Test: English 8 Mauricio Silveira

Answer question 1 below (mandatory) and then choose one question out
of questions 2 and 3.

Question 1. This question has two parts, please answer both of them following the
instructions (6 points). Sorry, isn’t this a run-on sentence?

In Bransford & Johnson’s “Contextual Prerequisites for Understanding” (1972) the authors
report on four studies that show the influence that providing semantic contextual clues had
on comprehension and recall scores. Based on the results of the four experiments reported:
1.1 Does the type of contextual clue presented influence comprehension and recall?
For example, were results different for contextual clues presented as a picture or
written text?

According to the study, the type of contextual clue presented does

influence comprehension and recall. The results of the experiments
demonstrate that students who received a picture as a contextual clue
performed better than students who were given the topic of a given
passage, once the topic alone wouldn’t be enough to convey the kind of
contextual information expressed by the proper context picture. Having
tried those experiments myself, I am convinced that feeding students
with context is paramount for comprehension and recall as it triggers the
students’ prior knowledge, helping them make associations and project
the possibilities of exchanging meaning. For example, during one
activity called “reported storytelling”, some of my students, in a group,
had to come up with a story from words that had been written on the
board. Another group would then have to report the story to a couple of
students who had been waiting outside the classroom. Then we decided
to do the same activity with picture cards instead of the words written
on the board. The reporting of the stories became much more accurate
as the cards provided extra information such as shape, color, size, traits
– which was not possible to convey with written topic words.

1.2 Does the time when a contextual clue is presented influence comprehension and
recall? For example, did it make a difference whether the clue was presented before
or after the reading text?
Bransford & Johnson’s paper posits that the time when a contextual clue
is presented has a marked effect on comprehension and recall. The
results of the study indicate that comprehension and recall figures were
lower in the groups which had not received pre-contextual clues.
According to the paper, the effect of topic in Experiments II, III, and IV
was similar to that of context in Experiment 1. As a rule of thumb, I have
always presented contextual clues to my students before exploring
texts, for example. It seems to have a “warm-up” effect as students can
brainstorm and anticipate a likely outcome. That can help students
remember key information later on. As an example, in one of my classes
I performed some silent theatrical sketches which the students would
have to describe using the Simple Past tense. At the end of the term, my
students were still able to recall the texts they had produced – mainly
because of the humorous sketches, as they said. On the other hand,
when students worked only with the target text (e.g. their course book
text) they hardly ever remembered it further in the term.

Explain your answers for 1.1 and 1.2 above based on the results of the experiment.
You must make reference to the results. Additionally, give your personal assessment as
to the importance of contextual clue and why it does (or does not) influence comprehension
and recall, and why the time of presentation of a clue does (or does not) influence
comprehension and recall.

Choose one of the two questions below (4 points).

Question 2. Read the question first. To be able to answer this question, you also have
to follow the link below:
http://www.govtilr.org/skills/AdoptedILRTranslationGuidelines.htm

In “Writing and Good Language Learners” the author investigated good writers of
English and reported on the strategies that were found to be characteristic of the writers
investigated (for example: “Good Writers Read,” “Good Writers Attend to Meaning”). Try
to relate one (or more) of these strategies reported in the chapter to another set of skills,
more specifically, the skills of the Translator as reported in a document called “Skill Level
Description for Translation performance” by the Interagency Language Roundtable (link
above). To make an association with the abilities of Good Writers, choose one (or more) of
the abilities of the Translator described in the document. Make an association between the
skills reported and explain what the points of convergence may be between them.
The document describes the abilities of translators (translator performance). For example,
the document describes:
In summary, an individual's translation performance level depends on (1)
command of two languages, (2) ability to exercise congruity judgment and apply a
translation methodology, (3) familiarity with the cultural context of both languages,
(4) knowledge of terminology in specialized fields, and (5) ability to finalize the
product within time constraints and according to specifications.

3. This question refers to Chapter 1 of “How We Decide” (The Quarterback in the

Pocket).

In Chapter 1, Jonah Lehrer writes about human decision-making skills. He bases his
argument on two well-known sports and show business professionals. According to Lehrer,
emotions are paramount to determine the way these two professionals (Tom Brady and
Herb Stein) make their decisions. Explain, in your own words, the author’s argument about
the importance of emotions for decision-making. To do this, base your arguments on the
examples given in the chapter AND provide a real-life example from your own life
experiences (or a story you were told). You can choose an example that corroborates the
author’s argument, or not; you are free to disagree. Make sure, however, the example does
relate to the importance of emotions and “gut feelings” in everyday decision-making.