IELTS and TOEFL

The TOEFL is just one exam, there is only a version of the exam currently, the TOEFL IBT, this one is not an academic exam, even though it has an academic English, In the other hand, the IELTS is an exam which has two versions, it has the academic version and the general version, the TOEFL IBT that has academic English is comparable with the academic IELTS. In some situations, if you want to immigrate to countries like Canada or Australia you have to take the IELTS the general exam, this one is easier, the aspect of reading and reading are easier than the IELTS or than the TOEFL Rebecca (2009, July 7).

TOEFL is create for an American company so is focus more in American English in the listening for example, you are going to listen more American accent, and the IELTS is developed by the university of Cambridge and it is focus in British English so, the accent you are going to have for listening test is British English. Rebecca. (2009, July 7).

The length  

The length of the TOEFL is longer than IELTS. The TOEFL is about 4 hours long, in the other hand the IELTS is shorter, is about 2 hours and 25 minutes, it doesn´t mean is easier, but it is short. Rebecca. (2009, July 7).

Reading section

The reading section in TOEFL last for about 60 to 100 minutes, some student are given a longer version of the test some are given the shortest version. Students don’t have control over that. The shortest version has three passages and is given 20 minutes for each passage. The longest version has 5 passages. And it can last for 100 minutes. In the IELTS the reading section, consist of three passages of 20 minutes, it is about 60 minutes.

 The level of English in this section is academic English, the difficulties in TOEFL is the same level in the three passages, the IELTS stars from the easiest, and then is a little bit harder by the third paragraph. It has ten or twelve questions after each test. The questions at TOEFL are multiple choice. Student match but they do not have to write anything, in the IELTS there are different kinds of questions, some are multiple choice, some are true or false, in some students choose word from the passage and answer the questions. Rebecca.(2009, July 7).

Listening section

The listening section is different in the TOEFL and the IELTS, the TOEFL consist of  campus conversation and academic lectures, in this test students listen then take notes, after that they see the question and answer them. All questions are multiple choice so students must choose the right answer. In the IELTS is different, students listen the passages and write the answer as they go along, in some cases they fill in the blank , in some cases student match in terms  of filling out the chart in some cases they must complete in multiple choice questions.

The listening section in the TOEFL is about 40 t0 60 minutes long, in the IELTS is about half and hour.it is shorter and different. Rebecca.(2009, July 7).

Speaking section

The speaking section for the TOEFL consist of sitting in the computer, wearing headphones with a microphone and students are asked to record their answers to six different kinds of tasks, students have to speak for 45 seconds, in some cases the longest period you have to speak is 60 seconds.

The IELTS is different, students sit with and examiner, it last about 11 to 14 minutes, it is like an interview with the examiner, it has three stages, the first stage is about general questions, what is your name? Where you are from etc. the second stage students receive a little card with a task in it. Students study it for a couple of minutes and then they speak about it for about 2 minutes, in the third part you have a kind of a discussion where students talk a little bit more about the topic with the examiner.

The speaking section for TOEFL last about 20 minutes the IELTS last about 11 to 14 minutes. Rebecca. (2009, July 7).

Writing section

In the writing section there are common elements and some different. In the common elements of TOEFL and IELTS students have to write essays in the TOEFL students have to write five paragraphs essay, students count for this essay with half an hour and they have to write three hundred to three hundred and fifty words. The essay is about only one topic. In the IELTS students have to write an essay as well but in this one students have 40 minutes to write about two hundred to two hundred and fifty words, it has longer time to write less words.  This one is also about one topic. The essay is likely to be 4 to 5 paragraph in length. The second task in TOEFL is an integrated task, that means that some skills are tested together, first students have a short passage of three paragraphs to read, three minutes to read it, after that a listening part about a lecture addressing the same topic, the lecture may support the reading or can be contradictory, the last thing to do is to answer the question they ask to students from the reading and from the lecture and integrated. The second task in IELTS is different, students may get a table, a chart or a graph and they are asked to describe the information that is giving in the graphic form. Rebecca. (2009, July 7).

TOEFL Advantages

More than 9,000 colleges, universities and agencies in more than 130 countries rely on TOEFL test scores to help make admissions decisions. You can take the TOEFL test at your choice of conveniently located, ETS-approved test sites around the world. You also save time and money since the entire test is given in one day, rather than coming back a second day like some other tests. TOEFL test scores help you stand out because of the TOEFL test's reputation for quality, fairness and 100% academic content. It is the most widely accepted English-language test in the world, including more than 9,000 colleges, universities, agencies and other institutions in 130 countries. And that list includes the top 100 universities in the world. Educational Testing Service (2015).

Disadvantages of the TOEFL

There are many disadvantages for the TOEFL test as it has advantages and benefits. Firstly, while you are study in English school or an institute of English, you will think about taking the TOEFL test to pass it and have the English as a second language. When you think about that, you are going to ignore your school and study for the TOEFL within special programs, especially if they do not give practices for the TOEFL test. Secondly, if you want to pass the TOEFL, you might take it more than once and it costs a lot of money because it is expensive a little bit. There are limited locations to take the test in and in the same time a lot of international people want to take the test, therefore, you have to do a registration before the date of the test by a month or more than month sometimes. In addition, sometimes you may not find a test location in the region which you live in so you need to travel to somewhere to take the test. Finally, as same as the TOEFL has benefits that help you, it has disadvantages that rarely bother you.

Malkhalifah (2007, March 29).

IELTS Advantages
It is internationally recognized. It is very thorough, having enough tasks to measure your English level with high accuracy.  It pays attention to orthography, style, pronunciation and other aspects that a fluent (but uneducated) speaker may overlook.
Bands are clear and often spot on. Its growth is mesmerizing: during the last decade it's become incredibly popular and is even dethroning the TOEFL in a lot of territories.  Sebastian (2009).

Disadvantages of IELTS
It expires in two years. It's quite pricey. There is, of course, an error margin (not everybody who scores 7.5+ is proficient and not everybody who scores 5.5- isn't good enough). Some people may feel very nervous during the interview. While examiners keep that in mind, it still affects the candidate's performance. Having a numerical result is sometimes bad for a person's self-esteem, confidence and motivation, especially if they fail to get the desired score. Some teachers argue that a person's skill shouldn't be measured as when comparing potatoes, but others say 'how else can we know how good is a person's command?’ Likewise, it's nearly impossible to establish a person's English level through a three-hour test, although IELTS is as good as it can get. Still, not a definitive or absolute evidence. To actually get a grasp on your real English level, the best way would be sitting IELTS, TOEFL, Cambridge exams, etc. twice or three times each and then make stats and stuff... but of course very few people have the money, patience and will to do that. Sebastian (2009).

References

Educational Testing Service  (2015).  Advantages of Toefl. Retrieve from https://www.ets.org/toefl/why/ 

Rebecca. [engVid RebeccaESL]. (2009, July 7). TOEFL or IELTS? Which exam should you take? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35_ok4_G2cA

Sebastian (2009). Advantages  of IELTS. Retrieve from  https://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090623021200AARpUQw

Malkhalifah (2007, March 29). Disadvantages of the Toefl [Web blogpost]. Retrieve from http://malkhalifah.blogspot.com/2007/03/disadvantages-of-toefl.html

Wikipedia (2015 February 25). IELTS. Retrieve from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_English_Language_Testing_System#Listenig

Wikipedia (2015 February 24). TOEFL. Retrieve from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_of_English_as_a_Foreign_Language

Gender Differences

       According to Trudgill, P. (2000), the first thing you notice about somebody when you first meet them is what sex they are, he argues that is so obvious that we do not even think about it, he says the division of the human race into male and female is so fundamental that we take it for granted. He says that the fact the difference is so basic means that is also reflected in all human language, according to him it is a semantic universal which is lexicalized in all the languages of the world in terms of pairs of such as man-woman, boy-girl, son-daughter and so on.

       Trudgill, P. (2000) establishes that languages do differ in the extend of which sex differences are lexicalized, in German for example you have to specify whether a friend is male or female, freund for male and freundin for female, he says that in English you do not, he gives the example of cousin, it is not mark for sex but it is marked in other languages like French, where you have to specify whether you refer to a man or a woman, cousin for male and cousine for female.

       Trudgill, P. (2000) says that gender differentiation in language, arises because the language as social phenomenon is related to social attitudes. The same author affirms that men and women are socially different, and the society lays down different social roles for them, and expects different behavior patterns from them, he affirms that language reflect this social fact.

       Trudgill, P. (2000) refers a case of sex differentiation that come from the West Indies, It was reported that when the European arrived to the Lesser Antilles and met with the Carib Indians who lived there, they discovered that men and women spoke different languages. Related to this case, Trudgill, P. (2000) talks about a contemporary report from the seventeenth century that says the men have a great many expressions peculiar to them, which the women understand but never pronounce themselves. On the other hand the women have words and phrases which the men never use or they would be laugh to scorn. Thus it happens that in their conversations it often seems as if the women had another language than the men.

       The explanation founded in Trudgill, P. (2000) study for this case is that men and women spoke the same language but with different variety of the same language, for this case according to the text, the Indian had an explanation widely accepted.  The savages natives of Dominica that the reason for this is that when the Caribs came to occupy the islands these were inhabitant by Arawak tribe which they exterminate completely, with the exception of the women, whom they married in order to populate the country. 

       According to Trudgill, P. (2000), it is asserted that there are some similarities between the speech of the continental Arawaks and that of the Carib women. The differences then were believed the result of the mixing of the two languages groups, Carib and Arawak , divided on sex lines, as a result of an invasion.

       Sex differentiation, in some cases, may be the result of the phenomenon of taboo. It is known that when the Carib men were on the war-path they would use a number of words which only adults males were allow to employ. If women or uninitiated boys used these words, bad luck was considered likely to result Trudgill, P. (2000) Citing Jespersen.

       Trudgill, P. (2000) says that taboo may have a powerful influence on the growth of separated sex vocabularies generally. If taboo becomes associated with a particular activity such that, say, women are not permitted to use the original name then new words are likely to be used instead and sex differentiation of vocabulary items will result.

       Trudgill, P. (2000) found in his research that in most analyzed cases, taking in consideration factors like social class, ethnic group and age, women on overage use form which more closely approach those of the standard variety or the prestige accent than those used by men. In other words he emphasizes females speaker of English tend to use linguistic forms which are considered to be better than male forms.

       Comparing the language of men and women in a large, heterogeneous sample of written and spoken text reveal small but consistent gender differences in language use. For the women who contributed 8,353 text file to the study, the English language was more likely to be used for discussing people and what they were doing, as well as communicating internal processes to others, including doubts. Thoughts, emotions, senses, other people, negation, and verbs in present and past tense figure high on the list of words women used more than men Newman et al. (2008).

      For the men who contributed 5,970 files, language was more likely to serve as a repository of labels for external events, objects and processes. Along with discussions of occupation, money, and sports were technical linguistic feature such as numbers, articles, prepositions, and long words. Swear words added emphasis to male language Newman et al. (2008).

       Contrary to popular stereotypes men and women are indistinguishable in their references to sexuality, anger, time, their use of the first-person plural, the number of words, the question marks employed, and the insertion of qualifier in the form of exclusion words like but, although. The primary difference between man and woman was that men´s speech was characterized by more negative emotions and more references to the past relative to men´s writing Newman et al. (2008).

Codeswitching

       Thompson, M. (2013) affirms that one of the reasons why people code switch is to fit in, he said that people do this both, consciously and unconsciously; they act and talk more like those around them he says this can be effective sometimes and perilous other times. He refers the case of a Spanish teacher that replied to his principal with:  "Nah, you flaugin' bruh, I put that on your desk yesterday."  When the principal asked for the school improvement plan, the teacher was in close contact with their African American students and that explain his response.

       Thompson, M. (2013) argues that people code switch in order to get something, he says that people code switch to actively ingratiate themselves to others, he says to have many stories about people who work in service industries who said that a Southern accent is a surefire way to get better tips and more sympathetic customers. He advises that if you can pull off the right accent in the right context, you can get all kinds of favors.

       We switch code also in order to say something in secret, according to Thompson, M. (2013), he talks about the incident that Venezuelan girl had. Talking about switch code she said: One rainy afternoon a very nice-looking man ran into the train, and my friend and I made some comments to each other in French about how handsome he was. To our surprise, he answered back, "Merçi!" — in perfect French.

Codeswitching in West Africa

      Amuzu, E. K., & Singler, J. V. (2014) affirm that literature in West Africa have been that codeswitching is particular likely when the speaker are urban, young and educated. He says that codeswitching has linked also to informal speech. He cites other author that argue every Nigerian speaker is involved in in the phenomena of codeswitching and code mixing of English and native language.

Amuzu, E. K., & Singler, J. V. (2014) citing Breitborde (1983) argue that speakers use codeswitching to express and maintain social status.

       Amuzu, E. K., & Singler, J. V. (2014) referring to the grammatical studies of codeswitching cite Forson (1979) who states: when we say a person is using a language x, what we are actually saying is that he is using the grammatical system and grammatical items of that language, and not necessarily the lexical item, thus, in Akan English code-switching the speakers are using the Akan grammatical system and items, and therefore speaking Akan.

       Amuzu, E. K., & Singler, J. V. (2014) citing other author focuses on the specific of highly argumentative political talk-radio programs in Ghana to demonstrate speakers manipulation of language choice (Akan versus English) and codeswitching as strategies for gaining control of the discussions and dominating it.

       Citing Federica Guerini ´s article, Amuzu, E. K., & Singler, J. V. (2014) says that she demonstrated that Ghanaian immigrant have brought the language attitude and practices they developed in Ghana to their new location, except for the occasional switch to Italian. She affirms that the Akan spoken in the immigrant community is going to a process that leads from codeswitching to language mixing.

       Flamenbaum, R. (2014) argues that many talk-radio programs in Ghana, nearly all are characterized by a big rate of switches to English. approaching  this talk-radio data from combining ethnography methodology  this author suggest that high frequency codeswitching on Ghanaian talk radio, and the pragmatic that underline it, is an indication of historical and ongoing anxiety around language choice and identity in contemporary Ghana.

      Listener disparage such switches as an indication of  a lack of proficiency in the local language, as an elitist tactic to demonstrate one´s linguistic superiority, and as a method of obfuscating and politicking, this author argues that codeswiching in an ostensibly all-Akan speech frame can also be seen as a conversational strategy in multilingual speaker´s repertoires, which draws on the multivalent and ambivalent prestige of these languages in the pragmatic marking of new information and constructions of fragment and negotiation for the floor. Flamenbaum, R. (2014).  

       According to Flamenbaum, R. (2014), some speakers deliberately codeswitch to obfuscate –competing glosses which suggest that codeswitching as a practice may be motivated by alternately functional,  pragmatic, or stylistic need, and not exclusively motivated by a lack of mastery over the vernacular.

      Flamenbaum, R. (2014) says that switches into English on Ghanaian radio are a conversational strategy that rest on the nexus of information structure and the pragmatic, sequential need of argumentation. The author concludes his study by arguing that switches into English occur for strategic, pragmatic reasons within the context of talk-radio debates in Accra.

       Macaro, E., & Lee, J. H. (2013) refer to the codeswitching ´s topic in a classroom context, whether teaching English in English or using L1. Citing other author he says that it is provided justification for the use of L1 in communicative language while for a minority the presence of L1 in classroom impact negatively on the amount of time learners are exposed to L2.

        In South Korea, English language education it is strongly promoted by the ministry of education through the notion of teaching English in English, which implies that teachers should conduct English classes in English. However Korean teacher find difficulties implementing this recommendation in the early years, one of the main reason being learners’ inabilities to process the teacher´s input Macaro, E., & Lee, J. H. (2013).

       One of the main fuction of code switching in South Korea has been shown to be for the explanation of new vocabulary. De la Campa and Nassaji codes instances of codeswitching in adult classes and found that inexperienced teachers provided translations equivalents for new lexical items considerably more than experienced teachers. The finding implies that greater experiences may enhance a teacher’s abilities to solve problems posed by L2- only instruction. The issue of whether to switch might therefore also be related to the skillfulness of the teacher  Macaro, E., & Lee, J. H. (2013).

Reference

Trudgill, P. (2000). Sociolinguistics: An introduction to language and society.

 (4th ed.). Suffolk: Penguin Books.

Thompson, M. (2013). Five Reasons Why People Code-Switch. Retrieved February 28, 2016, from http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/04/13/177126294/five-reasons-why-people-code-switch

Newman, M. L., GROOM, C. J., Handelman, L. D., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2008). Gender Differences in Language use:An analysis of 14,000 text samples. Routledge. Retrieved from http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/faculty/pennebaker/reprints/newmansexdif2007.pdf

Macaro, E., & Lee, J. H. (2013). Teacher Language Background, Codeswitching, and English-Only Instruction: Does Age Make a Difference to Learners' Attitudes?. TESOL Quarterly,47(4), 717-742. doi:10.1002/tesq.74

Flamenbaum, R. (2014). The pragmatics of codeswitching on Ghanaian talk radio. International Journal Of Bilingualism,18(4), 346-362. doi:10.1177/1367006913481136

Amuzu, E. K., & Singler, J. V. (2014). Codeswitching in West Africa.International Journal Of Bilingualism, 18(4), 329-345. doi:10.1177/1367006913481135

Language Development

    According to the Piaget ´s theory, children are active learners, Piaget in what he called the constructivism claims that children construct their knowledge for themselves by making sense of the environment, using the process of assimilation, children can assimilate information that fit in the children ´s own interpretation of the world.

    

     Piaget also refers to the adaptation of the knowledge gathered which is a process of accommodation in which children

Adapt the new information they gather from their parents and teachers, without this process there are not real learning process in the children ´s mind.

     Having in mind this theory, my job as a teacher is to give a better pronunciation while giving them new vocabulary, when children utter new words in English teachers have to help them to say it correctly, so that they can adapt themselves to the new expressions. It is the teacher ´s responsibility to serve as a model for young children.

In Other hands Krashen, (1982) affirms that some experts think that children acquire the language while adults learn the language, then is important to be correct in the content that is going to be presented to the children.

      In the Piaget ´s framework appears what he thought was the process of acquiring the principles of formal logic in children.

 From birth to two years children learn to interact with the environment by manipulating objects around him. From two to seven years of age, children’s thinking is reliant more in perception but gradually become more and more capable of logical thinking. From seven to eleven years children´s thinking resemble logical adult-like thinking, they develop the ability to apply logical thinking in some area, math, and science or map reading. Then is important to have this information in mind, that way, the teacher can adapt material to the children according with their age.

     When teaching a second language is important to present a variety of strategies in order to cover the need of different learning styles of the students,

According to the Gardner ´s multiple intelligent table, students have different styles to learn, those are linguistic, logico-mathematical, musical, spatial, interpersonal and others.

      According to Piaget, children under seven are egocentric and they cannot see the world from other perspective out of their own reality. A psychologist called Margaret Donaldson proved the contrary of Piaget in the preoperational stage, she established that the instrument Piaget used for his experiments were misunderstood by children, according to her when a children is presented in familiar task and familiar environment introduced by familiar adults using the language that make sense to them, they show sign of logical thinking much earlier than Piaget claimed. So is important to know our students and be familiar with them, to see how they grow in terms of the abilities they develop in our classes.

   

    

      At home with parents and siblings, children are confident communicators they do not need to be explicit and precise with language use at home. Parents naturally scaffold their children ´s language in dialogs. According to studies of Gordon Wells,(1981) good interactions offer correction, valuable feedback and supportive encouragement, children who are talked to and read to in a regular basis start with advantages at school.

So is important to at least try to give a familiar environment to the children in our classes, in order to get a better development from them, our classes need to be more interactive and full of clear feedback for them to be more in a natural space.

     Children can acquire two languages from the birth, this process is called simultaneous process, The simultaneous acquisition occurred when children learn two languages at the same time. This situation can occur in a mixed nationality marriage, one parent may speak French to the children while the mother may speak only English, when this strategy is systematically followed in the house the children can learn two languages simultaneously.

    

    

References

Pinter (2012) Teaching Young Learners.

Universal Grammar and Second Language Learning

 The universal grammar is the idea or thesis, that support there are similar characteristics in all languages, all languages have ways to ask questions, to count, to say positive and negative sentences, to use singular and plural nouns, and there are ways to refer whether a male or female, and many other rules.

     Chomsky ´s work affirms that a man, have many knowledge inside of him that is not learned through the experience of the world, then it comes from the own mind of the man. That is the situation of a child, when they use the language; there are things they express that nobody has taught to them. From this example they say that the universal grammar is made by the language properties inherent to the human mind.

     Watched a video from Chomsky related to the same topic he uses an example of a child taken from a tribe in Africa if the boy is educated in a university, he will become a graduate in science because according to Chomsky we all have the same genetic capacity, this capacity is about being human and have the specific characteristic we have. He says if someone from other planet observes us, he would say that we are all the same people and the same language, just with a minor variation. The grammar is the same for everybody, he affirms, with different rules and organization of the sentences but at the end we, as human being, we use similar patterns of communication.

     Talking about the second language learning the students can use their basis they have in the universal grammar coming from the L1 and interpret the L2. According to the text, Chomsky has queried about the importance of the L1 as a mediator, because when you have a language is easier to learn other. Also what happen with the universal grammar is that at certain age does not work anymore due to the physical or cognitive maturation of the learner according with a theory seen in this article.

     They conclude by saying that development is not a reliable evidence for the acquisition of L2, they say that the development in L2 reflect the reestablishing of the channel capacity for using the language and not the acquisition per se.

     In order to consider valid the acquisition of L2, is needed the support of the relation between the development, channel capacity and other cognitive processes. 

Reference

Cook, V. (1985). Chomsky's Universal Grammar and Second    Language Learning, Applied Linguistics.   

The Sociocultural Theory

The sociocultural theory affirms that children learn from interacting with adults and with member of the society, according to Vygotsky there is a psychological process inside of children and language learner before they can share it or use it in social context.

     According to this theory exist mediation between our thought and the environment, we can use language as thought tool to impact our world and the developed tools like writing, impact our thought. An example may be the social network Facebook, is a tool that impact our thought, we have new words after facebook twitter and other technology devices, so we can say that there is a mediation, then learning is mediated by language and social elements.

     Regulations in social cultural theory refers how things are limited and controlled while learning a new language, at the first stage is regulate by other, by the teacher when he is helping ELL to acquire the language until, ELL get to appropriate the language.

     Then it comes, the  zone of proximal development, that support the idea that ELL are supported by their teacher in the process of second language acquisition and peer in more advance level but in this stage, ELL can be comfortable with some knowledge that did not have before.  

References

Lantolf, J. & Thorne, S. L. (2007). Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning. In. B. van Patten & J. Williams (eds.), Theories in Second Language Acquisition (pp. 201-224). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Social cultural theory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkBbniuiMU0

Social cultural theory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao2b5NbjFIU 

Describing a place

                               

Learning to compare