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My English Progress Juan Callataxi Yachay Tech University
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My English Progress Juan Callataxi Yachay Tech University L6-001 Teacher: Mark Poese and Josephine Javens February 25, 2017 Yachay-Ecuador
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Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Portfolio Letter Opinion Essay Response Essay Argumentative Essay Research Paper Essay Thank you Letter
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Portfolio Letter
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Portfolio Letter Dear Portfolio Reader My name is Juan Callataxi. Thank you very much for reading my English Language Portfolio. In this portfolio, I have included a collection of my work during Crash Course at Yachay Tech University. My portfolio consists in four essays: opinion essay, response, essay, argumentative essay and research project essay. My purpose is to show the progress in speaking, writing, and listening, based on my essays, and I will tell you my experiences during this last month. First, at the beginning of the semester I think that the crash course would be so busy and boring, but in the last month I have funny moments with my classmates, for instance, I had some presentations and debate. These assignments were beneficial, because right now I can understand everything that my teachers say, and I can express my ideas or my thoughts in front of the my classmates. Thus, I improved my listening and speaking. I have learnt how to write. I think that I improved the organization of my ideas and my thoughts to spontaneously write an essay and the content of the each essay. For instance, in each essay I have received more points than last semester. I feel better in the last classes, because at the beginning I did not organize the information in each essay. For instance, in my first essay I got 7.5 points but in the last essay I got 8.7 points. That is an example about of the improvement in my writing process. The support of my professors has been a tool to improve the writing and speaking, because they commented to me where my mistakes were in each essay and in each
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presentation. From my point of view, reading others essays helped me to organize my ideas and specially the correct way at the time to cite other essays. One way of improving, especially in listening and speaking is to expand my vocabulary through listening to song in the English language, and to watch several movies and films. At first I only watched with English subtitles, but later I watched them without subtitles. That will help me to think in English and to familiarize myself with other words and increase my vocabulary. Finally, at this moment I feel confident for the next semester in my career, since all my classes will be in English. I want to thank you again for reading my portfolio, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Sincerely, Juan Callataxi
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Opinion Essay
Running head: FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND MORALITY
How Morality Changes in a Foreign Language Juan Callataxi Yachay Tech University February 1, 2017
Author Note L6-001 February,
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FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND MORALITY
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How Morality Changes in a Foreign Language What would you think if one person changes his morality when he learns another language? In the article “How Morality Changes in a Foreign Language” by Julie Sedivy (2016). She shows some facts based on some scientific research and experiments by Albert Costa, Janet Geipel and Catherine Harris which show how morality could change due to some facts. I agree with the argument that one person could change his morality when he learns a foreign language. First, one important argument supporting my point of view is that people say moral verdicts when they speak in a foreign language. According to Albert Costa and his experiment which consists in one moral dilemma that was present to a group of volunteers. They tried to resolve the “trolley problem” and discussed it first in their native language and afterwards they discussed in another language. As a result, people answered that problem in a different ways when they discussed in a non-native language. However, I think that people can change their morality, because one person thinks slowly and tries to analyze and remember some experiences and memories in the past and relation with him feelings, while another person probably gives a fast answer. Second, many people remember experiences when they speak in their native language. According to Janet Geipel and her colleagues, many people judge some actions morally reprehensible when they speak in their native language. They judge these actions to be less wrong when they speak in a different language. However, the ability to judge some actions depends on how people gives their opinion in the native or foreign language.
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Furthermore, people tend to give explanations and opinions quick and gut-level when some persons talk about feelings and senses while they give careful deliberation in some topics with another language. People remember some experiences from childhood memories that contain some feelings such as love, rage, wonder and punishment when they listen and speak native words, but they react in different ways when they listen to the same words, but in the a non-native language, and they judge moral dilemma in a strong way. Third, one scientific explanation and I agree with this argument is how body reacts and shows changes in different parts of the body such as in the skin. According to Catherine Harris and her research, some results showed changes in the skin’s electrical conductivity. She listened to some words of Turkish speakers, who learn English late, and as a result, they reacted in different ways when they listened to the same phrases in both languages. I think it is most comfortable to listen to words in our native language. In fact, when one person listens to these phrases, many times he thinks and relates to some childhood memories and actions related with pain, sadness and unhappiness. In conclusion, people tend to change their morality in different cases and when they think and discuss in other language. Many times, these people try to analyze in a better way and give a strong argument about a specific and controversial topic. Even though people give more explanation in another different language, sometimes they tend to consider less wrong and analyze comprehensive way when they speak in native language. However, people judge in a different ways when they speak in a specific language. From my point of view, the strongest argument is the scientific reason because it contains more details and explanations according to my way of thinking. I think that the decision of changing our
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morality depends on of each person and learn another language is not wrong. On the other hand, it could improve your personality, culture and get good opportunities like a good job, so learn another language.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND MORALITY References Sedivy, J. (2016). How Morality Change in a Foreign Language. N.f
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FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND MORALITY
Response Essasy
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Running head: MORALITY, SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Ethics in Science and Engineering Juan Callataxi Yachay Tech University
Author Note L6-001 February 6, 2017
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MORALITY, SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING Ethics in Science and Engineering `
We make decisions every day such as what color of pants we will wear blue or
black, or what kind of fruit we will eat for breakfast (an apple or a banana). These decisions are the perception of each person, and they do not influence the decisions of other persons. However, these decisions are different in science and engineering because they probably affect someone else. As a result, we will have moral implications and we ought to think, whether the research is necessary to do it or not. In the article “The Role of Ethics in Science and Engineering� Deborah Johnson (2010). She mentions how science and ethics are related from the past giving examples such as Galilean and Copernic mainly in religious terms. Science has advanced rapidly because of social problems but without realizing it could affect people. Finally, she mentions a possible solution to these ethical and moral problems which is the anticipatory ethic. However, it is sometimes necessary to break ethical and moral issues primarily when people need to be helped. First of all, at present, the introduction of new technologies has improved the quality of life and helped many people on various occasions. According to El Telegrafo (2016) during the earthquake in Ecuador on April 16, 2016, only 20 people were rescued in the early hours of the 113 rescued in total. We must think and analyze why this happened. The answer is that there was no rescue mechanism for hard-to-access areas solely for rescuers. We must propose a solution such as the use of exploratory robots that can find these victims without endangering the lives of rescuers. The author emphasizes that science and engineering are not harmful and in addition, these fields are shaped by social events. However, they are subject to many regulations and depend on economic factors which
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prevent the development of these new technologies. (Johnson, 2010) When science enters into medicine we generally think that it breaks ethics and morality. Second of all, Johnson mentions in her article that the best example in which science breaks certain ethical questions is in experimentation on living beings such as animals or even on humans. It is necessary to practice on animals, but in certain species that over time, scientists have shown that it has the same answers as humans. The mouse has become the main object of practice, mainly in the use of new medicines. Consequently the practice in humans is not fully accepted mainly because certain medical considerations must be taken, therefore it must first be experienced in animals to achieve advances in the application of these experiments in humans. Although there are currently protocols for the ethical treatment of animals in laboratories, it remains a subject of much discussion mainly by animal rights advocates. (N. a, n. d) Cloning and genetic alteration are fields that have developed in recent years. Scientists have developed these fields for the purpose of helping people and we must think about how they can help us. These studies may have risks and benefits. The risks that can happen is that in the future there would be no need to procreate and paternity would become a form of consumption. If the genetic alteration is not carried out properly from the beginning of the investigation, as a result, we will have deformed human beings and health problems. (Rsnik, 1998) On the other hand, genetic alteration can help in the future so that we have less disease or e will be less vulnerable and thus prolong our lives, we can improve certain skills depending on the personality of each of us. (Johnson, 2010)
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Science and technology have reached agreements with ethics on some occasions such as the creation of new laws and policies that include issues such as environmental and social impact as well as ethical and legal concerns. However, we cannot judge whether an emerging technology has the need to break certain ethical issues in the future. Anticipatory ethics seems to be a solution and a means of negotiation between science and ethics. This may lead the way of certain investigations instead of interfering as the author mentions in his article. (Johnson, 2010) In conclusion, it is correct to think that when we become scientists we can ignore certain ethical issues. In some cases, it is necessary to use science to help people as it is the case of not endangering the lives of some people using the life of another living being. Practicing on another living being can help save many people or the use of emerging technologies will help the development of certain activities. Therefore, we always ought to think that these actions are for the benefit of all human beings.
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References Johnson, D. (2010). The Role of Ethics in Science and Engineering. Charlottesvill Virginia. Department of Science, Technology, and Society, University of Virginia. El Telegrafo. (2016). Cifras Oficiales tras Terremoto en Ecuador. Retrieved February 6, 2017 from http://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/especiales/2016/Lista-de-fallecidos-porterremoto-en-Ecuador. No author. (no date). Essay on Animal Experimentation is Ethical and Necessary. Retrieved February 7, 2017, from http://www.123helpme.com/animal-experimentation-isethical-and-necessary-preview.asp?id=257530. No author. (no date). Ethical dilemma of robots in society Essay. Retrieved February 7,2017, from http://www.123helpme.com/ethical-dilemma-of-robots-in-soceitypreview.asp?id=248450. Resnik, D. (1998). The Ethics of Science. London and new York. Taylor & Francis eLibrary.
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Argumentative Essay
Running head: ENGLISH IS LINGUA FRANCA
Should science have a common language? Juan Callataxi Yachay Tech University
Author Note L6-001 February 24, 2017
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ENGLISH IS LINGUA FRANCA
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Knowledge is advanced every day, but sometimes it is so difficult to express the ideas or thoughts. In the past, scientists did not have a problem at the moment to communicate their research, they wrote in their native language, but also they did in the Latin Language. However, Latin is a death tongue. At present, many people travel around the world, and they need to communicate or find information about certain places. Therefore, they need to speak a foreign language which should be English Language. First, English is easier than other languages. For instance, Russian speakers can distinguish different types of colors. It is easy for them, such as, Russian speakers have light blue, dark blue, ocean blue, and other kinds of color blue, English speakers need more Russian’s vocabulary if they need to communicate in this language. On the other hand, English speakers have one color and it can be easy to learn for the rest of the people. Another example is that German speakers need different words for the same gender, in other words, they need specific word for adverbs, prepositions, and in contrast, English speakers do not have specific words for specific gender. As a result, people can communicate easily in another country. In conclusion, learning English is easy; it does not distinguish between certain words, thus, it can be easy to speak. Second, the influence of the country has an important role in the language. Michael Gorin, who was a science historian explained that in the 15th through the 17th century, scientists conducted their work in two different languages they discussed their work in their native language, but they wrote in Latin for scientists outside their country. For example, Galileo Galilei wrote few works in Latin, but the majority of his research was in Italian. Newton wrote Newton’s Principe in Latin, after he published Optics in English Language.
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Since the second half of the 20th century, the English language has been dominant in the global scientific community. As a consequence, English vocabulary has increased with the new developments and discoveries. Many words do not have translations to different languages. If one person wants to study in other country, he should learn English. (HuttnerKoros, 2015) Third, scientific publications are written in English. If one person needs a scientific opinion or scientific research in one specific topic, he should learn English. In 2012, a study from Research Trends examined several articles collected by SCORPUS which is the largest database around the world for peer-reviewed journals. The result was that 80 percent of the 21000 articles form 239 countries in whole world were written complete in the English language. Also, another result was the number of the articles which are written in English had increased. Additionally, English is not used in scientific community; the business world has influential as well. Companies need to improve their infrastructure or expand their markets, hence, they need to do several deals in the worldwide, but often the language is the trouble, and the business men need to learn English language. (HuttnerKoros, 2015) In short, the English language should be the Lingua Franca in whole world. This language is useful for many reasons, such as English language is easier than other languages around the world, also there are several words that exist only in this language and they do not have the correct translation. Finally, much research and many discoveries are written in English and if one person wants to get more knowledge, he should learn this language.
ENGLISH IS LINGUA FRANCA
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Huttner-Koros, A., (2015). The Hidden Bias of Science’s Universal Language. The Atlantic Retrieve from https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/08/englishuniversal-language-science-research/400919/
Research Paper Essay
Running head: GRAND UNIFIED THEORY
Natural Forces and the Unification of Physics Juan Callataxi Yachay Tech University
Author Note L6-001 February 17, 2017
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GRAND UNIFIED THEORY Abstract Nature is formed by four forces, gravitational force, electromagnetic force, weak nuclear
force and strong nuclear force. These forces are formed by force-carrying virtual particles, these particles interacting with other particles of the other forces. Physics has tried for several years to unify the forces that govern nature; Scientists have proposed various theories to solve this problem such as, supergravity theory, string theory and p-branes theory. The objective of this research is to inform which theories have been proposed for several years. In addition, the goal is to present the complications that arise in each postulated theory and its implications in other ways, and also to present that today there are a large number of theories that describe with great precision and accuracy the behavior of the universe. Keywords: Gravitational force, electromagnetic force, weak nuclear force, strong nuclear force. Physics, supergravity theory, string theory, p-branes theory
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Natural Forces and the Unification of Physics For many years scientists have tried through theories to know the behavior of nature. They have progressed in the development of partial theories that describe a limited range of natural events, wasting certain effects and achieving a better approximation through numbers. There have been many ways in the past to explain all the behavior of nature, but they have vanished with the appearance of new discoveries. Physics attempts to unite the four fundamental forces which are the gravitational force, electromagnetic force, weak nuclear force and strong nuclear force; Additionally, each force has its own transporting particle which interacts with the different forces of nature. The possibility of getting a theory that can unify the main forces that make up the universe is getting closer or it is most likely to obtain a set of theories instead of just one that can describe the behavior of the universe. The forces of nature are composed of virtual particles, force carriers that have been classified into four categories. In fact, the purpose of physics is to find a theory that explains these forces. First of all, the gravitational force is the weakest, which is composed of virtual particles called gravitons. The graviton is a fundamental particle that allows the interaction of bodies with gravity, causing them to feel their effect.(Forrero & Loaiza, 2015) Second of all, the electromagnetism force is more intense than the gravitational force and it keeps electrons turning around the core of the atoms. Furthermore, the electromagnetism force is composed of virtual particles called photons. A photon is a subatomic particle of light or other electromagnetic radiation that is used as a unit of electromagnetic energy. (Cambridge Dictionary, n.d) Finally, the weak nuclear force is
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responsible for the radioactivity and decay of the atomic nuclei while the strong nuclear force is responsible for retaining the quarks inside protons and neutrons, in addition to keeping the protons and neutrons united in the atomic nucleus. Despite this, it is not possible to have contact with these two last forces, because these forces are products of the quantum theory, whereas the general relativity, which gives rise to the gravitational force, is not. The main problem is that to achieve a unified theory covering all the forces of nature, it must include the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. (Hawking & Mlodinov, 2005) The principle of uncertainty implies that the greater the precision with which one of these magnitudes is known, the less is the precision with which the other can be known. (Hawking, 2007, p. 66) This can produce some remarkable consequences, such as black holes not being black, and the universe being completely self-contained and without boundary. The trouble is, the uncertainty principle means that even empty space is filled with pairs of virtual particles and antiparticles. These pairs would have an infinite amount of energy. This means that their gravitational attraction would curve up the universe to an infinitely small size. (Hawking & Mlodinov, 2005) However, this does not happen in this way, other complications originate in the strong, weak and electromagnetic nuclear forces, but in all of them a mathematical process manages to eliminate such drawbacks. According to Ferrara, Freeman & Nieuwenhuizen (1976) the theory of supergravity proposes a solution to the unification of physics, posing it as a quantum theory. Although it was possible to relate Einstein's theory of relativity to quantum mechanics through the virtual particle, graviton, and this theory generated several problems. For instance, the calculations needed to determine whether this theory was valid or not, generated infinite too
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long and without canceling out that anyone in the scientific community was ready to face them. Also, the probability of making a mistake in the calculations was very high, even for a computer. Many scientists believed that supergravity theory could be fixed and probably the answer to the unification of physics. Nevertheless, years later another theory was proposed which was more in agreement with the data obtained. (Hawking, 2007) String theory is based on the fact that the fundamental particles are not point particles, but strings that have length and no other dimension, like an infinitely thin chord fragment. All fundamental particles are interpreted as different waves in the strings, in other words, each point particle is a small piece of string that vibrates a certain frequency, which is characteristic of each subatomic particle. In addition, these strings can be divided into two: open strings and closed strings. Two pieces of string can be joined to form a single string, in the case of open strings, joining at the ends. In contrast, in closed strings only a fragment of this string can be divided to form another string. (Hawking & Mlodinov, 2005) According to Schwarz (1985) the string theory could unify Physics, based on three superstring theories which were I, IIA and IIB. Each theory contains enough structure to be a potential candidate for a unified theory of physics. On the other hand, this theory presents some complications. For example this force should have a tension of billions of tons and only appear to be coherent if space-time has 10 or 20 dimensions, instead of the known four. (Hawking, 2007) Finally, the purpose of string theory is to study the characteristics of virtual force-carrying particles such as their characteristic frequency and thus relate it to the other forces. (Alvarez, n.d)
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In recent times has appeared a new theory in which it is assumed that the constituent elements of matter are membranes of rectangular form which are called p-branes. There are several dimensions and so are called 2-branes, 3-branes, etc. In the theory of branes, they replace the particles. The characterization of the branes by the frequency of vibration, carriers or messengers, etc., is similar to that of the strings. The ripples in these branes parallel to their short side according to their theory as carriers of information. Like particles or strings, branes interact with each other and with strings. For example, when the cord hits the brane, it excites ripples in it. If ripples that go in one direction clash with undulations in the opposite direction, they may interfere with each other as the known undulating motions, and if the interference is by reinforcement, the resulting peak gives rise to another loop corresponding as any string to a particle. (Gonzales, n.d) According to Molina (2003), the main problem to achieve a theory that unifies all the forces of nature is to obtain a quantum theory of gravity, which would mean that the theory of relativity is deficient or totally wrong. In addition, a unified theory would affect other fields of physics such as Astrophysics, especially the concepts of stars, black holes, supernovae, expansion and contraction of the universe, dark matter and dark energy and cosmology, which would affect certain reflections on theories of the origin of the universe. Finally, she says that to achieve this theory, a great knowledge in mathematics is needed; therefore, very few people would be able to solve this problem. Additionally, Hawking (2007) believes that it could have religious implications because in general people would doubt God's intervention in nature.
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On the other hand, Hawking and Mlodinov (2005) mentioned that science is rapidly advancing around the world, and understanding new theories is easier than in the past, so students of science acquire more knowledge every day. For example, Hawking mentioned that for many years, many people did not understand the theory of relativity. Even Hawking mentions that only two people understood it; today, science students understand it or are at least familiar with it. Also, Einstein (1999) said that classical mechanics does not provide a broad enough base to represent theoretically all physical phenomena. He also mentioned that the theory of relativity offers great precision and that theory does not fail in any field. Finally, Hawking says that there could be three possibilities for the unification of physics. First of all, there is a unified theory that encompasses all the forces of nature. Second, there are a great number of theories that describe with great precision the natural phenomena, nevertheless, a great unified theory would not exist. Finally, there is no unified theory and all natural phenomena occur in a random way. The possibility of diverse theories that describe with great precision each natural phenomenon is the most acceptable today. First, one could never be certain that this theory is correct, because theories cannot be proved. Second, this theory must incorporate the principle of uncertainty; however, this principle produces several limitations in quantum mechanics. (Hawking & Mlodinov, 2005) In short, scientists have been close to achieving a unified theory for several years, such as supergravity theory, which proposes a quantum theory of gravity and could be related to the other forces of nature. Another solution is string theory, which describes that all fundamental particles, in fact, are fragments of string that vibrate at different
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frequencies, producing the different known particles. Finally, the theory of p-branes is similar to string theory, but point particles are in fact two-dimensional membranes. The unification of physics can cause diverse problems as many religious as in science. In spite of everything, if it is not possible to obtain a unified theory, a great number of theories could be obtained that describe with great precision the behavior of the universe.
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Einstein, A., (1999). The Albert Einstein Archives: Relativity Principle. The Jewish National & University Library Freedman, D., Z., Nieuwenhuizen, p., Ferrara, S., (1976). Progress toward a theory of supergravity: Physical Review D.13 (12) Forrero, M., P. & Loaiza, O., G., (2015). El Gravitón y la Teoría de Cuerdas. Jovenes en la Ciencia. 1(2).297-301. Gonzales, J., (n.d). Cuerdas, branas y dimensiones. Retrieved from http://casanchi.com/ref/cuerdas01.pdf Hawking, S., (2007). The Theory of Everything the Origin and Fate of the Universe: Black Holes ain’t so Black, Beverly Hills, Phoenix Books 57-77. Hawking, S., & Mlodinov, L. (2005). A briefer history of time: The forces of nature and the unification of physics, New York, Editorial Critica, 149-172. Molina, M., J., (2003). Física y Metafísica del Tiempo. La Ecuación del Amor. Publidisa Photon. (n.d). In Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved February 19, 2017, from http://dictionary.cambridge.org/es/diccionario/ingles-espanol/photon Schawarz, J., (1985). Quarks, Leptons ad Beyond: Superstrings. Pasadena California, Springer Science+Business Media
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Sincerely Juan Callataxi
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