The Trial Blog

A los visitantes de RAMOS MEJÍA

2010-10-06T18:51:00.002-03:00

Atenti, visitantes de Ramos Mejía. Quién de ustedes es asiduo/a visitante de este blog que pasa cada dos por tres? Si están buscando las tesis, no será mejor que me dejen un comm y me avisen?

Espero tu respuesta.

MP

I Congreso Nacional- Universidad del Comahue- 26 al 28 de agosto

2010-09-03T22:57:00.003-03:00

Hola gente, y sí, ahí estuvimos exponiendo en el Congreso dela Universidad del Comahue, y en las fotos me ven en acción hablando del mi trabajo de investigación sobre percepción de tonos en dictados.

En la segunda y tercera foto muestro cómo usar tonos sintéticos para determinar el threshold tonal (aproximado) y entrenar a los alumnos para que puedan descontar rasgos fonéticos que no tienen valor fonológico, y viceversa.

Una muy linda experiencia donde además conocí otros investigadores/as, gente muy copada.

Será hasta la próxima ponencia!

Otro de ciencia y la boludez imperante hoy

2009-11-14T14:28:00.000-03:00

http://rei.ific.uv.es/rei/index.php/rei/arte_y_ciencia/ciencia_cultura

LO QUE LA CIENCIA HA HECHO POR LAS MUJERES

2009-11-14T09:18:00.007-03:00

A. M. Sánchez Mora, LO QUE LA CIENCIA HA HECHO POR LAS MUJERES

En este imperdible artículo, S. Mora se refiere a un grupo feminista denominado "Teoría de Género y Ciencia", según el cual la ciencia es una institución y un cuerpo de conocimientos producto de los valores de una cultura masculina. Según esta visión, la ciencia es una fabricación del hombre blanco occidental. La lógica es un instrumento de dominación; el método científico es sexista porque es incompatible con las formas de conocer "femeninas".

Observen este engendro pergeñado por estas supuestas defensoras de los derechos femeninos (y antes de llegar a la conclusión equivocada, no se olviden de quíen está escribiendo este post!!)

"A grandes rasgos, esta teoría sostiene que la ciencia es una institución y un cuerpo de conocimientos que han sido formados por los valores que nuestra cultura ha llamado masculinos. Que la ciencia, en sus características, jerarquías, objetivos y resultados, está seriamente contaminada por un prejuicio antifemenino. Que las mujeres que ingresan y se sostienen en la carrera científica están obligadas a no ser auténticas, a desidentificarse con su yo femenino, perpetuando los valores de la ciencia patriarcal e impidiendo el desarrollo de una ciencia femenina. Esta "ciencia femenina" deberá satisfacer sus necesidades intelectuales, espirituales y emocionales, donde se ubican "manos relacionales", "universos nutricios" y otras lindezas esotéricas por el estilo. Todavía no se sabe en qué consistiría esa ciencia femenina y cuál sería su método, pero se habla de que las "formas femeninas de conocer" son subjetivas e intuitivas. Que las científicas auténticas son "conocedoras subjetivas", caracterizadas por un "apasionado rechazo de la ciencia y los científicos". Estas mujeres "subjetivistas" consideran a los métodos lógicos, el análisis y la abstracción como "territorios extranjeros pertenecientes a los hombres" y "valoran la intuición como una aproximación más segura y fructífera a la verdad"."

Yo escribí una pequeña apreciación sobre esta visión sesgada de la ciencia, que transcribo más abajo (la de S. Mora es mejor y más completa y la recomiendo). En mi apreciación dije:

Esta actitud no libera a la mujer, sino que frena su avance. La postura de aquel grupo "feminista" es un insulto a las mujeres, ya que lo que en realidad sostiene es que la mujer es incapaz de abstraer, de argumentar lógicamente o evaluar rigurosamente. Es justamente la ciencia la que ha contribuído a la emancipación de las mujeres, derrumbando mitos, erradicando enfermedades como la fiebre puerperal, y otorgándole a la mujer un estatus propio. El método científico es un instrumento de liberación. Las divulgadoras tienen como deber el dar a conocer lo que la ciencia ha hecho por las mujeres.

A pesar de los logros de la mujeres en las últimas décadas, mientras existan mujeres como las que adhieren a esta "Teoría de Género y Ciencia", seguiremos vivendo una sociedad que declama los derechos de la mujer para así poder mantenerla en una posición de ser sub-humano y oscuro subsidiario de la "raza masculina". No hago hincapié en el término "blanca" porque el sexismo existe en otras razas, y si sólo nos concentramos en el hombre blanco, seremos cómplices de la discriminación sexual que abunda en las sociedades como la "Afroamericana" en los EEUU, la japonesa, la china, etc.

Como mujer me siento discriminada en muchas formas, tan sutiles que pocos hombres las reconocen o están dispuestos a reconocerlas. Estudié ingeniería por varios años y conozco muy bien las formas de segregar, explícitas e implícitas, que aún están en boga no sólo en el terreno de los ámbitos tradicionalmente "masculinos" sino también en algo tan "femenino" como la docencia. Aquí mismo, en nuestro querido profesorado, hay sexismo generado por algunas profesoras y alumnas machistas. Esto se puede ver, por ejemplo, en el trato diferencial hacia los pocos varones que cursan en el profesorado, y en el peso que puede llegar a tener un solo profesor en la evaluación hecha por tres o cuatro profesoras en una mesa de exámenes finales.

Pienso que hay muchas mujeres más machistas que los hombres, que por acción u omisión, reproducen la "cultura masculina" no sólo en las limitaciones que se ponen a sí mismas sino también las que imponen en sus hijas, hermanas y amigas. Hay muchas mujeres que son demasiado perezosas para abandonar la comodidad de su rol "femenino", aún a costa de perder su independencia. Por supuesto que hoy hay muchas científicas, líderes políticas, etc., pero no creo que su número sea representativo de la gran masa de mujeres que conforma más de la mitad de la población mundial. Y para concluir, por supuesto que hoy en día muchos hombres cocinan, algunos lavan los platos, y pocos de los más jóvenes hasta cambian pañales, pero yo me sigo haciendo la misma pregunta "tonta": cuando el nene se enferma, y ambos padres trabajan, ¿quién falta al trabajo para cuidarlo? Y tengo otra pregunta aún más "tonta" y no menos reveladora: ¿cuántas mujeres que trabajan pueden decir que las tareas domésticas en sus hogares están equitativamente distribuídas? El día en que me entere de que los hombres no dudan en tomar el trapo de piso y por motu propio friegan el baño, y no tengan empacho en orgullecerse de ello, entonces podré pensar que estamos en camino a lograr vivir en un mundo con leyes pensadas y decisiones tomadas no sólo por hombres, sino también por mujeres. Cuando dejen de existir trabajos, roles y tareas "masculinas" y "femeninas", podré decir que realmente hemos llegado a la igualdad. Habría que ver, por supuesto, si las mujeres están dispuestas a abandonar la comodidad y tomar el martillo, la pala, el destornillador... y la ciencia.

Tal vez entiendan ahora por qué me da tanta alergia cierta gente autodenominada "mística". Los verdaderos místcos no se autoproclaman, y el misticismo no tiene nada que ver con leer el tarot, a Cony Mendez o confraternizar con aliens.

El texto completo de Sánchez Mora está en http://mimixu.blogspot.com/2008/01/lo-que-ha-hecho-la-ciencia-por-las.html

PROFESSIONAL UPDATE- NEW POSTS AT ISP JOAQUÍN V. GONZÁLEZ

2009-05-31T08:41:00.003-03:00

As from May/June I'm a lecturer at ISP Dr. Joaquín V. González.

I won the following 'concursos':

Fonología en laboratorio y su didáctica II (ex Lab IV) 4ºD turno noche
(así es, la cátedra que solía pertenecer a ese personaje que tantos palos me puso, ahora es mía)

Práctica en laboratorio II, TN, 2ºD (ditto)

Fonética y Teorías fonológicas I, TM, 1º H

Claro que estoy re contenta, bobos! Qué pregunta!

Tesina de especialización en Fonética

2009-01-31T22:42:00.007-02:00

A pedido del público, la tan solicitada tesis defendida en en Instituto Sup. del Profesorado Dr. Joaquín V. González (el mejor!!)

Tema:
Difficulties in identification of English nuclear pitch patterns in intonation dictations
(sobre las percepción de tonos ingleses en estudiantes hablantes de castellano rioplatense)

Registro de la Propiedad Intelectual Nº 515489
Buenos aires, Argentina. Septiembre de 2006

Por: ISP Dr. Joaquín V. González

Tesis de Licenciatura

2009-01-31T22:40:00.009-02:00

A pedido del público, la tan solicitada tesis defendida en la Fac. de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe.

Tema:
Phonological and phonetic aspects of the interlanguage intonation system used by Teacher Training College students
(análisis fonético y fonológico de la entonación de la interlengua- características formales e hipótesis sobre los procesos de adquisición)

por: Universidad Nacional del Litoral

En breve postearé un nuevo link!

Revelaciones

2009-01-31T21:51:00.004-02:00

Acá en este post va a ir:

Qué es lo que pasa, qué es lo que quiero
que es lo que no me mueve un pelo

TNT para el bocho, eso

Coming up In the next posts...

2008-12-25T10:34:00.002-02:00

What follows this post is a succession of papers and reviews I wrote as a fourth-year teacher trainee at ISP Dr. Joaquín V. González. 2003 was certainly one of my most productive and eventful years, as far as academic output is concerned.

Constructive criticism always welcome. I'd love to discuss these issues with like-minded people.

On US Literature

2008-12-25T10:27:00.000-02:00

Whitman cantó como desde una aurora; John Brown ha escrito que Whitman y sus continuadores representan la idea de que América es un nuevo acontecimiento que deben clelebrar los poetas, en tanto que Edgar Allan Poe y los suyos la ven como una mera continuación de Europa. La historia de la literatura americana sería el incesante conflicto de esas dos concepciones.

Jorge Luis Borges, Introducción a la Literatura Norteamericana

Borges refers to the development of two distinct trends that characterise the history of American literature. The first trend acknowledges European heritage, and views America as an offshoot based on centuries of European literary development. The second trend is built upon the concept of America as an entity in its own right, greater than the Old World which produced it, and therefore deserving of its own national literature.

The New England Puritans developed their own literature, which revolved around religious themes and needs. The subject-matter and forms of English secular poetry was of no interest to them; in this sense, there was no yearning for the cultural advantages of the Old World. In the South and Middle colonies, however, the feelings towards European culture differed. There were many who regretted America’s lack of literary tradition and cultural backwardness. These complaints ran parallel to admiration for European literature. The contrast between America and European nations would acquire a deeper significance in the years following the Revolution.
Post- independence authors in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries sought the formula for a truly national literature. Many of these authors made use of American settings and characters. They created themes and character types that would recur in the American literary imagination: the civilised versus the wild, the frontier life and the woodsman. However, these local materials were often shaped by European models and their conventions.

With the advent of Romanticism, the American landscape found its definite place as a literary theme. America’s expanding geography provided wild, expansive settings which Europe could not boast. The wilderness and the Indians who inhabited it matched Romantic primitivism and interest in the exotic. Romantic literature found a fertile soil in the young nation, feeding on its untrodden beauty and rough folk. In doing so, it contributed to the formation of American identity.
The Romantic movement had other consequences on American literary imagination. It produced a literature which delved into the uncanny and the grotesque. Rather than glorifying America’s treasures, this literature explored the less optimistic side of the world. As a medium for this exploration it turned to the European gothic.

According to Borges, Edgar Allan Poe represents the idea of America as an extension of Europe. Poe’s orientation towards Europe can be appreciated in his adherence to Gothic. The Gothic tradition provided a remote past, an atmosphere of antiquity, an aura of splendour gone by. This retreat to the past goes hand in hand with Poe’s alienation from the mainstream American literary scene of his times.

Since its independence, America had grown greatly in size and numbers by virtue of successive acquisitions of territory as well as immigration waves. The inclusion of new inhabitants, coupled with the freedom of the frontier and the geography itself, shaped the national consciousness in a direction away from the Old World and its representatives. The rise of Jacksonian democracy, with its emphasis on the ‘common man’, the yeoman class, did not suit Poe’s aristocratic nature. He had no sympathy towards the democratic politics of his age.

Poe’s allegiance to European heritage can also be appreciated in his work as a literary critic. He stresses the use of ‘correct’ language, metre and structure. In ‘The Philosophy of Composition’ he lays down rules for the short story following the concept of the Aristotelian unities of place and time, and develops the unity of effect. Although classed as a Romantic, Poe took pride in his rationalism; in this respect he was closer to the Enlightenment thought.

Except for a few exceptions, there is virtually nothing distinctively American in Poe’s stories. Most of his settings are remote European locations: the Italian Apennines, isolated, phantasmagoric mansions and chateaux, pits, vaults, maelstroms, masque balls. His works also exhibit a certain aristocratic vein. “William Wilson” records the narrator’s progress from a public school through Eton up to Oxford. At the end of the story, the narrator flees to Continental Europe, to meet his death at a masquerade held by a duke in his palazzo. References to ancestry and lineage also identify Poe as a writer concerned with elites.

Contemporary to Poe were the New England Brahmins, aristocrats who dominated the literary scene. These men of letters aimed at creating an American literature based on the European models they admired. They revered the Old World’s cultural heritage and, although they used American material for their works, they employed European techniques and forms.
In contrast, there were authors and thinkers who took a strong stance on the issue of America’s cultural dependence and the formula by which the young nation could find her own cultural identity. These were the Transcendentalists, presided by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson urged Americans to sever the ties with the past and the culture of the Old World. He viewed tradition as an impediment to the construction of a truly American literature. This view came about as a result of his transcendentalist beliefs, according to which truth is to be found inside the individual. Emerson laid stress on self- reliance and individualism; extended into the literary domain this meant that writers, rather than follow European precedent, should look inward to find there the materials and forms unique to a national literature. Emerson prophesied that America would not have to wait long for her own poetic voice, which she soon found in Walt Whitman.

The figure of Whitman is diametrically opposed to that of Poe. A ‘common man’ himself, he was a fervent believer in Jacksonian democracy. While Poe remained aloof in his aristocratic frame of mind, Whitman reached out to the American people. He believed that American democracy and ideals would be an example to other nations of the world. He supported the Free Soil movement and, unlike Poe, he opposed the expansion of slavery.
Influenced by Emerson’s Transcendentalism, Whitman regarded America as a new beginning, Americans as a new race. His poetry is innovative in themes and form. Regarding himself as the incarnation of American geography, he tries to depict the whole of the American continent. From his poem Leaves of Grass he proclaims America’s greatness; as he voyages through space and time, he enumerates her virtues and celebrates her pluralism, which he sees as a manifestation of oneness. The whole poem is built upon the metaphor of the union of all selves, a Transcendentalism tenet; its catalogues portray Americans from all walks of life and social classes, as well as natural and urban settings.
Whitman was the first American poet to include sexual imagery in his works. He was also innovative in his use of free verse, unconventional structure and everyday language, including geographical and Indian names. His poetry mixes lyric verse and prose fiction, a combination that would later be taken on by modernist poetry.

The America of the Independence period was in fact a collection of thirteen former colonies, each with their distinct histories and regional characteristics. Once she had attained her independence, there arose the necessity to endow her with a unifying factor, a meeting point that would enable the young republic to find a definition of herself. However, the supremacy of mercantile New England and the aristocratic allegiances of the South prevented the coalescence of nationalistic efforts into a truly American cultural identity. After Jacksonian politics had displaced the influence of the eastern establishment the conditions for the formation of a national identity became possible. With Whitman there emerged a vision of America and its role in the world. Nonetheless, his perception of America as a new dawn did not displace the view of American as an heiress of European tradition. Rather, both tendencies coexisted in permanent opposition, illuminating each other and confronting successive writers with the essence of America.

August 2003

A personal appreciation of ‘The Dead’ by James Joyce

2008-12-25T10:15:00.000-02:00

A personal appreciation of ‘The Dead’ by James Joyce

When I first read ‘The Dead’, the first thing that struck me was Joyce’s maturity and power of insight, which I found remarkable for a man of only twenty five years of age. His depiction of the characters and the atmosphere he creates reflect a depth of thought I tend to associate with older, more experienced writers.

Although I am relatively new to this sort of literature, I noticed a change in the language towards the end of the story, but I could not exactly pinpoint what it was. I realised there were images that recurred. But that was all. I realised that something out of the ordinary happened at the end of the story, but I was uncertain what it was. I knew there was something else that eluded me.

The analysis done in the lesson helped me to focus on the poetic quality of this prose. I ran over in my mind the type of fiction I had read before, in Literature I and II, and my ‘independent’ readings, and I realised how their language is different from the one in this story and in Mrs Dalloway. I found this fascinating, since I had always pigeonholed poetry and prose. The idea that they could be combined as they are in ‘The Dead’ had never even occurred to me. It was useful to trace the same symbol throughout the story. The analysis in class also enabled me to attach a name (epiphany) to that moment at the end of the story where (I had felt at my first reading) something transcendental was taking place. I saw the point in using symbolic language for this kind of experience, whose meaning would have been lost if realistic language had been used instead.

Based on what was said in the lesson, I may say I understand that the metaphoric pole has to do with poetic elements, especially symbols, while the metonymic pole is related to realism. A Passage to India moves away from the metonymic pole in the direction of the metaphoric pole; ‘The Dead’ as a whole does so to a greater degree, and within the story itself there is a further movement towards the metaphoric pole, i.e. the language becomes more poetic as the story unfolds. I would not go as far as to say that I fully understand the concepts of metaphoric and metonymic poles. I am not quite certain what the terms ‘similarity’ and ‘contiguity’ refer to in this context. I would certainly profit from a revision of all these notions in class.

A story of realism and a symbolic one differ in form. The former relies mainly on the use of narration; the latter relies on poetic devices, such as imagery, pattern and rhythm, and it is more concerned with the character’s feelings and thoughts than with their actions.

The epiphany in ‘The Dead’, as I understand it, has a structuring function in that it determines the events, themes and images present in the story. It is easier for me to explain this if I examine the story backwards: Gabriel’s epiphanic moment is brought about by Gretta’s mention of her former love. In turn, Michael Furey comes to Gretta’s mind as a result of Bartell D’Arcy’s singing of The Lass of Aughrim after the Christmas dinner.

Besides, in the epiphany there occur images that may be found at different moments throughout the narration. For example, the words ‘dead’ ‘old’ and ‘past’ occur many times. during the dinner The conversation topic goes from opera singers of old from monks sleeping in coffins; then Gabriel’s speech returns to the image of death and the dead. And later, as Gabriel lies in bed he sees the forms of the dead, and his soul approaches their realm. He also notices the window and the snow outside, falling again, and he thinks of his journey westward. The meaning of symbols changes according to the context (I find this very interesting) The image of the window, for instance, appears earlier in the narrative, as a symbol of Gabriel’s wish to escape from the dinner party after his encounter with Mrs. Ivors; at the end it may mean that Gabriel is ready for a new vision of life or of himself. The snow is mentioned several times throughout, first covering Gabriel’s shoes when he arrives at his aunts’, then covering the statue of Wellington as Gabriel stands up to deliver his speech, his fingers trembling much in the same way they had trembled only a while before.

Shoes are mentioned three times: first, Gabriel is shown scraping the snow off his shoecaps, and Gretta tells Kate and Julia about her goloshes; later Gretta is shown carrying her shoes in a bag, and finally there is a mention of Gabriel’s boots lying on the floor, one of them lying on its side. I am not sure about the meaning of the shoes; when they are referred to for the first time they might mean a foreboding of the theme of death; in the case of Gretta’s, they could mean that at that moment she is an independent being, in a world far from Gabriel’s. At the end of the story, the boots may imply that Gabriel is a traveller on his way West, with the West as a symbol of (spiritual) death or of his newly-found Irish identity.

I think that in A Passage to India, Mrs Moore experiences an epiphanic moment when she hears the echo in the Marabar Caves. I find the echo very much like India, a multi-layered entity impossible to define. The echo is many things and is nothing at the same time, because the mind that dissects reality in order to capture it forgets that in trying to comprehend reality (whatever reality may be) the mind destroys it.. The echo disturbs Mrs Moore because it reminds her of her own nothingness and undermines her Christian beliefs. Mrs. Moore wants to know India and seeks to attain some sort of unity with the world. But when she is confronted with the echo, her beliefs, will not help her; all her certainties are gone. God does not answer. Just as her wish to see India will not be fulfilled (perhaps because her certainties deny her the possibility), she will call ‘come, come, come, come’ and yet God will not come. The spiritual experience in the cave also makes Mrs. Moore feel the nearness of death. In the universal scheme of things, ‘petty’ issues such as marriage, personal relationships, questions and answers do not matter anymore. She retreats to a cave of her own to await her passage to a different world. When we reach this point in the novel, the caves, the echo, the birds and other symbols and images that we have encountered since the opening of the narration become meaningful.

June 2003

2008-12-25T10:13:00.001-02:00

A personal appreciation of The Waste Land, by TS Eliot.

When I was sixteen I saw a film called Siberiade, by Nikita Mikhailkov, that I will never forget. It traces the experiences of a family in Siberia, and by extension of the Soviet people, through successive generations, from the Bolshevik revolution to contemporary times (the film was released in the 1980’s). At the closing of the film, a young woman goes to the graveyard and places some flowers on one of the gravestones. When she is about to leave, she turns to look at the graves. From behind the stones, familiar faces appear, with smiles which are happy and sad at the same time. They are the young woman’s ancestors. She also encounters other characters, people she once knew. Thus several generations are reunited. This reunion evokes in the viewer the sufferings and struggles gone through by all the characters on different occasions. Past and present coexist, and one can be reappraised in the light of the other. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why, when I first read The Waste Land, I remembered the final scene of Siberiada. Moreover, the end of the film is, I think, symbolic of unity of experience, and this unity is also a theme in the poem. I felt as if I had been the Siberian girl, looking back on history, one which is more inclusive than the history of the girl’s community.

In class we saw how Eliot, by juxtaposing past and present times and settings, takes the reader from the present to the past and back into the present. In doing this he also presents a variety of voices that are in fact one voice. As an occidental, I cannot avoid perceiving time as sequential, and I function –at the level of everyday life- sequentially. But it may happen that time is a mere construct we use to explain our limited perception of the world. Perhaps there is no such thing as time; what we think that was or will be already is, and to my mind The Waste Land exemplifies this ‘Godboleish’ conception very adequately. Of course I do not mean to say that Eliot’s intention in juxtaposing past and present was to illustrate the notion that time does not exist; I am only trying to convey my own impression of the poem.

It was interesting to find allusions to works that have been, in a way, a part of my life (this may sound clichéd but I don’t know how else to put it), such as Wagner’s operas, the figure of Tiresias and The Golden Bough. The allusions sparked my curiosity but also my annoyance. I could not always see the new meaning they had acquired in the context of the poem, or fully understand how they related to one another. Fortunately, this started to change during our first workshop session.

I agree with Eliot’s idea that erudition is not necessary to appreciate the poem, but his notes do not wholly equip the inexperienced reader. One of my first reactions was to wonder what audience Eliot had in mind. I do not think I would have been able to make much out of the poem if it had not been for the lessons. The Waste Land requires a considerable depth of analysis, and the workshop, from which I have profited greatly, is very useful. This method of work has helped me to think and establish connections and contrasts within the poem that I had not realised at the very beginning. I feel much more involved than I would have if we had been spoonfed (fortunately we never are).

Much as I like and enjoy reading this poem, I cannot help feeling uneasy, to say the least, when I see how accurately it depicts humankind. It could not be more relevant to our time. I have an inclination for the hard sciences, but I have always regarded them as a tool through which to admire the work of a superior being, call it God or whatever. Instead, this science has been prostituted to satisfy the greed and fill up the hollow spaces of contemporary times. I am not religious; nevertheless, I think that, as Eliot is telling us from the lines of his poem, the loss of spirituality and of the mysteries of life, to which applied sciences have contributed, has stripped human existence of much of its meaning.. Worse still, I also agree with the poet that we believe we are alive, but we are not. The most tragic of it all is, awareness of this does not mean anything. The first reaction is to wonder what can be done ‘What shall we ever do?’ There is only silence in the poet and the reader who agrees with the poet’s view.

Reading The Waste Land is a painful yet enriching experience. It is surely going to join Siberiade and other works of art that I will never forget.

July 2003

*******

An afterthought: it is interesting to notice that, while loss of spirituality is attributed to [the spread of] scientific knowledge, the two main pillars of science, Newton and Einstein, were deeply religious. Like many other theoretical scientists, they regarded science as a way to come close to God, not to deny his existence. So I would not so readily blame scientific knowledge for our spiritual waste land. The cause may lie with those who have prostituted science to satisfy their greed or fill up the hollow spaces in our existence.

Late Update

2008-12-18T10:43:00.003-02:00

I know I should've done this before, but....

I finally defended my thesis at the UNL on DEc 3 and got the damned Licenciada degree. The specialisation in Phonetics also had it highlight on Tue 9 (notice the adjacency of the dates and you can easily figure out my state of alienation at that time). This lady got top mark and the presentation went wonderfully well.

So I'n now a specialised licenciada haha

2009: SABBATICAL! after 10 years of studying non stop, with no days off, no real holidays, no Saturdays or Sundays to speak of...

A joder se ha dicho!!!

Se viene la defensa

2008-11-09T11:08:00.001-02:00

Al find espués de tanta espera habemus fecha de defensa! (en la PEOR época del año, de paso... y justo cuando estoy sumergida en un alud de quilombos)

La defensa es PÚBLICA

Miércoles 3 de diciembre a las 9 hs.

Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias
Uiversidad Nacional del Litoral
Ciudad Universitaria - Paraje El Pozo 3000 - Santa Fe.

Ya estoy nerviosa.

Predador - a pleasant surprise

2008-10-25T23:13:00.005-02:00

For those of you who are members of the Metal Brethren, check out this link:
http://www.predadormetalpesado.com.ar
or see my links list.

I've just had the chance to listen to their second CD, 'Gritos de libertad', courtesy of Marcos Lowi, the band's bassist. An excellent album featuring a well-balanced fusion of different metal subgenres. Not to be missed!! Go buy it NOW!

Hope you'll forgive the briefness of the post but after the gym and the 2 hr runaround, I'm completely knackered...

It's like that, yes, but should it?

2008-09-21T20:57:00.003-03:00

In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir, referring to differences between women and men, speaks of ‘the chasm separating a boy from a girl’, a chasm that ‘has been created deliberately at a very early age’. She denounces what she calls ‘the myth of the eternal feminine’ as a deterrent to the realisation of women’s potentialities. Her creed would certainly be rejected- if understood at all- by those who attribute the supposed unsuitability of women for certain jobs to biological factors such as physical strength. This goes hand in hand with another common belief, according to which women show certain ‘feminine’ psychological traits apparently not present in men because they are inherent to their nature. However, although there are differences between women and men that can be traced back to the realm of biology and genetics, in my opinion most of these differences have a cultural origin.

It is true that there are a number of biological factors that account for some of the differences. Besides the obvious ones, there are others related to frame size and muscular strength. No one would deny that men are usually stronger than women. This quality must have been especially appreciated by prehistoric man, who had to rely on his physical prowess in order to survive. In addition, this brought him the respect, and possibly fear, from his male competitors. On the other hand, women found their mobility much restricted by pregnancy and childbearing. The breastfeeding period added another limitation. From the outset, the very constitutional and functional characteristics of both sexes produced differences in their behaviour.

However, there are many traits that cannot be explained away by biological factors. For instance, there is yet no conclusive evidence that character is genetically determined. Still, many people think that women are more emotional than men. If asked why, they will say it is ‘because they are women’, because they were born that way, as if emotion were a feature specific to the genre. Another myth has to do with women’s occupations. I have asked several people why they think there are very few female heads of state or in other positions traditionally regarded as the domain of men, such as army general or combat pilot. The answer in all cases was that most women are not inclined towards these activities, since they are not ‘feminine’ and go against the ‘feminine nature’.

Whatever the ‘feminine nature’ may mean for these people, I think it is important to point out what sociologists and anthropologists have said about women's preferences and attitudes. The research carried out by Margaret Mead on the island of Samoa show that some inclinations are the result of upbringing, and therefore culturally determined. She discovered that Samoan boys were given dolls at a very early age, and that they looked after their dolls with tender care, just as an occidental girl is trained to do by her parents presenting her only with dolls and not with a plastic machine gun. These patterns of behaviour, along with the values associated with them, are passed on from one generation to the next. Two French sociologists, Pierre Bourdieu and Jean Claude Passeron, have described these patterns of transmission in their theory of ‘social reproduction’, which explains how a given order of things, including power relationships, is perpetuated by the cultural conditioning of children since birth. This happens because their upbringing at home and education at school are pervaded by clear messages about models of womanhood and manhood.

Although many of the differences between women are a matter of nature, I am of the view that most differences result from nurture. Once the socially accepted role models have been internalised, it is taken for granted that they have always been a part of the self. This may be the reason why some people think that ‘dolls are for girls’, and that if a girl wants to borrow her brother’s plastic machine-gun, she will be duly reminded of her duties as dictated by her gender. The chasm between her and her brother has therefore been opened deliberately and very early in life, thus reinforcing the status quo, which in fact revolves around the hegemony of men. ‘Social reproduction’ has taken place once again. Is it any wonder now why many feminists argue that gender-based myths constitute a form of social control?

Cálculo de la F0

2008-08-17T08:38:00.007-03:00

Ayer alguien me hizo una pregunta muy astuta con respecto al análisis espectral de la voz. La pregunta era cómo se puede calcular la frecuencia de la voz si la señal es variable.

El tema es así: lo que hace que una vocal suene a, e o i es resultado de la modificación, por medio de los resonadores, de una frecuencia, la F0, producida por vibración de las cuerdas vocales. Esto quiere decir que si mantengo una F0 de, digamos, 200 Hz durante 5 seg., no importa si digo aaaaaaaaa o eeeeeeee o iiiiiiiiiii. La identidad de la vocal no tiene que ver con la F0. En mi caso, va a ser de 200 Hz para cualquier vocal.

En cambio, la modificación de la forma y volumen del tracto vocal, que ocurre en la zona supralaringeal (o sea, más arriba de las cuerdas vocales), sí determina la calidad de la vocal que se va a emitir. La calidad de las vocales (aquello que hace que una 'a' suene como 'a' y no como otra cosa) está definida por dos parámetros, las formantes F1 y F2, que son las formantes que utilizamos en el reconocimiento de la vocal.

Ahora bien, la vibración de las cuerdas vocales, responsables de la F0, también presenta dificultades a la hora de describir contornos tonales. Esto es así porque la F0 cambia constantemente con el tiempo, y porque la actividad de las cuerdas vocales no es armónica. Entonces, cómo se calcula la F0 para hacer un ploteo del contorno entonativo? (pitch tracking)

A continuación transcribo el método utilizado por P. Boersma en el PRAAT, que es la herramienta que uso en mi laboratorio.

PRAAT tiene un comando Sound:To Pitch que calcula la F0 en base a los siguientes argumentos (que controlan la selección de candidatos reclutados):

Time step (standard value: 0.0): the measurement interval (frame duration), in seconds. If you supply 0, PRAAT will use a time step of 0.75 / (pitch floor), e.g. 0.01 seconds if the pitch floor is 75 Hz; in this example, PRAAT computes 100 pitch values per second.
Pitch floor (standard value: 75 Hz): candidates below this frequency will not be recruited. This parameter determines the length of the analysis window: it will be 3 longest periods long, i.e., if the pitch floor is 75 Hz, the window will be 3/75 = 0.04 seconds long.

Note that if you set the time step to zero, the analysis windows for consecutive measurements will overlap appreciably: PRAAT will always compute 4 pitch values within one window length, i.e., the degree of oversampling is 4.

A post-processing algorithm seeks the cheapest path through the candidates. The argument that determines the cheapest path is:

Pitch ceiling (standard value: 600 Hz): candidates above this frequency will be ignored.

PRAAT usa un algoritmo creado por P. Boersma que se puede bajar desde acá.

Si le tienen alergia a la matemática compleja, absténganse. Igualmente, no hace falta entender la matemática en sí, sino el procedimiento o rationale behind. La resumo: el algoritmo calcula puntos de F0 de acuerdo a la ''fuerza'' o peso del punto (medida del pulso glotal) y la probabilidad de que en determinado lugar haya un candidato fuerte. Por eso, cuando en Praat vamos a la ventana de pitch vemos esto (la fig muestra en realidad una imagen de mi pantalla):

La muestra corresponde a un hablante masculino de castellano rioplatense, edad 45, que dice "se hace al horno?" (Gracias Carlos por tu muestra!!!) En la figura solamente muestro la parte "horno?"Fíjense que los puntos rosas (F0) son los que tienen números de mayor valor dentro de sus respectivas areas. Los espacios en blanco son silent gaps que se producen cuando no hay vibración de las cuerdas vocales o pequeñas perturbaciones que no afectan significativamente al contorno tonal.

La sigo en otro post y en otro momento. Tengo que volver a las diapositivas para la defensa!!

Saludos.

Muestra

2008-08-14T09:19:00.000-03:00

I made it! Abajo hay una muestra. Ahora espero que el mediafire me deje entrar para subir el archivo de audio. En el próximo post, una guía sobre cómo interpretar el gráfico.

Fonológico y fonético

2008-08-14T07:52:00.006-03:00

Hay 2 niveles de análisis que corresponden a distintos aspectos relacionados con la señal acústica: fonético y fonológico.

Un análisis instrumental de la señal nos puede dar, entre otras cosas, una extracción de F0, la frecuencia fundamental del tono de voz. Esto corresponde al nivel fonético. F0 es un valor acústico, medido en Hz o semitonos, ERB, mel, u otras unidades de frecuencia.

Lo que importa en fonología suprasegmental es cómo el cerebro procesa este F0 y lo traduce en altura tonal (pitch), un valor psicoacústico. Asociado a algún término lingüístico, pasa a tener valor a nivel fonológico, ya que interpretamos pitch en términos de un sistema lingüístico donde las opciones están acotadas.

Se puede establecer una analogía en óptica. Por ejemplo, la refracción de la luz hace que el lápiz en el vaso de H20 se vea quebrado. Así es como el cerebro interpreta los rayos de luz refractados. Lo mismo pasa con los colores. El hecho que veamos algo como rojo o azul es resultado de la operación, por así decirlo, que hace el cerebro, el sistema perceptual, sobre los valores de frecuencia de onda reflejados por un determinado objeto.

En el próximo post voy a incluir una muestra con sonido y gráfico. Intenté ahora pero no pude. Así que no sean vagos, y no lean este post desde el mail. Vayan al blog.

Qué hago

2008-08-12T09:25:00.003-03:00

A propos de la recurrente pregunta sobre qué hago, cuya respuesta requiere al menos 15 minutos, paso a hacer una breve descripción de mis intereses profesionales. Próxima vez que me pregunten, los candidatos interesados serán derivados a este blog. A veces, soy mujer de pocas palabras.

Mi interés número uno, como algunos de uds. ya saben, es la investigación y enseñanza de la fonología suprasegmental, más específicamente, la entonación, tanto del inglés como del castellano rioplatense (lo que hablamos nos, bah). A menudo me preguntan qué es exactamente todo eso.

La entonación es, de un modo no técnico, la melodía de la lengua. Técnicamente, es el uso lingüístico dado a la altura tonal (pitch). Cuando digo uso lingüístico estoy distinguiéndolo de otros usos de la altura tonal, como por ejemplo, el canto, o un grito.

Cuando la altura tonal (lo que el lego llama 'el tono de la voz') sube, o baja, o pernanece en un monotono, ese contorno tonal da significado a lo que se dice. Por ejemplo, no es lo mismo decir 'no' con un tono descendente que ascendente. El tono descendente convierte el 'no' en algo definitico. El ascendente lo convierte en una pregunta, o una invitación a que nuestro interlocutor intervenga de alguna manera.
Lo que estuve investigando para la tesis que voy a defender, para contestar más concretamente la pregunta, es la adquisición de la entonación inglesa en castellano hablantes. Temas como la transferencia de contornos entonativos castellanos al inglés (o sea, hablar en inglés con entonación castellana), las condiciones bajo las cuales esto ocurre, y la influencia de procesos de desarrollo (developmental processes). Una de las conclusiones a las que llegué es que, contrariamente a lo que se suele pensar, la transferencia no predomina tanto a nivel fonológico (el uso de un determinado acento tonal) como a nivel fonético (es decir, dado un acento tonal, los detalles de cómo se implementa acústicamente ese acento). Algunos de estos temas van a ser tratados en mi seminario el 18 de octubre.

Por ahora les dejo esta para digerir, así surgen más preguntas y nos manejamos en base a eso.

Poem

2008-08-07T09:42:00.001-03:00

Desconfianza con creencias

Dos almas cansadas, fríamente pisoteadas
En el mismo camino se encuentran
Camina con ellos la Soledad
Guardiana eterna y a veces, hasta bienvenida

Aferrados al deseo de olvidar
Aquello que los mata por dentro
Aquella desconfianza que teme al amor
Trepidantes sus pasos, por si la tierra llegara a ceder, otra vez.

Ojos del alma que quieren volver a ver
Pero cegados, no se les permite la sinceridad ni el valor
Del nuevo inquilino de ese corazón subastado al peor postor

Volverá el recuerdo, ya constante compañero, a ser presente,
O será mejor hacer presente el futuro, todavía incierto?

Distrust with beliefs

Two weary souls, coldly trampled on,
On the same path they meet
Loneliness treads along by them
Eternal guardian, and oft, even welcome.

Clinging on to the wish to forget
That which kills them inside
That love-fearing distrust
Steps with trepidation, lest the ground give way, once again.

The souls’ eyes, willing to see again,
Yet blinded, not allowed to fathom the sincerity or worth
Of the new tenant of a heart sold to the worst bidder.

Will memory, already a constant fellow, become present again,
Or will it be best to bring to the present the future, still uncertain?

Se fue Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

2008-08-05T12:17:00.006-03:00

Allá por el '77 yo tenía 12 años cuando mi vieja me regaló The Gulag Archipelago (sí, en inglés), tal vez pensando que era una novela?

Pocos libros me impresionaron tanto como este relato de la vida en los campos de concentración de Stalin, a tal punto que hubo partes que tuve que cerrar el libro porque NO aguantaba la violencia, la descripción de las torturas... y todo esto ocurría sin decirle al arrestado el verdadero motivo de su arresto.

Mi generación y las aledañas, que hoy tienen hijos chicos y adolescentes... por favor, enséñenles a sus hijos que estan cosas existieron y existen aún. Déjense de joder con esa idea estúpida de que a los chicos hay que ahorrarles todo sinsabor.

Y por favor, enséñenles a los adolescentes, sobre todo de 15 para arriba, que el sistema sobre el cual se apoyó Stalin (que no fue eñ único que recurrió al terror, vamos) es el mismo sistema que muchos trasnochados quisieron y quieren implantar en nuestro país. Por lo menos, si los votan, que sea con pleno conocimiento de causa, y no como hacen muchos, que votan sin saber realmente qué están votando, y después se sorprenden y escandalizan con las políticas implementadas por esos mismos que ellos votaron.

"La vida de Alexander Solzhenitsin es la del compromiso de un hombre consigo mismo por alzarse, en las circunstancias más precarias que pueden darse, en cronista del sufrimiento del pueblo ruso, sometido al Terror del más temible de sus tiranos, Yosef Stalin. Solzhenitsyn fue acusado en 1945 de instigar la «contrarrevolución» por haber escrito, desde el frente, una carta a un amigo de la escuela que contenía algunos comentarios cáusticos sobre el dictador y su actitud política ante la guerra. Sufrió por ello una condena de ocho años a la que siguió, como era costumbre, un confinamiento «a perpetuidad», que en su caso no llegó a aplicarse del todo gracias al llamado «deshielo» de la era Kruschov.
Para Solzhenitsyn, su confinamiento en un lugar remoto, al salir de la prisión, supone el comienzo de su nueva existencia como escritor. Y es que el cumplimiento de su condena coincide con la muerte de Stalin y con los tibios pero sustanciales cambios que empiezan a producirse en el país. El autor se instala en una minúscula casa de adobe y allí da salida a su necesidad de volcar sobre el papel lo que durante años ha retenido mentalmente: «Las líneas salían veloces de mi pluma apenas me sentaba»
De esta manera, toda la obra de Solzhenitsyn está animada por tres ideas centrales: la denuncia de los efectos de la Revolución de Octubre de 1917, transformada en exterminio de un pueblo; la importancia decisiva que la Primera Guerra Mundial tuvo en la gestación de dicha revolución; y, por último, la indiferencia con que el mundo occidental ha contemplado los hechos."

http://www.abc.es/20080804/internacional-internacional/muere-solzhenitsin-escritor-revelo-200808040912.html

Stuff that obsesses me 4 - Membrane Theory (M-Theory)

2008-08-05T10:45:00.004-03:00

Not content with leaving me doumbfounded with string theory, theoretical physicists have come up with brane theory, to solve the problem of the number of dimensions in string theory: 10 or 11? The guys in the community debated over it and solved it as it is normally done... what, you solve a theoretical problem by creating a new theory, obviously!! and yet another problem.

I quote from wikip: "A membrane, brane, or p-brane is a spatially extended mathematical concept that appears in string theory and its relatives (M-theory and brane cosmology). The variable p refers to the number of spatial dimensions of the brane. That is, a 0-brane is a zero-dimensional pointlike particle, a 1-brane is a string, a 2-brane is a "membrane", etc. Every p-brane sweeps out a (p+1)-dimensional world volume as it propagates through spacetime."

Watch a presentation (perdón los que no entiendan inglés!! qué esperan para ponerse las pilas??)NB Si entran a Youtube van a ver que esta es la parte 8 de varias. Los q tengan cable, ya la dieron en infinito (Sí!!! en infinito, of all places!!!) y cada tanto la repiten. Vale la pena verla!!

This is part 8:

Stuff that obsesses me 3: unusual aggregation states

2008-08-05T10:19:00.002-03:00

Liquid metal!!!

Stuff that obsesses me 2

2008-08-05T09:51:00.004-03:00

Dissecting a Klein bottle into halves along its plane of symmetry results in two mirror image Möbius strips, i.e. one with a left-handed half-twist and the other with a right-handed half-twist (one of these is pictured on the right). Remember that the intersection pictured isn't really there. In fact, it is also possible to cut the Klein bottle into a single Möbius strip. (further info in wikipedia)

Stuff that obsesses me 1

2008-08-05T09:45:00.003-03:00

I've always been fascinated by topological surfaces. Klein's bottle (on the left) is one of my favourites, along with the now famous Möbius strip.
It's one of those things that give me a chill. Am I living on a topological surface ? What if we all are? Could we be walking on a topological surface so large that we're not even aware of it? Brrrrr!

For an absent friend

2008-08-02T20:19:00.002-03:00

Mi caramelo

Qué linda que estás, sos un caramelo
te veo en el recreo y me vuelvo loco,
todas las cosas que me gustan, tienen tu cara
y espero los asaltos, así juego a la botellita con vos,
mi bomboncito.

Qué excitante que estás, tendrías que saberlo
esa cola es la manzana mas buscada,
y esos senos el alimento de mi creación,
quisiera arrancarte un día y morirme en un telo con vos...
o quizás en un auto.

Han pasado cinco años, asumiste las cosas
hace tiempo que estoy buscando mi verdadero yo,
hay una especie de simbiosis, lo dijo mi psicóloga
haría bien a la terapia alejarme un tiempo...
unos setenta años.

Como estás querida, tengo esposa e hijos
de ves en cuando hablo con ella y hasta hago el amor,
no es que quiera molestarte, pero me es imprescindible
sentarme en un café, y soñar un poco...
y tal vez amarnos.

Y ha pasado mi hora, quién robo mis años,
cambio a toda esta familia por un segundo con vos,
si te veo ahora, aunque termine en un hospicio,
tomo una botella...y juego a la botellita con vos.

Letras de Canciones

Sonnet CXV- food for thought// para meditar

2008-08-01T11:54:00.003-03:00

Soneto 115

Los versos que escribí y que escribo, han mentido,
incluso los que dicen, amarte tiernamente,
por entonces mi juicio, ignoraba las causas,
porqué mi intensa llama, aún más se inflamaría.

Pues calculando el Tiempo, cuyos mil accidentes,
cambian primeros votos; decreto de los reyes;
ajan sacra belleza y embotan tiernos actos,
inclinando las mentes a sus contradicciones.

Ay, Dios! ¿Porqué temiendo el yugo de aquel Tiempo,
no dije por entonces: «Te quiero más que nunca»,
cuando estaba seguro por encima de dudas,
coronando el presente y dudando del resto?

El amor es un niño, que no debiera hablar,
para dar madurez a lo que está creciendo.

Sonnet CXV

Those lines that I before have writ do lie,
Even those that said I could not love you dearer,
Yet then my judgment knew no reason why,
My most full flame should afterwards burn clearer.

But reckoning time, whose million'd accidents
Creep in 'twixt vows, and change decrees of Kings,
Tan sacred beauty, blunt the sharp'st intents,
Divert strong minds to th' course of alt'ring things:

Alas why fearing of Time's tyranny,
Might I not then say now I love you best,
When I was certain o'er incertainty,
Crowning the present, doubting of the rest:

Love is a babe, then might I not say so
To give full growth to that which still doth grow.

Soneto 116

2008-08-01T11:52:00.000-03:00

V. 1-2: Shakespeare alude y transforma la fórmula matrimonial
según la liturgia de la Iglesia de Inglaterra: "Si alguno
de vosotros conoce causa o justo impedimento
para que estas dos personas no sean unidas
en santo matrimonio, debéis declararlo".

Hoy: alambres!!

2008-07-31T11:47:00.002-03:00

Cuando vuelva a ti, ya no seré la misma mujer...

Volveré y seré brackets!!

Para vos!

2008-07-31T11:33:00.003-03:00

William Shakespeare, Sonnet CXVI

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments: love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
Oh no! it is an ever-fixèd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Una traducción al castellano que no me termina de convencer... creo que ninguna traducción le hace honor al original. Por qué ''true minds'' fue traducido como ''dos almas fieles'' si en el original el numero 2 nunca aparece? almas fieles?? Prefiero true minds.

Déjame que el enlace de dos almas fieles
No admita impedimentos. No es amor el amor
Que cambia cuando un cambio encuentra,
O que se adapta con el distanciamiento a distanciarse.
¡Oh, no!, es un faro eternamente fijo
que desafía a las tempestades sin nunca estremecerse;
es la estrella para todo barco sin rumbo,
cuya valía se desconoce, aun tomando su altura.
No es amor bufón del Tiempo, aunque los rosados labios

Y mejillas corva guadaña sigan:El amor no varía con sus breves horas y semanas,
Sino que se afianza incluso hasta en el borde del abismo.
Si esto es erróneo y se me puede probar,
nunca nada escribí, ni nadie nunca amó.

En cualquier momento posteo un análisis del original. Es mucho más esclarecedor que la traducción. Qué grande Old Will! Es cierto que fue el primer psicólogo!!

El post del musculoso solitario

2008-07-31T11:31:00.001-03:00

Siempre odié al mundo,
aun sabiendo que era parte de él.
Hoy me di cuenta
de que tan sólo me odié a mi mismo.
Tiempo perdido, mujeres perdidas,
una vida perdida, MI VIDA.

Sobre la lectura

2008-07-05T10:36:00.002-03:00

Todas mis decisiones (aún las que resultan ser inapropiadas) relacionadas con mi práctica docente- desde la planificación hasta la evaluación- derivan de mi visión del valor educativo inherente a la adquisición de una lengua. Independientemente del ya tradicional choque entre escuelas lingüísticas opuestas sobre la relación lenguaje-realidad-mente, yo veo al lenguaje como el organizador del pensamiento, y por lo tanto de la realidad. Y es por esto que creo que la relevancia del lenguaje va más allá de su obvio valor instrumental.

La capacidad de utilizar el lenguaje efectivamente significa poder. Creo que en esta era post-industrial, cuando somos constantemente bombardeados con información, los chicos y los adolescentes son especialmente vulnerables a todo tipo de manipulación. Con la declinación del grado de cultura general y lectura, la cantidad de adultos que caen presas del manoseo intelectual de ciertos sectores de los medios de comunicación está aumentando en forma alarmante. He tenido muchos alumnos adultos que tienen dificultades para determinar cuál es la función de un texto. Más de una, y ante la pregunta, han contestado que el propósito de un texto es informar cuando en realidad el objetivo del autor era persuadir. Si los adultos no se dan cuenta de que se les está tratando de convencer para que acepten tal o cual idea, ¿qué podemos esperar de nuestros chicos, que leen tan poco y que desconocen las herramientas de la lectura crítica? (Y vuelvo a preguntarme el por qué de esta falencia en chicos de clase media que concurren a supuestas buenas escuelas...)

Una vez un chico de dieciséis años, ante la propuesta de leer por placer, me preguntó: "¿Para qué voy a leer libros si me puedo divertir mucho más con un video juego o en el chat?". Y pienso en el Emilio de Rousseau, antes de comenzar su instrucción formal. Seguramente Emilio es más sabio que este chico, porque ha tenido tiempo para observar la naturaleza y reflexionar sobre ella. me El de 16 se ha perdido unos cuantos años de una actividad que lejos de ser pasiva, activa procesos de pensamiento fundamentales para una buena comprensión de texto y un enriquecimiento del propio lenguaje.

Sobre las actividades y ejercicios de comprensión de texto en el aula, al menos como yo las trabajo, es interesante destacar que no sólo sirven al propósito de evaluar cuánto y cómo comprende el alumno/a. En la etapa de la actividad donde el alumno tiene que justificar por qué contestó una pregunta sobre el texto de tal o cual forma, y no de otra, el alumno también está aprendiendo a tomar responsabilidad por lo que piensa y lo que dice. La discusión con los compañeros sobre si la respuesta es A o B, la defensa de la respuesta propia, el ponerse en el lugar de otro y comprender que lo que uno/a había entendido no era tal, y que por lo tanto por más que duela, hay que abandonar la postura adoptada, son todas situaciones que favorecen el desarrollo de habilidades intra e interpersonales, habilidades éstas de crucial importancia en la vida dentro y fuera de la escuela.

Evasion

2008-06-15T20:51:00.002-03:00

Hi folks,

I somehow knew I wasn't gonna finish that post.

News on the professional front: the job at SB Spangenberg is doing fine. I was lucky to land yet another job as a Phonology I teacher in the evening shift. I'm also running some appointments and have submitted my papers in a new competition.
It's very interesting to listen to so many students who present such an array of phonological problems. Bu tthen again, there are more people whose problem is not production per se, but the knowledge of when to produce a certain phoneme.
Interestingly, in many cases I can see Flege big time!! One of the most difficult contrasts being vowels 4 and 10, and vowels 8 and 9. there are many students who don't always hear the difference in minimal pairs. Of course, if you give them in isolated words, it's worse, and the vowel itself , again in isolation, it's perhaps well nigh impossible for them to identify.
There's also the question of attitude. Most students who don't pronounce well, cannot do so because they feel embarrassed or because they just don't want to.
My question is, if you're training to be a teacher of English, how can you possibly feel so far away and so reluctant to learn the way the language you supposedly want to teach sounds??

2008-04-21T18:42:00.005-03:00

POST UNDER CONSTRUCTION***
Soy profesora de inglés. Decir la frase ya me descompone. No me malentiendan: esoy orgullosa de lo que soy y lo que logré en su momento, verbigracia, egresar, supongo que en mis cabales (será así?), del glorioso Joaquín V. González. No soy "profesora de garage". Siempre digo que soy "docente profesional" para diferenciarme de la gente que da clases porque no encontraron otra cosa que hacer, pero no se prepararon para enseñar. O las que quieren tener un papelito que les permita dar clase pero les importa tres cornos si pronuncian bien o mal, o si el modelo de producción fonológica que les ofrecen a sus alumnos está más lejos del inglés que Ulan Bator de Batán. Y de métodología de la enseñanza, ni hablemos. Repito, soy docente profesional. Considero la docencia bien entendida ybien ejercida como una profesión no menos valiosa que la de ingeniero/a ( y recuerden, habla alguien con varias materias de ingeniería a cuestas).

Digo "me descompone" porque en cuanto digo "soy profesora de inglés" recuerdo anécdotas de colegas mías, que se rompieron el alma como yo, estudiando, sin fines de semana ni feriados ni veranos, siempre tragando y practicando, para ser mejores, para poder ofrecer una major calidad de enseñanza... y todo para qué? Para que algún/a imbécil les diga "Ah sí? Y qué más hacés aparte de enseñar inglés?" (las colegas seguramente estarán asintiendo, por haberlo sufrido en carne propia) "Ah, sí... mi hija también es profesora de inglés. Se recibió en la cambrich!" "Ah sos profesora de inglés. Y no hiciste el traductorado? " Como si el traductorado fuese una carrera "de verdad" y el profesorado no. Como si haber ido a la academia "cambrich" fuese sinónimo una calificación profesional. Obvio, el pobre padre/madre no sabe esto, pero those who should know better don't give a damn, either...

Me llevó 6 años recibirme (32 materias ANUALES, incluyendo geografía de UK y USA, las 3 historias, las 2 fonéticas (obvio), los cuaro Labs, las 5 literaturas, filosofía, lingüística, pedagogía, didáctica, metodología, la residencia, etc etc. O sea, más materias que mi carrera de ingeniería!! (de locos)

He conocido gente, sobre todo en mis cursos de ESP, con muchísima capacidad, que podrían enriquecerse mucho con todo ese conocimiento que junté después de hacer todas esas materias que acabo de nombrar... y lamentablemente toda esa sapiencia se va down the drain, porque no puedo usarla. Lisa y llanamente, el nivel del alumnado no da. La mayoría de los alumnos que he tenido desde hace unos 15 o más años a acá jamás llegan a un verdadero nivel avanzado... y lo peor es que ni lo saben, y creen que sí, que tienen un nivel avanzado. Tal vez por eso no se molesten en intentar superarse. Total, ya no les queda nada que aprender!! Amigo Richards, that's fossilisation for you!
Ah! Eran otras las épocas (algún ex alumno/a marplatense por ahí que haya ido al Inst. L. Vivas en el 89-93? Qué grande fue ese período, eh?) donde en los institutos de idioma se podía usar el Ona Low del Proficiency!!! y hasta yo a veces tenía que buscarle la vuelta porque era bastante difícil. Ahora si ven una copia del CPE les da ganas de llorar. Ni hablar del FCE.

Me enteré de que en un call center muy conocido, que pone carteles "now recruiting" por todos lados, una alumna de profesorado que apenas si puede aprobar fonética 1, les da "accent training" a los operadores del centro (!!!). Y si los que están alrededor saben menos que ella, quién catso se va a dar cuenta de los errores que comete? Cómo van a poder percibir los sonidos del castellano que usa cuando habla inglés?
Los llamados "natives" (uy, qué horror) son bien conocidos por decirle a todo el mundo "your English is very good". Y sí, después de haber estados en otros países donde el nivel en general es atroz, les parece increíble encontrarse con gente que más o menos articula. Yo recuerdo cuando trabajaba en Union Texas Petroleum, y estaba el Sr. G. El pobre tipo tenía una pronunciación catastrófica. Ni yo le entendía a veces. Y él nunca se enteró, pero los yanks muchas veces quedaban sin entender lo que el tipo había dicho. Él, obsesionado con su inglés, les preguntaba "guot du you sink of mai inglis? y los yanks le decían 'Oh it's very good!'. Qué le iban a decir, la verdad? A santo de qué si ellos no eran sus profesores? No tenían que evaluarlo (pero sí tenían que sufrirlo).
Piensen piensen.... a ver, las brujas de las malas noticias....

SE VIENE EL SEMINARIO/ COMING UP

2008-04-19T16:18:00.006-03:00

Dear phonophiles,

It's official. The LCB Saturday Seminar Season 2008 has been launched. The series will end with my presentation. I expect to see you all there!

Beyond the “melody of speech”: Exploring intonation in English and in SpanisH

Venue: profesorado del LCB. Av. Pueyrredón 1388, 1er. Piso. Buenos Aires.

Date: October 18 2008

Biodata: Lecturer in Phonetics III at the LCB TTC. Lecturer in English Phonetics at Universidad de Belgrano and at ENS de Lenguas Vivas “S.B. de Spangenberg”. She has also worked as Lab Assistant at ISP “Dr. Joaquín V. González”. Andrea is a graduate from ISP “Dr. Joaquín V. González”, where she also specialised in English Phonetics and Diction II. She has completed her dissertation for the degree of Licenciada at the Universidad Nacional del Litoral. her main research interests are the intonation of English and River Plate Spanish, and the interlanguage intonation systems of students at Teacher Training College.

CUESTIÓN DE PRIORIDADES

2008-04-19T16:14:00.003-03:00

Hola fonófilos y no tanto,

Hoy escribo en mi lengua materna para compartir una pequeña reflexión. Mejor dicho, para hacerlos reflexionar a ustedes. Navegando y zappeando sitios, se me ocurrió googlear la siguiente frase: "busco profesora fonética". Cuántos sitios/ foros creen que encontré? Acertaron: ninguno. Mejor dicho, ninguno de Argentina, porque en sitios españoles encontré un montón. Ahora viene la tarea para el hogar: cuáles son los motivos, dirían uds. de esta diferencia abrumadora? Escucho ofertas.

I FINISHED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-04-05T13:07:00.002-03:00

Yupeeeee!!!!!!!!!

Dear friends and students,

I finally completed the now famous "bloody dissertation"!!!! (round of applause)

Yes, the miracle has finally happened. I sent the copy to the University and now I've got to wait to be given a date for the defence. So the struggle goes on.

Pssss... Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends!
I'll keep you posted on further developments in this gripping "sagarofmine" (notice the intrusive /r/ there, my dear phonophiles!!!)

Cheers,
Andrea

Developmental processes in interlanguage phonology

2008-02-20T14:04:00.004-02:00

Hi all,

This is what I was looking for in a previous post. It's the Ontogeny Model proposed by Major,R (1987) and updated in the Ontogeny Phylogeny Model by the same author (2007).

This model acknowledges the role of L1 transfer in phonology, gives a lot of importance to developmental processes as well. It suits an account of the data collected from the students in my study.

Anyway, thanks to all the people who sent biblio and proposals by mail!!

Cheers,
The Nerd

News about the Bloody Dissertation

2008-02-20T13:57:00.003-02:00

Hi phonofriends,

For those who asked me about the progress of the already famous "bloody dissertation", a.k.a. tesina (literally, "little thesis", the job is well under way and rumour has it that the Tutor (notice the cap) is about to OK it.
We're already in version 9 of the bloody thing and it is hoped that the whole business won't go any further than version 10!!
I'll duly inform date of defence at Universidad Nacional del Litoral....but the Academic Committee 's got to read it and approve first.
I solemnly promise that when I've finished with the whole busines, I won't do any intonational phonology for at least a year... if I can bear it!!

Cheers,
The Nerd

Help this old lady with these bloody new technologies...

2008-01-22T19:29:00.001-02:00

I started this blog in order to learn how to use one... can anyone help? Look at the previous posts and you'll see my formatting needs urgent aid...

How can I prevent lines spilling out of the edit area?

How can I avoid those gaps after I've deleted a word? Backspace won't help!

Thanks to whoever is reading!

Nerd

MOI, A MÍ ME TIENEN PODRIDA CON LA INTERFERENCIA!

2007-12-25T23:06:00.002-03:00

Judging from the research papers I've read so far, it seems many people think that L2 intonation is characterised ONLY by L1 "interference" (I thought this term wasn't used any more!) or, at best, L1 transfer.

Can someone please direct me to any bibliography on interlanguage intonation dealing with developmental errors?

Material for Transcription 2

2007-11-26T22:55:00.000-03:00

TASK: Predict Nucleii and justify according to the theory.

VIDEO SESSION: A scene from the film “Seesaw” (UK)

CHARACTERS: Hannah Price, a sixteen-year-old student; Theo: her brother; Becky: her sister; Val: her mother; Maurice: her father, a successful businessman in the burglar alarm trade.

THE STORY SO FAR: Hanna, who was kidnapped a few days ago, has just been released. Her family ask her about her days in captivity. They also try to help her remember anything that might be useful to find the kidnappers.

ACTIVITY: Read the script below and predict the tonicity of the segments in italics. Then listen to the conversation on the video excerpt and check your predictions.

T: Did they tie you up?
B: How did you go to the loo?
V: Becky!
T: What did you do all day? (1)
M: And you couldn't remove the blindfold?
V: Darling, you've been so brave. Try to eat something, sweetheart.(2)
M: You said it was a hut?
H: A shed or something.(3) That's what it felt like.
M: Have you any idea where it was?
H: I don't know!
B: Think of clues.
H: I heard a bird singing and... someone shooting rabbits.(4)
V: What did the man look like?
H: I never saw him.
M: Never?
H: They had a brown car.
M: You saw the number plate.
H: They lived off the railway.
V: Where?
H: I don't know. He didn't know anything about art.
V: How do you know?
H: He tested me for my predictions
V: He tested you??
H: It was you that I was worried about.(5) I knew that I was alright.(6)
V: Doesn't matter sweetheart. (7) Nothing matters now (8), you're back.
H: I feel so awful. You paid all that money for me.
M: It's only money.
H: Fifty thousand pounds? How did you find it?
T: Fifty? It wasn't fifty, it was five hundred.
H: Five hundred pounds?
M: Not now, Theo.
H: Tell me.
Theo: Don't you know? They paid five hundred thousand pounds just to [...] you.
B: You'd better be worth it.
H: It's not true, is it?
Theo: They're totally cleaned out. Dad's had to sell the business.

(In Hannah's bedroom)
H: Come in.
V: Darling, can we talk for a moment? (8) I just want to make sure. This man he didn't do anything to you, did he? (9) You know what I mean.(10)
H: No. He was quite nice, actually.(11)
V: You can tell me.

M: Nice to sleep in your own bed?
H: I'm sorry. I'll try to remember more things when the police come.(12)
M: No, we're not telling the police.
V: What??
M: You want them crawling all over the place?(13)
V: We've got to tell the police.
M: What, you want our story in the papers? Tabloids doorstepping our friends? Prying into our lives?
V: But they'll help us.
M: Staring at us? Pitying us?
H: You mean you’re ashamed of me?
M: They'll turn our lives upside down. I promise you that. They'll ruin us. We'll never recover. We'll always be the Price family, whose daughter was kidnapped.
H: But we might get the money back. (14)
M: Look, I know the success rate in cases like this. I've got friends in the force, remember? (15) No, I'm not having the police here.(16) She hasn't been hurt, thank God.(17) It'd be different then.(18) But what information does she have? Nothing. Nothing that would be of any use to them. We've got you back. That's what matters (19).

Perception of tones by non-native speakers of English

2007-11-26T22:27:00.000-03:00

Atoye (1994) states that the term tone for languages which do not have lexical tone (such as Anglo Saxon and Romance languages) is a misnomer. True. The use of the word "tone" to mean what we do or hear on the nucleus comes from the British school of intonation. In the American school, which you don't and won't ever be taught at TTC because it is beyond our scope, the equivalent of our tone is the pitch accent.
Having clarified this - and do not think for a minute that the relationship between intonational structure according to one school is in direct correspondence with the other one- and now that I've started this blog, this is my chance to insist on something that has been overlooked - that we non-native speakers of English do not perceive tones in the same fashion as natives do, at least not if we haven't had considerable exposure and/or analytic listening.

What follows is a very informal account of one of my favourite issues. When do we, Spanish speakers, cease to hear a fall-rise and start hearing a fall instead? Not that I've got the knowledge or the means to carry out research on categorical perception, but I was just curious to know if a simple little "experiment" on differential perception of fall-rises in monosyllabic words could render any clues. The idea was to provide subjects with words carring H* L- L% and H* L- H% and find out whether perception of the latter as the former depended on syllable length. In order to change the H% into a L% I used words where the segmental matter carrying L- H% varied along the length/duration dimension. For the discrimination test, I arranged the words in doublets, tonal minimal pairs on words such as bead/beat, bid/bit, etc. so that the length of the syllable was shorter due to one or more of the following: vowel quality& quantity in the rhyme, +/- voice in the coda. Then I got them into pairs, e.g the first time the doublet was read with the same tone (fall-fall) and the second time (randomised presentation) it was read with a fall-rise and a fall or viceversa. The subjects were asked wether both words sounded
the same or different, e.g. whether they sounded like a statement (fall)
or a question (fall rise). For the identification test, the same word was
presented with both tones, at random so that the two productions would
not be adjacent.
The results suggest that duration, delta pitch between H* and H%, or a combination of both (apparently shorter length creates shorter delta F0), may have a lot to do with non-native perception. When the syllables ended in lax vowel+unvoiced consonant, the non-native speakers often did not hear the terminal rise of thefall-rise. Instead, they heard a fall. The native listener never had any trouble in recognising both tones, regardless of syllable length. Why? I hypothesised it was because native hearers are attuned to small pitch differentials, and/or they use other prosodic features to discriminate falls from fall-rises, e.g. duration, or the difference between F0 of H* and H%. Of course, the results may mean nothing but a coincidence, although they seem to be in line with my observations of many students at TTC who, when exposed to fall-rises on very short words, fail to hear the H% as such, and interpret the contour as a falling one instead.

Material for Transcription 1

2007-11-25T17:23:00.000-03:00

Transcribe the following text tonetically and phonemically. You can download my rendering here. Listen to my version and compare it with yours. How do they differ? Post your comments!

How to Be a Hypocrite
from Mikes, G. (1984) How to Be a Brit Penguin Books

If you want to be really and truly British, you must become a hypocrite. Now: how to be a hypocrite?
As some people say that an example explains things better than the best theory, let me try this way. I had a drink with an English friend of mine in a pub . We were sitting on the high chairs in front of the counter when a flying bomb exploded about 100 yards away. I was truly and honestly frightened, and when a few seconds later, I looked around, I could not see my friend anywhere. At last , I noticed that he was lying on the floor, flat as a pancake. When he realised that nothing particular had happened in the pub, he got up a little embarrassed flicked the dust off his suit, and turned to me with a superior and sarcastic smile.
"Good heavens! Were you so frightened that you couldn't move?"

Dear Phonetics III students-to-be,

2007-11-25T16:47:00.000-03:00

Hello, and welcome to this phonetics blog.

May I address a few words to my prospective students.
In 2008, the Phonetics III Course will find itself transformed radically by a number of improvements, such as:

It will be assumed that if you passed Phonetics I, you know all the sound inventory of English, and will be able to pronounce them accordingly.
You will know when to use weak forms and strong forms, and you will be able to justify when and why you use them.
You will know how to take phonetic dictation and do decent transcriptions;
Likewise, it will be assumed that if you passed Phonetics II, you will come to this subject already in possession of sound knowledge of:

        a) Nucleus Placement rules: where the nucleus goes and why
        b) Tones and their meanings according to O'Connor and Arnold (1973)
        c) perceptual identification of nucleus
        d) how to recognise and discriminate tones, e.g. distinguishing a fall-rise from a rise and being able o label them correctly

I'm still surveying the following for possible adoption:
Wells, J.C. (2006) English Intonation Cambridge University Press

The following are still valid:
Brazil, D. (1994) The Communicative Value of Intonation in English Cambridge University Press
Brazil, D., Coulthard, M. and C. Johns (1981) Discourse Intonation and Language Teaching Longman

Post your queries and comments!

The Phonology of Alpedism

2007-11-25T16:33:00.000-03:00

This is a trial to check the benefits of alpedism and its phonological implications in a marxist analysis of boundary tones. We firmly believe that a dose of this panegyric will no doubt render you descerebrated for the rest of your puny, vacuous existence.