Perspectives: My English Journey By Jéssica Ñauñay English Language Program Yachay Tech Level 6 011 Teacher: Josephine Javens December 28, 2016 Imbabura, Ecuador
Table of Contents Portfolio Letter Response Essay Literary Analysis Essay Interpretation Essay Argumentation Essay Final Research Project Essay Reflections Thank you Letter
Jéssica Ñauñay Universidad Yachay Tech Imbabura, Ecuador
December 9, 2016
Dear Portfolio Reader:
My name is Jéssica Ñauñay. It gives me great pleasure to present my English Language Portfolio. I included a variety of my best works in English in order to display the skills and abilities that I developed as an English language learner at Yachay Tech. My portfolio contains four essays and a research project that I elaborated in my level 6 English course. I am very excited seeing the progress I have made in my English language skills, and I feel ready to continue my studies in this language. One of the skills that I have developed as a student during this semester is to work as a team. When I entered level 6 this semester, I did not like doing teamwork because I thought I would end up doing all the work. But through the expositions we had to do in class, I learned with the right people a team work can even be fun. It is all a question of equitably distribute the work. I also learned that teamwork can be beneficial for the development of the work because team members share ideas with other, and in this way ideas can be complemented to get a better result. My writing and speaking skills in English have also improved due to practice in the different activities done in class.
Making a comparison of the quality of the first essay that I did in the semester with the last one it is clear that my writing skills have improved. For example, I have learned to successfully use of the punctuation marks such as commas and periods. In my response essay I wrote many run on sentences, but now I know to structure a sentence in a better way due to the punctuation. Also, I learned how to write a correct thesis statement. In my response essay too, I wrote “the same idea could be say and interpreted in different ways”. It is very vague because I did not explain in what ways. For this reason, in my interpretation essay I wrote a better thesis: “This poem represents duality of life because it makes a contrasts between opposite things.” Another thing I learned during the semester is to quote correctly. The citations serve to differ the ideas of the author of the essay and the ideas of other people. Due to the fact that citations serve to decrease the level of plagiarism that a work can have, it must be done correctly. For example, in my response essay I just mentioned the name of the author of the quote, but I did not put where I found the article and the date of publication. Fortunately, for my research project I already learned how to make an appointment and I tried to do my best by putting the author's name, the year of publication, the page where I got the quote and even the paragraph number. I did that because if the reader has curiosity in the subject, the person can easily find the source from where I get the idea. Thank you again for taking the time to read my portfolio. To make it in the best way I invested a lot of effort and time, so I hope you enjoy reading my portfolio.
Sincerely,
Jéssica Ñauñay
RESPONSE ESSAY
Jéssica Ñauñay 26/09/2016 Response 1 Does the language I speak influence the way I think? “To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture.” «Frantz Fanon» Have you ever thought about all languages that exist in the world? Do you think that learning a new language changes your lifestyle? These are some of the questions that people do when they want to expand their dialect and decide to learn a new language. Most people think that by learning a new language their way of thinking will change, and that is the reason why they are afraid to make this decision. But as The Linguistic Society of America in its article Does the language I speak influence the way I think? show learning a different language will not change the way you think. It may give you some insight into another culture and another way of life. Personally, this idea strikes with my way to see the language, for this reason I think that it is very interesting. Also, I selected this article for the assignment in order to learn and inform about the real influences that learning a new language have both development and social behavior. I agree with the article that says that there are external sources that influence the way of thinking of people, such as the environment in where people develop, the culture to which people belong and the language that they speak: the same idea could be say and interpreted in different ways. The article begins with a brief reference to a study by Benjamin Lee Whorf made in 1940’s which concludes that people depending on the language they speak they see in a different way the world. Another aspect that influences the way of see the
world is the culture in which people grow up. In the article there are some example where depending the place that people live some ideas could be say in different ways. Also, the author stated that some language do not have enough vocabulary to express all the ideas that a person have. Finally, other point that mentioned in the article is about the prefixes and suffixes that can be combined with the words. Each language has its own set of suffix and prefix, and it is the reason why it seems that one is wider than another, but that does not mean that people for this change think differently. The first think that influence the way of thinking of people is the environment in where people develop. I think that the most of the cases the lifestyle of people have a big influence of their parents, children follow the example of their parents. For example, in my case, my father speaks English and for this reason I am interesting in this language. Also, my uncle travels to Germany and I hear he speaks this language, and I am very interesting in it too. But on the other hand, if a person have never listened other language than theirs, this person will never develop an interest. The second aspect is the culture to which people belong. I think this comes from the hand depending on the country in which a person is. Due to the fact that in the development countries exist a high level of education, students have more opportunities to know other language. For example, making a comparison between a French student and an Ecuadorian one, depending on the social class to which they belong, the French student at least will know English well and maybe another language. Instead the Ecuadorian barely knows their native language. Third, the language that they speak: the same idea could be say and interpreted in different ways. As the article mentioned, the extension of vocabulary that a language has depends on the grammar of it. For example, in Spanish there are variations of words, there are words that have the same meaning but are called differently. Also, a
language could have limitation. In some cases people do not have the enough vocabulary to say something. For example, in English the word “love” exist only one word to express this feeling but in Spanish there are two “querer” and “amar” the use of these depends on how strong is the feeling. Personally, I think the article is very good and interesting, because it informs me and made me want to continue researching on the subject because for me there were some things a little unfinished. The examples mentioned in the article were concrete and concise which made the reading more friendly and understandable. Also, I believe that any person can read this article because it does not appear very technical words. The ideas were connected that made the article ordered. In conclusion, I think the article encourages the reader to learn a new language because it belies the myth that when people learn a new language the way of thinking and being changed, the only thing that change is the way they see the world.
LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY
Jéssica Ñauñay L6-011 – Javens In class essay Seeing the real world Making a comparison between the ways you see the world when you were a child and when you are an adult, do you think that it changes? In which ways? There are some questions in which some people think about when they are remembering their childhood. Due to the fact that there is a life cycle that every live organism have to pass, human being in grown up process live new experience and feelings. A part of this life cycle is the passage from childhood to adolescence. Some people think this part is the most difficult for people because exist some hormonal changes which make people’s feelings more sensitive. In “Araby” story of James Joyce one theme that the text portrays is maturity. The main character experiences important changes in his life and in the way he sees the world. The story begins when the author remember his childhood and the place where he grew up. When he was a child, he used to play with his friends until Mangan’s sister come for them. Due to the fact that he had a crush on her, he used to watch her from his house’s windows and she did not noticing it. One day, she talks with him and she said that she cannot go to the bazaar. He offered to buy something special for her in the bazaar. He arrives late to the bazaar because his uncle forgot to come home early. Finally, when he was in the bazaar most stores were closed and in this moment he experiment a kind of epiphany (Joyce, 1914). The first symbolism that the author uses to show that the main character is experimenting a maturity process is when the child said “On Saturday evenings when my aunt went marketing I had to go to carry some of the parcels.” (Joyce, 1914, pag. 2).
I think that this phrase shows that the main character begins to have obligations. He could not continue playing all the time with his friends because the funny time is ending. He must help in the house like any other adult. The second symbolism that demonstrate a maturity process of the main character is when he felt so confused about the new feelings and sensations that he has for Mangan’s sister. As the main character said “I thought little of the future. I did not know whether I would ever speak to her or not or, if I spoke to her, how I could tell her of my confused adoration. ” (Joyce, 1914, pag. 2). Most parents stated that when their children are passing from childhood to adolescence even they do not understand themselves. I think that it is true because adolescence are so confused with all the different situations that they are living in that moment. Also, even if the adolescent know that they do not find the correct way to express it or in the other cases they do not tell anything because they are afraid and do not know how will be the reaction of the other person. The third symbolism that I could find in the text showing the maturity of the main character is the scene when he go on the train by himself. As he said “I took my seat in a third - class carriage of a deserted train.” (Joyce, 1914, pag. 4). I think that it presents that the author started to do things by himself. He does not need help of anyone anymore. Also, I think if main character’s uncle let him hang out at night, it is because the uncle thinks that he is enough of an adult to do this kind of things too. In conclusion, one of the themes or the principal idea that the author tries to share is about the several difficult experiences that a person which is passing from childhood to adolescence has. In some cases is necessary that people have their own experiences to learn and see how the real world is. But it does not mean that they do not
need help to others persons. So, in most of the cases people have to understand the difficult process of maturity.
Bibliography ï‚·
Joyce, J. (1914). Araby. The Dubliners
INTERPRETATION ESSAY
Feelings Behind a Poem Franco Jeanpierre Román Barragá Jéssica Pamela Ñauñay Chicaica Yachay Tech University
Feelings Behind a Poem “Poetry is plucking at the heartstrings, and making music with them.” -Dennis Gabor Have you ever read a poem that leaves you thinking? Do you believe that a poem could approach any kind of theme? According to Oxford Dictionary a poem is “a piece of writing in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by particular attention to diction (sometimes involving rhyme), rhythm, and imagery” (2016). Since the 3rd century until nowadays, there have been great poets who have marked the history of literature. For example, William Shakespeare with his famous poem “Sonnet XVII”, Oscar Wilde with “A vision”, and others. On this occasion, it is going to analyze a poem titled “The Human Abstract” by William Blake. BBC news stated he was born in London in 1757. In 1782 he married Catharine, who encouraged his in the world of poetry. At that time politics was chaotic and contradictory, and all these concerns are reflected in his poetic work (2014). “The Human Abstract” is part of the collection “Songs of Experience” published in 1794. This poem represents duality of life because it makes a contrasts between opposite things. Some examples about duality which we can find in our daily life are: good and evil, male and female, happy and sad, war and peace. These things are opposite, but at the same time one could not exist if the other does not exit either. First of all, the poem shows that the author think everything has its opposite, but at the same, they complement each other. For example, in the first stanza of the poem the author said “Pity would be no more, If we did not make somebody Poor: And Mercy no more could be, If all were as happy as we;” (Blake, 1794). This stanza shows that each cause has a consequence and everything has a reason to be. For example, in the
case of sadness. Sadness is only the absence of happiness and it is necessary that sadness exists for people to learn to appreciate those little moments of happiness. Another example in the poem about opposing things is the first verse of the second stanza which says “And mutual fear brings peace� (Blake, 1794). The author refers to the chaos that a society could have if people were not afraid of the laws that the government applies. The purpose of these laws is to bring peace to society. The author with this verse tries to get rid of the anguish he had when he saw that the society in which he is living was going through chaos. Finally, with the quotes of the poem, it is evident that in order for there to be harmony and nature is kept in balance, it is necessary that there are opposite things. Second, the symbolism behind animals and plants to show not only human being can be part of duality of life, it is always present in everything. In this poem there are a lot of words that have other meanings beyond conventional. Also, the poem is related with duality because it shows that animals and plants with different characteristics are part of same concept. Animals and plants form a single set and these two are necessary to understand the concept of duality. In animals there are caterpillar, fly, raven. All these have a metaphoric meaning. For example, caterpillar volition to improve and get changes. Fly could be interpreted like someone who is alert or that wait an opportunity, someone who is not trustworthy. Raven represents evil, darkness, death or bad omens. In plants there are tree, root, ground, sea, earth, and fruit. All these have a more explicit meaning. For example, tree refers to in what holds the precept or basis. Root represents ancestor or when something has settled on a site. Ground is like a basis where begin thoughts. Nest represents home, the place where all begin to live. Earth and sea represent all the planet.
Third, the personification of nature showing links between human and the environment in which they lives. The duality is shown because in the poem it mixes objects with human characteristics or feelings and it achieve to give a meaning that is easier to understand. Therefore, it demonstrates how duality is necessary to complement an idea. There are many phrases that mix humans with environment like “And waters the ground with tears” (Blake, 1794). The representation show how the ground interacts with tears. In this case these are like water necessary to grow, but have sad connotation. Also, this shows that despite of bad conditions always there is something capable of adapting or growing in it. Other example is the phrase “Then Humility takes its root Underneath his foot” (Blake, 1794). It shows the humility as corporeal thing because link with plants in form of roots. This phrase has relation with the previous one, and gives a message that despite of situation we are humble, perhaps as a quality or an imposition. The fourth stanza shows as two animals are interested in anything. Despite that have different natures they are affected by knowing something until the point of forgetting their differences, because curiosity is a phenomenon that goes beyond our resistance. Finally, the fifth stanza shows that often evil is involved in sweet layer to try cheat in this case how sweet fruit. Also, this says how a raven gets inside or hides in the tree like the raven felt the evil. In conclusion, this poem is about the duality of life. Although, there are opposites things in nature and they coexist to create a necessary balance for the development of life. In the poem there are specific symbolisms showing not only human beings are linked to this duality, but also the elements of nature such as plants and animals. In addition, the poem through the personification of the elements of nature, shows the direct connection that exists between the human being and nature. This is also a type of duality. Finally, if people broke the natural balance of things, life as we know
it until now would be over. For this reason, people should not destroy the environment in which they are.
Bibliography BBC
History.
(2014).
History
Figures.
Retrieved
from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/blake_william.shtml Elinzano, M. (2015). The 34 greatest poets of all time. Desert News. Retrieved from: http://www.deseretnews.com/top/3133/0/The-34-greatest-poets-of-all-time.html English Oxford Dictionaries. (2016). Definition of poem in English. Retrieved from: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/poem
ARGUMENTATION ESSAY
Jéssica Ñauñay L6-011 – Javens 1/2 Intelligence Behind Technology What do you consider to be the best technological gadget created in this era? Do you think humanity would change if it did not exist? These questions could be answered in different ways dependent on the perspective of each person, but one thing is true, people who live in the 21st century have a big reliance on technology. Due to the fact that science increase every day, more human necessities could be solved and this reason technology exists. The principal objective of technology is to make human being’s lives easier and smarter. Nowadays, there are any king of technology and everybody could have access to it. This means that technology could break up a wall that limited the access to knowledge. In this way, technologies make people smarter because these lets they get more information. First of all, one way by which technology lets people get more information is through the creation of many applications. In spite of the fact that apps help people in their daily activities, the use of these apps demand a certain level of knowledge about the function of it. This is a signal of intelligence. As Genevieve Roberts in her article “Google effect: is technology making us stupid?” said “Being able to create a wellformed question is an act of intelligence, as you quickly work out what information you want to extract and identify the app to help achieve this.” (july, 2015). A simple example in our daily lives, you want to cook a turkey, but you do not know the recipe. You go to YouTube to find a recipe, but before start to cook, you must know how to turn on the cook or the bake. In this way in some ways technology obligates people to get extra information and increase their level of knowledge.
Second, other way by which technology lets people get more information is the lack of specialization that people need. As I said before technology makes people’s lives easier. For this reason technology must be created as simply as possible in order for people to be able to use it. This simplicity let people know more about different topics. As Jonathan Coopersmith in his article “Is technology making us dumber or smarter? Yes” said “many more people have access to technology than in the past, allowing them to use these tools much more readily.” (june, 2016). For example, you have to make a formal presentation for your job, and you need a video, set of photos and professional slides. In the last century you must pay another person to do it, but nowadays there are applications and web pages that can help you. Also, you do not need to have a deep knowledge to use it. In this way technology let people get more information, in less time and less effort. Some people think technology makes people less smart because technology do not let them to develop their skills. In this way, Nicholas Carr said “technology is making us shallower thinkers, multitasking, unable to digest speeches, even songs, perpetually flicking.” (july, 2015). In some cases this statement could be true, but it largely depends how people use technology. For example, if you only use technology for games, social networks or other fun pages, you do not take a real advantage of technology and in this way technology makes you less intelligent. On the other hand, if you use technology to search somethings related to science you will learn and became more intelligent. It only depend how you decide to use technology. In conclusion, technology is necessary to increase the level of knowledge of people and make them smarter. There are a lot of benefits of use technology in our daily lives. One of it is get more information. The benefit of each person could acquire of
technology only depend on how the person uses it. For this reason you must use technology in a good way such as for your studies.
Bibliography Coopersmith, J. (june, 2016). The Conversation. Is Technology making us dumber or smarter? Yes. Roberts, G. (july, 2015). The Independent. Google Effect: is technology making us stupid?
FINAL RESEARCH PROJECT ESSAY
Have a New Lifestyle: The Benefits of Learning a Foreign Language Jéssica Pamela Ñauñay Chicaica Yachay Tech University
Author Note This paper was prepared for English Class, L6-001, taught by Professor Javens.
Have a New Lifestyle: The Benefits of Learning a Foreign Language “To have another language is to possess a second soul.” «Charlemagne» Have you ever wanted to study in another country but you cannot because you cannot communicate with the people there? Or maybe have you heard that some international business has not materialized correctly due to lack of good communication? These are some of the consequences of not speaking another language besides your native one. The present society depends for its development on the international relations. Nowadays is common to hear that presidents from different countries have meetings to created economic, commercial or other kind of agreements for the benefit of their country. It is necessary a good communication between presidents in order to avoid scams in these agreements. Due to the fact that language is the best channel of communication, people should learn another language for other to understand. Another example about the importance of learning another language is studies. Most universities allow students to make exchanges, but one of the requirements students need is to speak the language spoken by the people of the other country. These are some of the reasons why many people make the decision to learn a new language. Due to the fact that learning a new language can completely change the life of people because they begin to develop new skills, school must encourage this learning. Some of these skills are: looking at the world differently, reducing certain diseases and having more opportunities to study and work. The first benefits of speaking another language is that it makes you look at the world differently. To make learning a new language easier it is necessary for people to
become involved with the culture of this new language. In this way, they learn their customs and begin to see things from another perspective, the mind is enlarged. For example, Lera Borodostsky in 2009 did an experiment about the spatial perception between Kuuk Thaayorre, population of a small Aboriginal community on the western edge of Cape York, and English speaker. She discovered that Kuuk Thaayorre use cardinal-direction terms to define space such as: north, south, east, and west. But English speaker use words like right, left, back and forward. (para. 9). These means that if people want to learn Kuuk Thaayorre, they must first learn how to orient themselves wherever they are. For people to learn to orient themselves it is necessary for them to develop the ability to observe, and as a result they focus more on the details of the environment that surrounds them. Another example Borodostsky mentioned is about the difference in the way of describing colors between Russian and English speakers. She stated “In Russian there is no single word that covers all the colors that English speakers call "blue".� (para. 17). This means that Russian speakers notice different color tones more easily than English speakers. In this way if people would like to learn Russian, they should also learn this differentiation. As we can see from the examples above, each language has its own way of expressing its ideas. In addition, when people want to learn a new language, they must also develop new skills to be able to express themselves better. Due to the fact that the development of these new skills demands more observation to detail, people begin to see the world in different ways. Clearly, language changes the way people think, but does this mean that their brain and neural connections also change? To answer this question it is necessary to present the second benefit of learning a new language: reducing certain diseases. Learning a new language makes the brain of people constantly active which makes the brain work properly. Researches Craik et al.
(2010) worked with people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and they have offered a compelling argument for this view: “we found that the bilingual patients had been diagnosed 4.3 years later and had reported the onset of symptoms 5.1 years later than the monolingual patients.�. With this evidence they came to the conclusion that bilingualism can be a way to protect people against the onset of Alzheimer's because speaking another language besides the native contributes to the cognitive reserve. When people perform mental activity, such as learning a new language, their brain and their neurons work to the fullest. The neurons make many connections between them due to the large amount of information passing through the brain. Due to the fact that people's health is the most important thing in life, people should become aware and learn a new language because it is an easy and quick way to keep your brain active, young, and healthy. So learning a new language helps people in their health, but this can also help them to excel as a person? To prove that learning a new language can help people overcome there is the third benefit: learning a new language allows people to have more opportunities to study and work. All people want to become successful in life and for this they seek the best sources of study, but unfortunately in developing countries there are not always. For this reason it is necessary to learn another language to have more opportunities to go to study in another country and succeed. Nowadays, it is common to hear that students make exchanges to other countries, whether of college or university. Due to the fact that the best universities in the world are in Europe and the United States, most people want to study there. So they decide to apply to these exchanges. One of the requirements for them to give or not the exchange is if they speak the language spoken in the other country. In case the person does not know the language the college or university deny the exchange.
In the workplace, learning another language is also very important. The first thing a company sees to hire a person is his or her life curriculum and the qualities that the person has. Speaking another language besides the native can mean that the person can be useful for the company and its international growth. For example, one company wants to do business with another that is on the other side of the world where another language is spoken. Due to the fact that in some cases no one speaks the language that the other company speaks, it is necessary to hire a translator which means greater investment of money by the company. For this reason, if people speak another language, they are more likely to be hired than the people who speak a single language. Another factor in which speaking another language has influence is salary. As Chau (2014) has noted, “In fact, those entering the workforce in 2014 with second language fluency can expect an additional 10 to 15 percent pay increase.”. This may be related to the previous example. Because a person who speaks another language can represent more profits for the company, the company must recognize its effort through a higher salary. With this evidence it can be said that at present learning a new language can be seen as something expensive, but in the future this will be a good investment. Some people think learning a second language is unproductive and a veritable waste of time. In his article Learning a Second Language is a Waste of Time, Delfín Carbonell argues that learning a second language is unproductive and a veritable waste of time (2016). First of all, the author provides statistical data which shows in spite of the fact that 95 percent of the world’s 7500 million people speak only one language, they have a normal life. They could have families, travel and have a successful life as well as a person who speaks more than one language (para. 1). Second, the author criticizes those who argue that learning a new language is important because they do not agree on which of all the languages in the world should be studied (para. 3). Third, he
said nowadays there are enough interpreters and translators who help people when they do not know a language. The author takes as an example the president of the United States, Barack Obama, he has personal interpreters that help him in his work because it would be a waste of time for him to learn a new language, such as Spanish, if he will never again occupy that political post (para. 4). Finally, the author ends with the conclusion that life is short and we should not waste a minute of it with the effort, time and money involved in language-learning (para. 7). There are some people who agree with the way of thinking of Carbonell, however there are more benefits than cons when a person decides to learn a new language. Also, learning a new language can completely change the life of people because they begin to develop new skills. Certainly, most people in the world only speak one language but this is because they have not had the opportunity or the resources to learn another language than their native. According to “The World Bank� in 2013, 10.7 percent of the world’s population lived on less than US$1.90 a day, this is around 767 million people (2016). Second, it is also true that there are many languages to learn, but for development issues English is the language most learned by people. In addition, if people speak English, they are able to communicate with others in any part of the world. Third, due to the fact that in the present society nothing is free, if people require some service they must pay for it. Interpreters and translators are not the exception. If a middle class person had to pay for an interpreter every time that he needed help to communicate in another language, it would be too expensive. For this reason it is better for people to learn the language rather than hire someone. Therefore, when people decide to learn a language their life becomes easier and even they have some benefits and economic savings. In conclusion, learning a new language has many benefits such as: looking at the world differently, reducing certain diseases and having more opportunities to study and
work. Acquire these qualities allow people to excel and grow in a society in which the relationship between people from any part of the world is important. In addition, due to the fact that language is the best channel for communication, speaking a language besides the native allows people to create any kind of links such as affective, social, economic, and others. With all the benefits of learning a new language there is no excuse for people not to do it.
References Borodistsky, L., (November 6, 2009). Edge Foundation. How does our language shape the way we think?. Page 6. Carbonell, D. (2016). Learning a Second Language is a Waste of Time. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/delfan-carbonell/learninga-second-languag_b_9150922.html Chau, L., (January 29, 2014). Why you should learn another language?. U.S. News. Retrieved from: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economicintelligence/2014/01/29/the-business-benefits-of-learning-a-foreign-language Craik, F., Bialystok, E. and Freedman, M. (November 9, 2010). Neurology Organization. Delaying the onset of Alzheimer disease. Bilingualism as a form of cognitive reserve. Vol. 75. No. 19 1726-1729. Retrieved from: http://www.neurology.org/content/75/19/1726 World Bank. (2016). Poverty. [Data file]. Retrieved from: http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview
Reflections Some photos from class
Thank you for reading my Portfolio. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.
Sincerely,
Jéssica Ñauñay