Tree diagrams
or
  phrase markers

Before you start diagraming a sentence it's recommended (not to say necessary) to analyze it using a syntactic viewpoint, which is simply to identify the different phrases and/or clauses found in any given sentence and how they can be represented. This is an important aspect of Parsing that is another way to call this kind of analysis. 

Taking into account the different types of phrases (noun, verb, prepositional, adjectival, adverbial), look at these sentences, perform a syntactic analysis and diagram them. 

1. The students in class are not paying attention. 
2. A new has come to class with harder activities. 
3. We could've decided faster.
4. My brand new tv was really expensive in this store.

TREE DIAGRAMS 

Take a look at this brief definition of what a tree diagram is and why it is used. Also, pay attention to the examples you have there so they help you do the exercises you have below the image.

Diagram the following sentences:

1. My teachers at school are strict.
2. My sister bought a beautiful blouse.
3. Some intelligent students were a part of the activity.
4. We appreciate your offer.
5. The new assistant didn't tell us her age. 

 

CONVERSACIÓN II

Record yourself reading the story and send the audio file:

 Last week, Beth baked a cake for Lilly's birthday party. Lilly wanted a strawberry cake with pink frosting. Beth was happy to bake the cake.

First, Beth mixed the ingredients in a big bowl. Next, she poured the cake batter into four round baking pans. She put the pans in the oven. Finally, she baked the cakes for 20 minutes.

Then, Beth prepared the pink frosting. After the cakes cooled, Beth stacked them and covered them with frosting. Beth wrote Lilly's name on top with white frosting. She put seven candles in the cake.

On Sunday, Beth surprised Lilly with the strawberry cake. Lilly loved her cake! Lilly had many gifts for her birthday. But Lilly said her cake was the best gift of them all!

METODOLOGÍA DE LA ESPECIALIDAD

According to what we covered in class, 

1. Describe the fundaments of the different teaching methods used to work in a ESL classroom.

2. How should an English class be carried out?

3. What are the elements of a class based in the communicative approach?

4. What is the logical way to work the language skills in a classroom?

5. Design a class plan for a class that is supposed to cover the present tense,  practicing daily routines and frequency adverbs. 

Post your answers here or send the info to my email address.

Theories of International Relations

Article taken from http://www.sparknotes.com/us-government-and-politics/political-science/international-politics/section2.rhtml

A theory of international relations is a set of ideas that explains how the international system works. Unlike an ideology, a theory of international relations is (at least in principle) backed up with concrete evidence. The two major theories of international relations are realism and liberalism.

National Interest

Most theories of international relations are based on the idea that states always act in accordance with their national interest, or the interests of that particular state. State interests often include self-preservation, military security, economic prosperity, and influence over other states. Sometimes two or more states have the same national interest. For example, two states might both want to foster peace and economic trade. And states with diametrically opposing national interests might try to resolve their differences through negotiation or even war.

Realism

According to realism, states work only to increase their own power relative to that of other states. Realism also claims the following:

• The world is a harsh and dangerous place. The only certainty in the world is power. A powerful state will always be able to outdo—and outlast—weaker competitors. The most important and reliable form of power is military power.
• A state’s primary interest is self-preservation. Therefore, the state must seek power and must always protect itself
• There is no overarching power that can enforce global rules or punish bad behavior.
• Moral behavior is very risky because it can undermine a state’s ability to protect itself.
• The international system itself drives states to use military force and to war. Leaders may be moral, but they must not let moral concerns guide foreign policy.
• International organizations and law have no power or force; they exist only as long as states accept them.

Politicians have practiced realism as long as states have existed. Most scholars and politicians during the Cold War viewed international relations through a realist lens. Neither the United States nor the Soviet Union trusted the other, and each sought allies to protect itself and increase its political and military influence abroad. Realism has also featured prominently in the administration of George W. Bush.

Machiavelli

One of the best-known realist thinkers is the notorious Niccolo Machiavelli. In his book The Prince (1513), he advised rulers to use deceit and violence as tools against other states. Moral goals are so dangerous, he wrote, that to act morally will bring about disaster. He also gave advice about how to deal with conflicts among neighboring states and how to defend one’s homeland. Machiavelli’s name has become synonymous with nasty and brutal politics.

Liberalism

Liberalism emphasizes that the broad ties among states have both made it difficult to define national interest and decreased the usefulness of military power. Liberalism developed in the 1970s as some scholars began arguing that realism was outdated. Increasing globalization, the rapid rise in communications technology, and the increase in international trade meant that states could no longer rely on simple power politics to decide matters. Liberal approaches to international relations are also called theories of complex interdependence.Liberalism claims the following:

• The world is a harsh and dangerous place, but the consequences of using military power often outweigh the benefits. International cooperation is therefore in the interest of every state.
• Military power is not the only form of power. Economic and social power matter a great deal too. Exercising economic power has proven more effective than exercising military power.
• Different states often have different primary interests.
• International rules and organizations can help foster cooperation, trust, and prosperity.

Example: Relations among the major Western powers fit a model of complex interdependence very well. The United States has significant disagreements with its European and Asian allies over trade and policy, but it is hard to imagine a circumstance in which the United States would use military power against any of these allies. Instead, the United States relies on economic pressure and incentives to achieve its policy aims.

Idealism

Idealism is a specific school of liberalism that stresses the need for states to pursue moral goals and to act ethically in the international arena. Idealists believe that behavior considered immoral on an interpersonal level is also immoral in foreign policy. Therefore, idealists argue that dishonesty, trickery, and violence should be shunned. In the United States, idealism has usually been associated with the Democratic Party since World War I.

Example: As he negotiated the treaty to end World War I in 1918, Woodrow Wilson worked to promote democracy and national self-determination. Wilson’s idealism led him to push hard for the creation of the League of Nations, an international organization that would fight aggression and protect the weak from the strong, in 1919. Scholars use the term Wilsonianto describe a person or group who advocates promoting democracy overseas in the name of idealism.

How Culture Controls Communication

An article taken from http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolkinseygoman/2011/11/28/how-culture-controls-communication/2/

Business leaders know that intercultural savvy is vitally important – not just because they have to deal increasingly with globalization, but also because the work force within their own national borders is growing more and more diverse.

Culture is, basically, a set of shared values that a group of people holds. Such values affect how you think and act and, more importantly, the kind of criteria by which you judge others. Cultural meanings render some behaviors as normal and right and others strange or wrong.

Every culture has rules that its members take for granted. Few of us are aware of our own biases because cultural imprinting is begun at a very early age. And while some of culture’s knowledge, rules, beliefs, values, phobias and anxieties are taught explicitly, most is absorbed subconsciously.

Of course, we are all individuals, and no two people belonging to the same culture are guaranteed to respond in exactly the same way. However, generalizations are valid to the extent that they provide clues on what you willmost likely encounter – and how those differences impact communication. Here are three such generalizations.

Cultures are either high-context or low-context

Every aspect of global communication is influenced by cultural differences. Even the choice of medium used to communicate may have cultural overtones. For example, it has been noted that industrialized nations rely heavily on electronic technology and emphasize written messages over oral or face-to-face communication. Certainly the United States, Canada, the UK and Germany exemplify this trend. But Japan, which has access to the latest technologies, still relies more on face-to-face communications than on the written mode. The determining factor in medium preference may not be the degree of industrialization, but rather whether the country falls into a high-context orlow-context culture.

In some cultures, personal bonds and informal agreements are far more binding than any formal contract. In others, the meticulous wording of legal documents is viewed as paramount. High-context cultures (Mediterranean, Slav, Central European, Latin American, African, Arab, Asian, American-Indian) leave much of the message unspecified – to be understood through context, nonverbal cues, and between-the-lines interpretation of what is actually said. By contrast, low-context cultures (most of the Germanic and English-speaking countries) expect messages to be explicit and specific. The former are looking for meaning and understanding in what is notsaid – in body language, in silences and pauses, and in relationships and empathy. The latter place emphasis on sending and receiving accurate messages directly, and by being precise with spoken or written words.

One communication trap that U.S. business leaders may fall into is a (costly) disregard for the importance of building and maintaining personal relationships when dealing with individuals from high-context cultures.

Cultures are either sequential or synchronic

Some cultures think of time sequentially – as a linear commodity to “spend,” “save,” or “waste.” Other cultures view time synchronically – as a constant flow to be experienced in the moment, and as a force that cannot be contained or controlled.

In sequential cultures (like North American, English, German, Swedish, and Dutch), businesspeople give full attention to one agenda item after another. In many other parts of the world, professionals regularly do several things at the same time. I once cashed a traveler’s check at a Panamanian bank where the teller was counting my money, talking to a customer on the phone, and admiring the baby in the arms of the woman behind me. To her, it was all business as usual.

The American commoditization of time not only serves as the basis for a “time is money” mentality, it can lead to a fixation on timelines that plays right into the hands of savvy negotiators from other cultures. A Chinese executive explained: “All we need to do is find out when you are scheduled to leave the country and we wait until right before your flight to present our offer. By then, you are so anxious to stay on schedule, you’ll give away the whole deal.”

In synchronic cultures (including South America, southern Europe and Asia) the flow of time is viewed as a sort of circle – with the past, present, and future all inter-related. This viewpoint influences how organizations in those cultures approach deadlines, strategic thinking, investments, developing talent from within, and the concept of “long-term” planning.

Whether time is perceived as a commodity or a constant determines the meaning and value of being “on time.”  Think of the misunderstandings that can occur when one culture views arriving late for a meeting as bad planning or a sign of disrespect, while another culture views an insistence on timeliness as childish impatience.

Orientation to the past, present, and future is another aspect of time in which cultures disagree. Americans believe that the individual can influence the future by personal effort, but since there are too many variables in the distant future, we favor a short-term view. This gives us an international reputation of “going for the quick buck” and being interested only in the next quarterly return. Even our relationships seem to be based on a “what have you done for me lately?” pragmatism.

Synchronic cultures have an entirely different  perspective. The past becomes a context in which to understand the present and prepare for the future. Any important relationship is a durable bond that goes back and forward in time, and it is often viewed as grossly disloyal not to favor friends and relatives in business dealings.