MY ENGLISH DEVELOPMENT
Truman Tapia Yachay Tech University English Language Program Yachay, Ecuador
My english development Truman Tapia English Language Program Yachay Tech University Level 6-013 Teacher: Hamilton Quezada July 13, 2017 Yachay, Ecuador
Contents
1) Portfolio letter 2) Response essay 3) Literary analysis 4) Interpretation essay 5) Argumentation essay 6) Final research project essay 7) Additional materials 8) Thank you letter
Truman Tapia House T2-12
December, 13 of 2016
Dear Portfolio Reader, I would like to share with you (maybe only my English teacher) how it was my experience studying English in Yachay Tech specially on level six. When I came to Yachay, I had to take “English for communicative purposes�, which was the most basic level of English. So I was not exactly good in English. But now, I have taken English classes for two and a half years, and I think that my English skills have improved a lot. I can see the results for example, I notice that I can understand an English native speaker. Another example is that now I can speak English easily. Then, let me share with you the areas in which I have improved, they are described from what I learned most to the least.
One of the skills that I have practiced a lot is writing. Along the level five and six I have made many paragraphs, essays, and papers. As a consequence, I think that I improved this skill. To demonstrate this I need to mention that I have had the same English teacher in level five and six, and I had to take the same test in both semesters. The test consisted in writing a essay in class in one and half hour. At the beginning (in level five) I did not approve, I got around 5; but in the same test on level six I got a 8.7! Thus, given that the same teacher graded my essay, it is obvious that I have improved my writing. Also, at the beginning of level six I made the same mistakes, but eventually I have fixed that errors.
In terms of​ ​speaking, I have practiced through presentations, conversations in class, attending to class, and just talking. Many times I am surprised by myself because several times I hold on a conversation with my English teacher, and then I wonder Have I done it? So, now I can speak English more easily than at the beginning. Also, I have to mention that the English classes have been very helpful to be a better presenter because in level five and six I have presented many times. Long presentations helped me to practice my movements while I present. And, impromptu speeches, which were presentations in class with two minutes of preparation, have helped me to control my nerves. Indubitably, I have improved my listening, but I need to work on it yet. Along the English classes I have practice hearing to different teachers, seeing videos, seeing movies, and hearing songs. Before when I saw a video or a movie in English, I understood nothing; now I can understand the speaker, but not always and not everything. I think that this is because many people speak differently, and the only solution is that I need to train my ear by practicing. To finish, I would like to add that I compare my English learning with the building of a house. The different skills that I have gotten along level six are different parts of the house. Some parts are more built than others, but in general the foundation, the pillars, and the walls; are already done. So, now I need to polish the last details, and I hope to do this by studying the next semesters in Yachay, and practicing in my private life.
Respectfully, Truman Tapia
Response essay
College Education Is Not An Investment Truman Tapia Yachay Tech
College Education Is Not An Investment Decades ago, having a college degree had much value to find a job, but now having a college degree is more common. As a result, recent college graduates have less value in the labor world, and they have more difficulties to find a job. Also, many people believe that going to college is a waste of time, and it is not helpful to develop in the labor world. For these reasons, it is important that young people, who are in college or are going to go to college, consider whether it is worth studying college. In the article called “Don’t Buy the Hype, College Education Is Not An Investment” written by George Leef; he explains that having a degree is not a secure to get a good job, just one way of increasing the labor value of a person. I agree with this conclusion, but some arguments in the text should be better supported. First of all, Leef begins showing the results of a study. The results are that more than a third of recent college graduates do not add anything to their human capital during college. It is a good idea showing data to support a thesis. But, this data is not specific because more than 33.33% covers a long interval of numbers. Whence, this information should be changed by other more specific, for example results of studies that show a single number or a short interval of percentage. This suggestion is in order to make this argument more solid. Secondly, the author mentions and refutes a recent study that is in favor of investing in a college degree. The study compares average earnings of workers with and without college degree, and the result is “degrees are regarded as causing the “earnings premium.””(Leef,2013). Leef affirms that this study shows data of 40 years ago, and the market conditions now are different. Then, he criticizes the spirit of the conclusion of the study (“degrees are regarded as causing the “earnings premium.””) saying that it is like a
commercial instead of a study. After that, the author mentions this fact to refute definitively this study, “Employers do not reward workers just for having passed enough classes to earn a degree. They reward workers for their productivity. Going to college might increase a person’s productivity, but it’s neither necessary nor sufficient for that.” (Leef,2013). These are good and logic arguments to refute this study! At the end, he presents three examples (students A, B, and C) of people incorporating in the labor world. Student A enrolled in college. At the same time he/she got a job. As a result student, A increased his knowledge and skills to work. After graduating he/she got a good job in his major field and continues to advance. Student B got a degree with a minimum effort in some undemanding field. Then, she/he found a bad job in a game store. Student C did not go to college, but she/he earns several badges and certifications. At the end, student C got a good job. For me the examples are impartial because they cover three different cases and perspectives. But, logically three examples support almost nothing to demonstrate a thesis. For this reason the author should change these three examples, which are irrelevant, for statistics or data based on experiences of much more people. Leef concludes that “College itself isn’t an investment, just one way of increasing your value.” I think that although several supporting ideas of this writing should be improved, the arguments given are sufficient to support this conclusion. References Leef, G. (2013, June 12). Don't Buy The Hype, College Education Is Not An Investment. Retrieved October 5, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/06/12/dont-buy-the-hype-college-education-is-not -an-investment/#6d0069047ee6
Literary analysis
In the 1800s and at the beginning of the 1900s (when “The story of an hour” was published), it was normal that in a marriage the man has the control over the home. THis includes the money, the kids, and the woman. This situation was difficult for women because they were oppressed by the man. In addition, this scenery was totally normal and acceptable to the society. Kate Chopin, the author of “The story of an hour”, in his writing presents a view of marriage where the man has the control over the woman, but also the woman wants to be free. In our days this type of marriage still exists. The author presents a view of marriage where the man has the control over the woman. This occurs in several metaphoric representations. One of these representations is that the wife stays at home while the story develops. This could represent that the women were oppressed taking care of the house while the men can go out with freedom. This can represent that she can’t go out and develop in the world for because of the oppression. Kate Chopin shows that women wanted to be free. In the story the wife reflects a little about the situation, and then “she said it over and over under the breath: “free, free, free””. (Chopin, 1894). This represents that the women of that time were thinking about the oppression in the marriage, and the freedom without it. The are marriages where the woman is oppressed today. Even women have won many rights that weren’t recognized, and the situation to wifes is better than in the 1800s. There are marriages where the woman is oppressed by the man, specially in South America because of the lack of culture. But fortunately, this problem has decreased a lot. In conclusion, the author presents a type of marriage, in which the man oppresses the woman. Also, she shows that women of that time wanted to be free. Finally, this type of marriage continues today, but each day in less quantity.
References Chopin, K. (1894). “The story of an hour”.
Interpretation essay
Many times schizophrenic people seem to have deep and interesting thoughts, but it is difficult to interact and understand them. For this reason, this kind of people many times are ignored by the society. Years ago, in a sanatorium was found an interesting painting made by a patient with schizophrenia; and by analyzing it, we can comprehend a little the mind of a schizophrenic. This painting transmits the constant and painful fight inside the mind of a schizophrenic person.The author painted a body with two heads fighting each other, which represents that schizophrenic people have different personalities. Also, the body looks haggard showing that this combat causes serious injuries in these people. According to Mental Health America (2016), “​Schizophrenia is a serious disorder which affects how a person thinks, feels and acts�. People with this disease have usually problems to distinguish what is real and what is imaginary, and they cannot develop socially in a normal way. Contrary to common thinking, the majority of people with schizophrenia are not violent. Even the causes of schizophrenia are unclear, three are the most popular
hypothesis that explain the causes of schizophrenia. These are: genetics abnormalities in the brain’s chemistry or structure, possible viral infections and immune disorders, and the environment. Statistics from U.S. found that around the 1% of the population of this country has schizophrenia (NIMH, 2016). The people’s behavior with schizophrenia depends on the level of developing of the mental disorder; for example in some cases they may sit for hours without moving or talking, others can even talk about visions. The most common symptoms behind schizophrenic people are hallucinations , it means that they have sensorial experiences, and it can occur in any of the five senses. Thus, they see people or objects that are not there, smelling odors that no one else detects, and feeling things like invisible fingers touching their bodies when no one is near. As a consequence of the behavior described in the last paragraph, the painting looks like a human being without ears, then we can deduce that the author of the painting maybe can’t hear to his hallucination. In contrast and according to the sensations produced by mental disorder, the author incorporated three main senses on the painting: touch, taste and sight. Two heads and arms around his body, the tongue in the right head and the exorbitant eyes suggest some of his hallucinations. The injuries of the picture represents the damage that schizophrenia causes on people. It is very clear that the picture shows an injured body because one hand is pulling part of skin from the other head. Additionally, the other hand is strangling the neck. It is a clear representation of the painful problems that are caused by the mental disorders of schizophrenia. Mostly, these issues are social or psychological. The strange behavior of some kind of schizophrenics is negative for social relations, because it causes that friends and relatives get away from the schizophrenic. It means that people with schizophrenia suffer a
serious problem that is isolation. Another problem of schizophrenics is that they usually cannot differentiate real things from unreal things. They lose this capacity because of constant hallucinations. It is very dangerous because it can drive somebody to madness. These are just few problems that people with ​schizophrenia to face. This situation is very painful. It is the grief that this painting is showing. In conclusion, every element of the painting represents a part of the world of schizophrenics. The author painted: skin, eyes and a tongue that are related with senses. It shows the many hallucinations that schizophrenics suffer. These different hallucinations cause different personalities. Another important element of the painting is the fight and the injuries. These elements represent the painful problems that schizophrenics have in their lives. References Mental Health America. What is Schizophrenia? Retrieved November 15, 2016, from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/schizophrenia
National Institutes of Mental Health​ (NIMH). Schizophrenia. Retrieved November 15, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/schizophrenia.shtml
Argumentation essay
According to the Bible, at the beginning the man only speaks one language. Then, God gives the humanity several languages to confuse us. So, what if we return to have only one language. Having one language could have many benefits such as: making a world more join, and let people get knowledge in a easy way. Having one language can make a world more join. Today, one of the reasons why people do not explore other cultures is a wall of the language. For example, many people do not travel to other countries because that country has a different language. Thus, if the world had only one language, people could know the rest of the world. As a consequence the world could be more joint and with less differences. If the world had one language, people could get knowledge in an easy way. Today the majority (almost all) of new scientific knowledge is published in English. Unfortunately, there are many people who do not speak English, and cannot understand the modern science. Thus, this problem can be easily solved if the world speaks only one language. In contrast to the state of this essay, many people believe that having one language can be harmful. For example, Cancio in his essay “What if everyone on Earth spoke the same language?� (2016), argues that having one language in the world would cause the loss of culture. But, this scenario that Cancio presents can be easily avoided with two actions. First, all the cultures to save them. And second, promoting the practice of the different traditions of each country. In conclusion, having only one language in the world will cause a united world, and that the knowledge can be more reachable. Also, even many people believe that the culture will lose if we speak only one language, we can take several actions to avoid it.
References Cancio, C, (2016). What if everyone on Earth spoke the same language? Retrved from: http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-us-mgth
Final research project essay
THE STRENGTHS OF HOMESCHOOLING Truman Tapia Yachay Tech
Abstract This paper presents several arguments to proof that homeschooling has more benefits than normal education as a teaching method. First, it shows that homeschooling is more popular each year because population have noticed its potential. And then this paper compares the impact of homeschooling and public education in kids. The areas of comparison between these methods of teaching are: academic, psychological, protection of dangerous environment, and stable future. To make this comparison, this paper is based on several studies, which evaluated homeschooled students and normal students to appreciate the differences.
Key words: homeschooling, homeschooled student, home educated, normal education.
Giving the best education to kids should be one of the most important objectives of society, and in order to reach this objective parents should think about the type of education that their kids are receiving. The majority of parents send their children to public schools because it is normal, but is this the best option? Homeschooling appears as a different option to normal education that has been increasing in popularity in the last years. Homeschooling in kids has better results than traditional schools in several areas such as academic, psychological, protection of dangerous environment, and stable future. In order to understand this paper it is necessary to explain what homeschooling is. According to homeschooling.about.com (as cited in Bergstrom, 2012) homeschooling is “to teach one’s children at home instead of sending them to school; a school set up in the home.” Also, homeschooling is divided into two big groups: home schooled and schooled at home. Home schooled are taught at home by parents or other shared service. The parent is responsible for the education and resources. And schooled at home are taught at home, but the education is provided by a public school system via the Internet or correspondence. Parents are strictly mentors. The actual instruction is performed by a certified teacher by use of a curriculum that is the same as students who attend public schools (Bohon, 2012). Another fact that strengthen homeschooling is that it has been increasing in popularity in the last years. In 2007, there were 1.5 million of homeschooled in U.S and this number represented an increasing of 36% compared with data of 2003. Then, in 2010 about 2 million kids were home educated. And now (2016) there are 2.3 million home educated students in U.SA. ( Bergstrom, 2012), ( Moreau, 2012). Also, Ray exposes (2016) that “Home-based education has also been growing around the world in many other nations (e.g., Australia, Canada, France, Hungary, Japan, Kenya, Russia, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand, and the United Kingdom).” The principal reason of this increment is because when people decide
between homeschooling and public education, they notice that homeschooling has more benefits. Thus, homeschooling has been incrementing in popularity over the world because of its potential. Homeschooled students have better results academically than normal students. This is the most important topic of comparison between normal students and homeschool students, and different studies have proof that homeschooled students are better. According to Collom (2005), 25 studies indicate that students, who had been homeschooled, score above national averages on standardized testing. Then consider these three studies. First, a study, which was made in Washington State for the years of 1986, 1987, and 1988; compared the scores of normal students and homeschooled students in the Stanford Achievement Test. As a result of the study Moreau (2012) argues that “ Homeschooled students scored comparably or above the median in the tested areas of math, science, and verbal skills.” Second, Ray (2016) shows the results of other study, “The home-educated typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests.” Third, a study mentioned by Moreau (2012), found that students, who were in the last two years home educated, scored in the 86th – 92nd percentile statistically. Also, the same study shows that the longer a student attends to normal education the fewer are their scores on standardized tests; in contrast when a student is home educated by more time, higher are his scores on these tests. Thus this three studies proof that homeschool students are more successful academically than normal students. In addition, it is important to highlight that the academic success of homeschooled students do not depend if homeschool parents were ever certified teachers. (Ray, 2016). Homeschooling prepares psychologically strong students. A study focused on measuring the social, emotional, and psychological development of homeschooled students;
found that home educated score above average. The research measures include peer interaction, self-concept, leadership skills, family cohesion, participation in community service, and self-esteem. Also, homeschool students are usually working in favor of the society, which notice that they have a good mental health. They are involved in activities such as: field trips, scouting, 4-H, political drives, church ministry, sports teams, and community volunteer work. Finally, homeschooling students have a good personality and identity because a research found that they usually wonder “Who am I?” and “What do I really want?” (Ray,2016). Homeschooling students are protected of dangerous environment in contrast of normal students. In public schools students can be exposed to different hazards such as: sexual abuse, violence, bullying, and more. But this hazards are not extrange because only bullying, the most common danger in schools, affects to 33% of students from 6 to 10 years. (NOBullying.com, 2015). Thus, when parents use homeschooling to teach their kids, they are protecting them of this common hazards of normal schools. Home educated students have a successful and stable future for three main reasons. First, in average when homeschooling kids finish the school, they sign in easily to college. To prove this Ray presents that “Homeschool students are increasingly being actively recruited by colleges.” And also that, home educated students usually score above average on tests that colleagues consider for admission. Second, adults, who were homeschooling students, vote and participate in political meetings more than normal students. Thus these adults are better citizens. And third, adults, who were homeschooled students, are people with values, because these adults are involved in community service more than normal population. And, by adulthood homeschool students keep in mind the values and beliefs that their parents taught
them. (Ray, 2016). Because of this three points homeschooling promotes stable futures to students. Taking into account that homeschoolers do not socialize daily with classmates to difference of normal students, people commonly affirm that homeschoolers have weakness skills to socialize. One of them is a mother of family (N.A.) in a blog title “WHY SOCIALISATION IS AN ISSUE FOR HOMESCHOOLERS” (2015). In this blog she mentions that the socialisation in homeschoolers is a big problem. Also, the blogger affirms that choosing other kids to socialize with homeschoolers is a big responsibility. Even the base of these arguments are correct, they are described exaggeratedly. Kids, who study at home, obviously do not have the same opportunity to socialize than normal students. But, instead of being a big problem it could have several advantages. For example, it is better (when the children are little kids) that parents choose the friendships of their sons, instead of kids (who do not have experience) choosing it. Another advantage is that when kids do not go to normal schools, they are prevented of damages such as: bullying, drugs, bad companies, and more. Finally, to supply the problem of the socialisation parents can contact with groups of homeschooling, which are on the internet. In conclusion, homeschooling appears as a different and valuable option to normal education. Thus, inasmuch as the population have notice the potential of homeschooling, the number of homeschooled students have been increasing greatly in the last years. About the benefits of homeschooling, many studies have demonstrated that homeschooled students have better results than normal students in areas such as: academic, psychological, protection of dangerous environment, and stable future.
References
Bergstrom, L. (2012, May 22). What Effect Does Homeschooling Have on the Social Development and Test Scores of Students? University of Wisconsin-Superior. Retrieved October 20, 2016, from https://www.nmu.edu/education/sites/DrupalEducation/files/UserFiles/Moreau_ Kathi_MP.pdf. Bohon, D. (2012, August 20). School at home or homeschooling? Education, 23-24.
Collom, E. (2005). The ins and outs of homeschooling: The determinants of parental motivations and student achievement. Education and Urban Society, 37(3), 307-335. May 2005. retrieved from http://eus.sagepub.com/content/37/3/307.full.pdf+html
Moreau, K. (2012, November 27). SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES IN THE EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF THOSE STUDENTS WHO ARE HOME SCHOOLED VS. STUDENTS IN A TRADITIONAL SCHOOL SETTING. Northern Michigan University. Retrieved October 20, 2016, from https://www.nmu.edu/education/sites/DrupalEducation/files/UserFiles/Moreau_Kathi_MP.pd f.
N.A. WHY SOCIALISATION IS AN ISSUE FOR HOMESCHOOLERS. (2015, March 4). Retrieved November 20, 2016, from http://www.aneverydaystory.com/2015/03/04/socialisation-homeschool/ NOBullying.com. Bullying In Public Schools. (n.d.). Retrieved December 9, 2016, from https://nobullying.com/bullying-in-public-schools/
Ray, B. (2016, March 23). RESEARCH FACTS ON HOMESCHOOLING. National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI). Retrieved October 20, 2016, from https://www.nheri.org/ResearchFacts.pdf.
Thank you for taking your valious time to read this portfolio. I hope that you find it interesting,and you could learn something new.
Sincerely,
Truman Tapia