UNIT 3 REFLECTIVE BLOG

PHONOLOGY

     In this unit, I had the opportunity to develop my knowledge about Phonology, I can say that it is the study of the sound features used in a language to communicate a meaning. It is important to notice that in English these features include phonemes, word stress, sentence stress and intonation with the purpose of establish a good clear interaction. 

 In this chapter was possible  to know that symbols represent each phoneme and this is the smallest unit of a sound, for making a difference in the meaning of a word in a language, for example the /s/ in the word books is used to show plurals, in this case the letter s has a denotation and at the same time is a phoneme. Also, the phoneme in a language is represented in writing by the phonemic symbols, each phonemic symbol represents only one phoneme, unlike the letters of the alphabet in English, because those can represent a sound in determine words. 

On other hand, the phonemic script, is useful to show students how the sound can be represented by a written symbol to represent them in a phonemic transcription. Finally, this unit is necessary to familiarize students with the phonemic chart, in order that they could look for the representation the word of a group of words on it. This is the base to teach a second language like English into a classroom, because learners always need to be exposed to the language that they are learning.

To sum up , students have to learn since the very basic forms like vowels, diphthongs, consonants, which are going to help them to recognize between voiced and unvoiced sounds, syllables, word stress, and sentence stress which are the mean characteristics that determine the connected speech in the learning process of English. Un classroom teacher could create games activities like "Syllable hoops" and "Clapping Names " to familiarize students with phonological awareness. 

Resources : 

• McCandlish, S. (2006) .Phonological Awareness for  activities in the classroom . A collection of ideas by Sue McCandlish. Retrieved from:

http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/northernadelaide/files/links/Phonological_Awareness_Bo.pdf

• Underhill, A. (2011, March 04th). Introduction to teaching pronunciation Workshop. Retrieved from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kAPHyHd7Lo

UNIT 2 REFLECTIVE BLOG

LEXIS

    During this unit I learned that Lexis or known as vocabulary refers to the individual words or set of words like tree, get up, first all, which have a specific meaning. Also, when we speak, we often use the meaning of that words to show the idea that describes the sense or thing from a vocabulary item. This kind of meaning is called denotation, when we use this, we can express using denotative meaning, figurative meaning, and imaginative meaning. 

   In classroom is necessary to create some situations (context) that help students to speak in class , the activity can include phrases where students can identify what kind of denotation the teacher is using in that moment. Also, the meaning of some vocabulary items can come from their form such as prefixes, suffixes or compounds nouns, those help to recognize the opposite, similar, or different meaning that they have; to establish the affixation.  

    In addition, collocations like take a holiday, depend on, are words that arrange and give expression´s meaning in a language. On other hand, Idioms are fixed expression which meaning is different from the combination of individual words and they should not translate in a literal way, they need to be understood by the context. If teacher uses this kind of lexis in the class, he or she is helping students to get involved in the variety uses of English as a language. 

   At the end of this unit I can say that teaching by lexis is crucial in a classroom, because students can identify synonyms, antonyms, word family and lexical set to avoid False Friends in the mother tongue, other idea is fomenting the use of brainstorming   (Vocabulary warm-up) with students in order to consolidate  their knowledge of the language with the exposure of it through words and  meanings.

Resources:

• Shepherd, N. (2014. May, 6th). Learn English with Nick Shepherd. Retrieved from :

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQba_DUkz8HBJrGCV0Afiaw

• Warner,  L. (2013, November, 6th) Vocabulary Lesson Demo, Retrieved from : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArHL_k1P5YI

UNIT 1 REFLECTIVE BLOG

GRAMMAR

     In this unit I studied Grammar, the concept that is established on the book made an easy connection with what I have in my mind. So important to say that Grammar refers to how we combine, organize and change parts of words and groups of words to express meaning. In addition, to establish some key concepts for grammar, I  have some terms that can help me to understand better, like grammatical forms which is indispensable in this part of the unit, because  these terms refer how words are made up and presented in speech or writing, such as the use of plural of the regular nouns. 

Similarly is necessary to identify grammatical structures and words that contain prefixes and suffixes, because these words can help to understand the meaning of some words and the change that they have when some letters can be added at the beginning or at the end of a base of word to change the meaning. When in a classroom a language is taught, the part of the speech is helpful to produce the language, so it is important to distinguish the nine parts  that it has like: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, determiners, prepositions, pronouns , conjunctions and exclamation, with those key concepts , students are capable to manage a better knowledge in the classroom. 

Then, it is time for explain the functions of the part of the speech, as an important part in a sentence for example a verb which can show an action state or experience and it can divide in subcategories such as transitive, intransitive, regular, irregular, participle, gerunds, etc, those words used in this unit proposed a better understanding , this help a lot in the objective , where students need to learn  in a better way that in grammar, the grammatical structures are used to transmit meaning with the context in which they are used, the intention that they have, the time and situation to speak in the classroom, because the purpose of the language is to communicate people. 

To conclude this part , is necessary to say that as a future teacher is essential to recognize that students always use grammar in an unconsciously form to speak with others like inside of the classroom, or they are in contact with this while they write, read or listen. In order to develop more activities in the classroom is vital to use activities that encourage the learning process  that involves the whole class, and using tools like board, flashcards, overhead projector, etc. 


Those  videos have  important clues to teach Grammar in an effectively way:

• Chaterjee, D.(2010,October 6) How to Teach Grammar. Retrieved from   http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-teach-grammar

• Bridge TEFL, ( 2007, October 8) Teaching english with games . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtwDhKso2N