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British vs. American English.... Which One Do You Like????

English is spoken in many countries either as the mother tongue or as a second language. That’s why instead of «English» there are many «Englishes» — variations of the language. In this article I’ll focus on the two mostly commonly used versions of English — British and American English.
Before we take a look at some of the differences between the two main types of English I’d like to stress that these differences are somewhat minor and with the ongoing internationalization of our modern world they could even said to be diminishing.
The few differences that exist between British and American English tend rather to enrich communication than slow it down.
Although not all my British readers might agree, I think that the American version of spoken English is becoming more and more dominant for several reasons. Let me give you an example to show you why American English has a stronger impact on British English than vice versa.
When you go to the UK and switch on the TV you will see a lot of American shows, movies and films which, of course, are shown in the original, American version. Thus, especially young people watching TV will learn a lot of American vocabulary and phrases which they easily internalize and use as their own. It follows, modern British English is much more likely to be influenced by American English than the other way round because when you live in the US and watch TV you rarely will see a British show or film.
Another area where US English dominates is international business. Most globally operating companies are based in the US and hence the influence of American English terminology is very strong.
However, as with any issue, the more you think about it, the more variations you will encounter and it would be impossible to cover them all in one article.
That’s why we’ll move on now to the differences between British and American English. Instead of giving you a comprehensive rundown of all imaginable items I’ll limit myself to a small selection of my personal observations.

EVALUATION PROCESS

Through this learning process we have seen many web sites which have helped us in several ways. We now have the ability to teach english but in an interactive way by carrying out some activities that encourage learners to improve themselves.
This is what i really have enjoyed a lot because in can also interact to improve my abilitites. For example, there are many web sites that emphasize on grammar so that, we can lead students how to write english sentences properly. Also there are web sites that works with songs and students can improve their listening abilities.
While students learn how to apply their strategies to learn something, they develop the ability they are required to use.
Despite many web-sites lack of activities, we can see students motivated to learn more.
So as you can see here, students can develop their abilties (Writting, Reading, Listening, Speaking) by visiting web pages such as www.lirics.com, www.saberingles.com, www.mtv.com or www.eslcafe.com.
Furthermore, we can find different tools such as text books, listening activities, chats, debates, etc, that motivate students to work interactively.
I like the way have been working because we have interacted a lot in an iteresting way. I have learnt different expresions and i have developed my skills.

WEB SITE EVALUATION SHEET

APPLY TECHNOLOGY

1. Name of the site visited.

2. Web address.

3. Types of site:

· Teacher resource P

· On­-line instruction P

· News or information P

· Chat -roomP

· Games or simulations X

· List service P

· Others P

4. Detail description of site; that is, what information does it contain? And what types of activities are available?

5. What is the best thing about this site?

6. What is the greatest shortcoming of this site?

7. How could you use this web site with an English class?

8. Which skills could be the most reinforced through this site?

9. On a scale of one to five, how would you rate this site?

One = least favourable, five = most favourable.

ANSWERS

1. Dave`s ESL café (English Second Language ).

2. www.eslcafe.com.

3. This is an interesting Informational Web site whose purpose is to present factual information. It can be used for creating dynamic learning communities to supplement the face-to-face classroom or as a platform for distance education classes. Academic professional organizations benefit from its interactive features and the ability to provide public content, member-only resources, and member subscription management.

4. This web-site contains different but meaningful information which help our needs as students, such as: grammar activities, (idioms, phrasal verbs) help center, quizzes, student forum and slang. All of them are available but there are others like chat central, book stores etc.

5. The best thing about this site is the opportunity that this one gives to those students who don’t know how to use a complicated software or web-site, also it has all the skills that people want to learn and understand about a second language in order to improve and also increase their knowledge.

6. We think the greatest shortcoming that comes from this web-site involves the problem which students of a high level could present at the moment of developing their own knowledge in it, because it seems it was made for beginners.

7. We think we can use this web-site as a model to make students sure it is no longer the way they can get the second language as easy as they hadn`t thought before. The guide will be developed as it follows: first of all, teaching students new words, sentences` structures and how to apply all the English rules. Secondly, evaluating them with quizzes, also asking them for vocabulary including its pronunciation and finally make them to put the hole knowledge into practice.

8. We think the most reinforced skill could be the speaking one because as you know, languages are made to communicate, thus students would communicate with other people and also have the experience to communicate with native speakers.

9. We would rate it with a four score.

WEB SITE EVALUATION SHEET

APPLY TECHNOLOGY

ELIUD

JOSE ARROYO

LINA ARRIETA

CESAR PATERNINA

ENGLISH V –A

UNIVERSITY OF CORDOBA

MONTERIA-2007

AGREE OR DISAGREE ACTIVITY

First of all, i agree with ¨agree or disagree¨ activity because it is a goodway to make students interact in the classroom bygiving their answers in the speaking form.

As students have to speak, the teacher or their own partners can correct them by supporting them to give a clear message or even in the pronounciation of some words.

Students can compare their feelings in order to allow the teacher to know what they believe or think about the questions that are given to them.

For this reason, students cancompare and also argue their ideas but in an interactive way.Also teachers can interact by being asked by his/her students or by asking students what comes into their minds in order to answer the given questions.

Finally, students can be given some advices if they are wrong,that is, when students answer in an illogical way, their ideas can be corrected by arguing with al the classroom.

I would apply this activity in the educational context in order to let students to express their thoughts using their previous knowledgeand also to develop their learning styles.

I would apply this acticiy in a medium level because they already have the fluency in order to speak and also because i could work in a comfortable way

How technology is important in the educational context

The Internet is a complex repository containing a huge maze of information from a variety of sources. It has become a prominent source of information for many people worldwide. The Internet wave has also hit the educational landscape in many big ways. The use of technologies such as the Internet as a teaching tool in schools is not the issue now since it is pervasively used. Rather, the issue is how to effectively employ such technologies and harness fully the new opportunities created by them to promote positive student learning experiences.

Schools need to consider how technology-based instructional programs are mounted to ensure that students use the Internet efficaciously as a learning tool for various authentic learning activities such as conducting research on a given topic or finding relevant information for an assignment. Bruce and Levin (1997) posit that the Internet can be viewed as providing the following three basic types of tools in the educational domain:

· Tools for inquiry
· Tools for communication
· Tools for construction

In conclusion, the Internet has been beneficial in the educational domain as a repository of gargantuan amounts of rich information. However schools, educational policy makers, and instructional/curriculum designers who intend to employ the Internet as a learning tool in their instructional programs must bear in mind and highlight to students the fact that just not any piece of information found on the net can be accepted as being authentic.