Vol. 1 Issue 1 by María J Vera-Cazorla
In the European Higher Education Area students are
expected to prove a B1 level in a foreign lang... more In the European Higher Education Area students are
expected to prove a B1 level in a foreign language. This issue has
opened a new research field associated with learning, as students'
perception and university language services programmes do not seem
to match university language policies. In this context, we wonder what
the perception of postgraduate students at the University of Las Palmas
de Gran Canaria is of this language requirement: is it simply
understood in its dimension of a University service or rather related to
their personal aspiration to learn a foreign language? With a
quantitative and qualitative methodology, we surveyed 292 students
registered on twenty-three Master's Degree courses to answer the
above questions. The results show students' little interest in learning a
foreign language. The possibility of a change will arise when students
who have received a bilingual education graduate. Until then, the
perception of students on the language requirement certification shows
insignificant figures. This research is a needs analysis to propose
actions to introduce the linguistic certification to university
postgraduate students.
This paper focuses on foreign language teaching in Gran Canaria in the 19th century. Its purpose ... more This paper focuses on foreign language teaching in Gran Canaria in the 19th century. Its purpose is to determine the foreign languages taught on the island at that time, the approaches and methods used to teach those languages and the reasons and needs of the students to learn a specific language. Section Two describes the influential presence of foreigners in the Canary Islands and their significant role in the development of the Canarian economy, culture and even the variety of Spanish language spoken in the islands. Section Three presents a brief review on the state of education in the islands in the 19th century. Section Four details the foreign languages taught in Gran Canaria in the 19th century while in the following five sections the methods used for the teaching of those foreign languages are explained briefly. Finally, the conclusions drawn from this study are offered.
CAUCE. Revista Internacional de Filología, Comunicación y sus Didácticas, 2016
One of our challenges as teachers of English for Specific Purposes is to be able to involve post-... more One of our challenges as teachers of English for Specific Purposes is to be able to involve post-graduate students in the use of English as a tool to share their projects and interact in our case with other engineers, without losing sight of the use of foreign language for everyday life. If
motivation and authenticity are two key words in teaching ESP, internet and its many possibilities is presented as a valuable source to finding authentic, engaging and motivating materials to be used in the ESP classroom. The aim of this article is to share a practical experience in the use of digital video technology to teach English for Telecommunications Engineers, conducted with post-graduate students from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years. This course was designed in response to the students’ communicative needs within their own specialty, taking into account the particular requirements of each student, without
neglecting the teaching of grammar and vocabulary and other language tools. We carried out a preliminary study of the needs of these students. In this article, we will explain the reasons that led us to create our own materials, the selection process and results.
The aim of this article is to address the complex issue of the evaluation of educational activiti... more The aim of this article is to address the complex issue of the evaluation of educational activities offered by new
technology resources. One of these innovations is related to social software tools, specifically with the use of Wikis as a space for
communication and presentation tasks. The establishment of tools such as wikis is causing many teachers to redefine not only the
educational aspects of their teaching, but also to delineate consistent assessment criteria. For this reason, it is important to use rubrics as an evaluation method since rubrics enable teachers to qualify students according to some criteria already specified, making the evaluation process more transparent and simple.
While there is considerable research on online
teaching, less has been written about online peer... more While there is considerable research on online
teaching, less has been written about online peer assessment
and feedback at a university level within the context of
learning communities in the field of Humanities. Advances
in the internet have helped to promote a social constructivist
learning theory more in keeping with the idea of preparing
our students to work collaboratively and communicate
effectively. The purpose of this article is to describe the
author’s practical experiences with two different subjects at
the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain:
Lesson Planning According to the Communicative
Methodological Principles, a post-graduate subject which is
part of a 200-hour course on Spanish as a foreign language,
and English IV, a compulsory quarterly subject in the
second year of the degree in Modern Languages. We will
discuss the benefits that students and teachers can obtain by
being part of a learning community and using online
formative peer assessment.
Papers by María J Vera-Cazorla
Coloquios De Historia Canario Americana, 2004
The best-known figure of Spanish literature all over the world is that of Don Quixote, the ideali... more The best-known figure of Spanish literature all over the world is that of Don Quixote, the idealistic knight who decides to leave his home and family to fight evil, aid the helpless and look for true love. And, although we love Don Quixote and his quest, his impossible dream, readers are rather expected to identify themselves with his squire Sancho Panza. Eventually, down-to-earth, realistic Sancho not only helps Don Quixote in his pursuit but also ends up believing in his vision. Spanish Literature has also produced a third well-known character: the figure of the “pícaro”, the tricker, with some wonderful examples such as Lazarillo de Tormes, Guzmán de Alfarache or don Pablos, el Buscón. One of these examples is the Canarian character Pepe Monagas, a tourist guide, a bloom-seller, a musician, a parrot-trainer, who tries to make ends meet in Spanish post-civil war times by doing whatever it takes to survive, even if it means interpreting the law in a rather personal broad way. In th...
Arnó-Macià (2014) menciona la autenticidad y la motivación como las principales fuerzas motrices ... more Arnó-Macià (2014) menciona la autenticidad y la motivación como las principales fuerzas motrices en la enseñanza de lenguas para fines específicos. Teniendo presente esta idea, internet parece ser una fuente lógica para encontrar nuevos materiales atractivos que utilizar en el aula. Los recursos de internet están disponibles de inmediato, son generalmente gratis, auténticos, pero además hay un amplio abanico de posibilidades donde elegir. Entre estos recursos, las tecnologías digitales de video destacan por su inmediatez, su flexibilidad y porque, al ser un medio audiovisual, son un importante apoyo para que los alumnos comprendan mejor sobre lo que se está tratando; siempre y cuando se cumplan ciertos criterios en el uso de esta tecnología para fines pedagógicos. Uno de nuestros retos como profesores de inglés para fines específicos radica en ser capaces de involucrar a nuestros estudiantes de postgrado en el uso de inglés como herramienta para compartir sus proyectos y expresar su...
El presente trabajo se engloba dentro de los numerosos estudios que en los ultimos anos se estan ... more El presente trabajo se engloba dentro de los numerosos estudios que en los ultimos anos se estan realizando sobre temas relacionados con la educacion en Canarias. En el marco geografico de la isla de Gran Canaria y en un contexto cronologico que abarca desde la conquista hasta finales del siglo XIX, nos planteamos conocer las ensenanzas linguisticas que recibieron los ciudadanos de esta isla durante el periodo de tiempo mencionado. Tras un primer capitulo introductorio sobre la evolucion de la ensenanza primaria y secundaria en el archipielago, en el segundo nos centramos en la isla de Gran Canaria analizando la situacion de las escuelas de Primera Letras y la didactica con la que se desarrollaba este importante nivel de ensenanza. En el tercer capitulo, dedicado a la segunda ensenanza, damos a conocer la existencia de la Racion de Gramatica de la Catedral de Canarias, su creacion, su historia, sus profesores y algunos de sus metodos; y estudiamos los distintos centros de ensenanza secundaria que existieron durante este periodo, su creacion las ensenanzas linguisticas que impartieron y la supresion de algunos. En el cuarto y ultimo capitulo, investigamos la ensenanza de diversas lenguas modernas, estudiando los idiomas ofertados y la razon de dicha oferta, el profesorado y los metodos utilizados.
… : Anuario del Archivo Histórico Insular de …, 2003
Spanish at Work, 2011
As Swann et al. (2004: 140) explain, the identity of a person or a group can be expressed in seve... more As Swann et al. (2004: 140) explain, the identity of a person or a group can be expressed in several ways, by taking into account their ‘nationality, geographical location, ethnicity, gender, social class, occupation, etc.’ However one approaches the question of identity construction, it is generally accepted that it is ‘in large part established and maintained through language’ (Gumperz 1982a: 7). From a psycholinguistic perspective, Kachru (1992) argues that social identity is acquired together with the mother tongue and that, along with this social identity, a personal or individual identity is also forged. Sociolinguistic research, in turn, shows that ‘language can act as a vehicle for conveying important social information about the speaker’ and that ‘certain linguistic features come to be associated with particular local characteristics’ (Dyer 2007: 101). In fact, the identity-language link is often so strong that ‘a single feature of language use suffices to identify someone’s membership in a given group’ (Tabouret-Keller 1997: 317). A speaker’s phonetic, lexical and syntactic features frequently lead us to identify their geographical origin and, in the words of Lamiquiz (2001: 17, our translation) We tend to attribute to each speaker a specific social behaviour, a series of life preferences, certain habitual customs, a distinctive attitude towards events, especially those concerning the communicative setting, a specific viewpoint on reality […] in summary, a hierarchy of values that we extend to a whole social group or subgroup.
Book Description: Love, Language, Place, and Identity in Popular Culture: Romancing the Other exp... more Book Description: Love, Language, Place, and Identity in Popular Culture: Romancing the Other explores the varied representations of Otherness in romance novels and other fiction with strong romantic plots. Contributors’ approaches range from sociolinguistics to cultural studies, and the texts analyzed are set on four continents, with particular emphasis on Caribbean and Atlantic islands. What all the essays have in common is the exploration of representations of the Other, be it in an inter-racial or inter-cultural relationship. Chapters are divided into two parts; the first examines place, travel, history, and language in 20th-century texts; while the second explores tensions and transformations in the depiction of Otherness, mainly in texts published in the early 21st century. This book reveals that even at the end of the 20th century, these texts display neocolonialist attitudes towards the Other. While more recent texts show noticeable changes in attitudes, these changes can of...
This paper describes an innovative educational experience at the university level. The aim of thi... more This paper describes an innovative educational experience at the university level. The aim of this research was to introduce the use of online collaborative learning as a tool to support face-to-face teaching and to analyse the value of formative peer assessment to improve test results in the subject of English, a compulsory quarterly subject in the second year of the degree in Modern Languages. Although the number of students who volunteered in this first year was not very high, the results indicate that peer formative assessment improves the quality of the students’ opinion essays and helps them understand and assimilate the formal characteristics of this type of writing better.
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Vol. 1 Issue 1 by María J Vera-Cazorla
expected to prove a B1 level in a foreign language. This issue has
opened a new research field associated with learning, as students'
perception and university language services programmes do not seem
to match university language policies. In this context, we wonder what
the perception of postgraduate students at the University of Las Palmas
de Gran Canaria is of this language requirement: is it simply
understood in its dimension of a University service or rather related to
their personal aspiration to learn a foreign language? With a
quantitative and qualitative methodology, we surveyed 292 students
registered on twenty-three Master's Degree courses to answer the
above questions. The results show students' little interest in learning a
foreign language. The possibility of a change will arise when students
who have received a bilingual education graduate. Until then, the
perception of students on the language requirement certification shows
insignificant figures. This research is a needs analysis to propose
actions to introduce the linguistic certification to university
postgraduate students.
motivation and authenticity are two key words in teaching ESP, internet and its many possibilities is presented as a valuable source to finding authentic, engaging and motivating materials to be used in the ESP classroom. The aim of this article is to share a practical experience in the use of digital video technology to teach English for Telecommunications Engineers, conducted with post-graduate students from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years. This course was designed in response to the students’ communicative needs within their own specialty, taking into account the particular requirements of each student, without
neglecting the teaching of grammar and vocabulary and other language tools. We carried out a preliminary study of the needs of these students. In this article, we will explain the reasons that led us to create our own materials, the selection process and results.
technology resources. One of these innovations is related to social software tools, specifically with the use of Wikis as a space for
communication and presentation tasks. The establishment of tools such as wikis is causing many teachers to redefine not only the
educational aspects of their teaching, but also to delineate consistent assessment criteria. For this reason, it is important to use rubrics as an evaluation method since rubrics enable teachers to qualify students according to some criteria already specified, making the evaluation process more transparent and simple.
teaching, less has been written about online peer assessment
and feedback at a university level within the context of
learning communities in the field of Humanities. Advances
in the internet have helped to promote a social constructivist
learning theory more in keeping with the idea of preparing
our students to work collaboratively and communicate
effectively. The purpose of this article is to describe the
author’s practical experiences with two different subjects at
the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain:
Lesson Planning According to the Communicative
Methodological Principles, a post-graduate subject which is
part of a 200-hour course on Spanish as a foreign language,
and English IV, a compulsory quarterly subject in the
second year of the degree in Modern Languages. We will
discuss the benefits that students and teachers can obtain by
being part of a learning community and using online
formative peer assessment.
Papers by María J Vera-Cazorla
expected to prove a B1 level in a foreign language. This issue has
opened a new research field associated with learning, as students'
perception and university language services programmes do not seem
to match university language policies. In this context, we wonder what
the perception of postgraduate students at the University of Las Palmas
de Gran Canaria is of this language requirement: is it simply
understood in its dimension of a University service or rather related to
their personal aspiration to learn a foreign language? With a
quantitative and qualitative methodology, we surveyed 292 students
registered on twenty-three Master's Degree courses to answer the
above questions. The results show students' little interest in learning a
foreign language. The possibility of a change will arise when students
who have received a bilingual education graduate. Until then, the
perception of students on the language requirement certification shows
insignificant figures. This research is a needs analysis to propose
actions to introduce the linguistic certification to university
postgraduate students.
motivation and authenticity are two key words in teaching ESP, internet and its many possibilities is presented as a valuable source to finding authentic, engaging and motivating materials to be used in the ESP classroom. The aim of this article is to share a practical experience in the use of digital video technology to teach English for Telecommunications Engineers, conducted with post-graduate students from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years. This course was designed in response to the students’ communicative needs within their own specialty, taking into account the particular requirements of each student, without
neglecting the teaching of grammar and vocabulary and other language tools. We carried out a preliminary study of the needs of these students. In this article, we will explain the reasons that led us to create our own materials, the selection process and results.
technology resources. One of these innovations is related to social software tools, specifically with the use of Wikis as a space for
communication and presentation tasks. The establishment of tools such as wikis is causing many teachers to redefine not only the
educational aspects of their teaching, but also to delineate consistent assessment criteria. For this reason, it is important to use rubrics as an evaluation method since rubrics enable teachers to qualify students according to some criteria already specified, making the evaluation process more transparent and simple.
teaching, less has been written about online peer assessment
and feedback at a university level within the context of
learning communities in the field of Humanities. Advances
in the internet have helped to promote a social constructivist
learning theory more in keeping with the idea of preparing
our students to work collaboratively and communicate
effectively. The purpose of this article is to describe the
author’s practical experiences with two different subjects at
the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain:
Lesson Planning According to the Communicative
Methodological Principles, a post-graduate subject which is
part of a 200-hour course on Spanish as a foreign language,
and English IV, a compulsory quarterly subject in the
second year of the degree in Modern Languages. We will
discuss the benefits that students and teachers can obtain by
being part of a learning community and using online
formative peer assessment.