¿Lo sabías?¿POR QUÉ SE FESTEJA EL DÍA DEL ANIMAL?

How Labor Day Has Become Such An Important Holiday

Practical Issues in ELT 10th Anniversary

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Practical Issues in ELT, traditionally organised  by ASPI, we met at the FCE of UNL to share experiences and grow together with colleagues and teachers-to-be.

ASPI Committee gave Prof. Elsa Grimaldi the Honorable Membership Award, acknowledging all her contributions to the association. She thanked and shared many anecdotes which dated from the beginnings of ASPI.

As usual, we had morning and afternoon sessions

The first presentation,by myself,  was on planning. "A goal without a plan is just a wish. (or What plans are for?) .

We discussed the value of planning and how the way we plan impacts on our teaching, and on our students' response and growth.

Second presentation, by Lic. Ma. Cristina Rivas, was on "The state Secondary school: a brave and determined teacher is unbreakable".
Many issues on everyday classroom life were tackled by professor Rivas.

In the afternoon, Mgt. Ana Marina Suarez Gianello presented "The song of lunch (a menu for teachers)
Once more, she shared interesting teaching ideas to help learners approach literature in a very enriching teaching / learning experience. She also introduced ideas to cater for learners' different levels of proficiency.

Closing the event, Lic Adriana Díaz presented "Tackling difficulties in consonant pronunciation". Some issues on overcoming pronunciation difficulties were considered.
Thanks, Adriana, for using my recordings as examples (even though participants are not to be mentioned by researchers 😉)

By the end of the day, we could celebrate after having shared great moments with wonderful people.

Thanks to the great ASPI team for their enthusiasm and collaboration. That is the way to succeed!

"A Goal without a Plan is just a Wish"* (or What Plans are for)

Plans come in all sizes and shapes and quite often we question the actual use they have.  Nevertheless, we have the feeling that our students perceive the presence or absence of a plan when we stand in front of the classroom. Our professionalism and commitment is made evident when we take the role we choose and enhance our students’ participation knowing where to go and how to achieve our aim.

In our session we will go about different questions about planning in search of regaining strength and will to face this “ill-reputed” task with enthusiasm and innovative ideas.

*Quote from Antoine de Saint Exupery

A New Education Paradigm?

Different scientific views of reality have always influenced society and, at a similar pace, the way education was seen by experts and practitioners. We have seen the development of various teaching methods (which were expected to be followed “to the letter”). Later, approaches developed along with the perception teachers had of their own professional development and of the learners they had to educate. At the end of the 20^th century and beginning of the 21^st, the Post-method Era became an issue of great interest for educators. At this moment, educators are facing the challenge of a world which is in permanent flux due to technological and scientific advances. Because of these changes, society is also undergoing a deep crisis in their traditional institutions. Should we start discussing education goals? Should we re-think how to approach knowledge ourselves and how to help our students to get engaged in this enterprise? If this is the case, we might be facing a change in present education paradigms.

I try to make a retrospective review of teaching methods to end up reflecting upon the challenges this new era presents for both teachers and learners.

My intention is to put forward my view of learning needs in present times.

Since we cannot teach contents that might soon become outdated, it is more important to teach our learners to discern between relevant and irrelevant information. It is also important to equip them with emotional tools that guarantee their free choice no matter which context they take part in.

Did you Know?

Serbian language, Cyrillic script is in official use in Serbia. It has 30 letters and a single letter for each sound, which makes it a unique script in the world.

(Remember that, even though we have phoneme grapheme correnpondence in Spanish, we use two letters to represent a sound, eg: CHocolate [tʃokolate] llave [ʎaβe])

Socializing at BIMEP

The organization of BIMEP was great!
We had the opportunity of sharing more relaxed moments which enhanced the posibility of establishing new bonds with people who are interested in the same discipline we are. We could exchange perspectives and promises of further contact around delicacies during lunch breaks.

 Sharing good memories from UCL and his last visit to Argentina with my admired professor John Wells.

















Establishing new bonds with professor Elizabeth Zsiga from
Georgetown University (USA).
She told me (much to my pride) that my presentation has
given her new food for thought for future research.
Let's hope we can keep in touch and do something together
some day.

The organiser, who must receive multiple rounds of applause!
Biljana Čubrović didn't leave any loose ends in the organisation. Everything was impeccable!

And the top of the icing was the wonderful dinner we shared at the Aeroklub. It is a very important building that represents the old good times in Belgrade. The place was wonderful and the food, exquisite. The atmosphere was absolutely magic.

About me- Abbreviated CV

María Alicia Maldonado is Teacher of English graduated from Instituto Nacional del Profesorado de Paraná (Entre Ríos), Licenciada en Inglés from Universidad Nacional del Litoral and holds the IPA Certificate of Proficiency in the Phonetics of English from University College London (UK).

Former lecturer in Language, Phonology, Psycholinguistics and Methodology at  the Teacher Education Programme, Translation Programme and Interpretation Programme at Instituto Superior del Profesorado N°8 “Alte. Brown” in Santa Fe, where she worked until March, 2015, when she retired. She has taught English at all levels and in many different contexts (Rural schools, Bilingual schools, public and private schools, etc) for over 30 years.

She is tutor for “Trabajo de Producción Final”, at Licenciatura en Inglés at Universidad Nacional del Litoral, All teachers she tutored received the highest grade in their tesinas. She has led workshops for in-service teachers since 2000 and has lectured in Argentina, Chile, UK, Serbia, Pakistan and India.

She has published works on Didactics and Phonetics and Phonology in specialized journals.

As a freelance material developer, she is author of On the Pulse Workbook and Tests (Macmillan Education) Launched in 2015, reviewer for For Teens and co-author of What’s Up? 1^st and 2^nd edition (Pearson Education 2008 - 2011). Author of What’s Up? 3^rd edition Students Book and Teacher's Book. Launched in 2016. She has been Content Coordinator for Pearson's Look Wide series (2018). She is author of the Students Books and Teachers book for Light Up series for Pearson Argentina (2019). She is authour of the mindfulness workbook for Wonders 2020 (Mc Graw Hill). She is course author for The Language Fuel magazine (New Zealand).

She has been nominated Academic Judge in the Global Creative Women Award 2021 organised by the Global Trainer Academy.

Great sharing opportunity at the University of Belgrade

Organised by the Faculty of Philology of the University of Belgrade, The IV Belgrade International Meeting of English Phoneticians (BIMEP 2018) took place on 30 - 31 March.
The organiser, Biljana Čubrović, looked after every single detail and the event went on smoothly. We had the opportunity to share valuable experiences.
Three key note speakers addressed the audience:
Prof John Wells spoke about "Sounds Delicious: Phonetics and Etymology of some Food and Drink Words" showing once more how phonology is part of our every day lives.

Professor Elizabeth Zsiga, from Georgetown University (USA), spoke about "The Phonetics and Phonology of English Casual Speech: Learning from L2 Learners".

Last, Professor Draga Zec, from Cornell University (USA) shared her research on "Nasal Consonants in Syllable Phonotactics."

Many phoneticians coming from different countries exchanged information about the studies we are carrying out. An excellent atmosphere triggered the beginning of what I feel will be an enriching sharing from distant points in the world.

Anastazija Kirkiva-Naskova (Ss. Cyril and Methodius University) dealt with "The Effects of a Classroom-Based Perceptual Training on the Perception and Production of L2 Vowels"

Dorota Lipińska (University of Silesia)  shared her findings on "Segmental Production by Polish Learners of English: The Case of the TRAP vowel."

Andrej Bjelaković, from the University of Belgrade, informed us of his research on "Formant Measurements of Serbian Speakers' English Vowels."

Bilyana Shuman, from Nanyang Technological University, analysed "Vowel Quality Reduction in Serbian"

Dr. Biljana Čubrović, our host from University of Belgrade, explained her findings on "Spectral and Quantitative Differences of Nonnative Serbian Vowels.

An interesting perspective was the one presented by Jaroslaw Weckwerth, from Adam Mickiewicz University, who shared his findings on "The BATH Vowel in British Popular Music Vocal Performance. I admit that I started to get better aquainted with groups I had never heard of before.

Tatjana Paunović, from University of Niš, presented her study on "Uptalk in L2 English: Final Rising Contours in Serbian EFL Students' Declaratives

Vladimir Phillipov, from Sofía University "St. Keiment Ohridski", dealt with "Intonational Phonology and the Theory of Translation: The Interface between Intonation and Text. I would have liked to follow his talk better, but I lacked knowledge of Cyrilic alphabet. (Something to be added in my to-do-list)

Dimitra Dimitrou, a Ph D student at the University of Central Lancashire in Cyprus, took the plunge presenting her study on "The Acquisition and Production of the English Rhotic by Greek-Cypriot Speakers". Good work!

Vesna Polovina presented a project to study "Contextual Meaning of Intonation in Serbian and English Doctor-Patient Encounters". She mentioned the difficulty that privacy of this kind of interaction poses on the study.

Valentina Rapajić, from the Serbian University of Defense, spoke about "Lexical Stress Patterns in High-Frequency Words of Spoken English. She also mentioned future possible studies she could work on. 

My turn came to present "How to Help Learners to Improve their English Pronunciation. What Rioplatense Spanish Speaking EFL Teachers Need to Know". It was a really enriching sharing experience. Having the three key note speakers in the audience did not make me frightened because of the excellent professional quality the three of them have.

Višnja Josipovič, from the University of Zagreb, came next with "Contemporary Phonological Theory and Common Pronunciation Issues". She was really enthusiastic about her presentation.

Urjani Chakravarty and Gulab Chand, from the Indian Institute of Managemente Indore and Indian Institute of Technology Ropar", shared their experience on "An Optimality Theoretic Approach: A Comparative Study of English and Selected Indo-Aryan Particles"

Elena Freydina and Oksana Pervenzentseva, from Moscow Pedagogical State University, presented their work on "Prosodic Markers of Tenor in Lectures and their Perception by Russian Students of English"

 Marlisa Hommel, from Utrecht University, made an attempt to explain "The Role of Orthographi in Dutch Students' Perception of English in the EFL classroom."

 

Nikoleta Stoykova, from Sofía University "St. Kliment Ohridski", offered a Prezi presentation to deal with "English Weak Forms - A Challenge for Bulgarian Learners of English? A Pedagogical Perspective."

An the last presentation, by Georgy Dimitrov from University of National and World Economy, was on "The Place of Pronunciation in Teaching ESP: The Case of Advanced Bulgarian Students of Political Science."

This is the academic perspective, which was varied and enriching as you can gather from the description of the presentations. Next entry will be on the socializing perspective, which has been great!