Individual Essay (2nd Draft)

GAMES TO LEARN ENGLISH CAN DEVELOP HUMAN VALUES ON CHILDREN

Games in children education are very important to learn English, nowadays in Venezuelan institutions, games era used as a method to make easier the process of learning a new language in this case to learn English, since it helps children to increase their knowledge about this, through games it is looked to create a cooperation environment between the teacher and the student in order to help children to make new bonds with their classmates. Games reinforce human values, such as: respect, self-esteem and friendship; but that will depend on the game that the teachers select in their English classes.

According to Evey (2006), says that, respect is basically an attitude that is shown towards any individuals’ feelings or interest. It is acknowledging another’s feelings in any kind of relationship. For example the hangman game which consists on choosing a word whose letters are guessed at by the others players and for each wrong guess, a new part of the stick figure of a hanging man is drawn. So with this game children can learn about the importance of this value, because when they are playing they should have a respect attitude, respecting the turn of the others, and wait their next turn. There are also another types of game that can help teachers to reinforce this value, such as: tic tac toe, puzzles, table games, and so on. So at the same time that children are learning English and playing something fun, they are reinforcing the respect value.

Other value is self-esteem, which is very important at that period of time, because children can discover many things that are interesting to them. Blascovich & Tomaka (1991), define self-esteem as, an individual's sense of his or her value or worth, or the extent to which a person values, approves of, appreciates, prizes, or likes him or herself. This value can be develop for children with the types of games that allow them to share, but in a not competitive way, games that stimulate and encourage them to do their works at school or homework’s better, to let them know that they can count with their teacher in any moment. But the teachers have to study very careful the type of game that they are going to use in their classes, because a wrong choice can develop other types of values. For example to develop the self-esteem value, teachers can use games such as: spin the bottle which consists on a group of children sit in a circle or facing each other and one person spins a bottle that is lying on its side. When the bottle stops spinning, the neck will be pointing towards a person. The spinner has to kiss that person or say something positive; it can be a story about "first impressions" when they first met. Or simple games in which children win something, a candy, a happy face, a kiss, and so on, in order to make them feel good about themselves.

Morton (2006), defines friendship as a mutual intimacy of mind which we all naturally crave. Each pair of friends possesses within his or her mind a detailed mental model of the other. Friendship is possible between equal peers with compatible personalities who share a natural affinity and the same core values, interests, pleasures and aspirations. This is a very important value for children mostly at that period of life, when they are discovering many innovating things around them. Teachers should use games that permit children to share with their classmates, to create new relationships, new friends, because at the same time that they are making friends, they are building their profile, their likes and dislikes. So for example: puzzle, hot potato, and memory, between others; can help teachers to reinforce this value.

In summary, games are very essential for children, because through them children can learn a new language and learn the importance of respect, self-esteem and friendship values, which are extremely important in the life of every human being, but if there is the possibility to exploit that values at a very young age, why not do it? So that’s why teachers should considered give their classes in a fun an interesting way, but at the same time children are learning English and reinforcing values, that will help them in a future too be better persons.

Grammar Exercises

SEMICOLONS AND COMAS USED TO SEPARATE (Andrea and Mariana)

1- In the last 3 years I have traveled to Canada, Japan, Brasil, London, France and Italy.

2- Mariana ate this morning, toast bread with butter, eggs, cereal, orange juice and coffe.

3- The burnet, tall man told me that the store was closed.

4- The cat chased the mouse, and the mouse ran away.

5- He never arrived, so I went by myself to the party.

6- My husband went to the beach; I went to a party.

7- In the trailer we packed our sleeping bags; which were very heavy.

8- As I was studying; the postman rang twice.

9- Summer in the desert is very hot; the cactus plant is well adapted for survival there.

10- I have often tried to grow African violets; I have never been successful.

PERIOD, QUESTION MARKS AND EXCLAMATION POINT (Francisco and Stella)

1- 1.______________________________________________

2.______________________________________________

A= Periods are used after the numbers and letters in an outline.

2- Ave. (avenue) Co. (company) St. (street) blvd. (boulevard)
A= Periods are used after abbreviations used in adresses.

3- why are you happy? because i pass the exam.
A= Periods are used at the end of the answer to a question.

4- good afternoon. good night. good morning.
A= Periods are used after anacceptable expression wich is not a complete sentences, such a salulation.

5- Dear Mr. martinez im writing you this letter just to thanks for your help
A= Periods are used after abbreviations in ordinary writing.

6- she asked me if you were interesting to buy the carpet.
A= Periods are used at the end of an idirect question.

7- stella is very good at maths.
A= Periods are used after a complete statement.

8- what do you want for dinner?
A= A question mark is used after a direct question, one that calls for an answer.
9- do you like chocolate, don`t you?
A= A question mark is used when questioning words are added tothe end of a statement. ( question tab)

10- stella said, "when will the semester ends?"did stella say, "the semester will finish next month"?
A= A question mark is used after quotation marks if it belongs to the quoted words. it is used uotside the quotation marks if it belongs to the whole sentence.
11- help me! im going to fall down!what a great news!
A= the exclamation point is used sparingly in formal writing; it should be used only to show strong feeling.

THE USE OF THE COLON (:) AND THE DASH (-) (Daniela and Brianth)

1- The things that I need to bring are:food, potatoes, drinks and napkins.

These are the things that I need to bring: food, potatoes, drinks and napkins.

2- The music was perfect: it was soft, chilli and relaxing.

3- On weekends, these are the things I prefer to do: Reeding, Writing, Sleeping.

These are the things I prefer to do on weekends: Reading, Writing and Sleeping.

4- So, what I recall is that Mark Said: "I' ve been here for a long time"

What I recall that Mark said: is that he had been there for a long time

5- When we arrived there everything was quiet: There wasn't any disturbing sound or the chaos of the city. It was Perfect!

6- Hey- my friend--come here
My friend, come here--Hey Tom!, try to arrive earlier.

7- As I was telling you, my mom is very nice--Look! there she is.

8- It is clear what I want in life--to live in peace.
Students with a 90 points quotient-- no less than that--will be awarded.

9- What I want in life is--to live in peace

It is clear what I want in life--to live in peace.

10- She only likes one thing--to drink beer.

Individual Essay (1st Draft)

GAMES TO LEARN ENGLISH CAN DEVELOP HUMAN VALUES ON CHILDREN

Games to learn English in children education are very important, nowadays in Venezuelan institutions, games era used as a method to make easier the process of learning a new language in this case to learn English, since it helps children to increase their knowledge about a foreign language, through games it is looked to create a cooperation environment between the teacher and the student. Games develop human values, such as: respect, self-esteem and friendship; but that will depend on the game that the teacher uses in their English classes.

At the present time, teachers have many opportunities to make their classes fun and interesting, that’s why games have become in a very essential part of the students learning process; for example the hangman game which consist on choosing a word whose letters are guessed at by the others players and for each wrong guess, a new part of the stick figure of a hanging man is drawn. This game can develop on the students the value of Respect, according to Evey (2006), says that, Respect is basically an attitude that is shown towards any individuals’ feelings or interest. It is acknowledging another’s feelings in any kind of relationship. With this game children can learn about the importance of this value, because when they are playing they have to respect the turn of the others, and wait their next turn, so at the same time that they are learning and playing something fun, they are developing the respect value.

Other value is Self-esteem, which is very important at that age, because children can discover many things that are interesting to them, Blascovich & Tomaka (1991), define self-esteem as, an individual's sense of his or her value or worth, or the extent to which a person values, approves of, appreciates, prizes, or likes him or herself. This value can be develop for children with the types of games that allow them to share, but in a not competitive way, games that stimulate and encourage them to do their works at school or homework’s better, to let them know that they can count with their teacher in any moment. But the teachers have to study very careful the type of game that they are going to use in their classes, because a wrong choice can develop other types of values. For example to develop the self-esteem value, teachers can use games such as, spin the bottle, reach for the stars, games that every study win something, a candy, a happy face, a kiss, and so on.

According to Sadler (2002), explain Friendship as, the first and basic human conviction. It is more than an emotion, it is greater than an impulse, it transcends a sentiment. There is something profound about friendship at its best. It is undoubtedly based on the sentiment of love, and has in association with it many other emotions, including, no doubt, both sympathy and respect. Friendship is the equivalent of love plus loyalty and more or less of the sex-element. It is so influential in human experience that there appear to be no lengths to which it will not go to assert itself and to justify its existence. This is a very important value for children mostly at that age when they are discovering many innovating things around them, the teachers should use games that permit children to share with their classmates, to create new relationships, new friends. For example, puzzle, hot potato, between others.

In summary, games are very essential for children, because through them children can learn a new language and can learn the importance of respect, self-esteem and friendship values, which are extremely important in the life of every human being, but if there is the possibility to exploit that values at a very young age, why not do it? So that’s why teachers should considered give their classes in a fun an interesting way, but at the same time children are learning English and developing values, that will help them in a future too be better persons.

Individual Essay

Games to learn English in children education are very important, nowadays in Venezuelan institutions, games era used as a method to make easier the process of learning a new language in this case to learn English, since it helps children to increase their knowledge about a foreign language, through games it is looked to create a cooperation environment between the teacher and the student. Games develop human values, such as: respect, self-esteem and friendship; but that will depend on the game that the teacher use in their English classes.

The Process of Teaching English (5th Draft)

The process of teaching English in Venezuela has been evolving during the last thirty years and the students have been adapting themselves and their needs to this reality. This process of changing is understood as a teaching method that the students must pass through to achieve effective English apprenticeship. One of the most used skill in this process of teaching English is “Reading Comprehension”, and it is for that reason that during the time of teaching English it is very important to develop this skill. Regarding the teaching process orientation about reading comprehension, there are three approaching groups which are established depending on the way that the students process the information during the reading: The Ascending Approach, The Descending Approach and The Interactive Approach.

According to Rivera S., Forteza and Rivera I., say that, the Ascending Approach explains the process of reading as the execution of a series of operations which are initiated with the perception of the visual stimulus that appear on the reading and that it is concluded when the students reconstruct in their minds what the author wants to transmit. At this point the visual stimulus becomes equally important because it allows the students to develop the process of making the general ideas of what they have read in a visual way. They also explain that “a visual stimulus is a reaction that an object in a passive way produces over a subject that is in front of this”. The descending approach is characterized for giving more importance to the visual perception process during the reading. It is for that reason that this approach is taken as important for the process of learning English, besides it helps to the students to improve their knowledge and vocabulary giving them the tools to create new ideas that will assist them to interpretate the reading. The ascending approach contributes to generate a visual recreation of the text; the advantage of this is that a student, like a university student can take a whole idea of what he or she is reading to later conclude the text with a general perception of this.

On the other hand Rivera S., Forteza and Rivera I., explain that the Descending Approach is defined as a series of operations or steps to follow that are initiated with the hypothesis formulation that the students make about the meaning of the text and then confirm or reject as a final result of the analysis made to the information given on the text. In other words the process will start in the students mind and will conclude when they finish the reading. This approach assists the students to comprehend the text, but taking into account that the hypothesis that they has made about the text gave them the exact kind of knowledge they were looking for on it. For example, a student of English would look in a vocabulary book some unknown English words. Using the Descending Approach he will confirm or reject if the book provided him the information he was looking for.

The authors previously mentioned also propose another approach, named the Interactive Approach which explains that the reconstruction of the text meaning during the reading is the result of the interaction of the two previous types of approaches. At this point the reading comprehension process takes place when the students finally construct in their mind the ideas taken from the text. Also it is important to say that from these three approaches of reading comprehension, the Interactive Approach is the most useful of them, since it involves the whole process of reading comprehension and give to the students the tools to find the information that they are looking for. That will allow them to comprehend the text and also the English language in an easier way. Therefore the students, after processing the information, could acquire the ability to react in front to the text using the English language.

To conclude, it is said that these three approaches allow the students to establish general ideas about the text they are reading. Those approaches are conciousness process that they set up before start a reading what during the moment of walking through the text will let them to find the information that they are looking for on it. Those approaches also help them to recreate their mental processes. It would be ideal if the university professors apply these methods in order to help their students to comprehen better the texts that they read, and also it makes easier their own process of learning English.