Where did writing come from? The first writing systems in the world José Joaquín Enrique Erguera Guerrero Licenciatura Lengua Inglesa Universidad de Quintana Roo- Campus Cozumel Introduction Where did writing come from? This is a question that humans have wondered. Do you know what the earliest writing systems were and where they originated? According to recent research, writing emerged in three different parts of the world.
Sumerian Writing System Writing appeared over five thousand years ago in ancient Mesopotamia (now southern Iraq). Sumerian writing was logographic. In logographic systems each character represents a separate element in meaning (for this reason, these systems are also called ideographic). The term logographic is derived from the Greek word logos, meaning “word”. Since the words of any language are structural elements that represent concepts, the written symbols of a logographic system are equivalent to words: each character used stands for a word as a hole, not for any of the sounds that make up the word. The first characters developed for logographic systems were simple pictograms. Pictograms were simply stylized drawings of concrete objects.
Later the original pictograms came to be used not just to refer to concrete objects but also to refer to activities and abstract concepts associated with the objects originally pictured. At the point where this semantic extension has taken place, the characters of a writing system are considered logograms, rather than pictograms, because they are used to represent all types of words –abstract nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. – as well as concrete nouns.
Mayan Writing System In Central America, around the fourth century B.C, another system was developed to write down the Mayan languages. The first attempts to decipher Maya texts were made the 19th century. At that time linguists were convinced than Mayan writing was logographic, with written symbols representing a separate element of meaning. We now know that the Mayan writing system is a complex mix of logograms, syllabic symbols and phonetic characters.
Chinese Writing System The Chinese logographic writing system was created in China nearly four thousand years ago. The written characters of the Chinese writing system is largely meaning-based. For example, each symbol below stands for a word, the word “elephant”.
“Elephant”: from pictogram to logogram
The inscriptions in the oracle texts are the earliest surviving examples of written language in China. Written on animal bones and tortoise shells, the inscriptions date back to about twelve hundred BC.
“Lord Shield” (aka “Pacal”) written using combinations of logograms and phonograms
Food for thought • Where would we be without writing? Writing is a remarkable part of language and of human history. Without writing, you could reasonably ask, would history even exist?
References Coulmas, F. (2003) Writing Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Daniels, P. T. (2012). Where did writing come from? In Rickerson, E. M. & Hilton, B. (Eds.). (2012). The Five-Minute Linguist: Bite-sized Essays on Language and Languages (pp. 56-59). London: Equinox. Dobrovolsky, M. & O’ Grady, W. (1997). Writing and language. In In O’Grady, W., Dobrovolsky, M. & Katamba, F. (Eds). Contemporary Linguistics: an introduction. London: Longman. Knott, R.E. (2011, Jan-Feb). The origins of writing. University of Chicago Magazine. Retrieved from http://magazine.uchicago.edu/1102/features/the_origins_of_writing.shtml Rogers, H. (2005) Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach. Maldon: Blackwell
Evolution of Sumerian pictograms
Chinese oracle texts
Woodard, R. (2003) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World’s Ancient Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Can you use language to solve crimes? Sheila Silva y Vela Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa, Universidad de Quintana Roo- Campus Cozumel
INTRODUCTION Linguists, people who work with languages do a lot of things that you probably never thought of. Did you know that your voice can tell a lot about you: where you grew up, your emotional state, whether you’re lying, even who you are? (Rickerson, 2012). Writing can also reveal many different features of your identity. Voice and writing analysis is what linguists who work in called Forensic Linguistics do.
WHAT IS FORENSIC LINGUISTICS? Forensic Linguistics is the study of any text or item of spoken language which has relevance to a criminal or civil dispute, or which relates to what goes on in a court of law, or to the language of the law itself. In addition to authorship attribution, Forensic Linguistics includes the study of courtroom discourse, courtroom interpreting and translation, comprehensibility of legal documents and texts, including the police caution issued to suspects, and the use of linguistic evidence in court (Forensic Linguistics Institute, 2010).
MOST COMMON APPLICATIONS:
An interesting case… The use of a computer program for textual analysis, text categorization and authorship attribution revealed that Robert Galbraith, the first-time author of a new crime novel called The Cuckoo’s Calling, was J.K. Rowling. The researchers took as reference the books written by Rowling of the "Harry Potter" saga and compared them with The Cuckoo’s Calling on a computer program on six features: word length, sentence length, paragraph length, letter frequency, punctuation frequency, and word usage. Word length was one of the strongest pieces of evidence to discover that the author was really J.K. Rowling (Hughes, 2013).
Plagiarism Have you ever taken someone’s writing from the Internet? Then this should be of interest to you. An anti-plagiarism checker called “Turnitin” can compare submitted assignments to material held in its database, allowing staff and students to check if their work is properly referenced. The software itself makes no decisions as to whether or not the work has been plagiarized. It just highlights sections of text, and set a percentage of material that has been found in other sources. This software also allows students to avoid accidental plagiarism and encourages them to think about their referencing and citation skills (University of Exeter, 2012-13).
Voice Analysis In computer voice analysis, speech is broken down electronically and then examined for clues about the speaker (Rickerson, 2012:218). The analysis of voice stress is claimed to be an effective method for distinguishing truth from lies and assessing general credibility.
Do you think this will really happen in the near future?
An interesting case… A recording of the supposed voice of the late notorious al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was subjected to speaker authentication by computer analysis a year after the 9/11 atrocity. It was compared with fourteen voiceprints known to be bin Laden and sixteen voiceprints of Arabic male speakers known not to be him. And guess what? The unknown voice was better match for the non-bin Laden group (Rickerson, 2012:219).
Think about this scenario: It’s a dark and stormy night sometime in the near future. You are leaving a party. After you slip behind the wheel and turn on the ignition, your car says, ‘Count to five’. It won’t starts unless you do, so you count aloud: one, two, three, four, five. ‘Sorry’ says your car, ‘You’ve have had too much to drink’. And it shuts off, because by analyzing your voice, the car’s computer knows you are intoxicated. (Rickerson, 2012:218).
Writing Analysis The analysis of a written text focuses on features such as style, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, word groupings, sentence length, grammatical usages, among (Rickerson, 2012:219). Computer software capable of analyzing thousands of these patterns can provide reliable evidence of authorship.
References Forensic Linguistics Institute. (2010). About Forensic Linguistics. Retrieved from http://www.thetext.co.uk/learn_about_forensic_linguistics.html Hughes, (2013, July 19). How Forensic Linguistics Outed J.K. Rowling (Not to Mention James Madison, Barack Obama, and the Rest of Us). National Geographic Magazine. Retrieved from http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/19/how-forensic-linguistics-outed-j-k-rowling-notto-mention-james-madison-barack-obama-and-the-rest-of-us/. Rickerson, E. M. & Hilton, B. (Eds.). (2012). The five-minute linguist: bite-sized essays on language and languages (pp. 218-221). London, UK: Equinox. University of Exeter. (2012). Anti-plagiarism software: Turnitin. Retrieved from http://as.exeter.ac.uk/it/e-learning/turnitin/
Acknowledgments Special thanks to Dr. Gabriella Casillas Navarro for her invaluable help in this project.
RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN © 2012
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Rosy Michelle Peña Chan Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa, Universidad de Quintana Roo – Campus Cozumel INTRODUCTION What is meant by Study Abroad? The terms of "study or year abroad" is an umbrella term to describe experiences that combine language and/or content learning in a formal classroom setting along with immersion in the native speech community.
WHY STUDY LANGUAGES ABROAD? Studying languages abroad offers academic and personal benefits. A year or a semester of study abroad can help undergraduate students learn a language, get immersed in a new culture and broaden their understanding of the world (Freed, 1995, p. 5).
“Estudiar en el extranjero abre tu mente a nuevos puntos de vista, conoces más de historia y otras materias, no solo de lenguaje, así como sociología. La gente no se comporta como nosotros, aprendes y te das cuenta por qué somos diferentes. Y esos valores buenos/malos puedes después fomentarlos cuando regreses a tu país” (Sara, mexicana, 20 años, L1 español, 2 semanas en París)
STUDY ABROAD IN PARIS
BENEFITS OF STUDY ABROAD This combination of immersion in the native speech community, integrated with formal classroom learning, creates the best environment for learning a second language. Research on study abroad has focused on what is acquired by the learner. The majority of these studies have found improvements on the accuracy of language forms and on specific language skills, for example, the development of listening and oral proficiency, and the use of communication skills, among others.
STUDY ABROAD IN MEXICO
“Le entendía mejor, comencé a entender las expresiones y/o chistes, aunque nunca los había escuchado antes”. (Sara, mexicana, 20 años, L1 español, estancia de 2 semanas en París)
ORAL PROFICIENCY Investigations gains in oral proficiency have revealed that learners improve their proficiency over the course of a semester or more abroad (IsabelliGarcía, 2003, as cited in Churchill, E., y DuFon, M. A. 2006, pp. 5). Even learners who go abroad for only a few weeks have been found to improve their oral proficiency.
“Hablarlo, necesito hablar mucho en español porque toda mi vida ahora es en ese idioma, y si algún compañero que hable español te escucha decir algo mal, puede corregir tus errores”. (Natasha, británica, 21 años, L1 Inglés, estancia de 1 mes en México)
STUDY ABROAD OPPORTUNITIES • Dirección de Bienestar y Movilidad “Es mejor estar en un lugar donde se habla el idioma que estudias porque toda tu vida se desarrolla en ese idioma, tienes que hablarlo, escucharlo y si tienes algunos amigos que solamente hablen español es mejor porque te pueden corregir al momento de que dices algo mal”. (Natasha, británica, 21 años, L1 Inglés, estancia de 1 mes en México)
Estudiantil, UQRoo. • Programa de becas y cursos, Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores. • Programa de Movilidad Universitaria e Intercambio Académico, Secretaría de Educación Publica.
REFERENCES LISTENING Research on of the acquisition of listening skills in the "Study Abroad" literature report that learners make improvements in this area. In a selfassessment questionnaire on listening tasks, students claimed they made significant gains in listening (Allen, 2002, as cited in Churchill, E., y DuFon, M. A. 2006, pp. 4.
Churchill, E., y DuFon, M. A. (2006). Evolving threads in study abroad research. In M. A. DuFon y E. Churchill (Eds.). Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp. 1-27). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Freed, B. F. (1995). Language learning and study abroad. In Freed, B. F. Second language acquisition in a study abroad context (pp. 3-33). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Long, S. S. (2012). Why study languages abroad? In Rickerson, E. M. & Hilton, B. (Eds.). (2012). The FiveMinute Linguist: Bite-sized Essays on Language and Languages (pp. 152-156). London, UK: Equinox.
SOUND/COLOR CHART Karla Alcocer Fernanda Arroyo Lía Martín Karima Miranda Irma Pech
Universidad de Quintana Roo- Campus Cozumel
Definición Este Sound/Color chart se utiliza como una herramienta para la enseñanza de la pronunciación del vocabulario del inglés como una lengua extranjera. El color chart presenta en primer lugar el sonido de las vocales y, posteriormente, continúa con los sonidos consonantes.
Introducción De acuerdo a Donald (2002) el Sound/Color chart fue hace más de 20 años creado para la enseñanza de diferentes idiomas. En la actualidad, esta herramienta no tiene mucha vigencia como técnica para mejorar pronunciación de un idioma; sin embargo esto no significa que sea poco efectiva.
Objetivos Objetivo general El siguiente cartel fue diseñado con el propósito de promover el uso del Sound/Color chart en la práctica de la pronunciación del inglés como lengua extranjera.
Objetivo especifico Conclusión Nuestro objetivo es dar a conocer a los alumnos de la Universidad de Quintana Roo la importancia de la fonología y fonética en la enseñanza y aprendizaje del inglés de una manera práctica, interactiva y sin complicaciones; especialmente mediante repetición e identificación de sonidos por parte de los estudiantes, con la guía del maestro.
Metodología La metodología para la realización de este cartel consistió en una investigación bibliográfica relacionada a los usos y beneficios de esta herramienta. Posteriormente se hizo una compilación de los diferentes tipos de charts existentes. Finalmente se eligió el Sound/Color chart del portal de Quick Learning ya que su eficacia ha sido probada por profesores y alumnos de inglés (Quick Learning, 2012).
Esta herramienta se puede utilizar para enseñar dicción, lenguaje para sordo-mudos y también para enseñar la fonología y fonética otros idiomas, de una manera dinámica.
Referencias Donald, C. E. (2002). Experimenting with the sound/color chart for pronunciation. Bulletin of Hokuriku University, 26, pp. 219-235. Yule, G. (2010). The study of language. Cambridge University Press.
Asignatura Análisis comparativo del español-inglés.
th (4
ed.).
THE EFFECT OF CAPTIONED-VIDEOS ON THE INCIDENTAL ACQUISITION OF ENGLISH VOCABULARY
Alejandro Stefan Balam Pech Universidad de Quintana Roo VIDEOS
INTRODUCTION Captioning now is considered a powerful tool for teaching and learning a foreign language (Danan, 2004; Markham, 1999). Captioned videos provide learners with multimodal input, making it possible for learners not only to see the context of use of a word but also its written form and, of course, its pronunciation. Recent studies have shown that watching captioned videos can result in gains in incidental vocabulary acquisition (Winke, Gass & Sydorenko, 2010). The aim of this study will be to examine the effect of captioned videos vs. non-captioned videos on incidental vocabulary acquisition.
CAPTIONS VS SUBTITLES According to Markham (1999) and Danan (2004) the main differences between captions and subtitles are that: • Captions tend to actually transcribe and render utterances in a foreign language while subtitles are selective and omit redundancy. • The on-screen text in captions is usually in the same language as the audio. The text in subtitles, on the other hand, is usually a translation.
English language captions were added to the video clips, based on the transcript of the documentary, using Aegisub, free software for creating and modifying subtitles. The videos will be presented in good quality MP4 format. In total there were 6 videos, 3 with captions and three without captions.
VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE SCALE For this study, the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) will be used in order to measure how much students know the target vocabulary. The VKS is the most well-known of such tests and was designed to capture initial stages in word learning that are amenable to accurate self-report on demonstration through the use of a five-scoring scale (Shahov, 2012). The five levels of the scales are: 1. I didn’t know this word before watching the video 2. I don’t think I knew this word before watching the video 3. I have no idea if I knew this word before watching the video 4. I think I knew this word before watching the video 5. I definitely knew this word before watching the video.
PROCEDURE
Figure 1. Example of subtitles
Figure 2. Example of captions
Group 1
Group 2
Group 1
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
W/ captions or without
W/ captions or without
W/ captions or without
W/ captions or without
W/ captions or without
W/ captions or without
METHOD PARTICIPANTS 30 English language learners from the B.A. in English Language at the University of Quintana Roo, Campus Cozumel will participate in this study. They will be students from the 6th to 10th semesters. These groups will be selected because they are more likely to have an intermediate to advanced level of English. Lower-level learners will not be included in the sample since it has been reported that captions are more a distraction than help for this proficiency level (Taylor, 2005). The participants’ ages will be from 18 to 24 and all of them speak Spanish as their first language.
MATERIALS VIDEOS The videos for this study were taken from a NatGeo documentary called “Intelligent Animals”. The video clips, approximately 5-6 minutes in length, feature three animals that are able to use language to different extents. The original video was cut into smaller clips using the Total Video Converter software. The videos kept the original audio.
VKS
REFERENCES Danan, M. (2004). Captioning and subtitling: Undervalued Language Learning Strategies. Journal des traducteurs. 49(1), 67-77. doi: 10.7202/009021ar Markham, P. (1999). Captioned Videotapes and Second-Language Listening World Recognition. Foreign Language Annals. 32(3), 321-328. Shahov, V. (2012). Measuring L2 Receptive and Productive Vocabulary Knowledge. Language Studies Working Papers. 4, 37-45. doi: 10.1111/j.1944-9720.1999.tb01344.x Taylor, G. (2005). Perceived Processing Strategies of Students Watching Captioned Video. Foreign Language Annals. 38(3), 422-427. doi: 10.1111/j.1944-9720.2005.tb02228.x Winke, P., Gass, S., & Sydorenko, T. (2010). The Effects of Captioning Videos Used for Foreign Language Listening Activities. Language Learning & Technology. 14(1), 65-86.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks to Dr. Gabriella Casillas Navarro for her invaluable help in this project.
RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN © 2012
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Writing improvement through Digital Storytelling Wendy Honey Núñez Rodríguez Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa, UQROO Cozumel
Introduction Writing in a second language is a frustrating and complicated process which involves a number of mental activities as planning brainstorming and more combined with a big quantity of grammatical rules and vocabulary . The present study aims at analyzing the effect that a new strategy named Digital Storytelling (DST) has on the improvement of writing abilities in English as foreign language. What is Digital storytelling (DST)? Digital storytelling is a strategy that combines short legth ( aroun 2-10 min) personal narratives with a variety of digital multimedia, such as images, audio, and video.
Methodology 1Participants
Digital storytelling in the foreign language classroom According to… •Ya-Ting C. Yang and Wan-Chi I. Wu (2011) mention several studies have shown that DST goes beyond the capabilities of traditional storytelling by generating student interest, concentration, and motivation, facilitating student collaboration and organization of ideas, helping students to comprehend complex learning content, and presenting knowledge in an adaptive and meaningful manner. The results of a study made by them suggest that DST improve their written performance, when
they create and develop the content, into in a story •To the Ph. D Bernard Robin from the University of Huston says that students who participate in the creation of digital stories may develop enhanced communications skills by learning to organize their ideas, ask questions, express opinions, and construct narratives. It also can help students as they learn to create stories for an audience, and present their ideas and knowledge in an individual and meaningful way. Finally he also says that promotes interest, attention and motivation for the "digital generation" students •A study realized by Gregori Signes,C. (2008b) focus on writing reveals that learners were comfortable with the tool and
developed a better inner reflection about their own learning. • Reinders,H (2011)mentions that the use of DST is important because this activity promotes stories help us to remember in to a better way, promotes students motivation, can be use for speaking and writing practice are fun and rewarding. •Reyes et al (2012) study reveals how the use of DST with a didactic sequence helped to improve the use of more complex structures.
3 Procedure
Twenty intermediate students of English as a foreign language enrolled at the University of Quintana Roo
2 Material
Theories that support the use of Digital storytelling in the language classroom •Socio-cultural theory : more closed related to the principles of the zone of proximal development and mediation.
We will videotape four session workshops adapted from Reyes et al.(2012) In where the students will familiarized with the storytelling process and the use of the tool named “Storbird” and with the use of a checklist we will analyze the storyboards and scrips .
•Multiple intelligences: This because is a valuable product in one
cultural context or in a specific community that involves four of the nine different intelligences.
References
checklist 1.1 Reyes et al(2012)
Predictions We predict that the use of DST will result in a clear improvement in writing quality
.
Gregori Signes,C. (2008b).Practical uses of digital storytelling Retrieved from : http://www.uv.es/gregoric/DIGITALSTORYTELLING/DS_files/ DST_15_ene_08_final.pdf Reinders H(2011,April)Digital storytelling in the foreign language classroom. ELTWorldOnline.comLondon, UK Retrieved from : http://blog.nus.edu.sg/eltwo/2011/04/12/digitalstorytelling-in-the-foreign-language-classroom/ Reyes Torres, A., Pich Ponce, E., & Garcia Pastor(2012, December)Digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool within a didacticsequence in foreign language teaching.Digital education review,22,1-18. (ERIC Document No. EJ996780) Robin,B(2013) Educational Uses of Digital Storytellin. UniversityofHuston. Retrieved from : http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/page.cfm?id=27&cid=2 7&sublinkid=30 Ya-Ting C. Yang and Wan-Chi I. Wu (2011) Digital storytelling for enhancing student academic achievement, critical thinking,and learning motivation: A year-long experimental study,330-331
Acknowledgements Special thanks to PH.D Gabriella Casillas Navarro for her patience and invaluable help in this project.
Contact You may contact me at: wehonuro _777@msn.com