Introducción a la Lengua Inglesa

Tutor: Graciela I. Manzur

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to this journey through the land of Language.

We will review different linguistic issues that will help you to develop
your English language knowledge.

This is a flexible course in the sense that you will do the tasks at your own pace. This self-
study course will give you some autonomy to review and practise the language. As a tutor, I
will give you guidance and support.

Each stage of this journey will focus on different language structures. Through textual or
audiovisual resources you will be able to put language into practice and to develop the four
macro skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Each module will consist in controlled practice and in free practice, as well. More structured
tasks should be done online so as to be able to check your performance in each task. I will
explain any doubts or queries that may arise and I will also guide you on what language
issues you need to pay attention to. Free-practice activities will be based on production and
feedback and guidance will be offered.

In each module we will focus on specific contents of general interest to put language into
practice. You will be engaged in individual and collaborative tasks and in forum discussions,
where you will be able to share your knowledge and viewpoints in meaningful language
practice.

I hope you will benefit from each learning experience.

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PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

Lessons 1 to 5

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LESSON 1

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About yourselves

Do you like your name?

Do you feel identified with it?

Do you know the origin of your name or what it means?

Do people call you by your name or do you have a nickname?

Think about the meanings of these terms: nickname, title, given name,
surname. Can you give an example of each from your first language? Can you
infer the meanings of the words you don’t know? Let’s read this school
newsletter article about names.

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After you read (Click here to check your answers)

Are these statements T (true) or F (false)

_________1. Yevdokiya is now in Canada.

_________2. In Russia, she uses only her teacher’s first name.
_________3. Jorge in in Mexico City.
_________4. He’s going to change his first name.

A quick revision

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Focused Practice

1. Read this book review. Colour all the present progressive verbs green
and all the simple present verbs yellow.

Are you living or working in a foreign country? Do you worry about making a mistake with
someone’s name? You are right to be concerned. Naming systems vary a lot from culture to
culture, and people tend to have very strong feelings about their names. Well, now help is
available in the form of and interesting and practical book by Terri Morrison, Kiss, Bow, or
Shake Hands: How to do Business in Sixty Countries gives information on cross-cultural
naming customs and much more. And it’s not just for businesspeople. In today’s shrinking
world, people are travelling abroad in record numbers. They’re flying to all corners of the
world, and they’re e-mailing people they’ve never met. So, if you’re doing business abroad or
making friend across cultures, I recommend this book.

Whenever indicated, please do the tasks online in order to obtain instant feedback.

To this end, I invite you to explore our course in Moodle.

Party Talk
(Go to Lesson 1 in Moodle, to do the listening task online)

Editing

2. Read this post to a class electronic bulletin board. Complete it by choosing the right
option of the verbs in brackets.

Class Bulletin Board

(Complete the task online, in Moodle)

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Communication Practice (Complete the listening task in Moodle.)

3. Listen to two classmates discuss these photos. Then listen again and label each
photo with the correct name(s) from the box.

Alex Bertha “Bozo” Karl Red Sunshine” Vicki

4. Write a profile to introduce yourself to your class.

Write about your name (origin, what it means), your interests and hobbies,
your plans and expectations about the future. Use the simple present and
present progressive. You can use the profile in activity 2 as a model.

Example: My name is Lucía Monter, but my friends call me Luchi.

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5. On the Web

There are many websites about names. Surf the web to find out information
about a name –your own name or another person’s name. Use key words
such as Spanish first names or Italian surnames. Share your information with
the group.

Answers (Click here to go back to the task)

1. T

2. F

3. F

4. F

Focused Practice

Task 1

Are you living or working in a foreign country? Do you worry about making a mistake with
someone’s name? You are right to be concerned. Naming systems vary a lot from culture to
culture, and people tend to have very strong feelings about their names. Well, now help is
available in the form of and interesting and practical book by Terri Morrison, Kiss, Bow, or
Shake Hands: How to do Business in Sixty Countries gives information on cross-cultural
naming customs and much more. And it’s not just for businesspeople. In today’s shrinking
world, people are travelling abroad in record numbers. They’re flying to all corners of the
world, and they’re e-mailing people they’ve never met. So, if you’re doing business abroad or
making friend across cultures, I recommend this book.

Bibliography

Fuchs, M. & Bonner, M. (2006). Focus on Grammar 4: An integrated skills approach, 3rd ed.
New York: Pearson Education.