A Description of Prototype Models for Content-Based Language Instruction in Higher Education

Content-Based Instruction has been described as a new paradigm in language education, centered on fostering student competence in a second or foreign language while advancing in the knowledge of a subject matter. This approach is widely used in an extensive number of contexts and educational settings all over the world in a variety of models: some of the most common ones in foreign language education at post-secondary level are theme-based courses, adjunct/linked courses, sheltered subjectmatter instruction, and second language medium courses. Since the possibilities are multiple and purposefully designed to match different needs, this paper aims at offering a conceptual description of the main characteristics, specific applications, and perceived effectiveness of the different models as these are reported in the literature available. Prior to the presentation of the models, the rationale and evolution of the mainstream CBI paradigm will be presented, and a review of the existing literature contemplated. Additionally, an extensive, up-dated list of works in the area will be included in the reference list

Argumentar: una herramienta en la construcción del conocimiento circulante del aula de clase

Se presenta un análisis sobre las diversas competencias que desde el área de Matemáticas debemos formular y trabajar en el aula, atendiendo a la competencia referente a la comunicación y al razonamiento es posible establecer canales de articulación que descansen en la argumentación como proceso necesario y pertinente a desarrollarse dentro del aula

Empleo de filtros en lentes de contacto

Gracias al ozono de la estratosfera y a los tejidos oculares a la retina sólo llegan, la luz visible y una pequeña parte de UVA, e IRA. Cuando la radiación entra en un tejido vivo destruye o modifica enlaces provocando anormalidades celulares. Aunque el ojo solo absorbe una pequeña cantidad de radiación el daño que causa depende del tiempo de exposición. Por esto se usan filtros ópticos, dispositivos que disminuyen el paso de un determinado intervalo de longitudes de onda. Estos filtros se añaden a las lentes de contacto. En la fabricación de LC se usan monómeros y aditivos que permiten modificar algunas de sus propiedades. Los aditivos de mayor empleo son los que sirven para proteger de la radiación UV, pero también hay tintes que sirven para inhibir otras longitudes de onda, como por ejemplo la azul del espectro visible. En nuestro trabajo hemos estudiado su utilización en varias LC de diversas casas comerciales.Grado en Óptica y Optometrí

Looking into ELF variants: A study of evaluative it-clauses in research articles

Given the high number of non-native English speakers in academia, it becomes necessary to look at the use made of English as a lingua franca (ELF), especially in written communication. It is the aim of this paper to look at ELF in a written academic genre, the research article (RA), in the discipline of business management. A corpus of ELF RAs written by scholars with different linguacultural backgrounds will be compared with a corpus of RAs written by scholars affiliated to Anglo-American institutions. The analysis will focus on a particular genre- specific formulaic sequence (Hu¨ttner, 2007), evaluative it-clauses. Results show differences in their frequency of use, the choice of adjectives, and (lack of) modality. The findings can be interpreted as lexico-grammatical innovations (Dewey, 2007), creative expressions (Seidlhofer, 2011), or emerging patterns (Jenkins, Cogo, & Dewey, 2011) in the process of adaptation, evolution and dynamism of English as used in international written academic communication

Health Related Quality of Life in Coronary Patients.

The increase observed in the survival of patients with ischemic cardiopathy, together with the effect of the disease on the social, professional, and family life of those suffering from it, have led researchers to consider that the traditional ways of measuring morbidity and mortality are not adequate for assessing the potential benefits of health care interventions. For this reason, there is common agreement on the need to use an indicator of subjective assessment of health, and of health related quality of life (HRQL), as a complementary criterion for monitoring the results of medical interventions in these patients. The term "quality of life" (QoL) or health related quality of life (HRQL) came into use during the 1970s as a multidimensional concept reflecting the overall subjective condition of the physical and mental welfare of the individual, which is a consequence not only of the disease but also of the family and social conditions forming the patient’s environment. The assessment of these patients’ HRQL has been tackled by several authors using both disease-specific and generic instruments such as the Nottingham Health Profile, the Sickness Impact Profile, the SF-36 or the SF-12 health questionnaire. Both types of instrument have advantages and disadvantages, and they may provide additional information since they quantify the patient’s overall health. Using different multidimensional measures, poorer HRQL has been observed in patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) and angina pectoris than in other populations, and these differences have been related to low social class, female sex, the presence of mental disorders and the severity of the clinical condition. Measuring changes in the HRQL of coronary patients is also important as a way of assessing interventions and predicting needs for social care, because it has been shown that the focus of attention in the immediate period following a cardiac attack is generally the physical functioning, but following discharge from hospital and in the longer term, general health, vitality, social and emotional functions could be at least as important. In this chapter, we aim to provide an overview of the concept of HRQL and the usefulness of this measure from the perspective of a coronary patient. Likewise, we intend to review the main instruments used to assess HRQL and we analyse the factors that have been seen to affect the quality of life of these patients

Macrostructure and use of nominalizations in applied sport science abstracts in the Internet

-

Self-reference in research articles across Europe and Asia: A review of studies

Numerous cross-linguistic and cross-disciplinary studies have looked at the manifestation of author stance in academic texts. One of the most recurrent areas of contrast has been the use of personal pronouns across linguistic and disciplinary cultures. This paper aims at reviewing previous research on self-reference in research articles taking an intercultural perspective. It focuses on 22 studies which report on results regarding this stance feature in 13 lingua-cultural contexts (Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Persian, Russian, Spanish). They have been extracted from relevant publications in the fields of English for Academic Purposes and English for Specific Purposes over the past 25 years (1998–2012). A close analysis of this research highlights different cultural trends in constructing writer-reader relationships in this academic genre and reveals important methodological issues across different studies. This review article also has implications for English as a lingua franca (cf. Mauranen 2012) as used in international publications

Developing students' oral communication skills in the primary EFL classroom: a project-based proposal

Over the last years, there has been a growing concern about the best approaches and methodologies to teach English for equipping students with the essential skills for effective communication, especially orally as well as with other key competences, such as lifelong learning. This dissertation shows the process carried out to plan and design a project for an English Foreign Language (EFL) Primary classroom whose main objective is to improve students’ oral communication skills. The project has been developed relying on the approaches that have proved to be most effective for the teaching and learning of EFL, namely, Project Based Learning, Communicative Language Teaching, Task-Based Learning, and Cooperative Learning. The evaluation of the proposal shows how the use of active, participative and communicative methodologies which consider the learners agents of their own learning and provide them with the necessary scaffolding to build their own meanings, positively affects the development of students’ oral communication skills. The work climate that is created through these methodologies also gives confidence to learners who feel more and more capable of expressing themselves in English. This project shows that these approaches are indeed to be followed in our 21st century Primary EFL classrooms

El estudio de la comunicación interna en el contexto del grado de publicidad y RR PP de la universidad de Cádiz

The importance and the need of communication with the stakeholders that organizations is growing but the attention that they pay to internal communication is still limited. Taking in consideration a material level, internal communication suffers from poorly consolidated budgets and unskilled employment for management. Also, on a psychological level, internal communication receives little attention from the head of the organizations. Many authors (Piñuel , 1997 : 103; Villafane, 1999 : 301; Hernandez, 1991 : 268 ) have shown the low importance given by companies to internal communication. Training competent university students in this type of communication should help to resolve this situation. According to the White Book in Communication Sciences, Advertising and Public Relations the degree students, as corporate communication managers, should be able to manage the internal communication of the company correctly. In this paper we analyse the learning process of the students of the degree in Advertising and Public Relations from the University of Cádiz, focusing in the internal communication training. Reflexing about this process, improvement will reflect on the learning process of internal communication and deficiencies detected can help to forecast future shortfalls. 119 students of the subject Business Communication Systems were chosen to this study. They were tasked to develop an internal communication plan for a small and medium sized businesses, created for themselves, in which they should carry out a situation analysis, strategies, goals, and tools to perform the plan. The results show difficulties defining the organization’s internal stakeholders that result in objectives and tools unsuitable for the internal communication plan. This confusion could justify the low awareness with internal communication detectedFrente a la creciente importancia y necesidad de comunicación con los públicos que tienen las organizaciones de todo tipo, la atención que las empresas prestan a la comunicación interna es todavía escasa. A nivel material la comunicación interna adolece de presupuestos poco consolidados y de personal poco cualificado para su gestión. Además, a nivel psicológico recibe escasa atención desde las direcciones de las organizaciones. Numerosos autores (Piñuel, 1997: 103; Villafañe, 1999: 301; Hernández, 1991: 268) han puesto de manifiesto la escasa importancia que le otorgan las empresas a este tipo de comunicación. Formar a universitarios competentes en este tipo de comunicación debería ayudar a solventar esta situación. De acuerdo con el Libro blanco de los títulos de grado en Ciencias de la Comunicación los estudiantes del grado de Publicidad y Relaciones Públicas, como gestores de la comunicación corporativa, serán capaces de gestionar la comunicación interna de la empresa correctamente. En este trabajo se analiza el proceso de aprendizaje de los estudiantes del Grado en Publicidad y Relaciones Públicas de la Universidad de Cádiz desde el punto de vista de la formación en comunicación interna. De esta forma se reflexiona sobre el propio proceso de aprendizaje de la comunicación interna y se detectan carencias presentes que permitan prever insuficiencias futuras. Para ello se eligió a los 119 alumnos de la asignatura de Sistemas de Comunicación Empresarial I a quienes se les encargó la tarea de desarrollar un plan de comunicación interna para pequeñas y medianas empresas creadas por ellos mismos en el que desarrollasen un análisis situacional, estrategias, objetivos, y herramientas para poder llevar a cabo la implementación real de dicho plan. Los resultados muestran dificultades para definir los públicos internos de una organización que se traducen en objetivos y herramientas poco acordes a un plan de comunicación interna. Esta confusión podría justificar la escasa concienciación con la comunicación interna detectad

The Testing Industrial Complex: Texas and Beyond

The Testing Industrial Complex (TIC) is a system (and at the same time a cycle) in which high-stakes standardized testing fuels neoliberal education reforms and vice versa. These “reforms” and cycles have monetized for profit the public education system in which curriculum, students, and teachers have been packaged and sold for corporate profit. The Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) is a system in which inmates, which are disproportionately Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC), are packaged then sold to private corporations for profit. This policy brief examines two systems, the Testing Industrial Complex and the Prison Industrial Complex and how they directly impact students in the state of Texas and the U.S. In detail below, two alternatives are particularly worthy of consideration: a) multiple measures accountability; and b) evidence-based interventions. We close with policy recommendations for state-level policy makers and school leaders.Educatio