that every single person needs to be prepared to get good results in doing something, in this case teaching. However, if we want to answer this question, we have to go deeper. Through this essay you will find relevant aspects of the topic, some references from authors who have already talked about it and finally some personal opinions related to my own experience as a teacher. Some teachers in one hand think they were born with a special genetic information and some personality features that make them accurate to assume a role of teaching. According to Malikow (2006), it is true that “exceptional teachers are born with personality characteristics that are developed by experience and enhanced by specific information that only Education can provide.” He also claims that “there is no such entity as born as teacher. However, by nature, some people possess a combination of personality characteristics that are conducive to effective teaching, further these characteristics have been enriched by a lifetime of favorable nurturing.” On the other hand some people and even some teachers tend to think that teachers are made, they say that teachers need to be trained and prepared to have a successful teaching process, as it was said by the Spanish professor Patricio Redondo half of a century ago: “We reject the idea of a born teacher, we unknown the special features that make him/her behave in that way […] Teachers are made, they are able to be trained and be ready for a successful work with children.” (Redondo, 1974)

Certainly, having vocation when doing something will assure better results, as it was said by teacher Randall (1962): “Teaching is more than a noble profession, it is a vocation, a calling. The teacher is the most important person in any civilization, as on him depends the molding of the nation. There are not many born teachers but there are those who love teaching, and there are those who enter it as an occupation”. Having a look at our local context we could notice that in a certain way there are many teachers who are teaching just because of an unsuccessful attempt to be doctors, lawyers and other more well-liked professions. In fact this kind of teachers becomes more common, even there are some undergraduate teachers who claim to be there because they had no opportunity to study what they really wanted to study, but not because they really love teaching. According to my own experience being a teacher and a student at the same time, I could understand that in a school you could find the kind of teacher who loves his/her profession but also teachers who do not care about it, who are just waiting for “better opportunities”. But the reality is that they are affecting the educational process because they are not giving their best to this important social role. Gloomily this case is still alive in new generations. You can easily hear some undergraduate students saying they had decided to be a teacher because the lack of economical sources did not allow them to study another career, so the ideal of quality education is hampered by ‘made’ To sum up, there are thousands of teachers around the world and it is not possible to generalize whether they were born or made, some of them were born while others no, but in fact it does not affect directly the educational process. In any case, what really matters is the vocation of the teacher. How much they love what they are doing, how much they care about their students and how much does they enjoy their profession. Then when all teachers understand the real purpose of education and when teachers who do not want to accept this beautiful challenge leave schools, we could talk about an effective and successful educational model and we could dream of a new scholar environment. References

MALIKOW, M. (2006). Are teachers born or made? The necessity of teacher training programs. National forum of teacher education journal. Volume 16 (3). 1-3. Memories of Math’s writers. MUNIZAGA, araya Bernarda Angélica. May 05th 2013 retrieved from http://compecomu2.blogspot. com/2013/05/la-vocacion-del-maestro-nace-o-se-hace.html.

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IN THE CONTEXT

GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUR PROFESSIONAL FUTURE: SOCIAL SERVICE AS A GRADUATION OPTION By Omar Orozco

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Have you ever thought of a way to get experience as an English teacher before you leave university? Social service is a great way to get it. You will need effort, commitment, organization, preparation, and the most important: you must love teaching. Of course this is not an easy job, but you will have some advantages. The most important are the experience you acquire, the amount of resources you get from different sources, and the support you find from your professors at university. Also, the students, who are a really important part of the project, show you the way to keep them interested and make you feel young thanks to the games and activities you develop, and the independence they get from all this process should not be left behind. Firstly, the experience you acquire as an English teacher is huge. This is a great complementary element to your practicum. With social work you improve your classroom management, your tone of voice and you will know students’ context at first hand. When referred to experience not only is it the one coming from students, but also is regarded to the way schools work; all of them are different from the population to the context, but their organization is similar. The time you spend working on social service is directly transformed in valuable experience. For instance, I have a lot of experience in working hand-in-hand with the teachers from the school, we are working as a complementary group, and we have linked the social project with the English subject. Secondly, the amount of resources you get from different sources is deeply important. A teacher is a person who can adapt all the activities, texts, videos, songs, etc., to students’ needs and the topics he or she is working on. During my social service I have found that Christian activities are really good to improve students’ social skills. From such activities I have found games which make them think in a way to work together so to get a common goal. Similarly, my personal library (physical and digital) has become bigger and better, therefore I can prepare my lesson plans easily and the necessary activities for each topic. Thirdly, you realize that teaching is a huge professional field and you can get support from different ways. The most important support I have found, however, has been the one given by the professors and especially from my tutor at the university. We worked together to prepare a coherent syllabus to get some certain level with the students who are part of the project. This has displayed we are not alone. I feel free to ask any question to her, as well as to various professors who are part of the B.A. in English program at the University of Tolima who I can contact in order to clarify any situation I might find during the progression of the social project. Conversely, students show you the way to keep them interested. If you get close to their feelings and become a ‘friend’ for them you keep yourself young and ready to learn anything for them. As it is stated by Freire and Horton: “The more we become able to become a child again, to keep ourselves childlike, the more we can understand that because we love the world and we are open to understanding, to comprehension, that when we kill the child in us, we are no longer”. (Freire and Horton, 1990). For instance, I have learned a lot about Hap-Ki-Do from two students who have been practicing. During each lesson I enquire and ask them for opinions of what they think about it. This has shown me that they enjoy physical activities such as jumping, running, or walking, in which they represent a group and work on their own to get their objectives.

Taken By Omar Orozco at German Pardo School

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n the other hand, the autonomy they get from all this process help them develop independence. The latter poses the importance of giving their opinions and points of view and considering them as important for each lesson or educational process because of their involvement in each activity. Such regards are suggested by Freire and Horton: “The teacher is of course an artist, but being an artist does not mean that he or she can make the profile, can shape the students. What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves”. (Freire and Horton, 1990).

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THIS IS ME AS A WORLDCITIZEN STUDENT By Rudi Andrés Galeano

“I will not return to a country that is more surrealistic than my paintings.” Salvador Dalí after visiting Mexico.

uring this process in the social service, I have experienced that students have improved their independence. They feel free for giving their opinions and improve the work done by their friends.

his has been reflected in each lesson of the project, At the beginning of the social service they preferred to develop individual activities, but now they are working together and as a result is a better and more interesting work.

REFERENCES Horton M., Freire P. (1990). We Make the Road by Walking: Conversations on Education and Social Change. Temple University Press.

n conclusion, I suggest my classmates and the whole community consider of the importance of social service as a graduation option. It gives us a lot of benefits, the students and professors get a hold of good experiences and strengthen their teaching/learning skills. The university gets an important recognition in the educational community. Besides, social projects improve reputation toward the entire society. There are a lot of aspects to work on, such as financial support and materials to work with, but there is plenty of time to improve them.

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lthough this Spanish painter was quite right from his viewpoint, Mexico has been realistic to me. The Mexican spots and situations that have been coped with are just samples of what resembles a Latin American country and particularly an enriching culture made of loads of concrete third identity, not only from other Latin American cultures but also Western-like ones, especially from Northern neighbours. The experience I have had makes me wonder to what extent I have been concerned about Mexican stuff and how such concern has made life in Mexico amenable, in particular that of student life in Puebla. I was given a scholarship to study Spring 2011 at Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) in the capital of the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla. Let us say I came to BUAP to finish my B.A: at the BUAP Faculty of Languages. Puebla (A.K.A. Pipopeland – google it as I would not like to explain joking trivialities in this article, would I?) is located between the Valley of Mexico and the State of Veracruz – being closer to the Federal District. Around the metropolitan area the mounts of Iztaccihuatl and portentous and most of the times snowless Popocatepetl volcano on southwester side and northeaster side La Malinche. Besides camote, mole and assembled Käfer orbeetles, this city is World Heritage, preserving baroque architecture and dwelling many schools as making it a city-campus – you’ve got to see BUAP campus: flawless. Academic offerings are as diverse as labour market is. From medicine to mechanics, laws and management, the schools having place in Puebla offer high quality BAs and MAs, being the public university, BUAP, the leading college. In terms of popularity and standards of quality, BUAP is the leading one after UNAM in Mexico.

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37 x

o be more precise, the BUAP Faculty of languages envisions “licenciados” trained for being either French or English teachers or both. That is why the programs of LEMO (Licenciatura en la Enseñanza de Lenguas Modernas), LEI (Licenciatura en la Enseñanza del Inglés) and LEF (Licenciatura en la Enseñanza del Francés) are available. In terms of teaching training, practitioners have a similar training as BA in English at TU; although students have to accomplish social service, mostly done as teachers in secondary schools or as translators for BUAP professor. Most of subjects taken have similar syllabi except translation and language acquisition instead of pedagogies. Infrastructure is just nice: Self-access Centre and British House, a baroque-like library, Language Centre for extension courses for various languages and techie classrooms – by the way, the Faculty’s day was celebrated just a few days ago and it was fantastic. Just see the great value of studying about/in/on/for a certain language when in exchange. As I was approaching the last semester of this program, I wanted to dedicate time to myself (more time) in terms of living other kinds of love. As I was welcomed by one of the BUAP Faculty of Medicine students as I arrived to the State of Puebla and taken to Atlixco as my first town known. I first lived in Atlixco, indeed. People are overwhelmingly kind and hospitable, offering you ‘a chingo’ of food (il piacere di mangiare, you know)... I just retrieved my Mexican stuff concern by knowing what I was given. I reminded the influence this country has done along my life. Walking by the streets and parks of Puebla have made me feel in the element, making me feel there is no place I shall consider far away and like I have some of my childish city imageries pasted in reality. Loving the sun rising and setting in a non-equatorial fashion, Puebla’s lack of humidity, the cold January I miss, very Latin bougainvillea and blooming jacaranda in spring on 5 May Boulevard. The love of enjoying football, again – thanks Coloso de Santa Ursula. The heat in Morelos and the so called Jarocho relax I am identified with. The love when building a third identity; the love for LatinAmerican culture by sharing such experience with other Latin exchange students and the appreciation for Western culture with students coming from Europe and Canada. Either being here or there I wanted to love myself much more in a way of finding the environment as a place I can be belong to and afterward love the ones I have shared such a moment of my life: roomies, classmates, professors, girlfriend, streetwise, public officials, unnameables... I was given a city to love and I give instructions to anyone to get addresses, amazing the ones living here how much I know about and then amazing myself of how much I know in terms of ‘Mexstuff’: from singing the National Anthem to preparing tamales, from the dubbed shows I watched in XHGC Canal 5 when in childhood to parodying Oxxo convenience stores now. I am proud of being a World citizen, glad of having Latin features and pleased of being placed around 4°75° coordinates, for sure. Dalí never came back to the country of the eagle eating a snake while perched atop a nopal. I utter ‘Viva la Mexico.’

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THE QUILL SOPHIE´S ADOLESCENCE

By Cesar Garcia (Inspired on the book Sophie´s World by Jostein Gaarder)

“Wasn’t it extraordinary to be in the world right now, wandering around in a wonderful adventure?” Jostein Gaarder From the top of the hill a piercing cry rolled down across the rocks shattering across Sophie’s ears. “They´re coming” shrieked Jean-Paul in anger. A deathly silence gripped them all. Marx who at that time was arguing with Socrates about the communist manifesto and its implications within a capitalism system grabbed a cloth under the banner of the independent party. He then put on his mask and screamed “I hate people who respect their executioners”. One by one the other members of the philosophers´sabbath joined the battle against the police repression. There was an immediate reaction from the state forces that resorted to the use of truncheons, tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets. But first let me tell of the people and the room in which the philosophical meetings were held. Sophie crossed the campus as she best could. Her gaze truly fixed on the clock was accusing a delay on her first gathering held by the group S.O.P.H.I.A (Society of Philosophers of Abraxas). She stopped right opposite a badly corroded and worn sheet that simulated a trapdoor. It was strategically camouflaged in the undergrowth of the place. One time there used to be a laboratory there. She inhaled the last puff of her cigarette before attempting to enter. She then sat right behind those attending the assembly. Kant was sitting next to her. Sophie´s dulcet scent had him to wander for a few seconds about the divinity projected by the beauty of her face. Afterwards, slowly he slid his hand over Sophie’s hand assuring she received the latest manuscript concerning reasoning that he had written. She opened it and there was a phrase highlighted “Two things inspire me to awe: the starry heavens above and the moral universe within.” she could not help thinking in those words through the afternoon in her mind. He felt a full reply to his concerns in her voluptuous lips. “Again considering the origin of reason” said Sophie while patting on his shoulder. The entire enclosure was surrounded by walls and it had a single entrance gate. Sophie enjoyed staring at the light that filtered through a small single hole in the ceiling. The wooden walls were decorated with several graffiti which conveyed their ideas and arguments. In a corner laid a bookshelf with documents which partially revealed hundreds of years. They were frantically organized by the date of launching within the pasquinade which circulated every few months. In the center of the venue there was an antique lectern surrounded by some chairs shaped like a half moon.

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The group members- the majority students- were looking for a resolution that would solve the economic and social problems of their society. The organization was led by Plato a renowned

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philosopher who had arrived as a visiting professor to the college. Most of the participants had taken basic studies at several universities. Miletus came from a scientific faculty. He always mesmerized others with his frown. Anaximander was his loyal friend. His major frustration was to be rejected by the NASA. He mentioned that event every time he had the chance to do so. Sometimes during the celebrations of the S.O.P.H.I.A which usually ended in a binge drinking day or within the discussions.

THE GRAVEYARD CROW IN LOVE

On the right was Pythagoras, the mathematician. He was in charge of the accounting. Right in the middle was Berkeley. As fate would have it, he came from Ireland to this little spot on earth. He knew very little Spanish but his wise comments on political issues were remarkable. On the other side of the place as the antithesis of the first ones were sitting Kierkegaard, Friedrich and jeanPaul respectively. Jean- Paul lived without any worries or rules to enhance his life.

By: Julian Forero Cruz

Friedrich dressed in black all the time. He looked like a spectrum of himself. His perfidious gaze was truly mesmerizing. He had a tragedy revealed by his eyes. The questioning of the church was evident within his speech. The advocates of security appeared all over the hill. The fighting and the mayhem were not far behind. The defenders of the parliament fired indiscriminately on the unarmed demonstrators, killing at least 10 and injuring over 12. Sophie was one of the survivors. Alberto Knox had to remember that he was responsible for what happened to Sophie. Alberto, her master, who told all the knowledge within letters during her childhood, caused her mental disease. Perhaps one day she would never tell again those schizophrenic stories related to secrets groups of philosophy from which she had dreamed for years.

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he place where he first heard her was nightly and dark. It was a warm summer evening when the park lights weren’t working and the humans were not walking around. It was a time to rejoice in solitude and absence, but her silhouette abruptly appeared by the branch of the oldest oak tree in the cemetery park. It was a place under which the jolly couples on lighted evenings used to enjoy their companies and bodies for the long hours of darkness. He liked to keep himself in, watching, contemplating and feeling curious, nauseous and intrigued about what those people would do in that place, over there, with that ambient and that smell, acrid, and sometimes even rotten of wooden humidity. Nevertheless, on this lonely night there weren´t any couples. First, he thought it was only him, pleasantly staring at the off light bulb of the projector, off on this night of blackouts and solitude, off on this night of sorrow in which the sound of an alarm that interrupted his afternoon sleep caused a wave of terrified people to leave the city hours ago. They abandoned a city that had promised to be fructiferous and growing; a city that was prepared and organized for everything clearly. This city was even ready in case of massive evacuation, which had happened just today in the middle of his sleep. Now this situation would let him enjoy his beloved solitude and feel the light warm breeze that would playfully caress his feathers, an invitation to fly. Not even close to open wings and do it, he looked at the old oak tree, the mysterious silent witness of couples from the lighted evenings of mumbling and panting that he couldn´t understand. If only that tree could talk and explain him… and finally, clarify his questions, clear up his mind on what made him feel weird, uncomfortable, disgusted, but somehow and somewhat attracted, drawn and curious. Then, the moment came when he saw her appear aside that branch. At such moment those questions vanished and his will to fly went away.

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Doubtfully he squawked towards the figure he saw, expecting for an answer, apparently

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didn’t do it loud enough, since the silhouette he watched didn’t even move an inch from its position. More firmly, he decided to jump from tree to tree. His sound was quieted by a strong breeze that started to run over the graveyard trees, moving the leaves sonorously and arrythmically, camouflaging his every-once-in-a-while-wing flapping, when the distance to cover was a little far, and helping him move over separate branches. A breeze that was accomplice and refreshing, making the tomb signs even colder than the feelings of those who left buried the ones that were beloved and remembered once. Meanwhile, at the moment of leaving, in orderly fashion and with efficient carelessness, they went away forgetting the moment of survival that defines the life of the fittest and coldest. He got closer the silent oak by jumping and flapping, closer to the destiny of all his curiosity and variety of emotions. He saw her back, with doubts still going around his mind, the pristine black glowing to the white natural light of the cloudy moon. As the cold wind moved those clouds to blur her image in the dark, showing bluish or greenish shades to the eyes that, at that moment, perceived and followed every movement or part of her breathing. She expanded and contracted her thorax trying to measure her wingspan, as if her metrics were sky marks on the constellations that guided him during his nightly flights, and showed him the navigated way to the destiny he wanted whenever he felt like by instinct, naturally. Now there were three trees separate from that core of attention of his, and moving his head and neck in weird contortions he had never done before. Suddenly, he emitted a hesitating grunt sound, a sound to which she turned back. She stared at him whimsically before he felt heat in between his eyes. A chill ran all over his spine and he decided what would be his next course of action, simply open his wings all over their extension and courteously bow in front of her while growling smoothly and graciously, with great manner and grandeur. It was something that she found amusing and with a flirting move of her neck, she made him a signal to get closer, without really knowing why she would allow it. He wasn’t really sure whether to follow the signal he thought he understood from her. Therefore, he just flapped his wings to make another quick and big jump to another tree, even closer to that mysterious oak that now was being a witness again, only this time with totally new characters and a totally different way of action. However, there was nothing the silent oak could do apart from letting it to happen and be part of it. Suddenly, the breeze stopped, and she could clearly hear his wings flap, and she felt him powerful, as if he could make her flicker with barely the flapping of his wings in front of her. She pressed her claws harder to the branch of the silently witness oak and continued to wait for him, the one she had noticed just some little moments ago, and for whom she had sent a subtle invitation with a move of her neck in an unexpected second. The pressure of her claws got stronger as he jumped to the other tree and he would take little jumps moving from one side to the other and turning around in front of her. She was getting lost in the perfect trace of his back with a silver line highlighted by the moonlight, and opaque momentarily as the strong breeze from above shook the clouds. A heat extended through her belly was going up her throat, running all over her head and finishing in her neck with a chill that

made her squawk at him for an answer that indicated “come here!” He heard her voice and grunted in awe, her voice was a magnificent and deafening sound to his ears, now he was not listening to any other noise. Besides, in that dark night, the blackout had stopped even the buzzing of fluorescent tubes and bulbs form all lampposts around, even those from the cemetery and the one close to the also silent oak in that place. A place where two crows had gotten close together and now were gracefully rubbing their necks and putting themselves next to each other. Thus, they could also feel their heat and let to go the chilly sensation from the icy breeze that had started to ice the tomb signs. Frenetic little jumps, beak contacts and fast squawking were the flirt choreography going on the old oak branch. The air, despite being so cold, hadn’t ever felt this warm, and even less above the ground that kept those cold, dead bodies within, and this kind of pure, innocent and first-timer heat and warmness that hadn’t felt before in such a way. The oak itself could feel and experience this warmness. It opened a hole in its bark to offer asylum to the heat of the crows. Just this time the oak had decided to be a more active part in this show and experience inside what it always had seen. He and she, both the crows felt a short trembling under their claws, in the tree branch, but they were too lost into themselves to get scared away. Instead, they made a part of their dance to stare as they could see how a hole opened space in the wood of the trunk and formed a cave big enough for them. The small place looked cozy, warm as their mood, and it was peacefully inviting them for a rest from the breeze that at this point resembled the death of the place. The crows entered to the space, and for a moment, the clouds that surrounded the moon covered it completely, the breeze stopped and there was no motion of leaves and trees. In few seconds, all and any trace of life that could have been left in that town didn’t manifest at all, at least the ones that could move, because those ones that couldn’t, just kept even stiller and quieter to the ambience of the crows. After a minute of a long and sublime silence, two crows came out from a tree hole, stretched their legs and wings, and felt the nightly and friendly breeze as an invitation to fly. Then, they determined it was moment to fly towards that moon, surrounded by dark clouds on a moonlight evening of a lonely town that had a small graveyard with a happy, silent oak tree. The crows now flying towards the dark-cloud surrounded moon would soon start looking for straws to make what from now on, would be the branch and oak tree they’d call “home” right there, in the silent graveyard.

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MUDDY HONOR By: Diego Cardenas

t was 11.20 pm on 13th November 1985 and Hilario Mendoza, as he would have to call himself from now on, smoked copiously hoping to appease his exacerbated anxiety. He turned once and again in his hands the citizen’s I.D. that catalogued him as a natural of Cartagena, astonished by the accuracy of the replica. The debts he had, his annoying wife, his ungrateful brats and even his irritating neighbors would soon be problems of the past and he would have no other concern than spending a pile of money in an inconspicuous and discreet way. What “business” was he going to start in order to conceal his crime? a restaurant? a pharmacy? a little shop in the neighborhood? He assessed his alternatives while looking absent mindedly as the warm breeze of the walled city dragged the ashes of his birth registration, his corporate ID of Banco de Colombia and every other trace of his former life. His citizen’s I.D. –the actual one- should be found with the body that Beltrán had got for him. Poor naïve and trusting Beltrán. He was never going to find him there, and even if he would, he would have no chance to accuse him without incriminating himself. Would it be too soon to hear something about it? He thought. He extinguished the last flames stomping on them and then went to the living room and turned the radio on. His expression revealed anticipation and a little bit of fatigue. Not an ounce of remorse. It was 11.30 pm on 4th November 1985 and Martín Esguerra lay completely drunk in one of the tables of the best-known brothel in town. That night he had not wanted company and had pushed violently the couple of girls who had approached his spot with fake smiles. His simpleton’s mind could not measure yet the consequences of the proposition that his two coworkers would make him days before. He was not a particularly honest or idealistic man, but the magnitude of what they planned to do and specially, what they planned NOT to do, filled him with startling terror and guilt. Speaking honestly to himself in his solitary drunkenness, he concluded that he would not avoid this crime out of decency, but out of fear. Next day first thing in the morning, he told to himself, he would denounce the macabre plan with the fervent hope that the tragedy could still be avoided. After all, there was still a week left according to Alirio’s calculations. He left the bar staggering as he fanned himself with his hat, trying in vain to scare away the persistent heat that even at that time refused to abandon the town. After walking a couple of blocks in his way home he was approached by a man that, without a word, shot him four times at close range. In his death rattle, the only thing that he could think about – absurdly grateful- was that at least they had been polite enough to kill him with a gun, back then, debts used to be collected with a machete.

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Regret came then in a sudden wave but he discarded it just as quickly, telling himself that even if

he wanted, he could not turn back. He had already bribed the gravedigger and using improbable excuses had procured the three necessary bodies. He had already convinced his scrupulous and stubborn brother to keep his mouth shut, which had costed him a bigger slice of the future pie than he had initially thought. Finally, and with the help of his other associate, he had been subtracting large amounts of cash money and securities from the bank vault and sending them by mail to Bogotá, consigned to a “ Mr Hilario Mendoza”. It was a shame; he told to himself, that Esguerra would have panicked in the last minute. Fortunately, he expected to take care of that small issue with the call he had just made. This reminded him that he was not going to need three bodies anymore, only two. It would be necessary to renegotiate with the gravedigger. “Maybe I´m going to be rich”, he thought, “But as a good accountant I know there is no reason to spend extra if you can help it”. It was 5.00 pm on 30th October 1985 and Alirio Beltrán , INGEOMINAS employee with many years of experience and unblemished work records, reached the unquestionable and terrifying conclusion that in less than fifteen days the town was going to be obliterated. At 8.00 a.m. next day and before discussing his findings with anybody else, he hastily visited his brothers Ezequiel’s office at Banco de Colombia to let him know about his distressing discovery. At 10.30 a.m. that same day and not knowing exactly why, he had agreed to remain silent and become rich heeding the call of his bright brother. On 2nd November 1985, “El Espectador” a national newspaper, published a risk map of the potential affected zone that contained flagrant mistakes of scale and extension. The best part, joked Ezequiel, was that he had not had to pay for that. It was 10.30 pm on 12th November 1985 and Ezequiel Beltrán and his family quietly abandoned the town with unknown destination.

It was 10.30 am on 4th November 1985 and Ezequiel Beltrán hung up the phone and leaned back on the padded chair of his office. Undoubtedly, a managerial position had its benefits. From the privacy of his hot and tiny enclosure to the possibility of using a form of communication that was then the privilege of a few. Ironically, he thought, the bank itself had provided them with the tools to carry out their sinister task.

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t was 3.15 pm on 13th November 1985 and ashes fell as rain over Armero-Tolima. It was 7.00 pm on 13th November 1985 and the emergency regional committee failed to evacuate the surrounding municipalities due to a raging storm that caused damages in the power lines. If Ezequiel would have known, he probably would have laughed out loud for the gratuity of this new struck of luck.

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VIEWS AND REVIEWS DYSTOPIAN WORLDS By Cesar Garcia

“Most men and women will grow up to love their slavery and will never dream of revolution.” Aldous Huxley - Brave New World

It was 11.20 pm on 13th November 1985 and Alirio Beltrán, who tormented by the guilt of his silence and inaction decided to stay in the town, was sitting by the bed in the dark while his wife slept placidly beside him. So abstracted he was in his culpable reflections that his little son had to raise his voice to interrupt his trance. Rubbing his sleepy eyes the boy asked: “Daddy… can you hear that? What is that loud sound? is it the storm? Alirio had no time to burst into tears as his heart demanded. A moment later, he, his house and his family had been buried along with the rest of the town by the first wave of burning mud.

According to the Colombian Banking Super intendancy , on 30th September the office of Armero’s financial system had 500 million pesos in current accounts, 270 million pesos in saving accounts, 252 million in securities and a receivables portfolio of about 1.000 million. On 12th November, a day before the catastrophe, there were 40 million 266 thousand pesos in cash and it is noteworthy that the safe deposit-box of Banco de Colombia (currently Bancolombia) was never opened as it was located underground for safety reasons and additional to this, the three employees of the bank who knew the secret password to open it died during the tragedy. Taken from http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armero

TAKEN FROM http://d1g1talw0rld.wordpress.com/category/huxley-vs-orwell/

Imagine an ideal society. Citizens are all happy. There is stability in goods and services. The world is in peace. The genetic engineering controls childbirth. The Hence, people are genetically skilled to develop a specific task on society. The conditioning system eliminates the need for competiveness, love, religion affairs and knowledge. However, there is a parallel world and one man came to put the validity of that perfect world into question. ( Brave New World).

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Hence, the dystopian issues are especially alluring to adolescent people. “For young ne of the diverse expressions of the readers, dystopia isn’t a future to be averted; modern literature is the utopia as the raw it’s a version of what’s already happening in material for several novels. Most of the writers the world they inhabit” (miller, 2010). Besides, conceived their works as chimeras due to the the sensation of oppression by others during fantasy implied within the stories. However, this transition period to full adulthood fosters it is noted that these alleged fancy tales may these sorts of readings. “Teens live in a world come true in a proportionate manner. This is where they are constantly monitored and must the case of three well known novels all over attempt to avoid being controlled by parents, the world: Brave new world written by Aldous teachers and the pressure of peer conformity. Huxley, 1984 by George Orwell and Fahrenheit In order to survive they feel they must follow 451 by Ray Bradbury. Although, they were not the rules and avoid sticking out, even if that written by the same author they are considered means they have to be fake” (Masson, 2012). a trilogy of dystopian novels from the beginning of the 20th century. The issues that were dealt Now, visualize a world controlled by a totalitarian with during the novels are of general interest government. In this fictitious society, there is for any society, some of them are: love, religion, a complex social class system: the upper- class science, happiness, death, birth, power, war, (2% of the population) the middle class (13% freedom, control, education, censorship and of the population) and the lower class (85 % of technology. the population). The entire society is monitored and controlled by an omnipresent character So, what does utopia mean? “It is, simply, called the Big Brother. The ministers of the a problem of defining “utopia” a term that government are primarily used to control the over time has signified a literary type, a socio- population using euphemisms. So, the ministry economic system, and a political paradigm. of peace deals with war, the ministry of truth In most recent times, “utopia”—which quite deals with lies and wordiness. However, one literally means “no place”—has come to be man starts to realize the true reality. (1984) synonymous with idealism; and its use has become so prevalent in western society that it is a part of the culture’s vocabulary”. (Eck, 2001). On the other hand, the main reasons to face Thus, we can infer that dystopian novels are by this kind of texts are basically: the extent of the no means related to perfect worlds but quite covered issues, the narrative style, as well as of the contrary. It is precisely because of this fact the reflections from several concerns revealed which most readers feel hooked with dystopian within the stories. In all cases, the fake states literature. “Dystopian literature is a potent used means of social control which prevent vehicle for criticizing existing social conditions people from thinking and contextualizing and political systems. While utopian literature their reality. Some of them may be the genetic portrays ideal worlds, dystopian literature manipulation, false and deceptive information, depicts the flaws and failures of imaginative government policies, and police repression societies. Often these societies are related to among others. utopias, and the dystopian writers have chosen to reveal shortcomings of those social systems previously considered ideal”. (Booker,1994).

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or instance, suppose that in a future society there is a policy centered on the prevention of knowledge acquisition. This is carried out through the burning of all the existing books. But one day a fireman (firemen were in charge of the book burnings) decides to keep one of the books. This would change the course of the story. (Fahrenheit 451) It can be concluded that the similarity of the reality and the dystopian worlds is evident. According to Laura Miler dystopian stories have essentially the same purpose - to warn us about the dangers of some current trend. In this sense, I actually suggest you the dystopian genre, not only because it is a magnificent field but also and mainly by its realistic approach. But the question arises: We are living in a dystopian world forecast by our ancestors, aren’t we?

Bibliography Astor, D. (2012). Why do we like dystopian novels? Retrieved on Miller, L. (2010). What’s behind the boom in dystopian fiction for readers? Eck, G. (2001). Utopian Studies: A Guide Booker, K. (1994) Dystopian Literature: A Theory and Research Guide Huxley, A. (1932) Brave New World Orwell, G. (1949) 1984 Bradbury, R. (1953) Fahrenheit 451

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THE SUN ALSO RISES By Rudy Andrés Galeano

A mongst the English language literature pieces, particularly that of American, there has been

highly criticised story made by the highly criticised [as well] American writer Ernest Hemingway... sure it is “The Sun Also Rises.” Despite the critics and all referred to analyses concerning such story (to my concern the least worst work done by Hemingway), “The Sun Also Rises” draws upon a picture of what possible might have happened in post Great War times. Simplistically descriptive, a film director would have the challenge to put this story in moving pictures if she or he decided to adapt it in a more trendy fashion. In this short essay I will try to set some of the features and content from Hemingway’s work that may help when adapting a supposedly film adaptation. First of all, it is essential to include all of the aspects mentioned in the first chapters, one and two to be more specific. The film would have the same pace of the story, starring Jake (of course), not only because he is the main character, but also because he can make a good narrator for the film so that it might preserve the perspective seen for the affairs of the story – and not from a director’s viewpoint as failure movies have had. In the end, the possible viewers would see the film from Jake’s eyes as it were a kind of journal – and it might fit onto journalism, indeed. As Jake is the main character and narrator as well, he would be in charge of introducing all of characters, or the cast so to speak. Naturally, the first in appearance is Cohn since the beginning. Thus the film would start Jake introducing Cohn: his personality, background and his plans. At first, the viewer would believe Cohn is the main star and the narrator is just an off voice; but as the film goes he would realise who the actual main character is. The simplistic descriptions found in the story may help for film-making flexibility. We know this happen after the First World War and also know the wanderlust lifestyle of the characters. If I were the director (I would not like, indeed), I would take advantage of simplicity to add up a hidden director’s perspective to the context or scenario, trying to adopt some of the mandatory features in the 1920s without being so attached to the book. Descriptions such as the “rues” are immaterial as budget can make a Parisian “rue” from itself and description to set the landscapes (in Spain, for example) is also unimportant as images tell this out. The same would happen to stock characters such as Count Mippipopolous (not The Count) or Montoya in terms of stick-tobook description – guess personality issues may make our the appearance of the characters... it is a film after all. I guess that after introductory scenes the nice appetiser spots are taken from the cafés and parties while hanging around Paris. The part where Brett appears would have to be shocking for the viewer as she is not the moulded woman of the era. She is handsome and has wits, though. In spite lady Brett Ashley has more than a few characteristics to be found on the go, this character may change the whole pace of the film from the moment she appears. Hence the infatuations of men and their worship towards her.

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n the same way, the problems around such men club must be raised and emphasised from this point. We do not have to leave out impotency situation and affairs related to marriage, the whole picture of men who participated in the war and the one who did not and thus does not understand the actual reason why this men club exist, in some shape or form. It is inconceivable if we miss out the trip to Pamplona and the fiesta including bullfighting, sangria and the conception of the reason why “sex explains it all.” the viewer may have seen so much lust and may conclude that everything happening to this group of guys is because of Brett or for masculinity’s sake (i.e. demo your sex, macho!). In fact, it is just part of it as the climax of the story and therefore in the possible movie has not happened yet. The toreador should be introduced, and everything happening afterward is just a matter of following the story pace. In such a case, the director would have to be attached to the story so to be consistent: fighting and hurting, basically ( i.e. sex and violence – more violence than sex, in fact). The climax may fade out when Brett announces Romero of her departure and the forbidden affair of being together. Finally, the film would end panning and focusing on Brett, who in the end demonstrates she was so empty in life and wanted something we may call true love. Such a thing she may have believed was found after deciding on one of the men club. In this case, we can read between the lines and make out a scene in which the viewer sees Brett still confused and doubtful of such decision – if we can establish it as a decision at all. The taxi taking them can be the final scene and fading away. All in all, “The Sun Also Rises” is not a big deal for being adapted in moving pictures. As stated before, descriptions are not the strong literary feature found in it, so it does not allow to be very stuck to the scenarios set. Albeit, it allows being flexible and missing out whole a lot of immaterial contents included in the original story and perhaps it would make an acceptable possible film based on it.

Bibliography Hemingway E. (2006) the sun also rises. Scribner

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Contributed in this issue: Félix Anderson Martinez Ticora , ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION TEACHER, UNIVERSIDAD DEL TOLIMA. Juan Gabriel Murcia Perdomo, STUDENT OF B.A. IN ENGLISH, UNIVERSIDAD DEL TOLIMA. Kelly Johanna Corrales Cuellar, STUDENT OF B.A. IN ENGLISH, UNIVERSIDAD DEL TOLIMA. Rudy Andrés Galeano, GRADUATE STUDENT OF B.A. IN ENGLISH, UNIVERSIDAD DEL TOLIMA. Yisbeth López Bermeo, STUDENT OF B.A. IN ENGLISH, UNIVERSIDAD DEL TOLIMA. Diana Marcela Manchola Jara, STUDENT OF B.A. IN ENGLISH, UNIVERSIDAD DEL TOLIMA. Andersson García, GRADUATE STUDENT OF B.A. IN ENGLISH, UNIVERSIDAD DEL TOLIMA. Luis A. Avila, GRADUATE STUDENT OF B.A. IN ENGLISH, UNIVERSIDAD DEL TOLIMA. Juan Pablo Puentes Betancur, STUDENT OF B.A. IN ENGLISH, UNIVERSIDAD DEL TOLIMA. Edgar Omar Orozco, STUDENT OF B.A. IN ENGLISH, UNIVERSIDAD DEL TOLIMA. Cesar Augusto García, GRADUATE STUDENT OF B.A. IN ENGLISH, UNIVERSIDAD DEL TOLIMA. Julián Forero Cruz, STUDENT OF B.A. IN ENGLISH, UNIVERSIDAD DEL TOLIMA. Diego Cárdenas Urquíza, HEAD OF THE PROGRAM, BA IN ENGLISH, UNIVERSIDAD DEL TOLIMA. in order to submit your articles, opinions and further comments contact breakingboundaries@ut.edu.co