O Brasil e a segurança no Atlântico Sul

O reconhecimento do Atlântico Sul como uma área geoestratégica relevante tem levado os países da região a desenvolverem acções de modo a rentabi‑ lizar a sua pertença a esse espaço. Para o Brasil, o Atlântico Sul apresenta‑se cada vez mais como um ponto onde confluem alguns dos seus interesses o que requer a preservação da estabilidade daquela região. Com esta análise pretendemos, por um lado compreender a atenção que, em termos de segurança e defesa, tem sido dada ao Atlântico Sul, nomeadamente pelo Brasil, e por outro lado, avaliar o que esta área representa para o Brasil e como tem sido encaixada nas suas estratégias de defesa, tanto na Política de Defesa Nacional como na Estratégia Nacional de Defesa

El laboratorio de idiomas como recurso para la adquisición de la gramática mental de una lengua extranjera

El objetivo de este artículo es el de ofrecer los resultados de un estudio empírico sobre cómo cierto tipo de uso del laboratorio de idiomas puede mejorar la competenda lingüística del alumnado. Se parte de la premisa que una enseñanza de lengua extranjera excesivamente basada en la transmisión de conocimientos gramaticales explícitos no desarrolla la competencia comunicativa de los aprendices. Se considera también que la falta de acondicionamiento acústico del aula donde se utiliza un radiocassette para desarrollar la comprensión oral de la len puede incidir de forma negativa en el sentido de autoeficada del estudiante.-gua Los resultados de este estudio con alumnas universitarios confirman que el uso del laboratorio para el desarrollo de la comprensión oral es un óptimo recurso para la adquisición implícita de la competencia lingüística.________________________________ «...second language teachers should concentrate on practical language goals...A realistic and achievable goal...is that students will be able to...comprehend most of the times...the messages received from a native speaker and to communicate their ideas comprehensibly most of the times to a native speaker. The goal is to be able to communicate functionally, not to become bilingual...» (Chastain 1988: 356) The aim of this anide is offering the results of an empyrical study which shows howa determined use of the language laboratory can improve the pupils'linguistic competence. The point of departure is the Idea that the teaching of a foreign language excessively based on explicit grammatical knowledge does not develop communicative competence in learners. Itis also considered that thelack ofacoustic conditioning of classrooms at the moment of developing oral comprehension using a cassette playermay damage the learners' sense ofautoefficacy. The results of this study with university students confirm that the use of the laboratory for the development of oral comprehension Is a very useful resource for the implicit acquisition of linguistic competence

Los contornos melódicos como señalizadores de la fuerza ilocutiva del discurso del profesor de L2

L2 teachers often have difficulties in communicating successfully in the target language with students who have poor transitional competence. However, in a former study, Fonseca and Cuenca (2000) observed that it was possible for a native English teacher to communicate with seven-yearold beginners whose mother tongue was Spanish by using a type of simplified code created to help the hearer to learn and understand language. One of the features identified in that code was the use of exaggerated melodic contours to show the teacher’s illocutionary intention. The main purpose of this paper is to present the results of the analysis of the speech melodies used by twenty native and non-native teachers teaching English as a foreign language in Spain. This research is based on findings in first language acquisition papers that argue that those melodic contours, identified in child-directed speech, are used intuitively by parents to guide their babies’ musical beginnings (Papousek, 1996), but also as a speciesspecific learning guide to language (Snow, 1972; Stern at al., 1982; Papousek, 1994; Feu and Piñero, 1996). The conclusions of this study imply that the prototypical contour variations found in the data are based on shared knowledge between teachers and students

Un camino hacia la actividad demostrativa

Las tareas que se proponen, en este taller, salvo algunas modificaciones menores, son base de la investigación que reportaremos en nuestro trabajo de grado. Se pretende mostrar, de una manera activa y participativa, el potencial de la actividad demostrativa cuando ésta se da en el aula. Por un lado, es una herramienta para describir el comportamiento de los estudiantes en torno a la demostración. Por otro, es una herramienta didáctica para el aprendizaje de la geometría euclidiana, que, a la vez, suscita la práctica de la justificación, paso necesario en el acercamiento a la demostración

Studying Spanish in the USA : mass media as social motivation

Los medios de comunicación desempeñan un papel fundamental como vehículos transmisores de la cultura; de hecho, se han convertido en herramientas de fácil acceso para el aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera, no sólo por la transmisión de una información directa sino también indirecta. Los medios de comunicación que emiten o se publican en español han unificado la lengua en un español básico neutro, favoreciendo mejores competencias lecto-escritoras y un aumento de la autoestima de la población hispana, a la vez que la han visibilizado. El objeto fundamental de esta investigación es analizar lo que ha motivado a estudiantes estadounidenses hacia el estudio del español como segunda lengua. Para ello se ha indagado el número y los tipos de medios de comunicación de habla hispana que existen en los estados de los que procede la población encuestada, así como el uso que hacen de ellos los estudiantes participantes en este estudio. La adaptación del cuestionario de Ramírez (1992) ha permitido establecer la com petencia sociocultural del alumnado estadounidense visitante. El análisis de las encuestas realizadas a estudiantes estadounidenses con estancias en dos universidades españolas revela, además, que sienten una alta motivación social, es decir, creen que el poder trabajar y asistir a la población hispana les va a permitir una posible salida profesional. Los mass-media de habla hispana muestran la importancia que está adquiriendo el español en contextos más formales de la vida americana y hacen de nexo entre culturas. Han conquistado también como audiencia a estudiantes de español como lengua extranjera que los consideran fuente de riqueza lingüística y cultural._____________________________________________________________Mass media have a central role in transmitting culture. In fact, they have become handy relevant tools for learning a foreign language due to their ability to transmit both direct and indirect information. Mass media that broadcast or publish in Spanish have helped to unify the language in a basic neutral Spanish, fostering better reading and writing competences and self-esteem increase among the Hispanic population, at the same time making this population more visible. The main aim of this study is to analyze what motivates North American students to select Spanish as a foreign language. For this purpose, the number and types of mass media published in Spanish in the geographic context of the survey informants have been studied, as well as the use the students make of media. Furthermore, an adaptation of the questionnaire by Ramírez (1992) has been employed to establish the socio-cultural competence of North American students studying at two Spanish universities. The analysis of the survey results reveals that mass media have a high impact on the social motivation to learn Spanish as a foreign language of these students, that is to say, the possibility of working with and assisting the Hispanic population is rated as a main career opportunity. Mass media show the importance that Spanish is acquiring in other formal contexts of American life and constitute a nexus between cultures. They have also conquered students of Spanish as a foreign language as an audience, as they consider media an important source of linguistic and cultural input

Humanistic Education in Spanish Context. Its Value in the Secondary Classroom

In this paper, we report the fíndings of a coUaborative case study where an English teacher in the Spanish secondary school uses humanistic exercises to enhance motivation. Data coUection procedures such as audio-recorded lessons, language tests and motivation questionnaires were used leading to both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The results indicate the usefiílness of these humanistic activities as key elements in fostering the type of meaningfiíl contextual interaction that promotes high motivation and selectivo attention. They also generated a sense of community and the emergence of coUaborative relationships. Therefore, more oral contributions in the target language were observed as leamers exhibited interest in expressing their feeling and thoughts

O Brasil e o sistema internacional: uma abordagem teórica

Nos últimos anos o Brasil tem vindo a desempenhar um papel importante não só na região da América do Sul como a nível global. As estratégias da política externa brasileira ilustram essa dupla actuação: por um lado, a acção do Brasil na Unasul, Mercosul, assim como no Haiti e Honduras, e, por outro, a sua participação em fóruns como o IBAS, OMC, G20, no Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas, e o diálogo mantido com a UE e os EUA. Desta forma, a identidade internacional do Brasil também sofreu algumas mudanças. Assim, como poderemos defi nir o Brasil na hierarquia do poder internacional? A presente comunicação procura explorar as abordagens teóricas para debater a actual posição brasileira no sistema internacional, que se caracteriza por uma tendência transformador

Scientific Journals as Platforms to Publish Research of Excellence in Education - Strategies to Attract Researchers

This article helps to reflect on the most relevant characteristics of research journals of excellence, on those quality editorial management traits that facilitate the work of disseminating the findings of researchers in education so that they can contribute, along with all international researchers, to the central knowledge of scienc