A NICE PART OF MY LIFE
Katherin Suรกrez Yachay Tech University English Language Program Yachay, Ecuador
Crédits: “A nice part of my life” Katherin Suárez English Language Program Yachay Tech University Level 6-005 Teacher: Alyssa Wolfe December 10, 2026
Urcuquí, Ecuador
CONTENTS 1. FORMAL LETTER TO THE READER 2. LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY 3. ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY 4. RESPONSE ESSAY 5. FINAL RESEARCH PROJECT ESSAY 6. PHOTOS 7. THANKS YOU LETTER
Katherin Suárez Yachay Tech L6-005 December 12, 2016 Dear reader: My name is Katherin Suárez, I am from Santo Domingo, Ecuador. Currently, I am in third semester at Yachay Tech University. I would like study petrochemistry, the reason to study this career is that I want to find a substance similar with petroleum but that it doesn’t affect to environment. Thank you for reading my English Language Portfolio. It is a collection of all my works done during Level 6 and this shows my skills with the English. My portfolio consists in four essays and a research essay. I believe that with the advance showed trough this portfolio I am ready to continue with my learning on this language. Level 6 of English Language Program had a duration approximate of four months. During this time, I learned new thing, improve my abilities, and met new people with whom share activities or works all semester in English class. When I beginning this level I was worried because many of my friends told me that it was very difficult, but after of experimented by myself the experience of be in level 6 these preoccupations disappeared. In this level I understood that learn a new language doesn’t just know about grammar, pronunciation, and rules for writing, because this level help me to learn about some traditions of the country named United State, for example in Halloween we watched movies and documentaries about this holiday. I had a progress in fields as write essays based in the material gave by me teacher (articles, papers, and videos). In this semester, the works written were a reflective essay (homework) I had difficult while done this essay because I didn’t have
organized my ideas and had problems with vocabulary. Then I wrote a literary analysis (in class), an interpretation essay (in group), an argumentative essay (in class), and a research project; while I wrote this research, I realized that my skills in things like punctuation and verb conjugation had developed. Also, I done some presentations such as a midterm presentation, an interpretation presentation of an artistic work named “Creation of Adam”, and the last presentation is about my research project. Finally, I and my classmates done small discussions about topics proposed by my teacher and a debate about language and ethics. An activity that liked me a lot was the warm-up since it consisted in questions that gave two options and I could choose one option and tell why I chosen it I had any problems with verbs conjugation and punctuation, but with practice I learned more rules about verbs and punctuation. Also, my presentations in class were complicated because I was very nervous and this caused that my pronunciation was incorrect. My principal problem was the confusion to use the present and past perfect or past and present perfect continuous, because I confused about moment in which use these tenses; but that problem was solved through games in kahoot! played in class, these games were made by my classmates during their grammar expositions. However, each of these problems were solved with practice while I done my essays. I will continue improving my knowledge about this Language. I´m so grateful with you for reading my portfolio about my experiences of level 6. I put a great effort in this document and I hope you enjoy reading it. Sincerely, Katherin Suárez
LYTERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY
“Araby” is a story written by James Joyce, this story shows the emotions felts by a boy during his first love. This story tells us any details about feelings and situations that the boy lives later of divide his life between school and games with his friends. When children felt, new emotions caused by first love, they might do anything by their crush. Firstly, the boy and his crush are sharing the same street named North Richmond Street. The girl is the sister of the boy´s friend and she is a neighbor of the boy. This is a evet that give him an opportunity to look her every mornings. Although, he was feeling some things on her, he hadn’t spoken to her. He describes an interesting emotion when he hears her name “yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood” (Joyce, 1914). All these events are showing that the boy was feeling a secret love for friend´s sister. However, he doesn’t understand why he was feeling these emotions or what were the reasons to follow and see her and especially why he couldn’t talk with her. Secondly, the story is based in the new experience that the boy lived while he went shopping to market with his aunt. This story represents a transition from child to adult that the boy was living, because he beginnings helping in house and doing some activities that only adults could do. Furthermore, he expressed through a story the emotions that he felt when he is next to Mangan´s sister. The author through a metaphor expressed other emotions that Mangan´s sister caused in the boy. Also, the author use phrases that symbolize what the boy felt anytime that he watched to the girl. Finally, the protagonist felt a new emotion like the obligation to accomplish a promise. This part of the story stat on a dark rainy evening when he had a conversation they chatted about Araby which was a splendid bazaar and why the girl couldn’t go to Araby. While they were speaking; the protagonist observed some especial effects that the light from lamp had been creating in the girl specially on her hair. Also, in that
moment the boy told to his crush this phrase “I will bring you something from Araby”. But, when He arrived to the bazaar many stores had closed and he didn’t buy anything, finally he describes his emotions with the next words “I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (Joyce, 1914). In conclusion, when the boy is experimenting a transition from child to adult, he is feeling new emotions and physical sensations. While he is during this new stage he is doing some activities that are only for adults, for example: the obligation to accomplish a promise no matter what obstacles and if he doesn’t get his objective he discovers feelings such as anguish and anger.
ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
The world has people affected by language and culture. People know that language is an ability to communicate some information and culture is values and knowledges that a community have. Ethics and morality have a strong relation, because both have as base the moral principles. Ethics and morality are principal victims of incorrect use of language. Culture is knowledge and values but it might affect the ethics and morality because some countries have traditions and racist ideas about other people that affect the moral of other people; for example, some white people believe that people of other races or religions shouldn’t be in the same world that the white people were. A sample of that was the second world war, because it event was caused by the rejection of Adolf Hitler to people of other religion, skin color or race. Morality and ethic are affected by language too, but language affects more than culture. All people have a native language and a percentage of them know or speak more than one language. Currently, all educational institutions teach one extra language. Some human’s reactions were showed trough many experiments and investigations which consisted of listen some words or phrases in a different language such as foreign language and in their native language. A clear example is when a girl hears a vulgar word she will have a different reaction in comparison in hear it in her native language than in a foreign language. In conclusion, the moral principles might be affected by culture and language, but it is more affected by the language because people don’t have the same interpretation of a word when they listen it in a foreign versus native language. The principal consequence of that is that people may be affected for a word but as they don’t understand they could believe that it is something fun.
REFERENCE 
Sedivy, J. (2016, September 14). How Morality changes in a foreign language. Scientific American. Retrieved from: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-morality-changes-in-a-foreignlanguage/
RESPONSE ESSAY
Would be the Self-education an indispensable tool to the Formal Education? Is self-education the best way to learn? we know that education is the process to transmit knowledge, values, and custom. Self-education happens when people try to learn by themselves without a professional instruction, on the other hand formal education is transmitted in a classroom with a professional instruction. Self-education should be used as a tool to learn more things and not like the main way to learn. The paper named “Why self-educated often come up short” wrote by Young shows the positive and negative aspects of self-education. Young (2010) said “I have a pet peeve about certain people who attack formal education systems and claim to pursue self-education”. In this phrase, Young shows his disagreement with people that abandon the institutions that replace the formal education for learning by them. He explains that when people leave university, they read self-help books and they think that these books are enough for acquiring knowledges. Formal education offer us some things that we cannot get with the selfeducation. Actually, the way of teaching is very different compared with ancient methods, for example: students have the option to ask about some doubts in their class. Furthermore,” the formal education offers us external initiatives that we couldn’t get in the self-education” (Scott, 2010). I couldn't agree more with these reasons to choose the formal education; nevertheless, the formal education has a curriculum, the students don´t go to class by sleep, do homework, and don’t like them; because they feeling tired or boring. Moreover, the students spend more time in activities like hobbies, practice sports or other things. Although, sometimes we can choose a good option like to become self-taught. “People shouldn`t learn only the basic information about a topic or subject. An example for that is the “T” model, this explain that in the top of the T are the basics knowledge and in the narrow stem of the T are the most specific details and the few skills you are an expert”. (Scott, 2010) When people want obtain only basic knowledge they can read a lot of books, but if they want obtain the specific knowledge they should go to class to receive the training of teachers. However, the self-education helps us to learn subjects like liberal arts or evolutionary biology in a superficial form trough books, but it doesn’t help us to learn subjects such as programing or medicine.
Discipline is an important part of the self-education. “self-education need most discipline that the formal education. Although the formal education has grades, attendance, and assignments; when people decide the self-education, they need most discipline since if they study by themselves need a plan, organization, and be focused only in the things that they want study” (Scott, 2010). I agree with these reasons because if you decide learning by yourself, you must be focused in the goal that you want achieve. However, that`s not always true, because formal education also need much discipline, since the people should be responsible with their homework, attendance, and grades. I believe that both ways to learn need much discipline. Furthermore, the people that are developing their skill through the self-education need use most energy and sometimes they lose their objective by do other activities or by exhaustion. In conclusion, the paper named “Why self-educated learners often come up short”, was written based in the experience of the author. The author in his essay is selfeducation and he is in favor of formal education. However, he should judge all people such as the people that he had known. Really the learner should consider self-education as a complement of formal education. Finally, this text shows everyday problems that exist between the students; in some situations, these problems generate a conflict in the students. In my opinion any problem can be solving with equilibrium between the two ways of education through a defined process made by any learners. And when the learners do this process they are focused on what subjects or art need most information.
References Young, S.H. (February, 2010). Why self-Educated learners often come up short [Blog]. Retrieved from: https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2010/02/24/self-educationfailings/ Definiciรณn de Educaciรณn. (2007-2016). Definiciรณn ABC. Retrieved from: http://www.definicionabc.com/general/educacion.php
FINAL RESEARCH PROJECT ESSAY
An analysis of reasons by which students are leaving the university Katherin Dayana Suรกrez Macias L6-005 Yachay Tech December, 2016
Abstract Currently, Ecuador depend economically of the sale of natural resources for this reason Yachay Tech University has as principal objective which is change the productive matrix of Ecuador. Yachay Tech University is part of the project named “Ciudad del Conocimiento”. An investigation made to the student population of Yachay Tech through a web-survey during the last week of November and the first week of December to 20 students of different semester; the results obtained of the survey will serve as a support for the thesis raised in this paper. Furthermore, this paper shows many solutions for don’t abandon Yachay. Moreover, this paper will show that many students came to Yachay by its ideals and objectives, but other students came to Yachay by reasons that don’t are objectives, ideals, and career of Yachay. Finally, the paper will show that for some motives to leave from university exist others motives to stay in the university.
Education has an important paper in this time in which the technology and science are the principal part to develop our society. The institution named “Yachay Tech University” is part of the new era, because it has like ideology create through innovation, investigation, and experimentation a country and a world based in the Good Living. Nevertheless, Yachay is in a situation a little unstable because many students decide returning to their homes no matter what this institution is in constant growth. But, why the students make this decision? Sometimes people judge without knowing the context or reason that have other persons to do some actions. The principal reasons that have students are leaving Yachay Tech University are dissatisfaction with their expectation, academic problems, and economic problems in their homes. Yachay Tech University has a department in charge of academic’s aspects, another staff in charge of student welfare, and a staff in charge of the economic field. The University´s departments should be focused on satisfy with the expectations of any student that is part of the university since, this can be an important motive whereby many students leave the university. Despite that many students abandon this institution other students come to Yachay, because they felt curiosity and fascination by the objectives, ideals, and careers that Yachay has, another motive in the ubication and benefits offered by the University. Moreover, many students decided of coming to Yachay was because it had been created recently. According to Morrish (2015) “principal reasons to leave a university are value of education is very expensive, nonconformity with jobs that they may get, students believe that they learn more outside of the university, and they prefer work to get money than study. Breach with expectations is considerate as principal reason to abandon Yachay Tech University, because the students see that the university is not as they believed. Moreover, according to some students another thing that they didn´t expect is the
duration of the common semesters. In the opinion of many students the common trunk should have the duration of two semesters. In the field of expectations, the students should understand that this institution started recently and that is a cause for that all buildings are not finished yet. However, when students express their disagreement with change of the curriculum of each career and the academic department should give a solution to that situation. The survey showed that 35% of students abandon Yachay because the university breach their expectations. Academic problems are a reason to abandon the university, because in some cases the students believe that they might learn more studying by themselves than studying with the teaching of a teacher. Self-education is chosen by students because the felt that in the university they don’t have the support necessary to learn, but if they decide the self-education they will not have a curriculum and deeper knowledge that might learn in the university. If academic problems are a motive to abandon Yachay, the solution, for this problem is that all students have the option of may request academic help as tutoring by teachers or their assistant lecturers. The survey unveiled that 25% of students leave from Yachay by academic problems. The family economic is a social problem causing the abandonment of studios of any educational level. This situation has its origin because in Ecuador exist a high poverty rate. In consequence, the families that have between 3-4 persons and an income about $375, which is $12 per family per day, and between $3 and $4 per person, but in some families, have more than 3 or 4 members and this cause a significant lack of money; this economic problem cause that many children don´t go to school or high school and some teenagers abandon their studies. Ecuadorian foundation such as The Starfish Foundation gives economic collaboration to poor families for that they send their children to school, high school, and university. To solve this problem, Yachay has
a program of scholarship like scholarship of excellence, grant of socioeconomic help. Also, university implement academic programs such as research assistants, lecturers, tutors for new students these extra occupations are economically paid. Furthermore, the Ecuadorian government has programs that cover all maintenance cost for students like food, rental, for studying, and travel. Based in the results of the survey 20% of students choose the option economic reasons as motive to leave from Yachay. Problems of convivence and others problems for example family problems are reasons that the students think are enough justification to abandon the university. This are cause of abandon of the institution because the institution has the option of live into of the university, however, the students that decide live in the house or department of the university should consider that they going to share these buildings with other persons; in some cases, people of the department have a bad relation. This generate problems and that some students decide leaving of the university. On the contrary, students shouldn’t leave Yachay for these reasons because the university have people that help to solve any problem that exist between the population of the house or department. If the problem cannot be solved, the psychologist and social work resort to the option of change of house to the students. But, if the reason to leave from Yachay are other problem the psychologist gives to students some solutions for their problems. The survey showed that 10% of students decide abandon the university by problems of coexistence or others reasons. On the contrary the students have the right of take the decision to abandon their studies in Yachay; because, some of the students that right now are in Yachay since the beginning didn´t want be here. They came to Yachay for reasons like they were forced by their parents or by the society, they wanted have most liberty since they are away from their parents, or because they wanted have money such as scholarship to thereby
don’t depend economically on their parents. Some of these students never wanted study careers like engineering; they wanted study other career for example: dance, music, painting, and performance. But, they felt fear expressing their true decision and they finished studying careers that never wanted. They do that because in some cases their parent would not help them economically to pay their studies. However, they since the beginning should express their disagreement with the decision of come to Yachay and study the careers that this university offers. In that way, they could study the careers that they wanted. In conclusion, students shouldn’t decide leaving the university in a hurried form; they first should think if their problems have solution and they must research about the programs or way that university might help them. Yachay Tech University should discover solutions for the motives that students must leave Yachay and this way persuade students to continue their studies in Yachay. As principal reasons to abandon Yachay are economic problems, academic problems, and dissatisfaction with their idea about the university, this is demonstrated by the results of the web-survey; and the principal reasons that the students to come to Yachay are careers offered, ideals and objectives, and ubication and benefits. Yachay must implement new programs and options that might give a solution to the problems of the students. Consequently, students will decide to stay in Yachay until they finishing completely their university careers. Furthermore, people should analyze what career they want study before entering university and express the decision made by them. In this way, they will not change their careers too late.
REFERENCES Morrish, H. (2015, December 15). Four reasons why university is still a great life choice. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/studnt-life/12047754/Fourreasons-why-university-is-still-a-great-life-choice.html The Starfish Foundation, Inc. [The Starfish Foundation, Inc]. (2014, March 7). Education in Ecuador: Enter Starfish. [Video File] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfD0mdSzAXQ Young, S.H. (February, 2010). Why self-educated learners often come up short [Blog]. Retrieved from: https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2010/02/24/self-educationfailings/
SOME PHOTOS
THANK YOU AGAIN FOR READING MY PORTFOLIO, I HOPE THAT YOU HAVE ENJOYED READING IT. LEVEL 6 WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE THAT HELPED ME TO BE BETTER STUDENT.