July - Asocopi

ASOCOPI
newsletter
ISNN: 0122-84X
July, 2008
ASOCOPI - Calle 25B No. 31A-32 1er piso. Bogotá, Colombia - Tel/Fax (571) 244 4167 e-mail: asocopi@yahoo.com - www asocopi.org
From the President
Our 43rd ASOCOPI annual conference is coming!
Our next annual conference
is just about three months
away. This year’s conference is
scheduled to be held October 912, at Universidad Pedagógica
y Tecnológica de Colombia, in
Tunja. The conference theme is
“ELT Materials: Possibilities and
Challenges for the Classroom”.
As we all know, effective English language teaching requires,
among other components, materials that give students the
possibility to get acquainted with language used in different
contexts and for different purposes. In order to achieve this,
pedagogical and research practices for designing, adapting,
and / or adopting materials should take into consideration
teacher development, educational realities and learners’
possibilities for continuous access and benefit. This means
that selecting and using materials imply several processes
that go beyond merely adopting materials we consider
appropriate for our job or just following what institutions or
policy makers stipulate. Materials selection, development,
and adaptation also involve teachers’ critical views and
decision-making, for teachers are the ones who best know
what happens in the various teaching situations and what
best fits their classrooms.
With this justification of the conference theme, we expect to
continue supporting what ASOCOPI has intended to be: an
open forum where academics from diverse backgrounds
may gather to discuss, share and reflect on all those issues
pertaining to our field. In doing so, we can also continue
fostering academic networks and quality in English language
teaching in our country.
I really hope you attend the conference and have the chance
to share with teacher educators, researchers, teachers,
undergraduate students, and publishers’ representatives,
who will present their visions of how they have used,
produced or examined materials and, thus, get acquainted
with possibilities and challenges for using materials in the
English classroom.
Stay in touch with the lead-up to the conference by visiting
our website: www.asocopi.org
See you in Tunja!
Melba Libia Cárdenas Beltrán
President, ASOCOPI
Universidad Nacional de Colombia – Sede Bogotá
ASOCOPI Newsletter From the Editor
Álvaro H. Quintero P.,
ASOCOPI Treasurer & Newsletter Editor
Universidad Distrital, Bogota
Educational materials:
Representation of social values or commercial values?
The ELT community might
be already acquainted with a
definition by Tomlinson in which
he describes materials as “anything
which is used by teachers and
learners to facilitate the learning of
a language” and “anything which
is deliberately used to increase
the learners’ knowledge and
or experience of the language”
(1998, p. 2).
But going beyond this definition, let me pose the following two
questions as a warm-up for the forthcoming academic discussions
in our 43rd ASOCOPI Annual Conference in Tunja, Boyacá: How do
we think people learn a language? and What role should educational
materials play in sustaining the main responsibility of education,
which is to provide pupils with the critical capacities, knowledge,
and values to construct a better society?
To reach a consensus about how we learn a language seems
to be unattainable. Hall (2001) illustrates this by summarizing
that many people make distinctions between first language
learning and second or foreign language learning. Others
ASOCOPI Newsletter distinguish clearly between “learning” a language and
“acquiring” a language. There is further distinction among
“learning to speak”, “learning to understand spoken
language”, “learning to read”, and “learning to write”, with
some thinking that these are similar processes, or, for others,
different but related processes; and still for others, that they
involve completely unrelated skills. Hall also says that some
people think that we learn by studying and internalizing
rules, others think we learn by repeated practice of common
patterns, that we learn by memorizing words and collocations,
by simulating real situations, by negotiating, by hearing and
reading things we can understand. According to Hall, the
list can be endless.
I agree with Hall on the fact that it is our view of how we learn
a language that governs our planning, writing, adapting, or
adopting educational materials. However, there are other
important considerations, or rather constraints, that are not
necessarily classroom-based and that require a more critical
than technical perspective: the centralized course outline
mandated by the MEN’s standard-driven National Bilingual
Program; the need for pupils to pass public examinations
(e.g. Saber, Ecaes, Icfes); a cultural preference for the teacher
being the holder of all knowledge, which seems contradictory
in Colombia where there are still primary school teachers in
public institutions teaching English without the academic
formation to do so; the prominence of market-oriented school
reforms that are not reflecting the popular will so much as
the dominance of economic efficiency of political decision
making; the seduction by the lure of free equipment and
an argument that no more money can be spent on some
groups of children. It is an attempt to replace the idea that all
children have an equal claim on the educational resources of
the community with the idea that some children are entitled
to a better education because their parents can afford to pay
for it (Molnar, 2003, p. 129).
Let us face the challenge that this represents: the need for
educators as intellectuals, who think that one of the most
important legacies of public education is to provide students
with the critical capacities, the knowledge, and the values to
become active citizens striving to realize a vibrant democratic
society. We need to stick to the definition of education as a
public good and a fundamental right (Dewey, 1916; Giroux,
1988). Such a definition rightfully asserts the primacy of
democratic values over corporate culture and commercial
values (Giroux, 2003, p. 119).
money for schools to readily make the transition from allowing
advertising to offering commercial merchandise in the form
of curricular materials, and so on. There might be arguments
that these should be accepted only as features of the context
in which we attempt to do what we think is the right thing.
Nevertheless, I think that this also reflects a crisis of vision
regarding education in general and the role of materials and
other elements of the curriculum as supporting the meaning
of democracy in particular.
References
Dewey, J. (1916) Democracy and Education. New York: Free Press.
Giroux, H. (1988) Schooling and the Struggle for Public Life. Minneapolis,
Minn.: University of Minnesota Press.
Giroux, H. (2003) Education Incorporated? In Darder, A.; Baltoldano, M. &
Torred, R. (Eds) The Critical Pedagogy Reader. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Hall, D. (2001) Materials Production: Theory and Practice in Hall, D. &
Hewings, A. (Eds) Innovation in English Language Teaching. A Reader.
London: Routledge.
Molnar, A. (2003) What the Market Can’t Provide in In Darder, A.;
Baltoldano, M. & Torred, R. (Eds) The Critical Pedagogy Reader. London:
RoutledgeFalmer.
Tomlinson, B. (1998) (Ed). Materials Development in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
This also happens at a time when our educational system
is being absorbed by corporate models of schooling that
no longer represent a cornerstone of democracy. Schools
within a corporate culture are reduced to new investment
opportunities, just as students represent a captive market
and new opportunities for profits since it is their parents, not
the state, who purchase the necessary goods and services
for their education. This marks a radical attempt to destroy
the social values built into public institutions such as schools,
not an effort to improve the system. The destructive logic that
drives them would put our society and culture at the service
of the market rather than the other way around. Although
there are strong attempts to obscure it, the argument that no
more money can be spent on schools is, at its roots, really
ASOCOPI Newsletter From ELT Professionals
Intelligences Theory and
English Language Teaching
and the Role of Interaction.
Javier Zapata Bahamón
Reading the assigned
articles has been
both a pleasure
and a challenge for
me. They are not
something that one
reads once and is
ready to apply them
in the classroom.
After careful reading
I find that I agree
with what the
authors present.
This paper combines my thoughts on the
two different topics: Intelligences theory
and English language teaching and the
role of interaction.
Early in my education career, I heard
colleagues in other disciplines mention
multiple intelligences. At this time I was not
interested in researching this area because
I saw intelligence as a single construct.
It sounded complicated. I was certain it
involved many statistical procedures that
I would not understand.
While doing some research for a class
that I was teaching, I found, in the
resource center, Howard Gardner’s book
Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple
ASOCOPI Newsletter Intelligences (1983). I thought about my
feelings concerning intelligence tests. By
the time I had read several passages, I
was attracted to his ideas. Gardner said
that our Western culture had defined
intelligence too narrowly. He suggested
that intelligence had more to do with our
capacity for solving problems in natural
settings. All of these concepts began to
make sense to me as an educator.
Today many second language educators
know about Gardner’s theory. They can
even name the seven intelligences and
give examples of how they have used these
intelligences in their own lives. However, it
has been my observation that few second
language educators actually consider the
seven intelligences in their lesson plans
and overall curriculum.
Concerning the second issue, the role
of interaction, much of recent research
into second-language acquisition has
moved away from traditional, behaviorist
theories to focus on the importance
of input and interaction in the target
language. The premise is that interaction
and immersion simulate the environment
in which native languages are learned.
Also, research suggests that training in
grammar and vocabulary alone does not
result in linguistic competence. Long’s
interaction hypothesis (1996) stressed the
importance of both ‘comprehensible input’
and ‘negotiated meaning’ in the acquisition
of a second language, the latter being
concerned with the role of ‘interactional
adjustments’ by the native speaker in
facilitating acquisition. Little (2007) draws
attention to the importance of learner
autonomy in three interacting principles
for success in language learning: learner
involvement, learner reflection and target
language use.
Social interaction for communication is
also a key factor. Chapelle (1998) points
out that it is ‘important that learners have
an audience for the linguistic output they
produce so that they attempt to use
the language to construct meanings for
communication rather than solely for
practice’. She also stresses the importance
of creating situations in which ‘the learner
is expected to attempt to use target
language forms that may stretch his or her
competence’.
Other
approaches
emphasize
the
importance of social interaction and
collaboration in language learning
(Vygotsky, 1978). Learners practice in
a social context (with teachers, native
speakers, other students), and through that
interaction, knowledge gradually becomes
embedded in the learner’s internalized
mental resources (Swain 2000, cited in
Little, 2007).
References
Gardner, Howard. Frames of Mind: The Theory
of Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic,
1983.
Long, M. (1996). The role of linguistic
environment in second language acquisition. In
W.C. Ritchie and T.K. Bhatia (Eds.),
Handbook of second language acquisition,
413-468. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Little, D. (forthcoming). “Language learner
autonomy: Back to basics.” Sprogforum, 2007
Chapelle, C. A. (1998). The discourse of
computer-assisted language learning: Toward
a context for descriptive research. TESOL
Quarterly, 24, 199-225.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society:
The development of higher psychological
processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press. Published originally in
Russian in 1930.
Swain, M. (2000). The output hypothesis
and beyond: Mediating acquisition through
collaborative dialogue. In J. P. Lantolf (Ed.),
Sociocultural theory and second language
learning (pp. 97-114). New York: Oxford
University Press.
HOW
A Colombian Journal for
Teachers of English
ASOCOPI is pleased to inform the academic community
that the Number 13-2006 of HOW A Colombian Journal for
Teachers of English is already available. The articles in this
issue are the following:
The Effects of the Multimedia “English Discoveries” Program on
the Learning of Five Different Language Skills by High School
Students, Jorge Benavides
Developing Listening through the Use of Authentic Material,
Adriana Morales and Ana Milena Beltrán
Functions of Code-Switching: Tools for Learning and
Communicating in English Classes, Jorge Enrique Muñoz and
Yadira Fernanda Mora
The Relationship between the Use of Language Learning Strategies
and Teaching Methods: A Case of Iranian EFL Learners, Firooz
Sadighi and Nasrin Kukabi
Leadership Skills and Teaching: An Invitation to Go Further, José
Manuel Franco Serrano
Reading in the Foreign Language Classroom: Students’ Perception
of the Interrelation among the Context, Reading Materials and
Themselves as Readers, Eduardo Di Ridolfo Marquina and Harold
Murillo Tovar
Enhancing Learners’ Motivation and Concern for Improving Their
Pronunciation at a Translator Program in Argentina, Pedro
Luchini
Intercultural Communication and ELT: A Classroom Experience,
Jorge Turizo and Pablo Gómez
Characteristics of Effective Intercultural Multimedia Material in the
English Language Class, Diana Jánica, Lourdes Rey and Nayibe
Rosado
We cordially invite you to check the HOW Guidelines for Contributors
on ASOCOPI website www.asocopi.org and send your papers
for the next issue of HOW A Colombian Journal for Teachers of
English.
ASOCOPI Mission Statement
rImprove the practice of English language teaching.
rStrengthen the sense of identity of language teachers through membership in a professional organization.
rPromote
the exchange of ideas, resources, information, and experiences between language teachers on a national level
as well as at an international level.
rPromote high levels of education and professional development of university students, in the field of foreign language
teaching.
rProvide opportunities of continued professional development of teachers.
rEncourage research in the area of foreign language teaching and learning.
rProvide a forum for the introduction and exchange of new ideas and practices and for the production of educational
material.
rEncourage a high level of education and professionalism among its members.
rProvide a consultative and advisory road in the development of educational innovations, English for Special Purposes,
Applied Linguistics, Material Development, and Academic Programs at the primary, secondary and university levels.
ASOCOPI Newsletter From ELT Professionals
The Teachers’ Role
in an Autonomous
Learning Setting
Bertha Ramos Holguín
Universidad Padagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia
In the last issue of
this Newsletter,
we wrote some
comments referring
to the students’ role
in an autonomous
learning setting
at Universidad
Pedagógica y
Tecnológica de
Colombia (UPTC).
With this article, we
pretend to share
with the readers the
teachers’ side of the
story.
There is something new here in this system
for the teacher. The role of the teacher
changes and becomes a passive agent in
the students’ learning process. The teachers
are seated at a desk for an average of about
six or seven hours every single day waiting for
the students to come either to be evaluated
through their oral reports or to receive any
kind of support they may need to fulfill their
tasks. The oral reports are accomplished
based on three components: a dialogue, a
monologue and a reading aloud passage.
ASOCOPI Newsletter The students have seven minutes to perform
an oral conversation with a partner and to
account for thirty sentences in a monologue
about a topic. The teacher does not interrupt
the students` interaction to correct them.
Any adjustment or improvement for the oral
reports is done once students are finished.
In this way, fluency is promoted.
While the students tell their oral reports,
the teacher is filling out a chart with the
number of sentences heard. He grades
them checking if they are mispronounced,
have a grammar error or if they are right. If
students achieve 80% of correctness in their
oral reports, the teacher signs and gives
the approval to move ahead to the next
unit. Most of the feedback that the teacher
provides in this oral report is focused on
pronunciation since the grammar has
been corrected in advanced in a previously
written report handed in by students. In
the last part, the students have to read a
paragraph from a reading selection of the
unit. The students are supposed to listen to
the CD tracks many times in order for them
to read aloud in front of the teacher. Once
the students are ready, the teacher selects
one paragraph of the reading. In that way,
the teacher confirms that the students have
heard and practiced all of the passages
in the reading. When a student is finished,
there is a waiting line so the teacher helps
another student and so on and so forth.
Furthermore, the teacher must be eager
to listen to students’ stories in which they
tell all the reasons why they have not
developed their work or all struggles they
have undergone in order to accomplish the
task. Eventually, the teacher will give some
more ideas in case the ones suggested in
the textbook fail to help the students to learn
English. These ideas are not a mandatory
task as usually happens in traditional
classes. Students decide which strategy or
technique they will follow.
New teachers that are not used to this system
are uncomfortable since they feel like they
are not helping their students much. The
teachers need to reject bad oral reports and
students have to practice more. Basically,
the only help the teacher is providing is by
assigning a passing-fail grade. When there
are not so many students waiting in line
for the oral report, the teacher can assist
those students who need help, but if the
line is long, there is no other remedy than
telling the failing students to practice more.
The teachers always wear a big smile and
make students feel they have done the right
thing, but they have not accomplished the
minimum requirements to pass the unit.
Now that many universities in Colombia are
moving their curricular programs to a system
of academic credits, and changing the
classrooms for more individual and tutorial
support, we need to think of some of the
challenges that this new type of education
offers. Since in this autonomous learning
setting the work with students is basically
based on tutorials, we can say the following:
working one-on-one with students is a time
consuming task. On the one hand, it is easy
to give personal feedback and not general
comments as happens in a classroom
because this feedback goes directly to the
most needed person. On the other hand, the
teachers usually feel like a regular comment
is told many times to different students,
which seems like a waste of time because it
can be said once in a classroom.
The teacher has to assist many students
individually which makes the teacher unable
to advise his/her students more than seven
minutes in this autonomous environment at
the UPTC, but there are students who need
more time to be advised. Consequently, one
of the challenges for this type of education
is related to time management. In addition,
we think that regular classes cannot be
discontinued impulsively since they are
something needed. Tutorials may need to
be introduced gradually without leaving
regular work in classrooms.
Another challenge is that academic credits
are partly favored in order to hire fewer
teachers or to make the teachers work on
different activities instead of teaching a
regular class. As regards these tutorials that
are provided at this autonomous learning
setting, let us think and be aware that this
practice of tutorials does not allow the
teacher free time to perform several activities
such as going to meetings, being part of
research groups, participating in academic
events, writing papers and preparing
lectures to participate in different events due
to the amount of students teachers have to
assist.
Working on tutorials to promote autonomous
learning is not the panacea as teachers
may think. As such, we consider that a
lot of research in the field of autonomous
learning, tutorials, and academic credits in
our Colombian context must be pursued in
order to make informed decisions and walk
firmly to avoid stumbling in this new teaching
and learning tendency. In the meantime,
we can read Ariza, Barragan, Cardenas ,
Frodden & Sierra, Roldan et al, Miranda &
Bernal, Orrego & Picón, and Silva, among
others, whose views could give some hints
towards initiating this process.
References
Ariza, A. (2004). EFL undergraduate students’
understanding of autonomy and their reflection
in their learning process. Universidad Distrital
Francisco José de Caldas.
Unpublished
Master’s thesis.
Barragan, R. (2008). Pruebas masivas y
Autonomía Curricular: Un reto para la formación
de Licenciados en Idiomas. Memories:
Quinto Encuentro Nacional de Universidades
Formadoras de Licenciados en Idiomas.
Universidad del Valle - Santiago de Cali.
Cárdenas, R. (2006). Considerations of the role
of teacher autonomy in the promotion of student
autonomy. Colombian Applied Linguistics 8.
Miranda, N. & Bernal, I. (2008). Autonomia del
docente, autonomia del estudiante. Memories:
Quinto Encuentro Nacional de Universidades
Formadoras de Licenciados en Idiomas.
Universidad del Valle - Santiago de Cali.
Orrego, L. & Picón, E. (2008). Impacto de la
implementación de estándares de contenido y
de desempeño en los procesos de enseñanza y
aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras. Memories:
Quinto Encuentro Nacional de Universidades
Formadoras de Licenciados en Idiomas.
Universidad del Valle - Santiago de Cali.
Roldan, A. et al. (2007). Percepciones de los
estudiantes de inglés de servicios del Instituto
de Idiomas de la UPTC acerca de su experiencia
como individuos que están inmersos en
una metodología de aprendizaje autónomo.
Proyecto de investigación - Convocatoria 012.
Tunja: UPTC.
Silva, F. (1992) Defining Learner Achievement
Level. Documento de circulación interna en
torno al Proyecto COFE.
Frodden, C. & Sierra, A. (2003). Promoting
student autonomy through self- assessment
and learning strategies. How 10.
ASOCOPI Newsletter From ELT Professionals
From Linguistic
Machismo to Physical
Machismo
Thomas Wiese
The Castilian
language is utterly
“macho”. I have
never been able to
make heads or tails
of the fact, and why
and how Spanishspeaking women
tolerate day-by-day
to be gobbled up
in a male society
and “history of
man”, where
people exclusively
talk about
(GRAND)FATHERS,
UNCLES, SONS,
and BROTHERS or
SEÑOR PASAJERO
without mentioning
the other half of
creation which gave
birth to them and
without which life
would not own even
half of its incentive.
ASOCOPI Newsletter On the occasion of the funeral for the late
president Alfonso López Míchelsen, the
Archbishop of Bogotá stated in his sermon
(literally!!!): “Death is the common fate of
MEN”. Consequently, any listener would
be in his right to assume that ‘women’ are
immortal. Among more up-to-date authors
than this clergyman, it seems to be a recent
trend to mention as well ladies, including
niñas, alumnas or maestras. But in this
case, still, mainly the males are mentioned
first and then the girls: “Queridos niños
y niñas...” In street talk, women make
statements like “UN-O tiene que...” or “ a
UN-O le pasa (this and that)”, instead of
referring to themselves saying “UN-A...”.
In Spain, women even accept it as normal
giving a female interlocutor the title of
“(pero...) HOMBRE” – similar to the English
“Hey GUYS” when greeting a group of girls.
As for statements about a heterosexual
couple, the only existing expression seems
to be: “son noviOs y se quieren mucho UNO
AL OTRO”, which should be applicable only
between two male partners, making the hotly
discussed topic of same sex marriages a
reality.
Also in nations with Spanish traditions, the
first family name of the father is given more
importance than that of the mother (who
after all went through the birth and whose
kinship is obviously manifest). Not so, at
least, in Portuguese homeland and colonies:
there, the first surname for a child is the first
one of the mother and the second one is the
second one of the father! The machismo
of the Spanish grammar demands, even if
among 20 women there is only one man,
the masculine form of adjectives has to be
employed for the whole group. The only
exception, or better a sad confirmation of
this rule seems to be the recorded telephone
messages in PBX’s: “.... dial ‘0’ - or hold
the line and your call will be answered by
our female operators (operadorAAA)”.
This seems to be the only case where the
female form of this profession is mentioned
exclusively because no male would deign to
work in a job that just consists of forwarding
incoming calls.
A strange fact, that nobody has been able
to explain to me yet, is that ALERTA always
appears in the feminine singular form, no
matter what, like in: “Tenemos que estar
alertA”. The “#...alertas” or “#...alertos” is
never used. But – supposedly – this form
is no adjective qualifying the members of a
group, giving preference and reference to a
lady in it, but a noun. (If any possibilities of
an explanation for this odd fact exist, please
forward it or them to teatom22@ hotmail.
com)
The Bible states that the origin of ladies lies
in a gentleman’s rib. And regarding the
English grammar, this seems to be true:
‘Men’ are the root for ‘WOmen’, ‘males’ are
the root for ‘FEmales’, and what would ‘She’ do without a ‘-he’?
But at least in usage, English substitutes the
macho expressions mentioned above with the
collective expressions “(GRAND)PARENTS,
AUNTS-AND-UNCLES,
CHILDREN,
SISTERS-AND-BROTHERS,
manKIND,
ONE, and EACH OTHER”. Anyway to say
“mis PADRES” is the most illogical and
awkward expression in the world and should
not be taken toooo literally... I at least have
only got ONE father...One pitfall in English
usage, similar to the Spanish one, is that
males are mainly mentioned before females
in would-be emancipated expressions like
“his/her (opinion)”.
Take women away from the national work
force and who would be left to do most of
the jobs? WOMEN should be considered
worth more than an unmentioned part of
society, since they are the persons who
suffer so much giving birth, mainly working
their fingers to the bones with a double
commitment towards family AND job, and
who, when it come to the crunch, uphold
the well-being of a family.
So, my proposals for a new style of
grammar and language usage would be:
“Queridas niñas y niños”. “Las CHICAS
viven en la casa con SUS MADRES y son
seis HERMANAS”. “Siempre le pasa a UNA
lo mismo”. “LAS COLOMBIANAS son gente
buena” and “Esta pareja son noviAs y se
quiere mucho uno a la OTRA - or - UNA
al otro” (if they are a “straight” couple)”.
An extreme position is, apart from those
mentioned, to use the Present Perfect with a
female suffix as in: “Yo he compradA, ¿Has
vistA?”. These proposals should rule at
least sentences uttered by ladies and they
are not farfetched ones, since they already
exist in French grammar: “Elle s’est levéE et
habiléE. (ella se ha levantad’A’ y vestid’A’)”.
Compare as well the Portuguese expression,
“ObrigadA” for women and “ObrigadO”
for men (meaning: “I am obliged” though
these are, of course, adjectives which need
agreement).
denomination for 80% of a continent in favor
of ONE single state, its blond, tall people,
and their lifestyle. Which country does “THE
AMERICAN EMBASSY” represent? Chile or
Jamaica? Whenever a stranger approaches
me with an admiring attitude, asking me “Are
you American?” or “Which state of America
are you from?” (which I understand as an
insult), it is hard to convince this person,
that SHE or he is American and not ‘Latina’.
But if even the so emancipated magazine,
“El (LA?) Malpensante” (N° 66, November 1
2005, p. 122) is prone to stepping into this
very trap, revealing in an abstract about the
life of Joseph Brodsky the detail “... 1977
obtuvo la nacionalidad AMERICANA.” – who
will be resilient to this temptation?
I acquired consciousness about this fact
of linguisitc machismo ages ago through
the book The Daughters of Egalia by the
Norwegian author(ess) Gert Brantenberg
(still available at Amazon), first published in
.......1972. This book describes a fictitious
society where the behavior patterns, habits,
grammar, and political system are a total turnabout or topsy-turvy description of our “real”,
male-dominated one that has developed in
the last stage of (wo)menkind’s 500,000year-old history, and a strong manifestation
of which is the language usage.
The precarious situation of South America
stems from the mentality forged 500 years
ago by an atrocious and hideous invasion
and by a second one just 100 years ago.
Since then, many rights have been forfeited
in favor of the “Big Brother” overseas. One
reflexion of this condition might be the
question of a boy entering the Museo del
Oro in Bogotá: Regarding the statue of a
Muisca chieftain in his shining, pure gold
apparel, this young fellow wondered: “...
and where might this gentlemen have come
from?” Perhaps he had never been taught
or he could not believe, that the original
culture based in these highlands was as
splendid and valuable or even superior to
the one of the barbarians who conquered
and destroyed it.
Another form of acquiescently tolerated
machismo that is making inroads in South
American mentalities and – consequently
– societies, is the use of the word
“AMERCIAN(O)”, and also world-wide for
this matter. Almost every day there is a
news statement or a personal comment
containing this word, forfeiting this
This might serve as an example of how a
preconceived fact forms a mentality. If now,
for millenniums on end, women had been
indoctrinated that they are worth less than
men and this mentality found its expression
in commonly accepted grammar usage, then
a change of this grammar might (hopefully
NOT after millenniums in use!) contribute to
an equal position in society. It may be widely
unknown that women in an early stage of
human history (not MAN’s; rather: ‘historia
de la MUJER’) were much more powerful
and respected than the exchangeable
male partners because they possessed
the magical power of giving birth so vital
for any tribe. The subdued and in some
regions almost rightless social status of
women was imposed much later. (How can
it be interpreted that in semitic languages of
those regions, apart from “she” and “he”,
there exists also a linguistic separation for
“you-feminine” (“at”) and “you-masculine”
(“atah”?).
A last trace of this predominance of women
and therefore goddesses over men is
the still so deep-rooted veneration of the
“virgin” Mary showing her child, and the
queer tradition in the island nation of Iceland
to name girls and boys after their mothers
like in “Gilmur HelgaDOTTIR” or “ Björn
GunhildDOTTIR (= daughter)” instead of
the continental “MartinSON = (“MartínEZ”)
or “RoderigSON =(RodriguEZ)”. It is
not unthinkable that Gert Brantenberg
conceived the idea for her novel from this
“neighboring” country to her with almost
the same language and tradition to defining
kinship matrilineally.
Dear reader(ess) –
Why do you not attempt and use my
proposed changes in grammar and usage
for one month and observe first your
own reaction and then that of your social
surroundings in offices, classrooms, home
and among friends? Additonally, if the next
time you have to listen to a comment like
“...throughout the historia ‘del hombre’”,
you get up from your seat and leave the
audience under protest!
Note: This article was written by a masculine
feminist...
ASOCOPI - Asociación Colombiana de Profesores de Inglés
Melba Libia Cárdenas, President - Gabriel Vicente Obando, Vice-President
Álvaro H. Quintero - Treasurer & Editor in Chief - Adriana González, Secretary
Nancy Villamizar, Spokesperson - Randall Barfield, Reviewer
César Vivas Valderrama, Layout, Design, and Graphic Process
Edwin Martínez, Office Manager
ASOCOPI Newsletter Bogotá, Julio de 2008
Señores(as)
Secretarios de Educación
Rectores y Directores de Instituciones Educativas
Coordinadores de Programas de Inglés
Estimados (as) Colegas:
Congruente con las políticas gubernamentales y locales en el área de la enseñanza del inglés como lengua extranjera y con el
ánimo de fomentar la calidad académica en el área, la Asociación Colombiana de Profesores de Inglés – ASOCOPI, ha escogido
el tema “ELT Materials: Possibilities and Challenges for the Classroom” para su Cuadragésimo Tercera Conferencia anual que se
llevará a cabo en la Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia, Tunja, del 9 al 12 de octubre del presente año.
Conscientes de la necesidad de convocar a la comunidad académica, nos permitimos invitar a los docentes y directivos del
área de inglés para que participen en este importante evento. De igual manera, agradeceremos que Ustedes puedan facilitar
el desplazamiento de los docentes interesados en esta temática. Los interesados en participar pueden obtener información y
procesar su formato de registro visitando la página www.asocopi.org
Reiteramos nuestros agradecimientos por la difusión que puedan dar ustedes a esta comunicación.
Atentamente,
Melba Libia Cárdenas Beltrán.
Presidente Asociación Colombiana de Profesores de Inglés.
UPTC
ASOCOPI Newsletter 10
Accommodation
in Tunja
HOSTERÍA SAN CARLOS
Carrera 11 No. 20-12
Tel: (+8) 742 37 16 - Fax: (+8) 7 43 86 91
Capacity: 20 people
•
Single: Col $30.000
• Double: Col $50.000
• Triple: Col$60.000
HOTEL CONQUISTADOR DE AMERICA
Calle 20 No. 8 – 92
Telfax: (+8) 7 42 35 34
Cel.: 310 321 15 06
All rooms have private bathroom,
cable TV. No Parking
• Single: Col $25.200
• Double: Col $40.000
• Triple: Col$18.000 per person
Capacity: 35 - 40 people
BOYACÁ PLAZA HOTEL
Calle 18 No. 11-22 (Downtown)
Tel: (+8)7 40 11 16
Includes Breakfast and Parking
All rooms have private bathroom,
cable TV and WiFi.
• Single: Col $85.740
• Double: Col $120.080
• Triple: Col$164.940
HOTEL POZO DE DONATO
Carrera 7ª No. 42-13 (close to the UPTC)
Tels: (+8) 7 42 82 56
7 40 21 63 - 7 44 06 94
Includes breakfast, insurance and IVA
All rooms have private bathroom,
cable TV.
• Single: Col $50.500
Capacity: 12 people
HOTEL HUNZA
Calle 21 A No. 10-66
PBX (8) 742 41 11 - Fax (8) 7 44 75 06
Includes Breakfast and Parking,
hotel insurance, IVA 10%, swimming pool.
- Reservation with 20 days in advance
• Single: Col $135.000
• Double: Col $75.000
• Triple: Col $75.000
HOTEL LA ANTIGUA
Calle 28 No. 10-10 (close to the UPTC)
Tels: (+8) 7 44 03 41 – 7 44 03 63
Includes parking
All rooms have private bathroom,
cable TV.
• Single: Col $52.200
• Double: Col $72.200
• Triple: Col$93.200
Capacity: 25 people
HOTEL SAN IGNACIO PLAZA
Calle 18 No. 10-51 (Downtown)
Tel: (+8) 7 43 75 83 - 7 43 73 35
Telfax: (+8) 7 42 34 72
Includes Parking and Taxes
All rooms have private bathroom,
cable TV and WiFi.
• Single: Col $66.000
• Double: Col $88.000
• Multiple: Col$38.500 per person
HOTEL CASA COLONIAL
Carrera 8 No. 20 – 40 (Downtown)
Telfax: (8) 7 42 21 69 – 7 43 42 39
Includes parking
All rooms have private bathroom,
cable TV.
• Single: Col $30.000
• Double: Col $50.000
• Triple: Col$60.000
• Multiple: Col$ 75.000
Capacity: 40 people
HOTEL SAN FRANCISCO
Carrera 9 No. 18 – 90 P.2
Tel: (+8) 7 42 66 45
Fax: (+8) 7 44 44 23
Capacity: 30 people
• Single: Col $35.000
• Double: Col $55.500
• Triple: Col$75.000
• Multiple: Col$95.000
HOTEL EL PASO
Carrera 14 No. 6-54 Sur
Tel: (8) 7455061
Fax: (8) 7455060
Private Bathroom, Cable TV,
Room Service
• Single: Col $29.000
• Double: Col $60.000
• Triple: Col$75.000
HOTEL TUNJA REAL
Carrera 14 No. 6A-22 Sur
Tel: (8) 7455660/1/3
Fax: (8) 7436149
- Private Bathroom, Cable TV,
Room Service
• Single: Col $38.000
• Double: Col $60.000
• Multiple: Col$100.000
Hotels
HOTEL EL CID PLAZA
Carrera 10 No. 20 – 78 (Downtown)
Tel: (+8) 7 42 34 58
Telfax: (+8) 7 44 41 79
Includes Parking and Taxes
All rooms have private bathroom,
cable TV.
• Single: Col $45.000
• Double: Col $65.000
• Multiple: Col$25.000
POSADA DE SAN AGUSTÍN
Calle 23 No. 8-63
Tel: (+8) 7 42 29 86- 7 43 05 42
Fax: (+8) 7 42 76 35
Includes breakfast and Parking
All rooms have private bathroom,
cable TV and WiFi
• Single: Col $50.000
• Double: Col $76.500
• Triple: Col$90.000
• Multiple: Col$120.000
ASOCOPI Newsletter 11
Direccions to
arrive in Tunja
From El Dorado Airport to Tunja.
From Bogota to Tunja by car
1.
1.
Take the North Highway (Autopista Norte).
2.
There are 120 kilometers from EXITO at
170 North street to Tunja.
3.
It will take you around 2hrs and 30
minutes to get to Tunja driving from
Bogota. The road conditions are
excellent, so speeding is not necessary.
Drive safely. There are parts in which the
road has two lanes in one direction, so
you don’t need to pass other cars and
risk your life. ASOCOPI and the UPTC
are waiting for you.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Take a taxi from the airport to the
“Terminal de Transportes de Bogotá”.
Please go to the taxi booth information
and ask for the ticket taxi ride. It will show
explicitly the amount of money you have
to pay to the taxi driver. The price for this
ride is about 18.000 pesos.
Once you are located at “Terminal de
Transportes de Bogotá”, look for the
Module 3 which is the color RED.
Look for the “Libertadores” or
“Concorde” bus line. They are the most
advisable to ride. They are big buses
with a restroom and TV. This ride costs
$ 15.000 pesos.
Once you arrive at the “Terminal de
Transporte de Tunja” go upstairs
and take a taxi in the taxi lane inside
the Terminal. The taxi ride from the
“Terminal” to UPTC costs around 4,000
pesos. Anyway, the taxis in Tunja have
a taximeter. It will show exactly in pesos
the amount of money you have to pay.
The taxi driver has two ways to take you
to the UPTC. Please advise him to take
La COLINA; this way, the taxi will leave
you inside the UPTC campus right in
front of the gate of the Central Building
(Building C). The second option is
to ask the taxi driver to leave you at
the UPTC at the Pedestrian Bridge on
Avenida Central del Norte, but you have
to cross the UPTC campus and look for
the Central Building (Building C).
Congratulations you have arrived at the
Central Building at UPTC. (building C).
In the hallway of this building ASOCOPI
will have the registration stand and book
display.
ASOCOPI Newsletter 12
4.
5.
Congratulations! You have arrived. You
will notice that you are in Tunja once you
find the first traffic light. There will be a
gas station on your left. Keep going and
you will go through three more traffic
lights.
There are 4 Kms, from the first traffic
light to UPTC.
6.
Drive straight ahead until you find the
traffic loop.
7.
Take the second exit off the loop. The
second exit is the one close to the Mobil
gas station. This second exit also leads
to Bucaramanga and Moniquirá.
8.
Drive straight ahead for 200 Mts. from
the Mobil gas station. You will find a 4way crossing and a bumpy road sign.
Turn right after the bumpy sign.
9.
If you find a traffic light it means that
you have gone too far and probably
you missed the 4-way crossing, so turn
back.
10. Turn right at the 4-way crossing. You
will be driving on a dirt road. (Carretera
destapada) for 400 Mts. Don’t panic,
your car will make it without any
damage.
11. Congratulations you have arrived at
UPTC, R-Building. There are plenty of
parking spots.
12. Lock you car and go walking to the
Central Building, C-Building. It will take
you three minutes to go walking from
the R Building parking lot to the CBuilding.
13. Congratulations! You have arrived at the
Central Building in UPTC, (Building C).
In the hallway of this building, ASOCOPI
will have the registration stand and book
display.
From Bucaramanga to Tunja by car
1.
Once you find the first traffic light you
know you are in Tunja. On your left, at
the traffic light, there is a restaurant
called Brasas del Sabor.
2.
Drive straight ahead from the first traffic
light 200 Mts. You will find a bumpy road
sign. Turn left after the bumpy sign.
3.
If you find a Mobil gas station on your
left it means that you have gone too
far and probably you missed the 4-way
crossing, so turn back.
4.
Turn left at the 4-way crossing. You will
be driving on a dirt road. (Carretera
destapada) for 400 Mts. Don’t panic,
your car will make it without any
damage.
5.
Congratulations you have arrived at
UPTC, R-Building. There are plenty of
parking spots.
14. Lock you car and go walking to the
Central Building, C-Building. It will take
you three minutes to go walking from
the R Building parking lot to the CBuilding.
15. Congratulations! You have arrived at the
Central Building in UPTC. (building C).
In the hallway of this building, ASOCOPI
will have the registration stand and book
display.
Parking lot:
At the entrance of the parking lot you will receive a plastic chip for each car. Don’t lose this
plastic chip. You have to return it once you leave the UPTC campus. The parking lot service is
free, but there is a charge (40.000 pesos) if you lose the plastic chip.
*(Where most hotels are located)
Restaurants near UPTC
$ 18.000 $ 15.000 $ 4.000
$ 4.000
$ 4.000
$ 3.000
30 min
3 hours
15 min
15 min
15 min
10 min
Restaurants
Transportation (Col. pesos)
El Dorado Airport in Bogota to Terminal de transportes Bogota.
Terminal de transportes Bogota to Terminal de transportes Tunja Terminal de transportes Tunja to UPTC
Terminal de transportes Tunja to Downtown*
Downtown to UPTC
UPTC to Unicentro
Centro Comercial UNICENTRO. 1 KM (15 min walking)
Restaurant
Type of food
Price (Col. pesos)
Pizza Pizza
Pizza
5.000 - 20.000
Bocattas
Sandwich/Lunch
5.800 - 20.000
El Corral Fast food
5.000 - 20.000
Farah´s Arabic food 8.000 - 20.000
Pipe Parrilla
BarBQ
8.000 - 20.000
Frisby Chicken 10.000 - 20.000
Burguer Mekat´s Fast food
5.000 - 9.000
La Cocina Tipica Typical food 8.000 - 20.000
Carrefour Fast food
3.000 - 10.000
Popsy Ice cream 3.000 -10.000
Plaza de Comidas Santa Inés:
Carnitas Ricas
BarBQ
Carbon y Leña
BarBQ
El Hojaldrito* Dessert and snacks San Nicolas
Bakery 5.000 - 15.000
5.000 - 15.000
2.000 - 6.000
1.000 - 6.000
Centro Norte, also known as Olimpica, 900Mts 10 minutes Pipe Company
BarBQ
5.000 - 10.000
Kerriko
Chicken
5.000 - 10.000
Helados y Café
Coffee/Ice cream
2.000 - 10.000
Titolini
Pasta
5.000 - 10.000
Cremas y Jugos
Ice cream 2.000 - 10.000
Asabroaster
Chicken 5.000 - 10.000
Centro Broaster
Chicken
5.000 - 10.000
El Gran Patacon
Mexican
5.000 - 10.000
Pizza Nostra*
Restaurante China
Brasas de Oro
Juriscoop*
* Highly recommended
Italian, BarBQ, Fish 8.000 - 20.000
Chinese food 7.000 - 20.000
Typical food / Fish 13.000 - 20.000
Lunch
7.500 - 9000 ASOCOPI Newsletter 13
ASOCOPI
ASOCIACIÓN COLOMBIANA DE PROFESORES DE INGLÉS
Better Teachers, Better Teaching
Web site: www.asocopi.org
43th ASOCOPI Annual Conference
“ELT MATERIALS: Possibilities and Challenge for the Classroom”
October 9 - 12, 2008, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia. Tunja, Boyacá
CONFERENCE AND MEMBERSHIP FORM
1. Make a deposit in DAVIVIENDA savings account No. 0099 0021 0858 to the name of ASOCOPI.
Name:
Membership Fees
I.D.:
(Include registration to
National Conference)
Position:
Address:
Before August 31
Col $ 150.000
Name of Institution:
City:
Department:
Home phone:
Office phone:
Fax:
E-mail address:
Levels you teach: (Please, tick the option/s)
Preschool
Adult
Primary
Private classes
Secondary
Other
University
(Specify)
You can also register in up to two areas of interest
(Special Interest Groups):
Teaching English to Young Adults
Teaching English to Children
Teacher training / Teacher education
Socio Political Concerns
Computer Assisted Language Learning
Before September 14
Col $ 215.000
After Sept 14 and on site
Col $ 260.000
Students
(ID required)
(Membership not included)
Before August 31
Col $ 70.000
Before September 30
Col $ 80.000
Students must send copy of their
student ID and deposit slip by
certified mail or send a PDF to our
e-mail: asocopi@yahoo.com
Administration of Language Programs
2. Send this complete form to ASOCOPI together* with your payment receipt or check by certified mail to
Calle 25 B No 31 A - 32 1er Piso - Bogotá, Colombia OR send a PDF to our e-mail asocopi@yahoo.com
*Notice: Membership forms without deposit slip will not be processed
ASOCOPI Newsletter 14
ELT Directory
Pearson Longman Colombia
ELT Directory
Ángela Andrade, Gerente División ELT/School
Carrera 65 B # 14-32, Bogotá
Phone: (57 1) 294 08 00
Fax: (57 1) 260 73 58
angela.andrade@pearsoned.com
supportline@pearsoned.com
www.amazingmindscolombia.net
www.longman.com
Richmond – Grupo Santillana
Cambridge University Press Colombia
Ricardo Romero M.
Carrera 18 # 137 – 65, Bogotá
Phone: (57 1) 649 06 25
Fax: (57 1) 649 06 26/7
cambridge@cable.net.co
www.cambridge.org
Greenwich ELT - Grupo Editorial Norma
Carlos Eduardo Villegas Marroquín
Av. El Dorado No. 90 - 10. Bogotá
Phone: (57 1) 6110735, 6184730
Fax: (57 1) 6346161
carlos.villegas@norma.com
www.normatextos.com, www.greenwich-elt.com
Maria Vidalia Márquez – ELT Manager
Sandra Liliana Rangel – Sales Manager
Calle 80 # 10-23. Bogotá
Phone: (57 1) 635 12 00 Ext 138
richmond@santillana.com.co
www.richmond.com.co
The Anglo Publishing House
Juan Carlos Gómez, Fitzroy Kennedy
Calle 79 No. 14-30. Bogotá
Phone: (57 1) 621 67 21, 616 06 75
Fax: (57 1) 621 66 64
info@anglopublishing.com
interbookshop@coldecon.net.co
www.anglopublishing.com
www.mmpi.co.uk
www.expresspublishing.co.uk
The College Board
Heinle Cengage Learning
Houghton Mifflin
Universidad del Rosario
Nadia Reina Mendoza. ELT Manager - Andean Pact
Cra. 90 No.17B - 39 Bodega 27 Sector Hayuelos. Bogotá.
Pbx: (57 1) 292 20 40 ext. 110
nadia.reina@cengage.com
www.cengage.com
Calle 46 No. 50 - 11. Bogotá
Phone: (57 1) 221 24 54
Fax: (57 1) 221 11 78
www.hmco.com
McGraw-Hill Interamericana S.A
Carlos Eduardo Bermúdez - Gerente General
Amparo Castillo Ramírez-Supervisora ELT
Cra. 85 D # 51 – 65, bodegas 9, 10 y 11
Complejo Logístico San Cayetano,
Urbanización San Cayetano Norte. Bogotá
PBX: (57 1) 600 38 00 – 600 34 66
carlos_bermudez@mcgraw-hill.com
amparo_castillo@mcgraw-hill.com
www.elt.mcgraw-hill.com
Janning Estrada Aquino
208 Ave. Ponce de León Banco Popular Center
Suite 150 Hato Rey, Puerto Rico
Phone: 787-772-1267
jestrada@collegeboard.org
http://oprla.collegeboard.com
Escuela de Ciencias Humanas
Fabián Felipe Lozano Ávila
Cra. 6 A No. 14 – 13 Of. 420, Bogotá.
Phone: (57 1) 341 40 06 Ext. 268 Cel: 313 285 67 65
flozano@urosario.edu.co
www.urosario.edu.co
VIF Program
Kevin Smith
PO Box 896 – Centro Colón. San José, Costa Rica
Phone: 506-257-6732
Fax: 506-257-7597
ksmith@vifprogram.com
www.vifprogram.com
www.vifprogram.com
ASOCOPI Newsletter 15
See you
there!