Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Teaching & Education

Legal References

LOMCE

O.L. 8/ 2013 (BOE)

RD1105/2014

(BOE)

Linguistics / Grammar

Recommended Texts

• CRYSTAL, D. (1997): The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Quirk, R. and S. Greenbaum (1991): A University Grammar of English. London: Longman.
• Quirk, R. et al. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman.
• CHOMSKY, N: Syntactic Structures. The Hague. 1957.
• Leech, G. and Svartvick “A Communicative English” Longman 1979.
• Thompson, A. & Martinet, A1986. A Practical English Grammar. Oxford University Press.
• GREENBAUM, Sidney & QUIRK, Randolph: A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. Longman. 1990.
• HUDDLESTON, R.: Introduction to the Grammar of English. Cambridge University

ARTICLE: artículo // A text or piece of writing

BROADSHEET: periódico serio// A large-format newspaper with usually serious content

CENSOR: censurar// official with the power to stop publication of certain articles

CHEQUEBOOK: talonario de cheques// the obtaining of exclusive rights to a story by payment of large sums of money

JOURNALIST: periodista // person who writes articles for a paper

CORRESPONDENT: corresponsal// 1 person who writes a letter to a paper 2 person who writes articles for a paper

CRITIC: crítico// a person who writes articles, especially stating opinion, about art, music…

CROPPED: recortado

CAPTION: subtítulo

DESK: sección// a department of a newspaper

EDIT: editar// to check, modify, and generally prepare written material... Continue reading "Newspaper Terminology and Structure" »

Mastering English Vocabulary and Grammar

Common Verb Collocations

• Make: progress, money, suggestions, sense, a reaction, a choice, competition, an appointment
• Take: part, action, achievement, place, a rise, an effort, one’s time, responsibility, age
• Raise: a solution, issues, money, one’s voice, a question, an award, children, awareness, a price, doubt

Essential Idiomatic Expressions

• Move with the times: to adapt to current trends
• Have you on the edge of your seat: something that is very exciting or suspenseful
• His mind is made up: he has decided firmly
• Dead-end job: a job with no prospects for advancement
• Get your foot in the door: to get started in a new career or organization
• Make a living: to earn enough money to live
• Tricks of the trade: clever

Answerable to

(tapescript) Responsible to

Apprentice

Someone who works for a skilled employer for a fixed period in return for being taught the skills necessary for that job.

Bargaining

Discussing prices, etc. to get a result that is to your own advantage.

Candidate

Person who applies for a job or wants to be elected to a particular position.

Carpenter

Person whose job is making or repairing wooden things.

Chambermaids

Women whose job it is to clean and tidy hotel bedrooms.

Clientele

Group of customers or guests.

Comes Under the Remit of

(tapescript) Is the responsibility of.

Command of

Knowledge of.

Courteous

Polite.

Day-to-Day

Planning for only one day at a time.

Dealings with sb

(tapescript) Relations with sb, especially in business.

Delegates

People who have been... Continue reading "Essential Hotel Management Vocabulary" »

PREGUNTAS:

Before factories, textile production was a primarily domestic affair, conducted on a small scale within individual homes.

Early Observations

Daniel Defoe, renowned author of "Robinson Crusoe," documented his travels through Yorkshire around 1720. He observed small cottages engaged in small-scale production, with each family functioning as an independent unit. Defoe noted regional variations, such as in Norfolk, where spinning and weaving were carried out in separate locations.

The Wool Production Process

The process of turning wool into clothing involved several steps:

1. Cleaning: Freshly sheared wool was thoroughly cleaned.
2. Carding: Wool fibers were brushed and aligned using tools like cards and combs.
3. Spinning: Primarily done by young, unmarried

Pragmatics

Pragmatics is the study of "invisible" meaning, or how we recognize what is meant even when it isn't explicitly stated.

Deixis

A deictic expression (or deixis) is a word or phrase (such as this, that, these, those, now, then) that points to the time, place, or situation in which a speaker is speaking.

Reference

Reference is an act by which a speaker uses language to enable a listener to identify something.

Inference

Inference is a process where additional information is needed to connect what is said to what is meant.

Anaphora

In English grammar, anaphora is the use of a pronoun or other linguistic unit to refer back to another word or phrase. Some linguists use anaphora as a generic term for both forward and backward reference.

Presupposition

Presupposition... Continue reading "Key Concepts in Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis" »

Response Through Action (TPR):

Even in our mother tongue, we do not always respond to a linguistic message with another linguistic message. Very often, the fact of doing something is an adequate response to a message just received. So, a physical answer is also a way to prove partial or total comprehension (when the child hears 'Come here', he/she does not answer 'I'm coming'. He/she simply does it).

Besides, we often understand more than we are able to speak so in the first steps learning a language, a physical response plays an especially significant role.

Teach Full Subjects in English (CLIL):

CLIL refers to teaching subjects to students through a foreign language and suggests equilibrium between content and language learning. The non-language... Continue reading "Effective Language Learning Strategies for Children" »

Branches of Linguistics

General Versus Descriptive Linguistics

1. General Linguistics: Supplies the concepts and categories in terms of which particular languages (L1, L2, L3, etc.) are analyzed.
2. Descriptive Linguistics: Provides the data (i.e., given specific or broad aspects of L1, L2, L3, etc.) that confirm or refute the hypotheses, statements, or theories proposed by general linguists.

On the whole, General and Descriptive Linguistics are interdependent, complementary subfields within linguistics as a scientific study, i.e., as an empirical scientific study or discipline within the human (i.e., social) sciences.

Theoretical Versus Applied Linguistics

1. Theoretical Linguistics

   Studies language and languages with a view to constructing a theory of their

Humanistic Texts: General Characteristics

Humanistic texts study issues related to human beings, encompassing thinking, social relations, and human studies. They are distinguished from social sciences, which focus on the societal aspects, and human sciences, which address the individual sphere. Predominant text types in human sciences are expository and argumentative. The typical structure of classical humanistic texts includes an introduction, development, and conclusion. An idea is presented, followed by examples, and then a synthesis explaining the idea.

Linguistic Features of Humanistic Texts

The language of humanistic texts is characterized by the use of jargon, which is specialized terminology. Unlike natural languages, human sciences' language... Continue reading "Understanding Humanistic and Legal Texts: Characteristics and Analysis" »