TESOL International

Conference goes west!

BRAZ-TESOL

march2005

ISSN 1516-182Xin this issue

Articles

• FOSSILIZATION: have you observed this phenomenon in your students? Part 2

• How to express your strenghts: write a powerful RESUME

• Student objectives: driven EFL CLASS

Translation SIG • 10th Anniversary Celebration Event: and the party went on

• Enjoy the Translation SIG Contest 2004 masterpieces

newsletter

goes west!BRAZ-TESOLWe will be represented at

TESOL International

Conference

in Santo Antonio, Texas

BRAZ-TESOL NEWSLETTER, ISSN 1516-182X, is a quarterly publicationof BRAZ-TESOL, the professional organization of Teachers of Englishto Speakers of Other Languages in Brazil. It is distributed free ofcharge to individual and institutional members of BRAZ-TESOL.

BRAZ-TESOL GENERAL COUNCIL

Executive BoardPresident: Vera Bradford1st Vice-president: Bob Carrington2nd Vice-president: João MadureiraSecretary: Betty PowTreasurer: Marcelo Barros

Advisory CouncilMike Delaney, Albina Escobar*, Elaine Chaves Hodgson, Carmen Lucas*, Magali de Moraes Menti, Donald Occhiuzzo*,Vilma Sampaio de Oliveira*, Maria Angela Fonseca Pedroso,Nadia Sarkis*, Anna Szabo*, Maria Rita Vieira, Sara Walker*

* Past Presidents

Graphic Design and Desktop PublishingClaudia Ranzini / Prata Design Gráfico

BRAZ-TESOL represents over 3,000 teachers of English in Brazil.

For membership information, please contact BRAZ-TESOL

Membership Committee:

Av. 9 de Julho, 3166 - Jardins - São Paulo - SP CEP 01406-900

Phone/Fax: +55 (11) 3559-8782 / E-mail: braztesol@braztesol.org.br

Web site: www.braztesol.org.br

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS FOR TEACHERS AND MANAGERS

• SIT TESOL Certificate (Starting in São Paulo in July)

• IDLTM – International Diploma in Language Teaching Management

• Master of Arts in Teaching

For information about these and other SIT programs offered in the U.S.or in Brazil, contact the World Learning—Brazil office in São Paulo.

BRAZ-TESOLnewsletter 3 march 2005

Translation SIG

4 10th Anniversary Celebration Event:

and the party went on

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Neide Gaspar

5 Enjoy the Translation SIG Contest 2004

masterpieces

Dear Readers,

You will remember, from the December issue, an

article by Marcelo Barros, BRAZ-TESOL towards its 20th

anniversary. In his article, Marcelo mentions a number

of issues which we are currently working on to either

implement or improve in the next year or so. As this is a

complex challenge for us at the Executive Board level,

we will need support from all the Advisory Board and

from all the BRAZ-TESOL members.

I am very proud to announce that Vera Bradford, our

President, has been invited by TESOL International to

attend a number of meetings and events sponsored by

them during the forthcoming Conference in Santo Antonio,

Texas. This will be an excellent opportunity for Vera to

expand her knowledge about how our parent organization

works and how best to incorporate new ideas into our

reality in Brazil. So, we are going WEST and in the next

issue we will report back on this glorious quest!

This issue of our newsletter brings part 2 of Fabíola

Massaro’s article on Fossilization in which she shares

with us a number of activities she designed to deal

with this problem.

Vicky Weischtordt’s contribution will help all of us who

are seeking a new opportunity in our careers, by

showing how to write a powerful résumé.

Gary Cain offers an interesting viewpoint based on an

objectives-driven classroom approach.

The Translation SIG 10th Anniversary celebration is

reported by Neide Gaspar and we also bring the

masterpieces that were awarded in the translation

contest.

Pause a while now and enjoy your reading!

João Madureira

contents

E D I T O R I A L

Articles

8 FOSSILIZATION: have you observed this

phenomenon in your students? Part 2

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fabíola Novella Massaro

12 How to express your strenghts: write a

powerful RESUME

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vicky Weischtordt

14 Student objectives: driven EFL CLASSES

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gary E. Cain

BRAZ-TESOLnewsletter 4 march 2005

10th Anniversary Celebration Event

Tra

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Ten years have elapsed since Dr. Gloria Sampaio – a dedicated

scholar in the field of translation studies and practice – proposed

the creation of a Translation SIG (Special Interest Group). That

was a bold move because, as Gloria recalled in her speech at the

10th anniversary celebration, translation was (and still is, in less

enlightened circles) a taboo word in EFL. I myself witnessed an

episode of open criticism of people who said they could not

understand what translation had to do in a TESOL association.

Gloria patiently called their attention to the fact that many of the

members of the Translation SIG Central Committee were teachers

in Translation Courses held at prestigious universities and

language schools.

Among those institutions, UNIBERO was a pioneer. They

kindly hosted two of the events promoted by the Translation SIG

in previous years. It was fitting, then, that UNIBERO be chosen as

the venue for our celebration of the 10th anniversary. They not

only reserved a cozy auditorium and comfortable lobby for the

formal ceremony and cocktail, but took care of the catering

details, with the support of tutors and students from their

Tourism & Hostelry courses.

On Saturday, November 20, Translation SIG members and

friends got together for the celebration. BRAZ-TESOL president Vera

Bradford, present with other members of the Board, made the

opening speech. Maria Clara Forbes-Kneese, from APIC – Associação

Profissional de Intérpretes de Conferência, who honoured us by

accepting the invitation for a talk, presented an overview of

translation and interpretation history in Brazil and abroad.

As part of the celebration, we also awarded prizes to the

winners of the latest Translation Contest. A panel of judges –

Dr. Stella Esther Ortweiler Tagnin, Dr. Marisis de Aranha Camargo,

Dr. José Garcez Ghirardi, Ms. Valderez Carneiro da Silva (M.A.) –

made the final selection among shortlisted entries. Prizes were

awarded to Roberta Freire de Souza and Stela Foley, as first best

translations as well as for Marcelo Concario and Lais Rodrigues

Torres Andrade as second best translations. The judges also

awarded honourable mentions to Roberta Freire de Souza and

Ricardo Madureira Rodrigues. A cocktail offered further

opportunities for friends and supporters to mingle in a pleasant

atmosphere. Our thanks to UNIBERO – CENTRO UNIVERSITÁRIO

IBERO-AMERICANO, in particular to Monica Derito Ramos

(Coordenadora do Curso de Letras, Tradutor e Intérprete),

Dr. Cleide Maria Bocardo Cerdeira (Coordenadora de Extensão),

Valderez Carneiro da Silva (Supervisora do Núcleo de Estudos de

Tradução), Cynthia Ferrari (Supervisora do Laboratório de Eventos

do Curso de Turismo), Celso dos Santos Silva (Supervisor do

Laboratório de Alimentos e Bebidas) and Fernanda Rotta

(Monitora de Extensão).

Our gratitude to Silvana and Lana, our dear friends at the

BRAZ-TESOL Central Office, whose expertise and dedication were

fundamental for the success of the event.

Last but not least, thanks are also due to all the participants

in this and in previous translation contests and events, and to all

of those who followed the lead of Gloria Sampaio and others,

responsible for making translation studies more popular and

more respected.

by Neide Gaspar

Translation SIG Organizing Committee

partyAND THE

WENT ON

BRAZ-TESOLnewsletter 5 march 2005

Telephone conversation (Wole Soyinka)The price seemed reasonable, location

Indifferent. The landlady swore she lived

Off premises. Nothing remained

But self-confession. ‘Madam,’ I warned,

‘I hate a wasted journey – I am African.’

Silence. Silenced transmission of

Pressurised good-breeding. Voice, when it came,

Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled

Cigarette-holder pipped. Caught I was, foully.

‘HOW DARK?’… I had not misheard… ‘ARE YOU LIGHT

OR VERY DARK?’ Button B. Button A. Stench

Of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak.

Red booth. Red pillar-box. Red double-tiered

Omnibus squelching tar. It was real! Shamed

By ill-mannered silence, surrender

Pushed dumbfoundment to beg simplification.

Considerate she was, varying the emphasis –

‘ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT?’ Revelation came.

‘You mean – like plain or milk chocolate?’

Her assent was clinical, crushing in its light

Impersonality. Rapidly, wave-length adjusted,

I chose. ‘West African sepia’ – and as afterthought,

‘Down in my passport.’ Silence for spectroscopic

Flight of fancy, till truthfulness clanged her accent

Hard on the mouthpiece. ‘WHAT’S THAT?’ conceding

‘DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT IS.’ ‘Like brunette.’

‘THAT’S DARK, ISN’T IT?’ ‘Not altogether.

Facially, I am brunette, but madam, you should see

The rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet

Are a peroxide blonde. Friction, caused –

Foolishly madam – by sitting down, has turned

My bottom raven black – One moment Madam!’ – sensing

Her receiver rearing on the thunderclap

About my ears – Madam,’ I pleaded, ‘wouldn’t you rather

See for yourself?’

Conversa Telefônica (Wole Soyinka)O preço parecia razoável, localização

Indiferente. A locatária jurou que morava

Em outro lugar. Não faltava nada

Só minha confissão. ‘Senhora,’ comecei

‘Detestaria perder a viagem – sou africano.’

Silêncio. Transmissão silenciosa de

Herméticas boas maneiras. Veio a voz,

Envernizada, a longa piteira dourada inundada pelo assobro.

De sopetão.

“MUITO ESCURO?”… Escutei claramente …. “VOCÊ É CLARO

OU MUITO ESCURO?” Altenativa B ou Alternativa A. O hálito rançoso,

o fala-cala no telefone público.

Cabine vermelha. Caixa de correio vermelha.

Ônibus de dois andares vermelho chapinhando piche. De volta para a realidade!

Sem graça pelo mal-estar silencioso, atônito entreguei os pontos

Na ânsia de esclarecer o obscuro.

Deu mostras de consideração, mudou o enfoque da pergunta –

“VOCÊ É ESCURO? OU BEM CLARO?” Minha mente clareou.

“A senhora quer dizer – como chocolate meio amargo ou chocolate ao leite?”

Consentiu clinicamente, aplastando sua leve

Impessoalidade. De imediato, devidos ajustes feitos no comprimento de onda da voz,

Optei: “Sépia do oeste africano” – e em reflexão tardia

“É o que diz o passaporte.” Silêncio para divagações espectroscópicas,

Respingos de polidez, até a franqueza do cair em si

Endurecer seu sotaque no bocal, “O QUE SIGNIFICA ISSO?” concessão feita

“NÃO SEI O QUE ISSO SIGNIFICA”. “Tipo moreno.”

“ISSO É ESCURO, NÃO É?” “Não completamente.

Sou moreno de rosto, mas a senhora tem que ver o resto.

Palma da mão, solas dos pés são

De um amarelo-oxigenado.

O atrito – pura tolice, senhora – de tanto eu ficar sentado,

Deixou meu traseiro preto-azulado – Um momento senhora!” –

senti o trovejar do telefone

Ressoar em meus ouvidos – “Por favor, a senhora não prefere ver com seus

próprios olhos?”

Enjoy the

Translation SIG Contest 2004

Tra

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We are pleased to share with our readers the first best translations by the winners of the 10th Anniversary Translation SIG Celebration. Roberta Freire de Souza was awarded the firstprize for the translation from Portuguese into English and Stela Foley got the first prize for the translation from English into Portuguese. We hope you enjoy the interesting solutions ourwinners provided for their translations.

Translation from English into Portuguese by Stela Foley

masterpieces

BRAZ-TESOLnewsletter 6 march 2005

O Gato e a Barata (Millôr Fernandes)A baratinha velha subiu pelo pé do copo que, ainda com um

pouco de vinho, tinha sido largado a um canto da cozinha, desceu

pela parte de dentro e começou a lambiscar o vinho. Dada a

pequena distância que nas baratas vai da boca ao cérebro, o

álcool lhe subiu logo a este. Bêbada, a baratinha caiu dentro do

copo. Debateu-se, bebeu mais vinho, ficou mais tonta, debateu-

se mais, bebeu mais, tonteou mais e já quase morria quando

deparou com o carão do gato doméstico, que sorria de sua

aflição, do alto do copo.

– Gatinho, meu gatinho – pediu ela – me salva, me salva. Me

salva que assim que eu sair daqui eu deixo você me engolir

inteirinha, como você gosta. Me salva.

– Você deixa mesmo eu engolir você? – disse o gato.

– Me saaalva! – implorou a baratinha – Eu prometo.

O gato então virou o copo com uma pata, o líquido escorreu e

com ele a baratinha que, assim que se viu no chão, saiu correndo

para o buraco mais perto, onde caiu na gargalhada.

– Que é isso? – perguntou o gato – Você não vai sair daí e

cumprir sua promessa? Você disse que deixaria eu comer você

inteira.

– Ah, ah, ah – riu então a barata, sem poder se conter – E você

é tão imbecil a ponto de acreditar na promessa de uma barata

velha e bêbada?

MORAL: ÀS VEZES A AUTODEPRECIAÇÃO NOS LIVRA DO

PELOTÃO.

The Cat and the Cockroach (Millôr Fernandes)The old little cockroach went up the stem of a glass that had been

left in a corner of the kitchen. It still had a drop of wine in it. She

went down its inner part and started licking the wine. Given the

short distance cockroaches have from their mouth to their brain,

soon the alcohol went to her head. Drunk, the little cockroach fell

inside the glass. She struggled, drank some more wine and got

dizzier. Then she struggled more, drank more, and got even dizzier.

She was almost dying when she came across the big face of the

domestic cat, which smiled at her agony from the top of the glass.

‘Kitty, my kitty,’ she asked. ‘Help me, save me! If you do, as

soon as I come out of here I’ll let you swallow me entirely, as you

like it. Save me!’

‘Will you really let me swallow you?’ the cat said.

‘Saaave me!’ begged the little cockroach. ‘I promise.’

The cat then turned the glass with his paw, and the liquid

trickled with the little cockroach in it. As soon as she saw herself

on the floor, she left running to the closest hole, where she

laughed her head off.

‘What is this?’ the cat asked. ‘Aren’t you coming out of there

to fulfill your promise? You said you’d let me eat you entirely.’

‘Ha, ha, ha,’ laughed the cockroach, without being able to get

a grip on herself – ‘And are you so stupid to the point of believing

the promise of an old drunk cockroach?’

MORAL: SOMETIMES SELF-DEPRECATION SAVES US FROM

THE FIRING SQUAD.Translation from Portuguese into English

by Roberta Freire de Souza

BRAZ-TESOL / SIT Scholarship

BRAZ-TESOLnewsletter 7 march 2005

children?adolescents?

culture?pronunciation?

Do you teach

Are you involved inteacher

Whatever your interests are,plan ahead and don’t missthis

5th BRAZ-TESOL SIG Symposiumon Friday, September 30 and Saturday, October 1, 2005in São Paulo

Venue: to be confirmed

There will be a call for papers!

Take this opportunity and share your

knowledge and experience!

For further information visit

www.braztesol.org.br regularly and check

the June issue of the BT Newsletter

development?

great event!

Applications are now being accepted for the

Earn a Master of Arts in Teaching (ESOL) at SIT in the United States.

Programs begin late June and late August For complete information, please consult:

www.worldlearning/brazil Inquire: admissions@sit.edu

brazil@worldlearning.org

BRAZ-TESOL / SIT Scholarship

COURSES FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH

Start dates in May and July 2005

• “Testing & Assessment” – a 2-month online course (May/June)

• SIT TESOL Certificate – an intensive 4-weekprogram in São Paulo (July)

For information, please contact the World Learning—Brazil office in São Paulo.

BRAZ-TESOLnewsletter 8 march 2005

FOSSILIZATION:have you observedthis phenomenon inyour students?Part 2

Fabíola Novella Massarofabulous@directnet.com.br

“The process of action research (Kemmis and Mc Taggart, 1982

apud Johnson 1992, p. 180) involves identifying a problem,

reflecting on the reasons why it exists, formulating an ‘action

plan’ to deal with the problem, and implementing it.” The

activities proposed here will equip students with an effective error

treatment, which takes this ‘action plan’ into consideration.

As I mentioned earlier, my first contact with the term

fossilization was during a course I took and my interest in

fossilization led me to design the following activities that can both

raise students’ awareness of the fossilized mistakes they

incessantly make and defossilize them.

Activity 1 not only deals with valuable data on BP speakers’

most common fossilized mistakes but also with language

awareness at great length. This very activity is a means of

predicting areas of potential error using a ‘contrastive analysis’

approach. In order not to overload students with too much

information in one class, this activity can be broken and carried

out on five different days. Each day I make students analyze a new

kind of mistake as well as revise the mistakes dealt with in the

previous class.

With this in mind, activity 2 was designed in such a way that

students can not only select the mistakes (from activity 1) they

always make but also try to defossilize them by writing them

down in the boxes provided, as well as writing their corresponding

correction. After all, it is interesting to cater for students with

more personalized exercises. This activity on error correction is

effective provided students revise regularly to check whether they

are still making the same mistakes.

Activity 3 is an attempt to illustrate what fossilization is

about, by showing students the inverse process so they can

perceive the kinds of fossilized mistakes a Canadian would make

when trying to write in BP. I suggest students tell the teacher what

(kinds of ) mistakes are present in the e-mail extracts so as to

ensure they understand the concept of fossilization. Without a

shadow of doubt, my students always find this activity fun and

motivating because it seems to widen their perceptions of a

learner’s common inaccuracies in a foreign language and how

they can begin to monitor themselves.

All things considered, I would like to share some feedback I

received from my students after having given them activities 1, 2

and 3. Based on the sentences below, which were said by my

students, one can clearly notice that they are now more aware of

their mistakes and can monitor themselves better by controlling

their language. Consequently, they seem to have profited from the

activities suggested as they gradually became less dependent on

me (the teacher) and more autonomous to correct themselves.

“Every time I am talking and make a mistake from the list, I am

able to correct myself right afterwards.”

“I can notice the mistakes my classmates make now.”

“I am now able to correct myself.”

“I still make mistakes, especially when I do not pay attention to

accuracy, but it seems that I know I am making mistakes.”

“Thank you for calling my attention to the mistakes I make.”

“You are the first teacher who insisted on my correct

pronunciation of THink!”

“The other teachers never showed me the mistakes I was making.”

“Thank you for insisting on correcting my fossilized mistakes. I

don’t say stuffs anymore!”

ConclusionHaving in mind all the difficulties a student faces when learning a

new language, I wanted to write this paper and develop the

proposed activities in order to aid BP students of English to

correct themselves, raise their awareness to the particularities

artic

le