MY ENGLISH WORKS PORTFOLIO BY RUBEN CATOTA English Language Program Yachay Tech University Crash Course Level 6 Teachers: Joshephine Javens & Mark Poese February 25, 2017 Yachay, Ecuador
CONTENT 1. PORTFOLIO LETTER 2. OPINION ESSAY 3. RESPONSE ESSAY 4. ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY 5. FINAL RESEARCH PROJECT ESSAY 6. THANK YOU LETTER
Ruben Catota milton.catota@yacahaytech.edu.ec February, 2017 Portfolio letter. Dear Reader:
First of all, I thank you for reading my letter. Here, I show the strengths, and weaknesses that have improved during the sixth level of English. Attending this course, I have completed many assignments, including essays, presentations and a debate. Each assignment took much effort to fulfill. To pass the sixth level, I had to take the crash course. For me it was difficult, but there is that have constancy. Why constancy? Because it has been the key point to pass the last levels. So, the road until six level has been complicated, and also it has implied many hours of working listening, reading, writing and speaking. Before attending the crash course, I always was very nervous to speak in front of other people, and I had several problems writing long texts, but practicing every day, I believe that I have improved some skills to correct these issues so that I can now be a good English language user. Therefore, I can say that I have improved in the English language. In fact, I believe that doing all the assignments is important to improve an English language user. First at all, writing assignments, opinion and response essays show that I had few mistakes, and I had a good organization in essays. However, it was difficult to write my ideas in the response essay. I had to give an analysis of an article about how language influences in the way we think, but I learned to take a posture with respect a topic, so I read articles and watched videos about the topic to give my response. As a result I wrote that effectively language shapes the way we think. Therefore, practice has diminished my mistakes, and I
studied grammar that has allowed me to improve writing. Now I can write my ideas easier than before, and I got better my comprehension. Second of all, the speaking assignments were the most difficult tasks, because my fluency was not good. My first presentation was very hard because I have always been nervous. Likewise, I have had problems with vocabulary because at the moment to speak, in my mind, I translate in that moment, so I delay expressing my ideas in English. Moreover, my presentations were not good because I did not have skills like eye-contact with the public and gestures. During the crash course I practiced before of each presentation, and I believe that I have improved my way of expression. Likewise, I tried to think in English to not have bad or regular presentations, but it is hard for me. Then, I must practice more to become a good presenter and to have good fluency. Finally, listening and reading assignments helped me to understand the English language. All these activities like TED’s videos and long lectures, although were difficult at the beginning allowed me to get better in my English. So, it was good because these have required me to get better. Moreover, I learned about team work and speaking more. In conclusion, the assigments in English sixth level have allowed me to improve skills through practice, and helped me to be a good English language user. In spite of the difficulties and failures, my goal is to learn to express my ideas and think in English. Then, I have to practice because practice makes a master in this case a good English language user.
Respectfully,
Ruben Catota
OPINION ESSAY
How Morality Changes in a Foreign Language Milton R. Catota Yachay Tech University
Author Note Crash Course - L6 February, 2017.
How Morality Changes in a Foreign Language Morality determines if actions and ideas are good or bad, but there are a lot of factors like education, religion, culture and values of each person to judge with greater or less severity. Likewise, language is a factor because it is through this that we communicate ideas and thoughts, and it allows us to emit an opinion about a topic. Native language allows us to express ideas freely. On the other hand, possibly a foreign language does not allow it, because sometimes it is difficult to express the same ideas in other languages. Then, does learning another language decrease or increase morality? I think that people do not judge the same way in other languages, because they do not know a lot of vocabulary and maybe there is not translation for some words in other languages. In the article: “How Morality Changes in a Foreign Language” Julie Sedivy (2016) says that it is important to consider if the judgment that it is realized is the same in another language that it is not your native language. In my opinion, this article is interesting because analysis and experiments determine the morality grade that people have for intentions and actions. Moreover, Julie Sedivy (2016) says that emotions influence the judgment because native language was learned through experiences while a foreign language is learned in a cold or strict classroom, that is to say, native language has more feelings at the moment to judge. I think that it is right when she says that morality changes depending on if it is said in the native or foreign language, but one point that attracted my attention was the example where Catherine Harris and her colleagues listened to Turkish speakers saying several words and phrases in Turkish and English. They conclude according to Julie Sedivy (2016) that “If language can serve as a container for potent memories of our earliest transgressions and punishments, then it is not surprising that such emotional associations might color moral judgments made in our native language.” Then, in my opinion, it can be that people
sometimes cannot judge with the same power in another language, because it is difficult to express the same ideas and emotions of the native language in the foreign language. Likewise, sometimes there is not a translation for words that have the same meaning, so it becomes more difficult to transmit the judgments according our morality. On the other hand, it is difficult remembered the words with it means exact of the foreign language. For example, in English, “do” and “make” do not have the same meaning. Although the translation seems equal, the meaning is different. This factor can influence the seriousness of the judgment. In conclusion, morality depends of several factors, but the native language allows us to accomplish judgment that is the most natural to us. Instead, a foreign language does not allow us to express the same form because it is more stressful to talk. Therefore, morality changes considering because it has to look at the meaning of the words and the level of knowledge of the foreign language.
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-aforeign-language/
RESPONSE ESSAY
How Does Our Language Shape the Way We Think? Ruben Catota Yachay Tech University
Author Note Crash Course – Level 6 February, 2017.
How Does Our Language Shape the Way We Think? Human beings are the only beings that can express ideas and thoughts through the use of language, but can the language of each culture bear an influence on the shape and the way that we share thoughts? Is it possible to change shape our view of the world when we learn a new language? In the article “How Does Our Language Shape the Way We Think?” by Lera Boroditsky (2009), she explains that it is important to look at the language to interpret and understand why each person has his own way of thinking. She defends her idea through simple observations between different languages to determine the different perceptions that we have to view the world. This article is remarkable, and I agree because it is challenging to express the same thoughts of our language in another language, and language affords extension and development of knowledge among humanity. In the article, she analyzes several languages like Russian, Spanish, English, Chinese, Turkish, Greek, Indonesian and Kuuk Thaayorre (ancestral language of northern Australia). She finds out the influence of language shapes the way they think. For example, Lera Boroditsky (2009) says that Kuuk Thaayorre guides its thoughts by the direction of the cardinal points used to define space. Instead of following the English language which uses relative words like “right,” “left,” “forward” and “back,” some languages allow to have greater capacity of orientation and spatial knowledge. Furthermore, other aspects were examined such as: (a) Perception of colors between Russian speakers needed to distinguish shades of blue while English speakers do not identify shades of blue at the moment of speaking; (b) The grammatical gender of nouns in Spanish, German and Russian is relevant to sentences and can express ideas, but for English speakers it is not necessary and;
(c) Perception of time between Chinese and English speakers because “English speakers tend to talk about time using horizontal spatial metaphors, whereas Mandarin speakers have a vertical metaphor for time” (Boroditsky, 2009). She argues with her observations and subjective examples that through the influence of the language we express the thoughts of how we see the world. In my opinion, language influences the thoughts we have, and the most important point is how we transmit our thoughts to others. For example, when we are learning English it is not the same to say “I would like another job” as to say “I would like the other job.” Although the translation seems the same, it is not the same, because when we use “another” it means “I would like a similar job”. In contrast, “other” it means “I would like different job.” Thus, it is important to know the meaning of the words. Therefore, it can be very difficult to learn and know the thoughts, culture and wisdom of another language. Also, we often do not exactly say what we think about a topic in another language. This hard, because it may be that the word does not exist in the language we want to say and vice versa. For example in German the word “Waldeinsamkeit” means: “It is the feeling of loneliness, the feeling of being alone in the woods and connected with nature” (Sanders, 2013). In contrast, in Spanish there is no word that means the same, but the concept can be understood. It is not possible to express this thought in one word in Spanish. On the other hand, according the video “How Language Transformed Humanity” by Mark Pagel (2011) language is a tool that has permitted the advancement of humanity, although he considers that in the future the world will have one language. This will be wrong because each native language produces its own knowledge. It is possible that one language would help to communicate between people, but it would lose the shapes to interpret things that happened in the world.
Therefore, the native and foreign language affect the way that we see the world. Our native language gives us identity and differentiates us from other cultures. A foreign language, teaches us a new way to interpret things that happen in the world because it exchanges ideas and knowledge. It is clear that it is important to consider the language of each culture to understand it. In conclusion, the relationship between the native language and the way that we think are strong. Then, language shapes the way we think about objects, color, time and space. In addition, it is possible that it may change our native thoughts, because we extend our knowledges. Therefore, to understand well the thoughts that are in another language, we must know the cultural meaning of the words.
References Boroditsky, L. (2009, November 06). How does our languages shape the way we think? Edge. Retrieved from: https://www.edge.org /conversation/how-does-our-language-shapethe-way-we-think/ Pagel, M. (2011, July). How language transformed humanity. TED. Retrieved from: https://www.ted.com/talks/mark_pagel_how_language_transformed_humanity Sanders, E. (2013). Maptia. Retrieved from: https://maptia.com/
ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
Should science have a common language? Ruben Catota Yachay Tech University
Author Notes Crash Course L6 February, 2017.
Should science have a common language? Around the world there are many languages that have their shapes to interpret the world. Then, each culture builds theirs own knowledge, but how does it communicate that knowledge to another language? Years ago, scientist like Newton, Galilei, and Curie published their work in their own language. Before, scientists conducted their work in their native language to discuss in a conversation, and Latin helped to express ideas with scientist outside. Thus, Latin was a common language to share ideas. However, English language has imposed between the Scientific Community to be denominated the language of the science, but it can be a problem as knowledge of each culture built from their own language, and maybe these ideas cannot be transmitted of the same way. So, I think that a common language in the science does not allow to say the same thoughts in other language, additionally, English should not be the common language for the science. First of all, a common language might allow to lose the different way of view the world. That mean that things that happened in the world would have only one interpretation. Each language has its words with a specific meaning so it is important to know the meaning according the language. Moreover, language helped to build ideas and thoughts, and if would have a common language, everybody we would think the same. So, world would be a place boring. Second of all, each language has its wisdom, and it can have scientific value. Science is to know and understand of way objective that happened in nature and universe. Likewise, each language has its knowledge. This knowledge can help the research that make in other language, or it is possible that had already solved a problem or found some new. Therefore, a common language remove the wisdom that exists around the world.
Third of all, problem is to communicate knowledge to other scientists for that they do not spend time at research that possibly had already realized. One solution can be that the communication with other languages might be through translators. The translators will help to communicate the research, and help scientists to concentrate on their work. Likewise, they do not expend effort to communicate and think in other language. However, what would language use the translators? Finally, language of the science should be a language original that allow that all languages can express the same meaning. Before, scientists used to use Latin, was an original language, but it divided up at several languages like Spanish, French, Romanian and Italian. On the other hand, English should not be used as common language, because I believe that is not an original language due to its vocabulary have or collect words of other languages, and it is complicated because the pronunciation is different of its writing. Therefore, I propose that language of the science being the Spanish. Thus, translators would use the Spanish, because it is easy learn. Moreover, Spanish is between the top five languages than more speak in the world. In conclusion, a common language gradually would disappear other ways to interpret that happened in the world. Moreover, Spanish would be the language that help to communicate through translators. So, science do not need a common language, because we would lose the wisdom and opposing viewpoint that each language has. In addition, there would have the possibility that it would exists only one truth.
FINAL RESEARCH PROJECT ESSAY
Should Ecuador Continue to Go Forward in Geothermal? Ruben Catota Yachay Tech University
Author Note Crash Course – Level 6 February, 2017.
Abstract This research evaluates and inform if Ecuador should continue with geothermal energy. First, it describes geothermal sources like renewable energy and energy sources of the future that it has developed in other countries since years ago. In addition, the paper discusses how geothermal sources reduces greenhouse-gas emissions. Moreover, geothermal tries to take advantage of high-temperatures that it finds in the magma to produce electricity. On the other hand, Ecuador only has completed some research of geothermal sources, but it has no geothermal plants. Finally, the paper describes some factors like human talent, policy, legislation and lack of information that prevents geothermal development. Additionally, an opposing view and a refutation are presented.
Keywords: geothermal, renewable, clean-energy, develop, Ecuador, economy.
Should Ecuador Continue to Go Forward in Geothermal? Human activities need energy to be realized, but energy production pollutes the environment with a great quantity of greenhouse-gas emissions. Likewise, energy demands have gone up due to increasing population, current lifestyle, and productive entities. Currently, there are many sources of energy. Some are bad for the environment, like burning fossil fuel. Other sources of energy are more environmentally friendly, like power wind, geothermal and hydraulic energy. Ecuador proposes that electricity production might use natural resources with a responsibility for a sustainable development. For example, Ecuador has many rivers that have already generated electricity through hydroelectric plants, but also it has the opportunity to take advantage of the Earth’s heat, because Ecuador is on a volcanic zone such as other countries around Pacific Ring of Fire. Countries like Iceland and New Zealand have been investigating and developing geothermal for several years, and there have been problems, challenges and success, both technical and external. So, this paper will discuss Ecuador as a volcanic country that should go forward in geothermal development because geothermal sources are considered clean, renewable and highly efficient, producing electricity without adding to pollution. First of all, geothermal energy is considered a renewable energy. Likewise, it is an energy source of the future that is going to generate clean -energy for Ecuador. Renewable energies have been used by human beings since old times. Examples include: sailing navigation, windmills and watermills. According to Electricity and Renewable Energy Ministry (2017), "renewable energy is one that is obtained from natural sources virtually inexhaustible, either because of the immense amount of energy they contain, or because they are able to regenerate by natural means." This means geothermal is a renewable energy, because the source is the Earth’s heat that is natural, virtually inexhaustible source.
In addition, currently, there are some innovations called energy sources of the future that promise energy for the future. These include: (a) Carbon capture and sequestration. According to Carbon Capture & Storage Association (2017) although it's not a power generation technology, carbon capture and sequestration-technologies allow for the scrubbing of carbon from power plants for storage in underground reservoirs, thus reducing the damage environment; (b) NextGen nuclear power, with plans to develop nuclear reactors offshore. It is a good idea because the reactor cores would be submerged beneath the platform; (c) Solar fuel. According to Clay Dillow (2014) solar fuels involve taking carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere and splitting off carbon atoms from those molecules, solar energy will use as a catalyst; (d) Nuclear fusion; (e) Offshore wind, which promises a great increase; (f) Geothermal, which is expected to prosper as scientists find a commercially viable way to tap energy deep beneath the Earth's crust. Not all energy sources of the future can be developed in Ecuador, because currently it does not have technology for this. Nonetheless, Ecuador has natural sources to develop mainly offshore wind and geothermal. For example, wind power has been developed in Loja and Galapagos provinces. According to Electricity and Renewable Energy Ministry (2017), the Villonaco wind plant started its construction in August 2011, and finished in January 2013. It produces 16.5 MW through 11 wind turbines of 1.5 MW each one. It is localized in Loja at an altitude of 2700 m. Moreover, it is the first plant with an average annual speed of 12.7 m/s. In addition, in the Galapagos Islands, the Santa Cristobal wind plant produces 2.4 MW, and coming soon Baltra is going to generate 3.2 MW.
Additionally, Ecuador is taking advantage its natural sources. To that end, Ecuador has been reducing, the use of diesel since 2013, reducing the consequent greenhouse-gas emissions and the environmental impact due to using and transportation of fossil fuels. However, Ecuador has another source to produce electricity. It is the geothermal source. Second, electricity production based on geothermal sources was developed in different countries many years ago. So, how do government develop geothermal in other volcanic countries? Researchers in Iceland have spent several years drilling straight into volcanoes to access very hot water and magma deposits, with the goal of eventually developing these hightemperature resources into a geothermal power plant that supported these temperatures. As Angus Chen (2014) noted, “If current geothermal wells are replaced with the new technology, it could provide 30% more power than current renewable energy sources.” Also, research focuses on well drilling where it tries to look for magma to improve electricity production. It is important that to take advantage of magma, water must be in a supercritical state, according to Chen (2014) “Water in such a ‘supercritical state’ contains enormous amounts of energy. Water reaches this state once it reaches 222 bars of pressure and 374°C or above, and flashes into steam when the pressure drops as the water rises to the surface.” So, the challenge is capturing the supercritical fluids of water to produce more electricity. Moreover, geologist Wilfred Elders, an emeritus professor at the University of California, argued that supercritical wells could potentially yield 10 times more than a typical geothermal well that produces 5 to 10 MW of electricity (as cited in Chen, 2014). In addition, countries situated on volcanic zones have installed geothermal stations. Around the world, geothermal energy is seldom exploited, but the countries that invest and produce more electricity through geothermal source are Iceland, the United States, New Zealand, Mexico, Italy and Indonesia. These countries have taken the risk, or have invested to generate clean-energy. Unfortunately, there are no geothermal plants in Andean zone, but
Chile, Bolivia and Peru are emphasizing policies to encourage geothermal development. Currently, according to data collected by the Geothermal Energy Association (2014), “the geothermal power market is growing by 4 percent to 5 percent each year around the world. Some 700 geothermal projects are under way in 76 countries, with no signs of slowing down.” Therefore, electricity production from geothermal sources has increased. However, Ecuador does not have a geothermal plant, but if it has been researched since 1979. Finally, Ecuador has the potential to generate geothermal energy. Ecuador is located within the Pacific Ring of Fire and has some very active volcanoes like Cotopaxi, Sangay, Tungurahua and Reventador. For this reason, Ecuador might be a leader in geothermal energy research in South America. Nevertheless, geothermal projects are long-term and need a high investment to begin. Also, they may not be feasible for political, technological and economic causes, among others. In Ecuador, geothermal has not been developed, but currently there are intentions to follow the research that has been carried out in three important projects, Chachimbiro in Imbabura, Tufiño - Chiles - Cerro Negro Binational and Chacana Cachiyacu. Currently, geothermal source exploitation in Ecuador is limited to spas and swimming pools. According to INER (acronym in Spanish), the National Institute Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energies (2015), the geothermal potential total is estimated between 1700 and 8000 MWe considering that Ecuador is crossed by more than 40 active volcanoes. So, there have not been successful experiences with geothermal sources, due to the lack of knowledge in technology, the shortage of technical Ecuadorian personnel, political decisions, and risky funding sources for investments. In addition to the feasibility problems, Robson (1975) added that “if the cost of the average geothermal well is estimated, conservatively, at $150,000 and lease, rental, and exploration costs are assumed to be in the same ratio to drilling costs as they were for the
onshore oil industry in 1969.� So, this gives an idea of high costs to produce geothermal energy, but also there are other causes like human talent, policy, legislation and lack of information that explain why geothermal sources are not used in Ecuador. There are some energy sources of the future that are questionable like nextgen nuclear power and nuclear fusion, but offshore wind, geothermal and solar fuels are less dangerous and produce fewer contaminants than nuclear power than would happen in accident like Chernovyl in the Ukraine or Fukushima in Japan. Geothermal energy is an important alternative energy source in volcanic areas. It has been used to produce electricity since 1960. However, the use of geothermal energy has an environmental impact. According to Naseri, Muthena, & Smith, 2014), chemicals in the steam contribute to air pollution, and water mixed with the steam contains dissolved salts that can corrode pipes and harm aquatic ecosystems. Moreover, production costs are expensive to build a geothermal plant. Geothermal is a source energy that is always on because it uses the Earth’s heat, not like others solar energy and wind power that depend on the vagaries of wind or sun. Moreover, technology advances may solve issues in geothermal technology. On the other hand, production costs must be analyzed (benefit-cost), because geothermal energy is cheaper than coal energy. The investment bank Credit Suisse (2009) declared a conventional geothermal cost of 3.6 US cents per kilowatt-hour, below the 5.5 cents for coal (as cited in Levitan, 2011). This, geothermal energy is cheap and is not dependent on the climate vagaries. In conclusion, geothermal is a renewable energy that has been developed in other countries for several years, and it is considered an energy source of the future which we must invest in. In addition, geothermal sources reduce greenhouse -gas emissions. Moreover, currently geothermal tries to take advantage of high -temperatures that it finds in the magma. On the other hand, Ecuador only has some research in geothermal source, but it has not
developed geothermal plants. Moreover, it informs some factors that it prevents the geothermal developing. Therefore, Ecuador has great potential because it is volcanic country. Although, there are some disadvantages in technology, human talent and investment, geothermal production can produce clean -energy. So, Ecuador should continue with the research to build geothermal energy plants, because it would help in the economy, science and technology.
References Blodgett, L. (2014). Geothermal Basics. Geothermal Energy Association. Retrieved from: http://geo-energy.org/basics.aspx Carbon Capture & Storage Association. (2017). What is CCS. Carbon Capture & Storage Association. Retrieved from: http://www.ccsassociation.org/what-is-ccs/ Chen, A. (2014). Could Volcanoes Power the World? Science, Retrieved from: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/02/could-volcanoes-power-world. Dillow, C. (2014, Nov. 25). 7 outrageous energy sources of the future. CNBC. Retrieved from: http://www.cnbc.com/2014/11/24/7-outrageous-energy-sources-of-thefuture.html?slide=1 Electricity and Renewable Energy Ministry. (2017). Villonaco. Retrieved from: http://www.energia.gob.ec/villonaco/ Electricity and Renewable Energy Ministry. (2017). Renewable Energy Department. Retrieved from: http://www.energia.gob.ec/subsecretaria-de-energia-renovable-yeficiencia-energetica/ National Institute Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energies. (2015, March). Plan of Research Lines to Feothermal Development. Retrieved from: http://www.iner.gob.ec/wpcontent/uploads/downloads/2015/07/plan_lineas_investigacion_desarrollo_geotermia. pdf Levitan, D. (08 de Nov de 2011). Geothermal Energy’s Promise and Problems. IEEE Spectrum. Retrieved from: http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/geothermal-andtidal/geothermal-energys-promise-and-problems
Naseri, Mutena, & Smith. (2014). Alternative energy sources. Gale Student Resources in Context. Retrieved from: http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failO verType=&query=&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&displayquery=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&currPage=&disable Highlighting=true&displayGroups=&sortBy=&sear Robson, G. (1975, Dec. 25). Geothermal Electricity Production. Science. Retrieved from: http://search.sciencemag.org/?q=geothermal%20energy