Procrastination

Hello, fellas! How your winter break is going? I'm not feeling well. Damn you cold! So I'm here writing this post while I'm drinking a nice cup of tea. Louisa Clark says:"there really isn't much that can't be solved by a decent cup of tea." Have you read that book? The second one is horrible. I should be writing about procrastination but, I'm just putting it off.  The other day I read an article about this problem. A group of scientists discovered that there is a gene for procrastination. It seems like there is a gene for all our bad habits. There is a gene for smoking, gambling and even for hoarding. If you ask me, I think we are just lazy. Every time I have to do something important I tried to organise everything in advance. But I procrastinate a lot. For example, the other day I said I was going to study for my finals. Five seconds later I was watching my 900 favourite cat videos on Youtube.  Don't you love cat videos? I love cats. After that I said I was going to study but, I just listened to some Korean music. So I decided to break this bad habit. 
My secret
I'm breaking the code. I'll tell you that. Probably I'm not going to be allowed back in Vegas. I'm thinking about magicians. Well, I honestly want to pass my exams so, I decided to stop procrastinating. I did some research, and I found something called Kaizen. 
Kaizen is a Japanese word that means continuous improvement. According to this approach, you can learn better in a small amount of time. You are wondering: what kind of tea are you drinking, Claudio? But let David Wolfe explains Kaizen for you: 
"One of the main principles of Kaizen is that big changes result from small changes over a period of time. This can prevent the burnout that comes from trying to tackle one big task at once. Under the principle of Kaizen, you’d want to break a larger task into smaller chunks of time." -David Wolfe
Wikipedia: 
"Kaizen is a daily process, the purpose of which goes beyond simple productivity improvement. It is also a process that, when done correctly, humanizes the workplace, eliminates overly hard work (“muri”), and teaches people how to perform experiments on their work using the scientific method and how to learn to spot and eliminate waste in business processes."

I'm lazy so here you have a video that explains everything:

Now you don't have any excuse to do the things you must do. But at the end of the day it's like Ellen Degeneres says: 

My students are the best

Howdy, mates? I love this Scottish weather. It is perfect for staying at home with a cup of tea, milkshake or chocolate and watching movies. 

Today I want to tell you something that happened this week with a group of secondary students that I have. This is my first year working at a secondary school. We were dealing with vocabulary related to movies and tv shows, and something amazing happened. I told them that I love horror movies, but I don't like movies with real animals. One of my students told me about a movie called "Okja." I saw this movie a couple of days ago. The movie is about a genetically modified pig that it is super big (almost like a hippo). Okja is the best friend of a Korean girl. The company who creates Okja wants her back to make her food. This girl would do anything to save her friend. The movie shows how cruel the food industry is with animals. 

For 10 idyllic years, young Mija (An Seo Hyun) has been the caretaker and constant companion to Okja-a massive animal and an even bigger friend at her home in the mountains of South Korea. But that changes when a family-owned multinational conglomerate Mirando Corporation takes Okja for themselves and transports her to New York, where image obsessed and self-promoting CEO Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) has big plans for Mija's dearest friend. With no particular plan but single-minded in intent, Mija sets out on a rescue mission, but her already daunting journey quickly becomes more complicated when she crosses paths with disparate groups of capitalists, demonstrators and consumers, each battling to control the fate of Okja...while all Mija wants to do is bring her friend home. Deftly blending genres, humour, poignancy and drama, Bong Joon Ho (Snowpiercer, The Host) begins with the gentlest of premises-the bond between man and animal and ultimately creates a distinct and layered vision of the world that addresses the animal inside us all. Okja is a Plan B Entertainment, Lewis Pictures and Kate Street Picture Company production in association with Netflix. - Written by Netflix

I told my students that I'm a vegetarian since I was a kid. So, without me even asking a debate started. They started giving their opinions about vegetarianism and animal cruelty. They were using English to discuss.  Half of the class was in favour and the other half against Vegetarianism. It's amazing when your students change your plan completely. 
I loved it because they were giving their opinions in English. This school is not a bilingual school, but they did their best to convey what they wanted to say. They were eager to express their ideas, and they didn't care to make mistakes. They took turns to present arguments and respond the other students. Finally, my students agreed animal cruelty exists. They said that there should be some regulations in food production. We had a great time discussing something very controversial. This experience has made me realise how unpredictable a lesson could be. 

Sharing moment

Hi there, mates! It's a wee bit dreich outside today.

You know, the other day I was thinking about what I wanted to share in the "sharing moment" section. Last year I worked in a primary school, and I had a nice experience with a 4th grade. They were so calm and intelligent. I just love working in a primary school.  It was the first time I had an integrated student (I don't know the exact name in English for it) in my classroom. He had Down syndrome. I didn't know how to teach English to him. I was really worried because I didn't feel prepared. I asked a teacher for help, but she didn't help me at all. I had to do some research about it. Sadly, there is very little information about Down syndrome and second language learning. What I can tell you, from my experience, is that my student understood some of the things we were doing. For example, he could complete successfully the activities we had to do on the board (mostly games). He wasn't able to write anything, but he could recognise words and the objects.  I remember that one day he stood up and rearranged the words with the pictures on the board. He did it without being asked, and he did it very well. Sadly, I was with this course less than six months. I want to share with you the research I did about Down syndrome and second language learning. 

Can children with Down syndrome learn more than one language?

Sue Buckley is a leading expert in education and development for young people with Down syndrome. Sue began research examining early reading instruction for children with Down syndrome in 1980 and founded Down Syndrome Education International in 1986. Her research and contributions to the lives of young people with Down syndrome has been widely recognised through numerous awards.

Sue Buckley

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Can children with Down syndrome learn more than one language? Does learning a second language affect progress in a first language? These are questions that professionals are often asked but there is very little research evidence available on which to base advice. They are questions that are not easy to answer by designing a research study as, in many countries, so few children with Down syndrome are expected to learn more than one language. Parents could be very helpful in enabling us to answer these questions by recording the progress of their children with Down syndrome when they are in a bilingual situation and I hope that this article may encourage parents to write to me with information on their own children's progress with a second language. I am aware of many children and adults with Down syndrome who have achieved a functional level of competence in speaking a second and sometimes a third language, through contacts with families and professionals in many countries. I have also met children with Down syndrome who can read and write in more than one language but we need much more information their levels of general ability and on how they have achieved this in order to advise other parents. Case studies would be a good starting point for more research.

Learning a second language in school

In many countries, all children are expected to learn two or even three languages and they may begin to learn more than one language before starting full-time education or they may not be exposed to a second language until they are in school. For many of these children, only one language will be spoken at home and the other language may be used by some people in the community or only in school. Teachers and parents want to know if the child with Down syndrome should be included in second language learning. For example, should English-speaking children with Down syndrome be included in Irish or Welsh lessons in primary school? Should children with Down syndrome learn a second language in secondary school when their peers begin lessons in the new language? As far as I am aware, there are no published studies of children's progress in these situations but I have met children with Down syndrome who have done well when learning a second language in both primary and secondary school. For example, I know children doing well in Irish language and Welsh language primary schools even though their first and home language is English. One lad in an English secondary school learned French in his first year as well as his non-disabled peer group – by going home and writing out everything he had to learn, as he knew that he had to see the French words to remember them. His mother commented that he was learning a second language in the same way as she had taught him his first language – by reading it. (For more on the benefits of early reading on speech and language development see 5,7)

The bilingual family

The other common situation that raises queries is the bilingual family. In a bilingual family, two languages will be used in the home because the first language of each parent is different and they wish their children to be able to speak both languages. If typically developing preschool children (under 5 years of age) are exposed to two languages used naturally they usually have no difficulty in becoming fluent in both languages.

Bilingual families are often advised not to speak two languages to babies and toddlers with Down syndrome on the assumption that, since children with Down syndrome have significant speech and language difficulties, they will be further disadvantaged by hearing two languages. There is actually no published evidence to support this view but there is one study in progress in Canada that suggests that there is no disadvantage. At least in the early stages, children with Down syndrome who are becoming bilingual are making the same progress in their first language as children with Down syndrome who are learning only one language (monolingual). Preliminary findings from this ongoing study by Elizabeth Kay-Raining Bird and her colleagues were presented in July at a joint conference combining the Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders held annually at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, USA with the IX International Congress for the Study of Child Language.^[1]

Is bilingualism affecting their first language?

They are comparing the progress of 8 children with Down syndrome who are bilingual with a group of 15 who are monolingual, matched for mental age. All but one of these bilingual children are exposed continuously to both languages at home as well as in the community. The chronological ages of the bilingual children range from 4 years to 11 years. The two groups of children with Down syndrome do not differ in their English vocabulary sizes (English being the first or dominant language for all the children) or in their developing grammar as measured by Mean Length of Utterance (MLU). Learning two languages has had no negative effects on first language learning – no effects on vocabulary or on grammar in their spoken language.

Are they like other bilingual children?

When compared with typically developing bilingual children at the same stage of language development, the bilingual children with Down syndrome were making the same progress in vocabulary in both the languages. All the children with Down syndrome (both bilingual and monolingual) were using shorter phrases and sentences than the typically developing children, demonstrating the usual delay in mastering early grammar that is shown by children with Down syndrome.

This is an important study but, as the presenters emphasised, it is a small study which needs replicating and it is too early to see if bilingualism has any effect on the development of later grammar in one or both languages. However, they conclude that their study does NOT provide support for the advice to speak only one language to babies with Down syndrome – the advice that is usually given to parents at the present time. This research group are also looking at the way the bilingual children mix the use of the two languages and once they publish the findings of these studies we will publish the full references for our readers.

Other studies

There are two other published case studies of bilingual or multilingual individuals with Down syndrome, one of an Italian woman speaking Italian, English and some French ^[2] and one of twin girls who were bilingual in speech (English) and in sign, British Sign Language for the deaf (BSL) ^[3,4] as they had profoundly deaf parents, for whom BSL was the dominant language, and a hearing older brother. (Deaf sign languages such as BSL are full languages with fully developed grammars. Makaton is not a language, it is a set of signs used to support spoken language learning – without a grammar).

The Italian woman was reported as an exceptional case as she was seen to be particularly able, with an IQ of 71. She had standard trisomy 21 and she had good spoken Italian with better mastery of spoken grammar than is typical for a person with Down syndrome. She also had some competence in French and in English. She had been in Belgium until she was 6 years old on a NATO military base and therefore exposed to French. She learned English from a British sister-in-law and she was able to hold a conversation in English, watch English TV and speak on the phone. She had a full time job as an adult in an Italian advertising agency. Her abilities demonstrate that having Down syndrome does not prevent someone from learning several languages, as many parents and professionals know from their own experience.

Vocabulary learning may be easier in sign

At ten years of age, their dominant language was spoken English. They still signed to their parents and other signers, but used speech to each other and to other speakers. Their sign vocabulary was more extensive than their spoken vocabulary. In sign, their vocabulary age for comprehension was at the same level as their mental age. In spoken English, their vocabulary comprehension level was approximately two years behind their mental age. This specific gap between mental age and language age is the usual pattern reported for children with Down syndrome learning a spoken language. The vocabulary advantage in sign might reflect that sign language was their parents' first language therefore they may have experienced a richer vocabulary in sign. These findings could also reflect a sign advantage for learning vocabulary, supporting research that does indicate visual cues definitely support spoken word learning and that spoken words alone are difficult for children with Down syndrome to learn.^[5]

Grammar learning is not easier in sign

However, the twins' development of grammar comprehension was equally delayed in both languages, sign and speech and it is disappointing to learn that they did not show an advantage in learning a sign grammar. This may be an important finding for our understanding of the cause of grammar difficulties. Most children with Down syndrome have difficulty mastering the grammar of their spoken language and have vocabulary knowledge that is ahead of their grammar by their teenage years. It has been suggested by a number of researchers that poor short-term verbal memory may be a major causal factor, limiting the children's ability to process sentences and access the grammar, and also that speech-motor difficulties may affect the production of grammatical markers and complete sentences.^[5,6]

If the main problem with learning grammar was linked to learning a spoken language from listening, then children learning a sign language might be less likely to show a grammatical difficulty and may have more fluent production in sign rather than speech. However, the twins do show grammatical difficulties in both languages and use only short 'keyword utterances' in both speech and sign, suggesting a more fundamental language learning difficulty is associated with Down syndrome, regardless of the modality of the language. The girls are also now dominant in spoken English rather than in sign, despite sign being the dominant language of their parents. If sign was actually an easier language mode for children with Down syndrome, we might have expected them to prefer it and to have become more competent in sign than in speech.

What can we conclude from the available information?

The evidence from individual cases and from these studies indicate that children with Down syndrome can become bi-lingual and they seem to be doing so in the same way and as typically developing children of the same mental age and first language level. There is no evidence that learning two languages has any negative effects on the development of the children's first language. The children with Down syndrome show difficulties in developing grammar in both languages, even if one language that they are exposed to is a full sign language such as BSL.

This suggests that the advice for parents should be to include their child with Down syndrome in ordinary family and community life like any other child. If their family is bilingual then they should use the two languages with the baby with Down syndrome in the same way as they do with their other children and he or she will be likely to cope perfectly well with this experience. Similarly, if other children in the family and local community are exposed to two languages in school, the child with Down syndrome can follow the same pathway.

With regard to teaching grammar, the evidence we have at the present time suggests that the best way to teach grammar to children with Down syndrome is through appropriately planned reading activities in their first language, as we have argued in the first issue of this journal for 2002. These reading activities are, of course, always accompanied by speech so that the visual and the spoken language forms have the same grammar and seem to work together to support the learning of one language. We are exploiting the fact that visual short-term memory is better than auditory short-term memory for children with Down syndrome.

Here you have the original article: https://www.down-syndrome.org/practice/180/

Other articles: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51927.asp 

https://educarconsentido.com/2013/03/06/bilinguismo-y-sindrome-de-down/

http://www.downmx.com/escuela/segundo-idioma-y-sindrome-de-down/

http://www.revistas.una.ac.cr/index.php/letras/article/viewFile/271/224

Collaborative Work

Before reading this post, please do not think that this is personal or anything. This is only my opinion about something that really worries me. 

Hi there! Collaborative work or hell as I call it. When the teacher told us that we were going to work with other people, I was worried as hell. Last time I did this kind of work (with google docs and everything), the result wasn't that good. Do you remember Game of Thrones night's watch oath? Well...
I'm a lone wolf, mate. I know that working with others is very important, and enriching, but for me, it can be a stressful situation. Remember Pimpinela? They used to be three but they had to do a collaborative assignment, and they are two now. (that last part is not true. I felt like the post was starting to lull a little bit, and I wanted to embellish). Trusting is important to complete the task successfully. If you don't trust in someone you must work with...

So, I decided to investigate the pros and cons of collaborative work. Here you have part of an interesting article about this:

Shared Responsibilities

For some students, sharing project responsibilities with others provides emotional comfort as well as tangible value. Students can allocate tasks based on expertise. One student may take on creative tasks, while another gets involved more in the research and compilation. Spreading tasks among several students can also increase the production efficiency compared with individual projects. In some cases, students may also take on tasks outside of their comfort zone to expand their skills.

Different Perspectives

In workplaces, groups are used to enhance the number and qualities of ideas discussed. In college, students learn to appreciate that different students have different life experiences and backgrounds. By becoming more open-minded, group members may learn to appreciate the unique viewpoints presented by others. Diversity can add to the breadth and depth of the ideas discussed, as people from varied backgrounds usually come to the table with ideas based on their own backgrounds.

Inefficiency in Decisions

Students may view groups as a way to divide tasks, but ambitious students may engage in extra time-consuming conversation and debate, delaying the completion of the assignment. While end results may be improved, decisions often take more time in groups. Individuals can't simply go with their first instinct or idea. They usually have to introduce ideas and work through group conflicts together to come to a consensus. This is problematic on projects with pending deadlines where urgent decisions are needed.

Varying Attitudes

Much of the conflict in work groups in the classroom arises from different attitudes toward the work group experience. Each student may have different academic goals. Some just want to pass, while others hope for an "A." Some students embrace the benefits and opportunities that come from teamwork, while others prefer to work autonomously and don't adjust well to a group assignment. During group discussion and work, some students take on controlling roles that can turn off others, whereas other students sit back and frustrate cohorts who want them to participate actively.

Original article: http://education.seattlepi.com/advantages-disadvantages-group-work-classroom-situation-1333.html

I know that group work and collaborative work are not the same, but I think that I needed to do some research about this. My worries are the same in both. 

Exams

Exams my old friends 

I've been studying English for 10 years (and I also studied biology) and every time I have to sit for an exam I go through the same stages: the planning stage, the re-reading stage, the “I do not even know what I don’t know” stage, the “I’m going to fail” stage and finally, the “We have a make-up anyway” stage. I should be used to exams by now, but, if truth be told, I am not. Sometimes I think I am not going to be able to study everything (even if I have a month to do it). 

In secondary school, I used to study everything by heart, and that helped me. The thing is, there are some subjects that you cannot study only by heart (Hello, Maths, Physics, and Chemistry) you need to find another way to do it. Apart from that, the problem with studying by heart is that if you forget a word of a definition, you forget everything.

A technique that I use a lot is to tell everything I’ve studied to another person. I have 5 brothers, so if I have to suffer for my exams, they must do it too (that’s what younger brothers are for). I try to explain everything I know about the topic. When I started studying English everything change because they don’t understand the language. So, I imagine myself in front of a lot of people who really want to know everything about The French Revolution and its stages.  I have imaginary people asking questions about the different topics.  Did that help me? Of course, it did.

Get together with friends for a study session never work for me. I know a lot of people learn a lot by studying with friends but I just can’t. I need to study alone and then yes, with a nice cup of tea or milkshake in between, I can sit in a round of questions and answers with my friends. 

I don’t think an exam can tell you how much a person knows about something but you know…life. I used to worry a lot about my exams at the point of getting ill because of them. Now, I see them as part of the process of learning. I plan my time to study and to relax. I read everything before my lessons, I ask everything I don’t understand, and I prepare all the summaries beforehand. 

After the exam, there’s nothing I can do, so I try to relax by eating chocolate, watching a Harry Potter marathon or listening to Scottish music. My motto now is “exams and grades are temporary, but education is permanent.”

Learning English with Friends

I love this video! A very nice way to learn English with the sitcom Friends. In the YouTube channel you have more videos to practise your pronunciation, connected speech, cultural references, fluency and vocabulary.
“You have a son” I'm still cracking up.

First language acquisition

         Here you have an interesting video about some of the things We've read in Pinker's chapter.