The usefulness of Critical Thinking skills in the learning and teaching of content

subjects
(By Roberto Gramajo)
The aim of this presentation is to show how the use of critical thinking skills in the
learning and teaching of content subject may help teachers and students to
conceptualize, apply, analyse and synthesize content, making this process an
entertaining and enriching experience. Critical thinking is incorporated in a family of
interwoven modes of thinking (Michael Scriven & Richard Paul,2007) In fact, when
applying critical thinking in the classroom the actors of the process of teaching and
learning avoid the mere acquisition and retention of information alone, which end up to
be just rote learning. Making connections and assumptions; analysing concepts,
leading to conclusions and contrasting viewpoints are some of the main consequences
of applying critical thinking skills in the classroom, which may profoundly turn the class
into a space of debate and building of a new conscientious citizenship, especially for the
benefit of our country because People who think critically consistently attempt to live
rationally, reasonably, empathically.

Non-Verbal Communication in The Classroom (By Feliciano Navarro de Haz)

Non-Verbal Communication is connected with Body Language, which is a voluntary and
sometimes involuntary movement, of a part of the body in relation to an emotion, a
thought or a sense. Sometimes these movements can provide us with valuable
information as to what an individual is thinking or feeling and sometimes these
movements can be nothing more than an involuntary spasm, a physical reaction to
stress or emotional strain.
In other parts of the world, like England and Chile, teachers are having lessons in how
to read children's body language and modify their own to tackle bad behaviour in the
classroom. Thousands have been trained to observe pupils' postures, gestures,
mannerisms, facial expressions, speech and tone, in order to establish their emotional
state and help build trust and rapport (Henry, The Telegraph). In Salta-Argentina, as
interviews showed, most teachers claim to have taken courses in classroom
management, and to be at least familiar with the concept of body language. They did
not mention having been trained specifically in that field. Moreover, some specialists
said it is not possible to introduce such training without breaking some structures first
and that the closest we will get to having body expression training will be by taking
acting lessons.

From Theory to Grammaring: a close encounter (By Prof. Trad. Beln Seppi)

Knowing and using the grammar of a language enables the speaker to perform in the language,
i.e. to carry out the dynamic process of pattern formation by which humans use linguistic forms
to make meaning in context-appropriate ways (Larsen-Freeman, 2003). Yet, becoming
successful speakers of the English language implies being able to understand its intricacies in
order to be capable of teaching them. Students are teacher-trainees who progressively acquire
the tools to teach the language they are learning by means of a range of activities using
different techniques. In this way, The learning of grammar should be seen in the long term as
one of the means of acquiring a thorough mastery of the language as a whole, not as an end in
itself. Ur (1988), which will enable teachers-to-be to train future students to become competent
speakers at the level of discourse.Taking teacher-trainees into the field of grammar of EFL
within a communicative framework is an area which has not been fully exploited, as most of the
research is usually done for ESL classes. The speaker will present a theoretical background, a
set of tested interactive activities and games designed to teach Grammaring (Larsen-Freeman,
2003), i.e. the ability to use grammar structures accurately, meaningfully, and appropriately
within the communicative approach. (considering the conditions given by the situational context,
the meaning, and the co-text). The presentation provides activities that arise opportunities to
practice grammatical points within a syllabus.

Grammatical cohesive devices in academic-scientific texts in the field of

Engineering: a corpus-linguistic analysis (By Ins Amaduro)
The aim of this paper is to explore the principles of the Research Project N 2,183
endorsed by the Research Council of the National University of Salta named
Grammatical cohesive devices in academic-scientific texts in the field of Engineering: a
corpus-linguistic analysis. This project aims to build a specialized corpus of
Engineering texts compiled from several sub-fields in order to elicit examples from them
of two grammatical cohesive devices that tend to hinder reading comprehension when
university students tackle academic texts in English: substitution and ellipsis. These
examples will be analysed under the light of systemic functional linguistic theory. In
Hallidays functional model, grammar is described as a system of meaningful structures
that provides the necessary elements for the transmission of a message and its
appropriate interpretation. In this approach, grammar is the bridge that integrates
linguistic forms with the speakers communicative intentions, and its understanding
contributes to the readers reconstruction of the text message. To facilitate a more
systematic and in-depth investigation of the occurrence of linguistic patterns of
language in use, a corpus linguistic methodology will be adopted. For sample collection
of the cohesive devices studied (substitution and ellipsis) a concordance computational
tool will be used. A didactic material introducing and modelling the interpretation of
examples of substitution and ellipsis in academic texts will be elaborated to facilitate our
students reading comprehension process.

The Challenges of Designing Student-Teachers Own Materials for Secondary

Schools and Modalities (By Alba Rioja and Alicia Osores)

This presentation aims at shedding light on some of the major challenges that our
students at Profesorado Superior de Lenguas Vivas should face on the issue of
designing materials for English for Specific Purposes (ESP). As it is required by the new
curricular design, students who attend the last year of the Teacher Training College
have to deliver classes in Secondary Schools which have a specific Modality as part of
their teaching training period.
Teaching at the different modalities may pose a challenge for student - teachers since
finding appropriate materials that would suit their students level and modality can turn
into a difficult task. Therefore, they have to create or adapt their own course materials in
order to cater for the development of the four main skills, grounding their choices on
principles of language learning and teaching. Thus the student - teachers role is
complex since not only should they design materials, but also implement them, and
assess students performance. The main objectives of Didactics for Secondary School
and its Modalities and Teaching Practice IV are to provide students with the basic
concepts of the ESP field, principles on course design and materials, and classroom
management. In this presentation, we will share the results of a survey conducted to
obtain information as regards students experiences on designing and implementing
ESP materials in varying school contexts where they carry out their student teaching
practicum.

Promoting a Passion for Language Learning (By Molly Rome)

The objective of this talk is to present tips and ideas to current and pre-service language
educators in order to promote a passion for language learning among students. This will
be done through examples that connect personal experiences and anecdotes in the
language classroom to current research in the fields of Linguistics and Second-
Language Acquisition. This presentation aims to provide language educators with
suggestions on how to stimulate language learner motivation, foster language learner
autonomy, and fill the classroom with responsive, authentic, and engaging pedagogical
tasks and practices.

ESP in the Tourism Field: An Example of a Guided Tour in a Historical

Monument (By Adriana Sosa)

In the field of tourism the use of English has become a question of prime importance,
especially in receptive tourist places like Salta. This importance is given by the fact that
most of the inbound tourists resort to English when they want to get their messages
across and their mother tongue is not spoken in the place they visit. Due to the rapid
growth of international receptive tourism in the northwest of Argentina in the last two
decades, it has become essential for teachers not only to teach the language but also to
develop certain tour guiding strategies. This is the reason why Content Based
Instruction should be applied in the classroom to promote meaningful and practical
learning, which may be used by students in their professional tourism career. One of
the possible connections of the Content Based Approach with the professional skills
required in the tourism field is tour guiding. This profitable connection will be shown in
this presentation through a practical guiding tour of a historical national monument in
Salta.

The Importance of Public Speaking for Prospective English Teachers

(By Jos Roldn and Federico de Ugarriza)
The aim of this presentation is to offer information about the importance of Public
Speaking and why it is a valuable tool for a teacher. Public speaking, defined as the
ability to communicate well in public settings (Osborn, 2012, p.4), was incorporated as
a course in the curricula of the English Teacher Training Program at Profesorado
Superior de Lenguas Vivas de Salta with the aim of providing future graduate teachers
with essential tools that will contribute to their academic training. The presenters will
begin with a definition of Public Speaking and will then talk about rapport as an
essential part of a successful speech. In addition, the exposition will deal with how
Public Speaking may help an individual pursue self-improvement and gain self-
confidence. Furthermore, the benefits of Public Speaking for both listeners and the
speaker in the educational context will be explained. This presentation will include, as
well, sections intended to enlighten the audience on how to create an effective speech,
how to handle communication anxiety, how to involve the audience during the speech,
and how to cope with common mistakes. Together with these topics, the presenters will
talk about the place ICTs have in Public Speaking, and more specifically, in the
classroom. Finally, at the end of the exposition, the speakers will provide some general
advice applicable to any type of speech.

DIFFICULTIES IN READING COMPREHENSION OF ACADEMIC TEXTS IN

ENGLISH: CASES OF GRAMMATICAL SUBSTITUTION (By Mnica Guerra, Ana
Mara Jimenez y Gustavo Zaplana)

This paper aims to exemplify cases of grammatical substitution which may present
difficulties in students of engineering when reading academic-scientific texts in English.
Endorsed by the Research Council of the National University of Salta, our research
project, Grammatical cohesion resources in academic-scientific texts of the areas of
Engineering: a linguistic corpus analysis, aims to elaborate and later publish a
compendium of grammatical explanations, examples and practice that can contribute to
the recovery of substituted or elided information. In turn, this may help university
students and professors build up text coherence more effectively. With this purpose in
mind, this project follows the analysis of grammatical cohesion as described by
Systemic Functional Linguistics. Considering the difficulties observed in classroom
practices, the group of researchers of this project has been working with the design of
the aforementioned material. This compendium contains recurrent examples of
identifiable cohesive processes of substitution and ellipsis, as they appear in academic-
scientific texts related to the fields of engineering. A specific technological tool, a
concordancer, is used for the collection of empirical data which is later described and
used as examples of these two linguistics phenomena. In this particular paper
presentation, we will be dealing with cases of substitution.

New information and communication technologies (ICTs) - do they really

contribute to a humanistic knowledge-based society? (by Gustavo Zaplana)
The aim of this paper is to introduce and review current terms related to the
areas of humanism and technology, and at the same time, to delve into the latent
dilemma of whether ICTs are really humanistic and constructive tools of social progress.
It is right to note that technology has always produced a great impact on different
dimensions of human life. For more than two decades, the development of new ICTs
have drawn an inflexion line in the history of human beings and in the evolution of digital
technology which has led to the emergence of the so-called information society.
Consequently, ICTs have brought about a realm of possibilities to experience the
tangible world through the virtual one by means of a reality that is interweaved around
the penetrating connectivity of the Internet. This great impact of ICTs on society today
can be exemplified by quoting instances of new ways of retrieving information, carrying
out different types of transactions, and communicating with people around the world.
Unfortunately, the change towards a general setting up of this technology is not
universal. Besides, there have been many cases in which the misapplication and/or
misappropriation of ICTs, or their use with detrimental purposes, resulted in appalling
consequences. So, this lack of global availability of ICTs and their potential flaws do not
lead up to an acknowledgeable real revolution, and therefore, it is quite difficult to
speak with certainty about the widespread constructive effects that they may produce.

Designing Reading Comprehension Activities that develop the 21st century

skills in EAP Courses at University (By Fernanda Irrazabal and Soledad Loutayf)

English for Academic Specific Purposes focuses on students specific needs. In this
trend, students in technical-scientific degrees at universities attend reading
comprehension courses to have access to updated information in specific fields. The
aim of this paper is to suggest and analyze reading activities in accordance with
approaches based on Vygotskys social interactive theory. Under this theory, readers
construct and interact with texts. Thus, teaching techniques and class activities must be

"More Than Just Underwear: 'Bra' by Rhina Espaillat" (By Mara Jos Alemn y
Susana Company)

The purpose of this presentation is to analyze the formal and thematic features that
make the poem Bra by Rhina Espaillat an enriching, thought-provoking text, both for
personal enjoyment and for use in EFL classroom. Espaillat was born in the Dominican
Republic under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, and her family was soon after exiled
due to political reasons to the United States. She has published both in English and
Spanish, receiving numerous awards, such as the 1998 T.S. Eliot Prize and the 2001
Richard Wilbur Award. Bra (Where Horizons Go, 1998) is a short lyric poem in which a
quotidian event, the buying of a brassiere, triggers complex thoughts about identity and
language, as well as a veiled critique of neocolonialism and the comfortable complicity
that supports it. The poem emphasizes the intersection of feelings, cultures and
experiences that take place in our global world. The theoretical framework will be mainly
articulated on Krals reflections on identity and language, Garca Canclinis thoughts on
hybridization and Byrams intercultural competence, among others.