The Interactive Whiteboard And Language Learning: A Case Study

In this paper, we intend to present some research carried out in a state Primary school, which is very well-equipped with ICT resources, including interactive whiteboards. The interactive whiteboard was used in the context of a Unit of Work for English learning, based on a traditional oral story, ���Jack and the Beanstalk���. It was also used for reinforcing other topics like, ���At the beach���, ���In the city���, ���Jobs���, etc. An analysis of the use of the digital board, which includes observation records as well as questionnaires for teachers and pupils, was carried out.

Language and trade: the (new) route of portuguese in the 21st century

Globalisation has eliminated frontiers and in the case of Europe helped the crossing of borders and changed forever the concept of social (and I would also say individual) geography: the rest of the world is out there; we can pretend not to see it, but we cannot avoid it. Moreover, Europe is undergoing a serious crisis, also economic, and new markets and business partners are welcome. In this context, cultural bonds like a common language can open new investment paths and give rise to successful stories. In this paper we intend to present an example of how low linguistic distance can lead to good business, even if a) in the internationalization process of the companies��� language is often forgotten as a management element and b) consumers of language products (like User Guides) are also not stimulating investment in language by the companies. Through the results of 2 studies carried out in 2010 and 2011 we will show how a pluricentric language like Portuguese is managed in multinational companies (MC) and Small and medium Enterprises (SMEs). The second study is based on an online survey questioning the effectiveness, efficiency and general quality of User Guides and the reaction of consumers to language. Results show that although playing a role in the internationalization process of companies in the same linguistic space, language is opportunistically used. On the other hand, Portuguese and Brazilian consumers show a very functional perception of the Portuguese language...

Primary screening of the bioactivity of brackishwater cyanobacteria: toxicity of crude extracts to artemia salina larvae and paracentrotus lividus embryos

Cyanobacteria are a diverse group of Gram-negative bacteria that produce an array of secondary compounds with selective bioactivity against vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, microalgae, fungi, bacteria, viruses and cell lines. The aim of this study was to assess the toxic effects of aqueous, methanolic and hexane crude extracts of benthic and picoplanktonic cyanobacteria isolated from estuarine environments, towards the nauplii of the brine shrimp Artemia salina and embryos of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. The A. salina lethality test was used as a frontline screen and then complemented by the more specific sea urchin embryo-larval assay. Eighteen cyanobacterial isolates, belonging to the genera Cyanobium, Leptolyngbya, Microcoleus, Phormidium, Nodularia, Nostoc and Synechocystis, were tested. Aqueous extracts of cyanobacteria strains showed potent toxicity against A. salina, whereas in P. lividus, methanolic and aqueous extracts showed embryo toxicity, with clear effects on development during early stages. The results suggest that the brackishwater cyanobacteria are producers of bioactive compounds with toxicological effects that may interfere with the dynamics of invertebrate populations.

Construction of womanhood in the bengali language of Bangladesh

The subject-matter of this essay is gender justice in language which, as I argue, may be achieved through the development of a gender-related approach to linguistic human rights. The last decades of the 20th century, globally marked by a ���gender shift��� in attitudes to language policy, gave impetus to the social movement for promoting linguistic gender equality. It was initiated in Western Europe and nowadays is moving eastwards, as ideas of gender democracy progress into developing countries. But, while in western societies gender discrimination through language, or linguistic sexism, was an issue of concern for over three decades, in developing countries efforts to promote gender justice in language are only in their infancy. My argument is that to promote gender justice in language internationally it is necessary to acknowledge the rights of women and men to equal representation of their gender in language and speech and, therefore, raise a question of linguistic rights of the sexes. My understanding is that the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights in 1996 provided this opportunity to address the problem of gender justice in language as a human rights issue, specifically as a gender dimension of linguistic human rights.

The rebirth of an old language: issues of gender equality in Kazakhsstan

The existing language situation in Kazakhstan, while peaceful, is not without some tension. We propose to analyze here some questions we consider relevant in the frame of cultural globalization and gender equality, such as: free from Russian imperialism, could Kazakhstan become an easy prey of Turkey���s ���imperialist dream���? Could these traditionally Muslim people be soon facing the end of religious tolerance and gender equality, becoming this new old language an easy instrument for the infiltration in the country of fundamentalism (it has already crossed the boarders of Uzbekistan), leading to a gradual deterioration of its rich multicultural relations? The present structure of the language is still very fragile: there are three main dialects and many academics defend the re-introduction of the Latin alphabet, thus enlarging the possibility of cultural ���contamination��� by making the transmission of fundamentalist ideas still easier through neighbour countries like Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan (their languages belong to the same sub-group of Common Turkic), where the Latin alphabet is already in use, and where the ground for such ideas shown itself very fruitful.

The economics of language or how can language be an asset? General reflections on the European case and brief focus on the case of portuguese

In this paper, we will focus on the importance of languages as an asset to people and companies in knowledge-based society, giving special attention to the case of portuguese, not forgetting the role of Higher Education Institutions in preparing students to be part of the new creative multilingual and sucsessful class.

The invisible factors that can make the difference. Language management and knowledge transfer in multinational sites

The knowledge-based society we live in has stressed the importance of human capital and brought talent to the top of most wanted skills, especially to companies who want to succeed in turbulent environments worldwide. In fact, streams, sequences of decisions and resource commitments characterize the day-to-day of multinational companies (MNCs). Such decision-making activities encompass major strategic moves like internationalization and new market entries or diversification and acquisitions. In most companies, these strategic decisions are extensively discussed and debated and are generally framed, formulated, and articulated in specialized language often developed by the best minds in the company. Yet the language used in such deliberations, in detailing and enacting the implementation strategy is usually taken for granted and receives little if any explicit attention (Brannen & Doz, 2012) an can still be a ���forgotten factor��� (Marschan et al. 1997). Literature on language management and international business refers to lack of awareness of business managers of the impact that language can have not only in communication effectiveness but especially in knowledge transfer and knowledge management in business environments. In the context of MNCs, management is, for many different reasons, more complex and demanding than that of a national company, mainly because of diversity factors inherent to internationalization, namely geographical and cultural spaces, i.e, varied mindsets. Moreover, the way of functioning, and managing language, of the MNC depends on its vision, its values and its internationalization model, i.e on in the way the MNE adapts to and controls the new markets, which can vary essentially from a more ethnocentric to a more pluricentric focus. Regardless of the internationalization model followed by the MNC, communication between different business units is essential to achieve unity in diversity and business sustainability. For the business flow and prosperity, inter-subsidiary, intra-company and company-client (customers, suppliers, governments, municipalities, etc..) communication must work in various directions and levels of the organization. If not well managed, this diversity can be a barrier to global coordination and create turbulent environments, even if a good technological support is available (Feely et al., 2002: 4). According to Marchan-Piekkari (1999) the tongue can be both (i) a barrier, (ii) a facilitator and (iii) a source of power. Moreover, the lack of preparation for the barriers of linguistic diversity can lead to various costs, including negotiations��� failure and failure on internationalization.. On the other hand, communication and language fluency is not just a message transfer procedure, but above all a knowledge transfer process, which requires extra-linguistic skills (persuasion, assertiveness ���) in order to promote credibility of both parties. For this reason, MNCs need a common code to communicate and trade information inside and outside the company, which will require one or more strategies, in order to overcome possible barriers and organization distortions.

Music and drama in primary schools in the Madeira Island - Narratives of ownership and leadership

Este artigo foi uma das publica����es resultantes do projeto financiado pela FCT "M��sica e Drama no 1�� ciclo do Ensino b��sico ��� o caso da Regi��o Aut��noma da Madeira" (PTDC/CED/72112/2006).

Phonological and articulation treatment approaches in Portuguese children with speech and language impairments: a randomized controlled intervention study

Background: In Portugal, the routine clinical practice of speech and language therapists (SLTs) in treating children with all types of speech sound disorder (SSD) continues to be articulation therapy (AT). There is limited use of phonological therapy (PT) or phonological awareness training in Portugal. Additionally, at an international level there is a focus on collecting information on and differentiating between the effectiveness of PT and AT for children with different types of phonologically based SSD, as well as on the role of phonological awareness in remediating SSD. It is important to collect more evidence for the most effective and efficient type of intervention approach for different SSDs and for these data to be collected from diverse linguistic and cultural perspectives. Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness of a PT and AT approach for treatment of 14 Portuguese children, aged 4.0���6.7 years, with a phonologically based SSD. Methods & Procedures: The children were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment approaches (seven children in each group). All children were treated by the same SLT, blind to the aims of the study, over three blocks of a total of 25 weekly sessions of intervention. Outcome measures of phonological ability (percentage of consonants correct (PCC), percentage occurrence of different phonological processes and phonetic inventory) were taken before and after intervention. A qualitative assessment of intervention effectiveness from the perspective of the parents of participants was included. Outcomes & Results: Both treatments were effective in improving the participants��� speech, with the children receiving PT showing a more significant improvement in PCC score than those receiving the AT. Children in the PT group also showed greater generalization to untreated words than those receiving AT. Parents reported both intervention approaches to be as effective in improving their children���s speech. Conclusions & Implications: The PT (combination of expressive phonological tasks, phonological awareness, listening and discrimination activities) proved to be an effective integrated method of improving phonological SSD in children. These findings provide some evidence for Portuguese SLTs to employ PT with children with phonologically based SSD

How to integrate stories and ICT in content-based units of work for English learning

The aim of this article is to show how it is possible to integrate stories and ICT in Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) for English as a foreign language (EFL) learning in bilingual schools. Two Units of Work are presented. One, for the second year of Primary, is based on a Science topic, ���Materials���. The story used is ���The three little pigs��� and the computer program ���JClic���. The other one is based on a Science and Arts topic for the sixth year of Primary, the story used is ���Charlotte���s Web��� and the computer program ���Atenex���.

O YouTube: potencialidades pedag��gicas na aprendizagem da L��ngua Inglesa no 1.�� ciclo do ensino b��sico

Mestrado em Ensino Precoce do Ingl��s

Ensino do ingl��s no 1�� ciclo: perce����es dos professores de ingl��s do 1�� e 2�� ciclos e alunos do 2�� ciclo

Sendo a escola uma institui����o concebida para a forma����o acad��mica e social da crian��a, a aprendizagem duma l��ngua estrangeira torna-se crucial para que a crian��a desenvolva uma atitude positiva perante outras l��nguas e culturas. ��, portanto, necess��rio que a escola encontre formas de ensinar l��nguas estrangeiras que sejam adequadas ao 1�� ciclo do Ensino B��sico. O presente projeto de mestrado, intitulado Ensino do Ingl��s no 1�� ciclo: perce����es dos professores de Ingl��s do 1�� e 2�� ciclos e dos alunos do 2�� ciclo reflete uma investiga����o baseada nas opini��es e perce����es de profissionais e alunos de escolas p��blicas portuguesas que, direta ou indiretamente, est��o envolvidos com o Ingl��s no 1�� ciclo. Inicialmente apresenta-se um enquadramento legal que permite perceber quais as normas e orienta����es existentes na Europa e em Portugal, em termos de ensino precoce de l��nguas estrangeiras. A introdu����o do Programa de Generaliza����o do Ensino de Ingl��s em 2005 come��ou por refletir um caminho de converg��ncia com as pol��ticas educativas europeias. No entanto, muitas das vit��rias conseguidas por este Programa, pertencem ao passado. Os profissionais no ensino das l��nguas estrangeiras questionam-se acerca de muitos aspetos, originados pela forma como se cumpre atualmente o Ensino do Ingl��s, enquanto Atividade de Enriquecimento Curricular no 1�� ciclo. Os question��rios aplicados neste projeto pretendem dar voz ��s perce����es e opini��es destes mesmos profissionais.

Performance management in primary healthcare services: evidence from a field study

Health services

Hand gesture recognition system based in computer vision and machine learning : applications on human-machine interaction

Sendo uma forma natural de intera����o homem-m��quina, o reconhecimento de gestos implica uma forte componente de investiga����o em ��reas como a vis��o por computador e a aprendizagem computacional. O reconhecimento gestual �� uma ��rea com aplica����es muito diversas, fornecendo aos utilizadores uma forma mais natural e mais simples de comunicar com sistemas baseados em computador, sem a necessidade de utiliza����o de dispositivos extras. Assim, o objectivo principal da investiga����o na ��rea de reconhecimento de gestos aplicada �� interac����o homemm��quina �� o da cria����o de sistemas, que possam identificar gestos espec��ficos e us��los para transmitir informa����es ou para controlar dispositivos. Para isso as interfaces baseados em vis��o para o reconhecimento de gestos, necessitam de detectar a m��o de forma r��pida e robusta e de serem capazes de efetuar o reconhecimento de gestos em tempo real. Hoje em dia, os sistemas de reconhecimento de gestos baseados em vis��o s��o capazes de trabalhar com solu����es espec��ficas, constru��dos para resolver um determinado problema e configurados para trabalhar de uma forma particular. Este projeto de investiga����o estudou e implementou solu����es, suficientemente gen��ricas, com o recurso a algoritmos de aprendizagem computacional, permitindo a sua aplica����o num conjunto alargado de sistemas de interface homem-m��quina, para reconhecimento de gestos em tempo real. A solu����o proposta, Gesture Learning Module Architecture (GeLMA), permite de forma simples definir um conjunto de comandos que pode ser baseado em gestos est��ticos e din��micos e que pode ser facilmente integrado e configurado para ser utilizado numa s��rie de aplica����es. �� um sistema de baixo custo e f��cil de treinar e usar, e uma vez que �� constru��do unicamente com bibliotecas de c��digo. As experi��ncias realizadas permitiram mostrar que o sistema atingiu uma precis��o de 99,2% em termos de reconhecimento de gestos est��ticos e uma precis��o m��dia de 93,7% em termos de reconhecimento de gestos din��micos. Para validar a solu����o proposta, foram implementados dois sistemas completos. O primeiro �� um sistema em tempo real capaz de ajudar um ��rbitro a arbitrar um jogo de futebol rob��tico. A solu����o proposta combina um sistema de reconhecimento de gestos baseada em vis��o com a defini����o de uma linguagem formal, o CommLang Referee, �� qual demos a designa����o de Referee Command Language Interface System (ReCLIS). O sistema identifica os comandos baseados num conjunto de gestos est��ticos e din��micos executados pelo ��rbitro, sendo este posteriormente enviado para um interface de computador que transmite a respectiva informa����o para os rob��s. O segundo �� um sistema em tempo real capaz de interpretar um subconjunto da Linguagem Gestual Portuguesa. As experi��ncias demonstraram que o sistema foi capaz de reconhecer as vogais em tempo real de forma fi��vel. Embora a solu����o implementada apenas tenha sido treinada para reconhecer as cinco vogais, o sistema �� facilmente extens��vel para reconhecer o resto do alfabeto. As experi��ncias tamb��m permitiram mostrar que a base dos sistemas de intera����o baseados em vis��o pode ser a mesma para todas as aplica����es e, deste modo facilitar a sua implementa����o. A solu����o proposta tem ainda a vantagem de ser suficientemente gen��rica e uma base s��lida para o desenvolvimento de sistemas baseados em reconhecimento gestual que podem ser facilmente integrados com qualquer aplica����o de interface homem-m��quina. A linguagem formal de defini����o da interface pode ser redefinida e o sistema pode ser facilmente configurado e treinado com um conjunto de gestos diferentes de forma a serem integrados na solu����o final.