vol. 15 núm. 29 (2013)

This article analyzes the importance of public libraries in the context of social development and commu- nity participation. Accordingly, it identifies the importance of public libraries as spaces of social interac- tion and coexistence between citizens, presenting the case of the park libraries in Medellin, Colombia, as a successful strategy for promoting citizen inclusion and participation. The article concludes that public libraries are inclusive spaces, in terms of equal access to technological, informational, cultural and social services, as well as knowledge-accessing services. The article is the result of research conducted in 2012 titled Strategies of public communication for citizen participation in park libraries: case study of the Parque Biblioteca Fernando Botero library in the city of Medellin. This research was conducted within the Sinfacciones research incubator of the Communications Faculty at Universidad de Antioquia.

This article is the result of over ten years of studies conducted by the Pedagogy and Languages group in the Faculty of Education at the Bucaramanga campus of Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia. The aim of the text is to review the history of teacher training, from its beginnings during General Santander’s government in the early 19th century, until the end of the 20th century. Its evolution is shown through different governments, according to their vision of education, and, naturally, emphasizing the idea of the teacher’s social role. This focus on the social role arises out of the search for clues in the training of teachers with the ability to orient educational policies centered on research in order to generate knowledge and creative development, without neglecting solidarity, and with the end goal of meeting current requirements. Eight historical moments in the country’s teacher training are presented. Currently, efforts are being made to maintain research as part of teacher training, and to ensure that the pedagogy is accorded an importance that matches the social responsibility demanded by society.

This article is part of a study into lexical-syntactic inversion in absolute interrogative sentences in Cuban Spanish and their most common intonation patterns. As a starting point, the article uses previous results that confirm speakers’ tendency to maintain the linear order of sentence parts, and seeks to determine the communicative value that these expressions take on in discourse (colloquial), based on inter-level interaction and pragmatic conditions of use. A study of the sample (descriptive-explanatory type) found that interrogative expressions using intonation 3 (E3) can have various semantic-pragmatic uses

This article presents the results of a research project using the tema-Moodle unab system to teach simple present tense grammar in English. Different activities were designed following a task-based approach (tbl) and the use of recreational strategies was also taken into account. The study sought to determine the level reached  by  A1-level  undergraduate  students  at  Universidad  Autónoma  de  Bucaramanga  (unab),  after implementing an applied recreational methodology to develop grammar skills in present simple tense. To analyze the data, the median, standard deviation and student’s  t-test were used. The sample consisted of a pilot group, a control group, and an experimental group, assigned randomly. It was found that posttest results were highest in the experimental group, with a significance level of 0.05. The improvement in grammar was due to the strategies selected, the specific way in which material was designed and organized, the direct instruction provided during the workshop, and other characteristics specific to the research project

This article presents a research project conducted during 2012 titled Evaluating the pilot of the Open Lingua program at the Bucaramanga campus, based on the Context, Inputs, Processes and Products (cipp) research model of Stufflebeam and Shinkfield (1987). The aim was to evaluate the Open Lingua program, an institutional project that represents an innovative learning space in the field of languages. The results are organized based on the categories of the evaluative model for each level of the participating population. In the first category, context, results show that the Open Lingua program is in line with local problems and requirements, but also reveal the need for widespread dissemination of the program and its inclusion in academic environments and the methodologies of the learners. In the second category, inputs, results confirm that the Blended Leaning methodology is appropriate and suggests building knowledge in it. At the same time it is noted that there are insufficient bibliographical sources, technological support and integration with academic programs, in terms of interdisciplinarity. In the process category, results reveal the need to improve dissemination, systematization, and performance evaluation of the participants as well as of the program itself. Finally, the products category offers a space to analyze and apply corrective measures and innovations for certifying the Open Lingua program.

This article reflects on the challenge created by the inappropriate use, on many occasions, of science, technology and communication, making it necessary to develop intercultural communication skills and shine a light on values in multicultural groups of students studying Spanish as a foreign language (e/el) outside their countries. The research in this article corresponds to the doctoral thesis Treatment of values in intercultural conditions based on reading comprehension: linguistic-didactic strategy . In this methodology, the author employed the action research model –germane to didactic disciplines– and ran a trial using a repertoire of texts taken from Cuban and Latin American literature, with the aim of working with these in advanced levels of e/el teaching. Based on the texts themselves, and the tasks taken from them, which included activities that referred to differences in cultures and values, it was confirmed that the majority of students gain intercultural skills when they better understand the values of “the other” and widen their appreciative horizons.

This article represents a preview of the research study,Discourses and evaluative practices in the native language classroom: a case study (2012) . It analyzes, on one hand, certain directions (instructional discourses in teaching-learning environments) and, on the other, evaluative practices used repeatedly in the language classroom. The data is taken from students’ notebooks, and the tools of analysis correspond to the principles of classification and framing, proposed by Basil Bernstein. The partial results indicate that discourses and evaluative practices prioritize regulation (controlling) over instruction (developing abilities of the discipline).

Power is one of the most recurrent themes in the work of Mario Mendoza, and in the Colombian noir novel in general, since one of the characteristics of novels in this genre is social critique. Hence, this article conducts a hermeneutical analysis of power relations and mechanisms in Mario Mendoza’s novel Scorpio City, based on the study of power by French philosopher Michel Foucault. The analysis shows the underlying power structures in the religious, sexual and persuasive discourses that the hero of the novel comes into contact with.

This article describes the main elements of a methodology aimed at improving quality management of teacher performance in a university department, as well as some results of its practical application. Its design was born from the quality management principles which form the basis of the iso 9000 standards, adapted to the Cuban university context. It was also shaped by the need for improvement in teacher performance management that was detected in many faculties at Universidad de La Habana. A process-based approach was used for planning, control, evaluation and teacher performance improvement, employing tools such as process maps, student opinion surveys and guides for self-evaluation of teacher performance –all of which were designed for this purpose. Results of applying this methodology included an improvement in the quality of individual and department-wide work plans, greater clarity among the staff regarding the performance expected of them, more considered self-evaluations, fairer teacher evaluations and greater staff participation in the evaluation process, which has optimized department management in relation to the quality of academic performance

El presente número de la revista Rastros Rostros integra diversos trabajos de investigación que ilustran en buena medida las palabras de José Saramago. En ellas, el Nobel invita a reflexionar sobre la responsabilidad del cambio, del mejoramiento, que deben emprender todos los ciudadanos. Si no se actúa hoy, dice, nadacambiará mañana y nos pide trabajar todos los días, con nuestras destrezas, nuestro pensamiento y nuestro corazón. Para él, se trata del deber del escritor; para nosotros, se trata del rol del educador.