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

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

Contributions of tutoring to the development of academic writing in graduate education

Earning a master’s or doctoral degree often requires writing scientific articles, a challenging task for graduate students. A review of existing literature on writing in higher education underscores the need to learn more about the strategies tutors use when teaching their tutees how to prepare their theses and academic articles. Objective: Explore the contribution of tutoring to the composition of academic articles as graduation requirements and thereby to the development of academic literacies among master’s degree students. Methodology: Descriptive case study following the interpretive paradigm. This qualitative study was conducted in a master’s degree program in education at a private university in Medellin, Colombia. The data were collected through semistructured interviews with three tutors, two students, and one graduate student. The content was analyzed by utilizing open and axial coding. Results: The study revealed three pivotal functions performed by tutors in fostering academic literacies during their support for article writing: adept management of the tutor-tutee relationship concerning co-authorship, skillful guidance in navigating interactions with external agents who regulate publication, and proactive promotion of the tutees’ relationship with writing and research, thereby fostering the configuration of their identity as authors and researchers

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