Introduction

Given that the English language has recently been branded as the first emerging global lingua franca (a language used widely beyond the population of its native speakers), it is virtually impossible nowadays not to know a few basic English phrases. With over a billion people speaking it, a working knowledge of the English language is an essential requirement in many professions, with English being the prominent language in communications, tourism, science, business, aviation, entertainment and diplomacy. Half of all the world’s business deals are conducted in English, two thirds of scientific papers are written in English, and over 70% of all post is written and addressed in English. Although the French, Spanish and Arabic languages may disagree profusely as a matter of cultural pride, it is unsurprising that English is destined to become the unofficial international language in future times. According to recent figures, there are now more English speaking people in China than there are in America.

I. The Isles of My Portfolio in English 121 (Writing in the Discipline)

Chapter 1 - Avoiding Sentence Errors
Chapter 2 - Levels of Usage
Chapter 3 - Verb Usage
Chapter 4 - Pronoun Usage
Chapter 5 - Subject and Verb Agreement
Chapter 6 - Pronoun and Antecedent Agreement
Chapter 7 - Adjective and adverb Usage
Chapter 8 - Miscellaneous Problems in Usage

II. Students Outputs of E-Portfolio

Cristine Torillo

Liezl Berdan

Rene Sasuta

Anna Malou Dorin

Joemarie Pono

Jeany Tayo

Aiza Mastura

Joanne Mae Malayas

Jacqueline Camunias

Kastine Irra Gella

Kimberly Angel Morante

Sarah Jane Escala

Mark Jason Ugay

Raymart Lumogdang

Lynnette Gerasmia

 

 

III. Writing in the Discipline as a Platform in Education for Sustainable Development

Since experts were coming from different academic backgrounds, this platform provided a space to step beyond their daily research horizon and debate subject related fields in formal and informal discussions.

“Education for Sustainable Development”(ESD) is a vision of education that seeks to empower people to assume responsibility for creating  a sustainable future. Central to ESD is the concept of culture as an essential underlying theme. Recognizing that there is no “single route” to sustainable development and that perception of, and ideas for sustainability are different, participants need to work together to negotiate the process of achieving sustainability.

IV. Reflection in English 121

Active participation of learners in the self-evaluation of their learning and the development of reflective thinking are the key features of alternative assessment. Alternative assessment is often defined as any type of assessment in which learners create a response to an assignment. The success of alternative assessment in language teaching is predetermined by students performance which demonstrates what learners can do with language in contemporary communicative classrooms.

This research aimed at investigating influence of students assessment of utility of various assignments for their linguistic development in English for Specific Purposes. The study employed a survey on the usefulness of different assignments and learners' written reflections on the perceptions of benefits to language mastery. Learners assignments included various contributions to portfolios such as essays, summaries of professional texts, outlines of oral presentations, creative computer tasks, tests as well as students written self-assessment notes, their reflections on various classroom activities.

V. Integration of Education for Sustainable Development to English 121

Central here is the sense that the development of effective and imaginative English teaching is not merely a series of skills in transferring the teacher’s subject knowledge to pupils. Rather, the best English classrooms are fully interactive places which build on both teachers’ and pupils’ knowledge, experience and reflections on and through language: a fully educative process, in other words. As for all forms of education, preparation for teaching – and, for that matter, subsequent continuing professional development – depends significantly on being a part of a wider community of teachers and learners. It is, or should be, a fully social process, and the fuller the better. In fact it may be more apt to speak of diverse models of English as a school subject, rather than a discrete and clearly identified entity. The subject is continually re-shaping itself – perhaps more than any other curricular subject – with the consequence that notions of subject knowledge change, sometimes dramatically, with each new wave of entrants into the profession.