Marcela's E-Portfolio
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Communicative Competence in English
Communicative Competence Upper Intermediate II2014 - Second Semester
Writing
3.- Article
Topic: 20th Century Novel
Written by: Marcela Bascourt
Thursday, November 27th, 2014.-
2.- Reaction Paper Topic: Education in Chile
The Education System in Chile has always been a controversial issue to discuss about, especially nowadays after years of manifestations for a better education. This is because there are many aspects to be improved, but most of the time they are overlooked by the authorities. What is more, little improvements in the Minister of Education have not helped to make a progress on the quality of education. It seems to be that the response to what the students have been claiming comes to be this reform to be applied soon. However, there are still people complaining that this reform does not cover all the aspects in order to improve education, not only for students, but also for teachers.
First of all, why did the government wait for plenty of manifestations to make a change in education? Why now? Why not 20 years ago? It should be noticed that during the last years, education has been in hands of private institutions, and over the time, citizens have been doing and obeying the law, without mentioning the significant sums of money that families have to pay, even when sometimes there is not enough money in the pocket. Moreover, in the article written by Simonsen (2011), according to the OCDE, Chilean families are the ones that spend the biggest amount of money in Education, even though the probability of finding a job after graduating is low. What does it tell us? In our opinion, if we are paying to get a good education, we also deserve good quality, and education that could assure us to find a good job. Otherwise, what would be the purpose? Especially if we think that the government should be in charge of our education.
On the other hand, this reform is leaving teachers behind. For years, teachers have been denigrated and their dedicated work has been despised. People always criticize them as being the only responsible for the poor education that children receive. Nevertheless, there are many factors that people do not consider, such as parents, community, authorities, students, and teachers who need to be constantly involved in education if they want to see an improvement on it.
Another point to think about the question of why there are some private institutions concerned about a reform in education. Why do they think it is not a good idea to make education free? Maybe they see education as a business, in which they can make an investment and profit. This is just what million of students have wanted to finish since the manifestations began during 2006.
Finally, even when a reform in education is completely necessary in Chile, the way of financing is sometimes not the most appropriate, because at the end of the day, all citizens will be paying for education in Chile in an implicit form through price upswing, which will turn out in a heinous inflation. Is this the way in which we want education of good quality and free? We do not think so. There are still many loose ends to tie up.
References
Bellei, C. (2014). Sweeping reforms set to end for-profit education in Chile. The Conversation. Retrieved from:
http://theconversation.com/sweeping-reforms-set-to-end-for-profit-education-in-chile-26406
Written by: Marcela Bascourt & Susan Saavedra
Monday, October 13, 2014 .-
1.- Argumentative Essay Topic: Multiculturalism
Main Issues in Multicultural Societies
When we talk about diverse cultures living together in the same place we clearly refer to multiculturalism. This phenomenon has always existed due to the immigration all over the world. In Chile, 2, 8% of the inhabitants are foreigners, where most of them are Peruvians. In addition, in countries where multiculturalism is the main feature there are many aspects to consider about which communities differ, such as beliefs or behaviours. What is more, in multicultural countries some controversies appear because of many communities co-existing together, such as problems with the language, racism and religion.
Firstly, one of the most common issues that appears when referring to multicultural countries is the problem of the language. The matter of confronting another language seems to be the principal trouble that immigrants have to face if they want to communicate. In order to adapt to their new lives, people have the necessity to learn the new language in which they are exposed. On the other hand, even though some people easily acquire the language without the need to study in some formal institution, they might not know the grammatical rules of the mainstream language. This problem leads us to a social discrimination by some people from the host society.
Another permanent conflict in multicultural countries, which is mainly suffered by colored people, is racism. But first of all, what is racism? It has to do with the discrimination and prejudice. It is the belief that some people are superior or inferior to others because of the skin color, language, customs, place of birth, among others. Through human history, in multicultural countries this issue has led to heinous acts, where one of the clearest evidence is slavery. Nowadays, in certain countries there still exists slavery, which is now known as modern slavery. What is more, in certain societies there are still traces of racism that can be appreciated in everyday life.
Apart from the issues of language and racism, there is another problem that people living in multicultural communities have to deal with, which is religion. The main conflict that concerns religion in multicultural societies is originated because of a lack of tolerance and respect for others people’s beliefs. In the case of immigrants, in many occasions they arrive to countries where it is vital to preserve religious beliefs and habits; due to this, the host society does not tolerate different types of religions; therefore, they force immigrants to adapt to their own religious faith. What is more, in some multicultural societies, there are so many varieties of religions, that this leads to segregation. For instance, in terms of education, in certain countries there are different kinds of schools for immigrants, according to the religion or beliefs that parents have; and therefore, want for their kids as well.
Marcela Bascourt & Carol Saavedra
Tuesday, September 9th, 2014.
Communicative Competence Upper Intermediate I2014 - First Semester
Online vs. Traditional Education
Comparison Essay
Comparison Essay
The first difference between traditional education and
online education is flexibility. In terms of timetables, traditional students have
to be in their educational institution almost every day; in comparison, people
who opt for online education, have more flexible schedules. For this reason, online
education is becoming more popular every day, especially among single parents
and working students. Moreover, online education allows to work on tasks and to
study at any time and wherever students consider appropriate. Conversely,
traditional students are always pressured by deadlines. However, it all depends
on the style of learning of the students. For instance, online students need to
be self-motivated people; otherwise, they will fall into procrastination.
The costs that imply to study are other difference between traditional education and online education. In traditional Chilean education, students have to travel from their houses to their educational institution, which means to spend plenty of money depending on the place where students live. Sometimes, students who live too far away have the need to move to some flat or house near the University, being away from their families for months. On the other hand, the main feature of online education is to provide more freedom to students. Therefore, students are not forced to travel to some educational institution, since they are able to study from their homes; as a result, they save money in terms of mobility.
A third difference between traditional education and online education is the social interaction. In the traditional education, students attend to classes five days a week on average; consequently, they have the advantage to ask to their teacher about any doubt. Also, students have the chance to study, discuss and work in groups with classmates and friends, which sometimes it makes easier to understand some contents. Besides, students live in a community, where they can share experiences, knowledge, and good moments. Students make friends more easily in traditional education. This allows students to endure and bear the stress, which is sometimes caused by overwhelming study. In contrast, online education is more individual and promotes the independent work. In consequence, students do not have the chance to share and live in a community as traditional students have, since at the end of the day, online education is distance education.
Nowadays, there is no excuse for not studying. Education system has adapted to the current times. What is more, people have the option of choosing between traditional or online education. To sum up, there are plenty of differences between traditional education and online education such as flexible schedules, costs, interaction, as well as resources, type of learning and the social perception of each one. Before choosing between traditional or online education, people should analyze their advantages and disadvantages. On the whole, it all depends on the circumstances of the learners; since they can choose the option that best fit to their situation, and it is their decision how to earn a college degree.
MarCela BasCourt
Friday, 27th June, 2014.-
" Is materialism making Chileans ill? "
Reaction Paper
Reaction Paper
It seems that through the years, people are more convinced that the more possessions they have, the better their welfare is. Well, according to different investigations, materialism does not make people happy. Indeed, a materialistic way of life affects our minds psychologically: the majority of materialistic views are associated with low self-esteem. To my mind, materialism is a lifestyle for empty people who think that owning plenty of possessions takes to a better well-being for them and their families. Besides, this occurs not only in Chile, but also in the United Kingdom and in many other countries, especially in the capitalistic ones.
But, where did this begin? It all started with the capitalism; according to the article materialism is the basis of it. Although others theories also indicate the social comparison, or the adoption of lifestyles based on mass consumer societies. Another theory, which is the one I agree with, is the culture in where we live. The whole day we are immersed in publicity almost forcing us to buy things, to increase our possessions, to obtain a bank credit. I feel that publicity creates needs that we do not really need. This changes our minds, making us think that the philosophy or the goal in life is materialism. Worst of all, this legacy is transferring to future generations.
Do we really want to leave materialism as legacy for proceeding generations? I do not think so, but it seems that this is the reality. Studies show that the importance of money and buying things is increasing from generation to generation, and it could not be otherwise, considering our currently consumer society. Youth are always trying to follow trends from other countries, and the most consumerist countries are not an exception. In my view, class struggle is also a factor that takes to materialism. Trying to be what you are not, trying to impress people, or getting the most recent technological device launched in the market. I think it is our responsibility to make a change.
In conclusion, I ask myself: are not more important things in life than to gain possessions? After reading the article I realized that if we want to make a change, we have to start by ourselves. Besides, do we really think that having plenty of possessions or money will make us happy? I do not. We really need to make this plague stop; otherwise, maybe someday we will notice that it is too late. What is the example that we are leaving to our children? By having lots of possessions of large amount of money we do not have happiness ensured. Now that I am more conscious about materialism and what involves, I analyze myself: am I already contaminated with the plague of the materialism? If I am, my mission is to get rid of it, and to try to leave a good legacy, not one based on materialism.
Reference:
Owens, M. (2014). Is materialism making Chileans ill?. The Santiago Times. Retrieved from http://santiagotimes.cl/
Friday, May 30th, 2014.
Movie Review:
Edward Scissorhands
Movie Review:
Edward Scissorhands
Are you looking for a magical and unforgettable movie? Think about Edwards Sccisorhands, a fantastic movie that has all that you might be searching for: fantasy, drama, comedy, and of course, romance. This charming movie tells the story of Edward, the incomplete artificial man created by an inventor who dies before finishes him, leaving him with scissors instead of hands and in complete solitude.
Nevertheless, Edward is found by a local Avon representative who takes him home where he meets Kim, with whom he falls in love and starts an innocent relationship, although full of troubles that Edward will have to overcome. A 1990’s masterpiece directed by Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp as Edward, and Winona Ryder as Kim in the main roles. Moreover, this movie is suitable for all the audience; hence, it can be enjoyed by the entire family. Even the soundtrack of this movie is outstanding, thanks to the wonderful work of Danny Elfman. Definitely, Edwards Sccisorhands is not just another American movie.
The movie starts when an elderly woman tells
her granddaughter a bedtime story of a young man named Edward (Johnny Deep), he
was a creation of an old inventor (Vincent Price). Edward has scissors for
hands. A local Avon seller visits the house where Edward lives, and she finds
him alone, so she takes him to her house to live with her family. Furthermore,
Edward meets to the son, husband and daughter of Peg, the woman who invited him
to live in her house. He
starts to be very famous in the town, firstly because of his scissor, and
secondly because he begins to use it to cut hair and hedge-trimming. Edward Scissorhands begins to be friend
with Peg´s daughter; nevertheless he falls in love with her. Suddenly,
the story turns around for Edward, since he will have to face plenty of
problems because of his innocence and pure personality that is misunderstood.
On the other hand, it should be noticed that there are morals in this movie where many of them are related to love; nevertheless, the most important lesson that the story provides deals with appearance. Despite the fact that Edward was accepted by some members of the Boggs family, he was seen as another household appliance, not as a person. Peg was a close friend of him, but she did not understand why he was trying to be like everyone else, yet Peg’s daughter was the only one who could understand him. Because of what has just mentioned, Edward respects her as a person, something that Kim’s boyfriend does not do. Therefore, it is essential not to judge people because of their appearances.
Edward showed that sometimes there is no relationship between how a person looks like, and how the same person is inside. The film also discourages gossip, the spreading of rumors and the jumping to conclusions without gathering all the facts. Finally, the film gives a negative message which refers to believe that if somebody does something wrong, she or he can avoid that problem running away, that is to say, people will not be able to face their problems, and they will have to escape from them.
To sum up, the movie itself does not show what you expect to see about a happy end. On the contrary it goes direct to the fact that, unthinkable, love cannot be allowed and loneliness can take the control again in an unavoidable way. As something imperceptible, it is strange to see how a saleswoman decides to go to a place where she had never been before, encounter a man, and with no hesitation invites him to live in her house, not even knowing what kind of person he could be .Nevertheless, it ends up fading away seeing the sensible, harmless and innocent person that he was, who only wanted to reach its utmost dream, even if it looked unreachable forever.
This movie has to be seen at least once, perhaps, you could not understand the style of clothes or the developing of the movie itself about ethic, behaviour, respect and how love keeps someone alive over the time. Notwithstanding, this creation is amazingly able to drown any person at the point that there might be no heart that can resist the tears and the feeling of empathy seeing the way in which everything ends, leaving a question that will never be answered.
Written by: Marcela Bascourt, Carol Saavedra, Susan Saavedra and Angel Pereira.
Friday 25th April, 2014.
Interesting Cities: Vienna
Written Report
Written Report
Vienna is a magical city full of history, culture, art, and above all, a city with an outstanding architecture. Vienna is the capital of Austria, located on the banks of the Danube River; it is the largest city of Austria and one of its nine states. With a population of more than 1.7 millions of habitants, Vienna has been called “The Europe’s cultural capital” thanks to its famous architecture, cultural events, imperial sights and coffee houses. In this imperial city, the language spoken is German, and the most common foreign language is English. Vienna, a city where the currency is the Euro, it has become the most visited city in Austria due to its variety of cultural attractions and its musical legacy, which is why it is also known as “the city of music”. Vienna is the dream-city for any tourist interested in heritage structures, culture and breathtaking attractions.
The historical architecture is a highlighted aspect in Vienna. Through the
architecture of this city, it is possible to distinguish the most important
three periods of development of Europe, which are The Middle Ages, The Baroque
period and The Gründerzeit. Between 1740 and 1790, during the reign of
Empress Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II, the prominent design was the
Baroque. Later, in the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph, was ordered a
renewal of the urban city, creating the Ring Boulevard with neo-Gothic and
neo-Baroque buildings. Moreover, during the 19th century significant buildings
were constructed, like The Museum of Fine Arts, the Renaissance Revival Vienna
Opera House, and some famous parks. Then, during early 1900s the architect
Adolf Loos establishes the minimalist style in Vienna which is reflected in The
Goldman and Salatsch Building. Taking into account the architecture and
heritage of Vienna, in 2001 its city center was designated one of the World
Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
After the war in Vienna in the 1960s architecture had established new styles within the city. In the 1980s and 1990s, new domiciliary buildings were proposed. Also at the begining of the decade in the 21st century revolutionary architectural milestone arose in Vienna. For example the Museums Quatier and Danube City. Returning to the 1960s, Hans Hollein caused a furore. It can be seen in the previous Retti candle shop on Kohlmarkt, now the jewellers Yana Gadner. Since 1990 St. Stephan's Cathedral has been reflected in the glass façade of the Hass House on Stephansplatz, also planned by Hollein. The building successfully continued with the Wienerberg City and its Twin Towers by Massimiliano Fuksas. Architect Zaha Hadid planned an apartment block in columns on Spittelauer Lände. And in 2001 Jean Nouvel, Coop Himmelb, Manfred Wehdorn and Wilhelm Holzbauer renovated the typical gasometers, colossal 19th century gas holders.
Furthemore, there is an organization called the Urban Development Plan (STEP), that is an important implement, which provides essential implements warranting Vienna's innovative development. For instance, it specifies whether an area is designated as green space, or for commercial buildings etc. The multi-purpose city map plays a necessary role in the planning process. It is a modern digital map that offers a rigorous opinion of pavements, roads, or buildings in Vienna.
In relation to the main places of interest in Vienna, it should be noticed that there are many attractions where everyone could realize how beautiful and how well built this place is. One of those attractions is St. Stephen’s Cathedral which is the iconic image of Vienna and an excellent display of Gothic architecture. It dominates the center of the city, and about how it looks, its colorful roof is covered with 230,000 tiles that form a mosaic of the double-headed eagle representing Austria's former imperial family, the Habsburgs. On the other hand, a second important place in Vienna is The Hofburg Imperial Palace which has 20 different tours that inform visitors about Austrian history. The most impressive is the Spanish Riding School, where white Lipizzaner horses perform to Strauss’ “The Blue Danube.” A third place of interest is Schönbrunn Palace: it is located outside the First District. The large baroque garden is filled with wonders such as the world’s oldest zoo and a public pool. Finally, but not less important, the Giant Ferris Wheel, which is a landmark of Vienna, it is one of the oldest operating Ferris Wheels in the world, and it provides a bird’s-eye view of the Danube.
Written by: Marcela Bascourt, Susan Saavedra and Carol Saavedra.
Monday 14th April, 2014
Panoramic view of Vienna at night
Communicative Competence Intermediate 2013
The Dark Side of Online Dating
Essay
The Dark Side of Online Dating
Essay
Nowadays, a very
common way to meet people is through the Internet. A clear example of this is
online dating which has become a usual way to chat with people from many
different places in real time. This phenomenon began in the 90’s thanks to the
expansion of the Internet at homes, and it has become very common these days.
However, online dating is not a safe way of communication not only for
teenagers, but also for adults.
New generations of
teenagers spend hours in social networks and in online dating websites trying
to meet new people. As a consequence, there is more risk for them. Online
dating is very popular among teenagers, but it is not safe. There are plenty of
perverts on the Internet waiting for a pretty girl. In some cases, they lie
about their personal information or about their look to make “friends” more
easily.
On the other hand,
every day, more adults are interested in online dating, but most of them do not
know the risks of being involved on it. Firstly, you do not know the person
behind the computer, it is a completely strange. Secondly, the person with whom
you chat can be a thief that wants to know the password of your saving account.
Even worse, your penfriend can be a crazy who wants to sexually abuse you.
In brief, even when
online dating is very popular in this decade, there are several dangers for
both teenagers and adults. In online dating there are perverts, crazy men,
thieves, and nice people too; therefore, you can find all kind of people by this
way. In addition, some people have found their love in online dating. Still,
these sites are not safe enough. For this reason, it is better to meet people
in a traditional way, like old generations used to do; this means, face to
face.
Marcela Bascourt,
November 26th 2013
Letter of Complain
Language Department
Monday, October 7th, 2013
Dear Mr. Molina
We hope you are doing well. We are three English Pedagogy students of the second year, and we are writing you to express our dissatisfaction about three unacceptable facts that occur in our Language Department.
Firstly, as students, we feel it is intolerable to not have our own printer in our building and have to wait in line for hours to print some documents.
Besides, you should consider that this is a problem that has lasted for years. Secondly, we must also emphasis that it is almost impossible to use the new laboratory, which was built essentially for us. The main problem is that most of the time, the laboratory number three is occupied with tutorial classes or even with students from others generations. Finally, the last point regards about the computer's softwares of the laboratories; due to when we try to use them, there are some computers that don't have the software that we need to work with.
For us, it would be marvellous to have prompt settlements to these matters. First of all, we believe that the printer should be in the Language Department, and only English students should utilize it. On the other hand, the entrance of students of other generations to the new laboratory should be banned; thereby it would be easier to make use of it. Lastly, it is urgent to install the required software in all the computers of the laboratories, for it is necessary to execute some exams.
Considering all the above, we believe we are entitled to reclaim about all those points. We are confident that this matter will receive your prompt attention. We look forward to receiving a prompt solution to these matters.
Yours sincerely,
Marcela Bascourt, Carol Saavedra, Susan Saavedra
Communicative Competence 2012
A trip to London
♦ During the last weeks, I had to do a task at the University about a imaginary "Trip to London". How could be going there for three days with my family, from Paris to London. So my team and me chose a hotel, what visit, what buy, how much money spend, things like that. After all that, we had to show the finished work to the rest of the class, in groups. I worked in this web-quest during two weeks, in meeting with my classmates in free time, took much time do it. I worked with three more classmates: C. Contreras, C. Saavedra and K. Jofre.
♦ The web-quest was a large work, we needed search a lot of information on Internet, so we divided the work, for example, I worked in the map and in the hotel table. We did it for steps. Finally, we informed to the rest of the class in a presentation in ppt. The slide had great pictures of London, and tables for a better organization. The presentation was good, I spoke about my character so I made my introduce: my name was Charlot, I was the daughter!
♦ When I think about the task, I realize that I learned a lot of things, like working in groups, how to organize the task, dividing steps, I learned too work better in a presentation, with slides and also how to prepare for a trip, we had to consider the hotel and how much spend, that kind of things. But there were things difficult too: in the 3th step, in a map, I had to circle with different colors areas, streets and underground stations, that was a really hard work, to mark the places and the nearer station, a madness. The other difficult thing was to choose a cheap hotel, because we just had £400, and was a laborius work to choose a hotel with that estimate for three days and two nights. Well, but for improving this things, I think that I just need more practice with this kind of task, because was my first homework in that we had to simulate a trip.
♦ In this task, I enjoyed know better London, where to go and what to buy. Also to see tourist places, like the the Big Ben, the National Gallery and my favourite, the London Eye. It's important say too, that in this task I developed competences like writing and use of english, while I wrote information in the presentation, also the speaking, in the moment that we had to show to the rest of the class our work. In conclusion I learned valuable things for my professional future. I would like to visit London and to know the London Eye, I hope so. ♥
Click down here for check the presentation
Some pictures that "I took" in the trip to London . . .
