Good Advice

Being confused is not OK, not at all, especially for an educator.

Culture cannot be a higher value than common sense or Science when it comes to Education. 

The objectives with education, most basic, are universal: we want the student to increase their range or depth of skills as a result of attending our courses, appreciate the process, not only the result, and understand the true meaning of assessment, as well as experience it. 

Improving our quality of existence and living is something positive, so that we should all be happy when we are learning. 

Everyone knows the difference between a true educator and a charlatan or someone who has been allowed to educate without having ever bothered studying the Art of Education properly. 

The reason why we know is, for instance, that their assessments are poorly planned, executed, or marked. 

Nothing matters more than the assessment, since that is how society will see the student's efforts (Outer Reality). 

Charlatans commit crimes during the exercise of their official profession, so say they discriminate between one student and another when receiving or answering questions. 

If the student experiences the feeling of oppression, they are usually having their basic rights violated.



When they identify those feelings in their Inner Reality, they classify the educator as inadequate. 



Teach for Freedom is based on Paulo Freire's thinking: education that frees us from oppression instead.

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Welcome to Down Under

The current Australian support systems, in place to optimise the investment of international students in adaptation to the demands of a new culture and people, are in real need of reformulation.



They frequently make international postgraduate students experience feelings that connect to emptiness. 

Through close contact with good writing and intellectuals that belong to the Writing Scenery of Academia or their circles, we get to conclusions that matter. 


One of the  main issues is that administrators have been belittling the capacity of judgement and assessment of very well known companies, such as those producing the IELTS and TOEFL exams. 



That is an ethical matter: they themselves chose those exams of proficiency, from those particular companies, as parameters that give them a final verdict on suitability and adequacy. 



The person who comes from overseas to do research in Australia and is judged competent enough in the English language to attend their postgraduate courses or environments needs eloquence, cultural understanding, and items of that type. 



They don't really need more courses on the English language.



Experts in writing, so best Australian writers, the most eloquent and creative, drawn from the group of proper academics (experts with formation in Education, interest in really improving the quality of the expression and thinking of their students, if possible to their own level, and so on) are our best weapon in this fight. 


What a phenomenal waste of resources the current systems of support are, and what a difference it is simply stopping to read good prose, of people who really know what they are writing about and master the art of communication in the English language. 


We should all be interested in academic communications; proper academic communications. 


It is of fundamental importance to measure pre-existing vocabulary and compare results from before and after our courses.


There is also style of writing, complexity, and layers or meaning... 



Language course providers are not really worried about what they should.



Universities should invest, in a massive manner, in this process, of adaptation of the overseas research student to our culture, language, and people. 


In terms of academic communications, the best choice is a range of residents chosen from the group of best writers of Australia (poetry, lyric essay, academic essay assessed solely on the grounds of linguistics, etc.), full immersion of the imported asset into that universe, so students living under the same roof as those (conversing with proper writers opens the windows of discovery to many), a range of planned activities to share culture insights (writing scripts, playing roles, debating experiences, etc.), and others. 


Integration between the academics teaching the courses and residents will contribute, in a meaningful manner, to the integral development in that arena, so that guest lecturing should be a device that is frequently triggered. 


Expression, level of skills, and eloquence may not mean much in Mathematics, when the sigmatoid is connected to its popular sense, but it certainly means a lot in Philosophy and foundations of Mathematics. 


All mistakes that are gross in both areas, Philosophy and Mathematics, come from misconceptions and misunderstandings in what regards the foundations. 


All connects, in a direct way, to our skills in Communication. 



We cannot be good professors if we don't communicate well.



We cannot be good researchers if we don't master the Art of Communication. 


The better we can do there, the better we will do in Academia, and that seems to be a settled item. 

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New Parameter: Density

Translation is an actual profession, but it is not treated as such. 


The disrespect for the Art of Translation is historic: Easier that all camels pass through the bottom of a needle, meaning all camels that exist on earth, than a politician praises the work of translators. 


Both interpreters and translators got a few movies to tell the populace about their dramas and importance (Website), but those have produced no meaningful effect on people's minds this far.


In Translation Techniques, Bloom's Taxonomy is used to explain the value of these professions. 


We now suggest that we have a list of standard parameters to evaluate a text, and therefore the difficulty involved in translating. 


One more interesting parameter (on top of those mentioned in Translation Techniques) is Density. 


Density is the weight attributed to ideas or world references, not necessarily population of sigmatoids per sentence.


Amount should also be a factor, but a factor that is inferior to density. 


Observe this extract, which comes from a text written by Patricia Waugh:

The good translator departs from the original text, travels through its emanations to the original text culture and people, gets into a Reference Finder Vehicle to reach equivalent world references in the target culture and people, then travels through their connection lines to the corresponding sigmatoids, which finally express the idea contained in the original text to perfection or to the Superior Semantic Limit (here referring to Real Analysis, Mathematics) in the target language and culture. 

The density of Patricia Waugh's extract is enormous: It is almost as if every couple of sigmatoids leads to a new world.

This idea may also be suitable to evaluate difficulty in teaching language: there is obviously more value to the teacher who is extremely eloquent and skilled in using language than to the other, who has basic mastery. 

Besides, the audience, the target people, also count: the more eloquent and skilled they are in their mother tongue, the more difficulty the teacher has when teaching them another language, since they obviously demand much more knowledge and many more skills than the basic user or average learner. 

And the style of the writing is also of paramount importance: a good translator conveys the author's ideas to perfection, but an excellent translator conveys both the writing style and the ideas of the author to perfection instead. 

In the writing theories we currently teach, the concept that most closely relates to what we just mentioned is Voice (style, eloquence, most prevalent ideas, and so on). 

Excellent translators are those that properly represent the author's persona, in terms of writing, in the target culture and language through their work.

Excellent translators can therefore be called voice of the author in the target language and culture. 

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Rosely Tranjan x Marcia Pinheiro: TEFL issues

So, Rosely, tell us: How long did it take you to learn these languages, Portuguese and English?

Portuguese is my mother tongue. Spanish I learnt in my childhood, living in Latin America countries. I have been living in Australia for 5 years. Before that, I did some English courses in Brazil. I am still learning the English Language and I think I will be learning my whole life. Vocabulary is always being added. 

To be sincere, you sound like a person who would find learning languages something easy. Where were you born?

I am from Brazil. I don't know how long it took me to learn Portuguese. It was the first language I had contact with. Maybe 3 years. Around 5 years to learn the English Language. In my opinion, you can only learn a language when you immerse in a culture of people who speak it on a daily basis.

Rosely, when I mention learning, I mean actually learning, so that it is not like you can say, Hi, how are you. It is more like you can speak about anything without much difficulty and you can also write about anything without much difficulty, so say when you reach the level of the native person. 

Adding the time I spent in Brazil doing English courses, I should say around 7 years.

So, this was for the English language, I assume. What about the Portuguese and the Spanish languages?

Yes, it's for the English Language.

Portuguese:

As I wrote before, I am from Brazil. It took for me to learn the Portuguese language the same time that takes to a child when she is learning to talk their own native language, around 3 years to speak and 2 years to write. Total 5 years.

Spanish

In my childhood, I lived 1 year in Bolivia, Peru, and Chile. I learnt the language very quick. In one year was speaking very well. Then, came back to Brazil and forgot the Spanish Language, but the phonemes were already in my brain. When I start working in Latin America, in less than 6 months I was speaking very well, without an accent. It took around 1 year to write as well. 

Rosely, it actually took me an entire life to learn the Portuguese language and I am still unable to use half of the vocabulary that my father knew at the age of 40 yo. In Brazil, studying the Portuguese language each and every year of your primary and secondary schools is a legal obligation, as far as I know. And I still had some Portuguese classes during my undergraduate, perhaps first year. 

I agree with you, Marcia. I had the Portuguese Language classes until the University. 

And English, I am still learning.

Yes, Rosely, my point is the amount of time we are spending to learn languages, but also the difficulties involved.

Rosely, I have been studying English, because of the educational system in Brazil, since at least Year 10. The system guarantees that we get at least three years of formal study of the English language.

I also studied at FISK Schools because the classes they had at my school, even though prepared and taught by native American people at least sometimes, were absolutely horrible. Learning anything at all during those classes should be considered nothing less than a miracle.

O estudo de Língua Estrangeira Moderna passa a fazer parte do núcleo comum, com obrigatoriedade para o ensino de 2º grau, recomendando-se a sua inclusão nos currículos de 1º grau onde as condições o indiquem e permitam

is what I found online regarding the topic, so that mandatory, in Brazil, is that we study a foreign language during our high school time, from Year 10 to 12, not before or after that. Three years. 

I studied for four years at FISK Schools to get my certificate. 

I then had one year of postgraduate studies at UERJ. That is when I got my qualifications: Translator and Interpreter. 

We here have eight years, what is nothing compared to the 13 years plus I spent studying the Portuguese language in Brazil. 

I still had six months practicing conversation in another course, Oxford if I am not mistaken, one year doing a sort of probation, like supervised translation, and six months doing a sort of supervised interpreting, like to the least. 

I probably did way more than that, but it is hard remembering everything. 

That amounts to ten years of formal study of the English language. 

I think language is something you realistically spend your entire life studying and, even so, on the last day of your human life, you are going to be committing mistakes when trying to use it as a communication tool. 

I would like to know from you if you had the experience of comparing learning from a person who was born speaking English with learning from a person who was born speaking another language. 

I also would like to know if you agree with what I say about the laws and education in Brazil. You can see my sources here, at the bottom of our conversation. 

Yes, in Brazil, having a foreign language in the school’s curriculum is mandatory. When I studied at the high school in Brazil, I had 2 years of the French language and 5 years of the English Language but didn’t learn much.

Studying 2 or 3 hours per week the new language, for 5 years, is almost nothing compared to the language spoken outside the school. Students continue talking with family and friends in their mother tongue. Outside classes, they are not exposed to the second language. In my opinion, it is not effective.

A second language acquisition happens when a student is immersed in it the whole day. Even when people are living in another Country, at home the mother tongue prevails. What I really learned in the English classes in Brazil was English grammar. When I did the TESOL course here, in Australia, I knew better grammar than Australian students because they don't learn grammar. On the other hand, I have very good Portuguese language background and some grammar subjects are the same in the English language.

Another point is the age that people are exposed to the new language. For adults, it is much more difficult than for children.  As I wrote before, it was easier for me to learn Spanish because I learned it when I was a child and my brain opened to acquire new phonemes. When I lived in Argentina, the language consolidated in my brain. Even though, I read several Spanish books to write well.

Another example: When my daughter and I came to Australia, she was 16 yo and didn’t speak English. Today, she is 21 yo and speaks better than me. She studies and works here.

I don’t think that learning a new language is easy, not at all. Neither that doesn’t take many years to learn it. Here, we use to read English books, watch television, hear the ABC radio interviews, etc.  

My last point is the use of each person has for the new language acquisition. For example, an international lawyer has to express his thoughts correctly, with good vocabulary, and must be an excellent writer. A handyman doesn’t.  A popular talk is enough. Consequently, the time for each one to acquire the new language is completely different. 

Rosely, you seem to have a lot to say. Your points are adding, I suppose: You mention immersion since the start, so that I notice that that is a main point for you. You really believe that only full immersion in the target culture can bring an adequate level of knowledge of the language. I myself do not really believe that, since English, for instance, is the language in several cultures, so say American, Irish, and Australian.

If we go to one of those places, we will actually get addicted to their accent, to their agglutination levels and things like that. Ideally, we would learn the clearest English of all, which is probably English English, and we then would be best prepared, I reckon.

You made a nice point there, about the use: I have been thinking that there could be a set of words that needs to be mastered by the person by default if we consider a specific trade or situation, so say handyman, as you said. We could actually put a figure on the cardinality of this set, and that would probably make teaching another language something more rational.
I recently acquired three more certificates: Introduction to TESOL, TESOL, and TEFL. One of my courses demanded that I wrote more than ten essays from day to night, and I managed to get maximum marks precisely in that one, believe it or not. I also got four out of four in an assessment that is done in Australia to measure linguistic skills that they see as mandatory for the person to be able to teach in the Country. I got four out of four in all components. I guess I finally learned the basics, then, but, wow, it took me a life, and a life ALSO of immersion in the culture (more than ten years in Australia, some time in the US, etc.). 

Your writing is rich, so that there is more to it: You talk about age, and I sincerely have to disagree with you. Learning has to do with skills and physical capabilities, but also with spirit and other factors, such as tranquility and necessity. The older you get, the more skills you should have.

You also mention amount of time immersed in the language as something that relates, in perhaps a proportional manner, to the amount and quality of the learning. I think more of quality, I must confess.

I wonder if you fear this question, since it remained unaddressed in your last token: Have you had the opportunity of comparing a TEFL teacher whose mother tongue is English with one whose mother tongue is another?

I think I don't agree with you when you say: We would learn the clearest English of all, which is probably English English, and we then would be best prepared, I reckon.

Best prepared for what? These regional differences are language as well. The same happens with Spanish. Of course, the Spanish from Spain is pure and very pleasant to listen to. Notiwthstanding, different dialects around Spain make the language dirty (not pure). Or, in Latin America, Spanish Language is different in each country. But all of them are Spanish with local adaptations.

Or the Portuguese spoken in Portugal, Brazil, Angola, etc. The Brazilian Portuguese spoken in the North and South of Brazil. Different words for the same meaning, like mandioca = macacheira. But, again, depends on the use of language for each one. You are an academic person, then justify why you want the pure English.

And what do you think about the new language that has been created around the world – the texting? I really believe that in 50 years the pure English or the pure Spanish, etc, will be killed. Is it right? Is it wrong? In my opinion, it’s just a different way of the new generation to communicate. 

The  question you have made:

Have you had the opportunity of comparing a TEFL teacher whose mother tongue is English with one whose mother tongue is another?

I had already English teacher from England or Australia and English teacher from Brazil. The Brazilian teacher is an excellent professional; I studied English for Business with him. Nowadays he is not a teacher anymore, just a translator of the biggest companies in Brazil. What I felt is that he could understand better the difficulties that the Brazilian people had in relation to the English language; for instance, the huge list of prepositions with verbs (phrasal verb) that changes the meaning of the word. But for the English teacher, a phrasal verb is part of his talks since his birth. I think he can’t feel the student’s difficulty.

Brazilian teacher teaching Brazilian people knows the differences of grammar and sentence's construction of each language. Consequently, he can explain better.

On the other hand, Australian teacher teaching English to foreign people teach them the local accent, the culture. In my opinion, both are good.

You are probably right on this one, Rosely: That both are equally good. To be sincere, my best English teachers were from the own Brazil, not from the USA, Australia, England or anywhere else, so that my experience actually tells me that the best teacher is that who has English as a second language, not first. Thanks for the chat and also for your kindness. I think that the blog would not be as good without your contribution. As for the texting, I don’t think our daily language will ever be affected in a meaningful manner.

A good start studying a second language should be learning it in your own Country. But, to solidity the learning of the language and to be fluent when talking, I believe that it's better to spend some time in a Country that speaks the language learned. 

Sure, sure. Perhaps that should be a mandatory component of the certificates: Some experience abroad, where they speak the target language.

References

A LDB e a legislação vigente sobre o ensino ea formação de professor de língua inglesa

Universal Grammar

       Rosely Tranjan                                                                        Dr. Marcia Pinheiro

       Mob: 0479076718                                                         drmarciapinheiro@gmail.com

       http://www.rttutorsp.weebly.com          https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marcia_Pinheiro4