The Sounds of English Theory and Practice for Latin American Speakers

do you speak English? Most people ask this question when they want to know whether you can communicate in this language. By doing it they evince the widespread tendency to equate our ability to speak with our overall communicative competence. Paradoxically, for most EFL and ESL learners, speaking is the most challenging skill and the last they get to develop to the full. Latin American students’ reluctance to speak English often comes down to their fear of mispronouncing it. They soon learn that the pronunciation of English does not correspond with its spelling. However, most students ignore that a significant number of English sounds are not present in Spanish, and that they must be learned in order to pronounce English properly. The main objective in writing this book is to help Latin American students of English, particularly novice and practicing English teachers, not only to hone their pronunciation but also to acquire the technical elements necessary to teach it. To that aim this book provides readers with essential theory and practice on the pronunciation of English sounds and contrasts them with those of Spanish. Although originally intended for classroom use, this book can also be used for self-study by learners with an English proficiency level of B1 (intermediate) or above

Liquidity provision: lessons from a natural experiment

We study the reaction of more than 60,000 firms to a large unexpected liquidity shock in Spain during a severe recessionary period. The Spanish central government repaid in 2012 almost 30bn euros (approximately 3% of GDP) of arrears that Territorial Administrations had been accumulating for years. We assess the economic impact of the plan using two alternative estimation strategies. First, we use a differences-in-differences (DID) approach that exploits heterogeneity in the size of the liquidity received by firms. Second, we take advantage of the plan's plausibly exogenous disbursement implementation and run a DID procedure using as control group some firms that were paid a year later. Overall, we find that a governmental liquidity injection during a recession increases corporate investment significantly: on average firms use 4% of cash transfers for investment. This effect is stronger for firms with lower default risk and higher investment opportunities. Firms with higher default risk are more prone to repay financial debt. On average, firms use 8% of cash transfers to repay financial debt.Vicente also acknowledges nancial assistance from the International Mobility Program UC3M

Percepciones de los servicios sociales y representaciones de los trabajadores sociales.

El trabajo que hoy presentamos es una parte de los resultados del Seminario de Investigación realizado en la materia de Psicología Social de los estudios de Trabajo Social de la Universidad de Valencia durante el año 1999. En dicho Seminario hemos tratado de aplicar el conocimiento obtenido en las materias de Cognición y Pensamiento Social al objeto de los Servicios Sociales y los Trabajadores Sociales. De los resultados y conclusiones obtenidas destaca la existencia de un porcentaje cercano al 60% de la población que tiene un nivel muy alto de desconocimiento y desintormación sobre los Servicios Sociales y los trabajadores sociales, resultado que contradice los elementos universalizadores y generalistas de este nivel de intervención social. También resaltamos de las conclusiones los elementos de evaluación positiva, independientemente del nivel de uso y conocimiento. Tanto sobre los Servicios Sociales como de los trabajadores sociales constatamos una proyección clara hacia una evaluación positiva. Ello nos indica un nivel de elaboración de representaciones con mecanismos de anclaje sobre una ideología de defensa de la protección social, como un valor propio a mantener.The work we present here is part of the results of the seminar of research done on the subject of social psychology of the studies on social work in the University of Valencia during the year 1999. In this seminar we have tried to apply tbe knowledge achieved in the subjects of cognition and social thought to the object of social services and social workers. Out of the results and conclusions obtained the percentage (near 60%) of the population with a very high level of lack of information about the social services and social workers is out [email protected] [email protected]

Identities and representations of social work

En nuestro trabajo, presentamos el conocimiento de la realidad social desde las dimensiones constructivista e interaccionista, teniendo en cuenta el punto de vista del "público", desde la posición de reconocer una mayor riqueza en el conocimiento que se obtiene desde la "intersubjetividad". En el proceso de investigación, llegamos a la complementariedad metodológica, valiéndonos del enfoque cuantitativo para construir las "imágenes", objetivas y mediante el enfoque cualitativo, contando con la perspectiva del estudio de un caso, las audiencias de una serie "Raquel busca su sitio" obtenemos las imágenes del público o intersubjetivas. Ambos componentes, las imágenes y el público del Trabajo Social, nos ayudan a explicar la identidad colectiva de los trabajadores sociales. Nos posicionamos ante los análisis cuantitativos y cualitativos de nuestros resultados, para construir la nueva identidad colectiva de los trabajadores sociales, deteniéndonos además: en la perspectiva del cambio respecto de las identidades colectivas (las imágenes), en la influencia poderosa de los medios de comunicación social como instrumento socializador del Trabajo Social, y en la importancia de la audiencia de la serie (el público) como grupo influyente, aunque sea desde el reconocimiento de su cualidad minoritaria.This work examines social reality from a constructivist and interactive perspective, considering “intersubjectivity” as an enriching element of public knowledge. During our research process, we studied the audience’s intersubjective images of a TV series “ Raquel busca su sitio ” using used both the quantitative approach in order to build objective “images,” and the qualitative approach. Both images and audience of Social Work help us explain social workers’ collective identity. After analysing the quantitative and qualitative analysis of our results, we draw a new image of social workers, considering the changes observed collective identities (images), the powerful influence of media as a socialising element of Social Work and the importance of the TV show’s audience as an group of influence—though it will be considered for its minority qualities

Research on Language Teaching and Learning: Advances and Projection

In 2010, teachers from the B.A. in English Teaching at Universidad Católica Luis Amigó formed CILEX (Construcciones Investigativas en Lenguas Extranjeras). Research and teaching in the program have grown synergistically ever since, but ten years down the road it was time to take stock of our research to project the direction in which we wanted to move forward. This book is the result of that effort to recognize our shared history and thus propel our upcoming academic endeavors.    The book starts out by presenting the epistemological foundations of CILEX, which is based on the threefold notion of the language teacher as an intellectual, an academic, and an educator. It thereon explains the system that arranges our academic production within five thematic nodes: cultural studies, language policy, literacies, language teacher education, and language assessment. Each chapter reports on one or two studies in which the authors participated as leading researchers or advisors. Hence, the book also reflects the formative research tradition that characterizes most of our practice.    Having language teacher education as a binding thread that cuts across the entire volume, authors present their particular perspective on topics as varied as college academic performance, early childhood literacy, language policy appropriation, teacher educators’ assessment literacy, student teachers’ practicum identity crisis, research training in teacher education, and critical reading instruction.    This book condenses the work of a group of teacher educators who believe in the power of research to galvanize teaching and inspire positive educational change. As readers go through its pages, it is our hope they will be able to recognize not only the singular value of each individual chapter but also the richness of our collaboration, which constitutes the fabric of our identity as an academic community.&nbsp

Escritura Colaborativa Digital en los Semilleros de Investigación para la Formación en Literacidades

The pedagogical innovation herein described, which emerges within the framework of research education, seeks to articulate digital collaborative writing between teacher educators and student teachers. The text consists of four parts. With the background of research training in teacher education, we first outline academic and digital literacies, which serve to theoretically scaffold the proposal. The second part explores its core categories: research seedbeds, collaborative writing, and digital writing. Then, the exercise of collaborative writing between teacher educators and student teachers is described considering methodological aspects that have served to implement it and that can guide its subsequent evolution, particularly in relation to multimodality. We conclude that collaborative writing as a pedagogical strategy has not been sufficiently investigated, yet it may contribute to the preparation of new researchers as it focuses on the development of academic and digital literacies.Con esta propuesta pedagógica, que surge en el marco de la formación en investigación, se pretende articular la escritura colaborativa digital entre maestros formadores y en formación [MF&Mf]. El texto consta de cuatro partes. Tomando la formación en investigación para los maestros como telón de fondo, se empieza por esbozar las literacidades académicas y digitales, que sirven como andamiaje teórico para la propuesta. En la segunda parte se exploran sus categorías centrales: los semilleros de investigación, la escritura colaborativa y la escritura digital. Luego se describe la propuesta de escritura colaborativa entre MF&Mf en virtud de aspectos metodológicos que han servido para implementarla y que pueden orientar su posterior evolución, particularmente en relación con lógicas multimodales. Se concluye que la escritura colaborativa en tanto estrategia pedagógica es un ejercicio poco investigado que puede contribuir a la formación de nuevos investigadores desde un enfoque en literacidades académicas y digitales

Influence of Strategies-Based Feedback in Students’ Oral Performance

This article reports on an action research study that assessed the influence of cognitive and metacognitive strategies-based feedback in the oral performance of a group of 6th grade students at a public school in Medellin, Colombia. Researchers analyzed students’ oral performance through assessment and self-assessment rubrics, applied inventories to students before and after giving them the strategies-based feedback, and interviewed all students and one parent. Results showed that strategies-based feedback supported by previous strategies instruction can help students both increase the use of strategies and improve their oral performance

Are fit indices really fit to estimate the number of factors with categorical variables?: some cautionary findings via Monte Carlo Simulation

This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. Please do not copy or cite without author's permission. The final article is available, upon publication, at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/met0000064An early step in the process of construct validation consists of establishing the fit of an unrestricted "exploratory" factorial model for a prespecified number of common factors. For this initial unrestricted model, researchers have often recommended and used fit indices to estimate the number of factors to retain. Despite the logical appeal of this approach, little is known about the actual accuracy of fit indices in the estimation of data dimensionality. The present study aimed to reduce this gap by systematically evaluating the performance of 4 commonly used fit indices-the comparative fit index (CFI), the Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), and the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR)-in the estimation of the number of factors with categorical variables, and comparing it with what is arguably the current golden rule, Horn's (1965) parallel analysis. The results indicate that the CFI and TLI provide nearly identical estimations and are the most accurate fit indices, followed at a step below by the RMSEA, and then by the SRMR, which gives notably poor dimensionality estimates. Difficulties in establishing optimal cutoff values for the fit indices and the general superiority of parallel analysis, however, suggest that applied researchers are better served by complementing their theoretical considerations regarding dimensionality with the estimates provided by the latter metho

How does easing liquidity constraints affect aggregate employment?

We measure the impact of removing liquidity constraints on aggregate employment by focusing on a sudden and unexpected large liquidity injection to Spanish firms in early 2012, when the Spanish central government paid all invoices of firms to regional and municipal governments that were in arrears. We identify the effect on employment from the cross-sectional variation in the size of the liquidity injection received by Spanish municipalities. Our preliminary finding sindicate that labor market responses can be detected both in the municipality where the liquidity injection occurs and in the municipality where firms are headquartered. We find evidence that the effect on unemployment is stronger where the liquidity injection originates whereas the effect on employment is stronger where the firms are located

Government Turnover and External Financial Assistance

We study the political incentives shaping governments’ decisions to seek assistance from a lender of last resort. We propose that re-elected incumbents are more reluctant than newly elected governments to request assistance, as this action reveals negative information about their past performance. We first provide cross-country descriptive evidence that a change in office is indeed associated with a larger probability of receiving assistance from the IMF. Next, to obtain causal evidence, we analyze the decisions made by 4,000 Spanish municipalities following a credit shock during the Great Recession. Regression-discontinuity estimates showthat newly elected local executiveswere approximately 30 percentage points more likely than re-elected incumbents to publicly agree on a financing program with the national government. Using data from press reports, electoral results and a survey on politicians’ views, we show that many re-elected incumbents avoided requesting a public bailout to protect their image, even though this decision was financially suboptimal