Analysis of Oral Presentations

Despite of the fact that I had prepared my oral presentation on speaking in a proper way, there were some failures in my performance. First of all, I had a power point document to show while delivering the lesson but unfortunately, there was no internet connection in the classroom. It is really useful both for students and for teachers to show pictures or charts in presentations because it catches the attenttion of the audience as well as it clarifies concepts. Sencondly, I tried to use the right pronunciation and intonation during my performance, however I must confess that I did not pay so much attenttion to the tones I used. Sometimes it is difficult to be concetrated on all the aspects that concern a presentation, such as pronunciation, intonantion, the right use of words and stuctures, eye conctact and other issues as nerves are there to play a dirty trick on you. Thirdly, I think I should have organized my lesson in a better way. My partners and I divided the topic and each one had different concepts to explain. In my case, I made a summary of my topics and I decided to use it as a guide during the lesson, however in a moment during it, I got lost and I could not follow the order I had planned. It is useful to have some kind of guide with key words to help you but I realized that using your notes could be counterproductive. Regardless all of this, there were some positive points in my presentation such as the use of the blackboard as a resource, the help of the teacher and the interest that my partners showed during my presentation. As regards my mates´presentation, they were clear enough to understand and follow. I could take down notes, clarify doubts about what I have read. I could profit from my mates the new concepts through the clear examples they gave us. Mos of them used eye contact and some of them paraphrased the technical concepts. That made the lessons enjoyable. In my opinion, this kind of oral work should be a "must" in every subject of our career. We, as future teachers, have to lose our fear of being in front of a class for that is what we are going to do from now on. For that reason, I think that teachers have to pay a special attention to help students to develop the speaking skill. .

Entry #10

http://prezi.com/qbdczl-8urnw/edit/#10_13415665

entry #8- IMMIGRATION- new version

Immigration in Argentina during the Twenties´

During the decade of the 1920´s many families from Europe and other countries which were hardly affected by the First World War, immigrated to Argentina looking for a better life. One of the main reasons why Italian, Spanish and German people came to this last continental country of South America was an economic one. The war had left their countries devastated and a lot of people suffered from starvation. Apart from that, many middle class people were unemployed, they had lost their jobs and it was almost impossible to find one in a country which was trying to cope with social and economic problems. Fortunately, when they arrived to Argentina they were welcomed and they could find a ray of light here. On the whole, immigrants found in Argentina a comfortable place to live and work and despite the fact that the war in their origin countries had finished, they decided to take their roots in this land.

ENTRY #7

Paragraph 1

Educational Opportunities in Argentina

In my country, Argentina, many are the graduated students who decide to continue a career and become a professional. Despite of the fact that many courses and places to study are offered, students find it difficult to determine what and where to study. For students who are interested in becoming a teacher, there are many Teacher Training Colleges that offer different careers related to teaching. Generally, the courses consist of thirty-two subjects which are attended in a four year period. For those who are interested in obtaining a degree related to social issues, there are several Universities that provide with careers such as Social Work, Social Communication and Politics. For those who want a degree related to engineering many Universities offer careers to become electrical, electronic, chemical, civil or computing science engineer. All these careers consist of a period of six years at the very least. In the case of students who are very fond of dancing, performing, acting or singing; there are Art Institutes that provide degree courses in Dance, Lyrical Singing, Orchestral Academy and Portrayal. The periods of the courses are shorter than the ones from the Universities. They take between two and four years time; except for the Dance course that lasts nine years.

On the whole, Argentinian educational institutions provide a large number of courses and degrees so the decision about what and where to study is up to the student’s choice.

Paragraph 2

Educational Alternatives in Argentina

In my country there are several opportunities for people who procure higher educational degrees. For students who are interested in becoming a teacher, there are many Teacher Training Colleges that offer different careers related to teaching. Generally, the courses consist of thirty-two subjects which are attended in a four year period. For those who are interested in obtaining a degree related to social issues, there are several Universities that provide with careers such as Social Work, Social Communication and Politics. For those who want a degree related to engineering many Universities offer careers to become electrical, electronic, chemical, civil or computing science engineer. All these careers consist of a period of six years at the very least. In the case of students who are very fond of dancing, performing, acting or singing; there are Art Institutes that provide degree courses in Dance, Lyrical Singing, Orchestral Academy and Portrayal. The periods of the courses are shorter than the ones from the Universities. They take between two and four years time; except for the Dance course that lasts nine years.

To sum up, regarding higher education, universities and institutes offer many chances for people who are looking for high degrees in further education.

METACOGNITIVE ANALYSIS

The overall meaning of the paragraphs does not vary much for both are related to high education.
In the paragraph 1, there are two topic sentences but the second one is the controlling idea. It refers to the difficulty that students face with whenever they have to make a choice as regards place and career to study. On the other hand, in the paragraph 2, there is only one topic sentence that tells us that the topic will be about  the opportunities that the country offers to people as regards high education. I believe that both topic sentences reflect the content of the paragraph.
I think that I should have used a synonym for "student" because I have repeated the same word in the first sentences as well as in the conclusion. As regards the paragraph 2, the same stucture is repeated in the first  paragraph and in the conclusion "for people who (procure) (are looking for) high educational degrees". Maybe, she could have reprashed the conclusion sentence in order to not repeat the same stucture and words. Despite these slight differences between paragraph 1 and 2, I do believe that both of them convey in meaning.

#6 Structured Paragraph Writing

THREE ELEMENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL ACADEMIC WRITING

        

• style
• correct pronunciation
• paragraphing

WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH

• a distinct section in a piece of writing with a number of related sentences
• one main idea or topic

PARTS OF A PARAGRAPH

1. TOPIC SENTENCE: an interesting topic with arguments.

2.BODY: should be organized according to the order of importance or order of chronology

3.CLOSING SENTENCE: which reminds the audience what the writer is talking about (restate the message) and let the audience thinking.

ELEMENTS OF A PARAGRAPH

• each paragraph must be easy to identify and start in a new line
• it must be focused on a main idea
• it must be well organized
• all its sentences must be related (cohesion)

THREE QUALITIES THAT MAKE A SUCCESSFUL PARAGRAPH

• unity that must share all the sentences in the paragraph
• coherence that makes all sentence be related
• development that supports the main idea with elements

UNITY

-The topic sentence states the main idea of the paragraph

-Start the paragraph with the topic sentence , which tells the reader what the paragraph is about

The Topic sentence is made up by two elements:

TOPIC (the subject of the paragragraph)

THE CONTROLLING IDEA (specific comment of the theme based on Wh-questions)

POSITION OF THE TOPIC SENTENCE

• first sentence of the paragraph
• elsewhere in the paragraph

COHERENCE

• sentences related to each other
• all the details in the sentence are fixed

HOW TO ACHIEVE IT?

• creating  logical bridges from one sentence to another (coherence)
• repeating key words
• using synonyms
• using pronouns
• using transition words

DEVELOPMENT

-details and evidence to support the topic

-illustrative points with examples to convince the reader

To structure the development : TEE Rule

T: Topic Sentence

E: Explanation

E: Examples or evidences

                                 

                              

INTRODUCING PARAGRAPH

• it states topic of assignment and comment on its importance
• it states main argument to get reader´s attention
• how you intend to answer the question

CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH

• it summarizes the main points
• it states main conclusion
• assures that the question was answered (satisfy the reader)

A CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH MUST NOT :

-INTRODUCE NEW MATERIAL (THIS MUST BE IN THE BODY)

-END WITH A GENERALIZATION

-END WITH A QUOTATION

SOURCES:

Writing Structured Paragraphs. Available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w183qB0KDFg. Retrieved May 30, 2013.

Parts of a paragraph-English Academic Writing. Available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCuExRE6N-4. Retrieved May 30, 2013.

#8 IMMIGRATION- first draft

During the decade of the 1920´s many families from Europe and other countries which were hardly affected by the First World War, immigrated to Argentina looking for a better life. One of the main reasons why Italian, Spanish and German people came to this last continental country of South America was an economic one. The war had left their countries devastated as regards economy and a lot of people suffered from stravation. Apart from that, many middle class people were unemployed, they had lost their jobs and it was almost impossible to find a job in a country which was trying to cope with social and economic problems. When they arrived to Argentina they were welcomed and they could find a ray of light here. Most of them found a job and left behind the bad experience of the war.

#3 bis- CONTEXTS

Context #1

Yesterday, while I was doing the list of guests for my birthday party, special but gloomy news came to my ears.  My mother told me that she had received a letter from Patrick Eggli, my former boyfriend, who had moved to Brazil many years ago.  To my surprise, the letter was addressed to me. I opened the envelope and started reading the letter anxiously. He told me about his life there in Brazil and how enjoyable his job was. By the end of the letter, the words he wrote made me go down. It said : "By the way, I don´t suppose you remember Carine Imhof? She was my first girlfriend... Well... I married her!". Those final words shattered my heart into pieces.

Context #2

Paul: Hi Carla! how are you after the accident with your bike?

Carla: Hi Paul, I´m better, thank you. The doctor told me that I had to be in bed for a few days. I will have to do it if I want to recover soon.

Paul: I see... But don´t worry, you will be fine soon. You won´t be bored these days in bed...you can watch films on tv...

Carla: Yes, I won´t be bored at all...Today I went to the orthopaedic surgeon early in the morning and I spent the rest of the day watching the cycling on television. Taking about bikes, have you got yours mended  yet?

Paul: No, I haven´t... I didn´t have time...Maybe I´m postponing it unconsciosly. After your accident, I started thinking about stop racing.

Carla: Really?...